Jedi vs Sith The Battle Begins

Kashyyyk, the home of the Wookiees and some of the most deadly animals of the Galaxy. There was little about this tree covered planet that wasn’t tough and intimidating, and less that wasn’t dangerous. Few travelled here, however throughout the years the Wookiees have found themselves instrumental in history. They are a strong people, tough as rock, and wild looking. A people of many traditions and secrecy. The Wookiees however have had a struggled history, they have often been targets of war and slavery causing them to be extremely mistrusting and trying to stay out of Galactic politics.

Two Jedi a Master and an Apprentice have been sent by the Council to investigate rumors that the Sith have been sighted on the Planet. Unknown to the Jedi, the rumors are true and worse yet the Sith have begun construction of a School in a underground cavern in the Mountains of Kashyyyk. The Jedi Master Hue Ran and his young Padawan Joris Gaian have begun their descent unto the planet below. Unknown to the pair that they are walking right into a trap set by the Sith themselves.

The Sith Master Nazyl Mariq and his Apprentice Jayda Enor have already heard about the inevitable arrival of the Jedi, and so they lay in wait in the forests of Kashyyyk low on the ground level. It is here on Kashyyyk that the great duel between Master’s and Apprentice’s shall take place. Here that the battle shall begin.

Spoiler

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Hue remained perfectly still the vibrations of the ship rattling through him. He could smell blood, sweat and death that settled on the planet below. He could feel the sorrow and pain of the hearts and minds of the people that lived on this proud planet. He knew as the investigative Jedi assigned to the mission he would remain on the planet for a good time, searching every mountain top, every valley, and every single tree until he found what the Council has sent him here to find.

Softly he swallowed, letting his saliva dribble down his throat; he could feel the sweat cover his palms as he looked down at the surface of the planet. The tree’s seemed to swallow the ship as it descended down towards the Shadowlands. It was unnerving to say the least. This was no regular planet, the animals are vicious, and the terrain made anything and everything a simple place to set up a ambush making this planet the best place to lure a Jedi.

Even so Hue was no ordinary Jedi and no ordinary person. As the ship crunched together with the soil and the door opening before Hue he could already see multiple places to put a ambush and was already considering other possibilities. He laughed at himself as he descended the ramp down unto the soil of the planet. He looked around taking in the towering trees and the dark path before him.

“Be careful my young Padawan this place would be an easy place to set up an ambush.”

A disturbance in the Force above had brought the Yuuzhan Vong to lift his head. His bright yellow eyes narrowed as he stared through the canopies of the Kashyyyk's trees. They're here, he'd told himself. The Jedi Council have taken the bait but the arrogant Sith Master was almost disappointed at the numbers they'd sent for the investigation. He'd wished they'd sent more. More for him to slay, more for them to fear him. Then again, it was somewhat a protocol to be sending no more than two until the situation was properly assessed; Nazyl told himself. Fair enough, he'd inwardly said, he shall entertain them... Nay, we... we shall entertain them; he silently corrected before glancing over to his Apprentice.

Most would've argued that the killing here, the spilling of blood from these weak creatures despite of their viciousness were deemed unnecessary. But how else were they to capture the attention of the Jedi Council if they hadn't done so. Furthermore, it's the only way to distract the approaching Jedi from detecting their presence. Given that his race was gifted with hiding the Force very well from detection, the same couldn't be said for his Apprentice. Besides, it'd seemed to work thus far.

Pushing himself off from a fallen tree trunk where he'd been sitting on, Nazyl turned to face Jayda Enor. He cocked his head towards her, signalling her to take her position. No words were needed between them. They'd trained together since he'd taken her under his wings and had established a solid bond of understanding and coordination. It would be here that their test would begin. He maintained the line of sight on his Apprentice for a moment longer before he allowed the shadow to consume him. Thanks to the black cloak draped over his form, locating him with the aid of sight would be nigh impossible.

Naturally, the warmongering race began strategizing as soon as the ship landed. He took in the surroundings once again and studied his preys when they finally emerged. This pair seemed formidable, thought Nazyl as he grinned. This fight should be interesting, the Yuuzhan Vong anticipated.

Joris could scarcely pry himself away from the small ship's viewport throughout their descent onto the surface of Kashyyyk. He had been surprised when the tops of the great wroshyr trees had passed across the thick plasteel glass so soon after they had hit the planet's atmosphere, thinking that perhaps Kashyyyk was a small planet and they would touch down soon. Yet as one kilometer of thick, dark bark rolled by after another, he began to realize just how colossal the trees of the wookie's homeworld were.

Small wonder anyone would choose to hide here, Joris thought. He felt intimidated by the presence of the great trees, as though they might somehow come alive and smash the small craft his master had chosen for their scouting mission. He pushed those thoughts away, reciting a part of the Jedi code as a reminder to keep himself steady.

There is no emotion, there is peace.

He heard the shuttle touch down softly on the surface, the ramp already lowering as part of the landing process. Pulling his hood up, he quickly followed after his master as Hue descended down the ramp.

“Be careful my young Padawan this place would be an easy place to set up an ambush.”

“Of course, Master,” Joris said, nodding slightly. He took his own first look around at the planet, shifting uncomfortably as his instincts prodded him to step back onto the shuttle and leave this place. Kashyyyk was a dangerous planet, with all manner of predators both animal and even fauna in origin, and the fact that very little light reached the surface did not help matters in the slightest. He slid a hand down and brushed his fingers against his lightsaber, drawing strength from the symbolic weapon of the Jedi Order.

“Master...,” Joris said, hesitantly, “I sense... darkness on this planet." Joris had no other way to describe it, he felt a pressure at the edge of his senses, like a whisper that teased his sense of hearing into straining to understand it. It's almost as though the very trees radiate evil...

Jayda’s deep purple eyes studied the dull, dead eyes of the corpse beneath her. The black eyes, once alive were glazed over with blood dripping from the Wookiee's maw even while the right paw pressed over a fresh, neatly burnt hole in its chest. A light saber wound. Her pale ashy hand reached out to touch the neck checking for life, her other held a still live neon purple blade at her side. Ready to slice should the “dead” decided to raise again for revenge, an occurance she unfortunately learned the hard way. More often tended to happen when the Zabrak killed something new and strong. A mistake she wouldn’t repeat again.

Several moments ticked by in Jayda’s head before feeling satisfied that creature would no longer breathe again and letting the tense edginess ebbed from her mind. Bring her arm to rest on her bended knees, a tug of presence plowed into Jadya’s attention making her face jerk upright facing her Master. If the Apprentice had been fighting then she would have casted the notion aside, a weak flutter as it was, while continuing combating the native of this world until only one was standing: her. Now was another story, not fully understanding what came into her Master’s skull yet trusting it would make her stronger than him in due time. Jayda would be the one to kill him, it was the purpose of her present life and the only reason she held such loyalty to him.

Master Mariq had been watching her, sitting on a fallen tree, before this new sensation occurred. Now his white head now looked to the lush canopy like her seek answers to the source. His reaction had eased Jayda into realizing it hasn’t been her imagination after all, forcing her pull upright and clicking the light saber back to just a handle. The blade’s quiet hum went dead silent, her hand flipping it about to slid into the hostlers at her feminine hips freeing her palm to toss her bangs out of her eyes. Something or someone had arrived, though she knew he probably had a better idea of it then she did.

The Yuuzhan Vong came off the dead tree, his body brought upward and standing had set his dark yellow eyes upon hers. Jayda naturally met them, not flinched with fierce calm expression. His face would have frightened most but it had been in her very nightmares since that day and so, it failed to intimidate Jayda anymore. Like death couldn’t either. He nodded, needing no second encouragement the young Apprentice moved away from her Master to a nearby tree. Jayda knew what she needed to do and keeping it in mind, her boots ran up the crooked tree’s trunk aiming for the lowest branch. Stopping her run a foot or two, Jayda jumped to the side catching it with her hands as she pulled the lean body on top of and to her feet. It was several foot above that any unplanned fall would likely break her neck. Her pace tapped along the wood's surface making it strain against her weight with each step, drawing closer to the edge until Jayda halted in the middle. There her body became still waiting. Blood would spill but the question in her mind was who’s would be it be?

Hue looked about the ship, he knew something was out there the question he had to ask himself was "What is it?" He didn't know, but he did know the natural affinity of the force in the shadowlands made it near impossible for him to locate or distinguish people from the forest and the creatures that fumbled through it. It didn't make him never quite the opposite in fact in times like these he drowned himself in his teachings allowing his mind the repetitively remember the lessons he had learned in his life. He was anything but that young man that he was before, he was no a member of the Jedi, a warrior, a peacekeeper. With each new challenge Hue made sure to delve into the lessons that can be learned from those same challenges.

Hue looked out at the forest before him reminding himself why. Why he was here, but most of all what he was looking for. The Council was adamant that he find he find the source of the constant disappearances. The Jedi had heard multiple rumors that Wookiees and human alike had been going missing in the area, however worse then that all other parties that had been sent to investigate had not returned. There was always other things the Council could have done, but they left this mission to one of their own and above all a Jedi that had a great record at bring as many people back as possible.

Now that Hue was on the planet however he could feel the darkness that surrounded the area, he could feel.... hatred and pain. These things a source of the dark side and a sign to Hue that there was something here.... or someone here. He moved his head left and then right looking deeply not only with his eyes but with the force. He could see nothing but the forest surrounding him, and the natural fauna in it's depths. Softly his legs moved forward, taking soft and careful steps off of the ship and into the depths of the forest.

"Your are very much correct my young Padawan. This planet has been corrupted by the dark side, tainted and fed with nothing but fear, anger, pain, and hate. The dark side lives in the depths of the trees and taints my ability to distinguish the forest from those that are human. We must remain vigilante and cautious I sense far more is going on here then meets the eye..... I sense....... a trap. Get out your lightsaber, we must take every precaution to not be catch in the trap."

Even as Hue said the words his hand swiftly drifted to his left side and grasped at the lightsaber on his belt. Hue was well aware he was a much swifter fighter without the lightsaber, but sometimes it was best to simply use every advantage you could get your hands on. He lifted the small hilt off of his belt and moved it into his hand. He didn't ignite the blade that would to easily give away his position and put his Padawan in danger. Instead he just let it sit in the palm of his hands as he continued slowly moving forward.

In the distance hue could hear something, in his own mind the sound could only be one thing, a rustling in the trees. A Sith would easily make that mistake and as Hue looked at his Padawan he lifted a finger to his mouth to tell him to remain quiet and Hue using the force to amplify his speed bolted off towards a tree. He concentrated the force at his feet as he jumped high in the air and landed silently in one of the tree branches. He looked around into the trees before he moved silently away from the tree trunk and jumped down into the darkness of the forest.

He smiled softly as the force surrounded him, making him near impossible to see to the naked eye. He knew his Padawan would be alright, long enough for Hue to put his plan into motion.

"I know your out there," Hue whispered to himself as he snuck around behind another tree molding himself into the darkness that is the forest.

They'd been there on that planet, for how long the Sith Lord couldn't quite remember. And it was for their own selfish reasons that they're there, setting up a scene just to attract the official's or the self proclaimed law enforcers known as the Jedi masters to take action. Nazyl's personal reason was to test his apprentice's skills. Hers, was probably another challenge to overcome, a threshold to bring herself that much higher so she could be ready to face the Yuuzhan Vong. Unbeknownst to the somewhat exiled Sith Lord, such a practice were common among the Sith's masters with their Apprentice. He even had the notion for sitting back and allowing Jayda to take on both of the Jedis. Alas, the prolonged combat he'd yearned for forced him to dismiss the idea. It wasn't a bad thought though but he too wanted to dirty his hands.

Thus, after an agonizing wait and several obstacles before getting to this point of time, both of them finally could reap what they'd sowed. Nazyl watched stealthily as one of their adversaries jumped towards the trees in the direction where his Apprentice was perching on a branch. He clenched his hands as the Sith Lord resisted with his desire to interrupt the flow of this Jedi. This would be his Apprentice chance to prove herself worthy before facing him later, if the both of them could survive pass this day.

Nazyl then shifted his attention to the younger pair that was standing by the shuttle. He studied the Padawan briefly before he shot his hand back, fingers spread wide with the palm facing towards the object of his focus. Before his use of the Force could be detected, the fallen tree he'd earlier sat on was already dashing mere inches from the Sith Lord as it headed straight for the Jedi. It wasn't spinning though but simply approaching to the Padawan horizontally at chest level where ducking under would risk scratches from the few sharp branches. With the Jedi's visual capability now probably hindered, Nazyl shadowed behind the "pushed" tree trunk with length of about twelve feet and width of about half of it's length. His next flow of action would depend on the Padawan's reaction to the imminent threat.

Let's see what you two are capable of..

In accordance to his master's suggestion, Embrul had let his right hand slide idly to his waist. Where he then quickly snapped the silver and onyx hilt of his saber to his hand with an instinctive tug with the force. Attempting to mimic the skillful movements of Hue Ran, the Padawan gently yet swiftly trotted through the sorrounding foilage, following in his master's wake. Right hand clenched into a nervous fist as he tightened his grip around his weapon's cylindrical shape. It was then, that he noticed it, the tree. While it was only but a bright blur at first, it's shape quickly became clear as it made its advance.*

Acting purely via instinct, Embrul lunged forward, tucking himself in in preperation for a front roll as he threw himself towards the ground. It was only after his right shoulder had impacted the earth below him that he sprawled. Letting his body flatten agaisnt the ground as he slid, feet first, under the entirety of the tree. Forcfully, he silenced a painful grunt as several of the tree smaller branches broke off against his armored limbs. His head just missing a moderately large branch as the tree flew overhead.*

Although momementarily relieved by the fact that he had managed to avoid being hit. The Padawan wasted no time in recovering, thus dug his left heel into the dirt as to halt his slide and initate sideways roll to his left. Activating his lightsaber as he rose to his feet and entered into ready stance. Bringing his saber's blade to run vertically parallel to his body as his eyes quickly locked about a source of force energy. One he clearly recognized to be corrupted as the Sith drew nearer, and the sensation of both rage and despair within Embrul intensified. Parting his lips beneath his helm, the Padawan issued a brief yet resounding shout. Determined to call attention to his find.

"Master!"*

The dappled shadows and the small spots of light peering past the holes had hit her ashy flesh though the green of the leaves. They hide her well, blending her into the back drop like a predator melted into the jungle without the aid of the force to hide her. Her scars only added to the uneven effect giving her face a textured look of tree bark with watching eyes at everything that moved. She could have easily been mistaken as a shadow in the dim light at a passing glance. If they crossed here she would have seen them or any animal that dare to crawl into their made battle ground, her fingers dug deeply into the rough bark and farther steady her balance that now leaned more towards the tip of her perch. Her gaze moved noticing movement of someone darting into the trees then it was gone.

Jadya’s free hand hovered across her hip for a moment making one lightsaber tap right against her forearm with a soft sound, fingers closed about tonfa handle while her chest took a deep breath. Holding it close and deeply inside she was coiled for something to happen. After that ship’s entrance, there had to be something out there to fly it and her senses were clear life was on board. The longer the time grew without more clear evidence made Jadya believed something wasn’t right. Purple eyes shrouded from sight by her lids, both blacking out the scenery and letting the forest sounds etch into her mind.

The Zabrak knew her energy was seeping from her, a powerful beacon that brightly lit the way to her among the forest’s lacking life. Shrouding one’s force energy took practice and it was something Jadya as an Apprentice had yet to learn. A loud sound of something moving in the forest below her, the movement instinctively made Jadya’s eyes snap open and twist her vision to catch her master attacking another. The large fallen tree moved across at the man’s chest level, his body hitting the ground to avoid it.

She felt slightly disappointed. Just as the Jedi avoided her Master’s attack she had already rose upward, turning her back from the main trunk and feet moved farther along its sagging branch to the outer edge. Staying behind the man’s back and careful not to move too quickly to catch his attention. Her body was quiet as possible drawing closer to the pair. Her thumb clicked the button and the electric purple blade buzzed to life at once as a loud shout came erupting through the jungle, the echoing hid the loud noise that would have betrayed her location to the man. It seemed Jayda was correct in her assumptions it was a Padawan and couldn’t help the thin smile wiped across her face at the opportunity before her.

From her location, she could see the two’s deadly dance in its beginning phase and with some added force to her jump, could easily catch the distracted Padawan in the back. It wasn’t for victory or to aid her Master, far from it, but stealing his prey was one of her ways to strike back at him. The idea made her body lowered into the beginnings of a pounce and eyes glanced on her master’s prey, her light saber held close to her body plotting a diagonal swipe along the exposed back at right opportunity. With the man’s attention focused on her Master, he likely wouldn’t see the strike until it was too late making defending difficult.

“So much for the Jedi Master, Kep*,” her lips spoke as Jayda readied herself to jump at the right moment, intending serious damage once she jumped from the branch.

*Kep: Zabrak for child or youth.