Chapter Eighteen

Hyperion was pinned down by the chain gun's fire, unable to advance forward but not being pushed back by the impact force of the bolts. That was when he looked deep within himself, concentrated on gathering his power together for one final run of Force Rage. With a final shout, he gave into the Rage and marched forward without feeling the impact force of any of the bolts. Morgause and the other Jedi ducked behind Hyperion, waiting for the right opportunity to destroy the gun and that was assuming Hyperion didn't do it himself. The quad was ready with their lightsabers but Hyperion pushed the shield forward and swatted the business end of the chain gun aside, destroying it with his lightsaber.

After that, his Rage subsided and when it did, he deactivated the lightsaber, holsted the hilt and unclipped the ax for another Sith Lord. It didn't take long for him to find the man that he was going to use it on although he did have to use the Rage against four more turrets before he reached this Sith Lord. Even so, he was still formidable enough and killed the man before he could get any battle in. He did this by swinging the shorter blade of his ax into the space between his navel and groin, giving Hyperion enough time to spin around and position himself in a manner where yanking it out wouldn't be difficult.

From there, he swung across so that he could bang the top of the ax against the man's head, bringing him down on his face. Then Hyperion raised the ax and delivered a chop to the back of his skull's dome killing him within seconds as Hyperion yanked the ax back out. Another Sith Lord tried to slice Hyperion in two but Hyperion shot out one of the sections of his shield into the man's face, landing it between the Sith Pureblood's eyes. Then he shot seven more projectiles into the ranks of the Sith Lords approaching, fatally hitting each one.

With just the ax left, he intercepted one Sith Lord with the top of his ax and then swung over to chop down to the shoulder of the man, an explosion of blood erupting from the victim. At this point, they were closing on Crassus' chamber, compelling Hyperion to free his ax then throw it at a Sith Lord who was putting his daughter on the defense. Dantius, meanwhile, cut the door to Crassus' chambers open so that the quintet could enter and end the threat that Crassus presented. The closer they edged towards the chamber, the darker the presence of Crassus grew like a void drawing in all light, life, and warmth into its maw to be devoured for its expansion through the depths of space. "Do you feel it?" Dantius asked, nauseated visibly as were Inoy and Ashlynn.

Morgause felt some of the effects as well but only because her connection to the Dark Side was weaker than her father's. "Stay here, I will handle this," Hyperion said. He then unclipped his lightsaber from his chest strap and ignited its amethyst blade. Before he went in, he heard his daughter call over his shoulder, advising him to be careful inside the chamber. Dantius also wished for the Force to be with him to which he thanked them both and stepped through the door.

I don't understand, I should have the weakest resistance to the pull of Crassus' power. Why do I have the strongest? he asked himself silently. He felt some ill effects yes but largely in his head and even then, not enough to disrupt his concentration. Edging closer and closer to what he sensed to be the center, his blade began to look and feel faint, distant. As if his spirit were already discorporated and being pulled into the void, as if even the colors were being sucked dry and used to feed the appetite for immortality that Crassus had come to possess.

But Hyperion didn't give up, instead anchoring himself on his need to save his daughter and foster son from the evils of the Dark Side. He needed to end this for his brother, for Menelaus, for Morgause, for everyone who had ever cared about him only to fall to his own primal darkness. His parents, his former friends, all these people needed the solace of knowing that their deaths had not been in vain. But as he edged closer, he felt the pull of Crassus' power calling him over to be consumed by the man himself so that he could fuel his eternity. However, Hyperion also knew that all he needed was to interrupt Crassus' concentration for even a moment and it was all over for him.

Hyperion felt the tug literally begin to lift him off his feet as if forcing him to accept a destiny as some twisted sacrifice to his grandfather's appetite. At first, Hyperion tried to resist, tried to stop the tug from taking him across until he realized something about it. The tug was pulling him in the direction where Crassus' chest would most likely be as the ceremony required him to be facing the door to emerge as a god when it was done. Looking back, he could see the most faint light of the door as the darkness consumed even his ability to see the world outside the room. Dimension, texture, smell, feeling, even the ability to see anything other than pitch black was becoming impossible as the ceremony swallowed up first the room then threatened to swallow all things outside it.

He smiled and gave a chuckle at the epiphany of what he had to do in order to stop his grandfather now. "Welcome, Hyperion! You are just in time to be the first life I consume," he heard a disembodied voice say. He recognized it as his grandfather's even as he fought to hold onto his footing, even plunging his lightsaber into the floor behind him so that he could avoid being consumed at first. Grinning from end to end, Hyperion decided that for once, he was not going to resist the tug anymore.

He deactivated his blade and let the tug take him, twirling the business end of his lightsaber so that it faced ahead of him. Then he positioned himself as if he were diving into a swimming pool then ignited his lightsaber so that he could plunge his blade into a part of his body that was not involved with the ritual. He dove forward faster than he had ever done on a bout of Force Speed and positioned his lightsaber just beneath a white and red light he saw at Crassus' heart. All he needed was to complete a stab and disrupt the ritual for just a little bit, disrupt Crassus' concentration to end this debacle.

Seconds later, his blade made contact, slicing through the robes, flesh, blood, and bone of his target until it burst forth through his back. That was when Hyperion planted his feet firmly on the ground next to Crassus' knees and stood erect. The light dissipated when he landed his blow, leading him to no longer feel the tug of the ritual and even the color, texture, and warmth of the room seemed to return. But Crassus' eyes did not fly open nor did the man show any visible reaction towards being gutted like a fish. Hyperion was beginning to wonder if he had been too late in his stabbing, perhaps he had failed to ensure a disruption of Crassus' concentration.

But that was when his hopes came alive once more as Crassus' eyes flew wide open with abject horror and shock. "What have you done to me, grandson?" Crassus demanded at once. Hyperion grinned from end to end and deactivated his lightsaber so that Crassus could feel the ill effects of the stabbing.

"All I need is just one moment of disruption, one moment where your concentration comes to an end. And look what has just happened old man, you are done!" Hyperion growled. Crassus looked down to his gut with horror as he realized that Hyperion was right though he did make things worse for himself. He lashed out with what power he was able to consume and electrocuted Hyperion in a storm of Force Lightning that sent him flying out the room. Hyperion landed in a heap, alive but barely though the same could soon not be said for Lord Crassus.

As he realized his failure with mounting fright, he noticed the power that he had accumulated within him gathering inwards. "No, I can still complete the ritual with or without this wound!" Crassus exclaimed but even the Jedi knew the falsity of that claim. Dantius, Morgause, the other Jedi, and a recovering Hyperion entered to watch the end of the man who had tormented all their lives and nearly brought ruin and death to the galaxy on two occasions. Crassus rose to try and deal with the intruders but that was when a red-white fire enveloped him, red lightning shooting from his hands and arms as he fought desperately to hold onto his life.

He cried out in agony as the five other Force-sensitives sensed his first his newfound power draining. "No, I cannot be failing this ritual! I will kill you, I will kill you all!" Crassus said as he tried to conjure a storm of lightning that could do them in. That said, the storm merely backlashed in on itself and drained him even faster. Around them, the quintet noticed that he had successfully consumed the artifacts of the Dark Side that had once made up Nogatan's entire catalogue, informing them that his death would take a little time to come.

"If I am going, I'm taking one of you with me!" Crassus finally shouted. That was when he unleashed a wave of Drain Life power upon the quintet, trying to snag somebody to save himself. The Jedi had managed to dodge it but Morgause was nearly set upon by the wave though she was pushed aside. As her father, her protector, Hyperion pushed her out of the way and took on the blast himself. But even the Drain Life that Crassus was able to successfully perform upon Hyperion wasn't enough to save himself from the destruction that was inevitable.

As soon as the power consumed the life force extracted from Hyperion, it returned itself on the last of Crassus' power then obliterated the power in his soul. Whilst his corporeal body turned to dust as the Jedi watched, his soul was literally shredded into hundreds of pieces by the power and scattered across creation. Only when the cloths of Lord Imperius fell to the ground as silent testimony to the power of the botched ritual did the Jedi finally sense its presence leave forever along with Crassus'. Morgause, meanwhile, turned her attention to her ailing father.