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Dragon Wars: The Force of Others
Episode 40: The Battle of Korvis Part 2
The Fade had become a battleground, a duelling ring between two whom would have been Wardens if not for the shifting of fate. Twin silver blades slammed into red sabres, both duellists slid apart and charged at one another again. As Mahariel fought the Amell, the scenery shifted around them, spirits took the possibilities of fate their lives would have taken and became the places they were supposed to go to. First there came the circle tower, Daylen's origin, he wildly slashed at Mahariel, who parried and jumped back to avoid the strikes. His speed increased as he accessed the techniques of a rogue, throwing smoke that blocked Daylen's sight. Sparks of electricity crackled around them as their blades slammed together again and again, and with each slam their surroundings shifted, the tower that Daylen grew up in.
SLAM!
The Kokari wilds where witches hid and ruins like Ostagar resided, Ostagar, once a great fortress and the site of a great battle.
SLAM!
Lothering, the place where adventures began, a small village where bandits and creatures roved, yet people still found enough peace to start new lives.
SLAM!
Redcliffe, a village near a lake, home of Arl Eamon and his family fortress.
SLAM!
The city of the dwarves named Orzammar and the Deep Roads where the Darkspawn dwelled and ancient secrets were hidden.
SLAM!
Denerim, capital of Ferelden and the place where the great Fort Drakon rose high to the heavens.
SLAM!
A hiss escaped from the shadow Daylen had become, and Mahariel too glared.
"Look at you, all the privilege of being human, of being a mage, and still you're unhappy, still you have no idea who you are," the elf said.
Daylen pushed him back, sending him sliding across the floor. Dust was kicked up, creating a veil of images; faces that made the shadow widen its red eyes. The sabres in Daylen's hands disappeared and he put his hands to his head. He yelled, generating a shockwave of fire that burned the images away, as well as the sand beneath him.
The image of him becoming a Grey Warden and meeting an assortment of individuals, Alistair, Morrigan, Leliana, Wynn, the Sten, Zevran, Oghren and the golem Shale. All of them were burned; Mahariel however stabbed his blades into the ground and crossed his arms together. He became a shadow of smoke and darkness, surging forward through the flames. Suddenly, Daylen felt a sting in his side; he looked over his shoulder at Mahariel as the elf reappeared with twin daggers out. He slammed his knee into Daylen's face and knocked him to the ground.
"Had I have lived your life, had I have been chosen, I would never have forgiven, I would never have compromised," Mahariel seethed.
His blades slid through Daylen's hands, pinning him to the ground. Mahariel then gripped Daylen's neck, squeezing it tightly with his knees on Daylen's stomach.
"That's the kind of hero I would have been, a better hero, a hero who wouldn't have allowed evil to flourish," Mahariel said.
The Dalish elf's armour faded, replaced by the robes of a Sith acolyte, even his tattoos disappeared as his eyes took on a yellow colour. It was in that moment that he hesitated and recoiled, looking at his hands in horror.
"Evil, like, you!" Daylen seethed.
Outside of the fade though, it looked like Daylen was just thrashing around like a wild animal. His heart was beating so fast that it seemed like it would explode in his chest.
It was in perfect synch with Chaos. His exploration of the benefits of a physical body, led the demon/mage hybrid to the old bed chambers of Kalla the Hutt. Suffice to say the two Twi'lek girls he slept with enjoyed his company a lot more than Kalla's. He looked over his body in the mirror, a black, skeletal hands represented the limbs that Daylen had lost. His skin was also chalk white, like a corpse, but Chaos just smirked, he quite liked the look on himself. The Twi'Lek slave girl came up to the veil of his chambers, her sultry outfit had been replaced with spiky shoulder pads, trousers, fingerless gloves and boots.
"We have emptied the morgue as you requested my lord," she said.
"Very good, and the creatures?" he asked.
"Being dug up as we speak, those soldiers that haven't run have armed themselves, some are even on their knees begging for the power you hold, or at least a fraction of it," she explained.
"Excellent, tell me Clara, you sat in on the Hutt's dealings, what kind of resistance can we expect across the planet?" he asked.
"The Northern outpost, Kalla's cousin Maltus has control of it but the bulk of his military are thugs with blaster rifles, most trained by mercenaries he has hired. Dengar is a heavy weapon's specialist, Deva Lompop, a Shani though I have no idea how old she could be and then there are also the Haxion Bounty Hunter, the commando droid and the bounty droid, heavy hitters," Clara explained.
"Very good, what of the First Order?" Chaos asked.
"Scattered across the planet, but they are never ones to let things be, they'll retaliate," Clara stated and Chaos smiled.
He crawled onto the bed again, running his tongue up the leg of one of the Twi'lek girls.
"Let Maltus send his men, once they're halfway, unleash the horde," he said.
"Very good my lord," Clara smiled herself, her eyes flashing yellow as something crawled inside her cheek, working its way back into her inner belly.
Outside of the arena, Maximus was walking through the sand, his cloak flapping with the wind. He looked over his shoulder, hearing screams coming from the outer walls. Something unholy was happening there, though Maximus never truly conceived to the more dogmatic views of the creed. Though it was paradoxical considering he had once whipped slaves into shape, he knew evil when he saw it. That was what he knew was happening inside the arena, the binding of people's souls to something that beyond the dark side of the force, beyond the greed of politicians and even beyond the blood lust of warriors. He knew the safe way to walk on Korvis, across the sands to avoid the worm like monsters that slithered through the ground and snatched unsuspecting prey. Forgoing the arena there were more space ports on the planet, plenty of areas people could escape to. Those were where hapless second rate crime lords ruled, passing tribute to the Hutt. It hadn't even been a day yet, and the Porg outpost was active.
"Quickly, quickly, we need to prepare the transport," the boss of the outpost was a Condluran man.
He ushered his thugs together and got them to prepare credits and other valuables. Some men were even going through the houses of residents. Tempers were flaring, Maximus knew that a fight would break out soon. He slipped past the men and made his way to the space port.
'Damn,' the Mandalorian thought.
The boss had covered the entrance to the space port; men were carrying clamps through the doors. Clearly the Condluran had made his decision; he was siding with the new master of Korvis.
There was a great rage spreading across the planet, this the masked man knew. He drank in the sorrow and the pain like a fine wine, but he never revelled in it. To do so, in his mind, would sully his honour and his focus. By partaking in dark side rituals, he understood his enemy greater and that same principle applied to him reading the emotions of his potential enemies. Korvis was where he hoped to find both ally and enemy, because both served a purpose. Months had gone by since he had killed Revan's Cathar and rediscovered an ancient fleet, his body felt stronger, yet he still had yet to be fully healed.
"Will we attempt to escape this planet?" one of the knights, Vicrul the reaper asked.
Reaper, the name made the masked man sour, but it was fitting considering Vicrul's choice of weapon.
"Surely not," said Kuruk, their marksman.
"What was the point of us coming to this planet otherwise?" asked Trudgen, tightly gripping the vibro-cleaver he rested on his shoulder.
"The point my students," the masked man began, turning towards them.
The wind blew around him, giving his cloak a dramatic flap as he turned to them.
"There are two great things on this planet, an ally and an enemy," he said.
"Is that what this new 'lord chaos' could be?" Ushar asked, the helmeted man brandished his club, looking at their surroundings.
He was looking for spies, any idiot who wanted to pass them by in the desert. Kuruk would gun any of them down, and in the unlikely event he would miss Cardo would get them with his custom arm cannon. Ap'lek the executioner wordlessly pointed to the sky, and the two ships that left hyper space. Old Sith/republic Interdictor class cruisers, a fresh wave of blood lust followed, the masked man could feel the lost pupils of Uthar Wynn and their eagerness for glory.
"Our enemy draws closer, as for our ally," he took a deep breath, almost sniffing out the darkness.
His gaze turned towards the mountains.
"There," he said and his knights followed him towards a battle of the mind and soul.
Space around the planet Korvis
Klue felt the shift of inertia as his ship exited light speed. He looked to his left and saw the first order fleet, three ships. Putting his fingers up, he saluted and commanded the Nubian fighter squadron to maintain a short distance from him. The princess remained silent in her silver medical frigate, she was in the co-pilot seat for now. Vaneska Darbaros was piloting the royal ship, she was a far better pilot than Tiana.
"Have captain West prepare the supplies for transport, give kolto rations to each guard so that they can apply medical treatment," Tiana spoke through her radio to the sixteen volunteers in the cargo bay.
Ten were doctors and the other six were guards with basic first aid skills, and above all experience. Captain West had fought in the war with Revan's Sith, security in Theed was his idea of retirement. But he and the other volunteers abandoned the fancy leather and garb of the palace guard for more practical combat fatigues or jumpsuits with brown vests. 'Dom' as he was known as by his friends, wore a blue shirt with his sleeves rolled up, his shielded vest had pockets for spare gear, alongside the cargo pockets of his khaki fatigues. Underneath his gloves he wore his chronometer and a remote pad for the BD droid on his shoulder.
"Equipment check," he commanded.
He looked over the custom holographic sight of his E-1R blaster rifle, double checked his S5-Heavy pistol in particular the laser sight and the blade attachment. Then he turned to his second in command Armi, the dark haired man wore a brown scarf/cape over his vest, which had heavier pockets for more equipment. Dom double checked his friend's equipment, not bothered by the way Armi's hands shook as he handled his vibro-knives, sliding them into the sheaths on his boots. He checked over Armi's BL-28 sniper rifle. His fall back side arm was a M-300, a stealth interceptor he customised with a laser sighting.
"Kolto, two shots each," one of the doctors said, handing out the syringe guns.
"We're ready when you are princess, just try not to get those fancy clothes dirty," Armi said.
"The only reason it'll be spotless Commander Tage is because I'm that good," Tiana said.
Despite the bravado though, and despite their readiness within the ship they were still vulnerable. Each member of the six man bravo flight, despite being the best pilots Naboo had to offer, was even more frightened than the 'ground grunts' as they called them. Though their helmets looked like leather caps, they had breather masks and even their goggles could pressurise, but even then very little could save them if their fighters broke. None of them were cowards, but they recognised they outnumbered and outgunned.
Even Klue wasn't completely absent of fear, having broken off from the main squadron to fly alongside one of the nearer Interdictors. He adjusted his headset and put in a request for communication.
"Captain of the First order ships, this is Jedi Knight Klue Stormbreaker, can you hear me?" he asked.
"Master Jedi, this is Captain Colos of the first and only order," the uniformed man inside the Mandator dreadnought spoke.
Tiana heard her guard's chuckle at the captain's declaration. Klue remained stoic as he listened though.
"You are out of your jurisdiction and piloting illegal military technology, your republic has ceded military command to the first order," the captain explained.
"We do not recognise the authority of the first order, you are an illegal military organisation and by the authority of the republic navy and the Jedi order I command that you disband and leave Korvis," Klue explained as he adjusted his radio for a broadcast frequency.
"To those warlords on Korvis, your time ruling over this world is over, you are to free your slaves and allow us to land," he stated.
There was a short pause before Klue's proximity sensor went off. Rockets were being launched.
"Well, they won't surrender," he sighed and the members of bravo flight laughed.
They pushed their engines, swerving to avoid the projectiles launched by the old Sith ships. Turrets on the surface began firing green beams at them, forcing the small squadron to break and then reform every so often. The royal yacht barely avoided a blast before its pilot looked at her proximity sensor in shock.
"We have incoming fighters," she alerted the rest of the squadron.
The old Sith fighters folded out their wings and began chasing the yacht and Naboo fighters. Klue span his headhunter, dodging a flurry of blasts. He turned, cutting off a Sith fighter before it could target Bravo-leader. The first order pilot let out a screech as he swerved out of self preservation. Only he ended up clipping the surface of one of his allies.
"Watch it," the pilot snarled.
"We can only take advantage of their greater numbers for so long, we need reinforcements Klue," Bravo-leader said.
"We'll draw the fighters away from Tiana, take them into the debris field," Klue said.
"The princess needs an escort," Bravo-6 said.
"And we need back up, these idiots may be freshly trained, but we'll be overwhelmed eventually," Bravo-4 said.
"Then hit and run, take some down and then resume landing operation on the planet, I sense discourse, the first order may no longer be as welcome as we are down there," Klue explained.
"Are you willing to bet our lives on that Jedi?" Bravo-3 asked.
"Yes I am, with a heavy heart, because that is our duty, a duty we knights, we citizens of the galaxy have squandered too often because 'it wasn't our jurisdiction' or the circumstances or law no longer made what is right convenient. I will not abandon those people anymore!" Klue stated with determination.
He changed his direction with a sharp 90 degree spin. As soon as he had a lock, he fired his cannons, hitting two Sith fighters. Then he punched the fighter forward, weaving between the shots fired back at him. Crimson bolts flew from the headhunter's wings, hitting the wings of any Sith fighter in his path. Not all were destroyed, but some were damaged enough to dive away from the Jedi fighter. Bravo flight saw this and felt a surge of inspiration, of hope that despite the odds they at least had a chance. Vaneska in particular took it to heart and flew her ship and cargo on a path through the first order's cannon barrage and towards the planet of Korvis.
Planet surface
Mahariel looked at his Sith robes in horror. He wanted to rip them away, rip away his own skin because of what it reminded him of. Suddenly, Daylen grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off of the floor. Fire and lightning swirled around the mage as he brought Mahariel down. When he slammed him into the ground, cracks spread across the ground whilst lightning struck them.
That effect passed into the waking world, where the sand around Daylen was blown aside and rock pillars rose. Electricity crackled around him, his form shifting between flesh and ghost. It was a sight that gave the first order survivors pause, they watched the reborn mage thrash and yell, lost in his own mind.
Lost in the fade where the ghosts of his past tormented him. He brought his fist down, slamming it into the surface of a staff. His eyes narrowed, looking at Merrill, former first of the Sabrae. The images of her cheery demeanour, even in her death, flashed before Daylen's eyes. She opened the palm of her hand, revealing the cut across it. A wave of red threw Daylen back and Merrill stepped in front of Mahariel.
"I forgave Mahariel the moment he struck me down, he wasn't wrong to hate us for abandoning him and Tamlen, everything he did with the Sith was wrong though, giving into anger isn't the way," she explained.
"Elves…give in…to anger…every…day!" Daylen snarled.
"We did, we do, hate is a natural response but it isn't the right one to give into. What is happening to you is unnatural Daylen, what you have done is unnatural but it is for the right reasons. Even so it has created this darkness that threatens to swallow your very soul, it is the very thing the Sith seek ignorant of the consequence, fight through that darkness Daylen, remember the man you are," she stated and Daylen roared.
"REMEMBER FAILURE!" he created a staff and began firing mana bolts that Merrill deflected with her mana shield.
Then the ground shook as Daylen conjured streams of fire and lightning. With her blood magic, Merrill created threads and musical notes, turning the electricity and fire into explosions around them. She conjured roots from the ground, intercepting the spikes of ice that Daylen threw. Daylen thrashed around with his staff, the spells he made obliterated the ground around him. Merrill however was graceful, her staff kata was like a dance and he spells were softer. For the lightning she created stone, and for the fire she created shadowy roots made from entropic magic. Light shined around her whilst darkness covered Daylen. It wrapped around him like a cloak, becoming wings he used to cross the distance between himself and Merrill.
"FAILURE I AM!" he screamed.
"NO YOU AREN'T DAYLEN!" she yelled.
He threw his hand forward, surrounding it with fire and electricity. Merrill countered by creating a fist of light that slammed into Daylen's. The darkness and light surged on either side of them, becoming like wild flames.
"You did everything you could have done for us, for your friends, holding yourself responsible like this helps no one, you have to move forward," she said, her voice hitting him even through the explosive light.
"C-CAN'T! I CAN'T!" he yelled.
He destroyed the fist of light and lunged at Merrill. His fist slammed into her side, drawing a cry from her as she was knocked into Mahariel. Their clothes changed, Mahariel's becoming the leather armour of a Dalish hunter, whilst Merrill's turned to the green and black furs she wore as a first. Their eyes met and both smiled as they slowly drifted away from Daylen.
"Death isn't always a defeat," Merrill said.
"I found peace perspective, my only regret, is that I never saw what was in front of me," Mahariel whispered.
She turned, nestling on his chest as he cupped her cheeks. The two elves kissed passionately before they disappeared.
"They found peace, but peace isn't an option for us is it?" another voice asked through the darkness.
He wore Grey Warden warrior armour and carried the great sword Starfang on his shoulder. The brown haired Aedan Cousland brandished his sword and pointed it at Daylen.
"Will you lose yourself to darkness Daylen or will you regain your honour, your sanity, if you won't choose light then at least control darkness," the noble warden said.
He gripped star fang with both hands and ran Daylen, who created a great sword of his own. They dragged their blades across the floor before slamming them together. The flash of light was followed by a vision of Daylen's, a vision of him laughing and smiling with companions he could have made, Zevran, Oghren and Alistair. Then he was back in the fade, a wild demonic beast again, again slamming his sword into Cousland's. Again he was somewhere different, in a training yard with Moorint, exchanging rations with Shriv, receiving medical help from Ranna and meditating with Vim. There was another flash and Daylen locked his sword with Cousland's.
"You see don't you, you see that there are still people alive, well there are still people alive on our home planet, a rebellion that needs to be fought, you have to go back Daylen and bring a galaxy of allies with you," Cousland explained.
They pushed one another back and slammed their blades together again and again. With each strong slam of their swords, Daylen saw more and more. Sten of the Berassad freed from his cage by Daylen, and the Trandoshan hunter Qyzen going into the arena with Daylen. He saw also Leliana meeting him as a priest in Lothering, and Ranna showing him the diagram of a blaster. The vision of him meeting Alistair in Grey Warden uniforms particularly disturbed him, though there was some comfort when he saw himself with Shriv looking at and talking about star fighters flying over them. That comfort continued as he saw himself offering a hand to a kneeling Zevran, and doing the same for the Zabrak. He offered a firm but comforting pat on Oghren's shoulder, doing the same for Oola.
Daylen stepped back, his hands shaking as Cousland approached him. He deflected the noble's sword and ducked to avoid another swing. He looked at Cousland, and saw the noble spirit become a corpse. Then he saw over Cousland's shoulder Petra, Jowan and Greagoir, their ghosts, their corpses, and it was all his fault. Everything that went wrong was his fault, he let himself fall to hubris, but above all he didn't want to die.
Immortality was something he scoffed at, he scoffed at anyone who wanted to live forever. He knew the Sith sought ways to cheat death, and he rejected them because of that. They were sad and pathetic, yet, when faced with the possibility of dying, he dug in deep and invoked spells of blood magic no one ever should have used. In his desperation to not just live, but to repair his broken body, he passed his spirit to a clone and left his corpse behind and never once thought that a demon would pick it up to wear it. He had created a monster, it was all his fault.
"Pathetic, just like I said before you fought the Rancor, you made a mistake and you let it hold you back. I've made so many mistakes, but the choice to go out there and fight for what I believed in, that choice and its consequences WAS MINE AMELL! YOU AREN'T THE ONLY ONE WHO GETS TO CHOOSE!" Cousland yelled.
"They all made the choice Daylen," a voice spoke from the shadows.
Daylen's eyes flashed and he recoiled in rage. A mouth appeared on his shadow form, roaring and glowing with molten fire. The molten fire spread to his elbows, chest and knuckles before he turned to where the voice had come from. Red light sabres ignited and Kaius emerged, he dragged his sabres across the floor and suddenly created a ring of fire that cut the other ghosts off from Daylen.
"Just as I made the choice Daylen, what's it going to be? Are you going to flee, are you going to be reckless just like I warned you again, or take the cowards way out and transfer your soul? Is there even one left?" Kaius asked, throwing something at Daylen's feet.
It was a light sabre, and the images flashed before Daylen's eyes again, showing him how he built this weapon in secret in his tower and how he used it to rally others. Opening the palm of his hand, Daylen drew it towards him with the force and let the rage take him. The mage roared, horns slowly growing on his head before he broke off into a run towards the Sith ghost. Kaius span his blades in his hands eagerly, licking his lips as Daylen broke the sound barrier with force speed. One moment Daylen was running, and the next he crashed his white sabre with Kaius's red.
"Yes, yes, that rage from before, give it to me, MAKE DARKNESS YOUR ALLY!" Kaius yelled.
Daylen roared and was about to strike at Kaius again when something slammed into the ground between them.
"NO!" Jowan and Petra yelled.
Greagoir drew his sword, which had turned into the greatest of swords Vigilance, whilst his shield became the shield of heartwood.
"You've done enough, his soul is ours to save," the templar said.
Jowan and Petra tapped their staffs against the ground, their dirty circle robes turned pure white and gold as mana flowed around them. Daylen snarled and ran at them with his sabre, swinging it wildly and hitting their staffs. But the sabre was deflected with their magic, flying out of Daylen's hand and leaving him vulnerable to their summoned runes. Bars like a cage appeared around him, whilst a runic circle shined underneath him. It wiped away the darkness, revealing his half demonically mutated form.
"What happened to us wasn't on you," Niall suddenly appeared, holding a book in his hand.
Chains wrapped around Daylen's neck, binding him to the floor.
"It was on us Daylen," Kinnon then appeared, looking at Daylen with sympathy.
Chains attached to heavy balls clapped around Daylen's heels.
"You acted with honour," Jory appeared with his arms crossed in the Ferelden salute.
Chains wrapped around his wrists, linking them together.
"Stop holding yourself responsible when we are the ones who gave the empire hell before we went," Dworkin said, appearing and holding one of his bombs.
"These chains binding you are the ones you created for yourself," Lily appeared close to Jowan and his old friend let go of his staff.
"Daylen, remember who you are, remember what you stood for, what you wanted to stand for!"he said.
"She loved you Daylen, we all followed you because of that love," Petra said.
Greagoir locked blades with Kaius, clashing with the sith ghost in a flurry of silver and red slashes. Kaius's ghost widened his eyes in slight surprise as the templar spirit drove him back. He assault Greagoir's shield and the knight struck, bashing Kaius's face with the flat of his shield. Then he delivered a combo of slashes and strikes with his shield, marking the ghost. Kaius threw his hand forward, knocking Greagoir into Jowan and Petra. The runes and bars disappeared and the darkness covered Daylen's body again. He shattered his chains and ran at Kaius, the Sith ghost threw a force wave that sent Daylen sliding back. Kaius linked his sabres together, creating a double bladed pike he span between his fingers.
"Darkness looks good on you," he smirked, beckoning Daylen to come at him.
Daylen roared, the flames over his heart, knuckles, feet and horns became blue as his anger rose.
"Yes, yes, use that anger, revel in it as I taught you," Kaius said.
"NO!"
The voice sounded familiar to his ears. He looked over his shoulder and saw someone in hooded white robes. Daylen turned fully and began walking towards the woman in the white robes.
"Hey, get back here," Kaius snarled.
He shook his head in disappointment, and then smiled as he deactivated his light sabres. Kaius's robes suddenly turned white as he looked towards Daylen.
"Daylen Amell!" he called out.
The demonic creature snarled and looked towards him.
"Remember, who you are, and who you wanted to be," the dead Sith lord said before his ghost faded away.
He walked closer and closer towards the woman in the white robes, towards the only light there seemed to be in the darkness. She slowly removed her hood, revealing her beautiful face, pointed ears and red air.
"Neria," Daylen said.
The flames and the mutations disappeared, and so too did the darkness as Neria Surana touched her lover's cheek. She smiled sweetly at him, cupping his cheeks and stepping closer. Their foreheads met and he let a few tears fall down his face. But when he opened his eyes, she was gone and he could only see dead bodies. They were the bodies of those who died in their first space battle, or on the battlefield of Ferelden, or in the tower right in front of him. Even Keili was there; her head was miles away from her body.
"Curious, all these bodies that you hold yourself responsible for Daylen, do you truly disregard their feelings?" a voice asked behind him.
He looked to his right and saw a white haired man in armour with beige robes over them, there was a red sigil on his shoulder armour, the sigil of Kirkwall's house Amell. The man was holding a spear with a long blade and a blunt end. He was kneeling with the spear resting on his shoulder, looking up at the sky.
"There is no guilt Daylen, only the goal, by completing the goal you will achieve success, success will bring meaning to your life, through meaning you will gain purpose, through purpose you will live happily ever after, do you not remember the dream I entrusted you with?" the man asked.
"Grandfather," Daylen whispered.
"Yes, you have truly failed Daylen, failed to live up the expectations put on you, failed to live up to the potential that you had," the man, Fausten Amell stood up and swung his spear around. "You should have listened to them, listened to the voices, now you're nothing, alone, THEY'RE ALL DEAD AND YOU WERE WEAK!" he yelled.
Daylen felt a pressure on his back, forcing him to his knees. He looked up at his grandfather, or whatever was wearing the skin of his grandfather and glared.
"Your attempts to be a hero, only ended up with others having to do the work you set out to do, your rebellion has been left in others hands, AND THEY WILL FAIL!" he slammed his spear against the ground and Daylen began to fall.
"So go Daylen, go, go, go, fall in the abyss you created from your own despair, FALL ALONE!" 'Fausten' yelled.
His body changed, his armour and robes turned purple, the blade of his staff became a sceptre and his face changed into a younger bald man with a pride demon's eyes.
"Uldred," Daylen said before something gagged him.
Tendrils wrapped around him, pulling him into a sea of corpses. Once the tendrils were gone, Daylen tried to get up, only for the bodies to shift, becoming debris that knocked him deeper and deeper into the sea. They pressed against him, their blood soaking him, threatening to crush him as he reached out for help.
"Let yourself be buried underneath all that guilt and sentimentality Daylen Amell, it is a fitting for one whom wasted their power and intellect," Uldred said.
Daylen let out a scream as the bodies continued to pile on top of him, covering his hand and finally blotting out his voice.
Unknown Region's edge
Canus looked over the holocron he held, it was Sith in design but had belonged to one who was beyond Sith, his true master. His companions were in awe of the space station that emerged from the planet, and even more so by the fact Quinn didn't report it to his master. The agent had been silent all day, even as Canus had the ship sent into hyperspace for the next destination. Canus's hand shook for a moment as he put the holocron back in his pocket. There was a disturbance in the force, an inferno that raged through the great tree that was the force, at least if one used yggdrasil as a metaphor for the force. It was familiar, even though he had never met the man. Canus picked up his mask and put it back on, walking out of his quarters and going to meet his crew members.
He continued to feel the inferno, almost as if it was burning his skin beneath his armour. Pierce's rants about his black ops days, getting his old team back together, working without restraints or regulations started to come off as loud and unpleasant music in Canus's ears. Broonmark was worse, he was the unforgivable kind of annoying, the words that truly infuriated Canus, made worse by the way he growled in his native language, it was like nails on a chalk board. They were both violent and cruel, and they revelled in it, Quinn was someone Canus hated for a lesser reason. His proper posh and prim accent was like all the other noble's of Thedas whom looked down on him and his family.
But soon, soon would be the time for his true master to reveal himself, and for the new triumvirate to make their mark on the galaxy. The republic and the empire itself would burn, though Canus had no quarrel with the republic, democracy sounded like a beautiful idea. The inferno still raged as Canus gathered his companions for a briefing.
"We're going to republic space," he said and the group collectively widened their eyes (except for Broonmark with what accounted for eyes to his bear like species).
"Sounds a lot like a black ops job, my kind of mission," Pierce said.
"This goes against imperial policy, the success of any future military strikes against the republic, the very success of our empire's resource gathering is dependent on its ability to convince the republic that it does not exist," Quinn explained.
"Too much hiding, weak," Broonmark stated.
"My master has spoken of a Jedi in republic space, in Alderaan there is a padawan by the name of Jaesa Willsaam," Canus said and Quinn's head perked.
"Baras was interested in that one, though she lacked the capability of picking out our spies," he said.
"What's so special about her?" Pierce asked gruffly.
"She's capable of discerning a person's true intentions, or she had least has the potential to do so. Her ability to sense others emotions surpasses most masters, even through the shroud the emperor has cast over the republic and the Jedi order," Canus stated.
"Turn her to the empire's side and we will have someone capable of spotting potential defectors," Quinn said.
"That's only one part of why she is needed," Canus said.
"So we go to Alderaan, pick up the girl and then what? What's the move after that?" Pierce asked.
"A planet called Korvis," where the inferno raged, but no one else needed to know that.
He walked into his chambers and began stripping away his armour, his mirror reflecting the assortment of burns and scars across his body. Sith training was harsh and he had to endure not just light sabre cuts and force lightning, but attacks upon his mind and soul. It had given him many reasons to question himself, how he saw the world and even his family. The dark side was strong, he was stronger, his will and body would remain intact, this he vowed. Canus put on bounty hunter armour, the equipment of a battle master. His light sabre he put into a compartment by his bed, he placed the great sword hayder's razor onto his back alongside a Gamorean vibro-axe.
"No blaster?" the voice at his doorway made him quickly put on the dome shaped battle master helmet.
"You should announce yourself," his voice echoed out of the helmet as he clicked it into place.
"Bit of a problem with us going to Alderaan, slavery is very illegal there," Vette said.
The Twi'Lek girl put her hands over the shock collar on her neck. Canus slowly walked over to her, backing her against the doorway. There was the familiar sight of fear in her eyes, but that defiance he saw when they first met. She was a slave, but she would never allow herself to be debased or put down by her masters. Vette flinched when Canus brought his hands to her neck, she could feel a vibrated across her throat, permeating from the collar. She heard the thrum of force in his hands and used that to drown out the pounding of her heart. His hands touched her neck for a moment, gently taking hold of the shock collar. Then he removed it and with the force crushed the vile device.
"If you wish to leave us when you get to Alderaan go on, you are no longer a slave," Canus said.
Her eyes lit up for a moment, her lips trembled and she rubbed where the collar once was. Then the confident smile crossed her face as Canus walked past her.
"I mean, it isn't as if I'd have any place to go," she said, skipping slightly as she followed him.
Canus huffed at her statement, the inferno still raged. Luckily their master had other servants to seek out weapons.
Korriban
She walked across the sands of the Sith homeworld, around the temples that the republic had limited guards watching over. Though she wore a bounty hunters helmet and clothes, she was still the Inquisitor of the empire. Even without her light sabre her vibro sword and shield were both deadly in her hand, and a true master of the force did not need a light sabre. Her master, her true master had given her the command to seek out a weapon in Naga Sadow's tomb, something used by the Sith Lord Tulak Hord, the shadow killer.
The Inquisitor neared one of the entrances; smelt the scorched Earth from missed, no, deflected blaster shots. She drew her shield first and walked over the corpses of the republic security agents. Then she saw them, the three men in grey robes. Their light sabres were glowing red, but they were not of the Sith empire. She recalled her master's tale of the Cathar that tried to thwart him months ago, the servant of Darth Revan.
The Inquisitor drew her sword as soon as the Revanite's looked towards her.
Next Episode 41: The battle of Val Royeaux part 3
I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, next time its Jedi vs Sith and First Enchanter against First Enchanter.
Fun fact: Richard Armitage and Dominic West played Naboo guards in the Phantom Menace, they're who I based the characters of Dom and Armi on, with their clothes being Star Wars versions of Call of Duty modern warfare skins. I was even tempted to include Infinite Warfare energy weapons, bent combed the archives of the Old republic for blaster rifles and pistols, still kept the idea of reflex sights though.