A Daring Rescue.
On Naboo, Artanis finally woke up after the near fatal attack from the two dark siders. He sat up, noticing he's had some bacta injection, which must've speed up his recovery. He rubbed his head, his mind still hazy and piecing together everything that happened. He then remembered, he had brought Leah here and those dark siders had taken her away. He quickly got up, doing his best to ignore the lingering pain from having his own ship smashed down on him. Had he not been an ally of the force, he would've been dead. The door opened up and Thrall walked in.
"You're awake, thank the force" Thrall said relieved.
"Master Go'el. You made it" Artanis said, equally relieved "How long was I out?".
"Around 3 hours since I found you. What happened?" Thrall asked.
Artanis gained a grim look "We were attacked. A two headed ogre showed up and tried to capture Leah. I defeated him easily enough... but then his master showed up".
"What master?" Thrall asked.
"He was an orc. He was old, very old, a white beard, glowing green eyes and spikes growing out of his back. Said his name was Gul'dan" Artanis answered.
"Gul'dan..." Thrall said in a dark tone.
"You know him?" Artanis asked.
"Not personally, but I know of him. He's the reason why the dark side has plagued my people for so long" Thrall said before shaking his head "I will explain more later, but for now we need to rescue Leah".
Artanis nods in agreement, a history lesson could wait, they had far more urgent matters to take care of. Leah needed their help and quickly.
As for Leah herself, she found herself chained up in a dark place which almost looked like a temple. She tried to break free but her chains wouldn't budge... and she couldn't even call on the force to help her break free.
"You're wasting your strength, child. Those chains were made specifically to restrain force wielders, even your master couldn't break free" Came the dark voice of Gul'dan as he entered the room.
Leah glared at him "What do you want with me?!".
Gul'dan chuckled darkly "Oh you naive child, it's not what I want, but what my master wants. Or more specifically, what he needs".
"Your master?" Leah asked.
"Master Diablo, The Lord Of Terror" Gul'dan answered.
Leah remembered Diablo being one of the statues Artanis showed her "Well sorry to inform you, but your "Master" was destroyed a very long time ago".
Gul'dan laughs "Oh foolish child, you still have a lot to learn about the dark side. Lord Diablo's body may have been destroyed, but his spirit, his eternal hatred, can never be destroyed. He still exists within the dark side of the force, waiting for someone to bring him back. And that's why you are needed".
"I don't understand" Leah said, feeling worried now.
"Your destiny was never to become a jedi, and deep down you realize that" Gul'dan said.
Leah looked away for a moment "That... may be true. But my destiny is still my own".
"Wrong again, child. Your destiny was decided from the moment you were born. You exist for only one purpose: To become Diablo's new vessel. Something powerful enough to contain his spirit and allow him to unleash his powers on the galaxy once more" Gul'dan explained as motioned to the tablets around them "I already collected the pieces of the puzzel, a magical ritual that will summon Diablo back to the realm of the living".
Leah began struggling again "No! I will not become a puppet of that monster! I won't let you!".
"That's not your choice to make child, destiny has already made that decision. Now, we shall begin" Gul'dan said as he raised his arms.
He began chanting in a language Leah wasn't familiar with. Not that she cared at the moment as she desperately tried to break free. The tablets around the began glowing, and the dark side of the force began forming a dark storm around them.
Outside the makeshift temple, Thrall and Artanis arrived, sensing the massive amount of dark side energy erupting from inside... And they could hear Leah's screams from within. With no time to come up with a plan, they made a daring charge inside the temple. But as they got closer to the main room, Cho'Gall emerged from the opening... but he looked different, he was a lot more muscular now and had spikes growing out of his body.
"Is this the ogre you faced?" Thrall asked, his lightsaber already in his hand.
"Yes... but he's changed" Artanis answered.
"The master granted us more power (More more power! So much more!). Now we will finish what we began (Finish you for good!)" The two heads said as they unleashed a blast of dark side energy from their hand, forcing the two jedi to dodge.
"I got this Thrall! Go save Leah!" Artanis said as he ignited both his sabers. Thrall nodded, trusting his fellow jedi and dashed towards the chamber where Leah was being held. Cho'Gall tried to stop him but nearly being hit in the eyes by Artanis lightsabers made them stop "Thought you were going to finish your battle with me. Are you running away now?".
"You will not stop us (No stop! Never stop!). With our new power we will finally kill (Kill you kill you! We'll kill you dead!)" The heads said as they focused on Artanis who was ready for them.
Cho'Gall roars as they charged at Artanis, swinging the spiky arms at him. Artanis dodged and slashed their arm... only for his lightsaber to do little to no damage. Whatever dark ritual had transformed them in to this monstrosity had also made them lightsaber resistant. This won't be as easy as last time.
Thrall made it to the chamber and noticed Leah who had dark side energy forced in to her by the tablets. She was screaming in agony, her pain feeling like a million knifes cutting her at the same time. Thrall powered through the storm and ran towards her.
"Leah!" He called out before a blast of green magic hit him in the side, knocking him down, he groans in pain as he looked at his attacker "You!".
Gul'dan walked towards her "You're to late, Master Thrall. I already completed the ritual, and now it's only a matter of time before Lord Diablo returns".
"Have you completely lost your mind?! Why would you want to bring that monster back?!" Thrall demanded as he got back up.
"Why to cleanse the galaxy of the jedi once and for all of course. Your order has been a thorn in my side for decades now, and the sith have grown blinded by their foolish pride, believing themselves powerful in their small putle of power. Lord Diablo will show both sides what true power is" Gul'dan answerd.
"But what do you gain from that? He will destroy you along with the rest of us" Thrall said.
"No! He needs me! And he will reward my service by granting me more power than I've ever dreamed of. I will become one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy, and I will rule it by my master's side" Gul'dan said, clearly believing his own twisted words.
"The dark sided has clouded your already dilucional mind. I will not let you do this!" Thrall declared as he ignites his lightsaber.
"We are the future of the galaxy, you will not interfere!" Gul'dan said in anger.
He unleashed a beam of green magic at Thrall, knocking him backwards, only for him to block it with the force and power through it. Gul'dan avoided a strike Thrall's lightsaber, but Thrall quickly punched him in the stomach, knocking him back. Gul'dan growls in anger and forced Thrall back back with a powerful force push and fired more destructive green energy, but this time. Thrall dodged it and closed in quickly. Using his power to create a green blade, Gul'dan blocked Thrall's incoming lightsaber strike.
The two orcs began trading blow, but it became painfully clear that Gul'dan was mainly a force fighter, not a duelist, only managing to barely hold Thrall back with a rather basic use of form 3. Gul'dan used the force to hold a boulder in the way of Thrall's next attack, who simply sliced through it, cutting the boulder in half as he delivered another power attack, which destroyed Gul'dan's magic blade. Gul'dan used the force to push Thrall back, following up with another magic blast, which Thrall barely managed to block. Thrall tried a swing his saber again, with Gul'dan leaping over the blow, blasting Thrall in the back, and making him fall to his knees. Gul'dan may be old, but the force allowed him to move in ways even orcs half his age would be unable to.
"You are as weak as the people you collect. Your padawan will fulfill her destiny and Diablo will return. And your death will hardly be a worthy sacrifice" Gul'dan said as he held up his hand, ready to finish Thrall.
"NEVER!" Thrall roars as he swings his lightsaber faster than Gul'dan could react... a roar of agony echoed through the chamber as Gul'dan's hand hit the floor, and the mad orc clutched his burned stump.
Thrall took the chance to destroy the tablets with his lightsaber, stopping the dark energy from entering Leah's body. He then quickly cut of the chains holding Leah down, successfully freeing her.
"NO! You fool! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" Gul'dan roars in rage, but the chamber began collapsing "CHO'GALL!".
During the time of Thrall and Gul'dan's battle, Artanis was locked in combat with Cho'Gall. Moving faster than should be possible for a being of their size, Cho'Gall's almost crushed Artanis with his massive fist. However Artanis jumped and landed on Cho'Gall's arm and began running up it, swinging his lightsabers at Cho'Gall's arm. Noticing this, the mutated ogre shakes his limb at great speed, throwing the protoss jedi in to the wall with enough force to cracks it.
"We will smash you (SMASH YOU DEAD!)" The two heads said, throwing another punch at Artanis, who noticed the monster when it was already in front of him, leaving no option but to block the blow with the force.
As Cho'Gall punches against the force shield Artanis had made, the protoss jedi used more of his power to force push Cho'Gall back a few steps. Then Artanis moves the two lightsaber at the large orge, who stumbles due to the previous energy hit. The sabers pierce deeply in to Cho'Gall's chest, and as a some blood spills from the ogre's skin, who roars before quickly moving his left hand at Artanis, giving him a powerful smack that throws the jedi aside at high speeds- Recovering quickly in the air, Artanis lands on the wall propelling himself at Cho'Gall, slashing smaller wound in to him, angering him even more.
"CHO'GALL!" Gul'dan's voice echoed through the room.
Stopping dead in his tracks, Cho'Gall almost seemed to forget he was in a battle and quickly ran to aid his master. Artanis noticed the temple began crumbling so he had to make a quick exit, hoping Thrall and Leah could do the same.
Once outside, Artanis looked back at the ruble in worry... He didn't see Thrall or Leah anywhere... did they not make it? Suddenly several tons of rubble was blown away by an powerful force push. Artanis had to shield himself before looking up to see Thrall carrying Leah.
"Thank the force you two made it out" Artanis said in relief.
"Unfortunately, Gul'dan and his monster might've made it out as well. I could not sense their deaths" Thrall said in a grim tone.
"We've stopped them for now. I'm just relived the force gave you the strength to break free" Artanis said.
"It wasn't me who moved all that ruble" Thrall said before looking at Leah "It was her. We would've been dead if not for her...".
Artanis looks at Leah as well "You mean...".
"Yes... her power is rising again..." Thrall confirmed.
They survived one nightmare... but now they are worried that something even worse might be coming... and they really hoped it wasn't the case.
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