Duel Voidlight -- Dissolution Continued

[Rajan Harpal]

Continued from Dissolution of the Rim

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Darth Empyrean

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Rajan and Master Mirolai faced off against Darth Empyrean , circling him, keeping his Darkside attack at bay, for now.

Then, suddenly, Mirolai yelled out, throwing a Force Barrier around Rajan as the building exploded, being hit by missiles.

Even behind the barrier, the light was blinding, and the force still sent Rajan tumbling backwards. The whole building began to collapse around them. If any of the government officials that had been in the building had not been killed by Empyrean, they were most certainly dead now. Rajan had been saved by Master Mirolai's Battle Precognition.

Crawling from underneath some rubble, Rajan made his way to Mirolai. It was a simple matter to find her underneath the detritus and move it off her, but she was not in the best condition. Having shielded the younger Jensaarai from the blast, Master Mirolai had not had time to properly shield herself. As a result, her armor was severly damaged, and she was bleeding from shrapnel.

"Master Mirolai!"

She waved Rajan off. "I'm fine. I'll live. but I'm no condition to fight. You won't be able to hold him off by yourself, and I know that blast won't have taken him out. I can still feel his presence." Rajan could feel it too. "But you need to hold him off long enough for me to get help. I must reach Corbin."

"Vasher? You think he could defeat Empyrean?" Rajan had heard of the only Jensaarai who was also Mandalorian but had never met him. The man's company, Force-Tech, was pretty famous though.

"I know he can. He is a Defender through and through. In another lifetime, he could have been Saarai-kar."

If he weren't Mandalorian, Rajan thought, but he didn't speak it.

At that moment, as if sent by the Force Itself, a Rimward Ranger came barreling through the debris. "Is anyone alive here? The president, where is the president!?"

"Dead," Rajan replied. "They're all dead. But thank the Force you're here. I need you to get Master Defender Mirolai out of here so she can call in reinforcement. Can you do that, Ranger?"

The clone saluted. "Yes, Sir!" Django Parata picked up the woman, having no trouble doing so, even with the weight of her armor. With surprising speed, he dashed away.

Rajan turned towards where he could feel the Sith Lord's presence. He pulled the other two of his lightfoils, attaching them to his main two, creating two double-bladed lightfoils, weilding one in each hand. He faced down Empyrean, the blades spinning in his palms, hoping he could hold out against the monster for long enough.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

The explosion had been seen by Empyrean before it had hit. His eyes told no lies, and through the very walls of the complex he saw the missiles path, calculated their trajectory, and while he couldn't predict their payload - he knew enough that it was likely meant to strike him down as well as others. Whoever had sent this, would be investigated. That would come later.​

​

When the flash of light overcame the duracrete and superstructure of the building, as it began to collapse under the weight of megatons, Empyrean had lifted a hand and willed his survival. He had overcome death itself by strength alone, seen himself surpass the very limits of mortality. Mortal made weapons would never succeed in his death. His will encapsulated him, forced the heat and explosion of the world around him to split and depart. To the outside world, to those who watched through the flash, they would see it part in a very specific part.​

​

None of this destruction would touch the Emperor.​

​

When his hand fell, the world had gone quiet besides the distance screams of the dead and dying. He looked out upon them, and accepted their fate as total. The destruction of the Rim had come quickly and resolutely - it died today, at his will, and his command. Let all who stand before him face the same - the Empire of the Lost, the Mandalorians, the Dark Empire, and the Alliance. Each in their own time.​

​

He marched forward from the rubble, using the force to part it as he moved towards the surface once more. He looked for those that attacked him, and could sense their presence. His eyes ignited with power, and the world eclipsed as a black disk formed over the rubble - blocking it from orbital view, and giving Empyrean total omniscience over his local reality.​

​

He saw them in an instant, and in another he would appear before them, eyes black as the disk that blotted the sun before them, kilometers wide towards the horizon.​

​

"It is time to end this. Your nation has fallen, it is only right you die with it.", he offered them, as he lifted his mortal hand and the staff of Kala'anda shot from a distance into it with a ringing force of metal shaking as it was caught in his palm.​

​

Rajan Harpal​

 

[Rajan Harpal]

"It is time to end this. Your nation has fallen, it is only right you die with it."

Rajan faced off alone against the dread Sith. He knew he couldn't outright win, but he could delay Empyrean long enough. At least, he had faith that he could. "We have not fallen yet, Sith. And we never will, so long as the Light continues to banish the Darkness. And it's ironic that you are the one who had fallen, only to think you are stronger because of it. How can you know strength when you're the one being controlled by it?

He kept the two sets of double blades spinning in his palms and leapt at the Sith Lord, slashing with a flurry of blows. He knew the Darksider would refuse to admit that he was not the one in control, but Rajan's goal was merely to keep him talking, extending the fight by making him not want to go all-out just yet... He prayed to the Force that it would work....

Darth Empyrean ​

 

[Darth Empyrean]

"The ignorant, so vested in their blindness, will declare that their stumbling as truth - and to witness the cruelty of reality, to be ignorant.", Empyrean quoted from the ancients texts of the Sepulchral and the Eternalist faith.​

​

Rajan Harpal would leap at Empyrean, blades spinning and swinging in a flurry of blows that would match any Lord within their own right. Any Lord, but Empyrean. He who had transcended Death and rose again, the Emperor that struck down nations in a night and conquered a hundred worlds by force of will, the very God the Sith had begun to worship since his genesis on Odavessa. As blades flew at him, his staff left his grip and began to fight on its own before him.​

​

Swinging, juking, striking with the force of a full man, Empyrean took a step back and watched. He could see the man depart into the distance, could see the very pebbles he stepped over in his search for assistance. With a surge of effort, the Emperor could strike out at them both - but it had become unnecessary now. Their nation had fallen, they scrambled for the scraps of a corpse sinking into the ocean of darkness that had overcome it.​

​

He wanted to see now, how far would their hope take them when faced with the hopeless. Could they sustain themselves, even now? A sacrificial rear guard left to hold him back, it didn't matter to Empyrean. Let their plan move as it would, he would meet it with his full force in time. For now, he wanted to watch them squirm.​

​

"There was a time when Strength controlled me.", Empyrean offered as his staff spun, kicked, and shot through the rubble to hold Rajan back.​

​

"I was born a slave with no name, ushered into a world that chained me. Do you think it was the Light that guided me to providence?", he inquired.​

​

"I was a sacrificial pawn in the Force's designs. Fate had written my death before I was even born - to be the victim of another man's pleasure, another woman's needs, to die in a field or a workhouse, or traded for spice. It was through my own Strength that I was freed from what controlled me, it was my Will that broke fate's designs."​

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"Call me a murderer, and you would be right. Call me a tyrant, and I would have no argument. Call me evil - and I would allow even that. But call me a slave...", he mused.​

​

He jerked forward, between the strikes of his staff, to reach a dead hand out for Rajan's throat. He wanted to hold the man to the ground, speak to him closely - he wanted to make sure he understood the depth of his ignorance.​

​

"... and I will show you how free I have become."​

​

Rajan Harpal​

 

[Rajan Harpal]

Rajan was surprised that the Sith used a similar combat style that he did. It wasn't entirely the same, but similar enough; a style that Rajan had kept to himself, making even his fellow Jensaarai think his main style was dual-wielding two double-lightfoils. But when the staff attacked on its own, then the Sith Lord's hand reached for him, Rajan immediately detached his lightfoils with the Force and leapt up high, leaving two of the blades to catch the staff in a pincer hold. With the two sabers in his hands, he swung with a downward spiral, propelling himself into his enemy, who hopefully would not have seen this coming.

"You cannot see that you have been clouded and deceived by the Dark side. Have you really become free? Have you been able to let go of your anger, your rage, your fear? I know you Sith do not believe you feel fear and would laugh at the thought, but it is simply out of denial. Everyone feels it. Everyone has been a slave to something at some point. Do you really believe you're any different than anyone else in this Galaxy? Has your arrogance blinded you that much?"

Rajan would keep fighting in his preferred style, the way in which he was strongest, sweeping two blades at once, an extension of each other, while his other two sabers would fly around, striking from other angles. He would keep up the fight, and the egging conversation, for as long as he could....

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Empyrean's eyes, the black eclipse in the sky that blotted out the very sun, allowed him to see all things the instant they began to happen. His arkanian mind predicted possibilities, and while the Force had long taken his ability to see the future - he could still calculate probabilities at a pace that outdid most computers. Rajan fell upon Empyrean with his lightfoils, and the Emperor lifted a hand and stopped them just before they made contact with the corpse of his form.​

​

"I fear you don't understand, actually, but I didn't expect someone from a back water Order of Force users to profound truth.", he mused.

"No, I don't deny the Sith feel fear. Infact, it is the sign of any thinking being - but you don't understand what it is we fight against. Do you think I'm here for money? Wealth unimaginable? Perhaps to conquer the Galaxy and subject it to an authoritarian regime where in there would be no equal to my evils? That I would rule from a position of fear for eternity?"​

​

His staff moved and fought on its own, strike at the foils with speeds matching a star fighter. It cut through the sky like lightning, and matched the speed of both foils where ever it could possible think to. Whether on its own, or guided by Empyrean's totality vision, it moved and kept up at a pace unmatched by most fighters alive today.

Rajan Harpal​

 

[Rajan Harpal]

Rajan knew he was outclassed. Empyrean was older and much more experienced in the Force, regardless of how he chose to wield it or let it consume him. Still, the Jensaarai Defender was surprised that the Sith could react that quickly to his attack. Being half Nagai, Rajan was known with his agility. And, unfortunately, that meant he lacked the strength necessary to brute force his way through Empyrean's block, no matter how much he strained.

He leapt back into the air, spinning and landing away from the monstrosity. Steam poured from his body as his armor vented away sweat. He did his best to keep the staff at bay, but such a feat was taxing even for him. As the flying weapons darted about, clashing over and over, Rajan lowered the two in his hands out to his sides. "I have no idea why you do the things you do. But you do not know truth like you think you do. I know I do not. But that's what we Jensaarai are about. Seekers of the Hidden Truth. We began seeped in the Dark side. And we learned that that was not the Way. You cannot shun the Light if you wish to find Truth. It's fine to use the Dark side as a tool to get there, but when you let it consume you, you lose the Light. When you lose the Light, you are blinded to Truth. So," He raised one blade and pointed it at Empyrean. "Whatever reason you do these things; it will never matter as long as you continue in utter Darkness."

He really hoped Master Mirolai was able to get hold of reinforcement. But if he was meant to fall here, so be it...

Darth Empyrean

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Empyrean stood still as his staff fought on his behalf, simply watching Rajan Harpal for a few moments as he spoke about hidden truth and the teachings of his order. The Jensaarai philosophy had proven false in Empyrean's research, or rather - short sighted. There was a hidden truth, but it seemed Rajan had long since blinded himself to his own research, or at least Empyrean thought so.

"No, Jensaarai, you are not seekers of any hidden truth - or you would've understood long ago. The Force gives visions, prophecy, plans, and destiny. It perpetuates wars, genocide, disease, and death on a cyclical, galactic level for millenia then punishes those who fight against that destiny. You refer to this denial of apathy as the Dark Side, then declare you must simply surrender yourself to the tide of fate to understand truth.", Empyrean said with disappointment.

"You would berate me for fighting fate, then say it is simply my place to be slave to whatever the Galaxy decides for me to be. Your order saw the cost of fighting paracausal slavery, and decided it was not the way out of fear. You were scared you were not strong enough to not be consumed, so you let yourself be leashed to guidance by the Light."
​

"If you understood the secrets of the Force as I do, you would understand exactly why your order is infantile in its understanding of the Force. Too smart to be the Jedi, too cowardly to be a Sith. You can never ascend to the heights of either, because you lack dedication. There will never be a member of your Order, your philosophy, to become something more than a coward in a back water nation."

Gently, pieces of rebarb lifted from the rubble, orientated themselves directly at Rajan, and then fired off like cannons in sequential order. A dozen and more pieces of sharp metal shot out to pierce the man before him while his Staff continued to fight the foils that still flew in the sky.​

 

[Rajan Harpal]

---

Rajan shook his helmeted head. There was no way they would ever see eye to eye. It was a shame, because Empryean's reasoning was understandable, but his methods were abhorrent. "If you were to break free from control of the Dark side, then perhaps we could acknowledge you... At least a little."

As Empyrean attacked, Rajan sent out a wave of telekinetic power to intercept the barbs, but he was worn down and drained. Even had he been at full strength, he doubted he could hold back the tyrant. His energy waned and gave out. He dropped all four of his sabers, the blades extinguishing as they hit the ground.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. The barbs flew at him, and he could do nothing to stop it. He dropped to his knees and closed his eyes, ready to accept his fate...

But the barbs never hit...

Instead, he heard a voice. "You have done well, Defender. I'll take it from here."

---

Darth Empyrean
Corbin Vasher ​

 

[Corbin Vasher]

Corbin let go of the barbs he was holding back with the Force, and they fell to the ground. They had been millimeters from impaling his fellow Defender.

---

Corbin had no idea how he had gotten to Susevfi. He had been deep in the ancient temple on Qi-Ko when he started getting a slight headache. It was a buzz as if someone was trying to touch his mind with the Force but couldn't actually find him, as Corbin was a Void in the Force. He had a habit of keeping that void up, masking his Force Aura to the point where he seemed like a regular non-sensitive person. He only did that because his Aura was unlike most, as if was neither of the Light side nor the Dark side, and Force sensitives found it unsettling...
But on a whim, he decided to allow the person through, and he was glad he did. It was his old Master, Hakilah Mirolai. Once she told him of the Sith Order's sudden attack on Susevfi, Corbin flew as fast as he could toward his ship, but he knew he would be unable to make it in time, being not only so far away, but also within the Sith territory itself.
He remembered thinking to himself that he absolutely needed to be there right then. He had never felt anything so hard in his life. And then suddenly, he was there. From Qi-Ko to right there in Yumfla in an instant. He had no idea how.
He did recognize the ruined building as the capitol building, what was once the imperial governor's mansion long, long ago.

---

He turned to look at the Sith attacker. "I see you're quite strong. Pardon me for any disrespect, but who are you?"

Darth Empyrean​

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Empyrean was not unsettled, nor did he even seem all that surprised Corbin Vasher had appeared to save his lacking friend. The Force held many mysteries, but there were very few who had delved into its depths like a Dark Lord of the Sith, and not one who had risen from nothing to Emperorship. The corpse visage of the Emperor watched Corbin through metal eyes, while his voice came from the depth of death walking;​

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"The breaker of this nation.", Empyrean offered with finality. In this moment, it was all that mattered. The Rimward Trade League was destroyed on his word, and his ship hung in the atmosphere watching the world break under its barrage.​

​

"I don't care who you are. If you mattered, I'd already know your face.", he offered flatly. As the foils fells and Rajan Harpal was replaced in the fight, Empyrean raised his hand and the great staff Kala'anda fell into his mortal grasp once more.​

 

[Corbin Vasher]

---

Corbin couldn't help but laugh at the Sith's words. "Broken? I suppose it is. But it isn't anything that cannot be repaired. Good will always endure, Sith. It doesn't matter how powerful you are." And the Sith was powerful. Corbin's natural Force Sight allowed him to see the Dark Aura radiating of the Sith, stretching out and into the city. But the corrupted aura did not touch Corbin himself. He did not know if the Sith would even be aware of it himself, but the Aura ever so subtly warped around Corbin, almost touching him, but never quite. It was peculiar, almost as if it did not want to touch Corbin, or something within him, unless it was actually forced to.

Corbin tapped his helmet as he continued. "And it's hard to know my face when I'm wearing a helmet. That, and people seem to forget my face easily anyway." He shrugged. "Never really understood why."

He folded his arms, his armor absorbing the shadows around him as it always did. "But if you're finished here, I respectfully ask you to take your people and leave." He obviously did not expect the Sith to comply, but it was only polite to give the option and be respectful. After all, Corbin didn't actually have any idea what was going on here, so it would be foolish to jump to conclusions. Best to stay calm. For now.

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Darth Empyrean​