Here is chapter 2. To any new readers, I hope you like it.
P.S on totally off topic- I can't wait for Birth By Sleep to come out. Mark Hamill and Nimoy in the same game equals pure awesome!
To Valin and Cassie, entering the outpost was like walking into a scene straight out of a horror holomovie. Dead bodies littered the floor, debris was everywhere, parts of the ceiling were caved in, giant holes were on the walls, there were spots of dried blood on some of the debris, and all around was the foul stench of death.
Cassie closed her eyes and reached out with the Force to sense if there were any life forms around. What she felt sent a powerful shiver down her spine to the point she fell to one knee. She immediately broke her link with the Force and looked up at Valin who was eying her with concern.
"Cassie? Cassie, what did you feel?" asked Valin.
"I don't know...it's unlike anything I've ever sensed before. It felt like a dark Jedi only...ten times worst." said Cassie.
Valin frowned and processed everything she had just said. What could be that much worse than a dark Jedi? A Sith? No...the Sith were extinct. So what could his apprentice have felt?
He looked away from her, closed his eyes, and reached out with the Force. What he felt was a presence so...powerful, so malevolent that he himself almost dropped to his knees. This was not the Dark Side of the Force. This was something far different. The darkness radiating from this presence was too overwhelming. He had to break his link with the Force...and fast.
He opened his eyes abruptly and took several breaths. His heart was literally pounding in his chest. In all his years as a Jedi, he had never felt anything like that through the Force.
"Master?" asked Cassie, concern on her face.
Valin looked at her and replied. "Whatever it is that's here…it is not of the Dark Side. It's something…worse."
"What could be worse than the Dark Side?"
"I don't know... What I do know is, it felt a lot stronger in darkness than any acolyte of the Dark Side. In fact, it was so strong it almost felt like it was…no, that's not even possible."
"What?"
"Nothing. Let's continue on forward and find this presence."
They were about to move when they suddenly heard a loud crash in the room straight ahead of them. Without hesitation, the two Jedi drew their lightsabers but didn't activate them. Not yet. They walked straight to the room's entrance and Valin thumbed the door's activation switch. The door didn't open which caused Valin to frown and press the switch again. The door still didn't slide open and this time Valin pressed the switch harder...which proved to be a big mistake. Sparks shot out of the switch with a cackling hiss causing both Jedi to jump back.
"Well then," said Valin. "I guess we're going to have to do this the long way."
He thumbed on his lightsaber and plunged the hot glowing green blade into the metallic door. After about a minute, he had successfully carved a circular entrance on the door. He deactivated his saber and with his apprentice he crept inside and looked around the rather large room. One of the walls were in pieces, half of the roof was ripped off, the windows were shattered, and there were debris all over the floor with four dead bodies lying underneath.
"Talk about a disaster." said Cassie.
The two Jedi continued scanning the area when they suddenly felt the dark presence again. But this time there was more than one! The dark energy was emitting in the room and both Jedi looked around to see if anything was near them... But there was nothing.
"They should be here. I feel their presence. Why aren't they here?" said Cassie.
Valin frowned and quickly looked around the room again. The presences were so close that whatever they belonged to should be looking them right in the face. That's when Valin remembered what the soldier said: 'the shadows are alive'.
"Master!" Cassie cried, pointing at the right corner of the room.
Valin looked over to where she was pointing and saw what looked a shadow rising out of the ground. It wasn't burrowing up from underground. It was just coming up off of the ground. In less than two seconds, the creature had fully risen.
It was black as night, stood four foot eleven in height, had big glowing lifeless yellow eyes, black razor sharp claws, and big sharp black teeth. On top of its head were two long wavy antennae. Although it looked like some type of weird insect, it did in a way resemble a thick black shadow.
The creature didn't make a move. It just stood there twitching its antennae and staring lifelessly at Valin and Cassie.
"What…is it?" Cassie asked, a grossed out look on her face.
"It's definitely not a life form I've ever seen." replied Valin.
They both stretched out with the Force and felt the darkness again. It was certainly coming from the creature, but as they tapped deeper into the Force they soon realized...
"It's energy. That thing is actually made of some type of dark energy. Now the question is, is it an intelligent life form?" said Valin.
The Jedi Master used the Force once again to read the creature's thoughts. He cringed and clutched his head. It felt like hundreds of needles piercing inside of his brain. Thousands of snakelike voices echoed in his head and he couldn't make out what they were all saying. But the last sentence came in very clear:
Give ussss… your hear…Give IT TO UUSSSSS!
Valin's eyes widened and he broke his connection with the Force.
Cassie put her hand on his shoulder and asked. "What is it?"
"It talked…somehow that thing talked to me through the Force." answered Valin, staring straight at the creature.
"What! What did it say?"
Valin looked at her. "Trust me. You don't want to know."
Just then, seven more creatures rose from the ground next to the other one. They all got into a position that resembled that of a nexu ready to pounce on it's prey. Within a mere few seconds, they charged ferociously at Valin and Cassie. Valin and Cassie activated their lightsabers and prepared for the creatures' attacks.
One creature lunged at Valin with it's claws but the older Jedi's reflexes were quicker and he cut the creature clean across the head with one swift strike. To Valin's surprise the creature completely evaporated when the saber struck it. There was no blood or anything; it was almost like cutting through a very thick puff of smoke.
Two creatures attempted to attack Cassie but she gracefully struck them down with a frontal and horizontal slash with her pink lightsaber. Another creature swiped at Valin with its claws and the Jedi skipped back avoiding the slash. He swung his blade downward on the creatures head and the creature disintegrated on impact.
There were only four creatures left and two of them slowly levitated off the ground. Like a twister, they started to spin rapidly and their bodies began to morph. The two creatures now resembled propellers and they were gliding straight at the Jedi!
The two Jedi dropped down and rolled out of the path the flying creatures. They got to their feet and turned their attention to the other creatures who were still in their insect form. The two creatures leaped at Valin and Cassie, claws ready to cut human flesh. The master and apprentice reached out their hands and used the Force Push technique that sent both creatures flying backwards through a hole in the wall.
The two Jedi looked back at the flying creatures and saw them cutting the walls like a vibroaxe saws through wood. They both knew if the walls came down so would the other half of the roof. The two Jedi rushed through a missing wall which lead them to yet another giant room. Behind them they heard the thunderous boom of the ceiling caving in on the previous room they were in.
"That was close." said Cassie.
Valin and Cassie looked ahead and saw the two creatures they had Force Pushed earlier. Both beasts wasted no time in attacking. With a swift forward jab from Valin's saber and a downward slash from Cassie's blade, both creatures were destroyed in an instant.
They took a few breaths and soon learned that things were far from over. Six more of the same creatures rose up from the ground.
"Great." said Cassie, her tone revealing her annoyance.
All six creatures launched themselves at Valin and Cassie, but the two Jedi swung their blades gracefully in all directions cutting each creature down before they could lay a claw on them. Five more creatures appeared: three from the ground and two came out of the wall on the left of the Jedi. The three creatures on the ground raised their claws and ran at the Jedi. Valin swung his blade straight across and it cut through the chest of all three beasts. They evaporated and the other two creatures sunk back into the wall.
Valin and Cassie, frowns on their faces, scanned the area while keeping a tight grip on their lightsaber hilts. When they saw that no more creatures appeared, both Jedi thumbed off their lightsabers.
"Looks like those things gave up." said Cassie.
"I doubt it. They'll be back. But...in the meantime, let's take advantage of their absence and continue our search for survivors." replied Valin.
"Master, with those things running around, I don't think there are any survivors left."
"Don't lose hope, Cassie. Always stay optimistic even when things look hopeless."
Cassie sighed and followed her master through the rubble.
For fifteen minutes, they searched the entire outpost for survivors and all they found were more dead. But they didn't give up, they reached out with the Force to sense if there was anybody or anything alive. To their surprise, they felt someone brimming with life but sadly it was only one person and not many.
"Well, at least someone survived." said Cassie.
"Let's find this person before those creatures do." said Valin.
Briskly they walked and used the Force to locate the survivor. The two Jedi reached the back area without any opposition from the creatures. It wasn't hard for them to spot the survivor especially since the metallic door leading to outside was on the ground in five pieces. Confused looks formed on Valin and Cassie's faces when they noticed that there were at least twelve creatures roaming the whole outside area and not a single one of them raised a claw at the survivor, who had his back turned.
The two Jedi also noticed that the survivor was wearing a utility belt and it appeared to have two lightsaber hilts attached to it. They didn't sense any Force sensitivity from the survivor, but they did feel some type of power radiating from him or to be more precise from the silver metallic gauntlets that covered his hands.
The creatures stared at the two Jedi but didn't even attempt to attack them. Slowly, Valin and Cassie walked towards the survivor and once they came to about five meters away from him, he spoke.
"Stay right where you are."
The survivor had a boyish voice but the Jedi did what he said and stopped. The survivor slowly turned around and faced them. He was a human boy no more than thirteen years old and had strikingly bright purple eyes. His long white hair fell to his shoulders and to the middle of his back. His tunic was dark brown as well as pants and on each silver gauntlet was a small green crystal.
His young face showed anger as he stared at the Jedi.
"We mean you no harm. We've come to get you out of here." Valin said to the boy.
The boy sighed and replied. "As expected, you're both totally clueless as to what is going on."
Valin and Cassie looked at each other then turned their attention back to the boy.
Cassie smiled and asked politely. "Care to tell us?"
"Why should I waist my breath explaining something to someone with an intellect that is smaller than my pinky?" answered the boy.
Cassie frowned. "Not a very polite boy are you."
"Will you at least tell us your name?" asked Valin.
"Look, old man. All you need to know is that I'm a genius. And the Heartless." The boy pointed at the creatures. "Obey me."
Valin frowned at the 'old man' comment.
"The Heartless? You speak of these creatures?" asked Valin.
"Well I wasn't pointing at the rocks. However, very soon your dead bodies will be spread out across the rocks." said the boy.
The boy raised his left hand and the Heartless immediately turned their attention to Valin and Cassie. Valin and Cassie activated their sabers and gripped them tightly.
"So you're the one behind this!" shouted Cassie.
"Some form of intelligence. Amazing." replied the boy.
The boy flicked his finger and the Heartless charged at the two Jedi. Cassie and Valin knew without a doubt: the fight was going to be more difficult especially since they were outnumbered and surrounded. Valin swung his blade across and cut down two charging heartless but barely dodged the claw from another. He delivered an upward slash at the Heartless but it quickly avoided the attack by sinking into the ground. It looked like a big black spot and it moved shockingly fast across the ground. It stopped two meters from Valin and then came up out of the ground in it's insect form. The heartless swiped its sharp claws relentlessly causing the older Jedi to backup.
His Force danger sense tingled and Valin could sense an attack from behind. He turned around and slashed upwards cutting a Heartless that was about to pounce him from midair. The other Heartless's claw made contact with Valin's arm causing the Jedi master to flinch and growl. Valin fully turned his attention to it and plunged his saber straight through it's head before it could attack again. The creature disintegrated in less than second.
Cassie swiftly cut down a heartless but immediately got sliced in the arm by the claw of another. Cassie gave out a cry then used Force Push and sent the heartless shooting backwards and knocking straight into another heartless. Both heartless got up, raised their claws, and lunged at Cassie. The young Jedi jumped to her right avoiding the claws. Cassie swung her lightsaber and her attacks were fierce and her blade was like a blur. The two heartless couldn't dodge any attack and evaporated when her blade struck each.
In minutes, Valin and Cassie had defeated all twelve heartless. They bore a few cuts but nothing life threatening. They turned their attention to the boy and could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't amused but what they just did. The boy folded his arms and more heartless began rising out of the ground.
The two Jedi breathed out a long sigh. It seemed no matter how many heartless they killed, more just kept coming. Ready for battle, they both gripped their saber handles tightly and waited for the heartless to make their move.
"Halt!" cried the boy.
The Heartless came to a stop and stared lifelessly at Valin and Cassie.
The boy, a disgusted look on his face, took two steps forward, stopped, and said to all the heartless. "Retreat."
The Heartless obeyed his orders and sunk into the ground completely disappearing. The boy stared at Valin and Cassie and unhooked his sabers from his utility belt.
"You Jedi are tough I'll give you that. But you still lack the most important thing: intelligence. I, on the other hand, have great intellect as well as masterful fighting skills." said the boy.
He switched on his two blue lightsabers and twirled them both smoothly in his hands. He pointed one of his blades at Valin and Cassie expecting them to get intimidated. The reaction he got however...was definitely opposite.
"You've got to be kidding me." Cassie said between her laughter.
Valin who was snickering said to the boy. "Boy, put those things away before you hurt yourself."
"You're...not scared!" the boy replied, surprised by their reaction.
"First of all, you're not Force sensitive. That means your lightsaber skills must be beyond sloppy. Second, my apprentice and I are trained in the ways of the Force and know very well on how to use a lightsaber. Meaning we could easily beat you blind folded. On top of that, you're just a boy and we Jedi do not inflict harm on youth. So as much as we would want to teach that so called 'intellectual mind' of yours a lesson, we aren't going to hurt you… But if you do not put those weapons down… we might just change our minds." said Valin.
The boy was silent for a second. He then smirked and replied. "Wow…you Jedi are full of yourselves. Sad to see such arrogance but no smarts to back it up."
He shook his head, deactivated the saber in his right hand, and attached it back on to his utility belt.
"Lesson one." The boy said, the crystal on his gauntlet glowing green.
Greenish energy enveloped the boy's right hand and it cackled like thunder when he raised his hand.
"Never underestimate the wrath of a child."
The boy aimed his right hand at Cassie and out of his hand came a ball of green light that nailed Cassie right in the chest. The green energy covered Cassie's body but dissipated when she fell to the ground.
"Cassie!" Valin cried.
He knelt down beside his apprentice and saw that she was gasping for air. Her body shook violently, her eyes were hazy, and sweat dripped from her forehead. Valin, eyes full of worry, took her hand in his, felt her forehead, and found that she was burning up.
"Hold on, Cassie." he said reassuringly.
He stretched out with the Force to feel what was wrong with his apprentice. A frown formed on his face when he sensed some type of poison flowing in her blood stream. Whatever that blast of energy did, it somehow poisoned her.
Valin, his hand still on Cassie's forehead, focused harder and used the Force to lessen some of the poison's effects. It helped Cassie to breath a little but Valin knew it wasn't going to last long. The Force healing technique only delayed the poison's effects for a short period of time. He opened his eyes, squeezed Cassie's hand gently, and kissed her forehead.
"How touching. How disgustingly touching. Makes me want to gag." said the boy.
Valin stared daggers at the boy, stood up, and activated his green lightsaber.
The boy sighed and said. "The things a boy has to do to get people to take him seriously. It's about time you want to fight."
"Only to disarm you…and to teach that twisted cocky mind of yours a lesson. But there's just one thing I don't understand."
The boy smirked. "Hmph. And what is that, old man?"
Valin stared at the boy for a second. "How a boy your age could be capable of such cruelty."
"Trust me, old man. You've yet to see just how cruel I can be!"
The boy did a complete flip forward and swung both his sabers at Valin. Valin blocked the blow with his lightsaber then easily parried the boy's fast paced saber onslaught. The Jedi master could tell by the boy's wild and chaotic saber style that he was right. The boy was sloppy and whoever trained him must have taught him only how to take out an enemy quick. If the boy had received true lightsaber training, he would know that when taking on an older, more experienced opponent you have to use a more strategic style. His style wasn't bad, but clearly he was still very much an amateur.
They both swung forward with full force and their sabers locked with a loud cackling hiss. Valin used his strength and pushed the boy backwards. With his saber in one hand, Valin unleashed a series of graceful saber slashes that weren't too strong or quick. He wanted of course to stop the boy not kill him. The boy deflected each jab and attack with his two blue lightsabers.
He parried saber slice close to the chest from Valin with the saber in his left hand and with the blade in his right thrust it at the Jedi master. Valin parried the stab, deflected an incoming horizontal slash, and then raised his saber up to his chin and blocked a powerful frontal slash. Their sabers were locked once again and both combatants stared at each other.
"You do realize that I've been going light on you." said Valin.
"Is that so? Well then by all means stop holding back, old man." said the boy.
"Are you sure?"
Anger flashed across the boy's face. "Bring it."
"Alright."
They released their saber lock and with one strong lightning fast swipe upwards, Valin sliced the lightsaber in the boy's left hand in two. The boy, shocked by the older Jedi's quick reflexes, stepped back and gripped both hands on his other lightsaber. With a smooth grace and amazing speed Valin swung his blade at the boy and on very strike the boy could barely parry. Every slash, every slice the boy blocked caused him to take more steps back. Their sabers met in a loud clash and Valin used his strength and pushed the boy to the ground.
The boy gritted his teeth, got to his feet, and delivered three swift frontal attacks on Valin. The Jedi master deflected each one with ease then reached his hand out and used Force Push to send the boy flying far backwards and slamming hard into a tall rock.
The boy, his saber dropping out of his hand, cringed as he fell to his knees. He tried to stand up until he saw the tip of Valin's green blade looking him right in the face.
"Get up." said Valin, his tone as stern as the look on his face.
The boy stared hatefully at the older Jedi and slowly got to his feet. The boy raised his hands in defeat but Valin kept his saber pointed straight at him.
Valin shook his head. "Young people. This is what you get when you show your superiors very little respect."
The boy swallowed hard and stepped until his back was against the tall rock. Valin took one step forward then frowned when he felt something through the Force. It was a dark and almost cold presence and it was coming from behind. He was about to turn around but it was far too late. A blue fiery ball of light nailed Valin in the back causing the Jedi master to give out a loud cry of pain. Blue energy enveloped his body but disappeared when he dropped to his knees. His face showed nothing but pain as he gasped and clutched his chest.
The boy frowned at Valin then looked to see who it was who had come to his aid. Standing ten meters away from the boy and Valin was a young man who looked to be in his early twenties. In his left hand was a black duel sided sword that was planted straight through the chest of Cassie.
The man looked from Valin to Cassie with an almost lifeless look on his face.
"Pathetic life-bringer." said the man, pulling his duel sided blade out of Cassie.
The man slowly made his way over to Valin. Valin cringed and growled as he tried to get up. But every time he moved, an intense unbearable burning pain shot across his entire body. It felt like every part of his body had been set on fire.
The man stopped in front of Valin and stared down at him while the Jedi master looked up at him. The man had a kind of boyish face with long hair black as the night sky that flowed down to his lower back. He was wearing a dark gray tunic, boots, and pants but from what Valin could tell the clothing was made of some type of special fabric for it looked almost metallic. The man also wore a black cape that ran down to the man's knee caps. But the one thing about the man that stood out was his brown eyes. Valin admitted to himself, that if he weren't a Jedi he would've been absolutely terrified by the man's creepy gaze. Never in all his life had Valin seen a pair of eyes so cold and lifeless. There was no hate, no anger, no happiness, no joy, no sadness; just...a void. It was almost like looking in the eyes of a dead corpse but even then the corpse may even have more emotion.
"So brave...yet so stupid." the man said in a emotionless tone.
He pointed the tip of his duel sided blade at Valin's chest.
"You are not afraid to die?" asked the man.
"Jedi don't give into fear...even in the face of death." replied Valin, still looking the man in the eyes.
The man's expression remained the same: cold and lifeless. "Hmph. Typical Jedi. So intelligent…yet so inferior."
Valin knew full well what the man was about to do. If this was truly it, he wanted at least to say farewell to his loved ones. He closed his eyes and reached out with the Force. Through the Force, he cried out a message hoping that his family and wife would hear it:
Tahiri, my darling wife...Jysella...Corran...I love you all. And tell mom that I love her too...Never forget these words… Now and through death!
The man thrust his blade into Valin's chest and twisted the blade. Slowly, he retracted the blade watching the blood ooze and stain Valin's beige tunic. Valin gave one final gasp before falling dead to the ground.
Anger formed on the boy's face and he shouted at the man. "Saeon! Why did you help me!"
Saeon turned his attention to the boy but didn't say a word.
"I could have killed him myself! I didn't need any-"
But the boy was both silenced and frightened by the loud crack of thunder from Saeon as he shot lightning from his left hand and into the air. His duel sided blade glowed a hazy purple and when he twirled it the blade morphed into a black staff.
Saeon, his face still devoid of any emotion, walked over to the boy and looked him in the face.
"Speak to me in that tone again, Venvarra...and I will cut you up into pieces. Is that understood?" said Saeon.
Venvarra, a frightened expression on his face, nodded.
"Is that understood?" Saeon asked again, not satisfied with Venvarra's nod.
"Yes...Lord Saeon." said Venvarra, a hint displeasure in his voice.
Saeon turned around and said to Venvarra. "Now. Pick up your weapon and walk with me."
Venvarra obeyed and reached down and picked up his lightsaber. Reluctantly he joined Saeon and walked side by side with Saeon. He knew full well where this was headed.
"Progress report." said Saeon.
"The heartless and I searched the planet thoroughly and found nothing." answered Venvarra.
"I gave you two extra days."
"Searching a planet takes time especially one like this."
"Two days on top of the three. In total that is five days."
"Look, Saeon-"
"You should've been done in three days." Saeon stopped causing Venvarra to do the same. He looked at the boy and said. "Instead you waisted two extra days playing around with the locals and alerting the Alliance of a disturbance."
"They were a nuisance that needed to be removed. Besides if I hadn't killed them I would've never finished the search." replied Venvarra.
"You accomplished nothing. That's the fact, Venvarra."
Venvarra didn't say a word and looked down at his feet.
"I'm trying my best." said Venvarra, his voice almost a whisper.
"Apparently your best isn't good enough. Which is why I'm teaming you up with someone from the station." said Saeon.
Venvarra, outraged by Saeon's decision, frowned and replied. "With all due respect, a smart mind like me doesn't need help nor did I need your help here."
"Would you prefer if I remove you from existence?" asked Saeon, his eyes icier than usual and his tone emotionless.
A look of dread appeared on Venvarra's face. "No."
"Then stop whining and obey my orders." Saeon sighed, folded his arms, took two steps away from Venvarra, and added. "It appears the only good thing to come out of today is that an old enemy of mine is about to meet her end."
Venvarra, a confused look on his face, looked down and thought for a moment. Then it dawned on him.
"You mean Maleficent?" asked Venvarra.
"Yes...too long has that witch escaped death. I wish I could see the expression on her face when she realizes that she has no control over the Heartless. That all this time they've been doing my bidding." said Saeon.
"Her demise will be a glorious moment."
"Indeed it will. Things will be much easier with her out of the picture." Saeon slowly looked back at Venvarra. "But for our plans to be complete we need the Kaiburr Crystal as well as the Cornerstone of Light. Which is why I'm going to send you, your new partner, and the Heartless to a new world."
"What about the Cornerstone?"
"That does not concern you. Your mission is to find the Kaiburr Crystal and bring it before me."
"What about the other part of my mission?"
"What about it?"
"When do I start?"
"When I feel you are ready."
"But-"
"I need you at full strength when you take her on so that way there are no mistakes."
Venvarra sighed. "Whatever you say...my lord."
Saeon turned around, walked a couple more feet away from Venvarra, and reached his hand out. A black misty vortex suddenly appeared before him.
"In fifteen minutes, come to the station so that I can fully brief you and your partner on your next assignment." said Saeon.
"Yes...Lord Saeon." replied Venvarra.
"In the meantime, Venvarra, order the Heartless to find this planet's keyhole and send it and everything on it to the dark abyss known as oblivion." ordered Saeon, his tone dark.
Venvarra smiled and said. "It will be done, my lord."
With that, Saeon strolled into the swirling black vortex and him along with the vortex vanished in the blink of an eye.
Chapter 3 will be posted soon!