Fate of the Aether

[Lord_S_Gray]

Chapter 62 — Only What You Take With You — Aggression

Part 2

Master and Apprentice

They could both feel the bestial rage being set loose, but Yoda could not see the subtle but critical distinction – even Valens struggled to understand what Jarys was fighting…it was familiar as People yet alien as an Outsider…a hideous fusion of the two.

Dancing across the cargo cranes of the ship yards the flew like trapeze artists green blades sparking emerald suns as they clashed between leaps, struck in the brief moments both stood on the same narrow beam or pulley.

In the flying gap between each clash blue lighting flew out to be twisted into dozens of balls of pure force energy that flew back and forth like a strange game of fatal razor ball.

The churning tides of their use of telekinesis bending crane necks and shipping containers into queer whorls that could pass as sculpture in any gallery.

Valens was getting pushed back – but he was not retreating – he was moving toward his brothers glacial primitive battle…towards his mates psychologically traumatised curled form.

Yoda was pushing forward, trying to cut away the ruination he had trained and brought into the Order, his Ataru as flawless as ever and enhanced by the Justice of his cause – yes it was his failing he corrected but by any measure Valens was a danger to all life far worse than Sith.

Their blades met in patterns reminiscent of a dozen sparring sessions, Yoda moved with acrobatic precision to strike toward Valens shoulder and back – first low at his hips then at his skull, followed by a strike to his neck. 

With each parry white hot sparks split off as pure light energy blade met pure oblivion sword.  Yoda’s strategy denied Valens advantage in height and reflexes by forcing him to twist at the hips – Aethan joints were capable of contortionist level angles at a moment’s notice – but Yoda left them only half a moments notice.

The Force scrunched and bruised as the Jedi master threw up telekinetic barriers and lifted and hurled entire shipping containers at Valens who - still staggered slightly from the first Nightmare attack and Jo’s pummeling - was purely on the defensive.

Physically They were evenly matched so long as Yoda could call on the Force, aetherically Yoda had the edge for being fresh – mentally the fortress of light and the Obelisk of Oblivion ground against each other across at metaphysical plane that expanded into the infinite distance as both sent curling arcs of telepathic thorns to try and find a way past the others monolithic watchtowers.

As Green and Black clashed and slashed the ferrocrete began to rise and warp beneath them, a confluence of clashing energies surrounded the battle as dozens of strokes, kicks, twists and counters were traded each second.
 
Another shipping container thrown Yoda curled into thin petal like strips of metal by his ally the Force as he leapt in pursuit over four storeys to land on the swaying neck of a crane still sparking from Selaena’s EMP bombs to strike at his apprentice.  Valens visibly strained against the pirouetting slash toward his legs and only just met Yoda’s rapid follow through toward his head.

For Valens to win Yoda had to lose – and he had a way – a Null field would in an instant turn the battle to his favour- without the Force Yoda was physically incapable of escaping Aethan reflexes or resisting Aethan strength.

But Valens had never wanted Yoda to lose.  As he back tracked away from Yodas flurries that made three green wheels all about him and strained even Aethan dexterity to counter Valens honoured Yoda by giving him one chance to see reason.

“You want to know…whether it was your teachings that turned me” he called out as he flipped back out of the attack, Yoda’s downward slash slicing into the durasteel with hissing fury.

Valens landed onto another crane, evening winds howling in the distance between them that seemed less physical than mental.

Yoda remained locked from listening, he heard the words but would not be taken in by this trick – it was true Yoda did want to know, the nagging doubt in himself he was responsible for Valens actions it had driven him to Myrkr mingled with bloodlust.  But Soryu had reminded him a Jedi could let go of such things.

“It’s a question based on a false premise,” Valens called his voice rapid almost at the regular cadence for Aethans as the hum of Yoda’s sabre filled the air against the shrieks of metal twisting unnaturally as a forklift smashed off Valens back then turned into a ball sent straight at where Yoda was about to be – he had to curl his leap between container stacks to slice through it as he cut the air to reach his failed apprentice.

“I never turned – I was always a Guardian, but you knew that – what you really want to understand is Why your teachings didn’t turn me from that path!”

For a brief moment the Truth of that statement struck though the Light Fortress of Yoda’s mind – for 0.28 seconds as neurons snapped back in the face of the greatest enemy he could recall facing Yoda was exposed – he landed unsurely on the crane, wrong footed, guard slightly too low

Valens sensed it, saw his chance –

But didn’t take it.

A quick back flip put Valens on the ledge of one of docking arms on the edge of the vast wall around 60 storey deep, 500 metre diameter pit that was the core of Xithars logistics facility, surrounded by well worked cranes and lifters, full of docking cradles and cargo trains that linked to the underground warehouses. 

With distance between them Valens spoke on.

“If you live a thousand years, you will never have a student who values and understands your teachings better….you taught me how this galaxy works, gave me guidance and a home when I had nothing.  I will always respect you for that…Your teachings…”

With a sharp hiss Valens deactivated his sabre and lowered his sword, rolling the sabre’s hilt in his hand.

“…refined and expanded my abilities and knowledge…”

A flick of his mind clipped the sabre to his belt and he spun his Blackstone sword back up into a mid-guard.

“…to serve People, rebuild and destroy any who harms, threatens or stands in our way, Nar Shadda gang banger or Jedi Grand Master…an Outsider is an outsider…nothing you taught or argued could ever change that!”

Yoda took advantage of the break in the fight to regain his breath, to deepen the flow of the Force through his body to repair the micro tears his own exertions had caused, Valens stepped further back along the length of a rusted and paint chipped arm of metal reaching 40 metres across the yawning pit – if Yoda followed he would lose a lot of maneuverability with so little ground to spring his acrobatic Ataru off from.

“It need not have ended like this…but when Kimar demanded my brothers head…called for my own…Forsake you the Jedi shall not, you said…yet the Grand Master himself sent his legions for us…forcing me to do what you never would…destroy Kimar and leave Soryu to guide the Order back to its foundations…”

Yoda knew this story, he had in his own reflections surmised as much…

“For destroying Kimar…” Yoda replied cautiously flipping his sabre into a reverse grip – so far the battle had been ferocious but inconclusive – they knew each other too well, he needed to use techniques Valens had never seen him wield.

“…neither condemn nor condone…under genuine threat you were…responsibility I share for fleeing from Kimar when challenging his leadership I should have…”

He stepped onto the docking arm and cautiously moved forwards, head held high

“Truly you speak - an Aetharian Guardian you are…Exemplar and Defender of your kind…”

Sabre in line with his spine, Yoda’s offhand curled around a telekinetic ball of raw force energy

“And for this very reason, for the destruction wanton, indifference xenophobic and tribal fanaticism  innate and intrinsic to this role – for all other crimes and excesses on Nimban, Lexrul, Vulpter, Myrkr…Corsucant and Ord Mirit now also…”

Eyes locked fully for the first time in too many years as Yoda delivered his judgement with clarity and dignity, assured of its justice, even if disappointed that by their very nature there could never be a lasting accord between the Guardians who fought for a select few and the Jedi who strove however imperfectly to protect all.

“…By right of the Council, Law of the Republic, Will of the FORCE, designate you and all followers of your culture enemies of the Republic and Jedi in perpetuity – the sentence - Death,”

<<<<>>>>

Beast and Goddess

The thrill of facing two of them at once was only matched by the painfully joyous suspense of Lucovis knowing she would soon be one with them. 

The weaker one pressed on against her, able but lacking the dexterity of the first one.

She twirled her bladed floor length hair unleashing the dozens of poisoned needles within, her mind effortlessly controlling the blizzard to slice into the thinnest of gaps in his armour even as he deflected the tremor blade in her braided locks.  He staggered under the anaesthetic poisons of the darts - she well knew they couldn’t render such a strong constitution unconscious but he would be slowed.

As he dropped down with a forward slash keeping aggressive she shrieked in delight to summon her most able alchemaical products.

Behind them ever Nova Corps poured out, stun batons and electro nets primed.

In their centre Oma herself, face locked in a rictus grin that exposed her teeth and dried her gums out, eyes swimming in her head, steps pained by the depraved pleasure Lucovis had enjoyed upon her. 

Her mind was empty as it was focused – the tactical competency and martial prowess all that remained of the Sentinel- the personality and goals replaced with fanaticism that had made the experimentation upon her form a joy.

Beside her stalked the Temple Guards turned to BattleLords, their masks and armour now hideously integrated into their bodies – the Sith alchemy destroying the distinction between flesh and metal – hands were absent - sabres were now part of the nervous system and twirled amidst arms with three or more elbows.

Mind awash with red damage signals Melron threaded the aether to summon Sofa and Kiraea’s bodies toward him while expelling the needles from his body as his immune system worked to counteract the effects, he gripped his sword and grunted as he lit his body in lighting ready to defend them to the death from the distorted soldiers that loped forward with blazing neural disrupting energy weapons.

Finally brushing himself off Jarys returned to the fight.

Such strength, such ferocity….what a lover his body would make once Lucovis possessed it! Primal rage powered his attacks, but it was controlled and not confined to the physical – metaphysical hammers repeatedly sought to breach Lucovis mind, teased at the connection to Xithar looking for a way to disrupt it even as it did not truly understand it.

Lucovis allowed the best to continue his brutal punishment as the Nova Corps wore down the other in his futile defence, she did not wish to damage the divine flesh more than needed- just make it…Tender.

Lighting himself in aetheric energy Jarys hammered once more at the Abomination with all he had – the walls around him were all but dust, the floor increasingly unstable and the ceiling about to cave in as his telekinetic barrage sought every object it could to hurl at her.

Like a tsunami his mind poured on the sickly purple consciousness, it was a bulbous fleshy sphere that seemed determined to suck him in making him wary of pressing too hard…but there was something…strange…a thread connected to another mind. 

As Melrons arms grew sore from the external exertion and internal poisoning deflecting the Battlelords blows he felt Jarys thin signal and noticed it too – the Abomination was linked in some blasphemous way to the Falleen…whatever the meaning of the connection severing it could only help.

As Jarys Abyss black twisted and clashed against Lucovis Golden Purples and Melron’s oblivion strained against the Jedi-spawn on the inconclusive physical plain they assaulted the thread of connection between Lucovis and Xithar sensing ever more of how the aether transmitted the depth of self-hood between the two.

Melron crafted a serrated spinning chainsaw of metaphysical hate to grind into the pulsing purple thread of consciousness even as he buckled under the Battlelords shimmering gold sabres, Jarys’ follow up mental lance shredded all but a few of the aetheric threads binding the two bodies as he shouldered into a rising thrust taking the cut on his armour to slam his pommel into the golden breast as he rounded out a slash.

With gritted teeth as Melron’s arms began to give out for sheer inability to deflect so many blows at once Jarys sent a final mental obsidian dagger into the last tendril.

With a shriek that forced them to constrict their ear canal muscles the cord of psyche that bound Lucovis and Xithar through the Force split…and she staggered

They would waste no time.

The margin for error before the Beast and his companion rent Lucovis skull open was .0021 seconds – but she was a Goddess built of ten Demi Gods such as they.

Jarys blade was a centimetre from the forehead when the eyes beneath his rapidly moving blade flicked back to awareness – her own golden blade flew outside of space time as Lucovis consumed a portion of the power she had accumulated in the wyrms to ensure her victory – the Force indestructibly sheathed it to pierce through the blackstone plating and into his abdomen burning deep into his body, instinctual aetheric recovery flows mingling with biological repair systems to try and limit the damage as the blade spun round within him splattering hardened organ walls and breached lymphatic fluids across his interstitial cavities amidst the severing of ever more internal homeostatic systems.

As Jarys slid down Lucovis pulled the blade out faster than his vital fluids could drip onto it and sent it flying between the battlelords and into Melrons back – his armour wafting away like ash from the shatter-point precision as her blood bonded worshippers added their strength to hers.

The Battlelords ceased their attack as their Goddesses prizes fell in convulsing spurts of dark hyper-nutrient rich bloods.

<<<<>>>>

 

Master and Apprentice

His heart dropped as he sensed it was too late, the aether was shattered beneath him as Jarys and Melron fell. 

Yoda stepped along the crane, sabre flipping between his clawed green hands in unusual patterns as the aether built around him. 

Yoda had made his decision…condemned them all, and Valens had already delayed too long. 

As another step forward swayed the crane further, Valens stepped backward his foot hovering over the air.

With impeccable speed Yoda gripped him from falling with the Force as he raced forward preparing for a reverse flip strike,

“Allow you to escape once I have, not a second time,”

With a three metre leap that shook the crane he arced down toward his apprentice’s neck.

<<<<>>>>

 

The Goddess Triumphant

Lucovis gloried in victory, the failsafe Villip based connection courtesy of the traitorous Praetorite Vong had won her. Two male and two female demi-gods lay shattered about the ruins of the access corridors and throne room.

Only one little detail…

She spun out of the Morgukai’s shuriken path, deflected the spear staff and cracked back the dagger. 

Tok could not avoid the strike that shattered his ribs as his companions fell to the Purple demon too far for Endless Wastes to hear his death poem pass his lips.

<Take them…I will play with them later> she ordered the Nova Corps.

She had no more use for the connection to Xithar anyway, his body buffeted by the fight to a dank a bloody corner shambled back up half healed ready for its final role – the reconnection she forced upon it was one of a parasite – Xithar would channel the wyrms power gathered from the terror of millions directly to her the raw energy needed to dominate and recast the demi-gods bodies to join her Pantheon of One.

She reached down to take her animalistic prize, still he thrashed and fought as dark arterial blood flowed from his wound, Oma moved in swiftly to restrain his heavy arms with her own as another Battlelord began affixing the restraints.

“shhh….” Lucovis whispered tearing off his helm to look upon the pinnacle of masculinity, pushing out her excitement as pheromones to soothe him.

“Soon you will be one with a True Goddess…”

Let the Apotheosis begin.

<<<<>>>

[Karmack]

Lucovis has won.

She thinks.

But we haven't heard from Li or Soryu yet...

[Lord_S_Gray]

Chapter 63 — Apotheosis — Harrowing of Hell

Part 1

Vectivus

What kind of being had power over life and death – power that even now poured energy that flowed like warm tar through his limbs even after his chest had been punctured hollow along with his mind, wrenching Vectivus out of the brief  endless nothing of death to serve Her Will?

What kind of being could create from those who were their fiercest opponents Zealots such as those that stood before him now, former Temple Guards and Sentinels awaiting their Goddess pleasure prompt to command them unto battle?

What kind of being could craft metal and flesh into one seamless union, forge already trained and toned bodies of the Nova Corps into more perfect weapons in an act of ecstatic ingenious creation?

What kind of being could grasp the strands of fate and weave through genius and strength a scenario in which half a dozen of Her deadliest foes were now all arraigned in the one place awaiting conversion to her Worship or utter destruction.

The answer was as profound as it was terrifying.  

Only a God could achieve all this.  Not a God like the Maker or the One, vague Mono and Pantheistic concepts so vague and distant as to be meaningless - this was a Visceral being of such supreme power no other Title did it justice.

The Gods of Myth and Legend in all their petty vindictive selfishness walked the plains of mortals once more, and if Lucovis was a God…then these things could only be Her Angels…or Daemons…

Before him eleven of the remaining thirteen Battlelords that had been Jedi Temple Guards and Sentinels stood in the silent ranks before their blood bonded alchemically enhanced Nova Corps, muscles bulging beneath armour that was more shell than suit, grafted by dark side arts to become part of their bodies, none less than 2 metres tall now they were armed with the best weapons a Vigo could buy…and that meant weapons far more powerful than anything most planetary militias could afford.

Strolling past them with the firm steps of a natural born commander the Jedi-Spawn version of Sentinel Oma, her already impressive physique enhanced by Sith Alchemy to include another metre of height, two elbows on each muscled arm, and disturbing gait to her now multi jointed legs.  

The decks of the Hedonist were sweltering with the sheer number of bodies as it rose from its docking cradle in sub level 58, past an endless array of hangars and storage areas to the ever growing hole that looked on the confused skies above.

Lucovis had but two more tasks to accomplish before repairing to the Almas fortress where all was now ready to begin the Apotheosis and the creation of her Pantheon of One Soul in Many erotically charged bodies.

The first was to obliterate the Jedi Masters that shone like irritating strobe lights in the corner of her mind’s eye, and with them disable the Order completely – already Kimar, Yoren and Gurrlum were dead, now Oma as well – more or less – once Yshrrk, Yoda, Nagasa, Tnbu and Soryu – all drawn here by ‘Oma’s’ signal and Valens presence as she had planned - fell the Jedi Order would collapse completely leaderless.  

The Second task was to collect the remaining five Demi-gods in whatever state of unconsciousness was most convenient – the Nova’s were the tools with which these two wills would be enacted upon the face of reality.

“It is time my children…” Lucovis whispered in their ears despite being on the bridge attending to her new prizes.

“To shine Our light upon the surface of this world,”

Or as Vectivus interpreted it –

To spew forth the daemons from the depths of Hades onto Earth

<<<<>>>

Light of the Jedi

Consular green struck and sparked - parrying the blow Yoda had intended to take off his apprentice head – Valens prepared to twist the Aether onto itself in a Null field and turn the tables on Yoda at the last second relaxed the tension behind his eyes.  

Sunrider green motes of energy spat in Yoda’s face as the blades met, he pushed off the impact and landed on an outer cable beside the docking arm, the Force balancing him physically but unable to dispel the psychological shock.

“Let him go,” Soryu said with perfect clarity across the chasm his sabre flying back to his hand.

Voice projected with the Force his words were directed to both of them.  

Soryu knew the creature from the Cularian system that had taken Oma was behind this disaster…he just had to convince Yoda of it.

“This is not Valens doing…”

Yoda scowled looking back and forth between them, Valens denial he did not believe, but Soryu…there was no deception there, the only question whether this was because he was telling the truth or…as many had suspected…believed he was speaking the Truth because of Valens and the other Aetharians control

Understanding - if feeling disappointed by - his doubt Soryu went on quickly,

“Feel out the power, this is Dark in Essence, primal yes but not wholly so…”

That was the distinction of Valens and Milaea, their connection to the force had a rich earthy tone to it, but was never truly dark…nor light…the oily depths that underscored the Terror bomb being used here was simply not them.

Yoda felt the rising tide of shadow…physically as well as in the force…the docking arm rumbled as something…big…approached from below.

“Can you destroy it?” Soryu directed the question at Valens who was looking beneath him at the approaching mass of doonium and daemon…amidst Purple and Red painted plating…one word in gold filigree lettering named the ship that carried the unconscious form of four of his kind….Hedonist

Valens nodded slowly….darkness Yoda and Soryu could and had faced…but the primitive prowess wielded by this creature was beyond the scope of the Jedi’s experience

“If I can get to it quickly…” Valens glanced to Yoda

Better the Devil you know was Yoda’s grudging acquiescence.

<<<<>>>

**1000th Post!!**

[Lord_S_Gray]

Chapter 63 — Apotheosis — Harrowing of Hell

Part 2

Battle of Ord Mirit

“As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death /
I take a look at my life and realize there's none left”
Lyaea’s eyes fluttered open and shut as smog choked air filled her nostrils and sunset shimmers lit her cheeks warm.

Her nightmare hadn’t stopped, it just became more real…instead of a sea of beings it was the painfully strong hands of Nova Corps, in place of Commenors skyscrapers were towers of shipping containers and cranes.

But they were taking her away from People all the same…

I won’t be taken ever again

Flaming blue lit her eyes with luminous defiance as her fists clenched.

The Nova lifting her shoulders barely registered the flicker of light before his head was split by the raging cascade of aetheric lightning that shattered the Extremis-xeno-grade bonds - plundered from a container destined for Lorrd Zoological Parks Predators of the Galaxy Exhibit - they had bound Lyaea with.

Reflexes twice as fast as their base species triggered response, the Nova’s Jedi-Spawn BatteLord leaping down from the transport skiff, its eyes glowing yellow beneath the white temple guard mask that was now part of its face.

“Cause I've been laughing and blasting so long that
Even my mamma thinks that my mind is gone”

But reflexes naturally four times faster - pushed to seven with her furious pull on the aether - out did them all.

Chunks of metal dropped around her rising form as she summoned her bow and arrows from the Nova carrying them just ahead, as the first fingers touched blaster triggers and hands squeezed on electro batons three screeching bolts of oblivion were flying through the array of soldiers sheathed in blazing blue.

As each one slammed through a torso the lighting jumped from the arrow to the armour and weapons cells creating an air shattering chain reaction across the assembled Nova Corps, electrocuting seven.

“But I ain't never crossed a man that didn't deserve it
Me be treated like a punk, you know that's unheard of”

But there were at least fifty more and the BattleLord with careless regard to its physical limitations was charging her. 

Fifth arrow loosed, blades seared over her head, stun bolts became a tide seeking to sweep her away, rolling from the Battlelord, lunging between the stun nets, spared what she could to poke at Maeson’s nascent lucidity and redirected a bolt to shatter the rancor sized restraint around his chest.   

The ash of his incinerated family became the burning sensation of stun pulses around his arms as Maeson awoke….but not fully…a female was in danger…primal hormonal systems took control as he tore through his remaining restraints then pulled apart the Nova leaping back from him before the chunks of wrist clamps hit the ferrocrete.

Even together there were simply too many, the first shots began to hit Lyaea’s armour, the blackstone more than capable of deflecting glancing shots, but soon….

As she skidded away from the Battlelord for a fourth time a Nova just behind the monstrous thing exploded into chunks of orange and red.

Blazing red blaster fire lit up the sky interspersed with black-grey trails of micro missiles as Lyaea took the shock to roll toward and rise up ramming the arm of her bow through the creature’s stomach and curving out of the neck with a gush of black fluids lost on Lyaea’s armour as it offended her nose.

Smashing onto the skiff they had been dragging the two black figures toward, Meeda kicked the hulking Nova at the controls in the back with her poison spiked boots…such an easy kill was too much to ask for apparently, a swift bolt from her disruptor pistol put it down.

Glancing to an open locker on the deck she pulled out the out of place overly heavy helmets before jetting through Yon and Terns support fire to the Black Witch unleashing a flood of electrical arrows, each arrowing seeming to curve like a Jehavey’ir fighter through no less than two beings at a time…

We were on the end of that arrow once… Meeda grunted hitting her thrusters to burn over toward her, shooting off gratuitous blasts on some of the wounded Nova’s.

Lyaea spun round to catch her helmet, Maynards voice thin across the damaged comm.

“This yours Witch?” Meeda asked not at little overwhelmed at the idea off allying with a sorceress on the advice of the Jedi mystic Soryu.

Lyaea swung the bow around still dripping with Viatae to aim an arrow straight at the Mando woman’s helm

You better watch how you talkin’ and where you walkin’, or you and your homies might be lined in chalk

“Mine…who sent you?” She demanded her words almost too fast for Meeda to catch

“Soryu…Jedi Grand Rogue dragged us into this…” she paused to fire with both pistols into another charging Nova.

Soryu….Valens said he was the only Jedi we could trust…

“Whatever…”

The comm crackled as she shoved on her helm with Maynards voice

“…istent Gormin?  Repeat Persistent Gormin?”

“GO!” Lyaea ordered her arm never stopping firing arrows as Meeda’s squad hit the Nova’s from above and Maseon in cold fury ripped the restraints off Selaena and Adaea who remained unconscious.

“You Frequency 156.172 modulation 12.3 Hz”

Meeda retched backward as the woman hit her mind with regal mandate- Lyaea having no time to ask nicely,

“All units switch to 156.172 mod 12.3…” Meeda ordered linking their comms

In three quick leaps Lyaea got atop a container with a good view, unleashing four arrows in rapid succession, two weaving through no less than two limbs and torso’s before they were recalled absent momentum.

Beneath her Maeson took the break to rip containers apart to create a makeshift metal fort to protect the other women…it was not over he knew…

Up ahead a vast purple and red ship appeared from the main docking port that scarred Ord Mirits crust, dozens of skiffs and transports filled with more Nova’s spewing out.  Eyes narrowing she marked another of the Battlelords and loosed an aether charged bolt straight at its face…

It shattered the air on a perfect arc till it smashed into a telekinetic barrier…

So the mutants could also use the aether…could this get worse?

The massive wookie Jedi rounding the corner made her wish she’d never asked.

Yshrrk roared out with all the strength he could.  He didn’t need to ask who to support in this fight…the Force itself told him…

The creatures with the Nova Corps insignia dripped with the tar of the darkside beyond what Yshrrk had ever sensed…as if they had been…Remade in the image of some perverted God of the Sith.

<Forward!> Roared across the comms, his voice echoing over the ruins of the Dawn import export facility. 

He had fifty Jedi with him, the transports 400 metres back with thirty more and a dozen healers, Nagasa was minutes away with another fifty from Dantooine and Tnbu coming in from the west with the what had been Oma’s Jedi Task Force left at Vulpter before…before whatever had happened to Oma happened…180 more Jedi and the rest of the Ordo Mercenaries on Ordo Endures.

An advance force of Mandalorians from the Mythosaur commanded by…actually he wasn’t sure who the Jedi commanding them now Oma was…Force knew what…were already engaged up ahead about to be overwhelmed by the Nova’s that endlessly spewed from the purple destroyer labelled Hedonist.

Dozens of sabres lit and blasters charged as the Jedi rushed forward along the corridors of container’s, over the top of four storey or higher cranes, through force smashed office windows, and down mag tracks cut into the planets crust.

A hundred hammers of telekinetic power smashed into thirty bodies, forty sabres flew like lances of divine vengeance up to 30 metres into twisted backs that melded armour and flesh in an impossible stable state.  Thirty three of the fifty Nova’s in that corps were wiped out in the first charge of the Jedi, only their alchemically enhanced bodies gave the remainder fortitude to prevent a wipe out. 

The Force was ragged and torn from the Terror Bomb and confusion from the cyber-attack denying the Jedi their full strength in the Force, but even accounting for this the Nova’s immediate counter charge proved something was very wrong.

The eddies of energy that poured from the wounded was not pain, nor fear, nor even shock – but rapturous nigh ecstatic joy – Nova’s with limbs severed or torso’s blasted screeched for joy as twisted hormonal and neural systems made every sensation boundless pleasure – their Goddesses Sublime gift to their Profane forms.  They dragged the Jedi that struck them closer like desperate lovers, biting, twisting and stabbing them back with glee.

The Battlelord blood bonded to the shattered Nova’s screeched happily to have been taken by surprise, it ignited its arm integrated blades and rushed at the attackers with the compulsion of an addict for a hit.

Yshrrk met the beastly thing head on as he felt the shock of his men reverberate like a static signal in the wounded force. Taking its golden blade against his sabre, feeling the press of unnaturally grown muscles driving even his strength back, it flexed its legs at in-humanoid angles shuffling like a crab around him, for a brief moment he feared he would be cut down before the fight had even…

A black arrow slashed though its shoulder eliciting a shriek of pleasure, taking immediate advantage Yshrrk bashed his pommel into the head then tore his blade through the waist.  Still it grasped at his leg till he stomped on its skull matting his fur with blood and brain…it will only get dirtier from here

The other Battlelords reacted swiftly - the Nova’s enhanced reflexes integrated with Oma’s tactical genius through their blood binding had them rapidly moving to establish overwatch positions and trap the Jedi in overlapping fields of fire – a group of six knights finding themselves trapped in a rapidly formed killzone hammered back bolts and grenades, the clash of blaster on sabres searing dozens of white bursts that itched the eyes per second as a secondary group of Nova’s leapt from a crane into their midst.

Their tremor swords carved bloody swathes through Jedi flesh, the knights overwhelmed by the suppressive fire and straining to draw on the Force took another five before they fell.

Mike said a silent prayer for them peeking through a sabre cut hole in the shipping container they’d pried opened to serve as a makeshift med centre for Tae’Row’An to stabilise the barely living Jo – as bitter as it tasted, after Vyth the Mak’Tor needed to look to their own first.

“We should make a break for it!” he called to his Kage

Li crouched over Jo’s form, she had followed the thinnest rhythm of his song to find him forgotten in a ferrocrete crater stinking of dead Force currents…though with the rotten feel of the Force all over this planet she could not tell how much of it was within Jo and how much had flowed from outside.  Now she stared quietly at him entranced by the slow beeping of the heart rate monitor.

You were right Jo…so wrong in how you did it…but right…

“Kage?” Mike pressed as the Jedi struck back, twelve of them skewering through the Tremor sword armed Nova’s taking them two to one as Jedi scouts came in behind the Nova firing line – they struck their rear hard, but these creatures were dammed fast, resilient and dripping in darkness to the point he significantly doubted his ability to protect the Kage against a squad of them.

“No…whatever evil did this…created that terror wave...we’re not running from it…”

Her blade snapped on as she stood, her six honour guards positioned to cover her feeling uncompromising firmness of her words, a confidence and focus none of them had felt from her since Vyth.

“...time for the Mak’Tor to fight back.”

Pushing out of the container leaving Ni’na to protect Jo - Li’Mack and her honour guard slid effortlessly amongst Advancing Jedi, weaving through the ranks subtly intoning battle rhythms to support their Jedi brethren, all past grievances put aside for this moment.

The first hit into the Nova’s confirmed all of Mikes fears and more – the Song was thin at best, his stomach still reeling from the Terror Bomb – but these were the situations the Honour Guard trained to fight in – even so the Nova’s were smart and brutal, towering over his Kage, even her dexterity was diminished by their unnatural speed and bizarre joints, but the Mack stubbornness gave her the obstinacy to cut through them.

Jedi heavies armed with searing blue blades, met the charging Nova’s armed with tremor swords and chain-axes head on, one on one they could easily dispatch the Nova’s but as one Knight discovered three onto one was too much, his robes deep and red with blood as he fell, managing to impale two of them before he crashed broken to the dusty ground.

Jedi scouts and shadows stalked from cover to cover pushing shipping containers onto advancing Nova’s, picking out targets for the Mando Jet pack troopers to strike from above, the Nova’s soon adapted taking position on the tops of offices and traffic control towers in response, moving in groups of no less than three to deny any single Jedi a chance against them - hammering bolts down upon the Jedi who were forced onto the defensive.

Jedi Consulars, unable to find anything coherent to manipulate in the Nova’s minds, and revolted by the sickening labyrinthine pleasure driven thoughts of the Battlelords healed who they could and cast up more conventional auditory and visual hallucinations to distract the advancing horde.

Li gritted her teeth as she pushed on driving her blade through another Nova as Mike and Zen took point leaping with startlingly acrobatics for their size across the fallen crates to take down anyone intent on firing on them from above.  A sudden beam of red struck Zens shoulder, he spun round raising his pistol just in time to see the attacker blasted by a micro rocket in to roasted chunks.

Meeda notched up another kill as her jump infantry circled from the Black Armoured Witches to the Jedi and back, but were soon forced to divert to the Nova’s taking the high ground.  Every few seconds she looked to the sky waiting for the rest of her forces to descend, slowed by the chaos above given the lack of any traffic control…

As she landed heavily on the balcony of a traffic control tower unleashing her pistols through the transparisteel into a Nova snipers head she saw grey slashes against the twilight sky – her heart lifted for a moment…

Only a Moment

Six Black Sun Frigates formerly under Captain Tsen, now occupied by the remaining Battlelords and Nova’s streaked ahead to secure the air – Lucovis wanted the Jedi to come that they might never leave.

Starviper fighters poured out slamming green plasma into the ground forcing the Jedi to run for cover.  Once more the Jedi had not anticipated such a blatant display of military might by the Black Sun on a Republic world, let alone one so close to the core – it was a queer justification of Oma’s arguments that the Republic needed its own Navy and disturbing irony that now she controlled the terrorists she would’ve such a Navy against.

The only areas they spared were near the Hedonist where Maeson spun from blackened half molten cover to cover sparking off shots as the kaleidoscope of sabres ripping through the ranks of Nova’s slowed and died as they adapted – there was no single front any more – small pockets of Jedi were isolated as more and more Nova’s swept in on skiffs to re-enforce, the Mando’s were stretched thin trying to take down the Nova’s spinning their skiffs to occupy traffic control towers, container skyscrapers and the tops of intermittent office buildings to get the high ground.

Lucovis would not risk the Demi-Gods flesh, all the Nova troops sent against them were armed to capture not kill….Maeson would permit neither – they would have to do more than kill him – they would have to extinguish his existence before he allowed them to take the women hidden below him.

In that steel prison Lyaea delved deep reaching out to Adaea and her mother through their confused nightmares, desperately trying to bring them Home before they were taken any further.

Home Meeda feared she would never see hers again, that she had lead Clan Ordo to disaster instead of renewal by signing up with the Jedi then following Soryu rather than bailing on him….

As her tired arms thumbed the jump jets again noting she was down to 40% fuel, her comm pinged.

“Ordo Endures on approach” Tnbu’s business like tones came across as pulse wave cannons from a dozen Besalisk war droids shattered the upper shields on one of the frigates sheathing off layers of doonium, two exploding into hover car sized chunks that set dozens of secondary explosions as they hit various buildings across the facility

Behind them Meteor transports full of Jedi and Mando’s trailed by smoking re-entry burn dipped their orange heated noses to the battlefield as the side doors opened and another three dozen Super commandos leapt out jet packs full bore to blast the Nova’s on three cranes, a comm tower and two office building to pieces with their repeaters.

“Sentinel Yshhrk consolidate your forces to the West, I am on approach from the north, Nagasa from the East,”

The support could not come soon enough for Yshrrk worn and bloody, with every step forward in the ferrocrete-durasteel jungle he felt he was sinking further into the depths of Shadow Lands, feeling ever colder despite the pant inducing exhaustion, injuries sustained on Myrkr reopening and burning.  He wielded his blade in one hand, his other tearing into the Nova’s with what he could summon from the Force or…more often…his raw claws.

Around him were the remains of a sentinel who had been dismembered by a Nova on a suicide run, the fanatical thing had been bleeding out as it lunged pins on its grenades pulled.  They cared nothing for their own lives, seemed to revel in any pain inflicted and fought on no matter how many limbs you tore off.

A brief flicker of danger sense almost came too late as another exuberant Nova charged in with detonators active, Mike hurled it away, the explosion in mid-air backwashing heat across the Mak’Tor and Jedi who had found themselves back to back, the yellow bloom lost amidst the battle in the skies above.

<<<<>>>>

[Lord_S_Gray]

 

Chapter 63 — Apotheosis — Harrowing of Hell

Part 3

Battle of Ord Mirit

Jehavey’ir assault ships scorched the StarVipers into flaming comets that slammed into office buildings and toppled entire towers of shipping containers, some onto the Nova’s…some onto the Jedi.  Li herself had to skid to avoid being killed by indifferent steel, throwing up her hands to prevent it crushing down on Zen – with every moment the Song became thinner and more difficult to draw on to the point they were now effectively fighting without any danger sense.

Yshrrk grunted what acknowledgement he could manage at the Gray Jedi…yes he knew the woman from intelligence reports even if she didn’t know him…he had always greatly respected the Gray, and indeed had a nephew among the Vhal’Dan the force strong in his clan - whatever the disputes between the leadership he was more than happy to fight back to back with her now. 

As she nodded in response Yshrrk threw his sabre straight at her – instantly she ducked allowing it to skewer the Nova sneaking up behind her.     

A second later she nearly buckled as the first of her honour guard fell…D’an toppled over fifteen metres ahead at the front of an office block the Nova’s had tried to fortify – a Basilisk crashing into it had forced them to flee, D’an had stood at the door slicing at least a dozen to pieces as they spewed from the dust and flame before a Battlelord lifted him with one handed and slammed him into the ground shattering his bones as easily as his song steel plate.

Before the Battlelord could turn its attention to the otherwise occupied Kage two sabres of brilliant green assailed it. 

Nagasa had never seen the like of these Battlelords outside the Histories of the New Sith Wars…that he knew they were once Jedi added a sickness to having to fight them… blade and shoto working through precise Jar’kai motions he took off an arm yet still it fought on standing atop the Gray it had slain, cauterized wounds still steaming lost in the battles dull glow.  It slashed violently at his neck then swept up two sabres to hurl at him, he batted them off but was exposed to the slamming foot to his leg, crashing rather than landing from the attack he scissored his blade to defect the golden sabre screeching toward him.  The blade crackled and popped in the lock till he hurled forward a burst of telekinetic energy from his chest to send the battlelord flying into a signal post. 

Not letting up he rushed forward and lunged both his blades into its chest.  Still it spat in his face till he crushed its head in with the force. 

Everywhere the Battleords stood the Nova’s fought harder and stronger….  Maseon bore the scars of having downed two of the beasts, his right thigh bleeding out, shrapnel still lodged in it, his left shoulder twitchy as he pounded fire in every direction – he hadn’t stopped spinning round for hours it seemed, every angle a new threat straining his ability to co-ordinate.

But he was no longer alone Meros Tern stood beside him following Soryu’s advice he held position around the Black armoured creatures, his Super Commando’s determined to show these Black Sun thugs how a true merc fought.  Whenever they got too close they spewed promethium from handflamers or gushed a jump jet to blaze the Nova’s that seemed indifferent to pain. 

Tern had seen his share of battles, and even with the Jedi on side…this didn’t look like a good bet.  An assault transport carrying another of the Battlelords cut through overhead disgorging Nova’s onto the molten sludge of what had once been shipping containers hammering two of his men in the back.

A roar gave him the respite he needed, a bulky furred figure leapt onto the transports roof tearing with animal ferocity as below Li, Mike and Zen threw themselves into the Nova’s.  Tearing off the transports upper hatch Yshrrk ripped out one Nova and tossed him to the ground where Tnbu with his fresh forces diced him into eight pieces before he had hit the ground.

Falling into the transport Yshrrk recognised the Sentinel behind the mutilations, Bshe’d Hun, a competent man he had known for some years…Huns usual stoic features were now a mortified grin as his ‘improved’ hormones hade every sensation utter pleasure.  There was no joy only duty in what Yshrk did next – Hun bounded forward, his blade struck into Yshrrks chest in a shallow cut - the grunt Yshrrk yielded was disappointment in himself at being so slow as his paw rose up claws out to bury itself in the stomach…that would never be enough of course, head butting forward Yshrrks eyes swam as skulls met and his fist plunged into the organs…Hun juddered, fought and even bit Yshrrks shoulder plate before he flopped down.   

Below, bereft of their blood bonded master the Nova’s paused for a moment…just enough for Li to find the opening and slash the legs from under one as Mike and Zen back to back performed a choreographed spin, Mike over Zens’s crouch to slice thorough their opponents just as a boom in the air signalled another downed frigate.

“Persistent Gormin onsite!” Maynard called to Lyaea in the lead as the Aertemisaea class transports wove through the horizontal rain of green, red and blue fire of the endless battle between flying pieces of metal called fighters.

Unleashing his magnetic accelerator cannons on the Black Sun frigate in time with Xandra and Komo the Aqualish Son piloting the other ships they ripped easily through the hull, crippling the ship in moments.  Passing its bow they slammed on the reverse thrusters to spin above a Nova corps position on an upper loading platform that had been keeping Nagasa’s group pinned.  Thirty Extolled and four dozen Sons of Kessel leapt from the Aethan ships screaming freedom in a dozen tongues.

Nagasa looked up in time to see the hideous display of Yuuzhan Vong bio-weaponry and freed slaves fury unleashed upon those they imagined were their oppressors.

Yhum who had witnessed the Gods on Lexrul and Vulpter cried out in joy
“Sha grunnik ith-har Yun-Shuno!” as he plunged his amphistaff into the chin and through the skull of the enemies of the Gods, while Mmbri beside him used the Blackstone rifle Jarys had lent him to bludgeon another into a paste in honour of Xoar and all those lost on the Freeblade.

They were followed swiftly by a special delivery in Xandra’s ship – Jarys semi tamed Vorynx Arxis and his pack diving to the ground near Maeson, the genetically engineered predators slamming into the Nova’s with tooth and claw – both the product of genetic manipulation, the Vorynx had the edge for being designed by centuries of careful scientific experimentation – the Nova’s an emotion charged flurry by a Sith madwoman.  Like the animals they were the tore and rent at each other, the Vorynx instinct to protect their People as deep seated as the Nova’s drive to serve their Goddess – both ignored bleeding wounds, both fought on as limbs were lost or chewed to uselessness.

“Finally…”Lyaea breathed out as she focused all her effort on her mother and sister…teasing them out from their troubled state, offering herself as a warm welcoming presence amidst the Hell outside…a home to come back to after being so lost in the wilderness of nightmare.  She grasped and pulled at the threads, slowly a response came   

She could not destroy the fears that had plagued them…even her own – unpleasant as they were they existed as an intrinsic part of all People, but she could undo the excessive violent feedback loop that had it overwhelming them.

Calling on all the Goddesses she long feared did not accept her, Lyaea used their light to chain their doubts and fears back into their subconscious as their make shift fort rocked with ever more explosions.

Ducking from the fire of PLEX missiles, back sore and cuts on her ribs stinging where beskar had once been – Meeda kicked feet first over one Nova then rammed a vibro knife into the next ones arm missing its back as it swiftly turned - it dragged her hand along further enraptured by the sensational pleasure before Yon behind her put a bolt into its skull, their wing mate Jecks finishing off the last of the Nova’s in that tower allowing Tnbu and his lager force to move further up.

The Sullustan Jedi kept his forces in tight groups, medical teams close behind equipped to recover the fallen…and dispatch the still crawling Nova’s. There could be no surrender or negotiation with such creatures, and now as he and three other knights surrounded the once noble figure of a Temple Guard made vile by perverted Force powers he finally cast aside any empathy that might’ve slowed his hand from striking one that had once been a brother. 

The creature snapped out like some kind of preying flora snatching up the head of one Jedi in its blade as the others adopted strong guards – it seemed to smile beneath the expressionless mask as half a dozen of its bonded ‘children’ appeared from behind opening fire.  The Jedi spun as one to hit the bolts back, but two were too slow, another was set upon by the Battelord. 

Finding himself trapped Tnbu reeled in shame but was determined to undo the mistake,

“Form a Circle!” His Jedi moved like water, flowing swiftly and cleanly despite the pollution of fire and darkness thrown at them, a bastion of light amongst the shadows.

It was a scene repeated across the battlefield, the Jedi tactics were all too well known to Oma and by extension each Battlelord…the Over minds game was long and cared nothing for losses as the Jedi did – after all Lucovis had more than enough wyrms to make new BattleLords out of the dead Jedi once the battle was over.

Groups of ten Nova’s formed then reformed from units of three and four coalescing into corners, ruins and cover points to cut the Jedi off from each other – few if any had seen outright urban warfare on this scale, and the denuded nature of the force denied a clean battle meld to compensate. 

Even so it cost nearly a quarter of each Battelords complement to position them just so, Jedi Scouts and shadows taking a horrific toll, the Mando’s, Sons and Extolled used to such fighting frustrating progress…but once complete the results were startlingly.

A number of Jedi fighting in groups of six as Yoda had taught to counter Aetharians found themselves cut off, overwhelmed and denied even the embrace of the Force as they fell - hands never yielding their hilts – this weapons is your life never seeming to mean so much as they held off barrage after barrage.

The battle stood on a knife edge – as many Jedi broke their traps as were caught in it, the Sons and Extolled working toward their Friends and Avatars used the opening to wreak a bloody havoc – Yhum and the Vong dead to the Force and outside any known Republic tactical treatise Oma had read proving a threat the Battlelords could not deal with, the Sons ferocity, creativity only a former slave scrounging for food and hope could boast wiping out dozens of Nova’s with ingenious traps and jury rigged explosives.

The Mando’a kept mobile breaking their allies out of all the killzones they could, but more importantly their greater numbers beginning to get an edge raining fire upon the Black Sun ships from above, supported by Maynard who was putting the Lyssia through its paces to avoid stray shots from all sides, no one seeming to know if they were friend or foe – only as he opened up on the Black sun with blazing blue sheathed ultradense –bullets from the mag-accelerators cannons did the Mando’s leave off them. 

Screeching over the top of one frigate Xandra and Komo took out the turrets as he dropped a sonic EMP point blank, then pulled hard to launch straight up, buffeted by stray blasts then pushed higher by the Sonic blast that crunched the core of the frigate inward as its systems were disabled.

The titanic ship jittered with flickering sparks as it fell, Yhum slapped Mmbri down as it slammed into an office block full of Nova’s firing down upon them as they made their way to the Avatar.  Choking dust was filtered out by his Gnullith, implanted biots allowed him to ‘see’ by heat allowing his warriors to rip through the stunned Nova’s flopping out in screams of excess in an orgy of bloody offerings to the Yun’o.

The explosion seemed a signal of hope, the Jedi pushing back and breaching through the Nova’s, hurling sabres, flinging crates, Nagasa alone pulling down a crane onto three Nova pinned by his Knights with the force.

“ATTACK!” Tnbu screeched sensing the uptick and well aware there would be no surrender offered or accepted by these creatures.  Bursting from the circle he charged round to where the Battelord was locked inconclusively against three knights, ramming his blade through its shoulder blades, and though short even for a Sullustan, dragged it cracking up through its neck to leave it a warbling mess.

Clambering over the ruins of an office wall that had fallen upon some unfortunate knight he swiftly directed his forces by sight to provide relief while he took the fight to what seemed to be centre of the criminals desires – a battered makeshift barricade where a Black Armoured fiend the likes of which he had seen on intelligence reports from across the galaxy over recent days fended off the hordes beside the Mando’s second in command Meros Tern.

Around them a group of irregulars broke through wielding obscene weapons and caked in blood, among them…a being he barely recognised as a pasadan hammering his fists from one Nova to the next as his more nubile comrades distracted them by leaping all around.

Tnbu’s eyes narrowed on them as his men collapsed another crane to trap and overwhelm a group of Nova’s, blazing blue and green blades sizzling into bodies, high above a fourth Frigate was downed as the Mandalorian fighters and bombers from Ordo Endures pressed their growing advantage – the remaining frigate were pock marked with blazing yellow where hull turrets and shield generators had been blasted off by Basilisk runs, the war droids screeching in mechanical tones as they pursued the last StarVipers, their old but well maintained shockwave generator rods pulsing out waves that threw their prey off course and stung the ears of the below.

Li supressed the urge to cover her ears as she fended off the tremor swords of the Nova’s as her honour guard - now reduced to three - moved to dislodge a group above on a turret – she was back to back with wookie as they felt the uptick of success elsewhere, their hasty short range battle meld seeming to mingle their thoughts – both wishing that the sky would light with blades of a Vhal’Dan support force – Li could desperately use Anson D’Aklay and his comrade Kazic Ovarug with a force of Sentinels, and Yshrrk imagined his young Nephew Ryshhk slamming his way through a dozen Nova’s in half as many seconds.

The bulky wookie took the hardened blows on his blade as Li worked around his hulking tree trunk legs to slash apart – or at least imbalance – their legs to allow Yshrrk to crash down his claw upon raining chunks of meat onto her already ruined plate.

As he paused to catch his breath he looked to the Hedonist, Jehavey’ir assault transports twisting over its upper hull blasting at its shields to weaken them before Basilisks charging down at terminal velocity launched their shatter missiles into its upper turbolasers. As if in response the ships hangar doors lit red once more.

Yshrrk’s shoulders fell as the blue-green glow of the skiffs grav plates mingled with the rising smoke from the downed frigates and choking dust. 

Jehavey’ir and Bassilisks redirected to intercept but were stymied by the acrid smoke, the skiffs kept low weaving between wreckage of buildings to prevent them getting a clean shot…those that peeked over enough to soft lock were met with a hail of PLEX missiles from the ground forces. 

Another hundred and fifty Nova’s…

After all they had already lost…

Tnbu gave the heavy order to call in his reserves as the lead Battlorlord amidst the re-enforcements leered at his prime target – the Demi God Male battered and worn, standing atop his shambled fortress protected by Tern and his remaining Super commandos, covered in carbon scoring and black ash from their own promethium wrist flamers, Mmbri and the Sons, heaving exhaustion as Brutes pushed then pulled jagged bars of rusty metal from the undying Nova’s, Nubiles scrounged the corpses for fatal weapons among the stun equipment, Arxis and the remaining vorynx pack dripping Nova blood from their vicious scarred snouts, and Yhum and the Extolled licking their exposed teeth hungry to die for their Gods.

<<<<>>>>

[Lord_S_Gray]

Chapter 63 — Apotheosis — Harrowing of Hell

Part 4

 

Hand of the Goddess

Those three Goddesses sheltered beneath the metal, blocking out the chaos they had helped sew as they focused on soothing each other as the looming weight of outsiders once more determined to steal them away from each other bore down upon them with hum of the approaching skiffs and clank of Nova boots.

Selaena had awoken with a wimper, her voice finally returned in some measure, Adaea still trembling having swapped one cage surrounded by outsiders for another - the nightmares within replaced by a Hellscape without as Lyaea’s head pulsed from the mental over exertion.

Yet there was no choice left if they were to remain free.

Grasping each other’s hands in a circle, Selaena, Adaea and Lyaea pulled on the aether deeply – the Jedi who were struggling to even touch the Force by now were blind –or wilfully avoided - the deeper currents they delved, the flows of pure vicious survival that micro-orgamisms with no higher goal than consuming and reproducing emanated. 

Mike grasped Li’s shoulders as she bent down panting, blood trickling down her face from a wound above her left eyebrow that would doubtless leave a scar,

“Kage…there are too many we…”

His words stopped as Maeson leapt off his hill, chunks of bullet pitted metal lifting of their own accord, a blue glow suffusing through every crack.

“…Mike that is not…” Now Zen was cut off as a blinding white blue light sliced through their eyes leaving green, then purple then yellow after images as they blinked out moments before the sound of air shattering reached their ears.

Tnbu staggered back as the lead skiff carrying the lecherous Battlelord and ten Nova’s was…vaporized…simply vaporized by a bolt of lightning that looked like the wrath of some slighted God.

Selaena channelling and embodying the protective fury of Aertemisaea, Adaea the cunning of Aethenaea and Lyaea the bonding compassion of Aephordaea they burnt with glowing energy that sought out by instinct every nearby creature that wanted to harm them.

The Extolled cried in zealous fervour at the sight, screeching oaths to crush the enemies of the God’s as the three women levitated in a haze above the ground, with renewed vigour they rushed forward to meet the charging Nova’s striking out their amphistaffs and throwing thud bugs only to see their targets turned to carbon by the Yun’o’s power before their eyes. 

Yshrrk took the initiative as the Nova’s tried to pull back into cover roaring for another charge while they were distracted, the Mando’s spun round to cover their approaching and hammer the skiffs as dozens of Jedi rushed the repositioning Nova’s.

Li and the Mak’Tor were swept up in the bloodlust rushing into join them, a second wind filling their limbs enough to hit back the bolts the retreating Nova’s snapped at them.  Now only mere metres from the glowing women Li could hear the Song once more…yet Not the Song as she knew it, there was an alien familiarly and a primitively simple complexity that was both horrifically embracing and joyously repellent. 

As she swung her blade though another Nova long having since lost count, the tally written in charred blood on her Songsteel and cuts in her flesh, another beside one Zen was about to mince was blasted to a quivering hunk by the lightning that seemed less fatal than before.

Blast after blast struck out from the Three Goddesses in Flesh, a dozen Nova’s reduced to carbon piles, shadows burnt into the ruins from the strength of the flares, half a dozen of their allies about to fall saved in the last instant by Divine Thunderbolt.

Yet the initial burst of energy could not be sustained, they had to moderate their attack or risk passing out completely, slowly unclasping their hands from the sacred circle the Aethan women landed softly on the hard melted metal taking back up their conventional weapons as all around them, in the amphitheatre like depression in front, along the tops of toppled material the Jedi traded blow after blow with the remaining Nova’s.

Mando fire knocked out three more skiffs Nova’s rolling off on fire screeching their joy at the feeling were met by Yshrrk and Nagasa’s experienced blades wielded by heavy arms, A Battlelord taking apart a Sons Brute limb by limb was set upon by half a dozen Extolled who told in its flesh how Yun’Yuzzhan carved his body to create the universe.

Only Tnbu held the squads that still responded to his call amidst the confusion with Yshrrks orders back, his eyes boring into the three women as they shook off the pure force energies like drops of rain.

No one should possess power like that…no one

They were the true enemy, this whole disaster was their doing…he had written the intelligence reports of their depravities on Myrkr, Coruscant, Lexrul, Nimban, Vulpter himself, doubtless these Nova’s were some experiment of theirs to take over the Black Sun gone awry that the Jedi were now forced to put down…looking behind him as the healers moved up he saw the price of their madness in the jittering bodies and spurting blood of his fallen Order.         

Tnbu used the time to shore up his flanks with additional squads of Mando’s deploying in Meteor Transports – whatever Oma’s failings she had chosen wisely in her mercenaries without them they would’ve had nowhere near the numbers to counter the Black Suns conventional military. Across the ruined facility small skirmishes petered out.

Across slicing sabres and flash evaporated blood Yshrrk slogged through his fur weighing him down by at least an extra ten kilos so stuffed with dust and blood, not a little of which his own as he stomped down to ensure the littered around were dead, noting many of this wave had blood pooled around non-lethal weapons…finally he understood…they had wanted to capture the ones in Black Armour – this explained a great deal of how the male he had seen had fought on so long – shrugging off a stun blast was much easier than a death bolt…and kill the Jedi.  Had they fought alone they would’ve easily succeeded, only fighting together had they denied these Nova’s desire.

Yet still many questions remained unanswered about this.

As she drew her song steel Kukri from a Nova neck Li finally had time to begin to wonder the same things…the situation made no sense, Jo out cold reeking of darkness, a flying trio of lighting clad women, twisted Nova’s and Battlelords not seen for centuries with lightsabre hands…

Back to back the three Aethan women fired off quick shots into the heads and neck of the Nova’s still struggling with the Sons and extolled who had formed a cordon around them, their breasts heaving from their explosive burst of aetheric lightning. 

Across the ruin of the shipping yard they watched with growing concern encroaching lines of sabres in the witching hours of the morning, air filled with the unique tang of blood and oxidization that followed the overuse of energy weapons in a small area.

Tnbu gestured to surround them – they had been allies of convenience, now it was his duty to have these wanted terrorists disarm and submit to questioning and most likely prosecution…

Tnbu had held no illusions they would submit willingly.

The women sensed his intent – just another Outsider trying to steal them away from each other and abuse them like the Nova had wished to, like Xithar had done to their babies and the slavers twenty years before that, Maeson though wounded and depleted stood over the women protectively – he would not allow it pacing beside the remaining Vorynx that growled rumbling warnings to approach no closer – they would not allow it – the unstoppable force of the Orders pursuit of justice and control was once more screeching head first into the immoveable object of Aethan resistance to any Outsider demands or attempts to control them in any way shape or form. 

Just when she thought it was all over Li felt the tension double in an instant…Yshrrk glanced over his shoulder as he shook the intestine off his claws at the growing stand-off, Mmbri and the Sons tightening their grips on their rifles as the Jedi approached their cordon, the Extolled licking their lipless teeth ready to die, but even more excited to kill Jeedai for their Avatars. 

A muffled boom turned all attention back to the Hedonist.

Fear it signalled more Nova’s was soon dispelled – the whole ship was coming to pieces From the Inside Out! – the Mando fighter support had taken down its upper cannons but not sought to blow it –the explosions would’ve killed everyone.

Internal explosions made the vast ship sway unnervingly to and fro, the blue glow of the anti grav drives flickered then stopped entirely.

“RETREAT!” Tnbu screamed as the Hedonist began to crash.   

<<<<>>>>

[Karmack]

Wow...    That's an epic battle!  And just when you think the dust will settle and maybe there will be some form of reconciliation...   Tnbu.  Darned Jedi...  LOL

I love Li's actions.  Her refusal to back down, to fight the evil.  I hope that she can free Jo'Set from it.

And the alliance of Yoda, Soryu and Valens....   Might explain why the Hedonist is exploding...  LOL

The big finish is coming.  Hanging on for it!

[TheDutchman]

Karm has the right of it:

E
  P
    I
      C
        !

Can you IMAGINE the cinematic value and spectacle if ever this makes it to the big screen?!  It's for scenes like this chapter that IMAX was MADE for!

BTW LSG: absolutely LOVE the easter eggs!  From Ryshhk to Li, peppering the narrative seamlessly like you've done makes an already outstanding story that much more enjoyable 

And we STILL have more to look forward to!  Impeccable LSG!

P.S.  These two Mak'Tor Jedi with Li: "Mike" is great but I don't know about this "Zen" character...*

*_{I am, of course, j/k} 

[Lord_S_Gray]

Chapter 64 — Apotheosis — Wrath of Gods

Part 1

 

At The Gates

They didn’t land on the oil stained ferrocrete at the bottom of the docking pit.

Knees first Valens slammed into the top of a Purple and Red Destroyer, impacting a crater in the doonium plating – before the shockwave in the structure had spread a metre his ultra-dense blade was through the plating cutting a hole.

Soryu and Yoda more lightly landed to the sides, Soryu bridging the gap between Master and Apprentice as best he could by drawing the common thread of purpose and need for healing between all three of them.  When facing such darkness division was death.

Slipping off the fatigue from the battle with Jo, then Yoda, Valens slid into the Hedonist upper decks, the unconscious forms of his family like blazing lights leading him forwards.
 
High above the others were under serious threat, but battlefield pragmatism told Valens ultimately the enemy on this ship was by far the worst.

Rising up amidst the sparks and squeals of hull breach the red glare shadowed across his features that were set firm as the stone from which his armour was hewn as he strode forth, Yoda and Soryu near forgotten behind him as he focused on the Four True people on the Hedonist.  The fifth…Something…was masquerading, or rather becoming that which they were not meant to be – a twisted abomination that had felled his family and needed to be destroyed.

Bulk head doors slammed down before them to seal the breach – Valens kicked the industrial grade durasteel doors open with all the strength centuries of genetic enhancement had gifted him….no not gifted…to improve, to excel was expected - this Abomination had at least the shred of wisdom enough to understand that People were superior and the desire to join them and raise itself above the mortals that crammed the galaxy.

Valens respected that – but he would still destroy it – the Peoples power was theirs alone, none could be allowed to share in it but those they chose, and they would never allow it to be taken.

A surprised Nova Corps turned to fire on the intruder, Valens grasped the barrelled of the rifle and squeezed it closed stifling the energy pulse to explode outward before shattering the mans helmet against the bulk head – the blood smelt too much of manganese, iron and copper, their enemy had enhanced these soldiers…they too would have to be destroyed.

At first Soryu thought it some kind of dead man’s trap, then he realised the red tendrils of energy leached off the Nova’s corpse to Valens were intentional – sparing no technique Valens drained the raw life energies from the creature to energise and heal himself.

Yoda watched the scene with a deepening sense of both conviction and trepidation – conviction he was right to condemn Valens and his kind – the use of Life Draining to heal himself was utterly abhorrent, yet trepidation that perhaps…in the end Soryu was right – only someone like Valens was ruthless enough to defeat the enemy ahead…

In moments they were met half a dozen more twisted and corrupted Nova’s.  As Yshrrk struggled against the same Yoda and Soryu benefited from Valens utter incapacity to feel any fear that infected their subconscious through the battle meld.  

Before they even realised their blades were lit and deep in the bodies as they charged through the corridors toward the darkness that seemed to double its oily grip with every metre they drew closer.

As Yoda leapt across internal partitions and to slice his blade though a shoulder, then land in a twirl that bisected a second Nova he felt the stab of fear – not of facing the darkness, nor losing to it…but what remained for him to do should he Valens and Soryu succeed…

The disquiet only intensified as Valens hurled off another body that spewed not only blood from the ruptured torso but cellophane red lines of pure force energy.  The body Soryu stood over retched upward as a flow of tendrils poured from it as well with Valens determined stride forward – there was no point saying anything, he would do as he pleased…and in all honesty they needed him to.

Through another bulk head, across another station they lit the dim ship an emerald green and white, then eerie red as the path of blood was carved to the bridge.

“Fate laughs at the warrior…” Lucovis mused awaiting their arrival, the bodies of Demigods restrained in stasis fields beside her throne as lighting flowed around her arms in playful luminesce.

“...none can endure the Wrath of the Gods.”

The sealed door to the command room exploded open under the hurled weight of half a dozen easily broken guards.

“I am the Wrath,”  

Valens reply crackled along with the lighting that covered his body as his arm drew back the doonium cord to unleash in less than a second six blackstone arrows at the Abomination with Yorna’s face that sat upon a crystal throne above his family.

The Black arrows shattered against Lucovis Telekinetic shield, the oozing heart that pumped toxic energies into the Force sat with cold eyes in purple and gold as her menials sat in cheery dazes at their stations in the vast bridge come throne room, the work consoles on the lowest of three platforms joined by purple marble gold inlaid stairs, the Throne was atop the highest level looking upon the middle that showed a holo satellite feed of the unfolding battle below - as was fitting for divinity to look down upon the sweep of a world in a single glance. The Stasis pods sat to the side of the Crystal throne – the bodies of the demi gods kept in perfect stillness for their journey to ascension.

The purples of Lucovis and Blues of Valens lightning were joined by the green of Yoda and Soryu’s blade as from either side of her throne Battlelords that had once been Temple Guards, their hands replaced with humming golden sabres unique to their cadre leapt – near flew – down the steps toward the creature that dared raise a weapon against their Goddess.

Soryu intercepted in perfect Niman, his style as flexible as possible to counter any threat – golden blades played white against his as Valens strode forward seemingly ignoring Soryu’s effort to protect him from the body guards.

From behind the throne a far darker presence sprang out.

Oma standing now near three metres tall, her body endlessly climaxing as she served as the nerve centre of the army of the Sublime Goddess, her knowledge of Jedi tactics flowing like blood to the Battlelords outside, integrated across their minds to formulate a fitting response to Yshrrks charge and the arrival of the Mando’a.

As Soryu grasped the second Battleord in the force and hurled him to the lower level as Yoda locked eyes with Oma.

“Master Yoda…” her voice seemed overlaid and jittering like a bad recording “…come to claim you pride back from my flesh.”

He made no response simply leaping forward, Ataru strike meeting a strong Makashi guard on the middle level, the backwash of the clash shattering sensitive instruments on the holo.

“You are a God,” Lucovis noted as she pinged Valens shikkars away from being teleported inside her body where they would wreak havoc.

Around them the Jedi and the twisted Sith creations clashed, the Force a see saw of push and pull, light crashing against dark…overwhelming for any of the Jedi outside the Hedonist to contemplate without suffering a cerebral haemorrage, Valens and Lucovis ignored it with deific disdain as he strode up the stairs with adamantium purpose.

“Or you will be with my blessing…”

“You understand nothing,” His attempts to disengage the stasis fields around his wife…brother…sister…mentor… were rebuffed as he strode forward the theatrics of the arrows and daggers spent…the battle would not be that easy…he glanced at his family, injured but unharmed otherwise, the stasis fields keeping them from healing.
 
“A God does not make deals nor threats,”

“Her Will Alone is sufficient,” Lucovis agreed rising from her throne.

As the battle on the mortal plains below raged - hordes of Sithspawn struck against a wall of Jedi outside the Hedonist – the true battle - the War in Heaven waged with the Wrath of the Gods finally began.

<<<<>>>>

[Lord_S_Gray]

Chapter 64 — Apotheosis — Wrath of Gods

Part 2

Light of the Jedi

He stood in a whirlpool of light. 

Searing, heatless light that would destroy flesh with the briefest touch.

The golden blades of the Battlelords sought any gap in his defence, his hands were quickly calloused from gripping the hilt too tightly, white knuckling the metal as if he were on some thrill ride at an amusement park with a broken safety harness. 

Throwing up telekinetic blasts he pushed the battle toward the control consoles, the mindless slaves of the Sith woman working on even as a Battlelord fell back crushing one to death. 

This was the future he had to stop, a galaxy divided between three classes, the mindless servile drones, the ecstatic fanatic worshippers and above them all the Sith overlord, killing, maiming, creating hideous experimental creature from hapless victims on sadistic whims.

At the far end of the throne room a wall shattered and Valens and the Creature vanished within, at the other side Oma pushed off Yoda into a door, she loped forward fist first, Yoda barely ducking in time, the fist going through the durasteel.

A needle of telepathic pain struck behind his eyes – he could not be distracted in this fight is he was to survive.

Pushing up a wall of mental light he pushed forward with a Jar’kai flurry – he had adapted the technique to be used with one blade with Odjina years before, making up for one less sabre with additional speed.

His movements were swift and sure, uncluttered by the desire to win, nor fear of loss – yes he had intention in this battle – yet this was true of all actions.

The Battlelords hammered voraciously against him driven by primal fury channelled into precise blows directed by years of experience.  Their eyes were glassy and full at first glance, but hollow of true sentience – tools of their master that stuck again and again with sabre and force.

Soryu leapt back, rolling and twisting trying to avoid collateral damage amidst the rows of consoles and workers, eventually it was impossible to avoid, rolling beneath a blade that seared his robe the Battlelords momentum cut into a workers back, the body flopping in two over its station.

Finally in a more open region to the far edge of the control panels he struck back fully.

Every time he raised his blade he would regret it later – a burden that had been with him for years, and one that he would not be rid of even if he could as it forced him to always fight only when he felt it Truly right to do so…

Not that I have always done so

Oh yes there had been times he had raised his blade in simple obedience to orders…but no more, he was done with the Order now, and after supporting Valens he had little doubt the Order was done with him – so as a Jedi alone he would breach the darkness.

The suddenness and speed of Soryu’s charge was lost to the Battelord eyes by the luminous energy that beamed from his exposed skin.

With deft grace he moved under the first hulking form arms sped and strengthened by the Lightside his emerald blade stuck deep into the waist, cutting through the meat and metal melange that was its body slowly but surely. 

In raptures of pleasure it screeched out as the other came upon him from behind. 

Outsmarting their experience as Temple guards Soryu deactivated his blade and strafed backward releasing his hilt to spin on one heel and punch with both fists into the second Battlelords knees.

Hands galvanised by the Force he shattered the joints beneath the plating and skin, the creature utterly struck by the pleasurable sensation toppling over backward as the half sliced one slashed forward at him.

Rising up Soryu pivoted, the golden blades eating only the durasteel floor- the marble reserved for the upper levels – with a strong upper cut he smashed the face of the beast inward, the skin bonded mask retching inwards. 

Knee-less mean while rose back up, blithely slicing off its own legs with is hand blades to charge him on stumps. 

Swirling into a round house kick, its reflexes were good enough to cause Soryu to miss its head but still get its neck, a bony wet crack echoing across the bridge section of the command room.

Reaching out he reignited his sabre and sent it twisting into the broken faced ones chest, spinning it rapidly in his mind to sear out the heart as he crushed the other head into the durasteel.

As the distorted life forces faded from the creations he became more aware of the emergency signals and juttering as the ship came under fire, the crew still calm and impassive in their mind chained state.

Focusing on the greater threat he sought out the clashing energies further in the ship of Yoda, Valens, Oma, and the…Dark creature.

More levitating than running up the stairs past the ruin of the holo projector and throne….

He stopped dead at the site of the contents of one of the stasis pods.

“How…how did I not sense it…” Soryu swallowed hard.

The conflict in his heart between the Order and the Jedi was long finished, but in the pained frozen expression of the woman in the stasis pod a far greater one he had all but forgotten hit him harder than any Battlelord or Sith ever could.

In Sofa’s unconscious face the friction between being a Jedi and Father burst into outright war.

<<<<>>>>

[Lord_S_Gray]

Chapter 64 — Apotheosis — Wrath of Gods

Part 3

Fist of the Order

The Guardian Blue sabre in a now six fingered hand spun ferociously with Oma’s skill taken to another level by modified limbs and nervous system.

This was the fallen form of the Order, results of an incautious aggressive approach – but for the Will of the Force that could’ve been him stumbling into the Hell caverns in which Oma was both destroyed and exposed.

Destroyed for her true sentience was gone.

Exposed for whoever had done this had laid bare the anger, ambition and ferocity of the Sentinels and Temple Guards and given it physical form – the worst of their Souls now reflected in their bodies.

Already beginning to tire from resisting the Terror Bomb and then the skirmish with Valens, Yoda felt every impact of her blade against his guard, the blue blade seemed to vanish in the holo-graphs shimmer making it difficult to track, he relied on the Force as his ally to guide his hand while he tried to discern a way to defeat her.

Her movements were fluid, strong, precise…range of movement in her limbs beyond humanoid…the spiral of her hands swapping to reverse grip as she drove toward his legs, the pivot of her knees as she avoided his clumsy parry at her shoulder…a touch of Valens biology but perverted and hasty as if forged by an impatient God – he could use that.

It drooled from lipless teeth, “Still sore I took your throne!”

Ignoring the jibe Yoda took a running leap through the blue lit holo of the battlefield that Ord Mirit was becoming onto the ledge of the projector, his blade in the reverse grip he had intended to take Valens head with – a form anyone familiar with Yoda’s style would not expect.

Oma was tickled with joy at the slight change, but Yoda was predictable, given his already depleted resources he would go for the neck, blade raised quickly and back leg tensed to follow up on her inevitable parry…

He sensed the assumption and undermined it – 300 years old I may be but predictable…never…

The build-up of telekinetic energy Oma was primed to deflect Yoda slammed into his own back.

Painfully flopping from his jump he scraped into the ground twirling his blade out rapidly, the consular green slicing through Oma’s right ankle with a suddenness that made her jump too late to save the foot.

The climax spread as she screeched out her sublime guttural prayer to her re-maker as steadying herself as best she could slashing down at the fumbling imp.

Rolling out with all his speed Yoda felt force exhaustion burn, the fight with Valens had taken more than he dared to admit, matching Valens speed was taxing and Oma was now just as fast.

Cringing Oma tried to re bind her foot using the techniques of her Goddess, but the cauterized wound was too distorted for her limited skill, resigning herself she stomped down on the stump feeling only more jolts of giggle inspiring tickles, the imbalance would work for as her own unpredictability amongst the other additional joints and range of movement she had been blessed with.

Yoda had barely risen and Oma was on him, blue blade like a wall collapsing down, her arms moving with a range of motion that made her elbow and shoulders appear shockingly disjointed - yet he retained an advantage in mobility due to his size – the irony teaching that size matters not never lost on him - he probed the right flank where he had severed the foot – forcing Oma to keep twisting hips unnaturally, then ducking under and dashing along the ground to strike at the left.

She avoided the strike this time, leaping up and slashing down forcing him in between her and the vast strategic holoporjector, she kicked out with her stump forcing him to strafe toward another slash – her jagged right leg smashed into the projector as he took the blade against his own, he used her strength against her to twist it into the durasteel then pushed with the force to break out.

Kissing blades an instant later he came up as he released one hand to grasp a ball of telekinetic energy to hurl in her chest knocking her back into the holo projector which finally flickered and died.

With genuine annoyance Oma hacked forward with all the ferocity, passion, guile and opportunism fifteen years as a sentinel frustrated by Kimars strictures had built up and were only now finally unleashed fully.

Yoda, Jedi master for nearly a century replied to her barrages with flawless Ataru and precise telekinetic barriers to stymie and limit his opponent’s range of movement, beginning to land blow after blow sizzling into the vile armour that was part of her flesh as her mental instability began to distort movements – so he thought.

She took the pleasure of the cuts to get close to him, she could take tremendous punishment in her blessed form to force him to become more and more weary and grind his limbs down by having to counter her much stronger blows – if she could she would take him alive to be reforged as a valuable warrior or jester at the very least for her Mistress.

Each strained muscle, each breath scratchy as Oma tried to crush his chest with her mind, the lights of the command room dim at best all but vanished against the glow of their clashing sabres, a cacophony of light that never seemed to end.

Chunks of marble, pieces of the projector were lifted and hurled at each other in a tornado of telekinetic power that surrounded them and ground away at the stairs to either side of the platform, she was pushing him toward the wall, trying to deny him the mobility he needed, trapping him…Trapping him…

Twisted everyway…follow the path Soryu revert to a peaceful meditative Jedi religion…follow the path of Oma and become the arm of the Republic and risk all the corruption that…no not risk…in ages past it had corrupted the Jedi and yielded horrendous civil wars – who was he to think he could resolve the tension that had plagued the Order ever since it was founded?

His stance staggered, his legs felt heavy, the tightness behind his eyes built.

It was Laughable he was arrogant enough to believe anyone would care what he thought anymore…
Failure as a Master who would have to Kill his own apprentice,
Disaster as a commander who sent his Knights to the slaughter on Myrkr
Coward as a Knight who ran from Kimar rather than confront

Yoda’s vision became splotchy, Oma tensed her knees, priming all her new found dexterity for the final blows, her eyes narrowed as her smile widened.

Laughing, she was laughing at him, Yoda’s whole life was joke, the best that could be said was for one moment on Uba IV he stood beside a true Jedi in Soryu for a time…

The weight of his failures collapsed upon him, his hand dropped, his feet slowed, a kick from a leg he had severed a foot as large as he was off of slammed him in the chest.

The shock of pain across his body jolted his mind out of the half slumber he had been falling in…for a brief moment he felt the dark pressure on his mind…

Yes those failures were his…he had admitted as much to himself…but something was making the quick and easy path of escaping them into death preferable to living and learning from them.

As Oma’s shadow fell over him, sparks from the hollow projector casting a flickering light on his smile he realised his biggest mistake yet – Oma was never known for her mental abilities…he had taken that assumption into the battle and diverted energy from mental defences to match her brutish towering form…and now was about to lose because of it….

A final failure to cap them all

Oma lunged in anticipation of the climax of the kill, the force and sith alchemy filling her limbs with strength.

Yoda’s eyes flicked with awareness just in time to meet hers.

With a colossal force push he slammed himself to the side – her brutal strike smashed through the interior wall, pieces of marble flaking off into her skin.

Rounding back up he came in behind her fast and angry…he would not be beaten with his own failure to uphold the Jedi ideals by Oma of all people…he would Learn and live with his failures rather than submit and die to them.

But first.

Shaking off the dust Oma growled like a caged nexu as Yoda leapt away from her in the close confines of the access corridors, bounding off pipes, cables, fuse boxes and power regulators gaining distance.

Enraged she hurled a pulse of energy that crumpled the industrial durasteel of the walls inward trying to trap him, the nubile little creature slid through the gaps, she pounded forward using her bulk to demolish the material barriers as she pressed against his mind ever more strongly, feeling the rising tide of light build in response as he countered her metaphysical assault that had come so close to victory.

His robe was all but torn off, the half-hearted armour he had found in the Jedi safe house barely worth the weight as he scrounged around the ruin of the corridor the clang then wet thump of Oma’s approach growing. 

Strength even in the force would not beat her at this point, so he went for stealth, supressing his presence as much as possible as the heedless Oma tore more of the ship apart with her blade.

He was near…she could smell him…he might supress his presence but he could not supress his smell.

She was close…a jagged piece of durasteel was cutting into his hand to fit into the gap…a little more….

Nearly there he thought he was being clever…stealthy…her broad shoulders strained against the sides of the corridor limiting her mobility…

In a flash of blinding light and shearing metal Yoda’s sabre ignited into not Oma’s shoulder but her arm pit as her fist tore through the metal to grasp the wrist that held the hilt now burning into her. 

Yoda retched back pushing with the force to try and pry the jaws that gripped his him as tenaciously as a Vornskr with a ysalimiri.

She tore him out of hiding place as he did what he could to move the blade in her body, the pleasure sensations intensified yet the loss of functionality she knew would follow demanded a retreat, releasing her grip she smacked down with the sabre in her other hand to try and disarm him.

The strike hit hard and he nearly dropped his blade, but rose to avoid her follow through and push back out quickly through the ruination between her legs managing a gratuitous blow against her thigh, she pivoted round stomping down near catching his back foot as he spun to meet her next blow.

They were off their guard, tired, wounded, robbed of balance but there was no choice other than to fight – he struck with all the speed and dexterity that remained to him

She pushed herself to keep up with the little green fool. Her sabre was too long and slow to catch him, she summoned up broken pieces of wall and floor to distract him as she pulled her knives and spun in a flashing circle finally taking a satisfying chunk from his arm, Yoda fell back pained flipping to a one handed grip on his blade.

He tried to draw on the force to calm the pain that threatened to overwhelm him, but after so much push and pull it was near absent of capacity to meet his needs, rolling back he dodged blade that lanced into the pitted durasteel as Oma advanced with sickening knee joint twists, her blade coming down at him as he rose to press his blade into the attack.

All the strength he Sith Alchemy and ferocious righteous certainty could give her bore down on his blade.

He switched it off.

The move would’ve wrong footed a lesser opponent by over balancing them…Oma was not so easily dealt with, rising up her knee she slammed it into Yoda’s head sending him spiralling back, her fist flew forward blade in hand, his claw reached out to catch it - an elongate nail dug into Oma’s massive hand, her grin widening as neurons that should feed into pain centres released streams of dopamine.

Struggling to breath Yoda balled up around her huge hand, toes claws digging in as well as she rose…Oma’s hand wrapped in a Yoda sized glove she slammed her fist into a grated durasteel panel that had fallen from the cieling shattering his curled back - Once.

Twice…

Thrice will kill me
His body blazing Yoda scrambled like a woolamander up along Oma’s arm with his claws and onto her face, drilling his middle claws into her eyes before she knew what was happening.

Frantically her arms sprung up to tear him off – they gripped only the oil and blood slicked armour, clawing he avoided her knives as she tried to stab him, blood spurted from her eye sockets, her slashes were rapid and ferocious but jagged and unstable as her motor control was twisted by the surge of hormones and Yoda’s occasional rebuff with the force as she moved faster than he believed he could desperate to avoid another pummelling.

Oma’s death was not quick.

Even before the Sith Alchemy her phenomenal endurance meant it could never be so

It was not noble…

It was not clean. 

As her own knives sliced into her face, Yoda scrambled to the back of her head reached round and with his claws dug deep into her eye sockets as his feet clawed the back of her neck open, tearing, rending as she gnashed and screeched.

She slammed her head into the wall with Yoda as helmet, he was coated in blood and flesh, he doubled down and bit –actually bit in primal ferocity into her scalp ripping off a chunk of skin and hair.

Everything she could she tried—the force, her sabre, knives, metal pipes and power cells but he would not be moved no matter the punishment she inflicted.

Finally she began to give out- never from pain for it was all rapture – but pure loss of function – his toe claw tore the carotid artery, black blood spewing out down her front, his finger claws breaking through the orbital plate and into the brain, slurring the frontal lobes.

Her body shuddered, limbs flopped and jutted of their own accord, only stymied by the confines of the ruined corridor till finally a response of sorts fell over the body and it sunk halfway resting on the ruin of a ventilation shaft.

He spat out the vile blood in his mouth trembling still from the pulsing fight hormones in his system. Yoda was rarely subject to such extremities of biological arousal, it clouded the mind, twisted choices that on careful contemplation seemed rash and counterproductive….. 

For destroying the would be Fist of the Order – he could forgive himself this exception.

<<<<>>>>>

[Lord_S_Gray]

Chapter 64 — Apotheosis — Wrath of Gods

Part 4

Clash of Gods

Even as Lucovis rose the Crystal throne twisted in the purple glow that emanated from her.

The thrones arms pivoted into razor thin slivers of crystal that flew forward only to shatter into sand against his defensive lighting shield as Lucovis leapt forward eager for another dance of death.

Coming through with an overhead slash her purple power sword hammered into his green sabre as he gripped his blackstone sword in his other hand. 

The impact of the first blow had not even sent shockwaves 2cm into the air around before Valens spun through half a dozen jar-kai motions with rock shattering strength that sought Lucovis flesh.

Their feet crossed along the golden marbles past the stasis pods, neither desiring to risk damaging the precious material within despite their different yet horrifically similar reasons.

Lucovis felt the pattern of his movements, flow of the Force and imitated it, blinding purple with sickly flesh hue ignited across her body as a robe of fire to counter his thunderstorm, the confluence twisting helixes of energy that spiralled melting doonium and durasteel scoring the upper levels floor, imploding circuits and power conduits within the walls.

The pulsing of twelve chambered hearts increased between telekinetic stabs attempting to silence the efficient squeezing, arteries flowed blood rich with hormones, ultra-compact sugars, unique proteins and heavy metals toxic to most sentient species into minds that analysed the other for any slight imperfection not just in physically motion but mental fortitude.

Lucovis hedonistic, profligate desire was as immutable as Valens tribally protective intent leaving no room for confusion or doubt to be exploited with mental trickery as Oma had Yoda.

Swords clashed like streaks of divine fire spraying sparks that illuminated the room as the light fittings were blasted out by the energy confluence about them.

Gauntlets and shin armour scraped against each other like continental plates eroding the artificial barriers between tense bodies that moved with fluidity and range of motion far beyond any human contortionist could hope for.

Muscles tensed and relaxed with fluidity that gave them greater strength than a cargo droids, fed energy by a circulatory system more efficient than a Givin mag-rail network, and from within by photosynthetic and anaerobic cells that generated more energy than Tattooine solar panels of the same area.

Their armour was slowly sliced down, a pauldron falling to Valens Jar’Kai upsweeps, a knee guard to Lucovis Sithar’i thrust, the artificiality of their movements became ever more pronounced and unnaturally precise with the fear of physical damage.

For neither had been truly born.

He had been made – an experiment and contingency – to push the limits of their genetic and aetheric sciences with male chromosomes and as the emergency destroyer of the True height of the Technocracies achievement – Aethena – should she in her superiority ever become…disobedient…

She had been made… initially to revive a dying race, samples taken from only the best and brightest – and her gene-mother Yorna had shone so brightly in compassion and love for her People. 

But in Xithars hands she was given new purpose – to allow him to re-invent the Sith as a Pantheon of one in the form of genehanced erotically indulgent God bodies.

She was achieving her purpose – even as Xithars body died SHE lived on in a near invincible body capable of celestial ecstasy moment from obtaining nine more bodies – the Sith path completed in the Last Sith’s apotheosis.

Valens never fulfilled his goal, the Goddess he was trained to destroy died long before him, secondary objective, to preserve the People all but failed – designed to destroy he struggled against his nature to create and rebuild their world and population – vengeance and spite for Outsiders written into his genetic code, his actions could only bring larger threats upon those he was meant to protect.

That the being before him had been taken and twisted from its purpose all the evidence of his failure he could ever need.

Rapid stabs toward his chest were batted back as waves of purple energy washed across his face pushing him toward the wall, follow up a stream of oozing pink vapours – the pheromones bounced harmlessly off the specialised olfactory receptors already occupied by Sofa’s pheromones, resenting any possible competition for his affection.

Lucovis truly had the body of an Aethan –

Enhanced speed that rained dozens of blows from every axis of three dimensional space per second as he crumpled backwards further

Inhuman strength that rippled air with shockwaves that bent stanchions and columns when blows met, grinding the metal and stone of their weapons like a thousand years of erosion.

Precision and dexterity which effortlessly twirled about the I beams and pipes Valens hurled at her as if they were unwanted partners in some macabre ballet of industrial ruination that caused the entire ships frame to buckle as supports were turned to projectiles.

Cognition to learn and adapt to every counter and riposte, scry meaning from every millimetre of movement and respond instantly with the most efficient counter acts possible as neurons sparked at near light speed to integrate all Xithars knowledge with hundreds of tomes eidetic memory had soaked in at Almas fortress Library. 

Endocrine system carving a permanent smile on her face as the aertemisin combat hormones flowed through her blood pumped by a twelve chambered heart and mingled with aephrodaesine to create a fetish worthy sensation of erotic blood lust.

All this made her superior in every possible way to any other known humanoid species, a God by virtue of biology even before wielding the Force – allowing her to out play a genius like Vectivus, break the iron will of Oma, defeat the bestial strength of Jarys. 

Yet she was not an Aethan by culture or birth. 

As fast as her movements were Valens could see micro-moments of instability from dominating a body rather than being born to it, hormone levels imbalanced from artificially stimulating puberty that he could taste in the pheromones she gushed like a woman in permanent heat.

Tiny faults, imperceptible to Jarys, Kiraea and Melron due to the barrage of nightmares Vectivus had unleashed – but to Valens – to Valance who had trained specifically during the Technocracy to see such things in Aethena should the day ever come he had to stop her – they were glaring examples of just how far from divine Lucovis was.

Valens was not born – he was made to kill a Greater Goddess than the one that hurled purple lighting and spun golden blade in a tornado of kinetic energy at him now.

He spun under her blade once more and rammed his fingers into the wall behind, tearing through the durasteel like paper and hurling the beaten metal before rolling through the gap he had torn into the next compartment.

She followed with a graceful spin of her bladed overlong hair that scattered out anaesthetically coated darts that were immolated by his lighting shield.

None of his knowledge made the battle any easier, just because he could see her faults did not mean he could work his way through the needle tipped tendrils of metaphysical thorns, the sea of lighting that bubbled the decking to sludge or the incessant thrusting Sith sabre forms to make use of them.

The confluence of energy about them began to intensify, Lucovis drew heavily on the frothing energy stored in the Wyrms below her as Valens sucked out the reserves of the Aether from every channel he knew how to connect to – the White Current of the Fallanassi, the Emotion driven red-wrath of the Keshiri Sith, the shadowy Dark Current of the Disciples of Twilight, Primitive urges of the tribes of Dathomir, the Rainbow of the Aing’Tii, in depth sinking of the Mindwalkers, ways of calling on the Aether that would be contradictory to most were as natural as breathing as his body was filled with its power.

Her barrage continued, slicing into his upper arm plating, chest piece already crisscrossed with scoring from his prior battles with Jo and Yoda, he should be depleted, an easy prey…yet this was what he was made for, Slayer of Masters Abeloth had taunted him…here he would prove it…

Lucovis pulsed waves of flaming azure as he retreated achieving nothing but vaporizing entire sections of her flagship, casting off her own armour as it became rotten from the lighting of his shield, Valens down to little more than chest plate and greaves. 

She knew he sensed some weakness in her…some flaw but the shadow obelisk of his mind denied her any clue…till she looked around…

They had torn through three interior walls deeper into the ship…behind them devastation as though a mining drill had bored through – key power lines and batteries were ruptured along with hissing atmosphere regulators - he wanted to bring the whole ship down to distract her…

How quaint…gambling that she would save his brethren for their bodies by bluffing he was willing to sacrifice them…

“Oh a dangerous ploy…”her voice slithered out “I like it…”

“Like this…” Valens whispered out of his defensive crouch hurling sabre and sword at her - as she slapped them away her eyes turned to see his fist.

Knuckles bruised from beating down Jo hammered into her face, cracking a thread of bone between her eyes – the attack left him exposed, Lucovis wasted no time, leaping up both knees went into his chest as her arm brought her sword around as the opposing magnetic poles of their lighting and flame shields pulsed to make them fly apart – still he pressed inwards, the floor beneath them eaten away by the energy field they bathed in as support beams caved inwards.

Clever little…

Lucovis thought was cut off as the deck collapsed beneath them like a rotting flower and they fell into the pool below with a dirty splash. 

Creamy white liquid stained red by Xithar’s dissolving wyrm eaten corpse bubbled and frothed as the lighting shield and purple flame evaporated the water incinerating the nearby wyrms.

Lucovis cut off her own shield to prevent further loss of the living stores of Fear Energy she had worked so hard to fill, the fattened creatures squealed as the mist rose hued arctic blue by Valens lighting as he sloshed forward in the soup.

The wyrms fled from his raw burning power toward her, leaping into the air as their bath was dissolved and rained upon by the ruin of the deck above, stray cables flopped inside sending pulses of electricity through the water before the circuit breakers cut in.

She glided forward waist deep to meet his charge, her anger peaking as her endless pleasure wave reached a low point…he was making this difficult for her frustrating the will of a goddess and needed to be punished!!

“VULGAR TRIVIAL CREATURE!”

Hands like claws she scratched at him muscles twitching from the confused play of hormones.

“You Have NO comprehension of MY Majesty!” 

She knew nothing of her hijacked body, nothing of elegant beauty of how an Aethan woman’s body should function, all those tiny flaws were now expanded tenfold as her rage upset the hormonal balance past what she could control.

“You Comprehend only a mere glimpse at the edge of ecstasy I intend, the demented and charmed!”

Kicks and punches still hit him, but they were lessened by tetanus twitches, she soaked in all the energy she could form the wyrms – it was meant to power her Apotheosis, but if it had to be spent subduing this new body so be it, she could just unleash a Terror Bomb on Coruscant later.

For the first time since her transformation, her Ascension, Lucovis felt fatigue set in, her climaxes were dulled and strained, the pleasure when Valens fist struck her shoulder almost pain.  No she would not admit to such weakness, her voice hoarse and high screeched out like a Siren of Myth that would draw men to death with melody beyond mortal hearing.

“I am become the goddess of the Sublime and Profane, that is both progenitor and experiencer of all pleasures without restraint – gaze on my perfection and despair!”

Valens pushed right up to her, the thick liquid slowing their movement, weapons forgotten armour destroyed the battle was hand to hand, knee to knee, elbow to elbow, face to face. 

Her eyes bore into him looking for another option…there in that dark monolith of a mind was a tiny line of light…

“You can’t kill me!” She laughed between the sloshing blows
“You love ME!” Her smile was broad and light Yorna’s features all too familiar to him

Even False it struck him, the idea of killing a Person even a demented Outsider controlled one still revolted him…striking Yorna whom he did love as a sister and missed dearly was a pain he had pushed aside as the fight began…

Now itched into his mind for half a second…enough for Lucovis to twist round into a rising slash of her nails through his upper left arm, his face turbing just in time to keep his eye but earn four deep gashes.

Searing red flowed in his somatosensory cortex as well as down his cheek as Yorna’s face licked the blood dripping off its nails teeth glittering white in the misty haze as it lunged at him again, a ravenous feline predator.

Tensing he pulled his lighting shield back into his arms and unleashed – blue white energy slammed in two twisting beams one striking Lucovis full in the breast, the other evaporating and incinerating the foul alchemical creations and punching a hole through the bulk head down toward the ships engineering sections.

The Hedonist rocked with secondary explosions as the pure Aetheric energy pierced the auxiliary generator sending surges of power through the conduits causing overloads across all decks before the belated circuit breakers activated.

Before Lucovis could rise from the hit he was on her. 

She pivoted left but only used a ‘human’ range of motion with her ankles that he outdid with Aethan dexterity – he missed grasping her face but caught her bladed over long braid of hair, spinning her with her own momentum throwing her through the white hot hole his blast had rent burning into the hyper-keratin skin as she was cut on the way through.

Lucovis sprung back up unleashing a burst of purple flame that Valens slapped into the only wall not blown apart, the energy melting it into toxic sludge, auxiliary life-support systems behind it exploding.

Valens flew on burning streams of energy, his charged fist near glowing through the broken capillaries and bruises. 

No space to spare she took the blow on her forearm and struck back with a charged knee that met his steel shin. 

“Through the Force I can make my simple staff more powerful than any lightsaber." The ancient master Vodo-Siosk Baas had said – infused with the Force their bodies were hardened beyond measure as they pulsed with pure energy.

Each blow sent flares of the lighting they shielded themselves with into the increasingly ruined structure around them.

They kept elevated blurring the line between levitation and flight as Valens forced Lucovis to suck very drop of energy from the last few wyrms into her.

He struck with brutal efficiency, no flourish or wasted energy, yet to her eyes it was more – for he used all the agility a lifetime in a genehanced body could teach, she began to struggle against the blows and speed, trying to learn but unable to fully adapt for the inability to leach his memories directly

She dodged a mid-kick, spun out from a swift hook, took a blast of energy to the shoulder flying backward into the wall indenting it.  Rolling to avoid his fist that punched through the metal as she hurled herself back using the Force to tug her core in an attempt at flight through the ruined levels of the dying ship.

Teeth gritted she hurled energy back following up with an accelerated dive through the corridor straight at him, he dodged the first blast grunted taking the second then was slammed by her charge, her claws sunk into his side as the momentum slammed him through an internal wall, severed cable sending biting sparks onto his skin.

In a joust of flight they slammed to and fro, intermittently hurling pieces of the ruined vessel their blasts of pure energy vaporized ever more of it – the only non-oppositional concord was they each wished to preserve the unconscious Aethans held in stasis.

Lucovis body was burning, malformed endocrine system beginning to buckle under the unnatural connections of pain to pleasure centres she had established, cells began cannabilisng themselves to produce more and more aephrodaesin.

Valens was numb with pain, Aephordaea’s Grace long since killing all sensation as pragmatic blows wore her down, forcing her to exert her imbalanced body past its limits as he began to reach his own.

Shadows were burnt into walls and ceilings from the brilliance of white hot impacts, bones designed to endure the harshest treatment began to strain, muscles meant to endure for weeks of use began to slip in their contractions.

Lucvois bitter frustration was lost in the sea of ill-fitting hormones, even as danger gave clarity to her situation with every blow that struck.  Every trick in her mind, every blade in her hair, nail on her hand she used as weapon fending of the relentless and dour assault.

The universe seemed contained in the two of them, Gods throwing divine bolts of lighting and seething crackling fire from their eyes as they dissolved the material through which they flew, sparks showering off with each clash of adamantium flesh.

A new beginning and ending seemed to fight for the same infinity of Now as opposing forces clashed and the old world died in a twisting sphere of ruined metal and time addled sand, yet the dichotomy was not a true one.

For here was not to be found Light opposing Darkness.

Nor was the punishing clash one of Good opposing Evil.

An Angel did not fight a Demon A God did not resist Monster, No Mortal Hero here defied a Deathless Tyrant.

No noble Knight fought to save the Republic from doom, no plucky chosen child combatted a relentless genocidal maniac.

Two beings selfish as they were powerful fought for their egotistical desires, and the outcome was not subject to the scales justice or righteous heart of their cause, but the technique of the better trained, stronger over weaker, cunning over foolish.

Valens blows didn’t stop, his dexterity didn’t require conscious effort, power not borrowed nor stolen but innate - he shattered her shoulder, ribs, finally gripping her throat, she elbowed, kicked into his legs as he lifted her. 

Lucovis bit and clawed, hammered purple fire at his eyes, rent flesh from his arms, but he could feel nothing.

Twisting the neck till it snapped did not kill her, crushing the skull in till the head began to ooze more blood than might be thought possible after so much had been lost to other lacerations.

As Lucovis resistance died her telekinetic shields broke allowing the flood of burning lighting to incinerate her body.

All she felt was pleasure.

<<<<>>>>

[Lord_S_Gray]

Chapter 64 — Apotheosis — Wrath of Gods

Part 5

 

Shadow of the Sith

He watched from security station as the disaster played out – up till the point the Gods rages threatened structural integrity and he had ‘appropriated’ Lucovis personal hover car and made a break for it winding down the vast underground stores to escape.

Vectivus settled far enough from the fighting to avoid detection, but close enough to allow the dark side to carry the tidings with relative precision.

Lucovis, Goddess of the Sith, was gone, if apprentice had killed master it was only indirectly through his manipulations, but that was enough for him. Xithar had been a great Sith Lord, for all his faults he had advanced alchemical science by leaps and bounds, been inches away from dominating the Black Sun…so close to destroying the Jedi Order…

But he…or she…had pushed too hard, been too enamoured by her own fetishes and hedonistic interpretation of Sith Philosophy…something that needed to be corrected in the next generations.

Ironically Vectivus needed a dose of guidance from the Jedi about compassion and restraint…though as he felt out the battle ahead it seemed there were scant few of them to be found.

Still, the Heart of the Jedi still pounded within at least one chest.

<<<<>>>>

Heart of the Jedi

It was because she was so much of herself that he hadn’t noticed her before.  Whatever changes Sofa had undergone had made her a…deeper…richer version of herself that Soryu found both overly strange and underwhelming familiar.

Yet it was Sofa, but all her flaky, selfish, sweet, kind and ironically funny glory was subsumed beneath the heavy grey weight of stasis and a blanket of Nightmare still upon her mind.

Soryu paid no heed to the explosions rippling across the ship as Valens and Lucovis sought to destroy each other ignored the painful pulses of Yoda in the force some 35 metres away in a ruined access corridor as Oma used his as boxing glove against a durasteel wall.

His entire focus was on his daughter in her moment of need.  He didn’t have time to work out the code or hack the stasis pod, by some paternal instinct he knew he had to get her out NOW.  With a sharp palm he shattered the medi-transsteel then kicked in the main field generator, the stasis field died with a clutter as Sofa’s body sagged – the unstable transition out of stasis would only cause minor physical instability that he had every intention of repairing.

He nearly slipped as he caught her body, she weighed a lot more than he imagined, much like Milaea…Of course…she made her like her…

His body still glowing with energy from the battle he poured the Living force out from his heart into her, pressing down the dark pall over her mind that Vectivus had raised from the shadowy corners of her memory – it was a horror he could not remove entirely, only place back in the chained she kept it form overwhelming her with.

Her skin lit a light green like his as the healing flowed into her…he gazed into her face seeing a tear from his own eyes drop onto her too perfect cheek as a spark from somewhere flicked down onto her dark hair.

The ship was truly coming apart now, the warning Klaxons were blaring, the staff on the lower level were gone.

Her breathing increased from short sharp gasps to a deeper draw as he leapt up blade humming defensively at the approach of….

Yoda…beaten, bloodied, fumbling but alive – he had no aura of victory only of grim duty done…a duty that would only end with death – it just so happened this was not his time…not yet.

“Go…we must…the ship…” Yoda’s words were slurred and slow, his mouth no doubt porting more than a few cuts and broken teeth.

“S…s…” Sofa began to spit out of a dry mouth,

“shh…” he lay her down gently but swiftly and moved to the next pod

“Can you help with the others!” Soryu asked quickly moving to the one that contained Jarys, no doubt in his mind that he had to help the Aethans from certain destruction, no question that he must do all he could to preserve life no matter whose life it was.

Yoda was not so compassionate – in that pod was the Sith of Cygrat, Bane of Jedi who had slain Gurrlum and Yoren, two Jedi masters of startling ability.  Beside him the Madwoman of Myrkr whom Yoda had faced on his fool’s quest for Valens – in barely ten minutes engagement she had downed four Jedi and blown a ship with her mind….and Sofa…had not only sided with Valens on Coruscant but entrapped him and the Jedi with the Ubese on Myrkr – the older looking man in the other pod no doubt just as terribly storied.

If Oma understood one thing correctly it was this – the Jedi needed to make the calls that put blood on their hands in the name of preserving the Republic.

“Leave them!” Yoda called his voice strengthened by the conviction with which he had damned Valens “Better they die in the crash than more terror live to spread!”

Soryu almost paused…almost…Another palm shattered the medi-plas trasnparisteel.

“We can’t abandon them!”

“We can’t let them live!” This was the cleanest way, just let them go, hopefully Valens had already….

Any hope he had of Valens having been killed along with the creature and ship was lost as he stalked through the hissing gases and sparking cables back into the throne room. 

In that moment Valens could see the conflicted Heart of the Jedi in these two beings more clearly than almost any sentient ever would – Soryu determined to serve the Living Force and show compassion even to a known threat, Yoda determined to maintain Order and Serve Justice. 

Both were justified, neither was wrong, yet they could never accommodate the others perspective fully.

Valens had no time for philosophising, he burst forward and gripped Sofa’s body, hurling her over his shoulder – his eyes never leaving Yoda’s.

“At least help them!” Valens called pointing off to the side where the four surviving Morgukai were likewise frozen in preparation for Lucovis experiments.

Yoda remained dead still despite the crumpling metal all around – this was the primitive instinctual madness that made Valens people so deadly – Yoda might not be in any state to threaten him now, but if he made any motion that Valens could even tangentially interpret as threatening to his mate, Valens would kill him. There were other beings that were just as base and crude of course- but none possessed the extremities of power the Aetharains did to enact such base desires.

Only very cautiously did Yoda move to free the four Morgukai warriors.

With a swiftness that belied his injuries Valens turned on the pod of Kiraea tearing it open effortlessly with his genetically enhanced strength as Sofa stuttered on his shoulders and Jarys flopped out into Soryu’s arms.

Jarys injury was serious but not fatal, the creature Lucovis had wanted them alive and if his biology was anything like Milaea he would soon recover.

Feeling the pain all around Soryu opened his hear to the Light, allowing his compassion for all beings to flow in a rhythm with the Force – a song Odjina might’ve called it – seemingly every last vestige of morally pure Force energy left on the planet channelling through him into the injured Aetherians and Morgukai as compassion without restraint flowed from the heart of a True Jedi.

Yoda struggling to pull out the last Morgukai felt only a bitterness that such healing was wasted on Valens kind and their allies, even as he himself benefited from the flows, his cuts sealing if not completely healing.

The ground began to slide beneath them, there was no more time to dawdle, Yoda moved as fast as his damaged legs could carry him toward the view port on the lower level hurling his sabre in advance to breach the trasnparisteel hoping it didn’t trigger an automatic breach lock down shield as he levitated the Morgukai behind him.

Further back Soryu rent open the last pod and Valens tended to Kiraea, Soryu felt the break between himself and Yoda deep in his chest as his friend turned away from the unlimited compassion of the Living Force for the limited scope of Order.

He understood the reasoning, Valens people were dangerous, and if it were not Sofa with them…would Soryu choose differently – he hoped not – but Yoda’s choice to try and save the many by sacrificing the few…that was a false dichotomy Odjina had long since dispelled –

Taking up the older aetherarian whose name and story he did not know as Valens by an all too human superhuman feat of protecting his kin lifted the three others on his back, Soryu heard the wiser Gray Masters voice across the long painful years

“It’s not a choice between saving the many and the One - it’s the ones that make up the many”

<<<<>>>>

[Karmack]

LSG, that was AWESOME.  :-)

Odjina...   In the end, his wisdom was key.  It drives my mind back to that fateful conflict on Vyth.  The Tragedy of Vyth.  Only now, in the ruins of the Jedi, the pain of the People, even the rise of Vivectus, do we really see the scope of that Tragedy.

So much darkness and light woven into these people.  Amazing.

But what of the rest?  Epilogue...   :-)

[TheDutchman]

Wow LSG, that was an INCREDIBLE finale!  Between Yoda&Oma, Valens&Lucovis, and Soryu regaining an enlightenment for the Living Force, these were outstanding chapters.  One of my favorite parts were the comparison/dichotomy between Valens and Lucovis where they may be diametrically opposed but were still motivated by an intrinsically selfish drive.  Such characters become so much more than just straw stand-ins for the archetypal hero/villain role, yet they were foils of one another.  Excellent writing.

LSG, that was AWESOME.  :-)

Odjina...   In the end, his wisdom was key.  It drives my mind back to that fateful conflict on Vyth.  The Tragedy of Vyth.  Only now, in the ruins of the Jedi, the pain of the People, even the rise of Vivectus, do we really see the scope of that Tragedy.

So much darkness and light woven into these people.  Amazing.

But what of the rest?  Epilogue...   :-)

Karm really brings up a great point: although it was always interpreted as such (at least as I was reading), the "Tragedy of Vyth" is underscored as the key integral event in which the ramifications are felt on a galactic level.  Look at how Yoda and Soryu arrive at two, disparate views concerning the future of the Aethans in which they are BOTH right...and wrong.  Such moral conundrums are what populate the best of stories IMO.

One bit of "light" that I thought very touching: even after everything, Soryu still looks upon Sofa as a daughter-figure and reacts accordingly.  Makes me think that if the Jedi Order had had MORE Jedi like him, the Order (indeed, the galaxy) would have been better off for it.  Of course, reality is ever seldom so...optimistic