Darkness Falls
Dante withdrew his blaster pistol, walking with relative ease throughout the corridors of the facility. From what he gathered in the computer terminal he has sliced earlier, there was more activity in the base of the structure than the top; however, he knew that Tamar was resting comfortably at the top suite of the building. For some strange reason, the Director enjoyed resting in a place that was shrouded by the power of the Dark Side.
Though he felt hardly any presences throughout the level—which conveniently held the Director's personal office—the Jedi Knight tread cautiously, as he felt the minute energy fluxes of droids. He felt the tapping of light feet approaching his direction, forcing him to hide behind a stack of containers near a column, providing the Jedi cover as he noticed a pair of droids walk past him. The level was filled with several droids—all of them Sith bipedal wardroids, cradling standard blaster rifles in their scrawny arms.
There's more to this than what meets the eye, he thought bitterly. He could feel the raw power of the Dark Side swirling around the building, as its tendrils writhed and ensnared other people and buildings around it, consuming the hearts, desires and inevitably the people who inhabited those buildings. He suppressed a shudder, as he thought about becoming one of the few to witness the web of the Dark Side grow, inviting more of its prey to become entangled as it fed on every precious life.
To think, my brother had succumbed to this, he thought ruefully, recalling that fateful encounter he had with his older brother Xavier, who had fallen to the Dark Side and became Darth Seth after killing his twin, Nathaniel. It was Dante who killed Xavier in the final moments of finding the key to unlocking the Unifying Force.
Even now, as his heart sunk a bit for his deceased brothers, he felt that the Force had taken him to a crossroads with a barrier—one where the Unifying Force was unable to extend its grasp and unite those who had once fallen. Not a single fallen Jedi had been redeemed, and what's more, those who followed the Unifying Force had slowly begun to take comfort in the use of the dark powers their darker brethren used. The tenets of the Jedi Order had become twisted, and somehow everything they had begun to strive for had now collapsed. Dante grew frustrated, as he balled his hands into fists, tightening the grip on his pistol.
Why must we fail now? The Unifying Force was going to bridge the gulf between the Sith and Jedi! Why have we failed? Is there some hidden meaning to the Unifying Force? Is there some greater meaning that we are not meant to understand until later?
He clenched his teeth in his frustration, taking some comfort and solace in that he would soon destroy everything in this building. Someway, somehow, Dante would eliminate the Sith once and for all, and then he would be unstoppable.
Unstoppable. Dante paused, and relaxed from tensing himself. He felt the immense pressure and weight of the Dark Side around him, urging him to rekindle those flames. Even now, he could feel the soft temptations to kill the Bothan Intelligence Director with his bare hands.
No, he reasoned, easing his mind as he called upon old Jedi techniques to ebb his anger. How could I have allowed myself to become duped? This place is full of the Dark Side—I cannot trust my own thoughts. He sighed, as the footsteps became mere whispers to him. I need to get this over with. He rose and walked towards the wall, leaning his head out to peek at both sides to see if he was clear.
Confident, he began to walk down the same path the droids had presumably gone. He needed to gain cold, hard evidence of what the Intelligence Director was doing. He felt the presences of thousands of other people—the familiar presences of someone he knew, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. Shaking off the feeling, he looked at the schematics of the structure on his small datapad, attempting to determine the best location of a systems console terminal.
There, he determined, as he pinpointed a location that he felt would keep him relatively hidden. I can only assume the Dark taint I've kept within myself for so long has now become irrevocable, he thought sadly as he trudged along the corridors, keeping close to the walls. Stretching out with the Force, he felt the subtle gyrations of energy throughout the building. More droids, he thought, as he holstered his blaster and produced the lightsaber of his lost love.
He felt his hands gripping the cylinder tightly, as he recalled Rin's death. No, he steeled himself, I won't live through it again! I refuse to! Any and all attempts to keep himself strong suddenly dissolved as he remembered the crimson lightsaber driving into her chest, as she fell to the ground, left to die as the assassin, Lotus Xa, tried to lure him over. As much as he loathed to admit it, she nearly succeeded—but not in the way she wanted. She wanted him—the only Jedi to ever best her.
He felt his hands tremble and tears swell in his eyes, as that familiar prickle in his hands, feet, elbows and knees continued to drive itself through his body.
The footsteps of several wardroids were approaching closer to where he was.
She's dead, Dante. You killed her, the voice replied. It was the twisted, spiteful and somber voice of the Rin who continued to haunt him.
"Rin," he mouthed, as he closed his eyes tightly. He tried to ignore the voice. His hands continued to tremble violently, as he felt her death, her last words, and the scent of her burnt flesh.
Several more footsteps had joined—all of whom were the Sith wardroids.
She will never be there again. You'll never listen to her sweet voice, her laughter and you will never join her again. You should never have allowed yourself to feel for her. You're responsible for her death.
"Rin" he whispered, as he gritted his teeth and felt his arms tense. The voice was making sense and angering him even more.
The clanking of the droid feet had stopped in front of the adjoining corridor.
It's over, Dante. Lotus won: Rin is dead, the Dark Side has you, why don't you just admit it? She's dead all because you stopped and gaped as Lotus drove her blade into Rin's chest. It's your entire fault she's dead! And now they will take Rena. Rena will die by the Sith—or worse, she'll join them!
"No!" He growled as his hands tightened around the blade, followed by a snap-hiss, as a blue shaft of energy flared to life. No! He screamed in his mind as he blindly leapt out of the hallway, spinning his blade all around him, slicing the plethora of droids that faced him into halves.
"I won't lose her!" He screamed as the voice continued to goad him on.
Strike! They're all going to kill her Dante! Save her! Save her like you couldn't save me.
The Jedi Knight thrust his blade into the chest of one wardroid, as he spun about, his lightsaber a streak of blue as it decapitated another and deflected a blaster bolt that flew into another.
He continued to slash at them, tearing them to pieces as he watched them crumble under his strength.
Now nothing will ever stop you, Dante. Take the power you know you have rejected. Take it and you can go forth and protect Rena!
He arced his lightsaber upwards and sliced one of the last remaining droids in half—along with its blaster rifle.
Dante spun about, bringing his lightsaber on a downward slash to his left. Extending one hand, he sent the last droid into the wall, before it landed on the ground, clattering in pieces.
He peered about the corridors, noticing that nothing else lived, save for him.
Take the power, Dante. Use it to save Rena and finally eliminate the Sith once and for all!
He hadn't even broken a sweat as he surveyed the carnage he had single-handedly wrought. He deactivated his lightsaber and looked at the hilt. "There is no such thing as luck, only skill," his whispered as he read the inscription on the lightsaber. He sighed wearily. "I'm sorry, Rin. I am not as strong as you think. But I won't give in," he promised.
But what about Rena? The darker Rin asked him.
"I will protect her with my life, but you are nothing more than a nightmare that should have been put to rest a long time ago."
I shall always be a part of you, Dante, the voice replied. We are one—intertwined at the heart and we shall forever be together.
"Perhaps," he replied, "but in time, you'll fade."
Ignoring any more conversations with his mind, Dante clipped the lightsaber to his belt and strode to the system terminal at an empty secretary's desk. He tapped several keys and inserted one of the last few spikes he had left.
He tapped a few more keys, cycling through commands as he found data entries. He removed his datapad and cycled through it. Nothing like unrestricted access via a computer spike, he thought. As he cycled through the data entries, he found something of notable promise.
Operation: Guardian Shield:
The Promised Ones.
Runaway.
Forefather.
He cycled through them. What is this? He looked around; ensuring no one else was around and then copied them to his datapad. He steeled himself against the Dark Side, the voice and whatever else he would encounter, as he moved towards the one entitled 'Forefather.'
Sebastian Marseilles felt the death of his Master and couldn't help but smile, as he moved silently throughout the hallways. So, old man, you finally met your death. Good riddance, you were nothing more than a thorn in my side. As much as he was glad at the loss of his Master, he also felt a small hole in his heart, saddened that Dietrich Cain had come to a inglorious end.
What's more, he was saddened he didn't have the opportunity to kill his Master.
The sounds of lightsabers clashing and the grunts and screams of those who died woke him from his trance. Seems I must keep my focus on the present—lest I come to the same fate as my Master.
Sebastian kept to the walls, racing through the dormitories. There is no doubt that Deus and his cronies will come through here—slaughtering the miserable miscreants and thensome. He continued to walk, but heard a soft beeping tone and he gasped, looking about, as one hand went to his pocket.
Bloody woman, of all times… He sighed. He ducked behind a statue of a Jedi Knight, as he opened the channel to his comlink. "Yes?" He asked, irate.
"Sebastian, I'm glad you're there," her voice replied, somewhat sourly.
"Lotus, I don't have time for this—we've already begun the siege on the Jedi Temple!"
"You have?"
He heard what could have been curses she muttered under her breath. It caused him to smile momentarily before he asked, "what is it that you want?"
"I need you to look for a Jedi—her name is Rena Naver."
"What's so important about her?"
"She's someone I need—and I need her alive"
This caused the man to pout. "What's the matter? Afraid I'll kill her, Sweetie?"
She growled. "You better not. Especially since I am on my way to get her."
He paled, thankful that she could only hear his voice in the comlink. "You're coming here?"
"Of course. Now find her and I'll reward you," she replied, before her tone became teasing. "Handsomely, of course."
"Of course," he muttered, his mind racing with thoughts of Lotus surrendering herself to him.
"Good," she replied formally, "now get going—I'll be landing in a handful of minutes."
He sighed as he left to go find his new quarry. He had been more interested in torturing, mutilating and eventually killing the Younglings, but he figured he would have his fun with this Rena. After all, Lotus merely said she wanted the girl alive; she said nothing about keeping the girl in good condition.
As he continued to look at the doors, looking for some clue as to who was this Rena, he stopped as a door hissed open behind him, and closed suddenly. He turned around and faced a young woman, no more than 18 years old, with short raven black hair to her shoulders, oceanic blue eyes and a dark look on her face.
She was clad in a loose fitting white tunic and breeches, with her brown boots. In her hand, she held her lightsaber, which flared to life, revealing a fiery emerald that painted green light around her and the man before her.
"Rena Naver?" Sebastian asked, somewhat unnerved at her strength in the Force.
"Yes," she replied. "And you are?"
He smiled darkly. "Sebastian Marseilles. I've so wanted to meet you, and now that I have, I think it is time we get acquainted." He revealed a longer lightsaber hilt as he ignited both ends of the lightsaber, revealing cruel crimson shafts of energy. He charged towards her, with nothing but sheer malice towards the Jedi.
Rena met his charge head-on, moving with swift passion.
Author's Note: Well, this is the second one of the week--I'll be doing my mid-term by the time you all have finished reading this, I gather. Anyway, I combed through this and hopefully I managed to pull out the minor errors. I hope you enjoy this, there's much more on the way. My Word Document (which has the entire story) tells me that this is merely the halfway point. So...we've finally made it. Coming up, you will get to find out the mysterious identity of Deus, Rena and all those other folks. And I guarantee you...there will be much more interesting things that will come their way...really...what you don't believe me?
