Private The Tragedy of Darth Xiphos

[Cameron Crownwraithe]

Location: Hideout Base - Kerest
Tags: Laertia Io The Battalion Arianna Belasko Aaran Tafo Dagon Kaze Starlin Rand Sakadi Marathi Sinvala Nico Kaidshau

The speedster floundered, panic slowly setting in as she realized the number of Jedi who were advancing on the base, already engaging the groups of Nuetralizers, Clone Troopers, Serpents, and Brain Demon Witches. Not to mention, her unfamiliarity with the base didn’t help with matters, causing her to make a series of wrong turns, which led her back outside, where she saw Mason firing on a charging Jedi, armed with his typical twinned T-7 disruptor rifles. Unfortunately, the Jedi batted the shots away, closing in on the Nuetralizer until Cameron intercepted him in a nigh-imperceptible flash of motion, delivering a flying kick which caved in the Knight’s chest before she finished him off by sweeping one of her blades across his neck.

“Mason? Where’s Mom?” Cameron asked frantically, her voice laced with anxiety at the thought of the Jedi ambushing her while she was alone.

“Teeeeeell meeeeeee how! It's better when the sunnnnnn goes downnnn! We'll never escape this town! I wasn't scared when he caught me, look what it taught meeee!” The Nuetralizer belted out, as he mercilessly gunned down another Jedi under a barrage of twinned disruptor fire.

“Mason! Where. Is. She?” The speedster asked again. “Where is-”

“It’s a little too late to say that you’re sorry now! You kicked me when I was down, but what you say just don’t hurt meeee! Don’t hurt meee!” The Nuetralizer continued to sing, regardless of the rampaging Jedi moving in on the base.

“Dank ferrik, Mason, what did I ever do to you?! And why are you bringing this up now, of all the possible times? Couldn’t this have happened over breakfast?” Cameron asked, giving a frustrated groan as she did. “Damn it, we’ll deal with this later!” Punching an autoinjector full of the energy-restoring cocktail given to her by the Sister into her neck, Cameron sped off, a sonic rumble in her wake as she followed the telepathic signal her mother had sent out.

Before long, the Zanshi entered the room of the confrontation, arriving only moments after her mother’s telepathic message. Having already killed one Jedi, her eyes had taken on a brilliant pink glow, her aura brimming with the corruptive energies of Bogan as she focused her senses in anticipation of the fight. Cameron was determined to do whatever it took to defend her mother, terrified at the prospect of being alone were she to be taken or assassinated by the Jedi.

She wasn’t ready to lose her.

Spoiler: Loadout

• FAE/A-09 “Hayai” Energized Bodysuit
  • Left Gauntlet
    • Universal Gas Launcher
      • Pink Vapor
    • Vac Attack Mk-127 Disc Launcher
  • Right Gauntlet
    • Wide Beam Sonic Stunner
  • Energy Shield
    • Phase III “Force Avenger” Energy Shield
  • Alchemical Talisman(s)
    • Spirit Anchor
  • Neon Overdrive Heels
  • Utility
    • Supernal Infusion
• Jasmine Lightsaber (2)
  • Pink Kyber Crystal
• Hekler'Kok SMG-01

 

[Dagon Kaze]

A vengeful scowl formed on Dagon's face as the two Jedi came face to face with Io and her companions. Sweat materialized over his palms as he tightened the grip of his lightsaber instinctively realizing he had already activated the blue blade. Unlike Tafo's stoic nature, a flurry of emotions was simmering in his guts. Justice had to be served.

One way or the other.

Darth Xiphos' words fell on deaf ears; there was nothing she said that diverged from her usual, now infamous rhetoric. A rhetoric that had only served as a justification to slaughter Jedi en masse, the dark side's corruption had dug dip into her heart - an experience Dagon was all too familiar with. In some grotesque way he could draw parallels between Laertia and his fallen twin brother.

"Enough!" he suddenly snapped, interrupting her midway, then threw a glance at Aaran, "Enough with this nonsense. She's not coming peacefully, Aaran."

Clouding his vision and mind, the rising wrath compelled him into the familiar stance of Niman. Talk had only led them to this predicament.

It was time to act.

Laertia Io Aaran Tafo Cameron Crownwraithe Starlin Rand Sakadi Marathi Sinvala Nico Kaidshau Varn Barakis

​

 

[Sakadi Marathi Sinvala]

Like Varn Barakis , Sakadi had stayed largely on the sidelines during their encounter with the Neutralizers. If it weren't for her presence in the Force, one could've easily forgotten that she was there to begin with. But when Darth Xiphos' attention shifted to Starlin Rand , she felt the need to interject. The Sephi stepped forward, gently placing a slender hand on the Padawan's shoulder.

"She is no longer the woman you once knew, is she?" While her voice was just a projection, it often still managed to convey her emotions. In this particular case, her sympathy. "I had hoped we could've still made a difference. Guide her back to the Light, even if it would take years." Sakadi paused. A sigh escaped her lips. "But now that I've laid eyes on her, I realise that it's an impossible outcome. She widened her stance and raised her own unlit saber to the side. "But perhaps her followers can still be redeemed." She would hold back. For now.

Nico Kaidshau | Aaran Tafo | Dagon Kaze | Laertia Io | Cameron Crownwraithe​

 

[Starlin Rand]

Nico went ham on the Neutralizers, effectively cutting a path for them straight to the hangar. Aaran ripped the door off its hinges, and the Jedi strike team poured inside.

They were met with the sight of Laertia and her closest allies all gathered together there. Starlin imagined the location was chosen so that they could make a quick getaway if things got too hairy. Since he had never seen her face, he failed to recognize Maple Harte as the woman he had fought alongside at Sev Tok, nor did he have any clue who the blue-haired blur of a girl who came racing into the room was, let alone that she was Laertia’s daughter.

Starlin snorted as Laertia singled him out for special verbal abuse. Before he could offer a retort, Master Sinvala interrupted. She spoke in a way that was clearly meant to be comforting, but all she managed to do was make Starlin’s heart beat much, much faster as he tried not to stare at her sculpted hand on his shoulder, the long and tapered fingers crowned with the smooth white crescents at the tips of her nails...

Huh? Oh yeah. “Yeah yeah, we’re the narrow-minded idiots, you’re the righteous and intelligent one, blah blah blah. You’ve said pretty much the same thing about a thousand times now, but it still isn’t any better a justification for killing Jedi to protect the Sith.” He held up his prosthetic right hand, wiggling his fingers as if he were casting a spell. “And no, I’m not removing this, it’s my hand now. But if you insist, you’re welcome to try and take it from me.”

He looked around her group of allies, trying to decide on a target. He’d already fought the Amalgam—she’d taken his eye from him, so probably not a good idea to try her again. Aaran and a very pissed off looking Dagon were about to tear Laertia a new one… that left Maple, Arianna and Cameron…

When in doubt, deal with the youngest, most inexperienced one first. He inflicted Stasis upon Cameron with the Force, then began to recite the Spell of Imprisonment, whether it only succeeded in slowing her down, or had no effect at all.

"Molten metal and cold iron mark where darkness fears to tread; Ashla, repurpose this as a receptacle for the wretched..."

It was, unfortunately, a rather long spell, giving the others a chance to try and stop him before he could get all the words out.

But if he succeeded, anything and everything made of metal in the hangar would begin to groan and shriek, mechanical parts and tools and even pieces of starship hulls or wall paneling pulled apart. They combined into a great ball of molten metal, which he then flung toward Cameron, hoping to build a formidable prison around her, encasing her body in a cage of iron.

Aaran Tafo Sakadi Marathi Sinvala Dagon Kaze Varn Barakis Nico Kaidshau Laertia Io Cameron Crownwraithe​

 

[Nico Kaidshau]

Starlin Rand Aaran Tafo Sakadi Marathi Sinvala Dagon Kaze Varn Barakis Laertia Io Cameron Crownwraithe

Kade waded through the scene before him, mind split between two reactions to further the violent action he had sown, to strike out as bodies walked around him. They were beacons against the bleak landscape. Signs of life that even the force could not hide or remove from his sight. He did not see them as the beacons of light, did not see them as comrades in this moment through the ember and ash ridden world he strode through.

Beings of metal and electricity had stoked the fire he held between the minds eye of his hands. Emotions long dormant and without escape threatening to eclipse his better senses as he focused harshly to contain the growing sensation of primal action. Bodies flowed around him, words spewing in accusation and anger. The burning tree before him drew upon this feeling, the quiet and ever calm form of the master sitting before it in trance to attempt to contain this promise of action.

His steps forward were languid, eyes slow to take in the forms of those around him. Fingers flexed, opening and closing to take in the air around him. Bodies around him, targets all of them. The master seemed to hang back and take a moment longer to fixate on a target than the rest had. His presence in the force swirling darker as he stepped into the open and examined the scene before him.

There had never been fun with interrupting other's fights. It always lead to two opponents rather than helping with one in his past. He ignored the spell maker, fixated on the bubbly little thing. There was another group, fixated on something he assumed much more dangerous than a single one of them combined. A temping target, if they felt the need to gang up as such against one.

But there was no fun interrupting another fight.

Instead, the primal focus fell upon Maple Harte , a shuddering breath passing through him as he smiled. There was an off putting appearance about her, and that drew his attention more than anything as his other half struggled beneath the pressure of focus. There was a light spiral of light side presence about him as he stepped towards her.

Those errant bodies became comrades and enemies once more, his steps measured rather than the stalking walk they had been before.

"I'll be your opponent here." He spoke, the calm of his voice only a wavering show of confidence in his control. His stance was unarmed, inviting her forward, eyes still on her as his focused mind struggled beneath the strain of the outside battle, and the internal battle.

 

[Aaran Tafo]

A long, slow sigh escaped his lips, the Warden leaning backwards slightly as it became rather apparent that no matter the approach made. No matter the words spoken. Laertia Io was in her own little world. Utterly convinced that the Galaxy should rotate around her views, and everyone should conform to her wishes.

He wondered if she ever realised that for all of her efforts. She had a minimal impact on the war with the Sith? That at no point was her interference ever taken into account. Had her efforts ever demoralised people. That instead of driving off the opposition, her rampant slaughter instead simply inspired her enemies to fight harder.

He figured it never did cross her mind. For such a mental feat would require self-awareness, foresight and empathy that the Black Knight simply did not possess.

It was perfectly fine for her to fight a war on multiple fronts. But unthinkable for those larger than herself to do so. Hypocrisy in its purest sense. There was no greater or lesser evil. Simply suffering that needed to be alleviated. Regardless of the source. The Sith, the Bryn, the Maw. They were all the same to Aaran. Beings who would rather take instead of trade. Those who would destroy instead of build. Corrupt instead of heal.

"It is never pointless to reach out to someone Dagon. To offer them a chance." He told the Padawan next to him, his voice gentle. Hand reaching into the satchel at his side and pulling out a rather curious looking wooden mask. Raising it up until it was eye level with him. Empty sockets staring at it, his other hand moving to smooth back his hair, pulling it behind his ears.

"But you are right. The time for talk has passed." He said, shooting Laertia one last glance.

"I'm sorry."

And the mask was slipped over his head.

To the outside world. Nothing happened for a moment. Several heartbeats passed before the Warden of Peace simply stumbled to the side. Slouching forward slightly like a puppet with its strings cut. His left hand beginning to flop uselessly against his side, fingers grasping at empty air until their finally wrapped around his lightsaber, pulling it free of his belt with an awkward tug. The golden blade bursting into brilliant light with the familiar snapping hiss.

And then the Warden vanished from sight.

Only to appear directly at Laertia's side. The only visible indicator that he had crossed the intervening space being the sudden rush of displaced air. He did not ape her usual trick of teleportation or folding space. It was simply his own superhuman speed at work. Crossing the distance faster than the human eye could see, the golden sword swinging directly at the Black Knight. Lashing out at her with impossible strength, speed and weight behind the blade. The difference between last time they fought being as great as night and day.

Because this was not a theatre of war. This was not some prolonged operation where Aaran would have to support his comrades and conserve his strength for the long haul. This was a simple mission with a clear objective. Remove the head of the snake.

So now it was finally time to see if the Black Knight could live up to her claim of taking on the entire Galaxy if it meant getting what she wanted.

Nico Kaidshau Laertia Io Cameron Crownwraithe Dagon Kaze Starlin Rand Sakadi Marathi Sinvala Varn Barakis

 

[Dagon Kaze]

"It is never pointless to reach out to someone Dagon. To offer them a chance."

Been pointless with this one for a while now, the raven-haired Jedi thought but did not voice; he narrowed his focus on the insurmountable task that laid ahead in the form of a woman fallen beyond redemption. Taking a deep breath, Dagon reached for the serenity of the Light, breathing in composure and breathing out anger. His scowl never disappeared but in the contortion of his face the lines of fury ceded ground to lines of justice.

Empyrean retribution.

A loud thud echoed beside him and Aaran disappeared only to materialize at Laertia's side, the golden blade of the Jedi Knight flashing to dispense the law. Unable to match his speed, Dagon instinctively called on the Force - a telekinetic grip would attempt to ensnare the fallen Jedi, slow down her reaction and ideally leave her open to the Battlemaster's swing.

Laertia Io Aaran Tafo Cameron Crownwraithe Starlin Rand Sakadi Marathi Sinvala Nico Kaidshau Varn Barakis

​

 

[Laertia Io]

At this moment before battle, Xiphos felt no regrets. No hate. No rage.

Only Icy cold, emotionless necessity and determination to triumph.

She clamped down on any emotion from fueling her response or attacks, commanding the Force to whisper to her their intent. She withdrew to that icy place in her mind, where no emotion affected her movements.

She raised her purple blade in defense, stretching out in the Force, letting it fill every atom. She sank into The Makashi Style.

Aaran Tafo vanished, reappearing at her side to strike at her, just as Dagon Kaze tried to grip her telekinetically. A combination of her Makashi Mastery as well as her resistance to the Force allowed her body to ignore almost entirely the effects of the grip attack as she instinctively danced out of the way of the swing, but the tip of Aaran's blade grazed the face plate, nicking a small piece of it off but missing her eye.

Her Light Mutated Eye, the whites a metallic bronze, The Iris a Dark Green, stared back at both as she went into a low fools guard, backing away slightly, saying nothing now. It was not Sith Sulphur, her eye. Even someone like Dagon could not ignore that fact.

Her will flowed out, no rage in her channeling, merely the dead weight of pure will, and the Black Knight vanished, reappearing close to Tafo's right, executing a deadly set of light thrusts and stabs for the weapon in his hands, her use of Makashi bolstered by her inhuman strength, prepared to dance out of the way of his counter attack while The Amalgam threw out her Dark, Rotting will to Dagon, dozens of the evil minds inside of her bolstering her attempt to invade Dagon's mind and inflict it with his own darkest fears. She was highly skilled in this power, and it had a very good chance at succeeding, though her purple saberstaff remained on guard, ready to fend off a retaliatory attack.

The difference between the Amalgam and Xiphos's aura was like night and day, and for the perceptive, like Sakadi Marathi Sinvala , she might notice Xiphos wasn't using her emotions to fuel her assault.

As Starlin Rand attempted to ensnare Cameron Crownwraithe with a deadly Spell, Arianna Belasko chose to intervene, pulling the moisture from the air to throw a large tendril of water in his direction to try and break his Concentration and give Cameron time to react. The Fake Dark Adept with a False Dark Side Aura chuckled.

"Mother Nature, The Spheres rush to them..." The Blond Force Spawn hissed, conjuring a fast moving projectile of solid water to hone in on Starlin, while she leapt for Sakadi, red blades flashing active. The Light Adept hiding in Arianna's flesh not wanting her actually dead, merely incapacitated as she spun her red blades to inflict disabling cuts on her opponents Wrists, albeit not actually sever them, though it was hard for the Lightsider hiding in Arianna's mind to control the Surface Persona's murderous impulses adequately to keep the aggressive witch from going all the way.

For Varn Barakis , a lethal threat would emerge, moving along the ceiling and dripping down behind him to form into a young woman with pale skin, brown hair and clad in silvery biker leathers with black spikes on the jacket.

It approached him with an odd serenity to her face, an unusually serene look almost like that of a Jedi.

This was Xiphos's first daughter, Lyssa, The Advanced Prototype, and as she got closer, her arms formed into blades.

"I do not wish to harm you..." She confessed to the Jedi quietly in a just as unsettlingly serene tone as she called out to him right before she struck at his face to try and cut it badly "But if I must kill you to protect my mother, then die you shall."

Maple Harte , in the meanwhile, faced Nico Kaidshau . She felt the roiling tension in him, a parallel to the insanity within she was fighting a losing battle against daily and felt some sympathy for what the man must struggle against constantly.

She stood before him, a powerful sensitive in spite of her madness, gave a very slight, formal bow, and then sprang for him with her Drunken style Form 4, confusing and swaying and acrobatic as she attacked his arms and legs trying to inflict an incapacitating wound, rather than kill him...

Meanwhile...

The Battalion slaughtered and slaughtered, spear heading the counter assault against the invading forces with pure, deadly Shien as she, the Nuetralizers, and the Clones, War Knight's and her fellow Witches cut down attacking Jedi in scores, The War Knight's in particular stunning the Jedi by using that strange blue lightning that Xiphos had taught them to cut off their ability to use the Light (though it could not hurt or kill, only stun).

She could feel the surprise, the disbelief in the Jedi as they were murdered...how could a crazy cult and a bunch of smartass droids and brainwashed clones do this much damage?

The Battalion didn't get lazy. This felt too easy...

Then the eastern side exploded just as the Jedi started to retreat.

The Battalion looked. A second wave of Jedi and now GA Marines, the Marines in powered battle armor, armed with sonics and charrics. There were more double bladed using Jedi too. More slaughter per swing.

A whole bunch of Model 2's were cut down by Lightsabers, along with clones as they assaulted, dropping from the sky in jetpacks by the dozens. The Battalion joined the fray as they landed, battling thred Jedi at once with an elegant, Fanatical command of her blade, swiftly, cruelly dispatching them with cuts that were fatal, but would not kill immediately.

"C'MON YOU BASTARDS!" The Battalion shouted. "I'LL CRUCIFY THE LOT OF YOU!"

The Battalion unleashed a powerful ball of lightning that raced forward into their lines, barely stopped by the combined will of Multiple Jedi holding it in place, only to get a nasty surprise as smaller bolts of electricity were emitted from the main lightning ball, shocking them mildly but enough for their hold over it to be broken, crashing into them and killing two.

The Model 2's reorganized their defense, some still committed to wiping out the remnants of that first wave, while the rest committed to wiping out the newer, larger, more advanced weaponry and Protection of the Second wave, using their Sound Cannons to great effects as they flew in, while Model 1's and clones engaged Jedi directly, one managing to kill two through sheer skill with a blade, disarming and cutting down the shocked Jedi, but the sonics the second wave was carrying started to do damage to the Model 1's, blasting many apart, while rockets took out a small set of clone squads. One witch was cut apart, the first of the Witch casualties, and The Battalion avenged the loss by brutally gutting the smug, arrogant Jedi that had done it painfully.

Feeding off the slaughter, her power was growing in magnitude, her blade dancing through the mist stalwart saber defense as she and The defenders battled the increased pressure.

It spoke volumes of just how dangerous Xiphos was considered. Nobody insignificant warrants this much heat. Especially not after all the chit Xiphos pulled.

But she loved a challenge. Two dozen Jedi were dead by her hand already, and the number was climbing as she charged ahead, battling through hoardes of marines to fight the Jedi waiting for her, some being sniped by Clones...

 

[Varn Barakis]

Gear: Silver Jedi Knight Plate, Lightsaber - Green kyber crystal
Tags: Sakadi Marathi Sinvala Nico Kaidshau Starlin Rand Aaran Tafo Cameron Crownwraithe Laertia Io

It was clear that talk would achieve nothing. Hope as he might, Varn couldn't see a way in which they all made it through unblooded. So be it. Taking a neutral stance, the Jedi was momentarily thrown off by Dagon's outburst. His companions were quick to reign the young man in, but even so, Varn could not help but look on worriedly. Were these outbursts normal? Was the aggressiveness? The Knight knew not, but he had faith in his counterpart, Aaran. And, if he was being honest, he had faith in Dagon, too.

The Council would not have chosen him for this mission otherwise.

He did not witness the moment Aaran made his move, only the aftermath. In a blink, he was by Laertia's side, his blade a sliver of yellow light that seemed to burn it's way through the air. The surge and shift of the Force came with the knowledge that he was witnessing a Master at work. Two Masters if he stopped to consider Nico. He would have, had something not dropped from the ceiling to land behind him.

Turning at the soft pitter-patter of rain -no, feet- Varn was greeted by the sight of a woman. A mop of brown hair, pale skin that seemed unnatural in the light, and silver leathers. An oddity among oddities, Varn had not sensed her before. Understandable given the powers arrayed against each other. Tilting his head to one side, he watched as the woman-thing began to walk towards him, her arms shifting shape, becoming blades. The calm expression and her tone of voice would've worried Varn had he not felt calm, too.

This is exactly where I'm supposed to be, he told himself, and believed it.

"I do not wish to harm you..." The woman-thing said, proving her words false a second later as she attacked. Shifting backwards, his feet sliding across the smooth floor, the zabrak avoided the blades aimed at his face by a hair's breadth. "But if I must kill you to protect my mother, than die you shall."

Shifting his weight, and straightening his back, the Battlemaster's eyes sought the woman's own, held them. For a moment he was convinced she was real. It did not take much to convince himself otherwise. "Are those words born of the heart or the programming that dictates your every whim, I wonder." Falling into Makashi, the Knight made to strike at Lyssa's head and neck before ramping up the speed and striking at her left arm. A testing of sorts, he did not expect the attacks to land.

But he wouldn't bat an eye if they did.

 

[Laertia Io]

Mercury sheened irises stared at Varn Barakis as he asked his question, held his gaze. The not-human aspect showed a little more clearly in how precise her movements were. She also didn't breathe.

"Both." She confessed flatly, her creepily serene expression and tone unchanging. "Most children have an instinct based inclination to love and obey their parents anyway. That's all programming really is anyway: Instinct that must be written down rather than be born with. But if you are asking which is stronger, I would say it's actual Love. It's complicated. You'd have to be me to understand."

Her online databases detected the use of Makashi, and she adjusted, accessing the Djem So database, but making no move to defend.

His blade struck at her head and she let it, the Laminanium Nanites she was entirely composed of having Extreme resistance to Lightsabers, leaving only faint, glowing marks. Every part of her was resistant to Lightsabers, and as she let her arm get struck she used her other arm to slice upward into his torso, striking not to kill but to grievously wound, while his blade was focused on hitting her arm.

"I could just as easily ask you whether you are here out of sincere belief that my mother must be apprehended or blind obedience to your Jedi Council."

 

[Cameron Crownwraithe]

Location: Hideout Base - Kerest
Tags: Laertia Io Arianna Belasko Aaran Tafo Dagon Kaze Starlin Rand Sakadi Marathi Sinvala Nico Kaidshau

No hesitation.

The speedster moved to pull out her SMG, her eyes scanning across the room as she quickly assessed the position of the five Jedi relative to her location. She immediately perceived one who could move in such a way as to rival or potentially even surpass her own Surge. Fortunately, her Force-enhanced reaction speed was fast enough that she could perceive his individual movements, but it stood to reason that he was likely the most dangerous of the Jedi in the room. As such, Cameron intended to engage him, but it was then that her perception seemed to take on the thickness of molasses, slowing her down until she was almost completely frozen in place.

Immediately, her eyes scanned for the perpetrator, ruling out the blind Jedi, before looking to the Elf, the Zabrak, the tall black-haired Knight, then finally the Apprentice ( Starlin Rand ). All the while, Cameron strained against the invisible coils, attempting to remove herself from the restraining energy field, yet to no palpable effect. Nevertheless, the speedster grunted as she continued to work at freeing herself, attempting to raise her SMG in order to fire the weapon at the Apprentice, in order to break the spell on her own.

Just then, Cameron got the break that she needed.

She felt the coils snap, breaking her free from the Stasis even if only for a moment. Then, harnessing her Speed to boost the celerity of her motions, in less than a fifth of a second after Arianna’s intervening tendril attack from the Apprentice's opposite side, Cameron aimed and fired the SMG at the maximum rate towards ( Starlin Rand ) from roughly fifteen meters away, letting the recoil pull her aim up from his stomach on the first shot, chest on the second, neck on the third, then finally, his head on the fourth.

Spoiler: Loadout

• FAE/A-09 “Hayai” Energized Bodysuit
  • Left Gauntlet
    • Universal Gas Launcher
      • Pink Vapor
    • Vac Attack Mk-127 Disc Launcher
  • Right Gauntlet
    • Wide Beam Sonic Stunner
  • Energy Shield
    • Phase III “Force Avenger” Energy Shield
  • Alchemical Talisman(s)
    • Spirit Anchor
  • Neon Overdrive Heels
  • Utility
    • Supernal Infusion
• Jasmine Lightsaber (2)
  • Pink Kyber Crystal
• Hekler'Kok SMG-01

 

[Sakadi Marathi Sinvala]

She had decided to hold back against Laertia's disciples. But that did not mean she would stand idly by and try to convince them to lay down their arms.

Sakadi took a deep breath, opening herself fully to the flow of the Living Force. In her mind's eye, she witnessed how The Amalgam drew on the Dark side and shaped it in a vicious mental assault. Immediately, her light rose to meet it. Her presence in the Force, which was nothing short of a blazing star, took the mind of her fellow Jedi in a gentle but protective embrace. Any who wished to torment the mind of Dagon Kaze had to go through her. And the Jedi Master's mental defences were nothing short of formidable.

The decision to prioritize the safety of one's allies would have left any normal Jedi open. But Sakadi's mastery over the mental aspect of the Force was unparalleled. She could commune through the Force as easily as she could breathe, and had done so for decades. Affecting minds was a part of her daily routine, and it was therefore no surprise that the Jedi Master could divide her focus with ease.

Her left foot slid back as her fiery white blade ignited. When the red blades came down upon the Jedi, she simply danced back. Her bladework was minimal and passive, focused entirely on parrying what cuts and thrusts were actually threatening. It took little insight to notice her opponent's emphasis on Form 7. Sakadi had always dismissed the Form, for it was erratic, costly, and energy-consuming. It was pure ferocity and required extreme skill and years of practice to actually pose a threat. But at that point, one was far better off studying other Forms of lightsaber combat.

But her insight in Form 7 did not make duelling with her attention divided any easier. As long as she had to guard Dagon's mind and potentially those of her other fellow Jedi, could she not afford to take risk and go on the offensive. That was why she would surely but steadily give ground, and remain on a comfortable defensive.

Starlin Rand | Nico Kaidshau | Dagon Kaze | Aaran Tafo | Laertia Io | Cameron Crownwraithe​

 

[Starlin Rand]

Arianna Belasko’s tendril of water caught Starlin before he could finish his spell, but he was ready when she followed it up with a sphere of moisture. The Silver Dragon breathed fire, vaporizing the water amid a cloud of steam.

The distraction cost him his stasis grip on Cameron, which resulted in him getting shot with her slugthrower at least once—it was hard to keep track amid the hectic, chaotic fighting that had erupted in the hangar bay. Though his armor prevented the slugs and slug shrapnel from actually entering his body, he felt the impact against his side and chest as an explosion of sudden sharp pain before he got the hell out of dodge, his neck and head intact.

"Yep, that’s probably a cracked rib," he gasped. "Or at least one helluva bruise…"

Grimacing, he kept moving, not toward the blue-haired girl but off to the side as much as he could without crossing paths with one of the other combatants. He got close enough to taste the vile tendrils of the Amalgam as they reached toward Dagon, only to be denied by Master Sinvala.

Despite the cracked rib, he managed to whistle at Cameron. "Girl, you're thicker than a bowl of oatmeal." He had managed to get a look at her from the side. "Too bad you look like you used Windex as conditioner."

Without taking his eyes off of her, he kept moving, hoping to provoke some reaction out of her, even if it was homicidal outrage at his flirtatious taunting. He wasn’t sure what exactly her strengths were, aside from being able to move superhumanly fast and bringing a gun to a swordfight, but his primary goal was to keep her preoccupied. To keep them all preoccupied for a little while, until he could make up his mind whether or not it was worth it to reveal the secret to Laertia.

So far he had no guarantee this “shocking news” would have any effect on her, let alone be the final hammer blow that enabled them to successfully capture her. He was searching the Force for answers, praying he was making the right choice...

Meanwhile, outside the fortress…

NPCs: Jaina Grayson (Combat Configuration) | Bithia (Combat Configuration) | Ayreon

Among the second wave of troops sent in to keep the Neutralizers and witches preoccupied were an unlikely trio. Jaina Grayson, who had participated in the first attempt at arresting Xiphos, was among them, along with Bithia and Ayreon. The group had tangled connections to Jedi Master Nimdok and to each other, all of which was too complicated to get into, but they were here now either as a favor to Nimdok or because they were already in his service.

Surveying the carnage around them, Bithia turned to her companions and hissed, “I told you we should’ve just nuked the site from orbit! Look at this!”

Jaina had already looked. It was hard not to see the bodies strewn across the duracrete courtyard, the blood and gore and flamethrower-charred remnants of dozens of Silver Jedi Shadows. There were Neutralizers, witches, and clone troopers among the dead, too, but the vast majority of the bodies were Jedi. More fodder for the ever-increasing body count of Darth Xiphos and her allies.

Ayreon, who had just finished off a squad of clones attempting to sneak up on them, glanced at the arguing biots. “A nuke would be disproportionate to the threat level,” he remarked, reloading his slugthrower.

“Are you sure about that?” Bithia retorted. She blasted a Neutralizer with cryo, then leaped forward to shatter its chassis with a superhumanly strong punch to its chest. “It seems to me we’re getting slaughtered! How does that not warrant at least orbital bombardment of the site?”

“We’re supposed to capture Xiphos,” Jaina replied, her programming resolute. “Killing her in cold blood would have grave consequences.”

“For who, exactly? Her terrorist followers? The dying Sith? The Confederacy? Who gives a chit?—”

An explosion nearby shook the ground. Someone had thrown a sonic grenade at the Neutralizers, damaging several—and finally giving them a clear line of sight to the cultists crowded around the mysterious witch known as The Battalion , just in time to witness her gutting a Jedi.

Grabbing one of the fallen Neutralizer’s mounted machine guns, Bithia turned it upon the witch, unleashing a hailstorm of fire. Meanwhile Ayreon tossed a thermal detonator into their midst. Jaina, unable to close the distance to melee the group, sighed and pulled out her disruptor rifle, firing at the witches surrounding the Battalion from behind cover...

Aaran Tafo Sakadi Marathi Sinvala Dagon Kaze Varn Barakis Nico Kaidshau Laertia Io Cameron Crownwraithe​

 

[Aaran Tafo]

It was a curious sensation Aaran found, to be disconnected from one's own body. He had no sense of smell, hearing, he could not tell what direction was up and what direction was down. There was nothing for him to use to perceive the world around him.

Nothing but the Force. with no distractions, no minute limitations and biases his physical body would weigh him down with, he was perfectly capable of perceiving the entire battle. How each of his allies in turn were acting during the fight. How the Force ebbed and flowed around each of them in turn. From Varn's masterful strikes to Sakadi's weaving of primordial energies and focused will to protect Dagon's mind.

His own body was barely something he regarded as there. Merely a tool, an instrument of crude matter guided by a luminous consciousness. He had used the mask before. Humbled by the perspective it brought. If his ancestors knew that he was using a tool of enlightenment for battle. He could only imagine the disappointment they would feel. But times like these called for such measures. He needed to act without distraction.

That and this was an excellent field test. A battle against a low-risk, if rather irritating opponent. One who was simply more tenacious than dangerous on the larger scale of things.

His perception of time distorted, he idly noted that the change in the flow of Laertia's energy and intent. Her usage of the more delicate and refined form of Makashi. Again, her own lack of pattern recognition was at it again. Precise and skilful strikes would mean nothing to him. Makashi's greatest weakness in a duel was the lack of kinetic energy behind its strikes. Even with Laertia's enhanced strikes behind it, the delicate footwork and refined strikes were simply ill-suited in generating the power needed to hurt him. The Talisman he wore would simply deflect any of the glancing blows against him. Rending him unharmed.

She did not need skill to overcome him. She needed power. The raw strength to split flesh and shatter bone. Her current tactics were as ineffectual against him as her crusade against the New Imperial Order. And here he recalled her mentioning that she learned from her battles. Clearly that was just another lie she told herself.

As the barrage of thrusts and slashes were aimed at his wrist. His hand twisted, as if preparing to parry them away. Only for him to do something unexpected. Jerking his wrist towards the Black Knight's sword at the last possible millisecond. Her saber slicing cleanly through the sleeves of his robe.

And striking the very thin bracer of cortosis hidden underneath. Worn specifically so that he may disable any lightsabers that struck him.

Now taking advantage of the hopefully deactivated saber, barring any tricks or other such nonsense from the Black Knight. The Warden would switch to a ferocious offensive assault. His strikes blazingly fast and impossibly strong. But any curious observers would not that they were lacking anything resembling a formal style.

Because what were things such as martial arts and swordsmanship styles but to teach the body muscle memory and trick it into always falling into efficient movements with certain intent. It was a tactic that worked for most people. Even for most Jedi. But in someone in Aaran's situation, it was utterly pointless. He could not perceive even the most basic stimuli with his five senses. So, all he could rely on was the Force urging him to move his body in certain ways, guiding him towards the most efficient strike.

A constant unending barrage of strikes flowed from him. Looking to strike down the Black Knight, or create a large enough opening for his allies to capitalise on. She had proven time and time again that she was not going to back down. Claiming to wish to maim any who stood against her in order to damage the morale of their allies. So now we would see how she'd fare against those butting their noses into her business and causing a mess.

Laertia Io Cameron Crownwraithe Dagon Kaze Starlin Rand Varn Barakis Nico Kaidshau Sakadi Marathi Sinvala

 

[Laertia Io]

Ah, The Talisman he wore. And he had gotten clever.

Her saber deactivated as it hit the Cortosis, but Xiphos didn't curse mentally. Aaran was nothing but an arrogant fool, who thought he had her number when the last encounter had shown only that he was reliant on his charms to avoid being hit.

She was prepared for his barrage of strikes, sighing in boredom as his blows, both saber and fist (Incredibly strong by his own standards, nothing to her) barely made her grunt in exertion as she parried his blows with Lightsaber resistant Armor, keeping hands and legs as damaging as Vibroweapons at Bay through pure skill. The only real threat she perceived was the speed with which he delivered them

Fists. She thought, sneering mentally. He thinks mere fists will do the job? This is not a dance!

Indeed he was tiredly predictable. It was obvious even at Krayiss 2 that he thought he had her figured out, thinking his talisman and fists would do what dozens of Veteran Jedi Knights could not. None the less , he managed to score one glancing set of strikes on her shoulder, arm, and right thigh, though only the plating and armorweave was ripped away in medium sized gashes.

He didn't understand how painfully obvious it was where his attacks were going, because they could only go in her direction. She countered the next set of blows however, noting the lack of form. He was emptying himself in a way that revolted her. She saw no beauty, no coordinating, no plan. Just endless reliance on being guided, thinking the Force would solve it all for him. She would disabuse him of that notion.

Xiphos's boredom grew as she twisted the Force to provide her some guidance on when to block and evade the next series of attacks, at one point almost standing in place and parrying an absolutely furious barrage of fists with one arm, simple evasions carrying her away from his fist and Lightsaber blows at the last second, snorting as she defended, conserving her energy while his strikes came fast and furious and unrelenting. She would let him tire himself out. Xiphos did not get complacent, knowing any attack was potentially dangerous now if it connected, and did not dare discount Aaran (Or his allies for that matter) as totally as he discounted her, to his mortal peril. Where was the heart?

The Force let her sense his every move, fast, with resolve to kill if necessary, but not executed with the idea that the enemy posed a genuine threat. The technique, while powerful, arrogance sabotaged it badly. Previous Jedi who had tried his Force Warrior antics had actually done more damage because they appreciated how dangerous Xiphos was, And took no chances, employing a calculated, cautious offense and defense, and though they failed, more due to Xiphos's sheer experience than any real failing of their technique, their blows had still connected on occasion, marking themselves as True Jedi. If he hadn't been so full of himself, some of his own blows might have actually connected past the armor They always seemed to be on the verge of just close enough now, but Xiphos's training and use of the Force had improved even further since Krayiss 2, along with analyzing his initial tactics in Krayiss 2.

She had adapted to his tactic, and her evasions began to look more effortless, though on one more he managed more than just armor damage and scored a gash that opened her left arm with a jagged wound, but her armor's painkilling and regenerating effects went to work, But for all the flurry he had managed only one true, minor wound, a sign of how incredibly skilled she was and had become from all her terrible conflicts, and knew that the technique he employed had reached it's limits. He was formless, this much was true, but being formless didn't equate to true potency. Didn't equate to strategy, and it was further sabotaged by so casually dismissing a foe that had felled warriors and Jedi far stronger and worthier of their Abilities and Title than he was. It showed in his every blow, the seething, hubris filled expectation that soon she would be felled and he could brush her off and brag to his friends about it later. It was lies he told himself. He was so deep in denial about the threat she posed to him and his friends, she almost pitied him, and his empty belief that she was ultimately of no consequence.

But if that was the case, how had she withstood his frenzied attacks so casually, despite his minor points of contact? Why were so many Knight's dying, being slaughtered like cattle by her sons and followers and allies? Why bring so many to arrest her if she was truly such a minor annoyance? Why bring so many powerful Jedi to personally arrest her if she was no real threat at all? Why appeal directly to the CIS Leadership, the government she had defected to, if she had had such a minor effect on the war?

The only thing keeping Aaran in the fight was his Talisman. Without it, he was a dead man. Minute dodges barrowed from Form 3, combined with the balletic foot work of Form 2 made his furious assault look more like the flaying hands of a man drowning in an ocean next to her swift dolphin gliding through its roiling waves now. She was a serpent, side winding constantly out of the way of the rock attempting to crush it's skull. She was almost playing with him.

"I have fought Martial Artists who would put you to shame. You embarrass yourself, boy. Come off it!" She hissed quietly. "You'll only die brave...and more tired than most..."

As he failed the next, chaotic barrage of strikes, her Dragon Kung Fu having kept up and countered everything he threw, her blade finally reactivated due to her Ionize ability rebooting it's circuits, and, keeping aware of where his Cortosis covered arm was, she teleported out of the way of his next blow, and reappeared a slight distance away. Well within lunging range of the Arrogant Jedi Scum.

She threw out a powerful telekinetic field, powerful enough to slow down even the very fast and strong in a relatively small radius all around her as she lunged, using crushing Shien and Djem So strikes at high speed, aimed for his back, coming down at hard and fast, random angles directed at every target zone on his body save the arm with the Cortosis bracer now, barrowing from her Form 1 mastery to try and cut off his retreat or ability to dodge, striking from angles it would be extremely difficult for him to use the bracer to catch her blade again, focusing the telekinetic field to try and slow him as much as possible as she now hammered him with merciless amounts of strength, trying to pierce the barrier. Every protective ward had it's limits. What Xiphos was doing was the brute force equivalent of exploratory surgery, as not only did her strikes come down fast and brutal, ready to dodge and pull back from his bracer should he attempt another surprise defense, they came fiendishly precise, the curved hilt of her purple blade enhancing the kinetic attacks of her assault, while altering their attack angles to make them difficult to predict fully, though it was still possible.

Xiphos had stopped playing around with this arrogant Jedi, and was now in full kill mode.

Meanwhile, The Amalgam , undaunted by the protection Sakadi Marathi Sinvala threw up to protect Dagon Kaze , merely increased her own dark output, the mass of incredibly evil minds swelling with in her, ruthlessly, savagely battering away at the mental shield she was using, increasing in strength and savagery with every attack, clearly experienced at getting past these sorts of mental shields, power focused as a mental spear as she not only assaulted the mind but the body also, sprinting towards Dagon, staring at him and focusing the Darkness, channeling that hatred through her eyes and trying to burn his face as her purple blades flashed towards his stomach.

Arianna Belasko noticed her Juyo attacks were being patiently defended against by Sinvala. She was not dissuaded, instead pulling back and conjuring a number of throwing knives made from water, as sharp and as hard as regular knives due to her power compressing the water to such a degree, and flung them at her legs, again, the Light Adept hiding in Arianna not wanting Sinvala dead, while Arianna could think of nothing but maiming the powerful Jedi...

Starlin Rand

Varn Barakis

Cameron Crownwraithe


OOC: Starlin, will follow up on Jaina's situation in a Battalion post

 

[Nico Kaidshau]

Starlin Rand Aaran Tafo Sakadi Marathi Sinvala Dagon Kaze Varn Barakis Laertia Io Cameron Crownwraithe

Kade returned the small bow that Maple Harte gave him. The brief exchange was enough for him to focus on her. Long enough to be surprised by her movements. It wasn't a familiar style which didn't work in his favor. Even channeling the force through him, backed with the incessant rage he took several hits.

The stinging cramp of those hits to his body translated to the calm of his mind as well, but the tree glowed all the brighter for it. It trembled with anger, drawing from those around them in the heat of the moment to fuel the corrective pulses to ignore the effects of Maple's hits for a time. His hands flexed as she wove through his attempts to strike back, an annoying thing that further loosened the tenuous hold.

"If we weren't fighting, this would be educational." He snorted, teeth grinding at the tensing of the muscles in his limbs. They burned with effort as he moved, the whole of his legs trying to cramp while he contested the space she pushed into. She had missed one arm, but only the one as he stiff legged an attempted sweep for her feet to push her back.

To give himself some room to focus and draw himself back down.

Why are you fighting them? This, Xiphos, woman is right you know. The rumbling voice came from within him as the pair fought, from his core as his inner mind focused on balancing the power he was channeling. He didn't shake in that moment, but the intrusive nature of the thought concerned him. The words over the announcement system being drawn back.

Your precious younglings, dangling like a piece of meat before those all consuming, overgrown, maggots. The voice beckoned him to pay heed to it. The charring of the tree channeling the draw of power in his stead shook violently with barely contained laughter. His own words being turned against him as his mind errantly wandered in the midst of the fight.

And here you are paying service to those who would make the school you cherish...a factory of bodies for the grinder. You daft fool. Drawing a breath, he tried to push through the temptation of letting go of his control, but its weight was pressing down with the annoyance of this foreign style he was facing.

You haven't even gone to help defend those worlds the maggots snap up so hungrily. -Silence.- Are you scared old man? -Silence I say.- Wavering bravery in your later years is it? Comfy in your safety at Silver Rest while others fight for you. -SILENCE damn you.- You'll do nothing more than talk while watching those little bodies-SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!- His patience snapped as his mind continued to plague him with thoughts. His own insecurities rising through his channeling of the dark side as the stiff leg of his sweep shifted and withdrew.

The focus shattered, the tree split wide and his calm mind fell away in shame. Dark side rolled through his presence, the careful line he had walked in the void snapping suddenly into the real as he hunched over and stared over his opponent.

The faintest hint of a smile appeared as he cleared his throat. Energy surged through his muscles, his speed near to matching Aaran Tafo with a push into Maple's space as one arm swung wide in a punch while the other snapped forward to grab her by the shirt. If she pulled back, he wouldn't relent and would close the distance with enhanced speed, his eyes fixated on her.

There was an alarming calm about him, a predator unleashed finally as his movements became fluid even with the previous strikes.

 

[Cameron Crownwraithe]

Location: Hideout Base - Kerest
Tags: Laertia Io Aaran Tafo Dagon Kaze Starlin Rand Sakadi Marathi Sinvala Nico Kaidshau

She couldn’t let herself succumb to the curse again.

Even as the Jedi attempted to coax a reaction out of her, Cameron held her tongue, her features initially twisting towards annoyance, before shifting back to a calm, focused set.

The shadow of the Red Eye had loomed over her since Vjun, that encounter with the Galidraani General which had coincided with the arrival of the Shaper’s Palace over Castle Bast, creating a perfect storm of conditions for the curse to activate itself. She had been unable to stop its onset, unable to resist the preternatural Rage it awakened in her soul, pushing fear, pain, and other intense emotions to the forefront of her mind. Perhaps it could be construed as a benefit, as the curse did come with heightened power, making her faster, stronger, and more durable than before. However, in her view, it ultimately wasn’t worth the loss of her reasoning and ability to analyze a given situation. Against a full battalion of Jedi, she couldn’t afford to lose her head in exchange for her heart, even if she was keenly aware that her mother was in danger.

Nevertheless, Cameron didn’t relent in her assault on the Apprentice. After her first four shots, she paused only to let her SMG settle itself, rather than forcing it to do so via her own enhanced celerity. While she was capable of effectively breaking the laws of physics to move at supersonic speeds, to an extent, the weapon in her hands yet still had to abide by them. Carelessly moving it at her speeds, specifically when executing small micro-adjustments while firing could at the very least ruin her accuracy or potentially damage the barrel. As such, Cameron paused for less than a split-second, letting the vibration in the frame dissipate before resetting her aim.

The distance between Cameron and her target remained roughly the same. However, as Starlin was moving laterally relative to her position, Cameron had to compensate by aiming her SMG ever so slightly ahead of his direction of travel. Her next two shots were delivered less than a split-second after the taunt, her answer to his ‘roast’ of her hair. Both were discharged in a short, two-round burst, intended to strike his chest with the first, then neck with the second from now roughly 18 meters away.

Spoiler: Loadout

• FAE/A-09 “Hayai” Energized Bodysuit
  • Left Gauntlet
    • Universal Gas Launcher
      • Pink Vapor
    • Vac Attack Mk-127 Disc Launcher
  • Right Gauntlet
    • Wide Beam Sonic Stunner
  • Energy Shield
    • Phase III “Force Avenger” Energy Shield
  • Alchemical Talisman(s)
    • Spirit Anchor
  • Neon Overdrive Heels
  • Utility
    • Supernal Infusion
• Jasmine Lightsaber (2)
  • Pink Kyber Crystal
• Hekler'Kok SMG-01

 

[Varn Barakis]

Tags: Sakadi Marathi Sinvala Nico Kaidshau Starlin Rand Aaran Tafo Dagon Kaze Laertia Io Cameron Crownwraithe

Her words preceded the touch of his blade. For a moment, Varn felt both elation and confusion as the woman-thing didn't move to defend herself. It didn't stop him from following with one cut after another. The third blow sliced her arm exactly where he intended, rending flesh -if you could call it that- with clinical precision as it always did. Sliding his feet backwards, the Knight managed to get clear before her other arm came around to bisect the spot where he'd just been. Creating space, he slid back another step, poised for the fall or further retaliation. After what he'd just inflicted, he expected the former.

Instead, he watched as the Prototype shrugged off the blows, it's skin glowing fiercely where he had struck. The lines his saber had drawn on her- it's skin began to fade as he studied his enemy, confusion swiftly replaced by acceptance. "Huh." He grunted, taking the turn of events in his stride. He had expected something like this; his own armor was resistant to sabers, too. It was just a shame it had to be his opponent who had said resistance. Maybe he could swap?

Her question stopped him from entertaining that thought. Watching Lyssa closely, Varn took a few steps to his right, then, back to his left. Pacing, he weighed up her words as if somewhere among them a trap lay unsprung. It was clear she sought to distract him, perhaps even sway him. That wasn't happening.

"I am here because I believe in our cause, yes. Your creator is not the saint she has painted herself to be. She is a murderer. Worse, she thinks she's justified in her actions." Frowning, Varn did his best to keep the pity from his eyes. "I do not know when exactly the Darkness inside of her took hold nor why she allowed it to happen. What I do know is that she needs to be stopped before she harms anyone else, willingly or otherwise." Stopping, the Zabrak looked his opponent in the eye, unsure whether the glint he saw there was a symbol of life or just a simulation of one.

"That's why I'm here. To stop Laertia before she dooms all of the people she claims to be trying to save."

Squaring his feet, the Jedi lashed out with the Force. At first, he merely attempted to Push Lyssa, to watch for a reaction. The Throw that followed was inevitable, regardless of the Prototype's reaction. His saber clearly wouldn't cut it, so he would have to employ other means instead.

 

[Laertia Io]

"Curious. Mother never painted herself as a saint, and I have never witnessed Saintly behavior. She simply holds that she is right and you and your Order were wrong, and has maintained this position from the beginning." Lyssa replied. "So, yes, I must concede that she believes she is justified, else she would not be doing the things she does.

She went into guard as they circled each other.

"I have detected a flaw in your statement however. Mother is not manipulating the Dark Side to kill your allies. Even among Sith, she is considered as much a heretic as you consider her to be for this very reason. Don't you find it odd that, in all the battles she fought alongside the Sith, she was never folded into the Command Structure, even on a very basic level? Her presence is tolerated, but she is still viewed as a heretic, and an insane one, by nearly every Sith we encounter. If even the Sith she works alongside do not believe she is manipulating the Darkness to achieve her ends, then it stands to reason she is not. My own databases are extensive on this subject. She has not manifested any of the known Sith abilities, such as Choke or using the Force to drive another insane. She is an outsider even to them."

When Varn Barakis said he was here to stop her before she doomed all the people she was trying to save, The Nanite Assassin Droid, ever serene, ever un-breathing, tilted her head in curiosity.

"Your analysis again does not mesh with observable fact. Mother attempted to save Sarka, and evacuated hundreds who would have otherwise been slaughtered by The Bryn'adul. She lost thousands of her children, my brothers, at that place. Had Mother not arrived at Sev Tok with Anti Bryn'adul weapons and reinforcements, I calculate an eighty five percent probability that the Militia would have been slaughtered almost completely, and she helped evacuate thousands there from the combat space, at great risk to herself and her allies. She also attempted to save Csilla by helping others sabotage the reactor. Even The Amalgam tried to save Csilla, and The Amalgam is for the most part a heartless monster, every bit the depraved animal that so many paint Mother to be. As a matter of fact, her Cult of The Brain Demon was the only major group of Sith that stood in opposition to those who actually destroyed it." Lyssa pointed out.

"Her only real sin at Csilla and Sarka was failure, and her only actual Sin against the Jedi is killing your warriors over ideology, over a fundamental disagreement over trying to treat all evils, all threats, as equal, something inherently abhorrent to her thought process."

He was a shifty one, her defense protocols at maximum. Any moment now, the tension would give.

He tried to hurl her backward with the Force. Her entire body rippled like water, being shoved back, the Nanites that composed her legs clinging to micro-cracks and other imperfections in the floor to avoid being hurled back, and used this tactic to keep walking toward him.

"There no motivators to fry, no bones to break, no arteries to cut." She said with disturbing serenity, not even gloating at Varn, merely stating fact.

"I am curious however, as to how the Jedi can prop themselves up morally at this point. You all make this great display of moral integrity out one corner of your mouth..." She began, growing silvery tendrils from her body with knife blades at the end.

"Yet out of the other corner, you happily make alliances with fascist tyrants like the NIO, whose system of government is a mockery of everything the Jedi stand for. Jedi happily assisted the Ashlan Crusade when they came to Ziost, their soldiers systematically going door to door to execute any Civilians, some for simply being related to stormtroopers. Or crucifying them in the streets, as no doubt Starlin Rand would relate to you if you were to ask: My brothers spotted him there."

She was few seconds from her assault, but wanted to give him time to think about this, and hard.

"You decry my mother so much for supporting just a temporary unity, yet your side has basically married to a government run by a man who will never truly respect your Jedi ways if he has to choose between them and Imperialism, and you are all seemingly willing to turn a blind eye to the cruelty of the Essonian Church simply because they favor the Light Side while nailing people to crosses. But who gets to call you out? Who gets to point out that your allies are using you as much as you feared the Sith would? Who gets to make you realize that they might be as crazy as the Sith you despise, possibly crazier? And will likely turn on you and everything you protect the moment you truly put your foot down and try to pull them back from their ambition? Cedric Grayson is a madman who thinks if he destroys every thing Dark Side in the Galaxy, Heaven will magically happen across the universe, never mind if the Dark Side exists in other Galaxies." Lyssa pointed out, uncertain why she was talking so much as she prepared to attack.

"He'll fight you, and anyone else who stands in his way. Because he thinks he answers exclusively to his Goddess, and doesn't need to be held accountable to other Light Siders, because his faith is 'pure'. If Mother is evil, then she is nowhere near as evil as he is potentially capable of. Yet because he supposedly stands for the Light Side, and because he opposes the Sith, seemingly none of you are willing to stand up to him, and he is ultimately far more of a threat to The Jedi's cause than Mother is. He'll create a hundred thousand bitter survivors who will march to the Sith for revenge should the Jedi refuse to arrest him eventually. You have thrown millions of lives away to stop a group you have never succeeded at truly destroying. You were so obsessed with destroying them, that you allow your allies to act nearly as vile as the Sith...but so long as they don't call themselves Sith, and don't shove how vile their thought processes actually are directly into your face, you don't have to think too hard about it. How is that not cognitive dissonance on your part? Is it becoming clear now why Mother is disgusted with the Jedi?"

She was all over him, bladed tendrils from her body flashing at high speed through the air, going for non fatal, yet disabling cuts to his arms and legs, a few going towards the weapon in his hands...

 

[Starlin Rand]

A third wave of Jedi forces arrived outside the fortress, storming the keep. They were the most elite warriors thus far, including masters of the Living Force, among the greatest of their generation. Three dozen of them managed to break the ranks of the witches and droids and clone troopers, breach the walls, and ran amok inside the facility.

“Be on your guard,” their leader, a Devaronian whose devilish appearance belied an absolute devotion to the Light, warned the others. “Xiphos has allied herself with witches and cultists unlike any we have seen before. No doubt they are performing some obscure ritual even as we speak.”

They headed for the hangar, their orders being to block all the exits and ensure that Darth Xiphos could not escape this time. Some entered the hangar, disguised with stealth field generators and Force cloaking, intent on damaging the various ships and craft inside so that they would be unable to fly...

***

Having already been shot once, Starlin didn’t intend to get shot again. But another slug struck his chestplate, and he narrowly averted the next one aimed at his neck with some quick-thinking telekinesis.

Pain radiated out from his broken collarbone as the second bullet clattered to the floor, metal resounding on stone. Along with his cracked rib, the suffering he felt was certainly putting a damper on his inner Light. There was nothing fun or funny or joyful about pain.

He had moved far enough to the side that he could see Cameron, and beyond her the others fighting. His bleary-eyed gaze fixed on Xiphos, and everything around them seemed to vanish, time slowing to a crawl.

“Words of power,” Moondog chuckled, his fingers deftly tuning a steel string guitar. “There are no words of power, Starlin. It’s the meaning of the words as you string them together that gives them power. You can emphasize them in certain ways with your tone and volume, wreak all kinds of havoc with rhymes and rhythms, but at the end of the day it’s all about meaning.”

“I can’t predict what the words will mean to someone else,” Starlin said.

“Usually. Sometimes you can.” Moondog played a series of notes. “Just like music can make you feel a certain type of way, but without words, it's a non-specific feeling. These notes in this arrangement sound sad, but no music by itself can sound like grief and mourning, or discovering requited love, or the anger and vengeance of revolutionaries. People give music meaning, not the other way around.”

“So… if I want my words to be powerful… I have to choose them carefully?”

Moondog shook his head. “More than that. You have to know something worth saying.”

Time unfroze. Master Kaidshau was dueling Maple, Aaran and Dagon were going after Xiphos, the Amalgam was lashing out at Dagon and Master Sinvala, while Varn battled Lyssa. Cameron was still standing before him, blue-haired, pink-eyed, and ludicrously thicc.

In his mind Starlin heard the words of the Amalgam. “Give someone a juicy enough secret, and it will be literal torture to keep it. Haunting them, taunting them, day and night. So magnificent, so tempting to say out loud.” She was right. Starlin had been wondering if he could end this destructive conflict with his words. He now had his answer.

“Xiphos.”

He refocused on Cameron, keeping his eyes on her, watching her every move even as he spoke the Sith name of her mother.

“Laertia.”

He spoke both her names in order to create a binding, ensuring that whatever he said next would be directed at her as surely as a homing missile. But he didn’t know all her names—didn’t know her birth name—and so it was only a partial bond that he established, like a shirt with a single button undone. He continued on unaware of this weakness, or else he might not have funneled all that was left of his strength into this one single sentence.

The words came out of his mouth clear as crystal, but that was all that was pure about them. They landed like a trumpet on the ear, as heavy as falling stars, an augury heralding the birth of an abomination. A loathsome secret, a terrible revelation, a gut-wrenching truth, all squeezed into a mere five words.

“Darth Phyre killed your parents.”

Starlin felt them exit his mouth, taking all his power with them. Strength enough to kill with a phrase. His knees buckled and he collapsed on the floor, appearing as though one of Cameron’s shots had struck true. But he was simply too weak to stand after delivering the most powerful spell the young Jedi Sorcerer had ever uttered in his life.

Thus far, anyway.

Ok I avada kedavra I guess Aaran Tafo Sakadi Marathi Sinvala Dagon Kaze Varn Barakis Nico Kaidshau Laertia Io Cameron Crownwraithe Darth Themis​