RedeemedLight

You never see it coming Part II [RedeemedLight x Elven]

The emboldened group of Force users were reduced to fleeing for their lives from the menace they had faced around the corner. Whatever they had seen, their jerky movements, frenzied eyes and elevated voices conveyed a story that Neta would have to inquire about when they were in safer territory. They would need to hoof it back to their shuttle in one piece, which thankfully Big Red (Yuno) was in charge of, Neta easily following the party by way of his massive frame sticking out at least a foot above the others. He was intensely focused straight ahead, saber forward, which the spec ops officer thought nothing of at the time; however, if she had known the heartache that the Sith was experiencing at failing his Master at the most critical time in the Herald's existence, she would have understood that he was a squad of droids away from snapping completely. Thankfully, there was no resistance to their escape shuttle, Neta barking at Ethan:
"Bump over, sweetheart! You're on support!" Ethan opened his mouth to argue, but the glare that Neta shot his way was more than enough for the aspiring Champion to scour the controls, flicking switches and ensuring that all systems were in place. As they shot out of the hangar and into the atmosphere, Neta scowled.
"Anti Air cannons below! Strap in! Ethan, get the shields up now!"
"Diverting fr-"
"DON'T DIVERT, YOU NERF-HERDER! I NEED THOSE THRUSTERS! JUST GET THE SHIELDS UP NOW!" If Yerbol had been even the slightest bit conscious, he would have had to suppress a chuckle; it had been a few years since he had heard General Orso bark orders like she just did when they were first teamed up against Bracknell and his Alliance, but for Ethan, it was his first experience, which translated to a simple "Yes ma'am!" and compliance. The shuttle flitted between bolts of plasma as Neta circumvented the shots by weaving through some of the taller buildings they had seen the foundations of just a few minutes ago before initiating a hard climb into the upper layers of the atmosphere, unconsciously holding her breath until they were out of planetary range. The codes that they used earlier to get past the initial defenses of the planet were void, which meant there was a bit more acrobatics needed to get around the smaller defense droids that picked up their signal, but Neta managed to scoot past them by dodging around a few chunks of debris that the droids collided into. Once the last of the droids were defeated, Neta slumped in her chair as she set course for Odessa, looking to her co-pilot with a wry grin.
"Not bad, huh? Should've seen me back in my heyday."
"Wait, this ISN'T your heyday?" With a wink, she turned her attention back to the viewport, where Odessa was coming up quickly.
"ETA for landing in fifteen. The big guy ok?" She didn't get much of a response from either Champion, prompting a frown. Instead of prying, she guided the shuttle down towards the encampment, landing in a clearing about a hundred yards away. The party filtered out, leaving Neta and Ethan as the last to depart, which allowed Neta to ask the apprentice:
"Kid, what happened in there?" Ethan ran both hands through his shock of chestnut colored hair, looking to the pilot with weary eyes.
"All I know is that there are some dangerous people here. People who want to see us dead."
"That's not new."
"No, no, Neta, this isn't...this isn't like anything you've seen, anything any of us have seen except for Revan and even he was struggling with whatever...'they' were." Lost for words, Ethan's forlorn eyes darted from the pilot's soft green irises to the bunker they had been led to when they first arrived on Odessa.
"I gotta just go. Go somewhere and just think."
"Hey, Ethan, you going to be ok?"

Silence.

___

Yuno stood grimly in the doorway, his massive frame nearly obstructing the view from both the occupants of the room and any potential onlookers, eyes intently focused on his Master, who had just entered the room where Yerbol lay, his spouse beside him. The tendrils on his chin twitched and squirmed, the Sith attempting to suppress the sinking feeling of absolute failure that threatened to swallow him alive. They had arrived on the ship and he accompanied the others into that room, but when Arcann stared them down, him down, he could hear the screams all over again, the anguish that was never-ending from he and the others, crawling inside of him, down his spine, into his bones. He had been rooted to the spot, then was knocked over by a blast of concussive energy from Arcann and only regained consciousness when sirens alerted them of Netanya's cunning ploy. He hadn't said a word to his Master since they had reunited in the land of the living, although he knew that Revan already was aware of what had occurred. He would ensure that the next time they faced Arcann and the demon that lived inside of him, he would be ready. No matter the cost.

"Too much." Yerbol scrunched his forehead, brow furrowed, right hand unclenched as he tried to direct the Force towards the weight Revan had dropped in front of him to no avail. He threw himself against the elevated upper half of the rickety gurney he was on, swearing loudly as he cast desperately befuddled eyes at the former Sith Lord.
"So he did do it, didn't he? I could just..." He looked to Aria, shaking his head as he clenched the hand that she had laid on his knee.
"Those wounds from Illesia, do you remember? How she had temporarily somehow disrupted my connection to the Force? Arcann must have seen that there was a weakness there and exploited it and..." For the first time in a very, very long time, the Champion's shoulders sagged in utter defeat.
"I can't hear you anymore, baby. I can't...I can't hear you and there's...nothing I can do." He cast his eyes up at the ceiling, jaw clenching.
"To think that our bond, that my connection to the Force could be destroyed so easily...am I that weak?"
"No." Yuno's gravelly voice interjected, casting his gaze onto Yerbol as he continued, hoping that Revan wouldn't chide him for speaking out of turn:
"Our enemy is just that strong. Believe me when I say that the man known as Arcann is gone, replaced by a being that has power beyond our imagination. It is the same being that inspired Master Revan to create the Heralds, an order dedicated to thwarting this one threat."
"Who is he? This 'being'? And how can I get back to normal? This feeling of, what, vacuum? Emptiness? It's karking numbing." His eyes moved from the imposing Sith to Revan.
"So what happened to me, Revan? And who is this being? How can we stop him?"

You never see it coming Part II [RedeemedLight x Elven]

Haha, looks great! Yeah, that makes sense for sure.

Hey, by the way, you know what doesn't make sense? Me forgetting that Yuno accompanied the party into the ship.

Heh xD.

I'll pull something out of my hat in the next post to explain that...or at least try to, anyway! 8)

You never see it coming Part II [RedeemedLight x Elven]

Hey hey! Hope your internet switch-over went well :)

Question for you: would you like to get them back to Odessa or should I? Up to you :D

You never see it coming Part II [RedeemedLight x Elven]

-A few minutes earlier-

"Access codes?" Neta scanned the terminal, noting that there were panels underneath each individual screen for probable maintenance. Tuning out the repeated request for non-existent codes, Neta squatted down before jamming her miniature vibroblade into a thin sliver of space that ran between the terminal she was trying to access and the adjacent one. With a couple of grunts and exerting pressure, the panel popped off, revealing a web of wires that snaked in every direction. Her eyes narrowed, summoning whatever knowledge she had about terminal systems to the fore of her mind.
"These wires head towards...the power...circuit..." Using her blade, she severed a few of the wires. noting that most of the terminals on this row went dark.
"Right, so this..." With a few more cuts, all the terminals on the bridge minus the one she was trying to access and the one on the center pedestal were dark, which bought her some time in case she had some unexpected visitors who tried to activate any defense systems. With that out of the way, she chewed on her lower lip, looking to the center console before turning back to her own terminal.
"Gotta be a way to get past needing codes." Just then, she heard Kytra's high-pitched screaming, the Selonian managing to stumble onto the darkened bridge.
"Kytra, here!" She waved Kytra over and got a very jumbled report on the happenings below, Neta touching the girl on her upper arm and squeezing gently before telling her:
"Not all the details now, honey. All you and I have to focus on is getting us all out of here safely." More chewing on her lower lip as she turned to the terminals. They had no time to find access codes nor try to decipher a way past them. At this point, their best option would be to...

Bantha in a karkin well.

She spun on her heel to Kytra, telling her:
"The ship hasn't left dock yet, see?" She pointed out the viewport, where Zakuul was still visible.
"The arrogant sons of Banthas didn't think we would survive long enough to set a contingency plan, but they left some of their munitions on board. There's an armory with just enough munitions to cause the life support systems on the ship to activate. We're planting charges in the bridge and the barracks, then setting them off. That should be cause for the ships A.I. to unlock all doors for evac and that's where we get off this hunk of metal and scurry back to our own transport." Not wanting to trip any silent alarms or defense mechanisms, she resisted the urge to shoot at the central terminal, instead telling Kytra:
"Come on; we have a ship to sabotage."

___

Ethan had braced for his inevitable death, but was saved by a well-timed saber throw and rush by Revan, who engaged the revamped Arcann in a series of strikes that were almost invisible. The power that Revan wielded was incalculable, awe-inspiring...
"Ethan..." Right, Yerbol.
"You alright, Yerbol?" The Champion shook his head, eyes fluttering as he looked around, the normal sparkle in his aqua colored eyes reduced to a faint ember that threatened to be stomped out.
"We need to go..." He muttered, collapsing against the wall, head back.
"Yerbol? What happened? What's..." The apprentice grabbed Yerbol's right shoulder and attempted to help straighten him up, Aria coming alongside and assisting in the endeavor, imploring them to leave.
"Ari...Ari I can't hear you." The Champion looked to his spouse, mouth slightly ajar.
"I can't...can't hear you. You're so far. You're all so far...far..." His eyes half-closed, stumbling forward. Ethan managed to catch him, slinging Yerbol's right arm over his shoulders.
"Believe me, I want to get out of here, but the doors! It would take hours to cut through them even with a saber and-" A screeching alarm shot through the ship, metallic commands issuing from the ceiling as the ship rocked violently:
"An emergency has been detected. Please vacate to the nearest emergency shuttle and await further instructions." Suddenly, the doors that once held them prisoner slid open quietly, revealing their path off the ship.

Arcann twirled his saber to block another blow, locking sabers with Revan as the crimson eye that stared the legend down mocked him, a snicker coming followed by a challenge:
"You came all this way to defeat me, Revan, yet even my son's weak frame is able to provide more than enough of a challenge for you." Arcann spun to his right, swinging at Revan's feet before rolling backward, smile creasing the visible cheek.
"Meetra's power is just the beginning, Revan. Soon you too will fuel the apex of my powers." A grimace replaced the smile as a siren blared through the ship.
"A meaningless distraction." Just then, the ship rocked to one side, the unexpected turbulence causing Arcann to falter in his stance for a millisecond, which would have given Revan a split second to take advantage of his enemy's weakness.

The woman named Vano was firmly engaged with Arcann's partner, which gave Ethan, Yerbol and Aria a window to escape.
"Aria, let's move!" He began to head towards the exit, Yerbol's limp body in tow.

_____

After setting off the appropriate charges, Neta had led Kytra back to the staging area they had emerged into when they first arrived, blaster cannon in hand that she had found among the grenades.
"Once they round the corner, cover me. I'm gonna keep lobbing shots at the bad guys until the others are clear, then we hightail it." She smirked.
"Pun somewhat intended."

You never see it coming Part II [RedeemedLight x Elven]

Questions:
-Are they headed back to Odessa or would Revan want to take them somewhere else to make sure Arcann/Vitiate doesn't follow them.
-Is Vano going to follow them or hang out distracting Vitiate and Vaylin?
-Does Vaylin know Vitiate took over Arcanns body or no? I would assume she'd know something is up xD

You never see it coming Part II [RedeemedLight x Elven]

It's official: we are SO back. Seriously, this is some of our best stuff. Loved Vanos appearance and the chaos you managed to weave together.

I'll post more later; it's getting close to bed time :p

You never see it coming Part II [RedeemedLight x Elven]

Yesssssssssssss. I tried to make Meetras exit as dramatic as possible considering she only got two posts xD

I'll explain what happened in full once they retreat, but I'll be alluding to it as we go :)

Nice! Looking forward to it:)

You never see it coming Part II [RedeemedLight x Elven]

So the whole "tendril" thing was the only way I could think of manifesting Force leech/drain in the physical world. Basically what Arcann/Vitiate and Meetra were doing was an advanced version of that.

You never see it coming Part II [RedeemedLight x Elven]

Vaylin's lust for violence would be perfect for an encounter of this magnitude, although Arcann would monitor his sister's progress throughout the skirmish to ensure that she wouldn't lose complete control of her faculties. He had seen her give herself over to her more...unstable proclivities only a handful of times and even he was chilled by her behavior. While he wanted to wipe them all out here and now, the strategist within the young ruler of the Eternal Throne knew that keeping at least Revan alive would be beneficial. The kind of power Arcann could extract from the galactic legend was too much of an opportunity to pass up. Then again, leaving him alive would only encourage more of this heroic stupidity from his followers.

While you contemplate, your enemies gain an advantage. Strike. NOW.

His one visible eye widened slightly at the command that rang through his mind, casting a sweeping glance at the would-be heroes with an almost invisible nod.
"You will all succumb to the might of the Eternal Throne. The power of the Throne demands it." He thrust his left arm upward, violet tendrils snaking from his arm, rapidly undulating in a spherical pattern above the elevated hand, saber crackling to life in the other.
"STOP HIM! STOP HIM NOW!" Meetra called out hoarsely, shoving Revan aside with a surprising amount of Force as she joined Yerbol and Ethan in a charge forward.
"I love it when this happens." Vaylin grinned, casting a hungry glance at Kytra, Revan and Aria, sabers out to her side as she dashed forward, moving to engage the trio just as the tendrils that Arcann had summoned exploded outward, piercing the charging Qyaari and Meetra with ferocity. While the tendrils didn't generate physical force, the Force users who were primed to attack Arcann staggered, Ethan collapsing to one knee before coughing up a mixture of blood and bile.
"Fight it!" Meetra exhorted, teeth gritted as she thrust her hands forward, bolts of energy crackling from her palms that Arcann deflected deftly with his hazy, yellow-tinted blade as he chuckled.
"Even after all the power you've given me, you manage to muster up even more."
"The Force is not something you can...rob someone of!" With a shout, the bolts that had once been projecting forward now collapsed into a singular beam that she blasted in Arcann's direction, the Emperor spinning to his right a half-second too late, the beam cutting through his right shoulder with tenacity. A momentary groan, then a laugh.
"Do you really believe that to be true? After all you've gone through." Yerbol had managed to fight off the searing pain that had shot through his limbs and was in the process of getting Ethan back on his feet when the trio watched as the gaping hole that Meetra's attack had created vanished, bone and flesh sewing together in a matter of seconds.
"I took the power you've consumed from others and brought it into myself. Now, I have the opportunity to finish what your Darth Nihilus could never accomplish: rip the Force from your very soul." He nodded towards the now functional Qyaari.
"They too will have the opportunity to serve the Empire, as you have, Meetra. The Force will propel the Eternal Empire to the heights that my father could never take it." He crouched, saber pointed forward.
"Now then, to complete the extraction process personally."

___

It was strange to not face any resistance on an enemy ship, Neta assuming that the forces they had faced on the ground were more than likely deployed all from this vessel. Either the enemies they were facing had no tactical sense whatsoever OR they were so confident in the abilities of the Sith (or whatever they were) that remained onboard that they could throw everything they had at their new-found enemies without fear of losing control of their ship. Whatever the case, Neta would make sure that they would pay for their stupidity or arrogance.

Starting with the sabotage of their nav computer.

The spec ops officer had split to the left of their original position, navigating the gleaming ebony hallways as quickly (and safely) as she could. She made a few observations in her trek, one of which was that there were no posted signs or directions for crew members. Although the droids and small sample size of the population they had met spoke Basic, there were no signs on the ship to indicate where even the bridge was. Something else she discovered was that the doors she used to access different passageways had no active security measures. No turrets, cameras, motion sensors, not even a karkin fingerprint reader. Although this made her roaming much easier than anticipated, there was a growing sense of panic within the operative. This was TOO easy. Whenever something was this simple, there was always something lurking in the shadows waiting for the right opportunity to pounce.

With a bit of dumb luck and backtracking, she found her way to what appeared to be the bridge based on the elevated, circular platform in the center of the room, the wide viewports opposite the entrance and rows of terminals against the walls, chairs in front of said terminals unoccupied. Mumbling a curse, she gingerly made her way to the assumed Captain's chair (or platform in this case) and stepped into the center of the area. A nasally, robotic voice thudded across embedded speakers:
"Access codes?" Ah, there it is. Her eyes bounced around the room for any hint of a terminal she could hack that might have the codes she needed, the voice ringing again:
"Access codes?" Deciding to take a gamble, she ran off the platform to the nearest terminal, pulling up a screen that asked for credentials.
"Access codes?"

She knew that was a catch to her initial ease of access.

Time to get to work.

____

Yerbol thudded against a wall, grimacing as he heard a couple of cracks from around his spine, indicating that his ribcage might have fractured slightly. In the grand scheme of this fight, that was the least of his concerns, shaking his head as he called for his saber, which had been flung from his hand after Arcann had thrown him against the wall in a fight that was beginning to make Yerbol very concerned.

They weren't winning.

Meetra was putting up the best fight out of the three, dodging blows with twirls, aerial maneuvers and delivering blows with various Force attacks; Ethan and Yerbol, however, were lagging far behind. Their strikes and parries were slow, forced, Arcann managing to cut through their defenses at lightspeed. Ethan had been sliced across the shoulder several times and Yerbol almost had his legs amputated if it hadn't been for Meetra pulling Arcann off his feet a second before his saber connected. The most frustrating part of all this was that Yerbol, no matter how hard he tried, couldn't muster the kind of energy he was used to utilizing nor could he feel his bond with Aria as strongly as he normally did. Whatever Arcann had done with those tendril...things had affected he and Ethan's connection to the Force. Frankly, he and his apprentice were more of a liability in this fight.
"Come now, 'Champion'! I expected more from you." He pointed his saber at Yerbol with a smirk only half-visible thanks to the mask he wore.
"Yerbol!" Meetra and Ethan rejoined him opposite of Arcann.
"What did you do to us, Arcann?"
"I simply took some of your power. It has proven quite useful already." The smirk grew wider.
"Arcann can manipulate the Force in a way that I didn't think possible...that I never wanted to see become possible." Meetra hissed, her eyes ablaze.
"You were given a gift, Meetra, a powerful, unstoppable boon that could have seen you become the most powerful being in the entire galaxy. I believe it only just that I use the gift you neglected."
"You know NOTHING of what you speak, boy!" The Exile spit out, moving slightly forward.
"Nihilus, Kreia, Sion, all of them were eaten alive by their desire for the Force, to leech as much power as they could for their own ends. I saw with my own eyes how they were torn apart by their pursuits and I swore that it would never happen to me, to anyone else." Another step forward.
"I will NOT allow a petulant, irreverent child to turn all the years of suffering I endured onto the rest of the galaxy. This ends HERE!" Yerbol and Ethan could only stand back and watch as Meetra summoned the same tendrils that Arcann had conjured earlier, except these entities moved with lightning precision towards Arcann, who severed several from the initial onslaught, but was eventually overwhelmed by the assault.
"You WILL release the power you've leeched from me and I will ensure that no one else is harmed by your greed!" Her eyes, normally a honey-amber, now glowed a crimsonish violet as she continued closer to Arcann, who was now letting out intermittent moans of anguish.
"Yerbol, Ethan, close your eyes, focus on the power that is echoing through this room and channel it all towards me!"
"Wha-"
"Just do what the woman says, Ethan!" As Yerbol closed his eyes, a sudden jolt of something hot, burning, coursed through him, jaw tightening as he suppressed the urge to scream.
"Keep at it!"
"NO! Nooo, not-"

You've done well, my son. Exactly what I had planned. If you will excuse me, I believe this is where I will take over.

Suddenly, a smile crossed Arcann's face, his demeanor morphing, eye narrowing. Before any could react, Arcann broke the grip Meetra had on him, flicking his wrist towards him and igniting his saber just as the once seething Meetra flew towards him thanks to the gesture. Yerbol opened his eyes just in time to see Meetra being impaled on Arcann's saber. He wanted to move, yet his feet were locked to the ground, limbs paralyzed. Through the blood that gushed out of Meetra's mouth and mid-section, she still made the effort to look Arcann in the eye.
"Y...o..u...."
"Your stranglehold on the Force ends here, Meetra Surik." With another flick, Meetra's limp corpse was discarded haphazardly against a nearby wall, Arcann now examining the Qyaari.
"Your power is impressive." He looked in the direction of Yerbol, who was still fighting to regain control of his body.
"Your apprentice is nothing compared to what I want from you." He strode forward, hand in front of his body.
"Your connection to the Force will be mine." Arcann closed his eye for a moment, his open hand clenching as the pain within Yerbol ascended, the Champion forced to endure the searing pain that threatened to black out his vision. There was a ripping, a tearing that he tried to fight, tried so hard to battle against, yet in a matter of moments the violence was complete.

And he felt.

Nothing.

Nodding, he then pointed his saber at Ethan.
"Not worth the effort." He raised his saber overhead.

You never see it coming Part II [RedeemedLight x Elven]

Oh boy, I was doing some thinking about this post on my way into work this morning and fair warning: stuff is about to go down AND this post might be the long, long side xD

Questions before I work on this:
-Did we agree on Vitiate possessing Arcann and Vaylin during the fight?
-Are you ok with Meetra dying in this post or do you want me to wait until you have a chance to reply to this one?
-Does Vano make an appearance here or after this fight?