AN: hi again.
Disclaimer: I only own my Characters.
Chapter 18 (The battle's end.)
Daniel, Vega, and Auron carved their way through the Urku horde each a tornado of yellow and red respectively, killing scores of the attackers, those they missed were taken care by the soldiers who followed them.
After several minutes of fighting there way through and getting into the camp they found a Cathar with a orange blade cutting down the enemy as they approached, and a Chiss armed with a blue saber defending himself from an Urku Death Bringer, only to duck as the Cathar's blade swung and became acquainted with the warrior's neck, upon seeing them the trio ran to support them, the five force users struck down the enemy as they approached, after several minutes the enemy realised the futility of their efforts and ran.
"Yeah that's right!" Auron shouted, "Run ya cowards!"
Out from the throng of screams a single booming voice erupted, "HOW DARE YOU ALLOW DOUBT TO OVERPOWER YOUR LOYALTY AND FAITH?!" this caused the army to stop in fear.
"Gul Balga!" Auron shouted, "Come out and face me, I still have yet to make good on my threat."
"Oh, 'you mean punish us a thousand fold'?" the large Gul mocked as he strode through the masses, his mase hung casually on his shoulder, when he came just inside of the loose ring created by the urku horde which only numbere less then 300 now, he stopped and then let grasped the weapon in both hands one near the head and the other at the handle, "You ran away last time."
"Last time I threw you into a wall and had you beat." Auron reminded him.
"Insolent fool you should have killed me when you had the chance." Balga snarled.
Auron shrugged, "No need to rush," he brought his blade up to his face in the opening Makashi salute and flourishing it into a low guard, "Stay out of this." he told the others, "you can have the others." he added.
"Hey Auron." Vega called, Auron slightly turned his head to regard him, "Stay safe."
Auron dipped his head slightly, "Will do." Balga didn't move at first, Auron studied him waiting, while Daniel, Vega and the two newcomers watched.
Balga then spoke in a language that Auron didn't understand, "Be careful, he is not going to fight you fairly." the guardian of the temple warned him telepathically.
"Is there such a thing?" Auron asked rhetorically, then he heard the footsteps of a large creature coming towards them, Auron watched as three of the large bipedal beasts approached behind Balga snarling like hungry animals, Auron only sighed in annoyance, "Really?"
"What is it, your trepidation got the better of you?" Blaga jeered.
"No, it's just that I didn't really want to bring in help… but since you did it's only fair." Auron retorted, causing Daniel and Vega to come to his side.
"Kill them." Balga ordered, with that the beasts charged the group, Daniel charged and lept onto the one heading for him and stabbed his weapon through its eye and into it's brain melting the organ and causing it to die momentarily.
Vega used his telekinesis to pull the creature's leg out from under it, then took his borrowed lightsaber and threw it like a javelin into the creature's head to end its life painlessly, afterwards he summoned the lightsaber back into his hand and held it in a defensive stance.
Auron leapt up into the air and bisected his creature in short order much to Balga's surprise, "What did you expect?" Auron asked as he walked forward, "We spent the last week preparing for this assault there is nothing you can send that we can't deal with." he came to a stop two meters away from the high gul, "You have lost."
Balga's face twisted into a sneer, "How dare you act so high and mighty?" he bit out.
"Probably because we have the power to back it up." Auron snipped back with a grin, this got the desired effect, Balga charged him with an overhead swing and brought his weapon down, Auron brought his blade up and directed the blade to the side.
"I will wipe that smirk off your face."
Auron blocked another strike and sent a force enhanced knee into the Gul's gut knocking the wind out of him, "You'll die trying." he said maintaining his grin.
Uriah shook his head at the display, "He should end him now." the cathar growled, causing Daniel to turn to him.
"He's got this, besides Auron doesn't want to kill him." Daniel explained.
Uriah rose an eyebrow, "Why not?" he demanded.
Vega was the one who spoke up, "He wants to reserve that right for, Caleb."
Gul Balga backed away from Auron in shock and catching his breath, that blow had knocked the wind out of him and wrent his armor making it uncomfortable to wear, "You want a minute?" Auron asked mockingly.
"What?"
"To take off your armor and take a breath." Auron offered in the same tone.
Gul Balga shook with rage, "SHUT UP!" he screamed sending a wave out and over Auron, who held his hand up and diffused it.
Auron chuckled, "What was that?" he asked, "A poor attempt at a repulse, tch, let me show how it's done." he said and gathered the necessary energy, Balga attempted to rush him while his guard was down, only to be blown back along with several Urku by the telekinetic energy that the student of Aartsengal built up.
Gul Balga got to his feet, "Can I take you up on that offer?" he asked.
Auron just chuckled, "Sure you can."
"Why thank you tha…" he was cut off mid sentence when Auron launched him into the air with a vicious uppercut.
"Your minute starts now." Auron stated amused, as Balga landed some feet away from where he was before.
The Gul snarled and sent out a torrent of force lightning at Auron, who caught it with his blade, Auron held it for a moment as Balga tried to power through the blade, then Auron casually flicked the blade back at the gul and the lightning hit the caster full force sending him head over heel and sprawling him out on the ground, utterly spent.
"No, Power was mine, the dark master promises victory for his servants!" Balga screamed into the dirt.
"Excellent, I broke your body and your spirit." Auron said all trace of bravado gone, now he spoke with such sharpness that it could cut through bone, "But given what you did to a member of my family you deserved it." Auron then looked up hearing the sound of speaders coming followed by the familiar rumble of the Lohikaare riders, "Speaking of which, here he comes now."
Caleb, Asajj, and the clones all drove up to them, with Caleb getting off the bike first, "What did I miss?" he asked, as the others got off the bike, absently they noticed as the enemy surrendered and dropped their weapons.
Auron shrugged, "Not much." he then called upon the force and pinned the Gul down as he tried to crawl away, "Where are the other Guls?" Auron asked.
Caleb was staring at the Gul who broke his hand, "They must have retreated, upon realising that they had no chance of winning." as he said this Balga began to laugh.
"HAHAHAH, You fools, you may have won the battle, but the war is far from over, tell me did any of you see a single Draugr, or the Dark Master?" he jeered, "I hope that the dark master will kill you foul sages as slowly as possible." he said staring at Vega.
Caleb had it with him, he walked over to him picked him up by the hair, "You won't be around to see it," he stated then he took a dagger and held it up to his throat, the Gul just stared at him offering no pleas for mercy, "You still have your pride... good for you." Caleb stated then in one move slit the Gul's throat and removed his head, before throwing it away like a piece of garbage, "One down, three to go." he muttered and walked towards the group.
Vega ran forward and pulled him into a hug, "You're alright." Caleb was surprised by the move he would have thought that the boy would be repulsed by what he had just done, he was relieved to find that wasn't the case and returned the embrace.
"Yeah I'm alright, how are you?" Caleb asked, Vega buried his head into the man as if to hide his face from the world which was odd because he was wearing a faceplate, Caleb looked up to see Daniel doing several hand motions to him, 'He killed for the first time a few days ago.' he mentally translated, "Are you okay Vega?" Caleb asked getting to eye level with the boy, whose face remained hidden behind the mask, he shook his head, in his mind Caleb could see that the boy was crying, the full impact of the lives he took hitting him full force now that the battle was over, "Let's go rest up, okay?." with that the group nodded and went about to set up for the dark masters next assault and secured the prisoners.
Vega laid on his bed his eyes wide open and red, with Aaron doing his best to comfort him by his side, with Daniel trying to talk to him, "Vega?" Daniel asked, Vega made no move he just stared straight ahead, Daniel sighed and moved the boy's now shaggy hair out of his eyes, "I'm so sorry that you had to do this Vega."
Vega's eyes moved slightly to look into Daniel's, "I made the choice to come with you all." Vega said shakingly, "I will follow through, Quid enim."
Daniel smiled, "Quid enim." he agreed, he looked over to the door and sighed, "I have to go meet Rarok and the newcomers, Aaron will be here if you need him." he said looking at the ranger who nodded reassuringly.
"Go take care of what you need to do, I'll stay here."
Daniel nodded and patted Vega on the head, stood up and walked to the briefing room, he came into see Micah scolding Caleb, "Do you have any idea how much information he could have given us?"
Caleb rolled his eyes, "Like he would have, the Guls would rather die than betray their god, I chose the best course of action so he would never trouble any of us again." he retorted.
"That isn't your decision to make." Micah stated.
"Oh and whose is it, yours? Last I checked no one put you in charge."
Daniel walked between the two to break up the argument, "Enough, What's done is done no use going at each other's throats over it."
Micah still glared at Caleb before sighing in resignation, "We still have no idea when the Dark master is going to attack." he reported, "none of the prisoners are talking."
"What have they said so far?" Daniel asked.
"We're doomed the typical nonchalant, though some have said that we're their saviours but will not help us because we have to prove our own worth." Caleb gritted, "Why can't people just say what they want to say?"
Daniel sighed, "I stopped asking that a long time ago." this prompted Caleb to stare at him in confusion, "I lived among the Jedi, Force knows we're cryptic."
"Oh, right."
It was then that Daniel noticed the others presence in the room, he turned to them and bowed respectfully, "Welcome to Varon, I am Daniel Valo, Padawan of the Jedi order." he introduced himself to the Mandalorian and the Cathar Jedi, "This is Caleb Sobec, and Micah of the Antarian Rangers."
Rarok reciprocated the bow, "I am Rarok Cardea, it is a pleasure." he said genuinely and shook the padawan's hand.
Uriah extended a hand, "Hello Padawan Valo, Nuru here has told me of your reputation."
"Oh?" Daniel asked looking at the Chiss Padawan, "Like what?"
Uriah looked over at Rarok before answering, "Stuff I believe you wouldn't want discussed in present company."
Daniel looked at Rarok, before turning back to Uriah, "I see."
Caleb just scoffed from off the side, "See what I mean, cryptic."
Daniel just chuckled, "Look I don't care, I was born within the Jedi order so what." this caused Rarok's signature to alite with surprise.
"What?" Rarok asked
"Wow I did the impossible," Daniel commented "I made a mandalorian gape in shock." he said amused, prompting Rarok to stop gaping.
"Why would the council allow your mother and father to remain Jedi?" Rarok asked.
"Now that is none of your business, besides we have more important things to deal with." Daniel said changing the subject.
"I have several probe droids scanning the area if the dark master is coming we'll know about it." Micah said
The room fell silent for a moment, "Is that it?" Daniel asked.
"Uh, yes that's it." Micah answered
"Okay then, I'll go check on the others, it was nice to meet you all, and Nuru nice to see you as well." he bowed and left the room.
Rarok watched him go, "He's not at all what I expected."
"Yeah, you should have seen him when we started this trip, and when we picked up the survivors of the Bright flight… not the best of times." Caleb said.
"Oh?" Rarok asked.
Caleb was about to explain before a warning on the holo map blared, Caleb and Micah watched the device closely and noticed over thirty hostiles approaching, Caleb pulled out his communicator and keyed the power switch, "Daniel, Caleb here."
"What is it Caleb?" Daniel's voice came over the comm.
"We're picking up thirty-four contacts moving in this direction, fast." Caleb reported calmly.
"When will they arrive? Daniel asked.
Caleb looked over at Micah, "Less than 6 hours." Micah answered grimly.
"Understood." with that the signal was cut out.
"It seems that it ends today." Caleb said.
"Indeed."
"Excuse me." Rarok called catching the rangers' attention, "But what is the plan?"
Caleb turned to face the group, "The enemy that's coming is most likely made up of the thirty three Draugar, their mounts, and the Dark Master himself, meaning that first the force insensitives must take out the thirty three before we make our move on the man that started this mess in the first place."
"Okay… so how are we going to go about that?", when he asked that a smirk pulled across Caleb's lips that stirred up an odd sense of dread and yet some excitement as well.
"Very carefully." Caleb quipped.
"That's a very smart arse answer if I heard one." Micah muttered under his breath.
"... No seriously what is the plan?" Rarok asked.
"We will tell you... when we worked it out ourselves."
"We?" Micah scoffed, "I already came up with one."
"Oh do tell." Caleb said turning to face the chiss the others leaned in expectantly.
"The clones engage them outside the wall with us covering them from the wall, their armor should be more than enough to defend them from the enemies weapons." Micah answered.
"...Should be?" Rarok asked, he didn't like the idea of the clones facing an enemy like this by themselves especially when there were Jedi there.
"Considering they use cortosis blades, and one of them nearly killed Daniel because of his connection to the force, the clones should be fine."
"And they aren't going alone," a new comer said, Rarok turned to see a man walk in and clasp Caleb's hand in a sign of brotherhood, "I'll be going with them."
"Declararation: As will I." an HK droid said following the man in.
"Good so we have a plan, now we need to see if it works." Caleb said.
"...I do have a contingency."
"And that is?" Rarok asked.
"You take your ship and blast them into oblivion." Micah answered.
"... Why don't we just open up with that?" Caleb asked, "Why go through all the trouble?".
"Because…." Micah began, "...You know I can't actually think of a reason."
"I can," Aaron started, "to free Benjamine." he said softly.
"Oh, right" Caleb sighed, "But after that we're blowing them away I want this done."
"Agreed."
"I may have a plan for that," Auron said coming into the room, "I have spent some time on this and I think I can pull, Captain Narthean's soul out of his body and into a machine."
Nuru, and Uriah stared at him in surprise, "Who are you?" Nuru asked suspiciously, Rarok narrowed his eyes at the teen, wondering who he was, if he was a Jedi survivor then Nuru would at least recognise him.
Auron regarded the Jedi, "Auron Var, former sith apprentice." he told them, there reactions were predictable, Auron mused, they ranged from glares and hands reaching for their weapons before they realised what he said, 'Former' Sith Apprentice.', that stopped them from doing anything overtly hostile.
Uriah glared at the young man, "I don't trust you."
"I kind of figured." Auron shrugged, "anyway from there he can make the choice to pass on, or stay among the living." he explained.
"What do you need for this to work?" Aaron asked.
"Wait you're actually working with him?" Nuru interupted.
"He's proven himself trustworthy, and he's helped saved my life." Caleb assured him.
"You know it is kind of rude to talk about someone like they're not here," Auron butted in, "Look, I have committed my fair share of atrocities, and I want to atone for what I have done, and help Daniel and Vega achieve their full potential as well as yours so that one day we may defeat Darth Sidious and his empire."
"...Good words." Uriah commented, "But ultimately just words."
"I don't expect you to just hand me your trust so easily, I must earn it."
Uriah walked up to him staring down at the young man as if sizing him up, Auron met his gaze without flinching or backing down, "... Glad that you understand that, Sith." he finally said, spitting out that last word as if it were poison, before brushing past him and into the hallway.
AN: I hope you all enjoyed.