Star Wars: The Darkness Within

[Chevron 7 locke]

Zarev watched in horror as once again, he failed to save his Jedi Master. He could only watch in what seemed to be in slow motion as Blaster bolt after blaster bolt slammed into her body as the lightsaber fell from her hand.

 

"NO!" Zarev screamed over and over as he watched as the pirates and Master Beval's body seemed to vanish and a white light overtook him. As the flash of light faded, he saw his friends. All of them had lightsabers ignited as they stood over the defeated body of the Entity.

 

"One more." Varik said quietly as he ignited both lightsabers. "One more threat to get rid of. After what happened on Balmorra, how can we afford to trust you?"

 

He shook his head as the others ignited their weapons. "I am not your enemy. Please, Don't do this." He turned to look at Per'dra, the one woman he loved above all others and saw her saber ignited and an evil smile on her face.

 

"Per'dra...please. I would never hurt you."

 

"Sorry. Not buying it."

 

As the group of former allies swarmed towards him, his only question was which one of them had actually managed to kill the Entity.

 

 

 

 

"Can you hear me? What are you seeing that is making us fight? I don't think it's real. It can't be real... Please, snap out of it."

 

Avriela shook her head and unleashed a wave of force energy that managed to free her from the grip of the murderer. "YOU KILLED VLALKOR!!" She screamed as she re-ignited her lightsaber and unleashed a flurry of heavy lightsaber strikes on her new target.

 

"YOU KILLED EVERYONE!!!" She screamed as the burning wreckage of the Shan littered the ground around her. "I left the Sith, I fought them, but that was never enough for you! Kill the Sith!, Murder the Sith! Get rid of her when she outlives her usefulness!"

[thelightfang]

Light shuddered, blinked, and suddenly it was just as she'd said. The Shan was completely wrecked. More bodies of his allies lay scattered around. He dodged, blocked, and parried the strikes. He felt the slight burns that saber strikes had when they got too close. He locked blades with her long enough to speak.

 

"Who am I?", Light spoke, "Say my name!" He was trying to prevent himself from suggesting new horror to his ally. He thought there was a pattern that he could see, but he couldn't tell. But he was a monster, and this was what he'd wrought. He couldn't help but let the thoughts creep in. He knew he would never murder his friends, but he also had murdered them. He was sure it wasn't him that had committed the atrocities laid bare before him as his own. He couldn't help but hope that they were not truly his.

[Chevron 7 locke]

The Entity smiled widely as it watched as the Strike Team members unsuccessfully fought their fears. The technique that he had used had taken a bit out of him but it had been worth it to see the insects flail on the ground as their experienced their own personal version of hell.

 

Wait. The Ship.

 

The Entity was forced to force jump backwards the Shan unleashed a barrage of carefully aimed laser blasts where he had been standing but a moment ago.

 

Enough.

 

The Entity raised his hand the Shan slowly was forced to stop in mid-air despite it's engines going at full power. "You should have run when you had the chance." He said quietly as he began to crush the ship in mid-air.

 

No more. No more killing

 

What th-?

 

The Entity looked around in shock as the area around him seemed to glow with barely restrained power as figures began to materialize all around him. His grasp on the Shan faltered for a moment and the ship managed to escape but that wasn't what was occupying the Entity's attention right now.

 

Force ghosts. Hundreds of them.

 

A Twi'lek force spirit wearing the robes of a Jedi Master looked to the other spirits. "Free them. Empower them. The threat to the force ends today."

 

((The Force ghosts are going to weaken the link between the Nightmares the characters are stuck in and their connection to the entity. They're also going to be giving the Strike team members a massive power up so they can go head to head with the entity much later. What the spirits say to your characters to snap them out of it is up to all of you.))

[thelightfang]

Avriela looked around in confusion when she heard the whispers of the Force Spirits. She saw the Shan fly by overhead and realized that Vlalkor must still be alive and that meant that she was being tricked by the Entity. She immediately ceased her attack on Light and realizes that the bodies around her are an illusion. She speaks, "You... You didn't kill them Light. None of these bodies are even real. Remember who we are fighting."

 

Light couldn't help noticing the change in her posture, and how quickly she ceased her attack. She must've seen something he didn't, but she was telling him what he'd suspected already. Thankful for the breakthrough, he couldn't help but wonder Where is our true enemy?

 

Light scanned the surroundings while checking his wounds with his hands. Surprisingly, he'd resisted most of the lightning, and close calls with the saber, with only minor burns. Light saw it. The Entity. For a brief second. Then he woke up from his position on the ground near Per'dra. Wait, was any of it real? Did Avriela really help me?

 

Light was shocked. He checked his wounds again, but found that they were in the same state as in the nightmare. Wait, does that mean... that if I'd died in there, it would've been over? Wait, the others!

 

Light looked around, but saw no one else and went to Per'dra who was still writhing on the ground. He took a knee, and decided that he would try to help her wake up. He reached out with the Force, trying to find a way into her nightmare, to help her awaken.

[Chevron 7 locke]

Zarev continued dodging and ducking blaster bolts and lightsaber strikes as he attempted to survive the onslaught from his former friends. "Stop this!" he shouted desperately as he force jumped backwards. He brought his lightsaber to try and block a strike from Varik only to accidently stab him directly through the head.

 

"Murderer! That's all you will ever be Zarev! You have failed as a Jedi! You would have failed as s Sith! You are nothing!" Per'dra shouted at him as she unleashed a blast of force energy at him.

 

"My apprentice...my wonderful apprentice."

 

Zarev looked around in confusion as the figures around him seemed to slow for a moment until it looked as if they were barely moving. "Master Beval?" He asked in confusion.

 

"We cannot break the Entity's hold on you ourselves. We can weaken the hold he has on you but you must break through the illusion yourself."

 

"How?! How do we break it's hold?!"

 

The voice of his former Master echoed across the landscape.

 

"You need to win. You need to fight your fears and you need to win against them."

 

"I...understand." He said softly as the landscape around him seemed to flicker as the figures of his former friends began to move again as the Entity took control of the nightmare once again albeit weakened quite a bit.

 

Zarev dropped into an attack stance and smiled grimly at his foes. "Come with it then!" He shouted.

 

((Each character needs to speak to a force spirit that they know. They will help weaken the hold the Entity has on them, but it will be up to the character to break out of the nightmare themselves."

[MsFicwriter]

Jedi...Per'dra Yllari...

 

"Who...who is that?" Weakened and thoroughly spent by the dark energy of the Entity, she barely had enough strength to speak.

 

HVALT. The one you struck down.

 

"If it's really you, release me. I can't break this monstrous mentophage's hold on me. Are you a Force ghost? Prove it, before I lose my mind altogether."

 

You must release yourself, with my help.

 

"How? If I could have broken free through my own power, I would have."

 

Remember - not only what you have done, but who you are. You served the Light, and I died for the cause of Light. You made a mistake, and tried to hide it. Face up to it in its full form, young one.

 

Per'dra thought back. Close quarters. Smoke. Strobe lights. One chance. I had to take it, or the target - you - would have eluded me forever. I didn't know that your boss, that Twi'lek spacer, was the real spy. I had to act.

 

You REACTED. You could have spoken to me.

 

"I know, but I was afraid of...blowing my cover. Again, I'm sorry, but I don't know how to make amends. I've been trying to, but how come I've failed?"

 

You blocked out the memory, and covered every single one of your tracks. Confession cleanses the soul, Jedi. Do so.

 

"To my superiors? My Masters?"

 

And the one you love. You may lose him, and everything you now have, but better that than to lose your life and soul. The Jedi never kill their prisoners, and they will spare you execution.

 

"What will my sentence be?"

 

Most likely exile, and the marking lash, three dozen times. Not death. If you had only admitted what you had done, right after you had slain me, you might have been spared.

 

"Instead, I lied and inveigled my way into a web of deceit, with myself as the spider and the fly."

 

Yes. Even now, you have a choice. Either do what justice demands, or die a quiet death and let this Entity claim you - a life for a life. This is not the way of justice, however, but vengeance. However, no one will ever know that you perished with your honor stripped away. You will have paid your debt with your own blood, but what good will that do either of us? None. Choose now. Your heart is slowing, and will stop soon.

 

"Enobarus Hvalt," she said out loud, amplifying her voice through the Force, "I've slain you, and now you've returned to save me - your murderer..."

 

Per'dra collapsed in a dead faint, but her pulse began to quicken again.

[LDR]

((Why is everyone killing me? ))

 

Javir's words were striking a cord with Varik. Did he really kill him for the good of Onderon? As much as he told himself, maybe Javir was right. Maybe it was just excuses he made to cover up the fact he slew him.

 

Varik snarled. He was trying to trick him. "You snake. There was no other option! If you had been jailed you'd have been free within weeks!"

 

"And what if I wasn't jailed? Did you ever think of that?", he shot back. "If I was found guilty of treason I would have been executed. Or did that little detail slip your mind?"

 

Varik froze. That little detail did slip his mind! He never thought of that.

 

"No, you're lying. That wouldn't have happened. You would have covered your tracks. Many of the politicians who were sided with with Republic strongly were already dead. You would have... you would have gotten a lesser sentence. You had too much pull. What if you weren't found guilty? You would've found a way to...", he stammered.

 

"You acted without thinking of the consequences, or what could have been! You murdered me out of your misguided crusade of revenge!"

 

"It was not revenge, it was vengeance!", Varik exhaled. "You took everything from me, Javir. My family, my home, and even my planet. And for that, there could be no quarter."

 

His surroundings changed, and suddenly they were in a large estate. The floor was littered with the bodies of Javir's personal guard. Javir was kneeling on the floor, his hands amputated. Varik was standing several meters to his left. This was Javir's estate. And all the damage, all the carnage, was by Varik's hand. This place was in his dreams, his nightmares, his thoughts when he couldn't sleep. This place haunted him.

 

Off in the distance, two figures emerged. Varik was unable to discern their features due to a dark veil surrounding them. As they moved closer, the veil began to lift. One was a man in a brown cloak, the hood draped over his head. The other was a twi'lek in light armor, his blaster unholstered. It was Kif. Then that meant...

 

The man in the robes lifted his hood, it was Varik, although something was off about him. They stopped just in front of Javir. He ignited his lightsabers.

 

"Varik.", Kif counseled. "You can't strike him down. No matter what destruction he's wrought, he still needs to stand trial. Killing him won't bring them back. You know this."

 

Without warning, Varik struck Javir in the arm, he cried out in pain. Varik kicked him onto his side, and pressed one of his blades into his shoulder, as far as it could go. As he left it there, he started delivering light strikes with his other saber, Javir screaming all the while.

 

"That was for father, that was for mother, that was for...", the dark Varik muttered after every strike. His robes slowly got blacker after each one.

 

Varik jumped. This never happened. He remembered it plain as day. He decapitated Javir, swiftly and cleanly. He didn't draw out his death like this, torturing him and relishing every strike... Or did he? As he watched, he wasn't so sure.

 

"Varik, what are you doing?", Kif cried out. "Stop this nonsense!"

 

The dark Varik turned towards Kif and sneered. His eyes were a sickening yellow, and he brought his blade diagonally through Kif's collarbone, cleaving him in two and killing him.

 

That was what snapped Varik back into reality. Now he knew this was a trick. He heard whispers around him, and suddenly everything around him stopped.

 

Varik.

 

Varik froze, that voice was very familiar. "Who is that? What is going on?", Varik asked, bewildered and looking around.

 

It is Korre, your father. I am here to help you.

 

"F...father?", Varik stammered. "It's been so long, father. Please get me out of here."

 

I cannot. And I will not. The demons that you face here is unresolved guilt from your past, and you must overcome them if you are to become strong enough for what is yet to come.

 

"What is yet to come... do you mean the Entity?"

 

If that is how you refer to it, then yes. It seeks to turn your fears against you, use them to break your spirit and finally consume you. You must accept your guilt and fight that which you fear most. I will help you however I am able, son, but you must break through this illusion by yourself.

 

Varik knew what he had to do. He ignited his lightsaber and turned to face the dark Varik.

 

Time came back to normal as the dark Varik turned towards the all-but-dead Javir. By this point, its robes were completely black and its skin was a sickening gray. It pulled out its lightsaber from Javir's shoulder, and it ignited both of its lightsabers. Both of its blades seared with heat in a shining blood-red color. It brought up both its blades to bring down upon Javir.

 

Varik jumped and intercepted it at the last moment, his violet blade locking with the two blades of fiery crimson.

 

This time, Javir wasn't going to die.

[thelightfang]

Light felt rather than heard Per'dra's proclamation. He didn't really understand what it meant, but he knew that they had all killed people. Out of necessity, error, or emotion, all of them had slain enemies. He started reaching out with the Force even more, feeling the others start to come back, their energies dampened, but stronger than before.

 

Light also felt the Force spirits that were helping his friends. He did not know them, and had never been friendly with anyone with a strong enough Force connection to die and come back as a spirit. He wished he could once again see his brother, but knew it was impossible.

 

He focused instead on giving energy to those that were already starting to wake up, speeding their recovery. He was getting tired, but it was a worthy use of his energy.

 

((Sorry, I don't really have anyone to summon as a Force spirit, but I feel that Avriela and Light should have been able to support each other out of the nightmare.))

[Chevron 7 locke]

Zarev force jumped to the side as Varik attempted to take his head off as Vlalkor and a few Republic solders opened up on him with a barrage of blaster fire. He unleashed a powerful force wave that sent his opponents flying through the air.

 

I was told I need to face and defeat my fears...but how? How? All I'm doing now is fighting my friends.

 

He was forced to duck and dodge under Light and Per'dra's lightsaber blades as he brought his own lightsaber around to block the attempted attacks.

 

"You are not real!" He shouted. "They wouldn't turn against me! They wouldn't try to kill me based on my past experience!"

 

The Illusions paused for a moment before they began circling Zarev. He closed his eyes for a moment as he heard the barrage of names and accusations being thrown at him.

 

Hold on...Just need to figure out how to defeat them without a weapon. This battle won't be won by weapons, it will be words that defeat them.

[MsFicwriter]

Free of her nightmare, Per'dra turned her attention to the man she loved, Jedi Code or no. Zarev. Can you hear me? That image you're fighting is not I. It's an illusion from the Entity, and I have a theory on how to dispel it. Say this:

 

Hypocrite, beguile me not.

Liar, deceive me not.

Traitor, betray me not.

Murderer, slay me not.

 

Try it. NOW.

[Chevron 7 locke]

((Sorry, my bad. I didn't realize it was my turn xD))

 

Hypocrite, beguile me not.

Liar, deceive me not.

Traitor, betray me not.

Murderer, slay me not.

 

Try it. NOW.

 

Zarev opened his eyes and saw the illusion of Per'dra standing over him with lightsaber raised, ready for the kill. He heard Per'dra...the real Per'dra speaking in his mind.

 

"Hypocrite, beguile me not.

Liar, deceive me not.

Traitor, betray me not.

Murderer, slay me not."

 

Zarev smiled as the illusion of Per'dra seemed to shimmer and disappear as he turned to the rest of the group and watched in confusion as the illusion's seemed to shimmer for a moment before a shadowy blast seemed to erupt between them all. Zarev was forced to avert his eyes and when he turned to look back he saw that the illusions were gone.

 

In their place stood a shadowy hooded figure with a double bladed lightsaber at it's side.

 

"I will become what you should have become back on Balmorra. No Per'dra to stop me...or should I say us?"

 

The figure threw back it's hood to reveal pale yellow eyes and chalk grey skin. Other then that it was a perfect doppelganger of Zarev.

 

"You will die. And I will take your body for myself." The dark figure said. Zarev simply smiled grimly and ignited his lightsaber.

 

"And in defeating you, I will finally be free of the guilt that has followed me since Balmorra." Zarev said grimly as the two figures charged one another.

[thelightfang]

Light sensed that Per'Dra was free of her nightmare. He thought it strange the Entity had not attacked yet but was too preoccupied with trying to help the others to put more thought into it.

 

He could sense Corsail, but before he left to help him, "We need to get everyone out of their nightmares. I feel the fighting will begin again soon." He spoke to Per'Dra, sure that she would hear him. He ran to where Corsail lay, clearly still in the grasp of his nightmare. He knelt and attempted to aid him in his battle against his nightmare. He felt himself being drawn in, but rather than resist, he aided his decent. Maybe my presence here will help to convince him it is a nightmare.

 

He saw Corsail firing a volley of shots. "Hey." Light spoke only loudly enough to be heard, not wishing to be the target of a surprised Corsail.

 

He felt the environment shifting around him, and then he was in the world of Corsail's nightmare, which, like his own, was hard to distinguish from reality.

[Warlord664]

The shots he fired struck his father, and left clear holes, but he didn't seem to be fazed in the slightest. "You would kill me, your own father? You prove every day that you're the scum everyone thinks you are."

 

Corsail heard Light's voice but couldn't break his gaze from his father. "Light, what is happening?!?"

 

Corsail's father interrupted, "Whats happening, is exactly what I told you would happen. One of your so called 'friends' is here to KILL you!"

 

Conflicted with doubt and anger, Corsail turned toward Light, "Is what he says true?"

[Chevron 7 locke]

((Folks, we need to finish up our nightmares. Stage 2 of the battle will be starting very soon.))

 

Zarev parried strike after strike from his dark opponent and smiled as he cut through the figure's arm and watched as it hit the ground and vanished in a puff of dark smoke. The figure looked up at Zarev and shook it's head. "Im...Impossible. I had the power...the strength..."

 

Zarev looked down at him and brought his blade down through the figure's chest and watched as it vanished in a fierce blast of dark energy.

 

"You lacked the discipline. Without it, Strength and power are meaningless." Zarev said quietly as the world around him seemed to shift slightly and a moment later he saw the others as the nightmare around him seemed to fade.

 

Now...where's the Entity?

 

As if in answer to Zarev's unspoken question he saw the grass below him turn black die. He slowly turned around and saw the Entity seemingly hover a few centimeters above the ground. Streams of green light were surrounding him as the grass and trees around him died.

 

Oh...that's not good. What's he doing?! Sucking the life from the planet itself?!

[thelightfang]

"Why would I kill you? Think man! Does any of this make sense? Is it even possible?"

 

Light walked over to his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder.

 

"This is an illusion, and you know it. We need to find a way to break free of it. What hold does this mirage have upon you?"

[MsFicwriter]

Per'dra, free of her nightmare at last, sensed an uneasy shifting of the ground beneath her feet. It was as if the planet itself was being bled of life, bled of everything that made it more than just a solid mass in space. The Entity may have been weakened, but it was far from dead. The Jedi turned to see her allies grappling with their own fears, and being freed from them, but not all had broken their enemy's hold.

 

What can I do? She noticed Corsail and Light talking. Closing her eyes, she meditated for a moment and sent a refreshing, clear mental energy toward both of them in a wave. What both of them needed now was not more dark obfuscation and confusion, but a sharp taste of the reality that the Entity was trying to warp and destroy.

 

Remember that in dreams, everything makes sense, even if it makes no sense in conscious life. This is but a nightmare, and naught more. Awaken!

[Warlord664]

"This is an illusion, and you know it. We need to find a way to break free of it. What hold does this mirage have upon you?"

 

Corsail had always had a very complicated and troubled mind, and the mental battle inside his head was almost too much for him to bear. He shook his head, "it holds nothing but my own fears and doubts."

 

Corsail looked at Light for a moment, and suddenly grew very calm. "I.. I trust you. Despite swearing I'd never trust anyone again."

 

The illusion sneered at them with hate "You're a fool!" Corsail looked back, "And you're not real. Guess that makes me one up on you, huh? I'm through being haunted by you, so get out of my head."

 

Remember that in dreams, everything makes sense, even if it makes no sense in conscious life. This is but a nightmare, and naught more. Awaken!

 

He heard Per'dra's voice echo through his mind, and he closed his eyes, as the nightmare around him slowly slipped away, back into reality. They were all back on the battlefield. Corsail got back on his feet. "Light.. Thanks for pulling me out of that."

 

Scanning the area He saw the Entity floating above the ground, and nature seeming to crumble around him. He resisted the urge to immediately fire an barrage of blaster fire towards its face. "So, whats our plan to finish this thing?"

[Chevron 7 locke]

((Shortening the battle a bit. It's still going to be difficult but this will be the final part of it. Get ready, all of our characters are going to become very powerful for a short time.))

 

"You are too late. What has begun cannot be stopped." The Entity said with a dark smile as the land around it continued to turn grey and lifeless. "Eventually the entire star system will feed my strength once this planet dies."

 

The land around them continued to die even as Zarev reignited his lightsaber and launched himself at the Entity only to be sent flying backward as the Entity raised his hand and unleashed a wave of force energy that caused boulders caught in the radius to crumble into dust.

 

"You will die along with Voss. Eventually everything will die and feed my strength." The Entity stated but paused after a moment as the wave of grey seemed to stop for a moment as the air around the strike team seemed to shimmer as blue figures seemed to appear out of thin air.

 

"The battle must be fought here and through the force itself." The shimmering form of a Jedi master spoke as it's voice seemed to echo across the battlefield. "If the body is destroyed he will simply flee to another body somewhere across the galaxy and this will begin all over again. The essence must be destroyed as must the body."

 

More and more shimmering figures seemed to appear as the Entity narrowed it's eyes and raised his hands and shadowy figures seemed to appear behind it, from what Zarev could tell they were brimming with barely controlled force energy.

 

A robed figure that appeared to be a Sith based on the facial features appeared behind the first shimmering Jedi that had spoken earlier and looked across at the strike team. "Let our strength become yours. Let the strength of the force bring you victory against that would destroy all life."

 

Zarev's eyes began to glow with the power of the force and for a brief moment he could feel the force flowing through him without control.

 

"Today this ends." Zarev spoke with what seemed to be multiple voices as he raised his hand. "Today this war ends."

[thelightfang]

Remember that in dreams, everything makes sense, even if it makes no sense in conscious life. This is but a nightmare, and naught more. Awaken!

"Light.. Thanks for pulling me out of that."

"Of course." Light said simply with a smile.

"So, whats our plan to finish this thing?"

Light began to respond with "First we'll regroup--" He was cut off by the spectacle occurring with Zarev.

 

"Come on, we'll go catch up with Zarev and end this thing." Light said before taking off to Zarev's side, hoping Corsail would be right behind him. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. "What's the plan Zarev?"

 

Light began feeling the effects of the surge of Force energy rushing within him, but reinforced his control using mental exercises. Despite the fact that he could feel it attempting to bolster his own Force energy, he knew controlling it would be key to defeating the Entity. And, he thought, for the first time since the conflict began, what effect could this have after.