Dani hissed with fury as her rifle clicked, indicating that she was out of ammo. Releasing another annoyed hiss, she ducked behind the wall and released the magazine from her weapon, carelessly throwing the empty magazine away before slamming in a new one and taking a calming breath. Overhead, the sky was filled with the passing lights of hundreds of blaster bolts and the occasional missile.
A moment later, the wall shook again, nearly throwing Dani off of her feet as another well-placed round slammed into it, courtesy of the hated Republic troops who were trying to punch a hole in the Imperial base so they could storm it.
Thankfully, the myriad of Mandalorian and Imperial defenders had managed to hold them off for the moment. Still, Dani knew that given how much firepower the Republic had brought and the fact that the Republic seemed to be attacking the wall from multiple fronts, it was only a matter of time before a hole appeared somewhere.
As Dani rose back to her place and began to return fire, she momentarily froze as she saw the flash of light in the trees that made a bolt bounce harmlessly away; the only thing that could do that, as far as she knew, was a lightsaber.
"Kriffing wonderful…" Dani hissed angrily, "The Republic brought Jedi with them…"
Next to her, Ben was roaring with fury as he stood straight as an arrow and unloaded his rotating blaster cannon toward the tree line, decimating everything in front of him and turning the once powerful-looking trees into kindling in a matter of moments as screams echoed throughout.
Taking careful aim, Dani fired at a Republic trooper whose cover had been decimated, thanks to Ben's overpowering attack, and was quickly trying to find another one; a moment later, the trooper's head exploded, showering the tree behind him with gore as Dani smiled, unseen beneath her helmet.
But even as she reveled in her skill as a marksman, Dani still couldn't believe how this situation had come about in the first place; how had the Republic managed such an overpowering surprise attack on the Imperials when all incoming intelligence stated that they didn't even have a fraction of the numbers currently attacking them, on world!
For weeks now, the Imperials had scoured the planet for the hidden Republic base and the Nightsisters of Dathomir. Yet, despite their impressive scouting, the Imperials had still come up empty, no matter how hard they looked. So, how had the Republic managed to hide such numbers from the Imperials when they had effectively turned the entire planet into one large hunting party! There had to be at least a thousand troopers out there if the cascade of blaster bolts was any indication, and Dani simply couldn't comprehend how they could have brought such numbers to bear!
Ducking back behind the wall, Dani was joined a moment later by Ben, who sat down next to her as steam poured off the glowing red barrel of his weapon.
"Helluva way to wake up, ain't it?" Ben joked, "Beats a cup of Caf, any day!"
"Personally, I'd rather take the Caf!" Dani called back over the roar of another missile that flew over their head and turned a nearby warehouse into a fireball.
"Aw, don't be like that!" Ben laughed as he reloaded his weapon, "Aren't you having fun?"
"Ben, I love you, and I mean no offense by this, but something is seriously wrong with you!" Dani shouted back as she rose and fired toward the tree line before diving back down.
"Ha, ha, ha, I knew you loved me!" Ben laughed, his voice rising above the roar of the ensuing battle.
"As a friend!" Dani roared back, "Don't be thinking you'll be joining me in my bed any time soon!"
"Aw, now you've gone and hurt my feelings," Ben laughed, causing Dani to shake her head at him,
"I'll hurt more than that if you don't focus! Where's Alexander?"
"He was ordered to take command of the troops on the east wall!" Ben shouted back, "Looks like we're on our own for the time being!"
"What about Killian and Aola?" Dani demanded, rising and firing again as Ben rushed to finish loading his cannon.
"I haven't seen them yet! But I'm sure they're all right! You know how hard those two are to kill!"
"It's not them I'm worried about!" Dani snarled as she rose and fired, putting two bolts through the chest of a foolish trooper who had tried to rush forward with an RPG on his shoulder, no doubt trying to take out the defenders on the wall, "I saw Jedi in the trees!"
"Oh, you've gotta be kriffing kidding me!" Ben snarled, "Of course, they brought one of those Force wielding assholes!"
"We just need to keep them back until one of the Sith shows up; we can let them deal with the Jedi!"
"Sounds good to me!" Ben nodded as he rose back to his feet and began to decimate the landscape again, a roar of fury tearing loose from his throat that seemed to echo like a charging Rancor.
"Let's just hope we live that long…" Dani thought as she rose next to him and began to fire anywhere she saw movement, which, unfortunately, was everywhere.
XXXX
Darth Striga took an angry breath as she stared at the smoking ruin that had once been the body of a young Jedi girl, now a charred corpse with a look of agony forever etched on its face.
It was impressive how much pain the young girl managed to endure. If nothing else, Striga respected the girl for holding on as long as she did, but in the end, the girl finally broke, as all did when they were in Striga's grasp. No one could keep her out for long, not with the control of Sith magic that Striga possessed. Sooner or later, they always broke and told Striga everything she wanted to know. The only question was how much pain they endured before they reached that point.
Striga was already annoyed by the Republic's surprise attack on her base, hearing that there was a group of Jedi using the attack to track down her little brother and kidnap him had simply pushed her over the edge, and before Striga realized what she was doing, she had unleashed an overpowering assault of lightning on the unfortunate girl, literally cooking her alive as the Jedi screeched in agony.
Casting one last sneer down at the corpse, Striga turned and walked away, her steps angry and determined as she extended her senses as far as they would go, determined to find these other Jedi who dared to think they could just walk into her base and take what belonged to her without repercussion.
Raising her hand to her ear, Striga activated her commlink and spoke out angrily to anyone who might be listening.
"Attention all Imperial forces, Jedi have infiltrated the base disguised at Mandalorians and are using the attack to accomplish their own mission. According to the information I've obtained, there are at least six of them left, and they are here to abduct Killian Farr due to his ability to use the Force and take him back with them to Coruscant! I want these Jedi filth, found! All Mandalorians are hereby ordered to switch to their encrypted channel and find who among you doesn't belong! Imperials are ordered to do the same! To any listening, you will be rewarded greatly should you be the one to inform me of their whereabouts."
Lowering her hand, Striga opened her eyes as she momentarily felt the flicker of the light side of the Force coming from somewhere to the east of her before it vanished.
As a cruel smile spread across her face, Striga began to walk toward where she felt the Force originated, already reveling in the violent death she would give the foolish Jedi who had dared to try and sneak into her base.
XXXX
Dani felt her jaw drop open in shock as she heard the message echo through her helmet's communication device; next to her, Ben had stopped firing and was looking at her, as the barrel of his cannon pointed down as he held it with limp hands. Though she couldn't see it, Dani knew that her friend's expression was just as shocked as her own: Jedi were wearing the sacred armor of her people?
This was blasphemy! An affront to every man and woman who had earned the right to wear that armor with blood, sweat, and tears throughout a thousand generations! A wave of all-consuming rage swept through her as she did as she was ordered and switched over to the encrypted channel that only her people used; instantly, dozens of voices filled her ears, arguing and shouting at one another with such volume that any chance of understanding what was being said was nearly impossible.
"SHUT UP!" Alexander's voice roared a moment later, instantly ending the noise and making both Ben and Dani wince at the volume of the speaker's voice.
"Now, if you're all done," Alexander continued, "We have work to do! Squad leaders, I want you to inspect your squads one-by-one! Each Mandalorian is to take their helmet off and show their face! Any who refuse to do so will be shot on sight!"
"Thank goodness we don't have any of the traditionalists with us…" Ben muttered, his words creating a momentary echo of 'ayes' before Alexander spoke again.
"Agreed… We have enough problems as is without our own people causing more… Squad leaders, make sure that you can identify each warrior under your command. If you don't recognize someone, see if anyone else can identify them, and if no one knows who they are, shoot them in the kriffing face!"
"What about me?" Killian's voice rang out, "What are my orders, cousin?"
"It's the same as everyone else's," Alexander's voice replied. "Get to the wall and help defend the base. You ain't special!"
Laughter echoed across the channel for a moment before Killian spoke again in a soft tone.
"They're here for me…. It's my fault our brothers and sisters had their armor stolen…"
"Dani, remind me to smack Killian over the head when this is done," Ben spoke, already unleashing his cannon again.
"Will do," Dani replied as she returned fire, "Killian, this is not on you! Those Jedi bastards are the ones who stole our people's sacred armor and now wear it as though they have a right to! And for that blasphemy, they will die!"
Cries of 'aye' echoed across the channel as others spoke to the boy, assuring him that he was not to blame for what was happening.
"They're right, cousin," Alexander spoke, "This is no time for self-denigration! Replace it with righteous rage and use it to find those who have dishonored our people! Then kill them!"
Roars of agreement sang across the channel for a moment before it went quiet, and Alexander spoke again,
"Squad leaders, you have your orders! Get to it!"
A moment later, the channel went silent, and a warrior in dark blue armor approached Dani and Ben, leveling his weapon at them.
"You two, take off your helmets! Now!"
Quickly crouching behind the wall so as to not be struck by some lucky bolt, Dani and Ben both removed their helmets and stared up at the warrior as he nodded once before moving on, allowing the pair to put their helmets back on before retaking their positions and returning fire.
As Dani managed to kill another nameless Republic trooper, she felt hatred, the likes of which she had never felt before, well up in her; the Republic had done many heinous things against her people in the past, but this, by far, was the worst thing they had done in a generation. As she continued to fire, all Dani could think of was how much she hoped the Jedi died screaming for it.
XXXX
Talon crouched behind a large pile of metal boxes and watched the chaos erupting around him with narrowed eyes; once he heard the Sith's message ring out across his helmet's communicator, he knew the game was up.
As much as Talon wanted this mission to succeed, there was simply no way, now, not when the entire base now knew that he and the others were here and would now be tearing the base apart to find him.
Even worse, the comms had gone silent as the Mandalorians and Imperials switched to their encrypted channels. Now, Talon couldn't even listen in to see what was happening.
Worrying his lip for a moment, Talon tried to decide what to do. The mission was already incredibly dangerous and likely to fail, but now? It was all but certain that if Talon and the others didn't leave, they would all be killed or worse.
Slowly closing his eyes, Talon sent out a pulse through the Force, a signal to the others to return to the ship, that the mission had been aborted; he only hoped they listened rather than let stubbornness lead them to their own destruction.
A moment later, Talon's eyes widened, unseen beneath his helmet, as a loud whistling sound rang throughout the air, growing louder until suddenly, the wall to the right side of Talon exploded inward in an incredible display of fire and shrapnel, causing Talon to duck quickly behind the safe cover of the metal boxes.
Slowly raising his head back up, Talon saw, to his shock, that the previously intact wall now had a gaping hole in it that was surrounded by flames. At the same time, debris lay scattered about in large piles. A moment later, a roar of sound came through the wall, followed immediately by dozens of Republic troops who began to fire indiscriminately at any Mandalorian or Imperial they saw. Frozen in shock at the sudden invasion, several Imperials were quickly gunned down before they could do anything other than cry out in alarm as the steady stream of Republic troops rapidly turned into a flood.
"Thank the Force…" Talon thought as he watched the army come pouring in. Several Jedi Knights mixed in with the troopers, their lightsabers flashing as they immediately began to push the defenders back. "This plan might still work!"
Realizing that he no longer needed the armor and that it had become more of a hindrance at this point than an asset, Talon quickly ripped off his helmet and threw it to the ground before drawing his lightsaber and igniting it as he stepped out from behind his cover.
Almost at once, he was spotted by an Imperial soldier who screamed out,
"It's the Jedi! He's over there! Open fire!"
With a scowl of annoyance, Talon deflected several bolts back at his opponents, who cried out in pain as the returned rounds punched through their armor as easily as though they were wearing paper; with a growl, Talon rushed forward and closed the distance in mere seconds between himself and the remaining soldiers who were staring at their falling comrades with expressions of shock.
In mere seconds, it was over, and Talon stood before the sole remaining Imperial, who had fallen onto his butt in panic as Talon rushed him and his men before cutting them to pieces faster than the Imperial believed a man could move.
With a cry of terror, the Imperial officer drew his sidearm and pointed it up at Talon, only for the Jedi to swing his arm, almost lazily, and sever the officer's arm just below the elbow.
With a scream of agony, the officer grabbed the stump that was once his arm and fell back to the ground as Talon pointed his lightsaber down at the man, a look of indifference on the Jedi's face as the Imperial tried in vain to scoot away from the burning weapon.
"Killian Farr," Talon growled, "Where is he!"
"I don't… I don't know! Please! Mercy!" The officer begged as he cradled his stump and continued to try and crawl away from the Jedi.
"How many innocents have begged you in the same way…?" Talon asked, his eyes narrowing at the man, "Did you grant them mercy? Last chance, where is Killian Farr?"
"I'm telling you the truth!" The officer cried, tears running down his face, "I really don't know! Please, don't kill me! I surrender!"
For a moment, Talon simply glared down at the man, his lightsaber hovering dangerously over the man's chest as the man continued to cry and beg for mercy; finally, Talon lowered his weapon as he stared at the Imperial with barely concealed disgust.
"I won't kill you…" Talon said softly before gazing over his shoulder at the dozens of Republic soldiers still coming through the hole in the wall, accompanied by several of the Nightsisters. Turning back to the cowering officer, Talon allowed a smirk to grace his lips as he saw the relief spreading across the man's face. "But that doesn't mean I have to save you, either. Good luck…"
Ignoring the look of confusion that suddenly replaced the man's relief, Talon quickly sped away toward the center of the base, the most likely place for Killian to be at the moment; looking back one final time, Talon saw the officer crawling pathetically toward the pile of metal crates that Talon had been hiding behind earlier.
As he rounded the next corner, Talon forgot about the Imperial. His life was in his own hands now, and Talon had more important things to worry about, like finding his target and leaving this base alive.
XXXX
Terra was lying on her back in the medical tent, biting back a curse as she was poked and prodded by the base doctor, who seemed like he would have been better placed as a butcher than a healer. The dirty Republic uniform she had ridden in on had been stripped from her and replaced with a tight black spandex outfit that left her arms bare and ended just above her knees; seeing as how she was injured, the doctor had forgone giving Terra any footwear, much to the Twi'lek's annoyance.
Around her, other injured Imperials and Mandalorians groaned from the various beds where they lay when the ground suddenly shook violently. A moment later, an alarm began to ring out through the speakers in the tent,
"Alert! Alert! Base defenses have been breached! Alert! Alert! Base defenses have been breached!"
"The Republic has gotten inside!" The Imperial doctor gasped as Terra forced her bruised body into a seated position. A moment later, the tent door burst open, and a small metallic ball bounced inside, causing Terra's eyes to shoot open in alarm; with a cry of fury, Terra grabbed the railing of her bed and threw herself to the side, releasing a cry of pain as she and the bed crashed to the floor. Seconds later, the small ball exploded, and Terra heard screams of pain echo around her, which were swiftly silenced.
Trying to ignore the screaming pain that her body was currently in, Terra slowly raised her body and peeked over her bed, her eyes widening as she beheld the ruin that lay before her. The medical tent was destroyed and was rapidly turning into an inferno, while dozens of bodies and various pieces of medical equipment littered the once pristine floor.
"You think anyone survived?" Terra heard a voice call from outside the open door, causing her to duck back down behind the bed that had acted as her shield and saved her life.
"Not likely!" Another voice replied,
"Well, go and check anyway!" the first voice retorted. "You heard the general's orders; we kill them all!"
Quickly thinking on her feet, Terra reached out and ran her hand across the growing puddle of blood that was flowing out of the dead body of the nearby doctor before rubbing it over her face. Once she was good and blood, Terra fell over and lay perfectly still, making it look like she had been fatally injured in the blast; a moment later, Terra heard someone enter the tent and cough heavily as the smoke in the tent began to grow thicker.
Despite the growing heat and the incredible pain that her body was in, Terra forced herself to remain perfectly still as she heard the Republic soldier come closer to where she lay. After what felt like an eternity, Terra felt a heavy boot press down on her shoulder and shove her onto her back.
"Well?" The first voice called from outside, "Any survivors?"
For several seconds, there was complete silence, and Terra had to force herself to remain completely still as she feigned death, for she knew the soldier was staring down at her; she could feel it.
Finally, she heard the soldier step away and heard him call out,
"None! Nothing but bodies in here! Good riddance, I say!"
"Good, then hurry up and get out here! There's still more of these Imps that need killing!"
As she heard the soldier step away, Terra cracked her eyes open just a bit and saw him slowly exiting the tent. The smoke and flame were now completely out of control and soon to turn the tent to ash.
As the soldier stepped out, Terra immediately sprang to her feet and wiped the blood off of her face before reaching down for a nearby scalpel; turning to the nearby tent wall, Terra released a savage growl as she stabbed into the cloth wall and began to cut her way out, knowing that it would be tantamount to suicide to walk out the front door. Finally, creating a sizeable slit that she managed to slip through as the heat behind her grew unbearable.
As she collapsed to the ground, Terra took several deep breaths, reveling in the cold air filling her lungs as the tent behind her burned to the ground. Looking up, Terra's eyes widened in horror at what she was seeing.
The base had turned into a battleground, and from where she lay on all fours, Terra could see dozens of buildings and tents on fire, blazing uncontrollably as Imperials, Mandalorians, and Republic soldiers fought against each other with all the fury they could bring to bear.
As her eyes continued to wander the battlefield, Terra saw a Sith warrior quickly behead three Republic soldiers before a male Jedi with short blonde hair and a bright blue blade suddenly appeared and began to engage him in battle.
The battle could be compared to a dance, and as Terra watched, she knew immediately that the Sith was outmatched; while the Sith stabbed and hacked like a wild animal, the Jedi dodged and evaded with all the grace of an artist. A moment later, her belief was verified as the Jedi jumped over the Sith, twisting as he did so, and landed behind the warrior before slashing across the Sith's back, following his attack up by plunging his blade into the Sith's defenseless back, causing the Sith to cry out in pain before he collapsed to the ground and moved no more. His foe dispatched, the Jedi pointed his lightsaber at a group of Republic soldiers and shouted something before leading them away, no doubt to find more Sith to kill.
"You won't have him…" Terra snarled as she rose shakily, "By the honor of my ancestors, I swear it!"
Even as her body screamed in pain, Terra forced herself to move, limping as fast as she was able, determined to find her children before the Jedi did.
XXXX
Striga cackled madly as she twisted and spun, her lightsaber flashing wildly as she fought two Jedi knights simultaneously; true, she had wanted to track down the ones who had invaded her base and tried to steal her little brother. She had no doubt that she would. In time. Until that happy moment, however, she was perfectly content to slaughter any foolish Jedi that she encountered, gaining more experience and power with every enemy that dropped at her feet; experience and power that would come in handy one day when Striga decided to challenge her mother for her seat on the Dark Council.
That was the way of the Sith, only loyal to a point and no further; the day was very near when Striga's mother would earn her place on the Dark Council, and then when Striga was ready to challenge her, she would lose it to her daughter. Snapping her arm out, Striga cackled again as she unleashed a barrage of lightning on one of her opponents, a young Selkath, who screamed in pain as he was flung away.
Turning to her other opponent, a grey-skinned Duro, Striga smiled cruelly before extending her hand and motioning her index finger at him in a 'come get me' gesture that made him scowl at her.
"You cannot win, Sith!" The Duro snapped, "Even if I fall this day, you are completely outnumbered! You would be wise to surrender while you still have breath in your body to do so!"
"And miss the chance to kill more of you pathetic Jedi?" Striga sneered, "I'll pass, thanks… It's you who should surrender, alien. You're hopelessly outmatched."
"You might best me with a blade," The Duro retorted, "But my ally is the Force, and there are none who can match one with such a powerful ally!"
"So arrogant…" Striga sneered, "I thought you Jedi were above such base emotions…"
The Duro hissed at that and lunged forward, which is just what Striga wanted; jumping aside at the last minute, Striga easily evaded the Duro's attack. Unfortunately, the Selkath who had been trying to sneak up behind her was not so lucky; as he raised his lightsaber to cut her in half, she jumped away, allowing the Duro to plunge his blade right into his ally's chest, causing the Selkath to cry out in pain as the Duro stared in horror at what he had just done.
"No…" The Duro cried out in shock as his friend slid off of the lightsaber and fell to his knees before collapsing to the ground a second later, "How? I didn't even sense he was there!"
"That would be me," Striga laughed, "You'd be amazed at what you can do with Sith sorcery, like dampening one's ability to sense things around them, for instance…"
"You MONSTER!" The Duro screamed as he launched another attack, this one relying less on skill and more on trying to cut the Sith to pieces; as she danced around the attack effortlessly, Striga laughed out loud, sensing her opponent's growing frustration at his inability to kill her.
"Ah, ah, ah…" Striga teased, "Remember to keep your calm, anger is the path to the Dark Side, remember…?"
Her words just seemed to infuriate the Jedi more, who snarled at her as he finally lunged too far, allowing Striga to spin out of his reach and raise her lightsaber high above her head as she did so.
Too late, the Duro realized the mistake he had made and cried out in alarm as the Sith brought her weapon down on his exposed neck, decapitating him a moment later.
Using the Force, Striga raised her arm and willed Duro's head to rise from the ground into her waiting hand. Leaning forward, Striga smiled cruelly at the look of agony and fear forever etched on the Jedi's face, relishing the way that the Dark Side flooded her very core before leaning forward and kissing the bloody trophy on the lips.
"I win," Striga sneered before dropping the head back to the ground and skipping away to find her next opponent; hopefully, this one would be an actual master and not another pathetic apprentice.
XXXX
"Why can't we ever go somewhere nice!" Killian asked as he ducked under the savage swing of a Republic soldier and stabbed his lightsaber through the soldier's chest, making him gasp and drop his vibroknife, "Like Naboo, for example!"
"Naboo?" Aola shouted back from where she was wrestling her own opponent to the ground, her arm around his neck; with a savage jerk upwards, Aola suddenly broke the soldier's neck, carelessly releasing his body and allowing it to fall to the ground in a heap, "Why the kriff would you want to go to Naboo?"
"I mean, it's gotta be better than here, right?" Killian responded as he pulled his blade from the man's chest and allowed him to collapse to the ground, "Honestly, after this, I'm requesting some time off! I'm sick of people trying to shoot me, run me over, and blow me up!"
"Ditto!" Aola replied, drawing her blaster and shooting a fleeing soldier in the back, a cruel smile crossing her face as she watched the Republic soldier fall onto her stomach; turning back to her waiting brother, who was clipping his weapon back onto his belt, she holstered her weapon and added, "What about Nar Shadaa?"
"Nar Shadaa?" Killian exclaimed in shock, "Why would you wanna go there? Have you forgotten it's controlled by the Hutts?"
"True, but I hear the bars and casinos are to die for!" Aola laughed back, causing her brother to shake his head,
"I'm sure they are. In more ways than one…"
As they started walking again, a soldier suddenly jumped from his hiding place behind a burning tent and fired two bolts at Killian; unfortunately, in his haste to kill his target, his aim was way off, and the bolts passed by Killian's head harmlessly, causing him to look at the soldier for a moment with disgust before he drew his blaster.
"Dude… You really suck…"
Without another word, Killian fired a single round right through the center of the soldier's head, causing his head to rock backward before he collapsed to the ground lifelessly.
Shaking his head in derision at the fallen soldier, Killian and Aola started walking again, eager to get to the wall and help Ben and Dani with the defense; they had only taken a few steps, however, when three Jedi suddenly stepped in front of them.
"Killian Farr," Talon smiled, "So good to see you again…"
"Oh no, not you again…" Killian sneered as he rested his hand on his lightsaber and cocked his hip lazily; next to him, Aola rested her hands lazily on the blasters on her hips, "Seriously, dude, are you still following me? You're worse than an ex-girlfriend!"
"How dare you insult Master Oaksmith like that!" The Jedi on Talon's right, a Rodian, spat angrily, "You should be honored that he has even deigned that such filth as yourself is important enough to be captured alive!"
"Is this guy for real?" Killian asked, turning to his sister, who appeared to be trying not to laugh.
"I assume so," Aola snarked back, "I mean, he must be. After all, Jedi are notorious for having no sense of humor…"
The Rodian colored with rage at that, only for Talon to place a calming hand on his upper arm,
"Peace Clarence… He's just trying to bait you. It's what he does…"
"Wait, your name is Clarence?" Killian asked with a snort as he turned back to the Jedi. "Does that mean you'll magically grow a pair of wings if a bell rings somewhere?"
Aola cackled at that and wrapped her arms around her waist as she doubled over in laughter. At the same time, Clarence the Rodian turned crimson with fury.
"He's not an angel, you dork!" Aola laughed as Killian grinned at how effectively his words made the Jedi lose his temper.
"Enough!" The Jedi on Talon's left snapped, a Bothan with pitch black hair, "You are ordered by the Jedi council and the Galactic Senate to surrender!"
"Um… How about no, you crazy Dutch bastard!" Killian retorted with a grin, making the Bothan stare at him for a moment in confusion as Aola cackled again; turning to Talon, the Bothan asked,
"What's a Dutch?"
"I have no idea…" Talon replied, "Most likely some form of insult from his home world."
Turning back to the grinning teenagers, the Bothan released a growl as he ignited his lightsaber, sending a blinding blade of green into the air that made Killian sneer,
"Kinda big, ain't it? You compensating for something?"
"Can't imagine why he would," Aola snarked, "You know they're not allowed to do that sort of thing."
Killian could feel the Rodian and Bothan's anger rising with every word and had to fight to keep the grin off of his face, it wouldn't be long now before one or both of them finally lost control completely and attacked, which was precisely what Killian wanted. To a Jedi who had been taught from birth that anger was a poison, losing one's temper was like being given a loaded blaster with no training on how to properly use it; they would be sloppy and give Killian far better odds of winning.
"Killian…" Talon sighed wearily, "Must you be so antagonistic?"
"Indeed, I must!" Killian quipped cheerfully, "Must you keep coming after me? I thought I already told you; I'm not interested in being a Jedi."
"Yes, you did say that…" Talon mused, "But I'm afraid you're simply too powerful to be left to wander freely. So, I offer you this one last chance… Come willing or come unconscious, but one way or another, you will be going to Coruscant. Decide.
And before you make your choice, you should know that I have your mother as my guest back at the Republic base. Be a shame if something were to happen to her..."
"You kidnapped my mom...?" Killian asked in horror before a look of rage came across his features; beside him, Aola looked horrified, and her hands twitched visibly for a moment before she ripped her blasters free,
"Let. Her. GO!"
"I will," Talon nodded at once, raising his hands as the Jedi reached for their lightsabers, indicating them to keep calm, "Just as soon as your brother surrenders to me."
"You're lying!" Killian, "You Jedi would say anything to trick me into joining your cult!"
"You can choose not to believe me if you wish, Killian..." Talon replied softly, "But I assure you that I am not. Search your feelings, and you will know my words to be the truth. I don't want to harm your mother; I simply want to save you from the road you're going down... I wasn't lying when I said you are one of the most powerful force-wielders I've ever encountered. Such power cannot be left unchecked. You could do great things, and I just want to ensure you do not become a vicious monster like the Sith would have you become."
Killian worried his lip for a moment in indecision as he tried to figure out what to do; delving into the Force, Killian could feel that Talon was telling the truth, and his heart broke as he realized he had no other choice. Terra had saved him more times than Killianc could count. Now, it was his turn to save her. As he opened his mouth to surrender, a voice suddenly screamed out, causing Killian's heart to skip a beat as he looked at its origin.
"GET AWAY FROM MY CHILDREN, YOU JEDI FILTH!"
Terra was standing on top of a nearby roof, a look of pure rage on her face and a large Vibrosword clutched in her hand; with an inhuman roar of anger, she lept into the open air, holding her weapon high over her head as though to cleave Talon in two.
A moment later, the Bothan snapped his arm out and sent out a Force push at the falling woman, sending her crashing into the wall of the building she had just jumped from, with a cry of pain before dropping lifelessly. As her head hit the ground, the group noticed a small puddle of blood coming from her body, causing Killian and Aola to freeze in horror.
"Mom…?" Killian called out softly, his voice coming out weak.
"No!" Aola screamed as she ran toward her mother's body, falling to her knees as she got there and carefully examined her mother's body, "Killian! She's not breathing! Oh hell, I think that blow might have broken a few of her ribs and caused one to pierce her lung!"
"You fool!" Talon snarled as he turned to the Bothan and got right into his ally's face, "I told you that we needed her alive!"
Before the Bothan could respond, the eyes of the three Jedi widened in alarm as they felt the overpowering wave of the Dark Side wash over them; a moment later, the ground beneath their feet began to tremble as Talon slowly turned to see Killian was staring at his mother's broken body, tears running down his cheeks as he watched Aola begin CPR.
As Killian turned to face the three Jedi, Talon felt his pace quicken in alarm as he saw Killian's remaining eye change color to a sickening volcanic Sith yellow and red,
"I'm gonna kill you…" Killian hissed as he ripped his lightsaber from his belt and jumped into the air toward the frozen Jedi, a look of pure hate on his face, "I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL ALL OF YOU!"
XXXX
Far away, hovering in her personal cruiser above the planet Korriban, Darth Fayth smiled as she stared into the blackness of space, her hands clasped tightly behind her back.
Even here, lightyears away from the planet Dathomir, the Sith could feel her son's power as he finally gave into the Dark Side wholly and entirely after having witnessed the Jedi attack the woman he considered his mother; Fayth's lip curled at that, and she felt white hot rage course through her, even as she felt pride at how powerful her son was. There was no going back for him now; after today, Killian would never want to give up the power he had obtained ever again, and it would bring him back to his true mother. With Killian and Striga at her side, Fayth knew she would one day rule not just the Sith Empire but the entire universe, and she reveled in that fact as her son's power continued to grow.
"He will be mine…" Fayth whispered to her empty chamber, "It will all be mine…"