Dark Crusade: Prologue Team 14

Welcome to the Dark Crusade Prologue. The following rules are in effect:

1. 250 word minimum per post.
2. 1 post per player, per phase (this will be a three phase run-on separated conducted in 7 day intervals). If a member fails to post during a phase, the team will lose points.
3. Edits may occur on a post until a follow on post has been made (follow on posts include "reserving" a space).
4. Members may reserve post, but no posts can occur until after the reserved post is written.
5. The event will be graded by Raken, Sarin, and Muz using a rubric that focuses on creativity, plot development, realism, and grammar.

Event Timeline:

1. 1-7 January - Signups, Set up starting posts on 7th
2. 8-14 January - Phase 1 posts, 15th = Sarin post, start new phase.
3. 16-22 January - Phase 2 posts, 23rd = Sarin post, start new phase.
4. 24-31 January - Phase 3 posts, and the joys of grading.

You will find the details for phase one here: http://wiki.darkjedibrotherhood.com/view/Dark_Crusade_-_Prologue

Good Luck!

“We are closing on the hanger, shields holding sir.” The pilot announced over the comm system.

“Give us some covering fire and target the automated defenses once we enter the hanger” Replied Sanguinius. The leader of House Galeres and his team readied themselves for the battle ahead. They knew full well that this was not going to be an easy task. Yet they had been ordered to take Zoraan’s former flagship the Avenger II. After Zoraan’s death by the hands of the Grandmaster the army he had assembled fell apart. The Avenger tried to navigate through the Shroud and were quickly running in circles.

Vynn felt the lasers start firing and saw the transport doors start to open. His heart pumped at the anticipation of the battle to come. Drawing his saber out he felt the familiar curved hilt fall into place in his hand as if it was born there. As the shuttle drifted a few meters over the floor the team jumped from the shuttle. Turrets were already being blown apart and troopers were trying desperately to take cover. Their fear was almost breathable as the team charged into the fray.

His blue blade carved through troopers as he felt the exhilaration of battle and the death of his enemies. The rest of his team were likewise clearing the troopers out in droves. Mere minutes into the fight and Vynn had lost track of how many foes had met their end by his hands. More blaster fire erupted as reinforcements started arriving through the doors at the end of the hanger.
“We need to cut off those reinforcements,” Vynn heard someone shout out adding a sharp “NOW!”
The team moved deeper into the hanger fighting their way forward. Screams of the injured troopers filled the air, most having limbs severed by lightsabers. As the reinforcements piled in the blaster fire intensified. Vynn turned just in time to notice the figure leaping at Kratus. As the member of the One Sith came down Kratus easily side stepped the ill-fated maneuver and used a vicious slash to cut the attacker in half.

As both halves of the young dark sider separated and Vynn took a step back to prepare his next move, a blast of focussed dark energy passed over his shoulder. Slowly looking back, the 21 year old Templar found himself face to face with a 416 year old Epis releasing another jolt of dark energy. Turning again, the human noticed two droids lying on the ground smouldering.

Looking around for more opponents to blast away, Ood realised he’d have to get his blade out. For it was never intelligent to start throwing energy around when you have equal chance of hitting your own as you have of hitting your opponent. Removing his straight-hilted blade from it’s place on his belt, he stood up to face incoming fire and let himself slip deeply into the Soresu mindset.

The yellow blade moved swiftly and with as little effort as possible through the air, sending blaster fire into the roof, into the nearby ships and back towards it’s origin. As the weapon rained death upon all foolish enough to even consider attacking him, the Master scholar turned back towards his compatriot, “Well now, young master Vynn. They don’t make these stormtroopers like they used to. Perhaps it is time for you to rejoin the fight, instead of staring. I’d suggest you move to reinforce the position of our young Knight.”

“I suggest you run little troopers!” the Krath yelled out, cackling madly as he did so. A lance of force energy following his words, causing eight of the weaker minded soldiers to turn tail and run back deeper into the ship. In the distance, the sounds of boots pounding the deckplates could be heard. Utilising his analytical mind, the old Neti instantly realised a difference. Glancing towards his Quaestor, the Krath quickly connected minds.

~Incoming~

~Dark Jedi~

Followed by the memory of panic driven troopers fleeing and what sound their armoured boots made on the deck plates. Then followed the memory of the sound of the approaching boots: softer, more calculated. As soon as the connection established it broke again as Ood turned away from the Prelate and started walking forward towards the entrance, trusting Sanguinius to follow him while the other three mopped up the troopers who had yet to realise they died the second they were sent down to the hangar. Replacing his saber blade on his robe, the Epis calmly detached the other blade. Deciding not to activate it, he placed the hand holding the curved hilt calmly beside himself, allowing it to become hidden in the folds of his robe. Making sure the hood of his cloak was still up and hiding his face, the Krath stood silently. Awaiting the arrival of his foes...

What in Slice's name do these di'kute think they are doing?!

When the assault had begun, the five Dark Jedi of Arcona led the attack with a plan. Wes' initial priority was to not get shot and find some cover behind the front landing foot of the ship immediately in front to watch the left-hand entry point and keep any reinforcements at bay. Upon kneeling at his cover position, DLT-19 Heavy Blaster Rifle drawn and firing, Wes viewed the hangar as it turned into a battlefield. He lay down cover fire across the cavernous opening, turning his attention away from his assignment briefly to aid the others as they ventured further into the fray. It was then that the Corellian started to seethe.

What happened to the talyc plan?! he screamed to himself.

Obelisk Templar Vynn Salm charged headlong into the enemy lines, saber whirring as he cut down all who opposed him. Gob-smacked further still, he then watched Krath Epis Ood Bnar stride past the somewhat disturbingly elated Templar and into open territory against a seemingly indefensible volley of blaster fire and fend of each and every shot without so much as raising a sweat.

“Oh, this is great.” Wes called out over his headset. “I have no shot on my targets because you di’kute are in the shab’la way!” Wes grumbled as a variety of indecipherable responses were hurled back at him. “One at a time guys and how’s about y’all get the hell out of my way?”

"Shoot him." A voice called out. Wes looked over his shoulder but saw only the ship he had just jumped out of banking away whilst providing a hailstorm of cover-fire. Wes pulled out his PLX-2M Missile Launcher and held it to aim across at the enemy troops and droids that had huddled in the left-side entry behind the blast-door frame.

"Shoot him." Again it called, though this time little more than an internal whisper yet much more persuasive. Wes felt his aim slide toward the centre of the hangar, where Ood and Vynn were hacking and slashing their way, gracefully through dozens of men and droids alike.

"NO!" Wes yelled aloud, startling himself as he pulled the trigger. Everything seemed to slow down for the Dark Jedi Knight. He immediately threw all of his focus toward the missile as it ejected from its launcher. Wes called on all the training he had received under his mentor, Xar’Kahn, and to a lesser extent the other members of Soulfire. His deceased mentor had been able to guide missiles with the Force with uncanny accuracy, however Wes had not had the necessary time training to be able to do much more than slow its speed and nudge it this way or that. The Corellian focused within himself and pulled on the missile, but only managed to slow the thing down. Seeing a disastrous outcome impending, Wes doubled down his concentration and flared his rage, giving everything he had in himself in one desperate push toward the missile.

The missile somehow missed everything and everyone as it exploded against the back wall of the hangar. The concussion knocked down the remaining enemy just before the explosion made short work of killing or maiming the majority. The Arconan contingent managed to get off relatively lightly with only Vynn close enough to get knocked down by the concussion wave, though he had the presence of mind to envelop himself in a protective shield before the inferno exploded above him.

Wes slowly turned away from the unfolding carnage, leaning his back against the landing foot. He reached to the release clasps on his helmet, taking it off and staring at it as he turned it to face himself. Seeing his face in the reflection of the visor, Wes could have sworn he saw a smirk on his face, but if it was there is was gone just as quick.

“Tion me’bana?” The Knight asked himself.

The voice replied, ”Tenn gar sur’haaie.”

“Frakking mandalorians!” Kratus spat as he whirled around to face Wes, both of his eyes blazing with anger.

“In this instance, I heartily agree with the sentiment,” Ood stated as well, brushing debris from his cloak.

Wes didn’t respond, his eyes were blank behind his visor as the response, issued from his own throat, coupled with the shock of the wave of devastation that he had caused kept him from replying.

“What were you thinking?” Sang called, his expression also stern as he reactivated his lightsaber. “You could’ve killed all of us.”

“I don’t think he’s who we should worry about right now,” Vynn stated quietly, his eyes locked upon the far turbolift.

The gaze of every Arconan in the room drifted towards the turbolift then, watching with quiet breathing as the lights that indicated the car drifted down...till they alighted upon their level. The doors hissed open, revealing the lift’s occupants. Two females, lithe and clad in black, raised their heads simultaneously under their hoods, flashing bright white smiles at the invaders.

“Setting off a missile in our hangar bay-” the one on the left began.

“-will not spare your lives,” the second finished for her.

The pair sauntered forward, twin sets of ice blue eyes gazing about the destruction in the hangar with vague interest. Their smiles, still eerily similar, flashed in the flickering light as they stepped lightly into the circle of semi-conscious troopers.

“And my, you have made a mess of things,” the first said again, stopping and folding her arms lightly upon her breast.

“Now now, sister, we must have introductions,” the second mock scolded, her eyes flashing to each Arconan in turn. “Must not be rude to our guests.”

“Quite,” the first returned, nodding lightly. “I am Reaper-”

“-and I am called Frost,” the second sang out.

“Uh...okay,” Kratus murmured, the only Arconan who decided to speak, before he was suddenly and without warning lifted into the air and slammed into the deck by both women. “Frek,” he muttered under his breath, biting down a yell of pain.

“Don’t interrupt!” Reaper spat.

“It’s horribly rude!” the other twin sneered, her voice as cold as interstellar space.

~Sang, now!~ Ood’s voice rang through the Anaxi’s mind.

Instantly, both Equites burst into motion, the Epis and Prelate channeling their Force energies to their legs to leap at the twin Marauders. Reaper and Frost, ever identical, ignited their twin lightsabers simultaneously, virtually mirror images of the other as the immediate area was bathed in crimson and white.

The echoing clash of the lightsabers rang about the room long after the combatants had initiated their duels, multi colored sparks issuing from the crackling energy blades. The only difference between the twins, surprisingly, was their lightsaber forms: Frost used Jar’Kai Niman whereas Reaper used Shien, both Masters of their chosen style.

Vynn, having recovered and returned to his feet, turned to again engage the twin’s troopers as they regained their footing. Wes, finally shaking off the after effects of his recent actions, joined him, and the pair surged forward against the mass of armored soldiers, their weapons blazing within their grasps.

Flares of orange, cyan and amethyst shone through the Pirate’s closed eye, using the spare time to regain his breath as he healed the injuries from a double Force Slam. As soon as he felt he could stand, Kratus slowly pushed off the floor, coming up into a kneeling position.

“I never seem to have a way with women,” he grunted, rising up onto his knees. “It always seems to--” he gasped, doubling over with sudden shock as his cybernetics spiked.

“Gorram it! Not now!” he cursed, slamming his cybernetic fist into the floor.

“Look at you, pathetic,” a voice in the ex-Pirate’s mind stated, a sibilant whisper that seemed to carry throughout his entire being. “One system fails and you’re as useful as a corpse.”

“Frak you,” Kratus spat aloud.

“Go on, Captain, push me out,” the voice returned in an obvious taunt. “But you can’t, you need me to survive. Dr. Halleck was very thorough, wasn’t he? Before you killed him.”

“You serve me!” the ex-Pirate shouted before screaming in pain as electricity seemed to course throughout his body, an imagined red-hot spike driven into his organs.

The wave of pain emanating through the Force was strong enough to give Sang and Ood as well as their adversaries a pause in their duel. Four sets of eyes turned to look upon the Cyborg, who writhed in pain upon the floor as jolts of blue-white energy from his own fingers danced over his body, the cybernetic replacements making his small shock much more powerful.

Luckily, although it was their comrade in pain, Sang and Ood were the first to recover, launching into an offensive against their distracted opponents, driving the pair of females backwards.. towards each other.

The electricity eventually ceased, leaving Kratus as an unconscious mass upon the floor, his body still steaming heavily in the aftermath of his own barrage.

Sanguinius moved lithely across the floor, his aquamarine blade darting out in small, sharp jabs in an attempt to pierce the Battlelord’s defence. The Galerean was slightly concerned at his current predicament, not only was he fighting someone stronger than himself, he was surrounded by what seemed to be a dysfunctional bunch of Dark Jedi. The Mandalorian was shooting missiles everywhere, the Cyborg seemed to be malfunctioning and Vynn was blood-crazed….the only normal one of the bunch was the Neti, and even then that was a bone of contention, seeing as he was a Krath.

A sharp shooting pain pierced the Entar’s mind, warning him of impending danger and where it would come from. He frantically brought his lightsaber to bear, fending off an attack that would’ve opened his stomach up to the elements. Sanguinius chastised himself for his lack of concentration and focused back on the duel. The woman was as lithe as the Prelate and really not bad looking. A wry smile appeared on his lips as Sang decided he’d attempt to flirt. He was never one to turn down a potential conquest.

“Those robes are very becoming of you, if I was on you, I’d be cumming too.” He jested.

The woman blushed, her ruby cheeks advertising to all that the Quaestor’s chat up line had embarrassed her. She responded with a vicious swipe that forced Sanguinius to duck and flick his blade up to deflect her second lightsaber.

Beside the pair, the elderly Neti and the second twin fought, Ood was a steadfast bastion of defence in response to the whirlwind of activity of Frost. Sang glanced for a split second to see how his compatriots were faring and saw Wes and Vynn standing over Kratus, their sabers moving to deflect blaster fire from the last few troopers still in the hangar.

The pair began to move forward, keeping out of the way of the lightsaber fight eager to slaughter the rest of the opposition. Bringing his full attention back to the Battlelord, Sanguinius was lifted up into the air, his lack of his full attention his downfall….literally, as he was slammed down into the ground. The air was driven out of his lungs in an explosive rush and stars flared in his eyes as he collided with the hard ground.

Reaper rushed forward, her blades seeking to finish off the chauvinistic Prelate only for her charge to be interrupted as a wave of dread washed over her, making her scream and drop to the ground, her hands covering her ears. Ood smiled, as Neti do, as Frost also dropped to the ground, equally affected. The delay allowed Sanguinius to stand up, who was affected to a lesser degree, having suffered the constant aura of dread that surrounded his brother, Timeros. He had grown increasingly less affected by its use. The Quaestor nodded his thanks to his fellow Professor, and activated his aquamarine blade once again.

“I guess that was a no, then?” he sighed as he walked slowly towards the screaming Equite. “I never could get why women never fell for that line…it’s really quite brilliantly suggestive.”

“Leave him,” Vynn said as the pair deflected the incoming blaster fire, “we won’t be any good to him dead.”

As the Templar lay sprawled out unconscious on the floor, Wes and Vynn set about clearing out the troopers and acolytes still occupying the hanger. The Dark Jedi Knight headed toward the remaining soldiers firing at them from behind a pile of Crates. The Templar set about advancing to a group of 3 acolytes heading to join the furious lightsaber fight between the twins, his Quaestor and the large tree like Neti.

Drawing upon the force, Vynn leapt to the trio’s location, instantly impaling one of them with his saber. A vicious diagonal slash, from his left to right, was deflected by the taller of the two remaining acolytes. The force of the swing, however, left the Novice sith struggling to recover. Vynn used the opportunity to follow with a low, powerful, horizontal strike aimed at the knees. The Templar separated both legs just above the knees causing his opponent to collapse in agony for a brief second before Vynn ended his life with a thrust to his opponent’s skull.

With only one of the three opponents left, Vynn glanced at Wes to see him making short work of the troopers before focusing back on his opponent. The last remaining defender attempted a futile attack with a flurry of strikes that were easily parried by Vynn. Using the Force, Vynn struck out with it in a wave of energy knocking the wind out of his opponent’s lungs. Seizing the opportunity, he gathered his saber in both hands and, in a violent Downswing, he cleaved his opponent in half.

The Templar now turned his attention back to the twins and the two strike team members fighting them. Closing in, he joined the fray. He swung his saber in wide sweeping arcs, aimed at Reapers head and torso. His attacks were strong and powerful, causing Reaper to extend her swings further than normal in order to deflect them.

As his blade moved in the elegant dance that is Makashi, Ood’s mind neared the speed of light in his analysis of the current opponent. She was probably quite pleasing to the eyes of the more short-lived species. However to a Neti she was, to coin an age old phrase, yet another ‘meatbag’. Seeing Sanguinius make his way to join him, as Vynn rushed in to engage the recovering Reaper, the Scholar wondered what the plan was. “Grew bored of her already?”, he asked.

“No my friend, I figured I’d let young Vynn have some fun with her while he can. Should be a good way to build up his self-esteem.”, the Prelate responded.

As an idea arose, the Epis moved back a bit, allowing the Quaestor to take the lead in the fight. As his brain focussed on how to manipulate the Force into what he wanted it to do, the Krath only initiated the occasional feign to keep their opponent wary.

Within moments the effects became noticeable. As Frost’s mental defences became affected the Neti smiled. “Boys! Close your eyes for a moment, would you?”, he uttered before unleashing a blast of light which would have burned away the optical sensors of even the most battle-hardened combat droid.

“You can look again.”, Ood said smiling as he noticed that while Frost had sensed it and shielded herself, Reaper hadn’t been so lucky and would probably need some medical attention to repair damage to her optical nerves. With a gesture, the Neti told his Obelisk Quaestor to go help the young one deal with Reaper. He could occupy Frost for a short time, couldn’t he?

“My dear, I should have a chat with whomever trained your sister. To not sense such an obvious move shouldn’t go unpunished.”, the Epis smiled as he noticed his words take effect. So she still hadn’t noticed his sapping her mental defences had she…

Awaken

The ex-Pirate’s eyelid flickered, but did not open with the command. His body ached, burning with the aftermath of his own assault, his own attack. His natural fingers clenched and unclenched briefly, though his cybernetics did not respond at all.

No one lays a hand upon my daughter and lives..

The natural eye snapped open, ice blue iris slowly filling back out of the undilated pupil. His breathing was rough, haggard, though he couldn’t hear it. He couldn’t hear anything.

You left her behind! After all she did for you, for us!

His fist clenched, the skin tightening and stretching about the knuckles. A spluttering gasp emerged from his throat, though he still remained upon the floor, just breathing, just recovering.

Leave him! Let him suffer alone!

The voices...he heard them clearly. As though each person was speaking directly to him again, as they had in times past. A flicker of red issued from the cybernetic eye, but still, it did not activate.

Awaken, Captain Vahillus. We have much to discuss.

The noise of battle swarmed into his ear, the crackling of lightsabers and the soft crackling of destructive flame. A flash of red, a whine of servos and he felt life return to his stiff mechanical pieces. Slowly, his full sight returned, allowing him to comprehend the scene before him.

With great effort, the Cyborg hefted himself off of the durasteel, forcing his mechanics to cooperate with his organics as he rose to his knees. Sweat dripped from his forehead and his breathing was labored, yet still, he forced himself to his feet. His head rose and the red eye flashed brightly in the dim lights of the hangar.

“Our turn,” he rasped mechanically, then smiled.

Sanguinius moved quickly across the hangar, his aquamarine blade darting out in an attempt to skewer Reaper in the chest. The Sith, despite being blinded and still shrugging off the feeling of dread frantically parried the strike. The Entar followed it through with another probing strike that forced the woman backwards. Vynn was beside the Quaestor, complimenting the Anaxsi's attack.

The two Obelisks seemed to have the upper hand in this engagement, baiting Reaper and making her retreat. Sanguinius taunted the woman some more, teasing her with his saber. Vynn darted in and out, eager to kill the Sith. The Quaestor moved behind Vynn, letting the Templar taking the lead. As Vynn moved in and Reaper attempted to parry, Sanguinius surged forward, drawing upon the infinite power of the Dark Side, and pierced the woman through the chest. Reaper opened her mouth in shock as it registered. She dropped to her knees as Sang deactivated his saber, the aquamarine blade retracting into the hilt. Vynn stared at the woman, a sneer on his face as she fell to the side, stone dead.

Sanguinius turned from the slowly cooling corpse to see Ood dispatching the other Sith, the connection in the Force that the twins shared had affected Frost, her sister's death had unnerved her, distracted her and left her defenceless in front of the Neti. Ood turned to face his Quaestor and rumbled in rumination. "I failed to discover who taught the pair....a shame."

The Entar raised an eyebrow in bemusement, "I'm sure you'll come across them in short order, my friend."

Wes and Vynn joined the two Galereans, their chests heaving from their exertions. "Shall we move on, gentlemen?" Sanguinius gestured.

A loud noise behind the Arconans made them turn to see Kratus moving towards them with a strange light in his eyes....

Moving the corpses to the side and clearing a space for vessels to land turned out to be easy. As Vynn and Wes stood guard at the entrance to the hangar and Kratus searched the corpses for anything useful, Ood and Sanguinius watched shuttle after shuttle of auxiliary assault teams land and move off towards secondary targets.

“… his eyes, my friend. That glow cannot be normal! What are we going to …”, the Quaestor’s whispered debate was interrupted by a bark like hand. Which then gestured out towards an approaching shuttle, “Dark Council markers, young one, let us get ready to greet whomever is arriving.”

As the security squad of the Royal Guard secured the surroundings, Lord Raken descended the boarding ramp. His field aide, a Pontifex that the Neti vaguely recognised but couldn’t place moving towards them with quite a bit of haste. Halting before Sanguinius, she glanced towards the Epis before handing the Prelate a datapad, “This contains a coded, high priority message. You can decide for yourself whom to share it with, be it at your own peril. May the Dark Side lead you to victory.”

As she moved away again, Ood realised she was named Ekeia and that he could recall helping her find a tome in the Krath archives some years ago. As the Deputy Grand Master and his team moved towards a secondary entrance, the Neti sent out a telepathic message to his team mates.

Seeing as the team leader was still focusing on the data-pad, Ood instructed Wes, Vynn and Kratus to gather their gear and see if there was anything useful for their mission in the pile gathered by Kratus.

As the team leader lowers the data-pad and hooks it on his belt, his eyes catch those of the Neti. Surprised by the shock in them, the Krath decided to take charge for a short while and started towards the turbo-lift.

- SLAM -

Retaining one’s balance while a speeding turbo-lift stops instantly is quite difficult. Considering the stop is sudden enough to slightly break through the stabilising field, making you feel even the tiniest percentage of the amount of G-forces acting upon the durasteel at that time makes one happy to have the technology to dampen them. The light went out and emergency lighting flickered on. Looking up towards the ceiling, Wes let out a sigh, “It’s always the same isn’t it, can’t they make sure the emergency lights are working? Look at this flickering one, it’s …”. As the sounds of alarm-sirens, military grade boots on deckplates and shouted commands filtered through the durasteel walls, a decision needed to be made quickly. Moving towards the control pad, Ood pressed the emergency button, “Maybe they’ll think we’re their troops, trapped in the lift?”. As the Neti said this, Vynn had already turned away from the group and was cutting himself a doorway.

Looking down into the seemingly endless void into which the piece of durasteel is now falling, the Templar turned off his saber and attempted to climb out. “No Vynn! They activated the automated defence systems. We need to find a way to turn them off, we have quite a few teams onboard and I think we’ll want to be able to tell Lord Raken that we at least tried to turn it off!”, as the Knight finished his rant, Sanguinius finally came out of the shocked trance he’d been in and swiftly cuts a hole into the front of the lift.

- BANG -

As sound and light fill the world, Ood moved his Quaestor aside and tried to stride out as gracefully as he could. This effort proves futile as one of his legs snags on the bottom of the hole and he falls out into a badly lit hallway. Looking up, the Neti notices a group of battle droids and two turrets all looking at the lift, while some Sith warriors appeared to approach from a hallway immediately to his right. Behind the Epis, the rest of the team exited the hole as best they could.

[ANALYSIS: biologicals detected … scans do not match crew compliment]

[RESULT: biologicals are not part of the crew]

[CONCLUSION: invaders have gained access … destroy them]

A few moments later, the droid squadron raised their weapons and opened fire.

Jumping out of the locked down turbo lift Vynn could not help but use the graceful Neti as traction. Seeing the droids raise their weapons and fire, he instinctively threw his hands up using the force to create a momentary barrier. It lasted just a brief second but in that time the remaining members of his team had exited the lift, lightsaber blades moving deftly, deflecting the red bolts directed at them.

With a blast of force energy Sang sent multiple droids toppling over. The small alcove they were in was not able to give the Droids much room to maneuver. With the speed and tenacity of the skilled killers they were they had dispatched the twenty or so droids in the room leaving them free to focus on the turrets in the next larger room. The automated turrets in the next room were still were raining bolt after bolt onto the team. Taking cover on either side of the doorway Vynn tossed Wes a Fragmentation grenade he had lifted off the corpses in the hanger bay. While he had only grabbed a few as an afterthought he was glad he did now.

In unison both Wes and Vynn lobbed them at the base of the turrets. Turning their backs to the door they waited the few seconds until the Grenades went off. Shrapnel flew through the air instantly destroying the two turrets and embedding in the walls and equipment that lined the room. Still having the three Sith Warriors to deal with the squad moved forward to get them out of the way before more troops arrived.

As the dust from the grenade blasts cleared, the group pressed forward; their target: three Sith Warriors designed to keep them from the bridge. As it happened, those very same Sith Warriors were now advancing down the hallway towards them, black cloaks swirling about the heels of their well polished black boots.

Even with most of the defenses gone, the dull click of numerous battledroid’s feet echoed through the hallways, warning of impending danger approaching. Sanguinius examined the situation carefully, a battleplan forming quickly within his mind.

“Alright,” he said finally. “Here’s how we handle this. Vynn, Wes, fan out and hit the hallways. Stop the droids from flanking us. Kratus, you’re with Ood and me. We’ll strike the Force-users and push them back.”

A silent acknowledgement in the form of a nod passed through the group as Vynn and Wes broke off, moving immediately to the side passages to fend off the incoming droids. Sanguinius and Kratus swept to the right, their sapphire blades reflecting off the durasteel bulkheads. Ood branched left, alone, though the Neti was far from defenseless as the earlier battle against the twins had proven.

In response to their approach, the Warriors ignited their crimson blades. None of their faces were visible due to a black mesh covering their faces from their hoods, but all three of the Arconans could sense the hate radiating towards them.

“We’ll take them together,” Sang said.

“We’re right behind you,” Kratus returned, his voice growling out of the artificial vocals.

The three slammed against the warriors in unison, blue and yellow clashing against the crimson wall. On the side passages, both Wes and Vynn again prepared grenades and launched them, just as twin platoons of battledroids came into view. The resulting explosions veiled the immediate area in a gray pale, whilst reducing the metal soldiers to slag, sending shrapnel flying into the bulkheads. As the smoke began to clear, the Dark Jedi charged the survivors, grins upon their faces as they surged into the remaining droids.

The three Sith Warriors fought bravely and fiercely, their determination echoing in their fighting. Sang and Ood held their ground, forcing their opponents onto the defensive. Kratus, however, seemed to be having a challenging time, for while he was also battling his opponent, he seemed to also be fighting himself. Every move he made seemed to be debated within his mind, and as a result his form was imperfect and confused. It wasn’t long before the cyborg began to get overwhelmed by the Sith Warrior, and started to lose ground, backpedalling as he attempted to hold a defensive position.

Suddenly, the ex-Pirate’s cybernetic eye blazed with energy and the Coruscanti surged back against his opponent. The Sith Warrior, formerly deep on the offensive, hastily switched to a rough Soresu form, sweeping his blade down in a rushed defense against the Templar’s sudden onslaught. Slight fear radiated out from the faceless combatant, before he began to search for a way to regain his control of the battle.

The further back that Kratus forced his opponent, the stronger the Cyborg seemed to become. His hatred and fury of his own duality was being channelled into his body and lightsaber, forcing his opponent to use all of his skill to defend. Whilst the ex-Pirate could by no means destroy the Warrior outright, due to the other man’s skill, his tenacity and sheer willpower forced the man to up his game, or perish in the process.