A long time ago, in a Galaxy far away...
STAR WARS: THE OLD REPUBLIC-PATH OF THE LOST
PROLOGUE:
The two blades hissed and buzzed as their wielder's danced majestically around each other. One crimson red, the other bluer than the sky on Alderaan, they lit up the dim hallway, illuminating the two figures in the process. The first was clad in a floor length black robe, it's deep hood up and covering most of the combatant's face, apart from their chin, which was tattooed with various black tribal symbols. The other, clearly a member of the jedi order, wore a suit of ivory coloured armour over a pale brown tunic, the sigil of holy order of the jedi knights emblazoned on his breast. They Both stood in low combat stances, their lightsabers poised and at the ready, each waiting for the other to make the next move, careful not to make a faulty step that their opponent could take advantage of.
Outside, they could hear the various sounds of war. Blaster fire and explosions, the swoop of personal fighters gliding in and out on attack runs, and the screams of the innocent, begging for mercy as their homeworld burned.
But that wasn't the focus of the two duelists at the moment. That second, they had to focus entirely on each other, as each knew that the other could, and would, end their life without a second thought, the jedi out of duty, and the hooded figure out of hate.
"Attack me Sith," the jedi called out after a moment, a little frustration in his otherwise serene voice. "Attack me and learn the true consequences for your actions."
The Sith didn't answer, instead, the figure just flourished it's crimson saber, a large circle that left a blood red track in the space between them, which disappeared as quickly as it was a sign of disrespect, or at least that's the way the jedi took it, and, in a moment of weakness brought on by the sith's mocking, the jedi knight leapt the ten feet between himself and his opponent, swinging his dark blue blade in a wide arc, with intentions to take the Sith's head off.
The Sith met his strike with it's own blade, in what looked like an almost effortless parry, sending the jedi spinning backward in brief retreat, before coming in once again. This time, the Sith parried the Jedi's swipe and struck back, bringing a gauntlet encased forearm into the cheek of it's assailant, the jagged edges that jutted out from it drawing a thin streak of shimmering blood from the jedi's cheek. The jedi retreated once again, this time to check his wound, though he still kept his guard. "Is that how you Sith fight?," the jedi said with a hint of disgust. "Needing to use dirty tactics to gain the upper hand?," The Sith didn't answer, instead, a faint grin appeared from beneath the hood. "Of course it is," the jedi spat. "I should have expected such deviance from the scum of the universe!"
The jedi struck again, swinging his saber behind his back to strike at the sith's right leg, then spinning on his heels and striking from the other side in an attempt at catching his opponent off guard and taking the sith's head off once more. The Sith deflected the attack with ease then pushed forward, taking on the offensive, aiming strikes that wouldn't be fatal had the Sith managed to connect. The jedi kept up with the pace though, using his connection with the force to guide his saber and keep him safe.
Jedi and Sith battled each other up and down the durasteel floored hallway, both growing wearier with each passing second. For a moment, it seemed the battle was near it's conclusion, when the jedi feinted a low strike but instead struck out at the sith with the force, which caught his enemy off guard and flung the robed figure into a energy conduit built into the hallway's silver wall. The jedi had taken this chance to finish the fight, and leapt at the sith with deadly intentions, but some how the sith managed to evade the attack, and then took on the offensive once more.
Their constant fighting dragged them from the hallway up a flight of stairs and outside into the daylight of Fondor, to a landing pad built onto the side of the building where'd they'd first encountered each other.
Though it was day, the smoke from the hundreds of grounded fighters, grenades and blaster fire of the battle fogged up the sky and left it so the jedi and sith could barely see each other. This meant that the two now had to depend on their personal connections to force to guide their blades, but also to recognise their opponent and the edges of the landing pad in the haze.
The jedi retreated across the landing pad in order to maintain his focus and syphon out the haze from his mind's eye. He lost track of the sith for a moment as he regained his focus, then sticking his blue blade out to his left side as the sith struck a heavy blow at him. In that moment, he thanked the force for his split second reflexes, knowing that if he hadn't been trained so well, he would have surely lost his head.
Rolling out of the way, he had to turn on his heels the very second he reached his feet, in order to deflect another attack from the sith. The jedi struck back, but the sith was already gone. He stood there for a moment, barely able to make out his own blade in the thick haze. The black smoke made it hard to breath, and it stung his eyes horribly, but he kept breathing in order to keep the force flow through his body, and he kept blinking to watch for any sign of his enemy's blade.
The next strike came from the left again; obviously the sith thought it could trick him by making the same movement's more than once. The jedi dived under the red blade and twirled his own saber to take out the sith's right leg, but instead of hitting flesh and bone, blue lightsaber met red as the sith brought it's own blade down to meet his. A few more heavy downward strikes came from the sith, all of which the jedi deflected, and he sprang to his feet.
This time the sith didn't try and hide from him. Instead, it came at him with full force, with wild, bludgeoning strikes that could take the head off a Bantha. The jedi kept his ground as best he could, but soon, one of the sith's strikes aimed true, and tore a foot long gash from his right shoulder down past his chest, splitting the jedi sigil on his breast in two.
He let out a scream, a wild howl which bore more resemblance to that of a dying beast than that of a man, and fell to his knee, his lightsaber extinguishing and falling to the shuttle pad, landing with the sound of steel on steel that seemed to ring out much louder than it should have, what with all the cries and blaster fire in the distance.
With blinding pain searing through his body, he looked up at the sith, who came into view as the fog slowly began to clear. It's hood was still up, but he could see the pale yellow skin of the sith's chin, black tattoo molding around it's lower lip as the sith smiled once again. "You may kill me here Sith scum," the jedi groaned,
realising it was his time. "But know this, The dark side will only lead you to yo..."
The jedi failed to finish his last words. Instead, he fell silent as the sith drove it's saber through his chest, ending his life.
Retracting the blade from the dead jedi's body, the sith dimmed it's saber. The fog had almost evaporated by now, or risen up high enough that it wasn't a bother. Now only the sith stood on the docking platform, looking over it's fresh kill, relishing in the suffering of the jedi. After a few moments, the sith raised it's gauntlet to it's mouth and spoke.
"The high-tower has been taken, general," the voice was a woman's. High pitched and feminine, yet colder than the ice moon Hoth. "How is Lord Legus coming along?."
A second passed, then a male voice came over the comm-link, distorted by a bad signal. "Very well, Lady Maeror. Both the East and South-east sectors have been confirmed..."
"And the Western seaboards?," Maeror cut in, her voice stern and impatient.
"All units have reported in apart from one," Maeror smiled beneath her hood. That was good news, it meant that this planet was all but theirs. "But a group of jedi and some civilian's have taken refuge in a bunker."
Maeror's grin disappeared. "So?," she snapped over the comm. "Flush them out. Slaughter them!"
"We're doing our best my Lady, but they've activated a host of automated flash-cannons and other system defenses..."
"That shouldn't stop you, general Genth," Maeror cut in again.
"I..I understand my lady," Genth's voice crackled. "We're just waiting for reinforcements in order to make an attack run at the bunker."
"Do you have an estimate on the completion of your mission?"
"No, my lady."
Maeror's lip twitched beneath her hood. "Very well, send a transport to me, I'll come do your job for you," The agitated sith actiavted the homing beacon built into her gauntlet.
"As you wish, lady Maeror."
The static infused voice faded away, and Maeror turned back to look at her fresh kill. The jedi lay there, on his side, his arms limp and lying at odd angles, the colour of his eyes faded and dim. She smiled, relishing the jedi's suffering, which in turn, rejuvenated the sith. That was the power of the dark side, she though to herself. She could only think about the pain and torment she caused, and the unrelenting energy would heal her body in moments.
The lightsaber of her fallen foe lay next to his body. Reaching out with the force, she lifted it to her outstretched hand in order to examine it. It was a finely crafted saber, silver casing with a black rubber grip. The power pack magnetised to it's side was at near full charge, which the sith found intriguing. She activated it, the glimmering blue blade erupting from the hilt with the speed of a star-cruiser making the jump to hyperspace, and gave it a few short swings. It handled well.
"Jedi do have a knack for crafting lightsabers," Maeror smirked, talking to the lifeless body. "I think I'll keep this." She slid the saber under her cloak just as the sounds of a speeder came into earshot. It landed at far edge of the landing pad, and as Maeror started towards it, general Genth himself, his whispy white hair flailing in the gust created by the speeder, climbed out.
"Lady Maeror," he bowed as she approached. Maeror payed him no heed, and climbed into the speeder without saying a word until Genth tried to climb in after her. Instead, she held up a hand, telling him to stop. "Is there something wrong, my lady?" Genth asked, a puzzled look on his wrinkled face.
"Yes," she said coldly. "I'm not happy with the fact that I have to do your duty for you, Genth."
"My lady, I assure you that I was doin..." Genth's voice drifted away, and was replaced by a low, gutteral sound from deep in his throat. He grasped at his throat as his oaesophagus closed up on him, cutting off the oxygen to his lungs.
"If you cannot carry out your duties, Genth, the Sith have no use for you." Genth fell to his knees as the speeder lifted off the pad, then collapsed into a lifeless heap as Maeror speed away.
-0oo0oo0oo0oo0-
Maeror recognised the bunker far before they landed on Fondor's desert plain. The red and green blaster bolts of the sith and the Republic became visbile as soon as the speeder came over the horizon.
The closer they got, the more she managed to make out. There were three jedi, two human and one Bith. They stood in a small semi circle in front of a bunker built into Fondor's desert ground. The bunker door was only barely open, but the gap was wide enough for a good half a dozen Republic troops to fire freely. A mass of sith troopers stood less than a hundred feet from the entrance, blindly firing their blaster rifles from behind a collective of large durasteel barricades.
Maeror would have been angry with them for not charging the bunker, but there were three large flash-cannons built into the sand around the entrance way, firing round after round at the Sith.
The speeder touched down thirty feet from the rear of the sith troops. Maeror leapt out and ignited her saber, immediately deflecting a stray blaster shot from the republic troopers hiding in the bunker. As she approached the barricades, one of the commanding officers approached her. "Lady Maeror, he said, bowing. "What happened to general Genth?"
"That isn't your concern, captain Lha'," Maeror walked right past him and up to the barricade. "Gather your best troops," she said after a moment. "We're going to rush them."
Lha' opened his mouth to protest, but decided against it. "As you wish, my lady." He ordered nearly two dozen troops to gather by them, then gave them their orders.
When they had all prepared, Lha' turned back to the sith lady. "On your command, my lady"
Maeror nodded. "You may attack."
The captain waved his hand, and the troops burst past the barricade towards the bunker, firing wildly at the jedi who guarded it. Within seconds, half a dozen were dead, either cut down by the flash cannons, or hit by one of their own shots, reflected by one of the three jedi. "Send more in, captain," Maeror said calmly. Lha'
ordered another wave, and another. By the time the fifth wave entered the fray, one of the human jedi was dead, a stray blaster bolt blowing a hole in his gut. By the eighth wave, the Bith jedi was dead too, along with nearly fifty sith troops.
The last jedi fell back into the bunker. Maeror realised that they were trying to lock themselves inside. She leapt over the barricade and past the still advancing sith, using the force to accelerate her sprint to unbelievable speeds. She reached the front of the sith assault in seconds, and reached out with the force to grasp the bunker door, doing everything in her power to slow the gears and keep it from closing.
"GET INSIDE!," she growled. The sith troops sprinted past her and into the still slowly closing door way. The sounds of blaster fire and screams of women and children suddenly filled the air.
After a few ore seconds, Maeror felt the strain of the closing bunker door still, and the three flash cannons went offline. The rest of her troops left their barricade's and sprinted into the battlefield. Maeror relaxed, releasing her grip on the door, and then entered the bunker after her troops.
It was nearly pitch black inside. Smoke from the extensive blaster fire filled the air, making it hard to breath. In the back, she recognized the blue gleam of the last jedi's lightsaber as he deflected sith blaster fire away from a small group of women and children. The last few republic troops lay dead on the bunker's floor, overrun by the sith assault.
Maeror reached for her lightsaber again, and approached the jedi. She pushed through the wall of troops until only she stood in front of the jedi. "Lay down your saber, jedi," the sith said coldly. "And your death will be far less painful." The jedi gave her a grim look, then raised his blade to her. Maeror nodded. "As you wish,"
She leapt at the jedi and struck with a series of heavy, precise strikes. This jedi wasn't half as skilled with a lightsaber as the one in the high-tower, Maeror noted,
and soon the jedi was overwhelmed. A clumsy parry by the jedi left him open for a kill stroke, and Maeror took the opportunity, ducking beneath the jedi's right arm and slicing through his flesh with ease.
The jedi collapsed in a heap on the floor, his saber landing with a clank and rolling across the bunker floor.
Maeror looked to the group of women and children huddled together at the back of the bunker, horrified looks on their faces. "Kill them," Maeror said coldly, walking through the mass of troops back towards the entrance. The group cried, pleading for mercy as the troops took aim, when a sudden blast of force energy erupted from behind Maeror. She barely had time to turn and throw up a force shield to protect herself.
The troops were blown away by the tremendous blast, knocked unconcious and scattered around the room. Maeror was relatively unharmed, and she illuminated her saber again to fight off the threat. But instead of finding another jedi, as she assumed, she found a little boy, no more than five or six, lying in the heap of survivors,
who'd also been knocked unconcious by his exertion.
Dimming her saber, Maeror reached out with force, feeling an incredible surge of force energy within the child, who looked at her with a mix of fear, anger and hate.
"Stand," she said. The child didn't move, so she reached out with the force again, and lifted him to his feet. "Do you know who I am?" the child didn't answer. "Do you hate me for killing the jedi?" the little boy looked at her with cold blue eyes. "Good," Maeror smiled from beneath her hood. "I think the Sith will make good use of you."
-0oo0oo0oo0oo0-
A/N: Okay, so that was the prologue, tell me if you liked it, cause if you don't I'll sneak into your house and feed you fish without you knowing. THANKS!
