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« Reply #66 on: December 12, 2017, 01:36:54 AM » |
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Chapter 12: Dance with the Devil
I felt the tremor of the Wayfarer touching down as I pulled the last lead from the DCC’s maintenance ports. Two tweeted his thanks and impatience as he stepped over to the cargo lift. “I know, I want to go too but we have to wait for Ken.”
More tweets. “No, I don’t think you and I can handle it alone.”
Two responded with another string of beeps and tweets. “Oh? All by yourself, eh? I might be tempted to take you up on that, if only to see your epic failure.”
The response this time was laced with rude grunts. “No, I don’t just want to share the glory. We’re going to need each other. Mutual support will be critical.”
More grunts and whistles. “Yes, I’m saying it out loud: We need you.”
The droid twittered one last time and returned to his diagnostics while I grinned and resumed my own pat-down. Arnor, Ken and I had the “deluxe” Mak’Tor Knight combat gear tonight: dark gray smart-weave fatigues with a load-bearing harness and belt strewn with gadgets and gizmos, extra power-packs for our sabers and side-arms, and the holsters which contained the official Mak’Tor militia side-arms – Blas Tech BL-44 heavy blasters. Unlike our militia, however, Knights carried light sabers as our primary weapons instead of the blaster rifles common to our militia infantry. I drew my pistol and checked the power pack, which was still at 98%, and re-holstered it. My saber hung in its customary spot as well, and I knew it as fully charged, as was my second hilt.
I patted it, checking it by feel as I worked my way down. I rarely carried two blades, but today I felt the need for it. Something in the song seemed to call for it, and the Ancient One was reinforcing the feeling. It would be a two-handed fight.
So be it.
The combat uniform was completed by a combat “smock”, an overlay of black and dark gray that had a blaster-dissipating mesh woven into it and a song-steel wrist shield. I wore the shield on my left arm, protecting the fore-arm and wrist and providing me with a few physical blocks against blaster fire or saber blade at need. I also carried two stiletto blades, one per boot, and a combat knife, all also crafted from the extremely rare song-steel. Arnor’s kit was even more paranoid, with two wrist shields and a half-dozen throwing blades in addition to her combat knife and hold-out blades. Ken had mirrored my kit almost exactly, but favored a vibro-blade instead of song-steel. Many of our fellow knights would probably call it overkill.
I preferred the word “prepared”.
First Arnor, then Ken entered the hold. A quick check of our comm link-up confirmed we were connected and we dropped out of the hold in the gray of the local twilight. Mutt and Vegan were running the ship and lifted off as soon as we were on the ground. They would position themselves to cut off any escapes and provide air support or evacuation as necessary.
The feeling of abandonment was profound.
I could sense Arnor and Ken’s vigilance as they formed with Two to form a circle around me. They were open to the force, reaching out around us. Two was covering the EM bands with his sensors, ‘eyes open’ to all around. That left me to monitor the song. I took a deep breath, anticipating an assault as I opened up to the song…
The hammering, incessant pulse of the Sith hammered through the song, flooding everything. But it was not just rhythm. This was subtle, with a supporting melody and harmony. Evil, yes, but also beautiful in its own way, more than just raw power. Power under control and focused.
And very, very deadly…
It was a battle song. The battle song of a Dark Singer, focused, powerful and very strong. And yet…
There was another song, weaker, attempting to counter. Attempting … and failing. A novice, matching simple, rote motifs against the woven construction of a master singer. But there was also a … clumsiness on the Master’s side. As each of the weaker songs was deployed there was on odd delay before it was expertly countered. Almost like communications lag…
I blinked. “Communications lag…” I looked at Arnor and Ken. “There’s a Dark Singer at work here. Two, actually, but only one is a Master. I think that singer is … working remote. Through some kind of connection…”
Before I could continue I felt the Ancient One stir. Almost like it was poking me…
Control. You must be in control…
I blinked. Control. Of course… But there was something else, something more. Something elusive. The crystal shards, still in a pouch in my belt, seemed to stir as well.
Control? Of myself? Or the battle space…
I shook my head, clearing the thoughts. I already had a plan for that, but time was short. The song was urgent: we had to move, now. “The battle is already underway. Wedge formation, Ken on point, Two in over-watch. They should be just over the ridge.”
I split off on the right flank of our formation, Arnor on the left. Ken took the center and moved ahead slightly. He was inexperienced but his youth made him very fast and I was confident the strongest forces would be on the flanks. We were coming in at right-angles to the fight, the weaker singer on our left in front of Arnor and the stronger singer in front of me. Ken and Two would be free to swing behind and support whoever needed help the most, once we engaged.
The ridge was high and we were several hundred meters below the crest. I tapped into the force to augment my strength as we bounded up the slope. Two used jump juice to keep up with our ground-clearing bounds. I began my own battle song, weaving it around Arnor and Ken like armor. I felt Arnor join me, the familiar fugue of my wife and lover and fellow warrior, joined in turn by the more free-ranging counterpoint of our son. As we crested the ridge, I played my hole card: I reached into the pouch and threw the crystal shards into the air, using the force to disperse them across the battle-field we were about to enter.
!!!Control!!!
I felt the Ancient One lock into my battle-song as I ignited my blade … and then the song spread and multiplied, blanketing the field. I felt a small surge of triumph as I felt the echoes of my song reverberate across the field, as well as the shock as it slammed into the dark song, largely negating it, but then I had no time for analysis.
Battle was upon us: the deadly dance began.
I heard my own voice bellow a battle cry, an echo of my song, as I ignited my blades. My second blade was gripped in a reverse grip, allowing me to parry and block with my off-hand. But even as I engaged I felt shock slam through my system as I finally comprehended what I was seeing: Sith Massassi warriors.
Lots of them.
The battle was larger than we had realized, spread across a small vale among the giant trees of Endor. The left-hand group was a large group of sith shadow warriors from a dozen races armed with heavy blasters, side-arms and armor. Their leader appeared to be a Sith warrior wielding two red sabers, but he was on the far side of the formation dueling hammer-and-tongs with a pair of individuals. One, a woman, was employing what appeared to be a light-whip while the second supported her with an energy baton and blaster pistol. The line of meeting between the two main bodies of troops stretched in a line from the battling trio on a ragged front that ended just where Ken crested the ridge. And on the right…
A site not seen in thousands of years: A small horde of Massassi warriors, armed with red saber-pikes, led by a pair of red-skinned humanoids wearing Sith armor and wielding red light sabers. It was from these two that the powerful Dark Song emanated. I spun into the mass of Massassi, spinning and turning like a golden whirl-wind, riding the waves of my battle-song through the horde…
Control… Reach out, young one. Control…
I felt the subtle poke again, even as battle swirled around me. I don’t understand… Two of the largest Massassi suddenly confronted me, hammering down on my extended block. I caught one of the angry blades on my own saber’s golden blade but the second slid toward my exposed hand – and neatly sliced the hilt in half.
The hammer-blow of the two pikes on my arm drove me to my knees, but the song-steel held. A back-hand slash separated one attacker’s torso from his hips and the reverse cut transsected the other’s torso, ending the immediate threat, and I rose with an extravagant blade flourish before dropping back into my combat stance.
The Massassi immediately around me gave ground, opening a circle around me. I let a deadly grin spread to my face. “Had enough?”
The edge of the circle parted to admit one of the Sith Lords. “Hardly, Jedi. You should not have interfered.”
“Interfered with what? This little gathering?” I mentally touched the other threads of the song in the back of my mind, feeling the strain from Arnor and Ken as they were also engaged, but for the moment everyone was still alive and generally intact.
Generally. My left arm was on fire from the abuse, song-steel or no, and I was suddenly aware of just how much energy I had expended and channelled. The longer this guy would talk, the better… “I mean, I like a good party, but I think you over did it with the costumes…”
The Sith grinned. “You are the Gray who has been interfering with the Sisters. Excellent. Mendax will be pleased at your death.”
I realized that stalling wasn’t in the cards and readied myself for his attack.
CONTROL!
Not a poke this time, but a slap on the back of the head… I felt the frustration in the song, something I hadn’t felt from The Ancient One in many years, not since I’d first learned that it was more than just a crystal…
Learned that it could communicate. That it was a form of holocron, carried the experiences and wisdom of those who had touched it before. Xlyvan. Dorian. Odjina. That it was more than just a crystal. That it was a gateway…
A GATEWAY!
CONTROL!
I shifted into Soresu and absorbed the Sith’s attack, my mind working furiously. The crystal was a gateway! When I retrained the shards to be a chorus, it had been facilitated by the Ancient One! Not just the song, but the crystal itself! I reached out in the song, looking …
There! The Sith’s saber crystal was there, in the song! As were dozens of others. I shifted my battle song, incorporating the motif for taking control into it, and felt the new song ripple out, augmented by the Ancient One. I locked blades with the Sith, nose-to-nose with his sneer, and a small smile came to my own lips as his blade suddenly went from blood-red to snow-white, sputtered, and went out. “You lose.” I didn’t give him time to recover – I flipped my wrists and drew the blade down, severing his weapon arm at the shoulder before reversing and removing his head.
I stepped back from the toppling corpse and fell back into my ready stance as the Massassi circle around me collapsed. I blinked as I realized that every single red blade on the field was … gone. I caught sight of the second Sith Lord shouting orders, pulling back from the fight. Several of the Massassi with him were hauling large crates, likely filled with the crystals we were here to recover. However, I had no opportunity to pursue as several of the Massassi near me suddenly let out a roar and charged. Their pole-arms might be lacking blades but they still made respectable spears and staves and each of the warriors was nearly 3 meters tall and twice as heavy as I was. I spun back into Soresu, drawing power from the force and falling back into my battle song, trying desperately to break out of the ring and go after the Sith Lord, but it was to no avail. By the time I cut my way through the wall of Sith Warriors I was exhausted and had picked up several minor wounds from close calls and the simple math of trying to fight to many opponents. By the time the last warrior fell the Sith Lord and his remaining troops were airborne and I was exhausted. “Mutt, one of the enemy ships is lifting. Can you intercept?”
The tweeting response told me that they were trying. I left it in his hands and turned back to the fight.
Chaos reigned.
Ken, Two and Arnor had linked up and appeared to be fighting with the singer and her companion. For the first time I noticed a habitat behind them: they were literally fighting on it’s doorstep. Arnor and Ken had cut a wide swath through the field, and I realized in looking that Ken was the reason I wasn’t dead. He’d taken down enough Massassi in his charge to make my battle win-able. Now, though, Cha’s mercenaries were crowding in around my wife and son.
Time to return the favor.
The Ancient One was again silent, but I had learned from it. As I loped across the field I dropped back into song, selecting a motif of sleep and rest and mixed it with fear and defeat, then wove it into my battle song. With concentration I could leave just the right gaps in the song to prevent it from impacting Arnor and Ken…
“Ughh….” Something slammed into me from the side, driving me down and into the dirt. My saber skittered away and my concentration was broken completely. The complex song I was weaving died and I fell back, feeling the standard song of battle spin back up as I did an awkward shoulder-roll and used the force to slam my attacker away from me. To complex, Karm. Keep it simple, stupid…
I rose, feeling the fatigue now, the drain of energy from channeling so much force energy in so little a time. Whatever had flooded through me to disable the vitreous blades the Massassi and Sith had carried had been powerful. Not as damaging as what had flooded me on Sullust, but nearly as powerful for all that.
It hurt. A lot.
But there was no time for that now. My opponent rose, and I recognized him. “Lord Cha. We meet again.”
He grinned back at me. “Master Karmack. Your song will not help you today.” He laughed, full and deep, and launched a force lightning attack…
Pain…
I felt a nudge in the force, a feeling that was becoming familiar. No word this time, just the clear impression of channeling water down a canal or series of cut channels. With an effort I sang a motif that would be used to channel healing force energy and linked it to the Ancient One…
FIRE – CHANNEL – ENERGY – CHANNEL – RELEASE
I felt the fire in my body from Cha’s force lightning drop and fade. There was still pain, but it was suddenly bearable… and all around the field lighting erupted, hammering out and slamming into Cha’s troops and a few Massassi warriors still struggling on the field. Cha blinked, his mouth dropping open, as he realized that his force lighting attack had been absorbed and channeled to a dozen different places on the field. I used the moment of his distraction to call my saber back to my hand, igniting it as I rose. “Good shot. My turn…”
Cha, no longer laughing, fell back as I advanced. He reached down on his belt and withdrew a saber hilt, igniting it. The blade pulsed a steady, deep blue. This was not his saber, but one he’d taken from another Jedi, probably someone he’d killed. I felt my battle song spinning around me, filling the space with deadly energy as I advanced. Pain forgotten. Mercy forgotten. Just deadly purpose.
We engaged.
I could sense the mercenaries now streaming away, falling back to their own ship. They, too, had several crates of crystals in their possession and it was time for them to make good their escape. Arnor and Ken were still busy with whomever these two … armies … had come to kill. I could sense from the song that both were also in pain as well, but I pushed it all back.
Survive. Fight. Win.
My focus narrowed to simple survival. We were engaged. We would not disengage until one or both of us were beaten. It was as simple as that. Fatigue and strain allowed for no other thought. Our blades were a blur, blue and yellow swirling and clashing in a flurry of strikes. Cha was highly skilled and well trained. And he was not as weary.
I made the first mistake, a small opening, but an opening. Cha saw it and lunged, nearly driving his blade through my torso. Off-balance, I fell back … and feinted. I purposefully swung my blade right, as if I were still struggling to regain balance, and gave him an opening on my left side. It was a gamble. If he took the low shot I was risking losing my left leg just below the knee. But his own blade was high, his own balance not as sure as he would want…
He struck, aiming to sever my left arm and perhaps continue the stroke through to my torso. It was a solid blow, and it struck exactly where he aimed - square on the damaged but still intact song-steel gauntlet. I blocked the blade – hard – driving it down and away with the gauntlet. The heat of the contact nearly burned through, and it did burn my arm badly, but the gauntlet held and the blade deflected. My own counter-strike was on-target and bisected the hilt neatly, disarming my opponent, but Cha was fast and still fairly fresh. He somersaulted away and landed several meters up-hill, next to some of his men. “Saber-resistant material. Nicely played, Karmack! Until next time, then.” He laughed and sprinted up-hill, covered by a hail of fire from his men.
Two returned fire, hammering the hillside but in the rapid-fire exchange there as little actual damage done. In that moment I didn’t care. I clawed the gauntlet off my arm, hissing as the agony of the burn finally registered.
A hand touched my shoulder, and soothing energy flooded through my arm. Cool... Heal…
I turned and looked up at green eyes, framed with flame-red hair. Julwynn Hri, night sister of the Spider Clan, and a singer. Next to her a human male, pale gray eyes, graggy face. Mandalorian armor and odd headgear. Just behind them, Arnor and Ken, both with their attention focused outward… Julwynn spoke, her voice a soothing low alto, very unlike Arnor's soprano. “Master Karmack. Are you alright?”
Confusion muted me, but I managed to nod.
She let out a sigh of relief. “Thank the Maker. And thank you. You’ve saved most of my Clan, and my mate.” She glanced at the man next to her, who I also noticed had his attention focused outward. Her eyes came back to mine. “How can we ever repay you?”
It was too much. The pain, the fatigue… Shock overcame me and I felt myself sink down to the ground.
...gray…
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