AN: Hey every one here's another Chapter, I must admit I'm actually a bit worried about this chapter it can get a bit weird but that typically happens when you delve into the Mystic side of things in star wars it tends to be hit or miss, if some of you don't like this and stop reading I'll understand, with that being said on to the chapter, another thing remember how I said I'd keep the parallel between the orcs from Lord of the rings and these creatures as far away as possible well I failed sorry :P
Disclaimer: I only own my Oc's and the other things I mentioned in the last Chapter.
Chapter 8 (The Return of the Dark Master)
Caleb Sobec struggled in vain against the chains that held him down, his hand right hand was broken and he was sure he had a concussion when that guy hit him in the head with that mace, he wondered if the others managed to get away he wasn't sure, he heard the chamber door open and he looked over to see what looked like a man carrying a sword walking towards him, he was clad in a dark cloak and wore dark armor adorned with symbols that Caleb couldn't decipher, the 'man's' eyes were dim red, and behind him Caleb saw more of the creatures that attacked him and the others earlier and the guy who smacked him with a mace.
The man turned back to the mace wielder, "Is this the man?" he asked his voice was smooth, cool and oddly soothing, but it did nothing to sooth Caleb's nerves.
"Yes Master, he's perfect." the mace wielder said his voice was gruff and booming.
"You're right he doesn't look like much" the man asked referring to Caleb.
"No, but he's perfect for the ritual." the other answered.
"I will have to take your word for it." the man that gave Caleb a sense of dread responded.
"Hey, if you truly want to know what I'm capable of, just release me and give me a weapon and I will show you." Caleb growled.
"That won't be necessary." the man said smoothly, as he glided towards the helpless rangers, "Ghurarmu shirkush' agh azgushu." he started as climbed up onto the altar, Caleb then knew or was pretty sure at least what was happening he was going to be sacrificed for what he did not know, "Zant ya aparkurizak," he now stood above the ranger his sword pointed downwards aimed at the rangers heart, "Come back to us, Shakhbûrz!" the man's red eyes glowed and intensified as he stabbed Caleb Sobec through the chest.
Caleb let out a pained gasp as his heart was cut into two and he started to lose consciousness and passed out from the pain, death had come for the young ranger, "Caleb Sobec..." a voice called the ranger opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by a void and to see a bright figure moving towards him.
Several hours earlier.
As the creatures charged the underprepared group they opened fired on the hoard however the sheer number of them was to much to keep them away and they started to fight close quarters.
"Where the hell is that trigger happy droid?!" Aaron shouted as he disarmed a creature wielding a small mace and used it to bash its skull in, he than picked up a small shield and started to fight them using melee combat.
Ju crushed several of the creatures throats with his bare hands and broke their bodies with his fist and feet the archers focused on him but his exoskeleton proved to thick for them to peirce.
The clone used their newly built wrist mounted blades to fight the creatures in close quarters they stabbed them in the throat and yellow blood spewed out onto the ground.
Katelyn shot the archers from inside the protective circle to take away their raged fighters she than noticed a bolt hitting another archer coming from up above she spared a glance and Saw Alpha-17 shooting a DC-15 from an access port up above then she went back to shooting.
Caleb had lost his rifle in a scuffle with one of the stronger creatures and took up a sword and used that, "Careful they're stronger than they appear." he pointed out and stabbed one of the weird creatures through the the neck.
The others heard him and understood, Aaron looked at the leader he hadn't done anything as of yet he was just watching the fight and looking between the group for what reason Aaron couldn't fathom, Aaron then stopped the swing of a war hammer coming at him with his shield he than swung his mace and broke the creatures wrist causing it to screech in pain and drop its weapon he than hooked his arm with his own and hit the creature in the face with his shield knocking it out before moving onto the next one.
After several minutes the group had killed several dozen of the creatures with no signs of stopping anytime soon, finally the leader began moving he took up his spear and moved towards the fight, he than determined who would be the biggest threat aside from Ju got his spear ready and with a mighty throw the spear flew Aaron saw it fly over his head then he heard a roar of agony from Rohkea he risked a glance and saw the wookie was skewered through the diaphragm and on the ground from what he could tell he was breathing he also noticed that the creatures had backed off, he and the others took the opportunity to regroup and make sure the wookie was fine Aaron used his medical expertise to look him over, "As far as I can tell he'll be fine." the others all nodded but that was all moot if they could scare the creatures away.
Caleb stood up and face the leader who was watching the scene with some sick twisted pleasure, "That was a mistake." Caleb growled.
"Hahaha, why is that?" the leader asked mockingly in basic surprisingly.
"Because you just managed to piss off every single one of us." Caleb answered.
"Good hot blood makes the meat more juicy." he responded with a crackle.
Caleb seriously had enough of this and charged the creature his weapon raised the creature then caught the weapon and the two locked eyes, "The name's Xor remember that, for it is the name of your executioner."
Caleb jumped back and glared at him, he then reached for his pistol in its holster to shoot him, but he found himself on his back and stopping the sword from stabbing him by redirecting it into the ground right next to him the leader then pointed at the downed ranger and blue bolts of electricity shot out and hit the ranger shocking him, "Argh!" Caleb screamed before the barrage of electricity stopped and the weight of Xor was off him to he saw his brother with his knife trying to stab Xor in the neck but Xor was holding the older Sobec back a sinister grin on his face.
"The two of you smell the same you must share the same blood." Xor commented as he threw Aaron off of him, Caleb then stood up and walked over to Aaron his gaze on Xor to make sure he didn't try anything he helped his brother up, all the other creatures were chanting 'Xor, Xor, Xor.' over and over again.
"Do you have any ideas?" Caleb whispered.
"I'll distract him you shoot him." Aaron told him.
Caleb nodded and Aaron walked towards Xor, "What the matter, giving up already?" Xor asked, Aaron didn't give him the satisfaction of an answer and took a combat stance, "Good It's been awhile since I've had a good bout I don't want to waste this chance." Xor sneered.
Aaron took out both his knives and charged Xor and Xor countered with a swing of his scimitar Aaron dodged the swing by bending backwards and retaliated by stabbing Xor in the legs the mail doing little to protect him, Xor just backhanded the Ranger away the knife still stuck in his leg, he pulled the knife out his yellow blood still on it and threw in at the ranger just as Caleb shot Xor in the neck the knife hit Aaron in the diaphragm and he groaned in pain, all the creatures shrieked in fright and ran back a bit and Caleb walked over to Xor's body removed the chain mail on his head and shot him in the head for good measure before going over to Aaron "You okay?" he asked as he helped him back over to the ship.
"I think so, it didn't hit anything vital, but the knife had his blood on it." Aaron groaned as he was laid down, the access port to the ship opened and out came HK-51.
"Eager statement: I'm ready for blood." the droid said while raising his rifle.
"You better be ready they might be coming back, Katelyn, Ju." Caleb started getting their attention "Get Rohkea and Aaron aboard the ship quickly, we'll deal with the rest." Caleb stated as he took a spare rifle.
The two of them nodded Ju picked up Rohkea and Katelyn helped Aaron back into the ship, HK-51 scanned the horde of creatures, "Assessment; tonight's going to be a good slaughter." the assassin droid said sinisterly and shot at the horde killing a creature, the others all shrieked and charged again.
After several minutes the Horde had been thinned out thanks to HK's flamethrower but there were still quite a few, suddenly Caleb felt and invisible hand grip his throat and he was lifted off the ground he dropped his weapon and clawed at his throat in vain, he was then pulled into the woods, "Sir!" one of the clones shouted to no avail.
Caleb found himself quite a bit aways from the landing site he stood up only to be hit again by something from behind he was being hit again and again before he turned on his back and found out who was hitting him, a 'man' clad in armor and armed with a mace he was about to swing again when a blade intercepted the blow, "Enough the Grand Gul want's him alive!" the owner of the blade said in a commanding voice.
Caleb raised his hand only for the mace wilder to crush it with another strike "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Caleb screamed in pain he looked at his hand and could see the bones protruding from it, Caleb then tried to sit up.
"He'll live." the mace wielder said simply and hit the ranger in the head knocking him unconscious.
At the temple Daniel was pacing in nervousness, "Daniel please calm down, they'll be fine." Sentinel told him confidently.
"You're going to wear a hole in the floor." Auron remarked.
Daniel finally stopped and took a deep breath, "Sorry," he apologised, he than turned to the spirit, "What are these creatures?" he asked curiously.
"They are the natives of this world, one of them at least they are perhaps the most numerous species on the planet, they for the most part hate going out during the day, and they have produced some strong servants of Bogan." the spirit started.
"They know the darkside?" Auron asked.
"Yes, but it's a bit more than that it's almost as if they were created by Bogan itself given how cruel and primal they are." the spirit answered, "But they never truly tapped into that power till one of our own turned his back on Ashla and trained them in the terrible powers that Bogan provides."
"I see." Daniel said.
"How long ago was that." Guardian asked
"Seventeen thousand years ago." the spirit answered, "It was a dark chapter in our history, after the Dark Master was defeated and killed, our alliance decided it would be safer to relocate the other natives to this world's moon they are safe there now and live very comfortably." the spirit told him.
"Well that's good so I guess this is here to keep an eye on the… what are they called?" Vega asked curiously.
"We call them the Menninkäinen, but they call themselves Urkus, there are several different types as well…" he started then trailed off, "one of your friends is in trouble!" he exclaimed.
Daniel's eye widened as did Vega's and Auron's they reached out with their senses "Caleb!" Vega shouted and made for the door before Ventress grabbed him and held him back "Let me go!"
"So you can go get yourself killed!?" she asked, "You sensed how powerful those things that have him are, a jedi padawan like you doesn't stand a chance." she told him.
"But he'll die." Vega told her with tears flowing down his face though it was hidden by the faceplate he wore.
"Daniel and I will go." Auron said.
"You both do stand a better chance than the boy here does." Asajj said, "Do you know who the people who hold our 'friend' are?" she asked the spirit.
"They call themselves Guls, which are in essence those who have mastered the powers of Bogan, be carefull." the spirit told them, "I won't be able to help you beyond this fortress."
"We understand." Daniel said as he and Auron made their way out of the fortress and to catch the Guls who held their friend, they mounted their speeder and took off towards the woods their lightsabers drawn like the cavalry riders of old "lets hope our training pays off." Daniel remarked over their private comms.
"These Guls won't know what hit 'em." Auron said confidently.
Their onboard communicator pinged to show that Guardian was contacting them, Daniel mentally told sentinel to answer it "Daniel here how can we help you Guardian?"
"Listen you two, the spirit just told us that even though the Urkus and Guls appear primitive you shouldn't underestimate them they wear armor and use weapons that are enhanced using sorcery and alchemy." Guardian informed them.
"Like the Sith huh?" Daniel asked outloud.
"Sounds like it, the sith of old did that a lot, heck some sith of my generation did that." Auron confirmed, "What does their armor do?" Auron asked.
"For the low level warriors it just enhances their strength putting them above the average human level, for the Guls though it does far more, it enhances their connection to the force as well as boost their other natural abilities." the elder shard explained "As well as obviously increase the armor's durability."
"Obviously." Auron said as he cut an urku in his path bisecting it.
"Anything else?" Daniel asked as they came into the forest.
"No I think that's everything." Guardian told him.
"Alright thanks." Daniel said and closed the link as they bobbed and weaved through the forest.
"The forest is getting pretty dense, I recommend we stop the speeders and continue on foot." Auron suggested.
"I think you're right let's stop up here." Daniel agreed and pointed to the area they were coming up on.
"Alright." Auron said as they came to a stop he dismounted and looked at the speeders for a moment, "What should we do about the speeders?" Auron asked Daniel as he got off his vehicle.
"I guess we set them to patrol the area and when we are done summon them back to us." Daniel said as he tapped a few buttons on his speeder to do so after he finished programming the speeders A.I it road to life and took off, Auron nodded and did the same.
"Let's go." Auron said as let the currents of the force guide him to their captured friend and the ones who hold him.
They moved through the forest with the grace and determination of a Nexu on the hunt staying up high to avoid the uruks as best as they could.
Back with Caleb the unconscious ranger was being carried by the 'man' that knocked him out the two Guls along with some Urku captains were making their way to the entrance to their underground caverns, abruptly one of the Guls stopped and turned back to look in the direction they came from his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Gul Mun what the matter?" one of the captains asked prompting the others to stop and look at the Gul.
"We're being followed." Gul Mun said, "Gul Balğa, continue onward without me, the ritual must be complete."
Gul Balğa nodded, "the Dark Master will return, bleed them dry." he growled gleefully and took off running towards the stronghold the captains following him.
Gul Mun turned to face the followers when they come, he got down and started to meditate to give himself more focus for the fight.
After several minutes he sensed the newcomers they were staying up in the trees to avoid a confrontation, 'a good plan' Mun thought to himself, he reached out and with a subtle twitch of his fingers broke the tree limbs they were about to land on causing Daniel and Auron to fall to the ground in front of the Gul.
The unexpected move nearly caused them to land on their backs however the Jedi and former sith managed to compose themselves and land on their feet they drew their lightsaber and stood to face the Gul who hindered their progress, "So, are you one of the Guls?" Daniel asked.
"Indeed little sage, I am High Gul Mun." the Gul answered as he drew his blade.
Daniel studied the Gul, he was tall about 7' 1", he wore armor that covered most of his body but the joints which were protected by chain mail, his face was extremely pale and he wore a strange apparatus on his head that kept his lips from closing over his mouth making it seem like his head was a skull, he carried a single edged sword with a cross guard and a smaller guard designed to protect the user's knuckles, the best comparison Daniel could make would be the Sota Veitsi used by some of the ancient Jedi before the light saber became the main weapon of the order.
"I'm not a Sage, Gul Mun, I am a Jedi." Daniel corrected and took the opening stance of Djem So holding the blade above his head and angled back and down at a forty-five degree angle, Auron also noticed that the padawan had his feet in a different position than what was normally associated with the form, he smirked Daniel used his proficiency with Ataru to make up for Djem So's lack of mobility, Auron took his Niman stance his blade held at head high, in a two handed, the blade angled upwards and slightly in, his dominant foot placed forward, Auron and Daniel both noticed the Gul was a little put off by their stance as he was more used to the Sage's martial arts not the Jedi's.
"It matters not, the ritual will proceed as planned, the Dark Master will return!" Gul Mun exclaimed and moved forward to meet the two of them his sword meeting their lightsabers, most metal in the universe would have melted upon making contact with the lightsaber, there were a few metals that could naturally survive it those being Song steel, Phrik, Beskar, and Crotosis, of course weapons that were enhanced using alchemy and the Force could also do so as well, it came as no surprise to the Jedi and former sith when they were met with resistance from the Gul's blade, Daniel pushed the Gul away and countered with an overhand cleave, the Gul moved his blade to parry the blow and it sent the Gul's blade into the Gul's face breaking a tooth.
"Nice you remembered what I taught you." Auron said with a chuckle.
Daniel's mind briefly went back to that lesson 'here's the basic idea behind Djem So, if your opponents blade isn't hitting them you aren't hitting them hard enough' Auron told him, "Psh." Daniel said and continued his assault striking with a cross cut to the Guls chest which he dodged by back stepping, "Where is Caleb!" Daniel shouted as he sent another hammer blow at the Guls defences.
"On his way to be sacrificed, his death will bring about the return of the Dark master." the Gul said gleefully as he and Daniel locked blades.
Daniel's force signature flared with righteous fury as he kick the Gul knocking him off his feet he followed up by a devastating cleave that knocked the Gul's blade out of his hand, Daniel was about to finish the Gul off when suddenly instead of Mun being there a woman with raven hair and green eyes appeared before him she wore the Jedi combat gear of the clone wars the jedi robes combined with phase one clone trooper armor, seeing her gave Daniel pause and his eyes widened, "Daniel that's not her finish this fight!" Sentinel told Daniel, Daniel's eyes narrowed and he struck at the Gul, his blade went through an apparition and Mun disappeared leaving no trace of him.
"That good for nothing bastard!" Daniel seethed, he was outraged that someone would use her to get to him.
"Woah, he really struck a nerve didn't he, what did you see?" Auron asked.
"He took the form of my mother, what the hell." Daniel growled, "he just elevated this to personal."
"Daniel calm down we still need to rescue Caleb, and stop the return of this Dark Master, you can get Mun later when you calmed down but right now let's go." Auron told Daniel.
Daniel sighed "You're right, come on let's go!" the two than double timed it following the currents of the Force to lead them to their companion to hopefully save him from the atrocious ritual.
Gul Mun had successfully escaped from the engagement, he had to admit he was a bit unprepared by their fighting styles but now he had a good idea of how to face them but for now he just needed to slow them down, with a grin he inhaled and let out a loud bellowing shout using the force to augment the sound.
Daniel and Auron heard the shout but continued moving just as the were running an arrow impacted the tree in front of Daniel bringing him and Auron to a stop they turned to the direction the arrow came from and saw a horde of Urkus bearing down on them.
"We don't have time for this!" Auron shouted as his hands charged up with lightning he sent a blast at them killing several of them, Daniel used a telekinetic push to throw them into the trees with enough force to kill them he also picked up some boulders lit them on fire and threw them at the horde effectively terrifying them and killing several of them however some of the bigger ones continued boldly only to be met by the two teens lightsaber at the places their armour didn't protect.
After killing the horde the two picked up their pace again, "They don't seem to care about their warriors." Daniel commented.
"Not everyone does, with droids it makes sense they can be easily replaced, perhaps that's their view on the Urkus." Auron offered as they continued running.
"That begs the question, how many are there?" Sentinel asked outloud.
'That was a good question, if they are throwing these soldiers at us like a rich man does spare credits how many Urkus do these Guls have at their disposal?' Daniel thought to himself, Auron was having the same thoughts as well.
"I suppose we'll find out soon." Auron answered.
Meanwhile Gul Balğa had arrived at the entrance of the caverns that served as the Urku's home and stronghold, "Gatekeeper of the Mountain Keep it is I High Gul Balğa and I bring the sacrifice for the Dark Master's resurrection." the Gul said while showing off the unconscious Caleb Sobec.
The massive doors opened and a group of Urku came out to meet them, "Take the shara to the sacrificial altar." Balğa ordered them, they all nodded and smiled gleefully looking forward to the Dark Master's return and went about to carry out the command.
The doors then began to close, as the doors completely closed Daniel and Auron came upon the gate, "Damn it, we're too late." Auron growled, then they heard someone behind them chuckling the young force users turned to see Gul Mun.
"The ritual will be complete that gate is reinforced by our powers you won't be able to break through it any time soon." Mun cackled gleefully
"Before we kick your arse again tell me, what does the ritual entail?" Auron asked, he knew that by doing this he was wasting time but he honestly wondered how the hell they could resurrect a long dead darksider by sacrificing another sentient.
Mun smiled, "The idea is to give him a body however to do so we have to as you say 'make room'." he answered.
"Then why not give him one of your bodies or an Urku's body?" Daniel asked.
Mun sneered at the question "The master can only have the body of his own species, why would we tarnish his authority by giving him the body of a Gul or an Urku?" he asked rhetorically.
"Why a non force sensitive though?" Auron asked as he grabbed his saber off his belt but not activating it, Daniel did the same.
Mun looked at him questioningly wondering what the term force sensitive meant, "Never mind." Auron said exasperated and rolled his eyes behind his helmet.
Mun just snarled and drew his sword and held it in a defencive stance, Auron charged forward and brought his blade down his blade passed through an illusion, they heard laughter echo all around them, "Tell me can you find the right one?" the Gul asked condescendingly as five Muns appeared before them.
Daniel and Auron glanced at eachother and nodded Auron rushed the ones on the left, Daniel rushed the ones on the right they hit the apparitions and as they disappeared a new one took its place, "We're not accomplishing anything!" Daniel said frustrated.
"Regroup!" Auron told him the two broke off, "I have an idea you remember on our third day of training we practiced the battle meld?" Auron asked, in truth they practiced that all the time they could after the first time when he and Asajj nearly botched it Auron remembered when Daniel told him what would have happened if they did 'it wouldn't be pretty', by the time they made it to this planet they all managed to pull it off and all of them and their shards formed one entity with little trouble.
"Yeah why?" he asked confused before the implications of what he was suggesting actually registered, "Oh, I like the way you think." Daniel smirked thanks to the fact that his teacher and he used the technique throughout the war he managed to teach all the other force users of the group how to do it.
"Than let's do this." Auron said, Daniel nodded and reached out with the Force to Qixoni, Sentinel and Auron's minds , the battle meld was something similar to battle meditation but it only served to bolster the force sensitives of the user's side the ability was useful because all the people involved essentially become one person and they draw on all the strength of each other making it a very effective ability, unless of course someone botches it up in which case it can kill and destroy the minds of everyone involved.
Mun wasted no time he grabbed his sword by the blade and was about to strike the armoured Daniel with the guard when he found the ground shook and caused him to stumble and fall, he looked up and saw that the 'Jedi' had put his hand on the ground and sent a telekinetic surge through it, he snarled two could play at that game he placed his hand on the ground and did the same causing the Jedi to lose their footing taking this opportunity Mun got to his feet and hit Daniel over the head with his guard.
Daniel recoiled from the blow which probably would have punched straight through his helmet had it not been for Sentinel using the force to reinforce the helmet, Auron retaliated by blasting the Gul with lightning the alchemically enhanced metal actually diffused the lightning so Auron and Daniel pushed the Gul away into a tree, Mun snarled and pulled himself up "Come to me warriors of the dead fulfill the will of the Dark Master!" Mun shouted just than several decayed hands shot up from the ground and several of the urkus that they killed on their way here ran through the forest they all had some red glowing dead eyes, it looked like something out of a holo horror drama.
The mind cluster of force sensitives just regarded the dead warriors with pity, "No rest for the dead." Daniel stated in pity.
"Let's give these 'ghuls' a respectable send off." Auron told him, Daniel nodded and the two charged into the fray 'rekilling' the reanimated corpses with ease.
Mun noticed that the two were fighting much better than before almost like they were a single person with two bodies, Mun decided to jump into the top entrance and take that in knowing that even if they do follow him it would take them a lot longer to find the sacrifice.
Daniel followed the Gul leap with his eyes he didn't need to say anything due to the battle meld in place Auron and Qixoni already knew "Let's follow him we don't have the time for this." Auron suggested as he decapitated another corpse.
Daniel nodded and they leapt into the top entrance on the cliff to follow the Gul the reanimated dead all screeched and began to climb their way up the cliff side, Auron reached up with his hand and brought it down a storm of lightning bolts came down to smite the Ghuls, Daniel nodded and the two ran into the deep dark abyss to save their friend.
Meanwhile in the sacrificial room the unconscious Caleb Sobec was placed on the altar and chained down, Gul Balğa watched on as the Urku shamans performed a ritual to help make the Dark Master's new body more powerful what they were doing was using a combination of sorcery and alchemy to give the unconscious ranger the ability to tap into the great energy field.
"How long before the sacrifice is ready?" the Gul asked somewhat impatiently his guttural voice scaring the lesser Urkus.
"In a few hours my liege." one of the shamans answered his voice deep and scratchy.
"Well get it done! the grand Gul will be done with his part in a few hours." Balğa ordered as he turned and left the chamber.
As he left his senses told him that Gul Mun was in trouble, he decided to go see what was the matter he stretched out his senses and he found the Gul in the highest part of the caverns leading the adversaries away 'I told him he should have invested some of his training into his fighting skills.' he thought to himself, 'perhaps if he had he wouldn't be running away from these sages, they'd be running from him.' with that he made his way through the massive cavern Urku slaves working tirelessly on smelting and building weapons, the shamans used their alchemy and sorcery to create terrifying creatures of chaos and destruction, he made his way to the grand Guls chamber and knelt before it waiting for when the greatest of all the Guls came to resurrect the Dark Master.
Meanwhile Daniel, Auron, Sentinel, and Qixoni were still giving chase to Mun, "I think he's leading us on a runaround." Sentinel said.
"You may be right." Auron agreed as they came to a stop, "This guy isn't our priority it's finding Caleb and stopping whatever it is they're going to do to him."
Daniel nodded, "Right, but which way do we go?" Daniel asked as he looked around at the tunnels and paths that could potentially lead them anywhere.
"That clever bastard, his fighting skills may be amateurish but he certainly has wit." Auron remarked.
"And …" Daniel started
"..illusions can't forget about those," Auron finished "Okay how did I know what you were…" Auron started to ask.
"Going to say?" Daniel finished, "It's a side effect of the Battle meld, prolonged use allows us…" he started
"To finish each other's thoughts and sentences." Auron finished, "huh nifty…"
"I guess." Daniel finished, "that's ...
"Getting old. Okay seriously that needs to stop."Auron said exasperated.
"Than don't speak." Qixoni said.
"Yeah it's not like we…" Sentinel started
"Need to." Daniel finished.
'Whatever, anyway should we split up?' Auron thought.
'I don't recommend it we function better as a group.' Daniel responded over the meld.
'Okay, let's go down this way.' Auron suggested while pointing down the tunnel to their left.
'Alright.' Daniel said seeing no other option the darkside was to strong here so they really couldn't use the force to find Caleb in here.
About half an hour later they came to a familiar junction, 'wait a minute we just came from here.' Auron though confused
Daniel was also confused, than he had an idea he took his lightsaber and carved the symbol of the Jedi into the wall, 'There that can serve as a marker to make sure we aren't going in circles.' Daniel explained over the Battle Meld.
'Nice thinking.' Qixoni 'said' through the meld.
'Thank you, let's choose this path.' Daniel said pointing down the path in front of them thirty minutes later sure enough they found themselves back in the same room now knowing due to the symbol of the Jedi order on the wall 'yep we're stuck.'
Auron and Daniel looked at eachother and nodded Sentinel and Qixoni opened their suits and Daniel and Auron walked out and knelt down in the center of the room, the two shards then took up defencive positions to protect their partners as they worked to dispel the illusion.
Just than several Urku came down the dark passageways hoping to stop them from succeeding Qixoni and Sentinel took up their partners' lightsabers and cut down any of them who got close as well as use their telekinetic powers to stop them by throwing the foul creatures into the wall to break their bodies with a sickening crack, Sentinel even conjured up a little fire thanks to his bond with Daniel he learned a lot of the powers Daniel had learned in his life and Daniel had learned a lot of patience from Sentinel in turn.
After about five minutes Gul Mun came up from one of the dark passages, he watched as the suits of armor the 'Jedi' wore continued to protect them despite the fact that they weren't wearing them, "Jeddai!" he shouted mispronouncing the name, prompting Daniel to look at him knowing Auron could deal with dispelling the illusion, also all the Urkus stopped as the Gul continued "I will see our fight through to the end just you and me!" Mun challenged pointing his sword at the Jedi, Sentinel was preparing to open up for Daniel but the young man held up a hand stopping his partner.
Daniel then stood up and looked at the Gul with a determined expression "I accept." Daniel said as he held out his hand for his lightsaber Sentinel handed it over with no hesitation and backed off, "Thank you Sentinel." Daniel said gratefully as he tightened his hold on his weapons hilt before pressing the activation stud and a beam of yellow shot out from the hilt and he took the opening stance of his Djem So/Ataru hybrid form, Mun smiled in anticipation and charged the Jedi.
Daniel caught the blow with his blade, however he noticed it was a bit more difficult to do it now than when they first fought, then he realised that he was wearing Sentinel during their first series of bouts now he was without his powered armor and partner, this however didn't deter Daniel and he efficiently parried the blow and counter attacked more ferociously than what he received, Mun parried the blow with a bit of difficulty but Daniel didn't let up he kept striking with his lightsaber coming in from all directions, Mun was pressed on his back foot, to him it looked like the Jedi looked like he was wielding at least three weapons at once finally Daniel kicked Gul Mun in the chest with his left leg sending the Gul into wall, Mun stood up and found he had trouble breathing and he was feeling and excruciating amount of pain, he coughed a bit and noticed that he coughed up blood, he looked up to see a fist flying at his face and before he could react he was met with darkness.
Just as Daniel finished punching the Gul's lights out Auron finished dispelling the illusion though that was kind of unnecessary now, Auron stood up and looked around noticing that there were no Urkus around and that there was only one path to follow 'they must have been apart of the illusion too' Auron concluded, he caught sight of Daniel standing triumphantly over the unconscious Gul Mun, "Nice work, feeling better now?" Auron asked.
Daniel just shrugged, "A little. He'll live just have a major headache and maybe some broken ribs." Daniel answered.
"You could just kill him you know, it'd probably be better that way." Auron suggested, he wasn't trying to goad Daniel into doing anything he was just stating a fact.
"I could," Daniel agreed "but then what does that make me?" he asked, "If I kill him now while he's defenceless I am no better than him or the other Guls, the Sorcerers like Umbra, or the Sith, no offence." Daniel told him.
Auron shrugged, "None taken, I know what you mean, I have killed a lot of people, at the time I didn't care, but now It's difficult to fall asleep without seeing the faces of my victims even if they deserved it." Auron said some guilt leaking into his voice.
Daniel remembered that story he told him during their trek to this planet and decided not to comment, "Look right now we really need to find Caleb, we've been looking for almost two hours and we can't waste any more time." Daniel said seriously.
Auron nodded "You're right come on!" he said as he and Daniel put on Qixoni and Sentinel respectively, after getting secured the group ran down the dark corridor so fast that a normal person would have a hard time seeing them.
Gul Balğa heard the Grand Gul's chamber open and heard footsteps coming towards him, but he didn't raise his head, "Rise my friend." the Grand Gul commanded, in a tone that suggested he was talking to a friend.
Gul Balğa rose to his feet and smiled, "The sacrifice is ready my master." Balğa said taking effort to keep his anticipation in check.
The Grand Gul nodded and began walking in the direction of the sacrificial room Balğa followed about two paces behind him, "Good, tell me is he a great warrior?" he asked curiously.
"Yes, he may not seem like much but he fits the requirements perfectly." Balğa answered struggling to keep himself in check.
The Grand Gul nodded in acceptance and the rest of the walk to the sacrificial chamber was spent in silence, the doors opened and he saw the man on the table looking at them 'He must have regained consciousness, it matters not.' the Grand Gul thought to himself, he turned to Gul Balğa "Is this the man?" he asked smoothly.
"Yes master, He's perfect." Balğa answered with a smirk.
The Grand Gul hummed in thought, "You're right he doesn't look like much." he said as he studied the man."
"No," Balğa agreed, "But he's perfect for the ritual." he added.
The Grand Gul nodded "I'll have to take your word for it." he said trusting his friend.
Than the man spoke "hey, if you want to see what I'm capable of release me, give me a weapon, and I'll show you." he said as he tugged on his restraints and let out a minor hiss of pain due to his broken hand.
The Grand Gul had to admit the man had spirit and if his spirit was as good as his fighting prowess then Balğa had chosen well, "That won't be necessary." the Grand Gul answered, then he began the ritual speaking in the language of the Dark Master's servants, "A Sacrifice of blood and bone." he started and climbed up on the Altar the sword of the Dark Master in hand, "A Bridge for you to follow." he held the sword pointing downwards right into the sacrifice's heart the atmosphere was thick with anticipation today was the day of their master's return all the Grand Gul had to do was finish the ritual, "Come back to us, Dark Master!" he bellowed and stabbed down right into the man's heart, he let out a pained gasp and lost consciousness from the pain, the crowd all cheered and hooted and waited for the return of the master, "You need not worry warrior, the Dark Master will be happy for your body, and you may go on to the afterlife in peace." the Grand Gul whispered to the dying man knowing he couldn't hear him, just then chamber doors flew open.
Daniel, Auron, Sentinel, and Qixoni used the Force to forcibly open the doors to a chamber that several Urkus were around the urkus standing near the doors all backed off and snarled at the uninvited guests, the group payed them no heed only the dying man on the altar with a sword stuck in his chest, Daniel and Auron were wide eyed and had trouble finding their voices, "Caleb?!" Daniel asked loudly hoping that the Ranger would respond but he figured it was beyond hope Daniel swallowed a lump in his throat, he lost men under his command before but never like this, Caleb was a friend a good friend in the months they flew through the unknown regions they really got to know each other, "Please wake up, Please!" he cried hopelessly, no answer came from the unconscious man the Urkus only jeered in response, Daniel began to shake in sorrow and grief he looked at the Grand Gul who watched the two newcomers with interest.
Auron was also really upset as well he also grew close to the younger Sobec brother in the time they knew each other, his fists clenched and shook in rage he looked at all the Urku in the room than at the Grand Gul on the altar, "For what you did to this man," Auron started calmly than his body seemed to be surrounded in an electrical aura that covered his entire body and he brought up one of his fist and held it out to the crowed it was shaking in to signify his untamable fury "I WILL DO TO YOU A THOUSAND FOLD!" He screamed as the electrical aura around his body intensified and threw a massive force push which pulverized most of the Urku and the air was misted yellow and the floors and walls were slick with yellow blood several of the greater Urkus managed to protect themselves as did the Guls.
Gul Balğa turned to the Urku captains, "Get him!" he shouted the captains didn't hesitate and rushed forward before they could get anywhere Auron suddenly appeared in front of Balğa who held his mace up to defend himself, after catching the blow he looked past the young armored individual, and saw the Urku captains had holes in their chests where their hearts were, and the other armoured individual was looking at the Grand Gul, unfortunately due to the face plate the Gul couldn't see his expression, but that wasn't important right now he needed to fight this other one with the electrical Aura, "It's been awhile since I had a worthy opponent." He grinned.
"SHUT UP!" Auron bellowed as he fought Balğa, "I WILL KILL YOU!"
"Go ahead and strike me down then!" Balğa retorted as he parried another blow, he than reached out with the Force and hit the ground sending a surge through the ground, Auron jumped away and found a blast of Dark side energy coming his way it his him in the chest and sent him flying into a pillar.
Auron shook himself off and stood up, he took several deep breaths and calmed himself down 'I can't let my rage get the better of me right now not against him I need to focus.' Auron thought to himself and he took his ready stance.
"You're still alive?" Gul Balğa asked surprised.
Auron chuckled, "Thanks Qixoni." he said having calmed down.
"Don't mention it, just try not to do that again at least not when you're wearing me." Qixoni said referring to his moment using Dark Rage.
"Sorry about that." Auron apologised.
"It's alright, now send this bastard to hell where he belongs." Qixoni told him.
Auron nodded, "With pleasure." he said ominously and charged forward to meet the High Gul.
Daniel however was walking towards the altar in silence the Grand Gul watching as he approached, "Was it worth it?" Daniel asked as he came to a stop about fifteen feet from the altar.
"What?" the Grand Gul asked as he tilted his head.
Daniel just moved his hand around to indicate the area around them, "Was all of their deaths worth it?" he asked
The Grand Gull looked up and saw a dark spirit coming in, Daniel looked up as well and saw the same thing, "The Urkus are expendable pieces of filth that serve the will of the Dark Master, so in answer to your question, yes it was worth it." the Grand Gul answered.
Daniel looked back at the Grand Gul "What will happen to Caleb now?" he asked.
The Grand Gul saw no harm in answering him, "The Dark Master will take this body for his own and return stronger than ever."
"But why Caleb, why not one of you or the Urkus?!" Daniel asked his voice was on the edge of crying.
"Because the Dark master was originally human and a body of a lesser species simply won't do." he answered as if to console the grieving young man
"What a load of bantha sh*t!" Daniel shouted unable to contain his grief any more, "from what I've seen of you Guls you're just as capable as any force sensitive human."
"I fail to see what you're trying to do." the Grand Gul said.
"I want my friend back, no I want my brother back, friend is too weak a word!" Daniel shouted.
"Even if I wanted to I can't undo what's been done." the Grand Gul told him
Daniel just shook a little more and turned his head to look at the spirit of the Dark Master, "Than I'll make your efforts for naught." Daniel stated and threw a blast of force energy at the spirit the Grand Gul leaped into the air and allowed the blast to hit him, he summoned a force barrier that protected him from the attack and he landed on his feet.
The Grand Gul turned to face Daniel with a stern expression he than pulled the sword out of Caleb's body and flicked it to clean the blood off, "The Dark Master will return, and as long as I draw breath you won't harm him." he uttered and with a war cry charged the young man.
Daniel just activated his blade and met the Grand Gul's charge in a clap of thunder.
Meanwhile Caleb was not sure where he was or who it was he was speaking with, "Where am I, I died… right?" he asked uncertainly.
"You are hanging on to life by but a thread." the spirit answered.
"So, I'm nearly dead, can I be saved?" he asked.
The spirit just shook his head, "Not by medicine it's too late for that."
Caleb just sighed sadly, "So my friends will have to continue on without me I hope Aaron will be fine." he said mournfully 'Mourning over my own death heh.' he chuckled.
"But there is a way to save you." the spirit told him.
Caleb looked at the spirit hopefully, "How?" he asked.
"There is a technique amongst my people that allows the spirits of the dead to essentially merge with the spirit of a person near death, it heals the person of their wounds or cures them of their illness, but it's forbidden." the spirit told him.
"Why?" Caleb asked curiously.
"Because the last person who had it done to him became what my people call the Dark Master." the spirit told him, "That and the spirit who merges with the living one, he or she could potentially cease to exist and become a part of the host." the spirit told him.
Caleb was visibly surprised by that, "So I get to live at the cost of someone's existence?" he asked, that didn't sit right with Caleb.
"I would continue to exist through you ranger." the spirit told him.
"But, why would you do that?" Caleb asked the spirit.
"For a few reasons, one to prevent the Dark Master from taking your body for his own, two because you don't need to die so young and I know what it's like to leave a family behind." The spirit answered.
"What makes you think you'ld cease to exist?"
"Because the one who did it with the Dark Master ceased to exist." The spirit answered him.
"I don't want to be responsible for your meeting with oblivion." Caleb said with a shake of his head.
"Than you will die and the Dark Master will return more powerful than before, could you move on to eternity knowing you did nothing to stop him when you could of?" the spirit asked.
Caleb stood their thinking for a moment before he released a shuddering breath, "Very well, but before you do this thing I have one question." Caleb said.
"Ask, and I will answer." the spirit said.
"What's your name?" Caleb asked.
The spirit smiled, "My name is Lapsionnea, when this is done all my knowledge will be passed onto you as well as my memories." Lapsi' told him as he walked up to him and placed his hands on his head, and chest Caleb closed his eyes, and felt the bones in his hand snap back into place, and his heart repairing itself as well as the wound fix itself, his eyes opened and he gasped.
Daniel was in the middle of a blade lock when he heard a gasp from Caleb the Grand Gul's eyes widened and Daniel turned back to see Caleb breathing heavily to get the precious oxygen back he looked up and saw the dark spirit still there, "Caleb?" Daniel asked holding his breath hoping it was true.
"Hey Daniel how are you?" Caleb asked when he got his breath back.
Daniel kicked the Gul in the chest and ran over to the altar and cut the restraints holding the man down, Caleb sat up, and stood up on his feet he nearly fell down when Daniel suddenly hugged him, "Uh." he was all he could say.
"I thought… y-you were d-dead." he cried out.
Caleb just smiled sadly then he noticed the Grand Gul moving in on them suddenly Caleb's hand glowed bright blue and he sent a push at the Gul, the Grand Gul didn't expect that, and was thrown into the wall with a crash, Daniel looked back his eyes widening, then he looked back at Caleb, "What? How?" he asked, suddenly they all heard a loud crash from the other side of the room and the looked to see Auron had thrown Gul Balğa through the wall, the former Sith's armor was dented and warped from the fight, Daniel could imagine that Qixoni was not happy about his body being damaged in any way shape or form, Auron sensed something unusual and looked over at them.
"You're alive?!" Auron shouted both in jubilee and confusion.
"Yep and improved as well." Caleb answered weakly.
Than another voice came out of seemingly nowhere, "You're very welcome." Caleb's eyes widened.
"You're alright!" Caleb shouted in joy.
"Depends on your definition of 'alright'." Lapsi' quipped as he manifested himself next to Caleb much to the surprise of Daniel and Auron, "if you mean I'm not in oblivion then yes I'm alright."
Daniel just shook his head he could ask questions later, he turned his attention to the Grand Gul, "The Dark Master can't return now."
The Grand Gul scowled but before he could answer the dark spirit answered instead, "I have returned young one but in a non corporeal form, we are all in a weakened state, so I will offer this, one week of respite and than we'll face each other on the battlefield or you can give me your body." The Dark master spoke, though Daniel and Auron were actually energised and ready to go but they knew that Caleb most definitely wasn't, he was having trouble just standing, and they didn't want to continue the fight with him like this, but Daniel, Caleb, and Auron weren't going to just give their bodies over to him.
"No!" Daniel shouted.
"Don't be too hasty in your decision I will let your family all go if you do, I'll give you one week to decide, battle my legion, or give me your body willingly." the Dark Master said. "Choose wisely."
"Fine we'll see you in a week." Daniel said, knowing that they were going to have a battle on their hands.
"You all may leave now." the Dark master said and the group did so hoping that they could prepare their defences in time.
AN: if you made it all the way down here than I hope you enjoyed the chapter if you didn't I completely understand, if you have any criticism please tell me in the reviews it only helps me improve as a writer, if you have questions ask in the reviews as well and I will answer them in the next chapter (I'll Pm you first and tell you the answer than I'll put it up on the next chapter when I post it.), well now that that's done for those of you that will see this through to the end see you next chapter.