Invasion The Liberation of Ossus [Republic vs. Sith Empire]

[Darth Carnifex]

As Darc came forth to protect Daella from the Emperor's blade, he felt the presence of Balaya and saw the Sith Knight crash down in among the fighting Sith and Jedi. As the Emperor's blade and Darc's collided, creating a saber lock that showered the ground with sparks, Kaine disengaged his left hand from the blade. Using only one hand made it a significantly weaker hold than with both hands, but with his other hand freed he had a chance to bring his second blade into his hand. With an instant movement of his fingers and hand he activated the crimson blade as Darc began to spin, and indeed the elbow careened into Kaine's midsection, close to where the gaping hole was, but as he did Kaine brought the second saber around towards the man's midsection as just the impact of the blow started to push Kaine away.

@[member="Daella Apparine"] @[member="Darc Xavior Talus"]

 

[Lord Ghoul]

Ruins
@Kaine Zambrano @Marek S'hadar @Daella Apparine @Meta @Darc Xavior Talus @Balaya Zambrano @Iella E'ron @Saki

A sudden yank on the whip wrapped around his arm jerked his arm, tugging him forward and nearly ripping him off balance. Frantic feet sloshed in the mud and he nearly fell. The stumble saved his life.

Marek's lightsaber seared just past the opening in his armor, leaving yet another charred furrow on the phrik chestplate. Blinded by the mud smeared across his visor, Shorn had to rely on his senses in the Force. All he had heard was the bzzpt of a lightsaber slashing past his side. Before he could react further, his lightning was redirected at him by Meta. The padawan got lucky.

Blue lightning slammed into him, hurling him back ten feet to roll in the mud and disentangling his arm from the whip. He lay in the mire, crackling tendrils cascading across his form with agonizing pain. Gritting his teeth, Mikhail reached for his one defense against such energy based attacks. Tutaminis. He absorbed the last bits of Force lightning, taking it in until his body glowed with a dark light.

The Sith Lord rose to his feet and wiped his visor clean. Through the smeared mud he saw his three opponents gathered before him, preparing for another assault. Shorn cast a quick glance backward at Kaine and sent a mental message.

"Back to back."

Then he began moving backward, step by step, toward Kaine, senses alert. Gathering the Dark Side into him, Mikhail unleashed a furious barrage at the three Jedi: Meta, Iella, and Marek. The pouches at his belt began to burst open as he hurled cloud after cloud of phrik ball bearings, with speeds fast enough to pierce even armor, at the Jedi.

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

Meta didn't know what to do, or what exactly was being thrown at him. But, taking a defensive stance the blast made its way towards him. Using the force, slipping into the force, everything slowed down his saber was a static blur as it was in motion. The blast still hurling towards him, spinning the blade he caught some of the blast, however he was never going to be fast enough. Much of the blast seeped through and into the thick metal of his armour. Some stopped there, others continued on. Pummeling through his body, some more stopped by the augmented ribs, and then in moments of panic, Meta focused some heading for his vital organs, seeking deep into the force he diverted a blast from his heart and another from his liver, the phrik passed through his body and some were stopped by his back armour then, some more passed through his body. Meta grunted briefly, clenching his saber. He stumbled and fell to one knee, Meta gritted his teeth, he was a fighter. Returning to his feet, Meta grabbed his waist. Angrily looking back at @[member="Mikhail Shorn"].

Meta had been through enough to know he had been hit, hard. He looked to his fellow jedi as they had been attacked by the same brutal attack Meta had. He returned his gaze to Shorn, moving forward with the will of the force at his back. He was eager to defend his fellow jedi.

 

[Darc Xavior Talus]

Timeout

As the Emperor was flung backwards, Darc was grazed by the swinging blade; searing his breastplate across his chest. He jolted back from the sudden contact and stepped back a few feet. He looked down at the gashed surface and wiped his bloodied face. He watched the Sith gather back to back, but remained where he stood; waiting for Daella to recover. He flourished his emerald blade once and conserved his energy.

@[member="Kaine Zambrano"] @[member="Daella Apparine"]

 

[Marek S'hadar]

As phrik balls flew towards Marek, he spun his saber wildly, blocking some, others slammed into his chest, hitting the mangus metal armor with enough force to bruise him all the way to the bone. But he was alive, even phrik couldn't pierce the strange alloy. "Stay out of this." He snarled at @[member="Meta"] and @[member="Iella E'ron"].

With blood trailing down his face from a large gash he'd just aquired, and his violent coughs which also resulted in blood coming up, Marek was banged up. But so was Shorn. Reaching into the mud, he grabbed some of Shorn's phrik balls, which now were coated in mud, and in a special case, his blood as well. Hurling the balls back at their owner with violent telekinetic force, all three were in a neat cluster heading for Shorn's wound.

@[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

 

[Lord Ghoul]

Ruins
@Kaine Zambrano @Marek S'hadar @Daella Apparine @Meta @Darc Xavior Talus @Balaya Zambrano @Iella E'ron @Saki

The number one rule of fighting a telekinetic master was not to fething throw things at them. For the simple reason that they would grab them, turn them on you, and send them back at double the speed. But sending a master's own projectiles back at him? That just pissed Shorn off.

With his visor clear of grime, Shorn saw Marek hurl the balls back at him. Mikhail sneered and held out a hand. The phrik ball bearings stopped midflight and hung in the air.

Mikhail used the brief repose to launch a single spark of Force lightning at the rainwater which Meta stood in, before he returned his attention to Marek.

He propelled the metal projectiles right back at the so-called Jedi. When controlling such a small number of ball bearings, Shorn could accelerate them to frightening speeds, where the temporal cavity of a wound would be as large as a .50 cal sniper round. The phrik balls shrieked through the air, heading straight for Marek's neck. Shorn controlled them like a precision guided missile. If Marek attempted to roll or dive away, they would just follow him, guided by Mikhail's unyielding will.

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

Meta caught sight of the flash of lightning that made its way towards his feet. Disregarding the pain, he flipped in the air, dodging the blast of lightnings main attack, however arcs of lightning resonating from the water caught Meta's blade and sent the chilling feeling of intensified pins and needles through his body. Taking note of the passive aggressive fool knight that had simply handed Shorn a killing blow. However, being a Jedi and all. Meta had to save him, Shorn was too focused on the phrik balls. This gave Meta the opportune moment he needed, he dashed forward with the force his blade already in a swin, he was outside of Shorbs attention span, landing a blow heavy enough to cut through armour and do damage. It was a twisted arc, swiping upwards the left across the siths torso.

@[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

 

[Marek S'hadar]

Marek had to think really fast. Raising his hand up and unleashing a force push he would blast the small balls off course enough to where they'd miss, but he had to do it at the last second, right when even Shorn's focus would've not been able to redirect them before they slammed into the tree. Gritting his teeth as blood flowed through his mouth, Marek's anger was beginning to overwhelm him, he was falling to far. But he couldn't stop now, he'd die.

Reaching out and pulling his second saber back to his hand, he reignited it, and threw it into a tree near shorn, cutting it through the middle. Then, he reached out and pulled the tree down, right on top of Shorn. Knowing the man would evade the attack, Marek rushed forwards as fast as he could. @[member="Meta "]had gotten in the way for the last time, as he leapt over the fallen log he blasted Meta back with the force. This was HIS fight.


@[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

 

[Lord Ghoul]

Ruins
@Kaine Zambrano @Marek S'hadar @Daella Apparine @Meta @Darc Xavior Talus @Balaya Zambrano @Iella E'ron @Saki

Shorn abruptly ceased all efforts with the phrik ball bearings as soon as he saw Marek cut down a fething tree and hurl it toward him. Meta attempted to close the distance, only to get sidelined by Marek before the blow could land. Even if it had landed, phrik-duraplast alloy wouldn't be broken by a padawan's strength.

Channeling the Dark Side, Mikhail let the aphotic miasma flow through him, empowering his limbs. He lashed out with a wave of telekinesis. The tree trunk split asunder with a resounding crack! Splinters sprayed into the air, but the trunk fell away from him, shattered in four places. Lifting his hand palm up, hundreds of splinters rose into the air. The wooden bits might seem innocuous at first glance... right up until Shorn propelled them with hurricane-force speed at the faces of Meta and Marek.

 

[Marek S'hadar]

Marek couldn't do much but duck. Hitting the dirt...er-mud, he avoided some splinters, maybe even most, but several still sliced through his face and the sides of his neck. He winced in pain, but got up. He stared down @[member="Mikhail Shorn"], blood seeping from his cuts, ribs broken from blunt force trauma, but he was not defeated. Not yet. Even Shorn could tell a lot had changed since the two had first met all those years ago, Marek wasn't as strong as him, but he was a threat. Charging forwards at immense speed, darting side side and kicking up mud into his foe's face, Marek stabbed at his side one final time, well aware that what came next would hurt quite lot.

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

What was Marek doing?! Throwing him off balance whilst his guard was down. He had been betrayed, he had trusted his fellow Jedi to have his back, not throw him off from a lethal blow. Meta grunted as he gained control of himself once more, throwing a look back at Marek, Meta then saw the tree. Then the splinters, however. Meta knew what he was up against this time, taking the grappling hook from his belt. He activated it and its wire ran along until it clutched into a high thick tree branch. Then delving into the depths of the force, he slowed down time as the projectiles launched towards him. His body propelled up by the grappling hook, he slowed down the splinters with the force just enough to escape them as he launched into the air, he was actually more concerned of Marek trying to kill him in the stead of the actual Sith. Meta swingers into the air, flying around the small area the battle raged below in.


The Jedi cruised the air, awaiting an opening to strike.

 

[Lord Ghoul]

Ruins
@Kaine Zambrano @Marek S'hadar @Daella Apparine @Meta @Darc Xavior Talus @Balaya Zambrano @Iella E'ron

Mud came toward Shorn's face, but one trick would not a fight win. As before with Diana, Mikhail swatted the mud aside with a slap of telekinesis. And then Marek was on him. The desperate thrust came in low, beneath Shorn's guard. Mikhail pivoted, feeling pain as the tip of the blade briefly touched the flesh of the wound before sliding along his phrik chest plate. Another blackened score to add to the tally. His cybernetic arm clamped down on the blade, trapping it between his breast plate and his vambrace. The blade quickly began to chew through the metal. Shorn could feel the heat blistering his skin beneath the phrik.

Before Marek had a chance to retract the blade, Mikhail lunged forward with a massive headbutt aimed for Marek's head.

 

[Marek S'hadar]

Marek jerked his head to the side avoiding the headbutt largely, had he taken it full on his skull would've shattered. Pulling back with his free arm, he slammed his armored hand into Shorn's head, well he tried too, the force and cybernetic's amplified the speed, thanks to Shorn's armor, it wouldn't be fatal, it might cause concussion, or it might just crack the visor. Either way he needed to make it clear that despite the fact his body screamed for him to stop, he would not. He was too angry to stop now.

@[member="Mikhail Shorn"]
@[member="Meta "]

 

[Lord Ghoul]

Ruins
@Meta @[member="Marek S'hadar"]

Marek's punch took Shorn full in the faceplate. The transparasteel visor shattered. Bits of glass dug into Mikhail's cheek bones and he blinked away chips that threatened to cut into his eyes. Blood dribbled down into his helmet. Too full of adrenaline to full take into account what toll the punch had taken, Shorn counterattacked.

He unclamped his elbow from his side, freeing Marek's blade, but stepped into the man's guard so that they were practically hugging. Then with blurring speed his cybernetic arm whipped his beskar knife at the man's neck. One touch of the devaronian poison-infused blade, whether it was an open cut or just metal on flesh, would leave any sentient screaming as the excruciating pain ripped through their nervous system. Simultaneously, he jammed his hand of flesh and blood up under Marek's armpit and unleashed a full-forced cascade of lightning. So close to the heart, Shorn hoped for cardiac arrest.

 

[Marek S'hadar]

Marek let out an agonizing cry as the knife brushed against him, and as lightning surged through him, he slammed his arm down, likely shattering the bones in Shorn's hand if he didn't yank it out. He pushed himself off of @[member="Mikhail Shorn"] and stumbled back, and into a tree, silent now even as pain raked his body, leaving him in sheer agony. He stared down Shorn angrily, by now they were both probably feeling a considerable amount of pain. Slowly he slid down the tree into a sitting position, looking at Shorn and chuckling slightly. "Look what they did to us...they turned us into monsters." He sighed, light returning to his eyes, anger and hate being replaced with regret. This was it, wasn't it?

 

[Lord Ghoul]

Ruins
@Meta @Marek S'hadar

Snap!

Shorn's fingers broke.

"Grrah!" A cry of pain wrenched itself from his throat. He stumbled backward. Kaine, where was Kaine? Mikhail didn't have time to think about it. Pain wracked his hand. Sloshing in the mud, he regained his footing and raised his dagger, only to find Marek slumped against a tree. The man's breaths came in ragged gasps.

Within him, an internal struggle raged. His inner demons wanted to melt Marek's flesh off his bones with a cascade of lightning, but Diana's efforts had not been for naught. Mikhail found that he had a conscience to struggle against. Slowly, Mikhail lowered the knife. Suffering from a multitude of injuries, Shorn felt weary to the bone. His back was badly bruised. He had a cauterized sword thrust wound in his side. The back of his right knee had a light burn from a saber. His ears rang from the many blows he had suffered to the helmet. His visor was shattered. Blood dripped from cuts on his cheeks to pool inside his helmet. Long, black furrows left by lightsabers criss-crossed his chestplate and greaves. But Mikhail Shorn still stood proudly.

Pale eyes looked Marek up and down. The man would never stop hunting him. The eyes took on a tortured cast.

"No," Mikhail panted, his breath short, "I am the only monster here."

Shorn raised his broken hand and from it unleashed a torrent of blue tendrils that crackled toward Marek, filling the air with the stench of ozone.

Were those tears standing in Mikhail's eyes, or just a trick of the strange, blue illumination of the lightning?

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

"Its not so simple, if i leave the sith i have no where to go and i will be hunted... unless they think im dead..." She glanced at him now and had a dark expression as she returned her sabers from her belt to her hands and igniting them. Her eyes slid closed and she stayed her hand long enough for him to light his saber and lowered her voice as she spoke. "You want to help me, then kill me Jedi." Her eyes told him the truth, a mortal wound give her the appearence of death, but she would survive if treated quickly enough. @[member="Yasuo"]

 

[Marek S'hadar]

Marek only chuckled a bit, he supposed he deserved this. Lightning jolted through him, but he did not make a sound, only looked at @[member="Mikhail Shorn"] with a half smirk through the pain, slowly drifting out of consciousness. Before Marek passed out he uttered three words, "You'd be surprised." With that said, Marek slipped into unconsciousness, Shorn's lightning continuing to strike him.

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Not-So-Great Jedi Library

While the Sith Lord's focus did reside with the blonde Jedi Master on the ground before him, he heard the Mandalorian tongue somewhere off to his right. The man's statement was of very little immediate concern to Cameron. Silver-green eyes met the Cerulean gaze of the young Jedi Master as she came to her knees. For the time being, the expression on Cameron's face remained flat and empty. It was a well-practiced mask for the many thoughts and calculations happening beneath the surface. Combat was a very dynamic, fluid entity. It was often the more subtle, reserved moments of battle that determined the tide of war.

The arrival of a third Jedi to the party did momentarily draw Cameron's gaze. The empty stare of the Sith Lord held no intimation of desire or intent, and it soon returned to Kiskla. Usually, it was advisable to strike your opponents when they were weak, driving you closer to victory. Cameron did not necessarily play by such rules. For him, the pleasure was in the journey. It was the prepared, determined foe that he craved. Cameron knew he'd achieved this end when he sensed the rapid building of massive amounts of energy from the direction of the two Jedi Masters, specifically Kiskla.

With a thin smile, Cameron held the blade of his weapon pointed to the sky, directly in front of his face and began whispering a phrase in the ancient tongue of the Sith repeatedly. For the first time, his free hand wrapped around the leather hilt of the weapon alongside his strong hand. Drawing once more on the struggle that was tearing apart the surface of the planet and the thick permeation of the dark side on the Sith world, Cameron did what was only natural. Lightning from the sky played all around the Sith Lord's body at random intervals by no real purposeful effort of his own. In fact, he stood as a good a chance as any at being harmed by the electrical energy. The intensive spinning of the Force around the immediate area was thick with emotion and turmoil. The very fabric of the Force itself seemed to be in a state of abrupt, violent expansion.

As the raw blue energy manifested by Kiskla began to develop, Cameron's whispering escalated in sound until it could be heard above the fury of what was happening around them. Just before the vortex of energy created by Kiskla reached Cameron's position, a single strand of lightning connected with the tip of the Sith Lord's weapon. However, the moment the natural energy reacted with the dark energy pouring into the conduit of power that was the alchemical blade, it exploded outward. Following closely behind the blinding strands of lightning was a visible, purple-white web of destructive dark side energy. Fast enough to almost not be seen, Cameron dropped to a knee as he rotated the blade of his weapon downward. The instant the tip plunged into the soil, the Dark Side Web expanded out to meet the attack perpetuated by Kiskla.

For several moments, the Sith Lord's attack only seemed to be able to contain that of the Jedi Master. After all, they were both drawing on available energies. The fact that this planet had been twisted and contorted to the devotion of the dark side, however, meant...well...home court advantage did exist. If Kiskla had the added benefit of other Jedi aiding in her quest, however, Cameron was fairly certain he would have to come up with something a bit more...creative. Both attacks were designed to, effectively, cut off access to the Force of anyone they came into contact with. When they came into contact with each other, it was as if the Force itself was waging war against itself. Destructive strands of light and dark side energy threatened to destroy anything and everything in the area.

Maintaining a tight grip on his weapon, Cameron used it to keep himself anchored in place as the Force reacted naturally to both of their efforts. Energy rebounded back at Cameron, strands of randomly manifested force lightning reaching out and delivering severe burns to his arms and upper torso. Pain surged through Cameron's body, but he gritted his teeth and maintained hold for as long as his waning strength would allow. Then...something happened. The web began to advance upon his foe rapidly as her attack seemingly began to fail her. It was a fortunate turn of events because even the Sith Lord was very near exhaustion from his rather continuous use of very...energy-consuming techniques.

Allowing his hold over the web to dissipate completely, Cameron caught sight of the Jedi Master skidding backwards. The next decision he made took all of half a heartbeat to make. Vaulting to his feet, the Sith Lord returned to holding his weapon with his dominant hand as he sprinted towards Kiskla. For the first second and a half, he was relying only on the strength of his leg muscles, but that abruptly changed to being aided by the speed of the Force for the last fifty meters or so. The Sith Lord's left hand remained poised and ready to deflect whatever attack came his way to the best of his ability, but he knew that...for a while he would no doubt be limited in effectiveness with any technique aside from the basics.

It was situations like these that his master and abductor, Alathor, had prepared him for. The reason he'd learned to spend more time practicing the craft of fighting than manipulating the Force. There were plenty of Sith more adept at Sorcery than Cameron regardless of his experience. The moment he was within striking distance, Cameron slowed to normal speed and transitioned immediately into a skid on his right side as he angled his weapon with his right hand to strike at her legs. At the same time, the Sith Lord reoriented his free hand and prepared to create a force energy barrier to block any retaliatory force strikes from blondie.

@[member="Syn"] | @[member="Tracyn Ordo"] | @[member="Kiskla Grayson"]

 

[Hood]

Nexus rolled to a stop, leveling his bow and notching an arrow. Just as swiftly as he loosed the first, he had another drawn and ready to fire. Both landed firmly in the left eye sockets of opponents across the way. Reaching behind his neck he gripped a soft yellow feather that he drew and notched as well. The tip of the arrow though was not a single arrowhead but a large chunk of explosive that blew upon contact.

Letting the projectile free, Hood rose and jumped from the roof. Moving along the skyline in the same fashion, he traveled fast. It would be simple for him to take out enemies from up high.