Star Wars: The Darkness Within

[thelightfang]

Light stood in front of Kif, deflecting blaster bolts until Per'dra put the soldiers into stasis. When their blood vessels began to burst, Light moved over to Zarev and spoke quietly so as to avoid disturbing Per'dra.

 

"I'm going to help the others, be careful here. Try to save those soldiers if you can."

 

Light burst into a sprint, using the Force to muffle his footsteps, all the way outside, hopping onto a speeder and starting it up.

 

Should've muffled that too... Sorry

 

He kicked it into gear and took off where the dirt was still swirling from Avriela's flight to join the others, following the disturbance in the Force as a compass. Light arrived in time to see Varik on the stranger. Adrenaline heightening his senses, he could hear a crunching sound coming from there, and began to attempt to ram them with the speeder, hoping Varik would get out of the way in time.

[MsFicwriter]

Per'dra gasped, horrified, as the soldiers seemed to be crushed to death from the inside out by their nameless foe. "Zarev! I don't think there's anything we can do, but let's try anyway!" One by one, the Jedi Knight checked each body, streaming with blood and filth. These soldiers' demises had been not only quick, but excruciatingly painful beforehand. Once she discerned that every one of them was now united with the Force, she gazed at Zarev and shook her head.

 

"It's too late. The only thing either of us can do now is try to find this 'black-cloaked man' of whom one soldier spoke. The thing is, that describes every single Sith I've ever encountered, except for Master Karos, who was a traitor. She was a Jedi in name, but a Sith at heart, all in white..." Clearing her throat, she stood up from her squatting position. "Enough of old memories. Let's go!"

[Chevron 7 locke]

Canyons

 

Sevairis's body suddenly tensed up as he sensed the incoming speeder. The Dark Council member used his one remaining hand to send a blast of force energy into the ground, both he and Varik went flying into the air as the speeder passed harmlessly past them.

 

Sevairis landed on his side with Varik still hanging off him. He grunted in pain, the odd landing angle had hurt his leg but the voice inside his head was still forcing him to fight.

 

Enough of this. Kill them all.

 

Sevairis gathered the force around him and unleashed a massive burst of energy that sent Varik flying off him and pulverized a good portion of the ground around him. He reached for his lightsaber only to notice that it was gone.

 

Sevairis unleashed a powerful surge of lightning from his hands even as his eyes searched for his missing lightsaber.

 

 

Republic HQ

 

"It's too late. The only thing either of us can do now is try to find this 'black-cloaked man' of whom one soldier spoke. The thing is, that describes every single Sith I've ever encountered, except for Master Karos, who was a traitor. She was a Jedi in name, but a Sith at heart, all in white...Enough of old memories. Let's go!"

 

"I can't help but think that somehow Voleran is involved in this somehow." Zarev said quietly as he took a look at Kif. "Is it possible that he was the one who corrupted the men?"

[thelightfang]

Light sailed past his intended target, pulled the e-brake, drifted, and killed the engine once the speeder came to a stop. He hopped off and turned in time to see Varik go flying again, noticing Avriela standing near the crumpled form of someone else...

Corsail? Must be...

 

Light wasn't impressed by the flashy Force moves the Sith was putting on. They seemed very wasteful. He noticed the scanning motions of his head and determined that he was looking for something.

 

We need to get Corsail out of here, or at least safe...

Light tried to send Avriela the thought through the force, but both had their minds on battle, causing this to be a difficult task.

[LDR]

Almost a minute later, all things went to hell. Varik smashed into the ground, still grappled to Sevairis. A massive force wave pulverized Varik into an opposing rock face. He pulled himself out of it - and slumped to the ground, almost limp. He attempted to pull himself up, but he began to stumble and almost fell again. Ligaments felt torn, and some bones felt broken. He tried using the Force to heighten his adrenaline levels and block out the pain, but it wouldn't matter if his ligaments and bones were broken.

 

Still he tried, and he managed to walk a couple steps before falling again. Losing his focus, he felt massive pain shoot all around his body. He bit his tongue with all his might, to prevent him from screaming in pure agony. His tongue began to bleed as he held it in, and attempted to crawl by just using his arms to pull him forward. He pulled out a vibroknife from somewhere inside the folds of his robes to give him a stronger hold. Eventually, he started getting closer, only a few dozen feet away from where Corsail was.

 

He grabbed ones of his lightsabers and ignited it. He then threw it at Sevairis's leg, using the Force to guide it and hoping that it would strike.

[Chevron 7 locke]

We need...get Corsail out of...safe...

 

Avriela could tell that they were quickly losing this battle. Corsail was out of action and and Varik wasn't looking much better. Light was trying to contact her but she was having trouble, the sith was somehow jamming the message partly. Although she had fought many sith during her time she had never seen one this skilled in combat in her life.

 

She quickly looked at Varik who had just thrown his lightsaber at the mysterious sith when she realized what she had to do. It was going to be very painful but it was the only way to make sure that they survived this fight.

 

She sent a burst of energy through the force and was momentarily able to get a message through to light although she could tell it was going to be scrambled.

 

Get Varik and Corsail to safety. I'll handle the sith.

 

Avriela took a running leap and brought her ignited double bladed lighsaber down on the sith who had just found his lightsaber and summoned it to his hand just as the lightsaber that Varik had thrown hit the sith hilt first before making a cut in his leg as the blade part of it caught a bit of his leg. She closed her eyes in anticipation of the pain that was to come.

 

She wasn't disappointed.

 

Her arm burned with an intense pain as the Sith's lightsaber cut up across her arm. Not deep enough to cut all the way through but enough to cause her severe pain and badly injure her arm.

 

But it allowed her to get close enough with her other, undamaged arm and slam the lightsaber blade through the sith's shoulder. The sith let out a loud roar of pain as the hilt slammed into his body, knocking him to the ground. The blade of the lightsaber cut through the rock and ground, pinning him to the ground.

 

Avriela rolled off the sith who was still trying to remove the lightsaber without much luck and smiled as she found herself face to face with the injured Varik.

 

"We got him." she whispered in agony as she staggered to her feet and leaned against a boulder and offered her hand to Varik. "I personally think that we should kill him but we could question him."

[thelightfang]

Light received most of the message, assuming that she said for him to get Corsail and Varik to something, figuring she meant safety, and then we should fight the Sith. He quickly moved to Corsail, checked for injuries that would make it a bad idea to move him.

 

Finding none, Light picked Corsail's limp body off the ground and onto his shoulder in a fireman's carry. He used the force to move quickly to the speeder he had driven and laid him down behind it.

 

Light returned to the site of battle to find the Sith pinned to the ground. One way of doing things..

 

He walked over slowly to where the Sith was, and the other--former Sith Avriela was nearby, apparently attempting to help Varik up. Light took the lightsaber from the Sith's hand, igniting it and one of his own, crossing them at his neck.

 

"Were you the one who killed those troops at the HQ? What do you know about Voleran?" Light spoke the two questions he had for the Sith with ease despite the damage he had done to two members of the group.

[LDR]

He grasped her hand as she pulled him up.

 

"Thank you.", Varik said, before using the Force to reclaim his lightsabers and put them back on his belt.

 

He found himself having to lean on her shoulder in order to stand upright.

 

"Were you the one who killed those troops at the HQ? What do you know about Voleran?"

 

"Before we fought, he asked for me to kill him. And during the fight, I've seen him hesitate numerous times. I think he could be controlled by Voleran. And you said soldiers at the HQ? Maybe he controlled them too?"", Varik added, shifting his weight to alleviate some of the pressure off of Avirela's arm.

[Chevron 7 locke]

Balmorran Canyons

 

"Before we fought, he asked for me to kill him. And during the fight, I've seen him hesitate numerous times. I think he could be controlled by Voleran. And you said soldiers at the HQ? Maybe he controlled them too?"

 

You have failed me Sevairis. For that, you will die a very painful death. You were a fool to try and challenge me, to try to drive me from your mind. I expected much more effort from a member of the Dark Council.

 

No...This body is mine...THIS BODY IS MINE!

 

What is this?!

 

The dark council member was able to momentarily drive the presence away before focusing on the severe pain he was feeling from the lightsaber that was pinning him to the ground. Instead of driving it away, he embraced it, forged it into a shield to protect himself from the bizzare presence that had taken control of him.

 

Your shield will not last long fool. You won't be able to resist me for long. The moment it falters I will return.

 

Not this time...There is always a way out.

 

Sevairis couldn't move but he could speak. He knew he would have to speak quickly if he wanted to inform the group of what needed to be said.

 

"Voleran...is not the controller." he whispered painfully. "The dark figure is a threat to all...controls everyone he comes in contact with. The dark council...sensed his power, sent me to fight him. But he was far too powerful. Voleran is essental to his plans, corrupted the solders at the republic base."

 

Sevairis could feel the shield around his mind begining to weaken as the other presence tried to force its way past the mental shield. "I...was forced to come to Balmorra to kill you. To stop you from interfering in his plans. He considers you a threat to his plans."

 

He looked down at the lightsabers that were at his throat and he knew that either they would kill him or the dark presence fighting to get inside his mind would.

 

He reached out with his free hand and grabbed Varik's hand and concentrated for just a moment and he sent him a mental image of the system that he had traveled to so he could confront the mysterious force user. He hoped that the jedi would recieve his message and understand the coordinates that he had sent.

 

He looked over at his lightsaber which was laying on the ground a few feet away from him and tried to summon it to his hand but found that trying to keep the other presence away was taking all of his concentration.

 

"Please...if left unchecked he will take control of everything. Find Voleran...and stop him. He is the key to stopping the dark figure."

 

He laid his head back against the ground and sighed painfully as the other presence continued to hammer at his mental shield which was very close to shattering.

[thelightfang]

Light shook his head. "We can't confirm any of this, but we can't ignore it."

 

Using the Sith's saber, he put a hole in Sevairis's head. "Pity, but I know the fate that would have awaited you. This is the most mercy I can give you."

 

Light looked at his feet for a moment, collected himself, and faced the others. He put his own saber back on his belt and turned off the Sith's, which he placed in his pocket. "What's next?"

[MsFicwriter]

"He very well might be, because I have the feeling this Force presence is familiar. Regardless, we need to bolt!" She glanced uneasily around at the Republic troopers who were not being controlled by the mysterious presence, and they were seething with rage. "Come on!" She grasped Zarev's hand and began to dash down the base corridors.

[Warlord664]

When Corsail opened his eyes, he sensed the battle was over. With great effort, he struggled to sit up, using the speeder beside him as a prop. "Arghh! I feel like a rancor stepped on me....Twice."

 

He looked over where the group was standing, beside the dead sith lord, or at least he hoped he was dead. Apparently, some help arrived after I passed out. He thought to himself.

 

"When did you two decide to join the party?" He asked, directing his question toward Light.

[Chevron 7 locke]

Balmorran Canyons

 

"What's next?"

 

Avriela looked at the group and then looked towards the direction of the republic base. "I think we should head back to the ship. If what the sith said was true we may be walking into a trap if we head back to the base. I think the best thing we can do is get Zarev and Per'dra out of there and then decide our next move."

 

She looked over at Varik. "When he grabbed your arm...I felt something in the force. I'm not exactly sure what it was though. Did you feel anything or sense anything when he grabbed your arm? Anything at all?

 

 

Republic Base

 

"He very well might be, because I have the feeling this Force presence is familiar. Regardless, we need to bolt! Come on!"

 

"Agreed." Zarev said as he continued running with Per'dra. As they ran through the corridors Zarev could hear shouts of anger. An alarm began to sound through the corridors.

 

"Attention! Base is now on lockdown! We have intruders in the base!" Zarev shook his head as he saw the doors begining to close behind them.

 

"This whole planet isn't safe! We need to contact Vlalkor and get aboard the Shan!"

 

Zarev's comnlink shook once and Vlalkor's voice echoed through the corridor. "I was able to hack into the base's comnlinks. Already on my way. I'm prepared to blast my way through the front doors if you can't reach the entrance. After we grab you we need to pick up the others, I'm picking up a large group of imperials heading towards them."

[thelightfang]

"When did you two decide to join the party?"

"When he grabbed your arm...I felt something in the force. I'm not exactly sure what it was though. Did you feel anything or sense anything when he grabbed your arm? Anything at all?"

 

Light had noticed a bit more, but not enough to glean usable information from. Noticing the question wasn't directed towards him, and that another was, he walked towards Corsail. Once he was at his side, he kneeled down. "You all right? You don't look so good."

[Warlord664]

"You all right? You don't look so good."

 

Corsail raised an eyebrow at this question. Very few people had ever asked him that, and even fewer actually ment it.

 

"No, not really. The wounds will heal if thats what you're asking. The wounds always heal eventually, but i'm the kind of guy who will never be alright."

 

He closed his eyes and let out a sigh, "You the one who killed the sith? I mean like, actually killed him? I was half expecting him to be invited to our ship to join our mission." He grinned, "Heh, like we would ever actually let a sith join us...."

[LDR]

"When he grabbed your arm...I felt something in the force. I'm not exactly sure what it was though. Did you feel anything or sense anything when he grabbed your arm? Anything at all?"

 

"He sent me the coordinates of a system; I think it's where Voleran is.", Varik paused for just a moment, looking again at the mental image in his mind. "It's...Taris. We have to go to Taris!"

 

He looked as Light decapitated the Sith Councilor. "A shame, but it's for the best. Rest in peace." He turned and saw Corsail, and smiled.

 

"Good to see you aren't dead. You took quite a beating."

[Chevron 7 locke]

Balmorran Canyons

 

"It's...Taris. We have to go to Taris!"

 

Avriela smiled. "Hopefully we can finally catch up with our elusive jedi friend on Taris. Before I went on the run, I heard that the Sith currently have some sort of orbital defense around the planet so no one can leave without their authorization. Things could have changed so don't quote me on that."

 

She looked down at the dead sith and shook her head. "Something's wrong here. Our attacker is dead but I can still sense...something."

 

She suddenly whirled around as a flurry of blaster bolts came from above. Her double bladed lightsaber ignited and deflected the majority of the bolts away. She looked up and sent a blast of force lightning in the direction the bolts had come from.

 

"We've got company! Imperial troopers!" She shouted urgently.

 

 

Republic Base

 

As Zarev and Per'dra continued running the comnlink suddenly activated again. "I'm less then a minute from the base but I don't see you outside! Where are you two? I'm picking up comn chatter from some of the troops and they're gathering outside the doors. They have some seriously heavy firepower with them. Hurry it up!"

[thelightfang]

"Yeah, right? Only former Sith, huh?" Light smiled at Corsail. He looked back at the corpse of the Sith with the hole in his head. "You never know, maybe we could've used his force lightning for something, haha.." Light's face returned to a stoic expression.

 

Suddenly he heard something. Heavy crunches... and swooshing sounds. "You hear that? It's almost like--" He was cut off as several Imperial troops came in. Some on speeders, some on foot.

 

"Shi+!"

 

Light stood in a defensive posture in front of the injured Corsail, deflecting blaster bolts as best he could. "You think you could start the speeder?"

 

One of the bolts Light deflected hit one of the speeder drivers in the head. The bike slid across the ground towards the other two members of the group. "We need to get out of here! Try that bike!" He yelled towards Avriela and Varik. The closest ground troops were beginning to come within the range of their blaster rifles, opening fire as they did.

[Warlord664]

"You think you could start the speeder?"

 

Corsail flinched as if the task sounded impossible, "I'll try." he said as he desperately struggled to stand up. Every bone in his body screamed at him, making him collaspse back down to the side of the speeder.

 

"Aghh!" He squinted his eyes shut, trying to block out the pain. He placed his hands on the rails of the speeder and tried to pull himself up. "Here comes more pain." he mumbled under his breath.

 

He threw himself over the rail and landed in the speeder with a thud. Before he had time to feel the pain he quickly reached the activation switch and turned it on.

 

"It's on! Get in the blasted speeder and lets get out of here!"

[MsFicwriter]

"Did we take a wrong turn or something? Why in the Force is it taking us so long to get out of here?" Per'dra Yllari gasped for breath as she continued to run beside Zarev. She exerted a bit of energy through her fingertips and pointed them at the nearest alarm console, making it explode in a hail of non-lethal shrapnel that distracted their Republic pursuers. "I hate to have to destroy Republic property, since they're on our side, but this is an emergency!"

[Chevron 7 locke]

Republic HQ

 

"Did we take a wrong turn or something? Why in the Force is it taking us so long to get out of here? I hate to have to destroy Republic property, since they're on our side, but this is an emergency!"

 

Zarev saw there was only one door left in front of them but it was closing quickly. He took a quick look back at the republic solders chasing them. He could sense the rage coming off them. "Trust me! They're not on our side at the moment!"

 

Zarev saw that the door was already half way down and if they didn't get out now they would most likely be trapped in the base. Zarev did the only thing he could think of at the moment.

 

"Hold on Per'dra!" He shouted as he grabbed her and held her against him even as he threw himself forward. The two of them rolled under the door as it closed behind them.

 

He let Per'dra go and smiled as he got to his feet and helped her up. He blushed slightly. I'm...uh sorry that I had to hold you like that. At the rate that door was closing only one of us would have made it out."

 

The sound of approaching footsteps caught his attention even as a much louder sound cut through the air. A large shadow covered the area as the Shan appeared overhead.

 

The loading ramp slowly went down as Vlalkor appeared at the top of the ramp.

 

"What are you waiting for?! We need to get out of here!" He shouted urgently as blaster fire started to hit the ship.

 

 

Balmorran Canyons

 

"It's on! Get in the blasted speeder and lets get out of here!"

 

Avriela looked at Varik and grabbed him and began running towards the speeder. She turned to look back at Light as she deactivated her lightsaber. "Light! Get in here so we can go!"

[thelightfang]

Light looked at everyone else. Corsail looked woozy in the back of the bike (which had a container area on the back, allowing him to sit down), Avriela and Varik were getting on their own speeder.

 

"I'll take care of Corsail, you guys get out of here"

 

One of the blaster shots grazed his arm while he was still standing there. Blood began falling down his arm, staining his robe.

 

Taking this as a sign, he hopped on the bike, kicked it into gear, and took off, going right towards a couple of ground troops and cutting them down. This created a hole in the enemy line, and Light made use of it to get away from the Imperial ambush.

[MsFicwriter]

Per'dra clambered aboard the ship as fast as she could. "Who knows what Voleran's going to do next, or who will be his next victim?!" She turned to Zarev. "As for you...you...did what you could, and what was necessary. I'm glad I have you watching my back when I need it."

[Chevron 7 locke]

Balmorra Canyons

 

"I'll take care of Corsail, you guys get out of here"

 

Avriela made sure that Varik was securly on the bike before immediatly sending the bike through the imperial lines after Light. She couldn't help but wonder, what it possible that someone had informed the imperials that they had been there? Was it possible they had a spy in their midst?

 

She continued following Light's bike and she knew that she couldn't take her eyes off it but she felt she had to ask.

 

"Varik?" She asked quietly, "Are you alright?"

 

 

Shan

 

"As for you...you...did what you could, and what was necessary. I'm glad I have you watching my back when I need it."

 

Zarev smiled at Per'dra as Vlalkor pushed past the two of them and headed into the cockpit. "I'm reading two speeder bikes heading for the Republic HQ at top speed." The trooper reported as he activated the shields and adjusted the Shan's course.

 

"I'm going to assume that would be Varik and the others. Moving to intercept. If they go near the HQ it's likely they'll become a target."

 

Zarev looked at Vlalkor and then at Per'dra. "And I'm glad that I have you to watch my back."

 

The Shan flew over the battleworn planet's surface and quickly came across the two speeder bikes. Vlalkor slowly flew over the two of them and adjusted the Shan's flight pattern so that the ramp would reach the ground while still allowing it to hover above the ground.

 

The ramp slowly lowered and Vlalkor appeared at the top once again. "Get onboard now!" He shouted down at Avriela and Light. We need to get going now!"

[LDR]

"Varik? Are you alright?"

 

"I guess so.", Varik replied as they went up the boarding ramp.

 

He stumbled out of the speeder, but collapsed on the floor when he tried to walk. He grumbled angrily as he pulled himself to sit against a wall.

 

"Wait a minute." he said aloud as Light and them went up the boarding ramp. "Where's Kif?"