Preface: End of an Empire
There is no Light without the Dark.
Through Passion, I gain Focus.
Through Knowledge, I gain Power.
Through Serenity, I gain Strength.
Through Victory, I gain Harmony.
There is only the Force.
A young man wearing a dark grey cloak strode through the streets on the outskirts of Eriadu City. He was aware of the group of bounty hunters on his tail. He was the Emperor's Hand, trained in the ways of the Sith. These pathetic hunters would pose no threat. His eyes scanned the streets, searching for a good place to put these fools in their place. Night had recently fallen and few people roamed the streets in this part of town. The young man had been walking here leading his tail so he could dispatch them with few to no witnesses.
He had slowly been probing the minds of his pursuers. They were nt as weak minded as previous bounty hunters he had fended off, but still not strong enough to pose a real threat to him. It had been several weeks since he had been in a fight and he was eagerly looking forward to conflict. He reached out with the Force to touch his twin lightsabers making them ready for combat.
Taking a final turn down a side street he quickly evaluated the area, deeming it suitable for the slaughter soon to ensue. He calmly proceeded along the road waiting for the bounty hunters to follow him around the corner. He began to ready his mind and body, reaching into himself finding the place he kept his strength and mentally unlocking it. After several steps he felt the hunters enter the street. He came to halt in the middle of the road. The hunters adrenaline rose as they each reached for their weapons as the leader stepped forward.
"Ajax! Show me your face so I can look you in the eyes and watch the life fade from your body." The leader shouted. Ajax smiled under his cloak and deliberately lowered his cowl and unclasp his cloak letting it fall to the ground. In the bright moonlight his long brown hair shown. He slowly turned facing the bounty hunters. He stood straight and tall, over two meters in height. He was clad in white and grey loose fitting clothes, his two lightsabers hung prominently on either side of his waist.
"I am afraid I cannot grant you such a pleasure today. For that shall be my reward when I cut you down." Ajax looked up from the ground showing the group assembled his golden eyes and sharp featured face. The five bounty hunters chuckled back a small amount of fear as they all readied their weapons. The leader, his blaster carbine already raised and trained in on Ajax, squeezed the trigger. A crimson bolt of energy erupted from the barrel flying toward Ajax. Ajax thrust out his hand with inhuman speed halting the bolt mid flight. With a simple flick of his wrist the bolt flew off harmlessly to the side. There was a split second of shock emanating from the hunters before all five release a torrent of blaster fire.
Ajax dropped back into the defensive stance of soresu, pulling both lightsabers from his waist and igniting them. One a fiery orange, the other a slightly shorter pearlescent silver. With a flurry of rotations Ajax deftly deflected every bolt fired at him. Soresu was an effortless form for Ajax, having studied it along with his signature Juyo/Jar'kai. Being a purely defensive form he used it often when testing an enemy's capabilities. He found a perverse glee from prolonging a battle only to end it swiftly when changing to his more aggressive signature Juyo.
Ajax toyed with the bounty hunters simply deflecting their blaster fire instead of redirecting it and killing them quickly. He soaked in the growing fear and desperation from the bounty hunters, letting it feed his power, holding it tight building it until he was ready to unleash it. Continuing his pure defense Ajax slowly began approaching the bounty hunters. He decided he had toyed with five foes long enough. He adjusted the angle of his sweeping deflection to redirect the next several bolts back at one of the bounty hunters, quickly dispatching him. He opened his connection to the force to soak in the fear of the dying man. This fueled his power to spilling over. Visible tendrils of silver energy reached out from him.
The remaining bounty hunters faltered, ceasing their assault with blasters. Ajax similarly halted his approach changing his stance to the more aggressive Juyo. There was a moment where the only sound was the gentle hum of the twin blades, quite opposite of the violent torrent of power about to burst from his body.
"Rex, What is he doing?" One of the bounty hunters asked his leader.
"It doesn't matter, there are still more of us. Ready yourselves men." Rex dropped his blaster and drew two curved blades from his back. Following their leader the remaining three hunters drew similar blades, though only one each. Ajax grinned and readied himself. All four opponents descended on Ajax in a flurry of blows. Ajax left his mind and body open to the flow of the force, absorbing the emotions and letting his power guide his hands. He was a whirlwind of orange and silver light as each enemy's attack was met and parried. The four were quite adept at swordplay themselves, each individually a reasonable match for any force user. Unfortunately for them Ajax was not a normal force user and they could not coordinate their attacks at once. Ajax fell into a battle trance allowing the force to control him while being fueled by the rage of his opponents and his own pleasure of combat.
Ajax spun warding off four simultaneous attacks and pushing all four back by unleashing a blast of pure energy. He leapt at a lone hunter cutting him down before the hunter could react. Ajax bathed in the death of his opponent using it to fuel a quick back flip back to the remaining three. All three lunged toward him filled with rage and a growing desperation. At that moment a tremendous shock filled Ajax, a major disturbance in the force flowing into him through his open connection. This caused him to falter in his stance. The leader of the bounty hunters nearly made a fatal blow against Ajax. His superior training allowed him to deflect it but gave the hunters a slightly opening in the battle, causing him to backtrack.
Ajax was still shaken from the disturbance he felt through the force. The bounty hunters slowly gained an upper hand in the duel. In their hubris from the sudden turn in the fight the hunters got sloppy and Ajax was able to cut two of them down. Only Rex remained. Ajax met him blow for blow but was still unable to shake the miserable feeling flowing into him from the force. Rex parried Ajax' next strike and landed a gruesome slash across his chest. Rex followed with a quick slash across the face of Ajax. Ajax retreated into the force trying to subdue the pain from his injuries.
"You are finished Jedi." Rex laughed out at Ajax punching him square in the face. Ajax felt his consciousness wane and slip. The last thing he saw as he slipped into the white unconsciousness was a golden lightsaber blade protrude from the chest of Rex. Ajax absorbed his emotion as he died and let himself fall unconscious.
Ajax was floating in space above a lush green planet. Ships filled his vision emerging from hyperspace launching numerous fighters. Ajax turned to see the massive station orbiting the planet. He knew the planet was Endor and the station was the new Death Star. He had been on the station a few weeks prior receiving his orders from the Emperor. He was told of a force user on the planet Eriadu, he was to find and kill her. The fighters streaked toward the station though Ajax knew there was a shield around the station. As the ships approached the station the shield suddenly dropped. Ajax was then inside the throne room, the same room he had kneeled before the Emperor weeks before. Three people stood there; the Emperor, Darth Vader, and a man around the same age as Ajax dressed in black. The three spoke with restrained hostility. The man ignited a green lightsaber and Darth Vader ignited his own crimson saber. The following battle was intense and Ajax watched passively. Soon enough the Emperor stood and shot lightning at the young man. Darth Vader stood from his defeat by the young man and lifted the Emperor into the air being consumed by the lightning before tossing him into the depths of the station. Ajax was again floating in space staring at the station. It suddenly erupted in a massive explosion Ajax watched as the shockwave approached him. He was struck with a terrible force and everything went black.