Legacy of the Aether

[Lord_S_Gray]

Such glorious, visceral fighting, death.  It was a chamber of drums pounding the reader through all the steps and motions.  The tempo rising with the surprise in reserve, until the low, building counterpoint of indecision exploded into resolve, as brothers, united once again, brought art to the end of the battle.  Oh but what of Sofa?  What will she think, do?  What will Jarys think of her?  Will Milaea go with Valens, he's not yet let her in on the secrets he's kept...  If they flee, surely Kimar will be forced to send chase, and open the Aethan return with war looming...  Oh the twists and turns this opera has in store potentially...

Illyiss...you should write blurbs professionally, book sales would go through the roof - You make it sound like a Homeric Epic, or Norse Saga unfolding!

And yes everyone else's comments are spot on, there are many characters threads to come together. To pick up on another of Illyiss brilliant insights.....

Now...Shall We Begin

Chapter 31

Sofa

The comm beeped again. Hers this time.

“Oh for frells SAKE!”

Valens had been gone barely half an hour…she grunted in annoyance having been disturbed twice in one night,

It kept beeping as she shuffled over to her pants pocket belatedly realising her fingers were still slick as she fumbled the touch pad.

“Yeah what is it?” 

“Sorry did I interrupt?” Milaea’s sweet contrite voice came across,

“Oh Mili, sorry…no it’s fine…just…its fine, what’s going on, is your trial finished already?”  Already might not be the right term she’d been gone for two days

“Umm yeah…it’s over…I just spoke with the Grand Master…we’re having the ceremony in about an hour,”

Sofa glanced at the clock, it was only two hours past sunset…still it seemed a quick turnaround…although Kimar was not one for ceremony for ceremonies sake.

“Alright...I’ll be right there…So happy for you Mili,”

“Thanks see you soon,”  She didn’t sound overly enthusiastic…but then being a Knight was hardly a cause for much joy…half the galaxy hated Jedi, half didn’t understand them, half were sick of you prying into their business, and half didn’t even live in the Republic….

That was four halves…grievances against the Jedi were not mutually exclusive she supposed….


She shrugged wiping off her comm’s screen against her pants…that was one to toss into the Temples laundry chute…

It was really happening…once Milaea was knighted…she had nothing holding her to the Order any more…no one’s reputation she needed to protect…For his own sanity Valens needed to get out just as much as her…she would take him away to Hapes or Alderran, finally free to be themselves.
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Kimar

“By the right of the Council, by the will of the Force, I dub thee Jedi, Knight of the Republic” Kimar declared loudly in front of the small gathering Knights and Masters as he hovered his blade by the new Knight Milaea’s shoulders

The small crowd applauded and whooped, she was a popular figure, hard not to like he had to admit.  She seemed far more confident and sure of herself than she had been going into the under levels, the change was palpable…she had, he knew thrown off the doubts of a Padawan for the surety of a Knight of the Light and Republic.

As her Master congratulated her he could sense a little sadness that Soryu was not there, after the fight with the Sith he had retreated to the nearby Jedi outpost on Dantooine…their last conversation was replaying in Kimar’s mind….

“Three of them,” he had said,

“The other two are not as powerful…but combined they fight as well as any Jedi task force I’ve ever seen…”

“I’ll arrange an emergency meeting…Soryu…you rest up, we’ll need you,” and he meant it, they might not always see eye to eye…but he respected Soryu.

Soryu had nodded through the holo net, his face burnt from offshoots Sith Lightning,

“Take care Iives…this group…I’m not sure they are Sith…but they are deadly, and cunning,”

Brought back to the present he looked over the assembled knights…how many would die against this new enemy…hopefully no more.

As soon as the CSF had picked up the ship on the watch list he had acted swiftly and summoned Lim to intercept…he had little confidence the Sentinels alone would manage…but with Valens assistance they should get the job done.

Odd he should’ve heard back from them by now…no news was good news he supposed…

He didn’t wish to have to put his plans to deal with the Mak’Tor on hold any longer than necessary…it was the first step before he deal with the Vhal’Dan…but as it stood he only had Valens he could rely on for definitive endings…a thug he might be but a useful one.

He glanced toward the somewhat less than enthusiastic Milaea receiving hugs and handshakes, Master Neirai hovering protectively behind her.

Neirai was an annoying influence…only forty…odd she looked much younger…eh humans…she had been raised to Master too early at the age of thirty…but favouring his former apprentice had kept Soryu on side.

Regardless Milaea had proved staunch in dealing with the Mak’tor…she was just the kind of Jedi he needed…there was no reason to delay her knighting…he sensed he would need another thug sooner rather than later.
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Still no word from the Sentinels…odd…he sat at his desk flipping through the various missives as the day wore down.  It had been good so far, a knighting, the Sith of Cygrat dumb enough to walk straight into the Jedi’s heartland saving him the effort of assigning people to find him.

It was spoiled when Knight Usura a Yinchorri entered his office, there was a taint of something strange in the force about him…a kind of muffled…shriek?

“Master Kimar…there has been an issue in one of the hangars…some of the technicians and maintenance workers were found quite ill,”

“And?” he asked,

“Well they called for a Jedi and I…I found this crate beside the Andis, the ship belonging to Knight Valens….”

Yinchorri were usually an aggressive, upfront species, Usura must be the exception that proved that rule Kimar mused…

“I thought you should see what’s inside it…”  the burly reptilian opened the box.
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He stared at the items on his desk…17…17 lightsabres…

He hadn’t know what they were until he opened the sack in the crate after dismissing Usura as soon as he sensed it…but it wasn’t a sack, it was a robe, cut and torn with blood stains and burns…a Kage’s robe.

17 Lightsabres…each belonging to a Gray…17…

Whilst some of the crystals were missing, the 8 that remained screamed in the force with ever quieter voices as they died apart from their masters…it would’ve been excruciating to hear them when their masters had first died….they shrieked a song of betrayal, violence, murder, struggle, death…

It was almost impossible to imagine…how could one Knight and a Padawan kill 17 Gray Jedi, Masters, Knights and Apprentices…Based on Valens report there had only been four including Odjina….clearly a lie…

But then how many others had Valens killed for him, how many times had he sent him to ‘deal’ with a problem the Chancellor or a Senator had, or ‘bring in’ an errant Jedi…then never demanded exact details on how it had ended….he had unleashed if not created a monster…

And a monster that could kill 17 Mak’tor was a monster he could not control…

Then it struck him…it had been nearly two hours and still he had heard nothing from Valens or the Sentinels.

He quickly commed the CSF Commissioner,
“Master Jedi,” the formal brusque policeman answered,
“Commissioner, any word on the fugitive tracked to the Ginii spaceport,”
“Yes…Commander Tsi reported in half an hour ago…apparently everything is fine and the Jedi are returning to the Temple with the ship and fugitive subdued.”

Why wouldn’t they have reported this directly to him? He shouldn’t be hearing this from the Commissioner…

“Thank you Commissioner, extend my gratitude to your men for their assistance, professional as always,” he finished up with the standard compliments. 

Something did not add up…and Valens was at the heart of it…he had to find out what…but how to proceed - if he were to make this public, try to arrest Valens…Valens might spill the truth of some of Kimars less noble missions…naturally Kimar could argue his way out of it…but the accusation would stick in the minds of those who already suspected him… Soryu and Yoda would be able to undermine him, ruining all his good works.

He sat backed and pressed his fingers…something else didn’t make sense, why would Valens lie….why not simply say there were a large number of Gray instead of exactly four…why hide how many he had killed unless…unless to avoid Kimar realising just how brutally effective Valens truly could be…

Valens was playing his own game…a game that Kimar did not understand….yet…

He flexed his fingers and stretched his neck, he had let himself place too much trust in Yoda’s foundling…Valens was too dangerous to be allowed free reign…but how to bring him down without exposing himself.
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Milaea

They were back in her room,

“Knight Milaea…has a nice ring to it,” Sofa said,

“I guess…it’s just so sudden…”

Sofa slid over the bed to wrap her arm around her,

“Hey you’ve been training since forever, not that sudden,”

“Ha ha true…still…I don’t know…I worry about what kind of missions I’ll get…after Vyth…” she paused “I don’t want to do things like that ever again…”

Sofa didn’t seem to know how to respond to that apart from giving her a squeeze.

“It’s been a long day Mili, why don’t you head off to bed, I have a surprise for you tomorrow to celebrate,”

That lit her up,

“Really what is it!” she loved surprises…but always managed to pry them from the force aura of the people planning them…maybe it was the pulling of their thoughts she truly enjoyed she mused,

“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you….”

Milaea wanted to know too badly…she couldn’t help but tug at Sofa’s thoughts….

“Soryu’s due back tomorrow!...and…do you think we can book a table at Dutch and Karm’s at such short notice?” 

Sofa’s annoyed expression a being delved subtly was all put on, “A little mind trick will get us in I’m sure, if not Valens can probably buy the place out…”

Mentioning his name made Sofa seem a little miffed in the force,

“Hey is everything…alright” their relationship was a massive open secret but Milaea would never talk about it explicitly,

“Yeah he just had a sudden job for Kimar…Anyway seeing as you’ll just guess anyway, I also thought we could go to Taegins Razor Ball Park to work off the deserts after lunch, then the anti-grav spa before dinner, get our hair and nails done…well toe nails at least…‘You mustn’t be so Vain Sofa’ ”  she did an impression of Soryu chiding her making Milaea giggle…but then she felt a sadness.

“It won’t be the same will it…now I’m a knight…” she said

“No it won’t…” Sofa pressed in tighter, “But it’s up to us to make it even better than before sis,” 

“Yeah…”  suddenly Milaea realised Sofa had just said sis…as in sister…it seemed so natural…yet she knew if another Jedi had overheard that she could get in trouble…

“I’ll let you get some rest, I have some laundry to take care of…” Sofa stood, “We’ll have a great day tomorrow Mili, I promise,”
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[Karmack]

<<do you think we can book a table at Dutch and Karm’s at such short notice?”>>

Awe, man, the secret is out!  Our true origins ... The resturant business!  ;-)

Seriously, great chapter, nice development.  Sofa and Millaea are close...  Sisters.  In more ways than one.
And Sofa is sooooo ready to ditch the Jedi.

Yes, this is certainly interesting.  As you said, there are still a lot of sheets in the wind, but as each one comes home the story just accelerates into the finale. 

Also interesting that the Vhal'Dan are on Kimar's 'hit list' as well as the Mak'Tor.  It makes sense, though.  This guy really does NOT dig opposition.  And it sounds like M'Tzigon would have been his next target except for...

Well.  Except for whatever happens next.  :-) 

LSG, I am loving this.  Your narrative is tight, this is so well thought out, and we're totally invested in the characters, even the ones we don't like!  Lets wrap this up in a bow and send it to Disney, eh?  :-)

[TheDutchman]

There is SO much to enjoy with this chapter!  

Absolutely LOVE the easter eggs  . (I hope you can cook Karm; I burn water  ).
And a "razor ball park?!"  Nice one TR!

Yeah I'll say this about Kimar: he's consistent!  Thanks for that nod, LSG  

Now that Milaea has been Knighted I am wondering where she'll go next... Maybe take Sofa with her?  Hmmm...

Poor Soryu; damned Lightning...

Yep, it's official: Valens has Cumberbatch's voice  

Karm put it best: the individual threads come together to make a gale force!  Wonderful!

Yep, time for Disney to see what REALLY good SW stories look like 

[Illyiss]

Well does Kimar handle the red edges of panic as the threads of his scheming come undone, and he starts to see now that he has been as much the pawn as the puppet master, and is now tied dangerously to the monster he has ignored beneath his gaze, and even more foolishly thinks he has had any true hand in creating Valens...  Still waiting to see how Milaea and Sofa will respond...  There is as well, the question that burns in mind; will Valens leave Kimar alive to be a loose end?  Kimar seems lost to obsession of his crusade, missing the darkness he courts and invites, in order to secure his vision...

[Taegin Roan]

Loved all the little nods in this one. But the first mention of the Vhal'Dan in this story was great. Just enough for us to know exactly what you are talking about, but for anyone else, they will just assume it is another group like the Mak'Tor who are radicals. I also really liked getting a look through Kimar's eyes. He doesn't seem that bad, until you realize that it is not the Mak'Tor who are the extremists, it is Kimar. Good all around chapter.

[Lord_S_Gray]

Well does Kimar handle the red edges of panic as the threads of his scheming come undone, and he starts to see now that he has been as much the pawn as the puppet master, and is now tied dangerously to the monster he has ignored beneath his gaze, and even more foolishly thinks he has had any true hand in creating Valens...  Still waiting to see how Milaea and Sofa will respond...  There is as well, the question that burns in mind; will Valens leave Kimar alive to be a loose end?  Kimar seems lost to obsession of his crusade, missing the darkness he courts and invites, in order to secure his vision...

Honestly...this is better than the chapter itself!  Do you take commissions? It's like a saga within the story. 

Anyway things are moving fast on this very eventful night....

Chapter 32

Kimar

His day…night now…was getting worse by the minute.  He had gone directly to the space port to investigate himself only to find summoned Commander Tsi of the CSF doddering around in a force induced stupor telling anyone who he could catch that “Everything is fine”.

The lock down was over, the ship was gone, there was no sign of Valens or the sentinels except a series damaged lights, blasted crates, dried our fire suppressants and blood stains across the hangar floor. 

“Show me the footage,” he demanded of the Commander once he had slapped some sense into him with the force.

He wished he had never asked that question. 

On the Vid The Sith of Cygrat made a faux surrender after that idiot Lim tried to arrest him instead of attacking straight away…

What followed was shocking less for Valens obvious betrayal, than for the disturbing ease with which he and the Sith slew six Sentinels…even with Valens surprise attack it should not have been that easy.

“Delete this…and every copy,” he said straight away using the force to ensure his order was obeyed – he could not under any circumstances allow it to be known a Jedi had turned and was working with a Sith…and worse they were both free on Coruscant, it would undermine any and all confidence the public and the Senate had in the Jedi for decades to come.

This needed to be dealt with quickly, quietly and fatally.
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Chapter 33

Milaea

It was only fifteen minutes after Sofa had left when the door swished open without even a chime, wearing only her bra and trousers she threw her hands across her breasts having only just taken her tunic off.

“What are you…Valens…what’s wrong,” He looked a little ragged from running, clad in his armour, there was a smell of blood about him.

“Milaea I need to talk to you,” she could feel the depth of his sincerity in the force…the panic…the fear…the urgency

“In the Andis, can you be there in five minutes,” 
“I…Ok, I’ll be right down, should I find Sofa,” 

“uh…” he paused seemingly weighing two impossible options,

“We’ll catch her up later, five minutes,” he repeated

“Five minutes” she echoed.
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She stepped aboard the Andis…she could sense something important was about to happen…something she might have feared once…but no more.

“Congratulations Milaea,” came a voice from the shadows as Valens stepped out, “You haven’t just become a Jedi…you’ve bested them all…exceeded them,”  his voice was calmer than before.

She frowned, as usual she couldn’t sense him in the force, or work out where this was going,

“Thanks I guess…what was so urgent”

“What did Soryu tell you about your parents?”  he abruptly changed the subject, she didn’t understand what was happening

“Well…nothing really…I mean just the basics, a small world with a genetically different but basically human population…Aetharis I think….Soryu found me as a baby on Nar Shadda…but that’s it…look what is so urgent, what is all this about” she demanded, before quietly adding
“I don’t like this…”

“It’s time you learnt the truth,” 

Seemingly unbidden the loading ramp closed behind her, and a blue holo flicked to life against the cargo bay wall, Valens was beside the projector, half his face a shadowed blue, the other black as oblivion. 

“Twenty years ago…there was…is…a planet in the deep core, your home and mine…Aethas…the people lived simple lives, no star ships, no machines…at one with the land and each other….then they came…slavers, soldiers,”

His voice broke very so slightly as hate, unquenchable burning hate filled the force about him,

“They killed half our people, and enslaved the rest, including your parents…the day after they were married…I was only your age at the time…I couldn’t stop them…”

An image flicked on the screen, a large chamber with a strange shrine like conglomeration of objects, a woman kneeling, candles, lightsabres, two large stasis pods, one with a woman in it.

“This…this happened shortly after you were born, that woman…” he paused chocking back a pain that even she could feel in her gut, “Was your aunt…Shilea…my wife…in that pod there…your mother, Cilina….both of them were,”  she could see tears glisten in the artificial blue light,

“tortured, abused…”  the images moved, a man…a Jedi entered the room, he and the woman fought viciously till he had her pinned with the force and ripped some kind of device off her arm…but as he did so another Jedi entered…an Ikotchi…Kimar…he put his sabre through the woman’s back…

“Murdered…one day he will suffer for that.”  Valens said with a hollow clarity

The young Jedi rushed to the fallen body as Yoda and Soryu entered,

“That’s you, in Soryu’s arms…”

“who’s the man who fought her…” she asked,

He didn’t answer, didn’t need to, she could sense the answer, it had been him

The scene changed to some kind of arena…a fighting pit…in the centre a human and a Nagai…

“Years later…I discovered this…”

The man in the arena suddenly unleashed a torrent of lightning on the Nagai…and then the crowd, as he circled she finally saw his face…it was the Sith she had fought on Cygrat….

“Jarys, your father, a Guardian of our people, like me…taken from them…forced to fight for their entertainment…” the disdain in his voice was palpable,
“But he survived, the legacy of his strength, his fortitude, flows in your veins, and he’s here, here to come back with us”

“They tried to destroy our people…all of them…the Hutts, the Republic, the Jedi…but I found a way…I used the ghosts of our forebears,” 

She could feel it…it was as empty and rotten as Korriban…this was why he kept his presence hidden so often…he was carrying the death of a thousand souls locked into him…their pain, their fear…their burning desire for vengeance and…resurrection.

“It gave me the power I needed to carry our legacy forward alone…to bring you back from your slumber…to revive our Goddess…but not as you were…different…melded with a new personality, a new body…not just resurrected, but reforged!”  He stood, arcs of blue lighting were flickering across his skin energised by his unfettered zeal. 

“I have plans underway…our people will live and now…now you are ready to retake your place…you have learnt the ways of the Jedi, you have overcome them, you know the ways of this galaxy, you have embraced your power, now you just have to use it…” he stepped close to her, she could feel the sickening combination of righteous hatred and fanatic determination pouring from him

“Your father, your sisters…they’re waiting for you…and more…you can bring your mother and aunt back, you have the power I know it…you not only revived Sofa…you remade her!  You can take us forward to new glories…” he knelt before her the tears in his eyes were now of pleading rather than grief,

“Save us Milaea…Save us…Goddess”

She could feel her hormones racing, cold and hot flushes across her skin…
there is no emotion there is peace…she recalled Soryu’s calming techniques to remain in control. 

She could sense Valens truly believed everything he was saying…

It all fell into place now…his extreme training methods, his slaughter of the Mak’Tor….his distant presence…he was completely insane…twisted by some kind of necromantic ritual.

She kept her voice level and calm

“I’m going to find Sofa, and Dr. Kougal, and Master Kimar and we’re going to get you help Valens…just stay here and I’ll be back soon,” she flicked open the loading ramp with the force and slowly walked out backwards. 

He just stared at her with mad intensity.
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She raced down the halls, toward the medical centre, trying to sense Sofa…if only Soryu or Yoda were here….she had to act fast, she twisted around a corner, knocking over a Jedi, she instinctually pulled them up with the force, then she realised who it was….

Kimar

“What the Stars are you doing!”  he yelled,

“Master! We have no time, Valens…he’s…he’s gone insane,” the Knight cried,

His annoyance instantly died, the world seemed to stop,

“What,”

“He’s gone mad…he’s yammering on about reviving dead people, Goddesses, crazy things about me being the child of some mass murdering gladiator form decades ago…I should’ve sensed it sooner…after what happened with the Gray heretics…”

“Yes…” he replied, “How many were there, Knight Valens report mentioned only four…but I have evidence,”

“Four!” she yelled, “There were seventeen, I took down eight alone ”

That shocked him…how could she kill that many Gray’s!  No matter he would deal with that later,

“What else was he saying, where is he?” 

“He’s in the East hangar, he bowed to me saying I was some kind of Goddess…he’s completely spaced,”

This was too perfect, no one would believe the accusations of a mad man…he could finish this today. He grasped her arms,

“Knight Milaea, head straight to the infirmary and stay there, tell any Master you see ‘code black East hangar’”

She nodded, “but master, I should help, if you’re going to try and arrest him…I’m not sure you…”

“I understand, Milaea, but you’re in danger now,” he tried to calm her, “He’s obviously become obsessed with you, you need to stay far away, not just for your own safety but for everyone else’s, we have thirty Masters here" he held her shoulders supportively and let the force flow calm into her.

"I think we can handle one knight no matter his state of senselessness.”
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[Illyiss]

Honestly...this is better than the chapter itself!  Do you take commissions? It's like a saga within the story. 

I might.

Oh but the madness of his purpose, the paranoid secrecy that kept his drive too secret has now brought things to a head in a way that seems all too obvious from outside.  Perhaps from within as well, could he have foreseen that Mileae would find his seemingly mad presentation beyond belief or sanity, and run to Kimar, setting him in motion to present himself.  Even had she gone to Sofa, her feelings wouldn't be hard to sway, she is ready to leave with him already.  So now the showdown is in motion, though will Kimar run into the trap, and lose many Jedi lives, for surely he won't face Valens alone...  Oh but the background soundtrack that must be running now, stirring, dramatic, with a heavy, staccato drum line, shrill flutes wresting anxious heartbeats and moving readers to the edges of seats, armrests gripped as the throatier horns send tingles through muscles wishing to act, to be a part of what they can only watch like a train heading for collision...

[Taegin Roan]

"I think we can handle one knight no matter his state of senselessness.”

Pffft!! You think wrong Kimar.

Still, an interesting development. You wouldn't instantly think that "Oh, Milaea is going to have a hard time believing it all", no, but after you stop and consider, you realize that that is exactly what would happen in real life. Very well written. The anger and hatred towards the slavers, as well as his love for his people. So well done. Wonderful chapter.

[Karmack]

LSG, this is wonderful!  Valens has laid himself before his goddess, bared his soul ... and she has rejected his offering, his life's work.

What does it feel like to be rejected by your god?  Cain knew.  He didn't react well....

So much to unpack here, so complex and yet, deep down, so simple.  Millaea was raised as a force-gifted human child by Jedi.  She is immersed in the Jedi culture, the Jedi world-view.  Valens just told her the earth is flat and there be dragons.  That she just ran into one of the dragons hasn't quite hit home yet.  :-)

And again, as invested as I am in every one of these characters, I find myself oddly hoping for a middle-ground resolution.  I want Millaea to succeed in restoring her people, but to retain the best of what she has learned in the process.  So far it seems that the characters tend to keep the worst and lose the best.  Soryu being an exception to that rule.    But for the most part the folks I would normally identify as the 'good guys' and root for are either sidelined or just off stage completely. 

And yet...   As Illyiss said, two trains on a collision course.  We don't want it to happen.  We're almost ashamed to be watching it happen.  And yet, we can't stop.  We in fact don't want it to stop...

And I must say:  As I read that last bit with Kimar, only one thought really resonated in my mind:  I wonder how long it took for them to put out the fires?

[Lord_S_Gray]

Chapter 34

Your Last Chance - Part 1

Determined in his stride we marched through the halls calling every knight and Master he could to his side, he didn’t want to alert Valens so he didn’t activate the alarms or force a lock down just yet. 

Behind him an army of Jedi formed, twenty strong by the time they reached the hangar doors.  He didn’t need to explain the details, they could all sense the seriousness of the situation reverberating off him in the force.

He turned to the assembled group,

“Jedi, one of our own, Knight Valens, is in this hangar, he is extremely ill suffering delusions, he may become violent, we have no choice but to arrest him,” 

Grim nods and other gestures of understanding from non-humanoids flooded the force,

“As most of you know, he is an extremely powerful Jedi…Yoda and I both rank him among the strongest of the order…unfortunately I have evidence that - in his insanity - he murdered upward of fifteen Gray Jedi and six Sentinels,”

Outrage flooded the force, many Jedi still had fond recollections of the Gray, fools he mused, he would deal with that later...nonetheless this worked to his favour no one would EVER believe the accusations of not just mad man but a murderer as well, he could pin every assassination he had ordered on Valens madness now…a cathartic way to release the tension of rumours that plagued him

A brief smile crossed his face, frankly he doubted Valens would live long enough to even make any accusations.

“Master Yoruuba, take four Knight to secure the southern entrances, Master Torfun take as many for the Northern, The rest of you follow me.”

With a sweep of his hands he opened the heavy doors with the force.

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The Mandolorian Assault craft, the Andis sat oddly amongst the sleeker ships, it was a weapon of pure malice, Kimar thought as he approached surrounded by seven Knights and three Masters. 

The Hangar blast doors snapped closed with an echoing roar preventing any ships from leaving.

He stood at the end of his ships boarding ramp, in sooty dark armour, armed to the teeth, like a Mandolorian sizing up some petty thugs who dared to interrupt his binge drinking.

“Master Kimar,” the helmet distorted voice came, “How can I assist?”

“Knight Valens, By order of the Council you are hereby suspended of your duties and rank, and placed under arrest pending investigation into both your mental health and accusations of the murder of Gray Jedi on Vyth, Sentinels this very night at Ginii Spaceport and collaborating with a known Sith Lord,”  he said confidently,

“Please surrender your weapons peacefully,”

He could see a distorted reflection in the dark emotionless slit eyed helmet of himself and the other Jedi as Valens looked them all over.

“Turn around, and walk away,” Valens said with cool detachment, Kimar could feel the pressure build just behind his eyes as the rogue Jedi tried to control his thoughts…it was unusually strong…

“I’m going to turn around and walk away,” came the voice of a Camaasi Jedi to his right.  Weak minded fool!

“Stop this or we will use force,” Kimar pushed past the mental attack, he sensed the others building up their defences

He needed to push him into violence and end this before he got out of the temple, he had no doubt they would find the Sith of Cygrat after searching Valens body and ship for leads.

“This is Your Last Chance Valens, surrender or die”

Valens shook his head 

“No…Grand Master…you sealed your fate when you killed my wife…” he regraded the other Jedi,  “but they don’t have to be part of it…face me here, like a Knight of old, single combat, no tricks, no games, no cronies, warrior to warrior…This is Your Last Chance”

Kimar shook his head, wives, single combat…Valens was clearly delusional,

“Take him” Kimar ordered with gleeful satisfaction
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The moment Kimar had entered he knew this could only end one way, the Ikotchi was too arrogant and too afraid of what Valens knew to let him go peacefully.  And without the reasoned old guard of Soryu, Yoda or Gurrlum here, Kimar had no one to oppose him.

He surveyed the Jedi before him…nine including Kimar…some of Kimar’s most loyal followers…

“Take him,” Kimar ordered
He would have to kill them all one by one

The First to fall was the Twi’lek.

He covered himself with a Fallanassi Mist and birthed two Sith doppelgängers - the combination leaving the Jedi with three visuals targets merging and twisting in a mist that denied their visual senses the ability to lock on any one of them.

As their lightsabres ignited he sent an aetheric implosion behind the group, the less prepared flew forward their blades not even full lit, he darted forward beskar dagger flipping to his hand as the twi-lek unbalanced flopped forward onto the blade, in a single motion he pulled up through breast and out of the throat - a spray of blood coating his black armour red.

Second and Third were the Duros and Camaasi.

He unleashed his side weapons with the aether into a ring orbiting the Jedi as he flipped through the aetheric mist to land behind them as his green blade hissed to life.  Seven Jedi surrounded him, four Shikkars, two blasters, two grenades and a dagger surrounded them in turn.  Red bolts and yellow explosions flared to life he became three spinning green blades in their midst. Assailed on all side the Duros chanced he was facing an illusion to destroy a shikkar and aetherically crush a blaster – the green blade that pierced his skull proved him wrong.

The Camaasi deflected a sweeping low blade spin and used the force to dampen the explosion behind him, but missed the aetherically silent shikkar that planted into his abdomen, the glass handle snapping off, Valens telekinetically pulled the embedded blade though his trunk organs until the furred creature seized still standing.

The fourth was the Yinchorri.

The masters were beginning to see through the illusions, slowly overcoming the shock as Valens spun, parried, ducked and twirled through a clockwork of blue, green and yellow sabres whilst deflecting the odd force push or pull. He grasped the camassi before it fell and flung it into the Bothan, quick stepping into the small gap and telekinetically grabbing at the reptiles chest and arms, slowing its naturally heavy movements even more, its downward blue slice missed Valens arms, his riposte to its chest did not, hissing scales vaporized as the heart was burnt inside out.

The fifth was the Aqualish, a master

Moving back to the conflicts centre wrong footed the Bothan who expected him to flee. The masters were beginning a battle meld, the illusions spent he let them drop as the mental meld streamlined the Jedi’s attacks into faster less cluttered, more frequent blows forcing him on the defensive as force grips pushed and pulled.  He traced the rhythm of the meld, felt its tempo and caught its ends twisting the Death Song into it…the deep harrowing lows disrupted the energetic highs the masters were trying to create.

Staggering as their minds filled with the poison Requiem he parried a yellow low cut, spun forward and planted his knee into the Aqualish stomach, stamped that foot down onto the creature’s knobby knee with an audible crack and pop, he batted the paltry attempt to push him off and smashed his double gripped pommel into its tusked face with shattering strength that popped one eye and dragged out black bile as he twirled back out.   

The sixth was the Barabel.

The circle was tightening, the runts were dead, but their losses were galling…the Death song pulled back into his lighting shield, blue arcs flickered across his body, up his sabre and into the air around him.  As soon as the sabres clashed the circuit completed and burned into the Jedi’s flesh forcing them to distance themselves from the dance of blades – all except the Barabel whose scales insulated him from the raw energy.

Switching to a right hand grip he poured a storm of energy onto the Bothan and Ithorian and slid to the Barabel, who twisted with beyond human speed into a tail sweep, his blue blade held upside down covering his exposed back – Valens was not human – he jumped the tail and locked his green to the blue with juttering sparks of white, landed as the tail past then kicked into the reptiles face as he came round from the spin.  Teeth and bone shattered on the first kick, mush and blood spewed out on the second.

The Seventh was the Ithorian Master.

Panic was setting in, but two masters remained, Kimar was yet to make an entrance. Recovered from the storm of energy the Masters circled, he summoned the sabers of the dead and flung them at them as he charged toward the Bothan.  As they batted, deactivated or imploded the sabres he hit himself with an aetheric blast centimetres before reaching the Bothans range – the Bothan tensed to defend from the blast that sent Valens skidding around into the Ithorians path, he reached out and pulled hard behind the hammerhead, displaced air pushing him into the path of his green blade that sliced into the right eye stalk but was knocked to the side by the masters yellow blade before he could finish it.

The Ithorian was in hideous pain, diverting energy to suppress it, he…

Ducked.

A yellow sabre sliced over his head and through the Ithorians faceplate which flopped with a gurgling thud and green jetting vitae.  Turning his crouch into a spin he kept a high guard and came round melding aetheric and kinetic energy into a fist smashing straight into Kimars left horn shattering fragments into the Ikotchi’s face – always from behind Kimar – the Grand master skidded across the floor from the charged impact.

The eighth was the Bothan Master.

Charging forward with flawless Ataru as Kimar scuttled away behind him, the Masters fur was burnt and blackened from the lighting, but filled with the force Valens parries that sent more flesh burning arcs into the skin beneath yielded no pain response.   The Bothans form was precise, deadly, strong…but it was straight from Soryu’s classes…almost boring, low, right, right, parry, back one, high, and through, his blade severed the Bothans Left arm, he pushed his right shoulder in to maximize contact area, diverting his lighting shield to focus toward the head melting the creatures face and searing the last fur with a crackling burn.

He spun out into a defensive stance ready for Kimar to strike…but the Grand Master was nowhere to be found.

Eight Jedi...two minutes…barely a quarter of the effort he had expended on the Mak’tor…a kill-by-numbers fight…he could hear the phantom of his grandfather laughing.

This was the legacy of Kimar’s regime…predictable, rote techniques, fine against some Gamorrean thugs, security droids, even Mandolorians…almost no experience fighting to the death against force users who used alterative combat techniques…completely hopeless against a seamless melding of techniques from Aii-Ting to Fallannassi to Sith.

Yoda, Soryu, Gurrlum and Yoren had let Kimar’s legacy of dogmatism seep into Jedi training for too long…the corpses littered around the hangar were the result.
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[Lord_S_Gray]

Chapter 34

Your Last Chance - Part 2

He felt it as soon as he hit the atmosphere…The death of Jedi…

A feeling all too unique and all too familiar…Soryu had returned from Dantooine to resupply, recover and reinforce for his search for the Sith of Cygrat who had managed to…not just elude him…almost kill him…

It had been the hardest fight Soryu had in…well ever…one man had killed one Knight two Jedi Masters, and almost another…his companions had killed a further knight each.  One on one Soryu would’ve had no chance…how Milaea and Sofa had survived was even more a marvel to him now.

More Jedi died in his mind’s eye…had this Sith attacked the temple directly?  As his ship headed toward the west hangar he felt the force reverberate in ways all too familiar…it was so similar to the Sith warrior…and yet…no this was too familiar…

He knew this energy…

This was Valens.
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The lockdown was in effect, the hangars blast doors and shield slammed behind him as warning claxons resounded through the cavernous space, and Jedi poured in through the north and south entrances, eight and twelve respectively…

As soon as they saw the carnage he was standing amongst they froze, he felt the threads of doubt and uncertainty, rivulets carving into the bedrock of confidence….he pulled at the mental landscape to turn them from streams to rivers.

“Kill the SITH” Kimar yelled from the side of the door way to the north, at the south Master Keishar Yoren entered…the others he could handle but Yoren ranked below only Yoda, Soryu and Gurrlum and was tactically more component than all of them.

“Form Up, group sixes, Herf formation,” Yoren ordered, names for the letter Herf, the formation had three Jedi engage in melee while three supported with aether attacks from the side and behind. They quickly formed three groups of Six, Yoren and Kimar behind them, as he slowly stalked toward the durasteel hangar doors.

Yoren believed he had him trapped.  Valens stretched out his arms theatrically as the Jedi, now formed with Yoren flowing calm in the force began to recover from the initial shock of seeing their fallen foes.  He needed to destabilize them once more.

He grabbed the hangar bay doors behind him and pulled. metallic shrieks and yellow parks filled the bay as the durasteel doors tore inward. Their doubts returned at this display of raw power, he smiled behind his helmet – still the Jedi did not understand ‘size matters not’.

“STOP HIM YOU FOOLS!” screamed Kimar over the screeching as the doors opened half way, the shimmering blue energy field behind them distorting the lights of Coruscants sky line like stars on a lake.   

The fear was building, Yoren issued hand signals and the first group headed toward him.
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He was to keep an eye on the Temple, now he knew why…the Jedi had tried to kill his brother.

So far Valens seemed fine and confident…but in the corner of his eye…ships heading toward them.

Jarys repositioned the hover car as artificial light staggered from the hangar door below, the aether straining to tear the metal doors away…but the shield remained…he glanced at the approaching vehicles emblazoned with Coruscant Security Force insignia.

That shield was now the only thing keeping his brother trapped in there…

He reached out to the police transports…
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Four blades from three Jedi spun around him all trying to find purchase as the aether was pushed and pulled in all directions by three more around them. Backed by Yoren and the unengaged masters battle meld he was sorely pressed.  He spared a level of consciousness to grip at the heavy industrial bolts that held the catwalks, gantries and cargo rails to the ceiling…dodging beneath the triple spin of a double bladed sabre he pulled at the metal.

All across the hangar the Jedi immediately reacted, jumping, catching and avoiding the falling metal frames.

He unleashed his lighting shield in an expanding blast, un focused it did little more than buy him space and cause superficial burns, but as he pushed the aether out he pulled it inward – past the conscious current that most Jedi used, through the under currents to the very thinnest lines of the aether…the background energy that suffused reality itself…he pushed against it.

What was a Jedi without the Force?

He recalled the words of the ancient Master Kreia – she was a true teacher and guide the Jedi were infinitely poorer for forgetting. 

“Take the greatest Jedi Knight, strip away the force and what remains – they rely on it – depend on it more than they know –watch as they try to hold a blaster as you would try to hold a lightsaber and you will see nothing more than a woman, a man, or a child,”

He pushed the aether – the Jedi’s Force away…nullified and voided it, he became the centre of a Null field in which the force no longer flowed. Just as Kreia had predicted the six Jedi that faced him became children.  The gyroscopic effect of the lightsabres instantly took hold and their stances faltered as they struggled to hold their own weapons, the support trio visibly slumped from having gone from using the force deeply to a void in an instant.

What was an Aethan without the Aether?

A being that possessed reflexes and physical strength four times that of a human, an endocrine system primed for war and reproduction three times more efficient, cognitive capacity that rivalled Givin and Siniteen and a culture that taught them never ever rely on the aether to survive or fight nor be shocked if it were stripped from them.

The six Jedi about him now learnt this difference as his blade, fists, feet, knees and elbows beat them into a broken mess.

Yorens face dropped as he crouched behind the fallen cargo rail, Valens could only imagine the shock in the aether as a gaping abyss opened up in the force right in the Jedi Temple and six Jedi including three masters were bludgeoned to death as they floundered like children.
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The doors burst open as more Jedi flooded in, the Sentinels had finally arrived along with a dozen older padawans armed with repeaters and heavy rifles only to witness the thirty second massacre of six Jedi who looked drunk and pathetic trying to counter the brutal bone crunching, blood churning strikes Valens unleashed.

Yoren tried to shake off the shock of what he had just seen…to create a force void was a near impossibility for most Jedi…he had to act quick – issuing commands with his hand he had the teams of six re-arm, three with sabres, three with rifles.

“CSF are on the way,” Master Yoruuba called beside him

Valens was trapped behind the shield and didn’t have the force to deflect the bolts

The hum of charging weapons filled the hangar as the Jedi activated the few ships turrets that pointed toward him and positioned in cover behind the fallen walkways.

He filled the battle meld with his confidence as the Jedi wavered

Fear gives way to courage,
Chaos gives way to order,
Passion gives way to serenity,
Death gives way to the force

He flicked his fingers in a countdown as he stared at Valens who stood at the heart of the abyss of the Energy Field that should’ve flowed through all Living Things.

He could just make out the CSF Heavy speeders behind him through the blue shimmering shield heading into position fast…

too fast…

what were they….
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His mind gripped the armoured vehicles as tightly as he would bite down on his prey’s throat, his heart pounding his hormone filled blood through his muscles and brain in anticipation of battle…

Like rag dolls he flung the outer two into the sides of the temple beside the hangar shield where the generators were most likely to be.

He hit the accelerator on the hover car and sped toward them as they smashed with blinding yellow fury into the temple walls.  The blue watery shield flickered and died as he threw the third straight ahead.

Jarys was no expert in aetheric illusions,

But he did know Vorynx….

He Roared
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Courage gave way to fear,
Order to Chaos,
Serenity to passion

The force filled with death as the hangars walls crumpled inwards, the catwalks provided cover from the heat of the explosion but not the shards of durasteel and ferrocrete that pelted down like superheated hail upon their heads.

Yoren pushed a force shield around himself and those near him to bounce the debris away, knowing it would likely strike those less able to reflexively raise such defences.

To the howling screech of the conflagration was added a wet…hungry…predatory Roar that echoed throughout the chamber and subsumed the crackle of spot fires.

He risked a glance upward, his mind retched at the sight above…

A starship sized animal, muscled with ferocious teeth and vicious claws flew across the ceiling of the hangar over the black silhouette of Valens who stood amidst the orange and yellow flames, straight into the back of the hangar.

His frontal cortex he knew the beast was a force illusion…but his limbic system was not so convinced as his body shook with adrenaline.

The beast headed straight for the traffic control room, dropping behind the fallen metal he braced himself once more.
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The Vorynx illusion covered transport smashed into the hangar bays observation an traffic control rooms at the far end, a plume of metal and blue and orange fire erupted outwards and over the hangar as a heavy figure slammed to the ground beside him.

He twisted into an offensive stance back to back with his brother, his sabre angled and aimed like a rifle as the Jedi tried to leap from the flames and ruination spreading around them. 

The Aether flowing back through him twice as fast with Jarys at his side, who turned his illusionary powers into making the two of them seem three metres tall - he felt the traces of the Jedi’s fear and dissonance as their conscious understanding of illusiosn battled against the unconscious terror of a foes doubling in physical size.

They surged forward leaping the fire heated metal as he used his HUD to activate the Andis auto pilot.  The Assault craft leapt free of its mooring and sped out of the hangar, the backwash of wind churning the flames and creating small tornadoes of detritus.   

Yoren desperately tried to reassert some order, bolts flew from cover as they made light work of the terrified Jedi…for every one that stood his ground two were fleeing - the north and South entrances a mosh pit of confusion as Jedi trying to storm in were  pushed aside by Jedi trying to get out.

He flicked his hand to catch a blaster bolt then crushed the rifle that had fired it, the Togorian Jedi turned and fled but was floored by Jarys Lighting bolts.  Yorens  battle meld a tiny voice against a Chorus of fear as he summoned the sabres of the dead and sent them flying into the fleeing Jedi whilst Jarys hammered a Nikto’s skull into the edge of a collapsed I beam while - his guttural primal Roar continuing to send shivers up even Valens spine…the Beast of the Arena indeed.

The Andis was out, the Jedi were on the run, Yoren trying to direct the flood of fear into rivers of order, Kimar screeching like a porg.  Numerically inferior terror and confusion were their weapons, now was the time to withdraw while both were at their peak thus giving their enemies a fractured paused rather than a true resolution to he war they had started.

As he electrocuted an already half crushed Whiphid and Jarys all but twisted off a Nautoloans head, he tapped his brother on the shoulder and they pulled back, still deflecting the odd blaster bolt and stray falling light fixture or duracrete block.

Reaching the edge of the hangar, the 400 level drop before them they grasped arms, Valens gave one last look back to see Yoren screaming orders atop a burning crate…their eyes briefly fixed.

With a nod of respect they leapt.
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[Karmack]

So.  Probably about 3-4 hours to put the fires out then.  ;-)

Great scenes.  Its about what I had expected, though I am starting to appreciate Kimar's survival instinct more.  Though his leadership style - push someone else out into the front to take the heat - is extremely annoying.  At moments like this I find myself rooting for the Aethans, not the Jedi.

But that's the point, right?

I loved the transposition of Yoren's poem.  And this phrase:  "... screamed like a porg."  :-)  Great little snippets of the new to tie the old into our greater imagery of the Star Wars Universe.

And I can see I need to re-evaluate the Mak'Tor training system...  ;-)

[Illyiss]

So the returns of blind obedience manifest, as one man, fevered in his vision of order, leads dozens of others to their deaths, a drop in the debt of his sins.  Echoing back, we see that the Jedi Order has a long tradition of power masquerading beneath their noses, an enemy they do no know, and haven't the first bit of comprehension of stepping to the clear to show them their inadequacies.  Swirling death, seeming chaos, as a superior foe overwhelms on each and every level, and unleashes something beyond hell upon those who Kimar has hidden himself behind.  When you practice peace, you are unprepared for war.  Especially true war.

[Taegin Roan]

Oh yeah! 2 Aethans vs. ~20(?) Jedi. Not even remotely a fair fight. But I've gotta say, I'm pretty sure my favorite line was "Kimar screeching like a porg"  

But also this "“No…Grand Master…you sealed your fate when you killed my wife…” he regraded the other Jedi,  “but they don’t have to be part of it…face me here, like a Knight of old, single combat, no tricks, no games, no cronies, warrior to warrior…This is Your Last Chance”. He gave Kimar a chance to set things right, and Kimar (being the worm that he is) rejected that chance, and at the same time, sentenced a lot of Jedi to death. That's all on him.

I don't know Kreia, but using her as another reference point was awesome. He whole "Take the Force away" thing was great. And seeing Valens create a Force "Void" was also incredible. Well done.

[Illyiss]

Oh yeah! 2 Aethans vs. ~20(?) Jedi. Not even remotely a fair fight. But I've gotta say, I'm pretty sure my favorite line was "Kimar screeching like a porg"  

But also this "“No…Grand Master…you sealed your fate when you killed my wife…” he regraded the other Jedi,  “but they don’t have to be part of it…face me here, like a Knight of old, single combat, no tricks, no games, no cronies, warrior to warrior…This is Your Last Chance”. He gave Kimar a chance to set things right, and Kimar (being the worm that he is) rejected that chance, and at the same time, sentenced a lot of Jedi to death. That's all on him.

I don't know Kreia, but using her as another reference point was awesome. He whole "Take the Force away" thing was great. And seeing Valens create a Force "Void" was also incredible. Well done.

Sadly, none of the Jedi who heard Valens give Kimar the out lived...

Darth Kreia....  oh but she is worth a study.  It's long, but this explains a lot...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO5Zzdi3W40