Note: I realize that a lot of you don't like Windu, or Maris. (the most disliked from the survey were those two) which makes me sad, because I like them. They get a part in a lot of epic scenes. Q,Q. It might be I just haven't expressed them well enough or given them enough face-time. That is something I wish people would consider.
In the first Thor movie, out of all the characters, the one I liked most was the one with the FEWEST lines and LEAST amount of face time. The gate Guardian! :D He had the least amount of representation and effect on the story, but the few things he did were EEEEPPPPIIIIICCCC! He didn't need a ton of face-time.
That is a lot of the same things I been trying to do with some characters, namely Maris. I have been trying to give her face time, and everyone else, but she is not Varus, and she isn't around Varus all the time. Her face-time availability is limited, so I been trying to work with what I got. I actually like the Maris character a LOT in this, a LOT more than in Canon, but I would like you all to consider whether your dislike for Maris or Windu or Palpatine or whoever is because of how I portray them, how well I portray it, or how much time I give them to be portrayed. Three different concepts.
I know Windu is used a LLOOOOTTT in star wars, and Palpatine is done to death. (literally) but still. Same can be said for Anakin actually. Doesn't mean they aren't interesting people, just that people have heard and read about their story 50 million times to the point that its like "*facedesk* GET ON WITH IT!"
Anyway, we are now into the final arc of the series. I know the previous chapter was, actually, but I didn't feel inclined to make any notes about it. I was too busy cramming down information from my overloaded brain. XD
Anyway. We are now in countdown to the final few episodes of the fanfiction.
And
Hold your horses
When I'm done, I'll begin plotting down the sequel. :D
Yes, sequel.
I'll tell you guys what I am willing to release once I actually begin it, but just be patient until then. ;)
Since I will not be releasing this chapter until I have actually finished 16, 17, 18, and 19 (crap, thought I would do 20. xD) all written, then the wait shouldn't be too long as I will return to my normal schedule for 4-5 days between releases to give you guys enough time to digest.
Now, for this chapter. What I actually decided to do was sacrifice my plans for Korriban. I originally intended for them to go to Korriban and for some stuff to happen, but I recently realized that having stuff happen on Kashyyyk THEN take the time to go to Korriban and finish the stuff that just happened would be stretching the pace too far and completely messing up the crucial timing within the ending pace of the story.
So this chapter may feel a bit rushed, I'm sorry if it does, but I'm trying to take the key points of 2 episodes and merge them. It should be somewhat smooth because the key points work together. So to make it work I am making this chapter SUPER-EPIC-LONG!
Prepare to spend a good hour reading, depending on how fast you read.
Also, (Sorry for so many notes, lot to say) the scene with HK and Maris. I'm sorry, but I had to include that! I wanted to have some fun. It was too funny of an opportunity to pass up, and I naturally wanted to have a 'progression' scenes where I can check off Maris and HK both being on the surface before naturally moving into the next scenes.
Also also also… I'm a little surprised I put up the 41st chapter for you lovable people, and then I check back the next day aaaaand guess what? No one notices.
Did you all even get the email that it was put in? Because what I did was remove the hiatus notice and replace it with the actual 41st chapter. So if ya haven't read it, then go back.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even the clothes on my back.
Episode 15 - Death's Apprentice
IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE REVISED 41ST CHAPTER, DON'T CONTINUE! You may be skipping it. I replaced the hiatus notice with the actual 41st chapter.
"Stand down, Sidius." Windu demanded. "You have lost. You are surrounded by the entire Jedi Order, and soon the Republic Army will be banging down your door."
Sidius turned his head to the side as if to examine him from a different angle. He showed nothing, as if he was but a blank observer. "Tell me… Jedi." Darth Sidius asked, his red lightsaber still active and prepared. "Did you figure it out on your own, or did you have help? I was not expecting you to figure this out for another two weeks…"
"It doesn't matter."
"Oh, but it does. You see, if you figured it out on your own, you would have come to this conclusion long ago. This 'ones' act has been years in the making, and only NOW do you figure it out? But all the same, who helped you?" Sidius looked down thoughtfully and mumbled to himself. "They would- no, illogical, they wouldn't. But then… no. No. No, not them but- yes… yes yes yes yes Yes. Yes YES YES! YYYEEEESS!" The man laughed gleefully. "I SEE! The Revanchist! Oh, annoying gnats that they are! They must have told you, but you reject their thoughts, yet still felt compelled to come this far! So… that explains why you deny the truth." Sidius turned a feral grin on Windu. "So close. SOOO CLOOSE! Yet…So wrong." The man returned his lightsaber to position. "You lose."
"I do not see how." Windu denied.
"Of course not."
"What am I wrong about? Don't bother denying you're the Sith Lord at this point, Sidius. You're the one who started this war. You're the one who has sent us into darkness. And NOW you are the one who sent a lone assassin after General Skywalker." The Jedi on their Senate pods moved steadily closer, and Windu knew a lot of people on cameras would be gasping now. Obi-Wan's gasp in the room was clearly audible as it was. Skywalker's friends were probably afraid for his life, if they were watching this.
The Sith was surrounded on all sides, but his grin did not drop. His grin only widened unnaturally far. Windu's eye twitched nervously. Palpatine's smile grew to a point that it should have been painful, yet the Sith's eyes showed no pain, no fear, no flinching or notice. The man was… insane.
"You are wrong on two counts." Sidius put up two fingers for emphasis, almost like he was talking to a child who couldn't count. "I will tell you, but only if you pay me back. You see, I have time to kill, some time. So how about this. If you can entertain me, I will tell you where you are wrong."
Windu eyed the room. All of the Senators were just about out. A few more were in the process of fleeing the room. He used his hesitation to provide for their escape. As he no longer saw any more Senators around, he returned his sight up to Sidius. "We are not children here to entertain you! If you will not stand down, then we will MAKE you stand down!"
Knowing Palpatine, he would make a last remark or taunt. Windu was caught off guard when Sidius disregarded all that and jumped backwards high into the air and landed on a pad where a Jedi was caught. The Knight died before he had time to raise his hand.
All of the Jedi lifted off to do what they could, and Windu eyed the area critically. The terrain was… unusual to say the least. Everyone could only fight on pods. Pods that provided by stability, projectiles, and shielding. The Force energy in the room was in compete chaos. Darkness and Light circulated in a stormy torrent, but beneath it he felt choked by something darker… something hungry and lingering after his soul. It made him hesitate a moment, but he pushed through like a proper warrior.
Windu leaped up and landed on the Grand Chancellor chair. Yoda was already on the move jumping from pod to pod to get to the front line of this skirmish with the Sith Lord, and Obi-Wan was trying to squeeze through politely to get in. It would almost be comical if it wasn't so serious a time. Kit Fisto jumped down from high above, and Windu leaped in to join them.
Mandalore stood alone on the port deck a mere five feet from the nose of the powered down invading vessel. It had tried to sneak into Wookie space and land concealed, but the culprit failed to realize, or care, that the space was heavily filled with Mandalorian forces and "Republic Interest Groups".
The rest of his soldiers stood thirty feet away hidden behind barricades. Wookies had their crossbows out and spears on their backs, and a Republic sniper had taken up position higher up in the trees.
Mandalore knocked nicely on the door.
Nothing. That works, and here he was being nice about it. Just how ungrateful could they be!
He placed the palm of his right hand on the door. "Knock knock." Immediately the door exploded inward. The ship filled with smoke and fire and black soot filled the air around him.
"Room service." He stepped into the ship with his right hand out. The inside of the ship was small, designed for a crew of ten at most, with a pair of chairs at the front terminal. Against the wall stood a suit of armor with a pair of massive swords in its hands and four hovering spikes just behind its head. Stairs to his left lead downward, probably toward the engine room and stairs to his right lead upward. Picking one randomly, he took the stairs up.
Upstairs was a giant holo-terminal taking up an entire room that branched off toward the front and back of the ship. The back looked like it was a storage compartment for… something that was no longer there, and the front room had a pair of gun seats and terminals for some of the more technical aspects of ship-maintenance than would be placed directly on an engine or on a flight terminal.
Having found nothing, he headed down. Downstairs was the engine and power room and the crew living quarters. The ship was empty short of chairs, terminals, empty rooms, and a suit of armor. Grumbling, he returned to the main floor.
He walked up to the armor and stared at it. Something about it gave him a bad vibe in his gut, and he had learned to trust his gut.
"Sir! Transmission!" A soldier called in.
"From who?"
"Mistress Shan."
Mandalore nodded. "Tell her I will be right with her in a minute. We aren't done with-"
The armor rushed him, rammed into him through the outer hull of the ship, down the ramp, and onto the port floor. Mandalore rolled with the impact before twisting to plant his feet down a few feet away from the attacker.
The attacker in armor hovered off the ground a few inches by his feet, and flew to take cover behind Mandalore from the soldiers that responded with fire. With the man behind him, Mandalore's soldiers and Wookie allies would not risk his life. Mandalore waved his men down. This opponent was intelligent.
Mandalore flexed his right arm in preparation, but he did not rush forward. His left arm and chest was heavily bruised. If his Mandalore armor wasn't so thick, he would have been turned into a bloody pulp on impact. His opponent had two massive swords, four mysterious objects behind his head, thick armor, levitation to a degree, and stood a head taller than him. His soldiers could be able to take the shot if the man was more exposed, but he was hidden by both the ship and the Mandalorian clan leader.
He also didn't initiate the fight because he was smaller, weaker, and he didn't know what to make of the four mystery rods. He chose to counter anything the man did rather than start something he was unsure of.
The armored man hovered back slowly until he was hidden completely by the ship then his mystery objects flew at Mandalore like spears. Mandalore rolled and evaded forward only to meet the attacker's twin cleavers coming down on him. He raised his right arm and blocked it with a metal 'clank'. The attacker visibly flinched at the impact. He had not expected a metal impact.
"You're not the only one with metal arms." Mandalore taunted. His right arm's flesh twisted and turned to reveal a cybernetic limb. His palm opened to reveal an energy crystal that he aimed at his opponent. The crystal glowed and he fired.
The attacker flipped his cleaver-blades upward, knocking Mandalore's arm, and therefore fire trajectory, skyward. A massive gaping hole appeared out of the leaf coverage, flames sparked high above them, and tree limbs fell around them from the explosion.
The attacker brought his cleaver-blades around to slice him in half, but Mandalore's hand shifted again. His hand returned, but his individual fingers expanded to reveal energy crystals at the finger tips. Small lightsabers flashed on from his fingers and he grabbed the cleaver-blade. The mini-lightsaber's energy produced smoke as they started to melt through the metal blade. The attacker pulled his cleaver-blade back before Mandalore could snap it, took a step back, and hesitated further.
Mandalore didn't doubt the attacker was analyzing the situation, but he wasn't about to let it go to waste. He lunged forward and swiped with his lightsaber-claw. The attacker flew further away, just out of reach, but made no counter move. A faint humming sound reached Mandalore's ears, and he instinctively slammed his fist down. A shield exploded around him. A shield based on Droideka design, but much stronger, able to stop anything up to a full on tank blast for a brief second, and die in an EMP.
The four mystery spears pierced into the hull of his shield behind his back, and stuck. They were firmly lodged in. Their outer film was covered in rotating energy much like a lightsaber spinning. Or a chainsaw in fashion, now that he considered it. The spears pushed further and further through his shield in its brief life before the shield dissipated and left residual E.M. The spears fell to the ground around him, and his arm turned off, it's weight doubled without powered assistance.
The effect unfortunately would last fifteen seconds, and when his arm returns, it would be at only thirty-percent power. The arm-cannon was effectively 10% while the shield was 60%. He wouldn't have that luxury a second time. The lightsaber fingers had their own miniature power sources separated from his shoulder-core.
Mandalore pulled out a Vibroblade with his left. His right arm may be out of commission for the next thirty seconds, but he knew enough now. If the massive attacker came at him, he would be hard pressed to defend himself. The attacker was stronger, had twice his reach, and possibly faster, but he had one massive advantage.
Ten seconds.
The attacker swung his blades at him, and he took it. Mandalore, rather than leap away, leaped in. He rushed into the man's chest, behind the sharp part of the cleavers, and brought his blade in. The attacker briefly hesitated, just enough time for Mandalore to pierce his side, but no more than an inch. The plating was thick and the blade lodged in. However, the attacker still reacted defensively and flew back further, right out into the open out the other side of the ship.
Seven seconds.
The attacker came to a halt out in the open, and Mandalore's soldiers took the initiative since he was a fair distance away to the side. Gunfire poured around the armored man, and he covered his exposed areas with his arms and swords. Due to the man's thick armor, the damage was minimal. At most, a few spots, sores, and bruises would appear on the armor, and a few scratches. It was like trying to shoot a tank.
Mandalore grabbed his right arm with his left and struggled to lift it. Just as he aimed, the power kicked back in, his arm returned to its normal weight, and the crystal in his palm glowed.
The following explosion hit the armored-man square in the chest.
The smoke cleared to reveal the man had retracted his spears around him, and the spears had joined together to emit an energy shield protecting him from the immediate blast, but the laser bolts pelting him from the side were starting to wear him down.
Mandalore had 20% power left, barely enough to keep his arm up of its violation, but he had him right where he wanted him. The hovering shield of his may be able to protect him from the arm-cannon, but it was leaving him dangerously exposed to the side. If he tried protecting his side, a single hand-cannon shot would be devastating. "Checkmate." Mandalore declared. "Everyone hold your fire." Everyone stopped. "Surrender, or die. Up to you, and those are the only two options you have available to you."
"How about a third option?" The armored man asked.
"Oh?" Mandalore wondered. This was the first thing his opponent said.
In response, the massive armored-man hovered backwards right off the platform and plummeted down. "That works." Mandalore mused.
Oh, right, Mistress Shan called. "Someone still have Bastilla Shan on hold?" He asked.
A soldier presented to him a holodisc and an image of a woman in her fifties at a desk was on it. "Mandalore, it is good to see you."
"Hn." He returned.
"I wish I could take the time to have pleasantries, but we both know you aren't big on them, and right now we can't afford it. The Jedi are arresting Darth Sidius."
"About time." He grunted.
Shan shook her head. "You don't understand… He is in possession of the mask of Darth Nihilus."
Mandalore couldn't resist the cold shiver down his spine. That… complicated things. Shan continued, "All spies across the Confederacy report chaos. The Republic isn't that much better off. I tried getting a hold of Carth, but his comm is tied up in traffic. I need you to pass to him a message."
"Shoot."
"The Confederacy are coming for Triple Zero."
Mandalore nodded gravely. He hated politics, but this was too large to not take seriously. If the two largest powers in the galaxy clashed, the next few days would decide the face of the galaxy.
Mandalorians understand the relationship between justice and power. The powerful decided law and history. They always twisted it in their favor, as was their right, and justice served the lawful. The claim of 'justified' warfare only served into gathering allies. It was ultimately the winner who became justice, who became law, who became power. One behind freedom from a leader they were secretly serving, and the other as the appointed power for thousands of years.
This battle would decide who was justice and law.
Mandalore didn't serve the Revanchist. He considered them allies, but he would never submit to them if given the choice. They were equals, not servants. However, one thing he understood deeply was their differences in strength, and right now, that was all that mattered. They were not as strong in war as him, but their espionage was scary. "What do you suggest we do?" He asked. Pride be damned. Everything was at stake.
"I expect the Sith fleet will take notice as well and be on the move, and the Hutts will make the most of what they can get under 'good business', but again this is purely theory. My spies report nothing. Keep your fleet on standby to move out. Expect to have to jump into warp at a moment's notice. I will send some agents to assist the Wookies in guerilla warfare. They will last until your return."
He frowned under his helmet. He didn't like the idea of leaving his new friends behind, but they would understand. There were bigger things at play here. He would return later with a vengeance.
"Understood." He turned off the disc.
What is this girl's problem!? All I did was ask for help in getting directions! It's not rocket science, its not me asking her to lift her skirt, and, unless I am a failure at understanding communication, it was not me asking her to push me off a ledge! Of course, I don't understand the first thing about girls. Ahsoka is always either moody as hell, sweet and doting as hell, silent as hell, or just plain weird. For all I know this freak's way of saying she likes me is to yell in my face and push me off ledges down into the darkness followed by her grappling me to the ground and making that disgusting swapping-spit action like Revan and his wife likes to do as some kind of greeting.
If this is her way of saying she likes me, I would prefer her just hating me…
I had landed on a tree branch only a few seconds after falling, and it hurt! If I hadn't instinctively started levitating myself to slow my descent I probably would have broken my butt.
A voice calls above me. "MMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSsssssssssssssssssssssttttttttttttttteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrr!" only to fall down below.
Crap, that sounded like HK. Did it go running off after me? As sweet as that is, now the little freak of nature is down beneath me like it fell too. Now I need to figure out a way down to rescue it, and then find a way back up.
I rest my hand on the tree trunk by me and lean out over the massive branch. Beneath me is another branch a good thirty feet down, and I can make out others even further down. May not be red padded plushy stairs, but it'll do. I jump down and land on it. A little wobbly on landing, but with my hand on the tree trunk I can stabilize.
"He should be right around… here." Anakin said.
The two of them stopped at where they had last felt his Force signature before he fell. They had to jump over a broken bridge that had been cut with a lightsaber, and they found Kota already there. Kota had his hand to his ear.
"Yeah… no, I…" Kota paled in horror. "Would you repeat that?!" He closed his eyes and sucked in his breathe. "I'm on my way." He looked to Skywalker and Ahsoka. "I just got a report from General Onasi. All forces are being pulled back to Triple Zero. We are the closest to Coruscant, so we have to leave now."
Anakin gaped in shock. "Why?!"
"Separatists are throwing everything they have at us. All of our forces are on the battle lines but they managed to penetrate us as far as Ramidash before they were caught on radar."
"I-I have to…" Anakin looked down where he knew Varus was, then back up to Kota. Kota put a hand on his shoulder.
"You go after the kid. There will be enough Jedi generals around to warrant your absence. " Kota assured him. "It wouldn't do well of us to leave a man behind. Head to Coruscant as soon as you have him."
Anakin nodded. "We'll be fast." Kota ran off. "General! Would you mind? Send a message to the Senator of Naboo to get to safety! She's a… friend."
"Gotcha!" Kota called back.
Ahsoka looked down into the darkness of Kashyyyk and back up at her master. Anakin hadn't moved, and didn't look like he would any time soon. It wasn't hard to imagine the war being waged inside him. On one hand was his Padawan just out of arm's reach, and on the other was his wife. Of course, there was also Palpatine his friend and Obi-Wan, but they could handle themselves. Ahsoka tugged on his robes. "Let's go, master. She's been in dangerous situations lots of times. She has Threepio."
He chuckled weakly. "Threepio is many things, not all promising, but he does have a knack for… luck, although he would disagree." He visibly shook himself and stood on the edge of the platform. "Let's make this fast."
"Right!" She agreed.
Anakin jumped down and she followed him into the darkness below, where they felt Varus and Maris.
HK pops out of the bush and scares off the lizard that had been sniffing too close to him. The lizard fled into the bushes nearby with its tail between its legs.
"'GRRRR!', undesirable pacified."
HK had a basic idea of where his Master was. Based on probability, Master Varus was within a mile radius of itself. Unfortunately it was on the clock, the undesirable female had descended along with him and was far closer.
Problem: It couldn't see. The darkness was thick with shadows and plant life and animal life. Under normal circumstances, it would use invisibility to evade notice, but this hardware lacked its refined capabilities.
Checking over its functions, it came across a device driver for lights. Turning it on and lights came out of its forward position.
"Observation: Improvement made, patching to software and battle plans… However, this hardware is still inefficient."
HK ran a quick scan of his memory for any reference to a map, and other device capabilities. There were few, but a map did present itself. It had been on Kashyyyk with Revan in his original search for the Star Forge, and his second search later as well. This entire area was mapped in its memory.
Now off to find its master and neutralize all undesirables in its path. HK wheeled its way through the bushes and dark undergrowth of the planet.
Kashyyyk was, according to its memory files, once an experiment of some ancient empire of 'builders' who had enslaved the planet. The experiment was 'light side' of some universal energy employed by Jedi could be used for evil just as much as 'dark side', and that 'dark side' could be used for good in return. The empire poured 'light' energy and life into the planet to the point that it's trees and plant life overgrew the natives and nearly wiped them out.
Suffice to say the experiment was a success. HK admired good handiwork. If only it was capable of employing this 'universal energy' the meat bags had access to, then it's efficiency would rise many times over, theoretically 1076.2%. However in its current state, HK could not compute just how much of an efficiency increase that would be, as it could barely comprehend the inefficiency of its current design.
Movement in the distance alerted HK, and it turned off its lights. It had access to sound input, so it turned the volume up. Recording sound waves….
"Filthy little shiezer! That thing almost killed me!"
Done! Comparing to previous sound files…
Match found!
Sound waves comparable to previous sound files… File tags: woman who attacked Master [Varus], anger issues, meat bag, undesirable
Contact marked as undesirable meat bag!
Prejudice set to 110%!
HK growled. It never understood the Maker's need for it to have some sound files built into its programming. It was totally inefficient to growl and taunt your opponent except in psychological damaging or distraction, but in stealth, growling and mocking wasn't entirely logical.
The Maker was just… illogical, it could only conclude.
HK motored in closer and analyzed its surroundings. It was hidden in tall grass and muddy terrain. Hills and 'mini' cliffs in several directions, two fallen decaying trees, and a skeleton of something resembling a cat.
Deciding to take the maniacal approach, HK moved under the skeleton's eyes, aimed, and lit its lights on maximum. At the same time it ran a sound file marked as 'horror'.
The girl shrieked and HK waited exactly 1.3 seconds before fleeing into the tall grass.
It could only conclude its maniacal side was the Master's attempt at giving it humor.
Maris was not having a good day. Yes, she hopefully killed the Sith, but being knocked off the ledge was not part of her plan, nor landing in deep water and crawling out into a swamp covered in mud! And just what was it that hit her anyway?! "Filthy little shiezer!" She cursed. "That thing almost killed me!" She flung mud off her hands and tried her best to get the gunk out of her face and hair. She wasn't necessarily concerned with stinking right now, but all this crap just felt fil-
Bright lights exploded out of a creatures skulls like a ghost toward her. "I WILL EAT YOUUUR SOOUUUULLL! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"
"AAAH!" She jumped. Her heart went into her throat and her limbs gave out. Then just as quickly as it started, the lights stopped, the sound stopped, and she grit her teeth angrily. That shriek had come from HER mouth! She was supposed to be stronger than this! She wasn't some weak little girl! She was a… a…
Okay, so she didn't know what she was anymore. Was she a Jedi still after having been betrayed by her own? Was she a renegade? She didn't know for certain, but she did know she was a warrior, a soldier, an avenger! She wasn't some weak little dippy girl who's biggest concerns was tutu's and makeup! Grow up!
She jumped up and drove her lightsaber through the skeleton. She didn't believe in ghosts, but seeing it crumble sure made her feel better.
The tall grass to her right parted, but there was nothing.
Was it a rat?
No matter. Maris needed to find Starkiller. She needed to see his dead eyes to replace his red angry ones. He needed to see his eyes goes blank to replace the ones that have him pretending to be ignorant and filled with sarcastic energy and humor. She needed to see his empty eyes to replace the ones that see her as not worth killing alongside her Master.
She reached out with the force to find him, and found him. (Unfortunately, he was not dead.) It was… amazingly easy to find him. The planet around her was overcome with darkness to the extent that the life around her worked in stealth against each other, taking advantage of the darkness; but Starkiller stuck out like lightning in its midst. He made no efforts to hide himself within the force. He was a human-Force wrecking ball to her senses, stirring things up and creating a hurricane of energies.
She smirked darkly and disappeared into the darkness.
The grass parted around her. The rat probably thought it smelled something on her worth nibbling on later or something shiny.
I am soooo lost.
I worked my way down the tree, even having to jump to another tree time to time, until I descended down into the darkness. The darkness is so thick I can't see my nose! I flip on my green lightsaber, but even the light it gives off is limited. Now I'm stuck on this last branch, unable to see further down. Is there a way in the Force to see without necessarily having sight? That would be REALLY sweet right now. I know the Miraluka did it, but I don't know any! Of all the Miraluka I have to be, it's the one, small, bloodline that DOES have eyes.
Yet another 'coincidence' in a long line of practical jokes life seems to enjoy playing on me.
"Ah… great." I sigh.
Force… the feeling is mutual.
I jump.
And land a few seconds later on DIRT! Dirt! I love dirt! I run the dirt through my fingers and feel roots. I am most definitely on the ground, unless life plays another practical joke and has dirt and roots on the tree branches… No, positive thoughts Varus!
I take a hesitant step away, and meet more dirt. Two, three, four steps. All dirt. Fiv- I walk into a wall. Okay, definitely the ground. My lightsaber light is just enough to see the dirt under my feet, but not much more.
Okay, back to the idea of force senses… would be really useful, but… all I know from Tree-Hugger is how to sense people and living beings. But isn't Kashyyyk one giant breeding ground of animals and plants! Even the ground has nothing but roots!
"Varus, you are a GENIUS!" I cheer.
I sit down against the wall and close my eyes a moment before staring into my lightsaber in meditation. The lightsaber is green. Tree-Hugger says it's about peace and growth, but I see it as more than that. It's life. Its energy. It is everything that the Force is to me. Tree-Hugger has personified it as cosmic power and energy. But I see it as more than that. Its... like a bond. Every life form has its own life, but Force is the connection between them that keeps them from being isolated.
Stupid, I know, but it's what I picture it has. A web of life and energy interweaving everything.
I feel the largest areas of Force, from mighty beasts in the distance that stand a hundred feet tall, to Tree-Hugger who is making his way through the forest in my general direction. I focus further and see towering shades of life, definitely trees, shades that extend out with wispy arms. I focus on the shades of life around me, and while I don't actually see them, I know they are there. I know there is a mighty tree to my right with a massive root just under my foot.
It's not much, but at least it's better than nothing.
I extend my senses further and... sense sentient beings. They are much weaker, not Force-users. Hopefully they are allies.
I raise myself up to my feet and extend my hand. I can't see the dirt or clay, but I am able to tell about how far things like roots and bushes are. The bushes feel like 'life rock blurs' in a sense. I can't focus them down to the individual leaves, and it's not necessary to do so. So long as I know it's there.
Along the way, I begin to notice something. The energy in the life around me is... loose. No, not loose, cut. The Force isn't weak, but it is in a kind of competition as sources of life disappear in the distance and strengthen, but at the same time, the web of life around me grows constantly. Life is growing so rapidly that the interconnection of life can't handle hold on before little bits and pieces are snipped off. I come across two massive shades of life and stop as one source disappears. The disappearance follows the sound of squealing, and whatever it was there, dies. The predator's life source is strengthened and renewed, and the connection between it and the Force around it is strengthened as well.
There's just... too much life here. Not enough room for everything to have elbow room and grow without stepping on everything's toes.
It's amazing. Tree-Hugger had trained me in being sensitive to the Force around me, but I had always had trouble. This place is like it's trying to shove the senses down my throat and flood me with more life and energy than I know what to do with! It's all I can do to not burst into song and run until my legs burn out.
Before long, I come across the sentient beings I had sensed. (Actually it was more like two hours, but who's counting?) They're a bunch of Wookies guarding a rope elevator. The spot is heavily built and guarded with an entire encampment of natives. With the way the wildlife is, I can imagine having an entrance and exit is important to maintain. I open my mouth to greet them, and hope they understand, but not a sound comes out.
Revan.
A memory-Revan along with his Wookie friend, HK, and a Mandalorian descends down the rope elevator, steps off, and enters the darkness. He's after the piece of Star Forge.
I can go up, but I have to find HK. I can't sense it, but if it had been down here before, it would have a map of this place. It may not be able to find me, but both of us have one place in common we can use as a meeting place. No, two places. This elevator, and wherever Revan is going.
Tree-Hugger won't be hard to reunite with, I can sense him and Mother Hen in the distance slowly gaining on me. But HK... I can't use such a convenient technique.
I follow Revan.
Windu could barely keep up with the man.
None of them could keep up with him. His movements were unnatural. Palpatine was an old man, but now he was moving like a snake, slippery and elusive. Senator Pods moved wildly through the air, some used as projectiles, and other's boarded by teams of Jedi and lone Sith jumping from one to the next.
Yoda stopped running to grab an empty pod and shove it in Palpatine's aerial path. Palpatine planted his feet forward on it, turned, and distorted gravity to walk up it. Yoda spun it as Palpatine ran across its surface, bringing him close a Jedi's saber. The Jedi swung at him, but Palpatine bended backwards so low his head nearly touched the 'ground', and the attack went wide. The spinning brought Palpatine down and he dropped.
Obi-Wan jumped on top of the pod Palpatine just left and slammed a Force Push down on it, sending it down like a missile. Palpatine extended his hand and a black mist extended out of it. The mist touched another pod nearby, and he swung on the mist like a rope. His feet landed on the underside of the new pod. He spun the pod so he was on top, causing the Jedi riding the original 'top' to fall.
Palpatine turned his black eyes to Windu, and stared.
Windu grit his teeth. The Sith was mocking them.
Windu and Fisto both sent pods at him as projectiles from both sides, at the same time as Obi-Wan coming down onto him with Yoda, and three other Jedi leaping in from the sides. Palpatine was effectively surrounded.
Palpatine leaped up, raised his legs over the projectiles and the blades, grabbed the Jedi coming at him from the sides by their heads, and somehow spun in midair. He threw the Jedi in his hands at Yoda and Obi-wan, forcing them to retract their saber's before cutting their comrades. The collision of the Jedi was handled without breaking each other. Yoda landed on one of their backs gently feet-first and jumped down from there, while Obi-Wan just collided head first in a tangle of arms and legs. Another Jedi in the distance grabbed Obi and the other two Jedi in the air and dropped them off gently.
Yoda brought his lightsaber down on Palpatine as Fisto came in from the front. Palpatine landed and evaded backwards, only to find himself at the mercy of Windu's blade. Palpatine cut his dodge short to keep from being hit by Windu, but was at the mercy of the other Masters.
He extended his hands, and the blade's stopped just short of his palms as they met a Force barrier. "Very good." Palpatine smirked. Windu's initial attack missed, but he landed on the same pod and swung back for a second strike. The Sith Lord slammed his foot down, sending a Force Push through his foot of all things, and sent the pod beneath him down. Windu tripped, and Palpatine grabbed Yoda's and Fisto's lightsabers with his bare hands and threw them aside.
Windu managed to get to his feet again and looked up. Palpatine was hovering in the air surrounded in a black mist. He had sent Force Pushes through parts of his body the Master had never thought of before, had dexterity of a man with no bones in his body, and had effectively wrapped his fingers in a barrier to allow himself to physically grab lightsabers.
These were basic skills, but were being used in ways the Master had never considered. This wasn't a simple Sith Lord like Darth Tyraneus, this was a legend amongst Sith Lords. This was a powerful Force user who was using basic techniques in new ways to outdo an entire room of Jedi, and he was holding back the entire time. He had yet to use any true power.
He was holding back… buying time, toying with them.
Well, if he was willing to GIVE them time, then Windu could work with that. He leaped away and grabbed as many Jedi as he could for a quick plan. It would take a lot of effort and coordination, but it should work.
Revan stops just outside of a shield barrier, and memory-HK starts working on a terminal. The shield only exists in my memories, it isn't there anymore, so I walk through. Revan can be the one to catch up for once.
Lights come into view in the distance, and I can sense people there. Not bothering to wait up for the memory of Revan to go through the motions, I race over and say 'hi' to the Wookies. They have a small encampment set up around a terminal that looks amazingly a lot like the Builder's holoterminals I was looking for.
Yes!
"Well. What do you know? You guy's got it handled already." I smile. Finally. For once the location is already secured, prepped, and ready, and with nothing to go wrong. Outside of the incident that sent me down here, but hey! That was a short cut, not that I'll be thanking Ahsoka's psychotic friend anytime soon.
The Wookies raise security at my approach, but settle down when I come full into view with my hands up. Their jumpiness is understandable. They been down here in the armpit of the planet for who knows how long dealing with massive hostile predators just waiting for me to arrive. Well, wait no more! Let's roll out the red carpet because I'm here. I got this.
They lower their weapons and allow me into the perimeter. "Thanks, boys. Take five."
One of them looks at me curiously and growls something, but guess what! HK's gone! This might be a problem. "Sorry, don't understand a word of that. But I'll tell you what. I'll just go right over there, touch it, work my magic, badabing, get some homemade instant dots and then wait for a friend to arrive, if you don't mind. I've had enough of the crap-zillas out there prowling around."
One of them points his -or her- gun at me at my approach to the device and I stop with my hands up. "Ok, gotcha. Noooo touchy! No touch. How about I just uh-" He -or she- waves the gun toward a spot where some chairs are. "sit over there. Okay, that works too. Yeah…"
I sit down. They keep an eye on me, and pull out a holotransmitter to contact another Wookie, but otherwise don't do anything. They want to be extra careful? Fine. They want to check with the authorities. That works too.
I wish HK was around… at least he could translate. The novelty of this situation is getting really old really quick.
More talking, more growling, more jibber jabber, and I, for the love of me, can't be bothered to try to figure out what their talking about. It's probably related to me because one: the timing, two: the security, and three: because everything in my life has the peculiar fashion of revolving around me, and that's not me rubbing my ego. I wish something, for once, didn't revolve around me! I would get so much peace working on someone else's problems! But no! Not like anyone else has problems…
The area is dark. The Wookies just stand around doing their best to be alert in the monotony of nothing happening while actually looking increasingly bored. And I will be joining them in T-Minus three seconds.
Make that one second.
"Okay." I groan in boredom. "Listen, Phil (Yes, I just named the Wookie 'Phil'). Can I talk to a… a 'Zaalbar'? He knows I'm coming for this."
In response, Phil hands me the holotransmitter. It portrays a Wookie and a droid. The droid, clearly a personal translator, says, "Former Senator Zaalbar has cleared everything up, Jedi Padawan. You have permission to proceed."
"Thanks."
"In addition, be warned. General Onasi and Kota are departing, and the Mandalorians are staying in orbit. 'My' forces have to focus on our borders, so I cannot send anything to come for you. 'I' suggest you depart A.S.A.P."
A Wookie collapses to the ground. Really? Did he just faint? What is so odd about what is said. "Gotcha. Thanks." I return the transmitter back to Phil and reach out to the Builder terminal. Another Wookie collapses, and this time Phil and the other's check him over. I memorize the dot pattern as quickly as I can. Whatever it was that made him fall, flu, cold, epicness, freaks them out and they point their guns at me.
Really?
Again, I put up my hands. "Guys. This is getting old." Another Wookie falls, but this one does so because he loses a head.
Oh, crap! The Wookies turn away from me, realizing it's not me doing it, and I flip on my lightsaber. Movement in the bushes sets all of our attention, and guns, and lightsabers, point on it. Out of the bushes comes a little black box on wheels. HK!
"DANGER! DANGER! Crazy-spike-head-undesirable female on the loose!"
The Wookies are an inch away from shooting HK but it hides behind my feet and… growls? I chuckle. "Nice to see you too, HK."
Whoever the newcomer is, she walks up behind Phil, and I bring my lightsaber over to stop her. Our lightsabers clash. The newcomer drops the invisibility act. It's Maris. Yippee. "You again…"
"You will not escape me so easily, Sith!"
I blink and glance around. There is no one behind me but HK the growling dog-droid. "Me?"
She explodes in anger and she pushes all of the Wookies away. Next moment she is on me. I block her with my lightsaber, and she spins to come at me from another angle. I block that one too.
Her attacks are wild, fierce, and strong. The only reason I am managing to block is the exercising I've been forced into. (More than a few times by having my arm twisted!) Even so, I'll lose if I stay like this.
Wait, why am I blocking?
I evade the following attacks and move away, but she's on top of me as I move. I evade the next attack, which came closer than I'd like, and she's ready for me from the new direction.
I keep trying to evade her attacks and deflect, but everywhere I go she is already there. Every attack I deflect turns into a new one coming at me.
Has she fought me before?
I don't have time to contemplate as she tries to behead me. I twist back and move away behind her. HK tries to trip her, but Maris knocks it away into a tree and HK stops moving.
I don't even have time to contemplate HK's condition before she whirls on me, and the message in her fighting and eyes are clear. She hates me. She knows me.
She's trying to kill me.
Ahsoka, sorry, but I'm not putting up with it.
I twirl my saber in my hand into the proper position and take up my stance. Mother Hen would be upset if I killed her friend, but she would understand if I removed a hand or knocked Maris unconscious.
Maris only smiles. "That's more like it."
I lung forward low to the ground and bring up my lightsaber, but she catches it, knocks it aside, and kicks me. I deal with it, evade out, and move back in within a moment's notice. Again she knocks the attack away and counters. This time she uses her saber, but I manage to evade again. She follows me, never staying more than an arm's reach away, and keeps me constantly moving. Every attack I do she knocks aside, every evade she follows closely.
"Didn't think I'd pick up on your fighting style after seeing it only once did you? Your fault for leaving me to DIE!" She yells and tries to stab me. My back hits a tree and I spin. Her lightsaber goes into the tree and she swipes to the side like the tree is nothing more than butter.
The tree, being a colossal ten kilometers tall and twenty meters thick, could no longer support its own weight with a good fourth of it cut at the base. The cut exploded in splinters as the whole thing cracked and shook before collapsing into the arms of the other trees around it.
Even as the splinters and ash and dust exploded around me, the girl pressed the attack against me, her blue lightsaber clashing against my green. Her form is nothing but a dark shade against the dust, but her red-angry eyes were clearly visible. "YOU KILLED MY MASTER!" She yells. "YOU BUTCHERED HER AND HUNTED ME TO MY HOME! Now, you dare to take my friends?! I WILL-"
At this point I stop listening. Yeah, definitely crazy. I don't know what the living HELL she is talking about, but it's a scary prospect.
Either a: she is so insane she has me confused for someone else; b: There is another (hot) guy out there who looks exactly like me murdering people (Please tell me I don't have an evil twin… If he is a swirly mustache I'm going to be ticked.); or c: It is something from before the time I lost my memory that I actually did.
I'm really hoping it's the second one… At least then I can explain my way out of this. Maybe.
But she knows my fighting style. Which means she knows it from someone else, hence the evil bro theory, or I… I-
Kota and Tree-Hugger helped me develop this fighting style because my body already knew it.
I ran into Maris first at the temple when she tripped me, and even back then she looked like she recognized me.
Wait wait wait! She wasn't upset about us tripping over each other?! She was upset about… about.
I'm a Si-?
Pain explodes in my head while we fight. Images and screams and things. I fight against it, but the overwhelming sensations make me angry and confused. I Force Push her away angrily and grip my head.
I see the Galen-Marek-influencing-freak in a dark cloak with a mask. He puts his hand to me and my body goes cold as he sucks the life out of me for a moment. It was nothing more than a bite of my life in the image, but it was enough to leave me feeling hollow and frigid.
I see a ship, broken, hurting, empty, and alone drifting through space with me as it's only companion when the dark cloak bastard is away.
No. no. no. no. BAD IMAGINATION! I clamp down on the images and push them away. But it's more difficult than before. The nightmares were one thing, the overactive imagination was one thing, but this… I could smell the inside of the ship. It smelled like ash and fire. I could hear the cloak freak, or rather the lack of sounds, and know that he doesn't actually breathe. Most people make breathing sounds, subtle, but there. He doesn't. The freak is an enigma of silence, sucking in all sound like a vacuum. The ship is silent around him. My yelling comes out as whispers. Light and sound and life is drawn to him like a black hole.
The images push further into my eyes. More of them appear. Bodies and skeletons and Maris coming at me.
Oh wait, that's not an image! She is actually-
I don't react in time. Her lightsaber buries itself in my shoulder.
"Get away from him!" Anakin yells. He Force Pushes Maris away and the Knight plants himself between Ahsoka's friend and Ahsoka's other friend.
Ahsoka drops down behind Varus to catch him as he falls. The strike cauterized the wound on contact, so he wasn't bleeding, but it was still deep. He suspected his pupil would never be able to use his arm ever again.
The thought of his student, his little former-Sith pupil who he had raised into a growing proud (mouthy) teenager, never being able to use his primary arm again sent hot blood coursing through his veins. Anakin's blood boiled and he had no doubt he was entirely enraged. He hadn't felt like this since… his mother. He had come close numerous times all the times Snips and Padme had been captured over the course of the war, but he had always kept The Beast down with the knowledge that they could take care of themselves. They were always safe in the end. They had never been truly wounded.
Varus's wound smoked.
The Beast raged against the cage containing it, and Anakin had half a mind to let it out. It would be so easy to just… turn the key. Walk away. Maybe he would go catch a movie or something while letting his inner beast get some fresh air.
It had been so long since the Beast had any air.
It would be so…
Easy…
"Master?" Ahsoka asked with clear worry.
Anakin blinked and realized how heavily he was breathing. His face was red, his body was drenched in sweat, and he was close to doing something he was going to add to his long list of regrets. "Thanks, Snips. How is he?"
"He needs medical attention." She said shakily.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM 'HSOKA!" Maris barked after returning. She was drenched in mud and leaves. It was almost comical a sight if it wasn't probably agitating a very emotionally enraged teenager.
One of Varus's eyes opened. "G-get… away… Mo- Mot- Hen… Tree…"
"Shut up, Varus." Anakin smirked. Despite the atmosphere, it was nice to still be able to tell him to shut up.
"His name is not Varus…" Maris hissed. "HE'S A SITH CALLED STARKILLER!"
Anakin felt himself go rigged, and Ahsoka shook her head. Thankfully she didn't seem to notice him react. (Just how did Maris know that?!) "Maris. Stop this, please. He's going to die if we don't-"
"GOOD!"
"Snips." Anakin said warningly. He didn't know what to do. On one hand was Ahsoka's friend and on the other was his pupil. If it came down to it he would do what he had to do to protect Varus, no matter what that might entail against Maris, but he didn't want Snips to have regrets like him.
To his surprise, Ahsoka laid Varus down, stood by Anakin, and did something he didn't expect. She yelled back. "Maris, SHUT UP!" Maris flinched and her angry exterior broke slightly. "Your Master is DEAD! Nothing, and I mean, NOTHING you do will bring Master Azhaak Ti back! It don't matter if you cry, scream, or kill my fellow team member, she will never be back. Now let us get something straight, Varus, no matter what he was in the past, farmer, gang member, Sith, a mechanic named Bubba who eats nothing but SHRIMP, he lost all of it! He lost his memories, and no amount of yelling you do will bring it back! You are about to murder an innocent man because your PISSED! And-" She turned to Anakin. "Feel free to jump in at any time."
"No, no." Anakin waved her on. "You're good."
"Well. My mouth is dry and I'm not sure what else to say… But Maris. Go home. Get help. There is still time."
Maris had her head down so Anakin couldn't tell what her facial expression was, and her inner emotions were awfully blank. She was completely unreadable.
"Will they be a problem?" A robotic voice said.
Everyone jumps in surprise. Anakin had been so focused on the conversation that he hadn't noticed anyone else come, but now a very large armored man wielding two cleaver-blades five feet long. The newcomer stood like a true warrior in strength and stature. The armor weighed heavily, but it seemed to have no effect on him. He hovered off the ground by a few inches, only a few feet away at an oddly respectful distance from the conversation.
In that moment Anakin realized he was a very deadly man, but one of honor.
Maris raised her head. Her eyes were filled with tears, sadness, mourning, but clear hatred and resolve. "No. They won't. Starkiller is ours."
Anakin analyzed the situation. Varus was out of commission. (Hopefully unconscious with all the 'Sith' accusations going around.) Two opponents were after him, and for him was… One Knight and… "Snips?"
"Master." Snips replied.
"You okay?"
Ahsoka hesitated, but nodded, "… I'll do whatever it takes…"
And for Varus was one Knight and one Padawan who was getting closer to being a Knight every day. Now, the armored warrior looked like he would be a problem, and he knew Ahsoka and Maris were almost perfectly evenly matched. Actually it was rather easy to understand.
Anakin spoke through the Force, -Snips. Whatever you plan to do about Maris, make it fast. Varus needs medical care NOW.-
-Yeah…- She responded with less resolve.
With that said, Anakin Pushed the armored man before anyone had time to react, and tested his opponents form. The man took the blast and skidded back an inch, but otherwise was not affected at all, confirming he was very strong. The Knight expected the blast to throw him back into the tree behind him, especially since he was already hovering a few inches off the ground.
Skywalker threw his lightsaber at him, which the newcomer raised his own cleaver to block, but followed it up with another Push. The Push turned the spinning blade into a spinning bullet and hit the man before he had time to block. It caused a small scratch across his chest but otherwise did nothing before flying past him, and the impact of the second Push sent him skidding again, but not enough to amount to anything.
Anakin called his lightsaber back to him, but not before the enemy moved in to take advantage of it. Anakin reached out and separated a boulder from its cliff wall and threw it at the attacker. The newcomer stopped short to cleave the boulder into pieces.
Anakin's saber returned to his hand, and his senses went all tingly. He twirled around and cut down on a… spear? Whatever they were, a score of hovering lightsaber-chainsaws were on him. He flowed with the Force, evading them and blocked and knocking them aside, but his lightsaber did no real damage to them. After rolling around to face all four of them at once, he sent a wave of energy in their direction. It sent them flying back a distance, but that was about as good as a gust of wind.
And the newcomer practically flew across the ground at him as well.
"Great." Anakin muttered.
AS his battle with the Iranian warrior continued, Maris's and Ahsoka's was at a standstill. Neither one had moved. Whether that was to see who would make the first move or if they even had the resolve to truly fight each other, Ahsoka couldn't say. Her friend had changed completely since she disappeared.
"What happened to you?" Ahsoka practically begged. "You disappeared and here I find you… look at yourself!" Maris's horns had grown sharp without being trimmed. Her eyes were red from being fueled with Dark Side energy. Not that it truly mattered, but she didn't look like she hadn't bathed or TRIED to take care of herself in… well, since the time Ahsoka personally made sure she bathed by almost sitting on top of her while she did it, which was long ago. If anything it only showed her mental instability more.
Maris chuckled. "My eyes were opened, 'shoka. The Republic tried to kill me." Ahsoka gasped silently. "Yeah, the good ole Republic tried to kill me. Back when I tried to warn the 'honorable' Master's, they stamped it all as 'classified' and when I mentioned the true nature of your little friend there, did you happen to see your Master's expression? He felt guilty. He felt ashamed."
"I doubt-"
"I came here for justice, 'shoka. At first it was just… capture. Show his true nature, protect you, protect the Chosen One." Mari's smile slowly turned feral. "But as I continued on, I felt the Force fuel me, push me on, lead me. It spoke to me directly and showed me the lies around me. The Republic didn't want justice, otherwise they wouldn't have tried to kill me. The Order didn't want justice, otherwise they wouldn't have hid him. The only one who wants Justice revealed itself to be the Force, 'hsoka. The Force is behind me, blessing me. Can you say the same?"
"What you're feeling is the Dark Side." She returned.
"Perhaps… then. The Dark Side is justice. After all, when was the last time the 'Light Side' ever executed anyone? What value is there on life if we don't acknowledge it must sometimes END!" Maris suddenly yelled.
Ahsoka looked into her friends eyes and… she no longer wanted to say anything. Words were one thing, but even though Maris was willing to debate, it would only lead to Varus dying of his wounds, and Ahsoka would get nowhere with Maris.
Maris was beyond words. She was debating for the sake of debate or for getting Ahsoka to step aside. She would never acknowledge how wrong she was. This was a time for action.
There was a time for peace. There was a time for war. The Infinite Empire was oddly right about that.
Ahsoka said slowly. "Maris. Do not come closer."
"Or what?" Maris demanded.
"I will do something I will regret." Ahsoka said sadly.
Thankfully, that stalled Maris, but only for a moment longer. Maris walked up to her steadily and slowly. Ahsoka prepared herself, and when Maris came close enough she struck out. But… her body would not move. Her hands shook and she would not strike her friend no matter how hard she tried. No matter how insane she had become, no matter how far she had fallen, there was still Maris in there. It was clear and obvious, but she was just… twisted.
Maris walked right by her.
Ahsoka turned to grab her, but Maris dropped down, tripped her, and slammed her knee up into Ahsoka's face as she fell. Ahsoka rolled and Force Pulled Maris away from Varus to the side. Maris did the same to her, and they both slammed into the ground. Ahsoka rose up but found Maris was gone. She could definitely sense her, but she had disappeared.
She glanced to Anakin and found he was having a difficult time with the tank-soldier. Every blow Anakin managed to land amounted to little, and he would be wounded critically if the tank-soldier managed to land a true hit. Anakin, with his experience, evaded, blocked, and dodged everything with minimal movement as he danced between two massive cleaver-blades and four flying spear-things.
"Shut up'?" Varus said weakly.
Azhoka turned to find Varus standing with difficulty against a tree near her. He was pale as a ghost, his damaged arm hung uselessly, and he looked like he was in enough pain to pass out at any moment. He chuckled slightly. "I'm laying there dying and you tell me to 'shut up'? Forget that, I'm helping." He paused to breathe. "I'm not going to… croak… without saying something… about it." His breathe grew steadily worse.
"Varus! Get down, your dying!"
"No… shit!..." He gasped between words. "You… idiots… are taking… too long. Besides…" He tried to smirk, but failed due to the pain. "It… will take… more… than this… to… make me…"
A blue blade protruded out his chest. "Shut up."
"VARUS!"
Anakin paled as he heard the yell behind him, and instinctively turned to see. Unfortunately the moment's pause was all his opponent needed to stab a hovering spear into his knee and shoulder and pin him to the ground. With him out of the way, the tank-soldier flew across the ground to where Varus was standing with a lightsaber in his chest.
"Ahsoka get out of here!" He yelled, not sure what else to do.
He froze in horror as he witnessed the lightsaber disappear out of his pupils chest, the armored-tank-man grabbed Varus by the neck, pinned him against a tree, and impaled him with his cleaver-blade all the way up to the hilt through his stomach.
Blood poured out of Varus's mouth. His pupil raised his head weakly from where he hung and looked down at them. He tried to smile, but it dropped and his head fell to his chest.
His eyes dimmed.
Nihilus was a man who was not easily impressed. He had cost off the need for such emotional attachments to life and had transcended. Being impressed implied expectations and the ability to be affected in any way by what they were trying to do. His expectations were impressed upon, but he still wasn't affected despite what they thought.
The Jedi had left him with some of their most powerful warriors while the others all massed together their power in a semi-complicated group technique that created a kind of… barrier of light all around him.
Nihilus cut down the Jedi left to be his 'distraction' and concluded that the Jedi's morals had fallen yet again. They allowed their brethren to die purposefully. If anything, he was disappointed, but the technique was somewhat interesting.
They created a shimmering barrier all around inside of the room that slowly squeezed in around him. He still had time before the edge would be dangerously close. He picked up the body of one of the Jedi he slew and threw it at the barrier. The barrier desinigerated the corpse on contact, clothes and all.
So the barrier killed non-living matter. That left him with a difficult quandary. He calculated the odds of his survival and made measures in leaving his mask stored away safely beforehand, but he wanted to continue having his fun until his forces arrived. It was only fair to give them a bite. They had been hungry for so long.
Testing it again, he grabbed the last remaining Jedi with him and tossed him into the barrier as well. The barrier killed him. He felt the emotions of the Jedi outside of it be saddened and, in some cases, enraged at the callas death, but really, they shouldn't have abandoned their comrade like that. It was only to be expected.
So the barrier destroyed living and non-living matter. That would make things… difficult. Workable to be sure, but still would require more of him than he expected when the Jedi Master's entered in and accused him of his host's actions. He had a way to deal with this, but the Jedi were done playing 'games' with him, it would seem. They intended to capture him or killed him in some kind of squeezing technique.
Very well. Nihilus jumped onto the Grand Chancellor seat and turned off his lightsaber. The reaction was instantaneous. The barrier slowed its tightening around him, and a small group of Senator pods flew toward him just outside of it.
"Surrendered, you have?" Jedi Master Yoda inquired.
"No." Nihilus stated. "But I am a man of my word. You have… entertained me. I will now tell you in what ways you are wrong."
"Don't listen to him." Obi-Wan said. "He is buying time."
Nihilus nodded. "I assure you, I am, Jedi, but only because I feel no need to continue playing with you. This… prison of yours will amount to nothing."
Obi-Wan and Windu took a step forward, but Yoda continued on before they could do or say anything further. "Wrong, in what way are we?"
Nihilus put up three fingers. "First, I am not Palpatine. This 'one' is indeed Darth Sidius, and he was, indeed, Palpatine, but that is not who I am."
"Then who are you?"
"Nuh-uh." Nihilus wagged his finger. "Not your time to know! In fact, 'we' already told you numerous times who 'we' were, what 'we' wanted, and what 'we' were about. Revan, Malek, Treya, Sidius, all of us made it perfectly clear who we were, well, aside from Sidius, and what we wanted. We begged you to change, but you would not. You refused to listen, and so we have had to make drastic measures. If you did not listen to your own champions then, what makes me think you will listen now?"
"Second." He put up a second finger. "I sent no assassin after your… 'Chosen One' as you call him. I have no caring for him, and he amounts to nothing in my eyes. He is but another Knight you have labeled as your champion because you feel the need to make another one after having cast out all your others."
Nihilus put up a Third finger. "Third is the idea that I sent one assassin. I sent several, and there will only continue to be more until my personal objective is met. Let me ask you a question, Jedi."
Seeing how cooperative the Sith was being, and interested in seeing how further it would play out, Yoda complied. "Ask."
"Have you ever been… hungry?"
"Yes."
"Have you ever been unsatisfied with eating? No matter how much you eat, your never sated. No matter what you eat, it never fills or tastes good?"
"Times, there have been."
"Now, again. Does a hungry man give up his meal? Especially one he KNOWS will satisfy him?"
"Normally not."
"Enough of this, finish it and capture him!" Obi-Wan asked of the other Masters, but Yoda waved him off.
"See how this plays out, let us."
Nihilus chuckled. "I am a hungry man, Jedi. I have had many meals, many many meals, and over time I found that nothing I ate could satisfy me. In life, I enjoyed a good meal. In my mind, the two most important parts are the first bite, when you come to realize just how satisfying the rest of the meal would be, and the final bite, when you stop and savor. You feel the juices and flavor and the texture and meat between your teeth. You feel full because of the consumption of the previous bites, so you are no longer hungry, and the final bite serves its purpose as nothing short of pleasure over need." Nihilus sighed. "So much… pleasure… Many years ago, I had the greatest meal of my life, and I chose to preserve one for the future. I raised him up to be the strongest of his kind. I watched him grow, have grown myself in great anticipation of what is to come, and I have tested him against myself time and time again to give myself but a small, small piece of what is to come when the meal is finally concluded to the point that my mouth waters!"
Nihilus continued, "I am a hungry man, Jedi, and a hungry man is a greedy man. He does not give up what it HIS! A hungry dog kills anything that touches his meal, and yet you… you have taken him from ME! You want to know why I have sent assassins, Jedi? Because he is MINE! And he will be reminded of that fact! You have taken away his memories, but I have borne into his very flesh and soul my favor! His body will not forget his pains and his sins! And so I have sent two assassins, one for his pain, and one for his sins; because most of all his body will not forgive and his flesh will never forget!"
Nihilus roared loudly and stomped like a child, "HE IS NOT SOME APPRENTICE, JEDI! He is the Apprentice of Death and Hunger! He is MINE! MINE! MINE MINE MINE MINE MI-!" He calmed himself, bowed his head, and stopped. After a moment he raised his head again and all of his emotions were gone. He spoke just loudly enough for the Master to hear him. "Death never gives up what is his… He only needs a little… push."
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