The Hundred Year Darkness (The Second Great Schism)

[Shana]

Once on their transport Juhn-Kai turned to face Jill and Seriphyn.

 

- "Once this is over we're going to have a long chat, but for now I want to speak to Jill alone and after that I want to speak with you Seriphyn, in the meantime wait for me Seriphyn, the padawans are in the next room, please wait there and give them a pep talk so that they feel better, most of them haven't been on a battlefield like you and me" - Juhn-Kai said and moved to speak with Jill after Seriphyn had gone to the next room of the ship.

 

Juhn-Kai crossed his arms.

 

- "Is there something you'd like to tell me Jill?" - Juhn-Kai asked.

 

- "About what Master?" - Jill said.

 

- "I can see right through you Jill, it's about Seriphyn" - Juhn-Kai said.

 

- "I don't know, ever since we met I haven't stopped thinking about him, and everytime I'm with him I feel strange, not bad strange but good, I feel like I'm falling for him" - Jill said.

 

- "You made a commitment to the order Jill, I don't want you to make the mistakes I've made in the past, remember that attachments are forbidden" - Juhn-Kai said.

 

- "I know, but do you really call Lin a mistake?" - Jill asked.

 

- "That is not what I said, I told you not to bring my daughter into conversation" - Juhn-Kai said.

 

- "How long has it been since you've seen her?" - Jill asked.

 

- "A little over two thousand years" - Juhn-Kai said.

 

- "What about her mother didn't you love her?" - Jill asked.

 

- "Yes, but she was human, she's dead now... I had to leave her, I couldn't bring myself to turn away from the order" - Juhn-Kai said.

 

- "So you turned away from her? Don't you regret that you left her" - Jill asked.

 

- "Every day I see her face, but there is nothing to be done now, it's too late, this is a secret I don't want you telling it to no one, only Master Embok knows it" - Juhn-Kai said.

 

- "Yes Master" - Jill said.

 

- "Tell Seriphyn to come here, I want to speak to him before we land" - Juhn-Kai said.

 

Jill went to the next room where Seriphyn had been told to go and walked to him.

 

- "Master Juhn-Kai wants to see you now before we land" - Jill said to him.

[Shana]

((I'm going to be away for like the whole week so you guys can exercise character control over Jill and Juhn-Kai just to keep the story moving for the week and I'll be back soon))

[Seriphyn]

((Me and Darth Tepe agree in that we'll just wait for the week until you read this to continue on))

[Seriphyn]

((ok, going to post up next bit of the story, so Lyla can respond instantly))

 

Seriphyn nodded at Jill, but couldn't be bothered to say anything. He must have appeared like a droid to her.

 

He brushed past Jill and found Juhn-Kai, "May I help you with something, Master?"

 

Seriphyn hoped that line didn't sound sarcastic through the helmet's electronic radio. Though Seriphyn was aware it was disrespectful, he didn't bother taking off the helmet as he was growing bored of constantly removing it and putting it back on again. He was sure Juhn-Kai understood.

[Darth Destrus]

Name: Vrendil Duo

Age: 32

Gender: Male

Species: Human

Appearance: 6 foot with Long Black hair neatly tied in a pony tail. Handsome, chiseled features and a lean but toned body structure.

Homeworld: Coruscant

Rank: Ex-Jedi Master

Equipment: Twin Blue Blades with silver hilts.

[Shana]

((I'm back! Thank god for civilization Welcome Darth Destrus))

 

Juhn-Kai looked at Seriphyn, he knew that he was tired of removing his helmet everytime so he just said what he wanted to ask.

 

- "Is there something you'd like to tell me about Jill? I've felt the bond between you and I'm just wondering what are your feelings on this matter?" - Juhn-Kai asked.

 

Jill tried to concentrate to listen what Juhn-Kai spoke with Seriphyn.

[Darth Destrus]

Vrendil watched the space battle rage on between the warring factions from the comfort of his hut on the planet's surface. It seemed that the jedi were preparing a ground assault and if his instincts were correct, they would need a friend on the surface. He didnt know how accepting the council would be of him, being exiled and all, but he figured the council would look past that and rule in favor of intelligence over pride. He reached his free hand to the wall nearest him and removed a small metallic object, it was roughly the size and shape of a tooth cap. He pressed a button on the inside edge and placed the cap over one of his back molars. He immediatley felt the soft humming indicating that the device was still in working order.

 

He sighed and casually typed out the last frequency he had from the jedi order on his commpad and sent out a standard hail message. He sighed for the second time that minute and awaited a response...

[Seriphyn]

"Just a Force bond, I think" Seriphyn spoke unsure of himself, "She's a good fighter, and person. But if you're thinking of anything else...I think, uh, she's a bit young, you know what I'm saying? There's a big gap between 17 and 22, so, um yeah. Nice padawan you got there"

 

That was the biggest bunch of bantha poodo ever. Seriphyn wasn't lying to Juhn-Kai but more of lying to himself. He sighed to himself but, luckily, it wasn't loud enough to register through the helmet radio.

 

Seriphyn decided to come out straight.

 

"Look, alright. She's nice *nice*. As in, well, you know what I'm talking about. Also nice here as well" Seriphyn signified what he was talking about with both his hands, "After, uh, a minor hiccup we've been getting on well and we...have a lot in common-"

 

Seriphyn mentally shook his head. The past day has warped him as a Jedi completely. What he just said was completely not what a real Jedi would say. That wasn't the only thing, but past actions was totally non-Jedi like.

 

The Jedi slash warrior decided to just take the helmet off. He stared at Juhn-Kai's alien-like eyes, his long hair a mess again.

 

"Right, let's just ignore that...chest comment. I like your apprentice. Maybe even more then that, I don't know" Seriphyn laughed to himself, "It's funny, that the Jedi are the most selfless and compassionate entity in the galaxy, yet they aren't allowed to love"

 

"Actually, if I say I don't know, that's confusion, a negative emotion within a Jedi. I'll be honest, and it's best that I say this so I'm sure of mysel-"

 

Seriphyn paused and eyed Juhn-Kai, sensing something a little off. He turned around and poked his head past the door, to see Jill with her back pressed on the wall of the room he was just in.

 

He turned back to Juhn-Kai, "Right!" he said in a sarcastic manner.

 

Seriphyn grabbed Jill and spun her into the centre of the door's archway, right in Juhn-Kai's view. He grabbed the back of her neck and pressed his lips against her's, making sure it's not really a kiss by keeping his mouth sealed.

 

He then pulled Jill away from her, and positioned her several paces to his right, a hand on her shoulder and a hand on his waist.

 

"I think that's a good way to sum it all up" Seriphyn looked almost manic, "Now, let's go save the galaxy!"

 

He slided off view in a heroic fashion and walked off repeating the words 'Right' and 'Okay' several times like a lunatic. Seriphyn then reached for his holocom. A Republic officer appeared.

 

"Specialist Taus, book me a psyche-eval for next week, please" the officer nodded and dissappeared. Seriphyn then hung his head, shaking it in embarrased remorse.

[Shana]

Juhn-Kai looked at Jill who was turning pink.

 

- "Well...that truly does make it clearer, Pilot! Time to land!" - Juhn-Kai shouted.

 

The transport ship found it's way to the ground near Emukiel's ship. Val-Kan's unit had already made contact with the Sith Infantry and were fighting on the snowy plains of Rhen Var. The fortress was firing against Juhn-Kai's transport ship.

 

- "Seriphyn! Jill! Protect the younger padawans that is the first priority!" - Juhn-Kai shouted as the laser fire was louder than ever. Juhn-Kai turned his lightsaber on and deflected several bolt to protect the unti as they got out of the ship.

 

- "Lightsabers ready!" - Jill shouted to the padawans who turned their sabers on aswell.

[Darth Destrus]

He appeared as a small black dot on an otherwise white landscape. He reached down for what seemed like the hundreth time and double-checked his body heat regulator on his belt. It was fine, but he turned it up just a bit more to fight off the numbness he felt growing in his feet.

 

His hood was over his face but he could clearly see that the jedi had engaged the sith, and the battle that would ensue would be bloody indeed. He tapped his fingers on his lightsabers, hanging on his side in their holsters, and pondered his next move. He removed his commlink and saw that the council had still not answered his hail. Either it was a bad frequency, or they were simply ignoring him.

 

The sight of the sith made him tense with anger. He hated the sith, he hated them so much that he defied the council countless times to enact acts of revenge on them whenever possible, which was the reason for his banishment from the order. He recalled his finaly days in the council chamber, and the constant banter he traded with the other masters...a small smile escaped his lips. He had threatened a master and was thusly exiled.

 

He slowly made his way towards the first ships, his hands resting gently on the hilts of his twin blades.

[Seriphyn]

Seriphyn simultaneously put his helmet on and drew his lightsaber, slashing the random Sith soldier or deflecting a random blaster bolt, while staying close to the padawans, especially Jill.

 

The Commander used the Force to switch on his radio, "Captain! Now!" he shouted.

 

Suddenly, light transports appeared above; the group of them almost acting like clouds. Ropes fell from the sky, and the marines of the 17th Seraph Division slid down them, blaster bolts firing in every direction and electrostaffs whirring into action.

 

The marines landed, with bolts being deflected by the electrostaff-wielding pikemen and rifle clips being unloaded into the enemy's chests.

 

Seriphyn found himself back to back with Captain Nostaw. The Jedi flicked off his lightsaber and drew his commando pistols, firing at anything with pulsing with the Dark Side.

 

"Sam! Take the rifle fireteams up onto the hillside, lay some suppressing fire in the rear ranks of the Sith. ONLY the rear, you don't want friendly fire ensuing" Seriphyn ordered

 

"Yes sir!" Sam shouted in acknowledgement.

 

What looked like rockets shot up from the ground, but were in fact the marine riflemen and their repulsorlift backpacks. They drifted off to the side of the nearby hill.

 

When all the non-melee marines were clear, Seriphyn drew his lightsaber again then lept up and landed on top of one of the Republic dropships. He surveyed the scene briefly, and then jumped down in the middle of a group of Sith infantry. On his way down, he shot his palm out, using Force psychokinesis to create himself a clear landing spot. Seriphyn landed, to find himself in the centre of rifle-wielding Sith. In response, he spun round 360 degrees with his palm shot out. The ranks of the Sith infantry flew back and landed in heaps of metal and silver. Suddenly, Seriphyn heard the ignition of several lightsabers from the air all around him.

 

He pointed his lightsaber upwards, and five red blades hit it in unison. He slayed the first Sith with a shiim attack, then used lightning on two charging at him to push them back. After a few successful parries of the other two Sith's attacks, he back flipped out of the gauntlet.

 

"Juhn-Kai!" he shouted, "We got company!"

[Shana]

Juhn-Kai turned to Seriphyn.

 

- "Expected no less" - Juhn-Kai said.

 

Juhn-Kai saw many Sith Lords coming against him, he took his two lightstaffs and put them together to form his cross-saber. He started spinning it to fight off the sith lords that came his way. Jill approached Juhn-Kai and tried to help him fend off the Sith Lords, Jill had taken her sabers and started to fight in a way that appeared as a dance, both elegant and deadly. But the Sith were many, Juhn-Kai had taken down at least a dozen, like any other master would. The sith started to retreat to the fortress, their ranks were all at the battlefield engaging Val-Kan's troops.

 

Juhn-Kai felt a presence, it was a familiar one, Vendril Duo was on the planet. He knew Vendril couldn't be with the Sith, he hated them, more than he should. Juhn-Kai knew that it was probably best to ask for his assistance, he concentrated on his telepathy and called for Vendril.

 

"Vendril, head for the fortress surrounded by the twin mountains, I'll be waiting for you there" - Juhn-Kai said in his mind to Vendril.

 

After the telepathy he went and checked Emukiel's ship.

 

- "Eki! Are you alright? Valgo?" - Juhn-Kai said.

 

On the other side Jill still fought, not too soon she found herself surrounded, six against one. She knew the odds weren't good, she had never fought so many, but she did her best, after a lot of trouble she managed to take out five, but she neglected one who pushed her to the ground and used force lighting on her, she screamed, she didn't see that coming. Her strength was almost gone, the sith lord only stood there laughing. Juhn-Kai was too far from her.

[Darth Destrus]

((Uhh...not trying to be mean but its spelled "Vrendil" lol))

 

He was about halfway between his hut and the battle when a familiar voice reverberated inside his head.

-*Vrendil, head for the fortress surrounded by the twin mountains, I'll be waiting for you there*

He laughed aloud at how easily he was being noticed, that was unlike him. But at least he knew that Master Juhn-Kai saw him as an ally.

He sent a response

-"Right. I'll wait for you 100 paces east from the entrance"

 

-"Twin Mountains.." he thought as he turned his head. He knew that Juhn-Kai was referring to Garron's Folly, the mountain region made famous on Rhen Var for the massive peaks that resembled two giant fangs.

 

He felt something in the force around him...fear? Anger? A mixture of both. He knew that time was not a luxury he could afford so he called on the force to aid him in his journey. He felt the air surrounding his legs ripple with force energy as he propelled himself forward, covering ground much faster than if he had been running normally. He removed one of his blades from its holster but did not ignite it.

 

He ran until his concentration broke about 60 yards from the meeting point when a surge in the force caught him off gaurd. He felt the strong aura of a sith coming from in front of him, so he gritted his teeth in anger and ignited his azure blade...

[Seriphyn]

A huge pain erupted in Seriphyn's stomach, as if a vibrosword had been lunged right through him. Seriphyn's helmet started to suffocate him, but refused to remove it, fearful he could get his head blown off. For several moments, Seriphyn writhed in pain, but finally put it under control. He heard the cracking of Force lightning, and he was damned sure it wasn't him.

 

He looked up to one of the dropships. Seriphyn tapped a button on his wristpad, and one of the bays on the belly of the ships opened up, and out shot a speeder bike. It raced towards Seriphyn, who stood slightly crouched, staring at the torpedo-like object. When the bike got dangerously close to the Jedi, he lept up in the air and landed on the driver seat.

 

He pulled back on the controls and raced upwards, looking down at the battle below.

 

And there he saw it.

 

The young girl, squirming in agony on the snow, was being electrocuted by a Sith. Seriphyn's pulse started racing again. The bike had now stalled, so he couldn't fly downwards and heroically grab Jill or anything like that. So, he just jumped off, flying towards the Sith. In mid-air, Seriphyn drew his blaster pistols and opened up on the Sith Lord, assuming his concentration was focused too much on Jill to deflect his bolts.

[Shana]

The sith lord had been really focused on Jill that when he was shot by Seriphyn he was taken completely by surprise. He fell to the ground and stopped moving. Jill was on the snow, smoke coming from her body, she wasn't burned, at least she had concentrated enough with the force to shield herself from harm, but the pain was more than enough to leave her half unconcious.

 

- "I'm ok, I just never been attacked like this before" - Jill said.

[Seriphyn]

Seriphyn got up from his crouch and looked at Jill. Just the armour made him look like a Sith soldier to Jill, so he broke the silence to make her feel more comfortable.

 

"This armour here" he tapped his metal casing, "Immune to electricity. Only thing that can get through is a lightsaber or an entire clip of blaster bolts. As I said, we're not invincible because we're Jedi"

 

Seriphyn smiled at her, even though she couldn't see it.

 

"Stick with me, I'll protect you" Seriphyn said, recalling his promise.

[Shana]

- "Ok, lets go" - Jill said as she slowly got up she grabbed Seriphyn's arm, she was still a little weak on her legs.

[Darth Destrus]

The Sith had his Crimson saber ignited and was ready for him as he arrived.

 

He sprinted at the sith warrior and launched a perfectly executed combination of thrusts and slashes. The sith easily parried the blows but did not expect Vrendil's next move.

Vrendil launched a quick horizontal slash at the sith's right flank , and the dark warrior countered correctly with a vertical block, his sword tip aimed down. In the same instant, Vrendil plucked his remaining blade from its holster, and ignited it as he spun clockwise, using the force to propel his movmements. With his left blade he knocked the sith's blade out wide, and completed his circuit with his right blade coming across horiztonally, severing the sith's head from his shoulders.

 

He spat on the dead warrior's body as it slowly slumped to the ground.

 

He finished his run to the rendezvous point and found a niche in the wall. He climbed inside and focused his mind using the force to semi-cloak himself, shielding himself from the prying eyes of the force.

[Black Knight of Keno]

As the battle raged near the transport, two smudged figures ran up a hill with high speed, jumped as still smudged figures and then started their land near the jedi but inside the sith. Two blades lit up and formed a long tail behind them as the jedi landed and started their dance of styke VII. The padawan had probably only heard of it and the luckiest of knights and masters had probably seen pictures or short clips of this style being trained. This was the first time it had been used in a large battle and the first time for most of the jedi to see this.

 

The two figures danced in full sync and deflected attacks while cutting more space around them, the tail of their blades still extremely long which showed how fast the blade actually went in the hands that mastered this style. The other jedi with the purple blade did a backflip into a place with less sith and cleared a small area quickly while trying to locate Juhn-Kai. That he did not succeed in, but he located his team and led them into battle.

 

---

 

The crew of Emukiel's ship opened the ramp and greeted Juhn-Kai. "Master Ae-Saefar left with Valgo a moment ago towards the battlefield. We stayed behind to protect the wreckage" the pilot explained to the jedi and pointed at the battlefield

[Seriphyn]

Seriphyn underestimated the extent of what the Sith did to Jill. It didn't look like she could fight anymore. The both of them were vulnerable; she was slowing him down. Seriphyn almost called for a medic, but decided to accept responsibility for Jill's injury, as he wasn't there for her when she was attacked.

 

Vulnerable indeed. Suddenly, Seriphyn's helmet was torn down the centre of the face by a Sith lightsaber. He immediately threw Jill to the side, hopefully to a safe spot, in what looked like a reflex action.

 

The Jedi stumbled back as electricity spurted out the front of his helmet as the electrical systems fried up. He placed one of his robotic hands in the crack and tore the helmet off his head.

 

After throwing the the crumpled piece of metal to one side, Seriphyn looked straight. A Sith was charging right at him. This one, however, wielded a double-bladed lightsaber.

 

Seriphyn was caught off guard, with concerns on eliminating this Sith and protecting Jill. He rose his lightsaber to parry, and ended up in a lock. Bad idea to get into a lock with a staffsaber. The Sith simply, in respone, spun the lightsaber in a half turn and sliced off Seriphyn's robotic hands. His lightsaber flew off to his left.

 

Seriphyn stumbled back screaming. Luckily, only half the forearms were severed, so no damage to actual flesh was made. He panicked.

 

He wasn't sure if this would work, but he shot his arms out at the Sith and blasted Force lightning at him. Because the lightning came out of carbon-burned metal and not individual fingers, the accuracy of it all was a mess; the lightning bolts were firing everywhere.

 

In response, the Sith raised his lightsaber and deflected the lightning in a different direction. This one wasn't struggling to hold up at all, with a determined look on his face. Still, he couldn't hold out against lightning forever.

 

Estranho then realised what he was doing. He swore to himself only to use this power of the Dark Side for defensive reasons, never for pain-inflicting. If he let go, he would die, with no arms to help him fight. If he kept on going, the Sith would give in, and suffering would be inflicted. However, if Seriphyn let go at that point, the Sith would simply get up and kill him, along with the weakened Jill.

 

He was growing weak. Naturally, Seriphyn couldn't use Force lightning for as long as a Sith could, because he wasn't one himself. Using the power for an extended period of time would only weaken him, while Sith Lords can go on literally forever, assuming it isn't being deflected back at him.

 

Then, Seriphyn thought he was saved. Two electrostaff-wielding marines jumped at the Sith Lord from behind Seriphyn. The Commander then let go, and collapsed backwards onto the snow.

 

The two marines held out for just half a minute, and then both were killed in a single swift stroke by this Sith. Usaully, the electrostaff marines, trained by Seriphyn, could just about slay a single Sith especially seeing it was 2 on 1. This Sith Lord, or whatever he was, was far more powerful then any of the others.

 

The Sith walked over to where Seriphyn lay, lightsaber ready. He would show no mercy.

[Darth Destrus]

He watched the battle in the distance, patiently waiting for Master Juhn-Kai to arrive when he witnessed the staff wielding sith charge at another jedi. His heart raced, for he could sense the power of this particular sith and realized that he could present a problem. He saw the armored jedi attack him and watched as the strange armor wearer lose the saber duel and then begin to throw bolts of lighting from his hands. He then watched as that jedi fell to the ground, no doubt out of exhaustion, and then he saw the electrostaff marines get defeated just as easily.

He had to think quickly, because the sith was approaching another fallen jedi. He did the first thing that came to mind. He focused his mind and pierced the protective veil surround the siths mind, and sent him a telepathic message.

 

-"I wouldnt if I was you..."

 

The Sith turned his head and looks in Vrendil's direction...

 

He then sent a message to Seraphyn

-"Now's your chance, I have his attention, throw your lightning at him and finish him off!"

[Shana]

Seeing as Seriphyn had no arms, Jill was the only one close enough to do damage, but her legs were still weak, to attempt to slay the Sith Lord alone would only bring her certain death but no one else was around, she used the force to throw her saber when the sith lord looked at Vrendil and it thrusted itself in the sith's chest causing him to drop on the floor with a look of rage that quickly left his eyes as he died.

 

Jill crawled to Seriphyn, her loved one was there lying on the ground without his arms, she felt as if the sith had cut something from her too. She checked him for a little while and used her comlink to call a Jedi Healer. Then she turned to Seriphyn.

 

- "Hang on my love, I called for help, they'll cure you and we'll go on" - Jill said.

 

Juhn-Kai nodded to Emukiel's crew, he ran powered by the force and saw Emukiel on the battefield fighting along side Valgo. Juhn-Kai turned to Emukiel and gestured him to go to the fortress. He then ran to where Vrendil was and jumped right next to him.

 

- "Vrendil, It's good you came, we need all the help we can get, Master Embok's intelligence reports were all wrong, we've encountered much more resistance" - Juhn-Kai said.

[Black Knight of Keno]

The sith had surrounded Jill and Seriphyn once again and they were easy prey for any sith or dark jedi nearby. However, the tam of Emukiel was close and Master Ae-Saefar had collected Valgo on the way towards the temple. Now the two Weequays jumped into the air and landed next to Jill and Seriphyn, their blades again giving a long tail behind them as they danced around, slaying sith like they would be cutting hay. The rest of Ae-Saefar's team moved in and secured a route for the jedi healer. Emukiel glanced at the two with narrowed eyes and walked to Seriphyn's side. He had noticed the marine bodies. "Are you still comfortable sending soldiers against a sith lord, Seriphyn?" he asked before shaking his head at them and leaving to fight again. Valgo now led the team forwards, pushing the sith baqck into the temple, even thought the jedi count was quickly dropping

[Darth Destrus]

He quickly assessed the worry in Master Juhn-Kai's voice and knew that they had a problem. He knew he should have a plan, but his days of fighting in the army were long past.

 

-"We need to infiltrate the fortress and find out who is leading this group of rag-tag Sith."

 

He paced back and forth for a moment before coming up with a plan. He ignited his blade again and jammed it into the wall next to him.

 

-"Quickly, call for a contingent of Jedi, we can breach the wall and take the fight inside the base."

-"Tell your Marines to concentrate fire on the entrance to the fortress to keep more sith from coming out. If we force them into a bottleneck at the entrance we can flank them and slaughter them."

 

Confident that the blade was in deep enough, he begin to slowly draw a circle in the heavy steel-reinforced wall. After he completed it, he withdrew his blade and awaited the jedi reinforcements.

[Shana]

Juhn-Kai picked up the comlink.

 

- "Emukiel, we need you up here, get your team and bring them to my position and order the republic troops to fire at the entrance to keep them from coming out" - Juhn-Kai said.