SWRPF Archive ~ Gaurdians of the Force: The Tainted Blade ~

OOC: I apologize for my dissapearance; I blame wine, women and clubbing. I'm reading all the backlog, but could someone PM me a short summary of what's happening exactly, and the status of my characters?

Kaylen grinned, maliciously and happily, looking at the Blade in Camden's hand. "I most heartily accept. You do seem to be able to push my buttons."

Kaylen shifted to a more casual, relaxed pose. "So, you two--three?--are going to be taking her ship. Do you want me to take my own fighter, for extra protection, or are we all going together?"

Kaylen waited calmly for the response on the outside, but inside he was thinking furiously, but tried not to show it. He devotely hoped the Blade couldn't pierce his mental defenses, but it didn't matter: he would be loyal, as he had no real other choice. There weren't many more people in the galaxy who would be willing to have him as an ally. "Not ready to command our power..." It wasn't great, but he would have to take what he could get. On the other hand, power beyond your current comprehension was a good thing. That promise alone would keep him faultlessly loyal to the Blade. He waited for the Blade's response.

TAG: Kai, as Taiin and Camden

OOC: I hadn't intended this much depth for this character... Oh well, it's a happy accident. Kai, I confess that I, too, am somewhat confused as to where/what the heroes are up to...

OOC: I believe the Jedi party is not far behind, probably just landing in the marketplace though some of them may still be back on the Quest.. Just waiting for others to post responses.

IC: Camden/The Blade pondered it for moment as they began walking towards the docking bay a few blocks away.

"Bring your vessel if you wish. The Jedi may try and intercept us. Our power is still mostly restrained within the confines of this lighsaber and whilst we were able to slay Jones with ease, we are currently not powerful enough to fend off a cadre of Jedi, especially seeing that in the recents thoughts you eminate, I see that Halicon survived."

"However, he is weak right now. His connection with the Force remains but does not burn with its usual intenstity. Usually, within the boundaries of the Force, he would be a blinding flash of powerful light, yet I sense merely a flicker of his former granduer. Originally, we had planned to take his form as our own, but his defenses would be too strong. Young Rycoth proved to be an easier and more suitable host."

Taiin cut in, somewhat vapidly.

"Don't underestimate Halicon. I've seen him do some pretty impressive things when he's pushed to the limit. Plus, if he's got other Jedi with him that are even half as powerful, they're not going to make it easy."

Camden turned towards her, his possessed face blank but eyes still glimmering ruby.

"Don't presume to lecture us, Taiin. We are a hundreds of centuries worth of knowledge and power. Within our being we contain the essences of every master of the Dark Side; Exar Kun, Naga Sadow, Freedon Nadd, Bane, Malak, Palpatine. We know how to deal with Halicon and his compatriots. He is no more of threat than old Skywalker is. Learn from Kaylen's example and offer only constructive comments, lest we are forced to administer discipline....."

Taiin nodded nervously, pulling her hood over her face. Evidently, the Blade was not one to be talked back too. The rest of the journey continued in silence towards the port where Taiin's ship lay....

Serin looked up as she heard Leina ask, "Um, Master Kore? Are you alright?". Before she could say that she was far from being a master, she heard Kai at the doorway.

"Serin, you haven't failed and neither has our mission. As the commander of this operation, any blame for the outcome falls sqaurely on me. I should of been more wary of Camden's emotional fluctations. As for taking charge, you found me, didn't you? I doubt anyone would have a bad word to say about your skills as a leader."

He then went on to explain that Jarrod was battling Camden and apparently, he knew who had the Tainted Blade, and indeed knew her well. After mentioning her, Kai gave Serin a look that immediately said "Don't ask, I'll explain later."

Kai ordered Sedryn to head towards the marketplace in Kiros, and sat back in a seat, a tense silence filling the cabin for the few moments flight time it took to get there. Without warning, it was as if Kai was hit by a physical blow that sent him flying, slamming him into a bulkhead. The gathered Jedi were up in a flash but Kai was already leaning against K4. He looked drained and exausted.

"...Jarrod tried to kill Cam....he must of had no other choice...I felt him die...but the Blade kept him alive....I have a lock on them. The west end fo the market. About half a kilometer from us. Sedryn, set the ship down on the dockside port near there."

Checking her lightsabers on her belt, Serin pulled her robe back on, which was laying over the back of the seat she'd occupied. As the ship set down, Serin suddenly got a flash of...something. Like a sudden flare up in the Force, which died as quickly as it came. And what was more disturbing to the Jedi, she had a split second flash of Jarrod's face as it ended. Quickly, Serin headed to the exit, calling out, "Something's happened. I'm going ahead, catch up. We need to cut them off!"

And like that, she was out of the ship, through the winding streets, oblivious to whether anyone was behind her. She had to stop this, before someone else got hurt!

As she rounded a corner, she came face to face with Camden, as well as 2 others Serin could only assume to be Taiin and Kaylen. They were about 3 or 4 metres away, and looked as if they were preparing to leave. She stopped where she stood, as they noticed her.

With a serious look on her face and her arms crossed across her chest, she gave a minor bow of her head to Kai's apprentice. "Camden. Aren't you supposed to be in the Gallant Quest's infirmary?" She said without humour, trying to look confident, but inside, she doubted she could take all three.

TAG

((Thanks for those synopses, guys; this is going to be a little synopsis of your synopses, as I've gotta place Mage within all that happened over the past few weeks(or hours, in game time) ))

It had been a busy day, but Mage had barely even had a chance to take it all in. First, Kai had apparently died, and it had seemed like things were changing for the worse. Mage had completed his mission, retrieved one of the pirate escape pods, and then returned to the Gallant Quest to find Serin doing the best she could under the new circumstances.

After he had finished escorting the pirates to the brig, Serin had pulled him aside and asked for his assistance in leading the group, now that they were without their original leader, and Mage had accepted. Their first priority had been to find the Blade, and they had brought the Gallant Quest down to land on the planet of Cargul, to begin the search. Surprisingly, that search had turned into a rescue party before they had even left the ship; Kai had turned up alive. They had left Jarrod and Liana behind to protect Camden and Denin, and then struck off towards the wilderness to recover Kai.

Then the other shoe dropped. Camden had awoken in the full thrall of the Dark Side, and had escaped the lightly guarded 'Gallant Quest.' As far as Mage could tell, the Blade had been too much for Camden; it hadn't only touched him, it had left a part of itself within him. The SpecOps agent, Jarrod, had chased after Camden, only to be shot down. Mage hadn't been exceptionally suprised by that one; he had experience with the combat abilities of Jedi, including a few rogue ones. Even Wedge Antilles would have trouble with even some of the weaker ones.

As it stood, it seemed like this was not one of the weaker ones.

Mage had dissapeared into the city, breaking away from the search party, early on. His goal was still the recovery of the Tainted Blade, even though Serin was focused on recovering Kai. He had begun his search in the normal way; asking questions. He had quickly found a pattern near the space port and market areas; people couldn't quite remember what they'd been doing, or who they had seen during certain parts of the past few days. After an hour, though, it hadn't been difficult to trace the Blade; the screaming citizens had been a dead give away.

Mage had arrived in the marketplace too late to assist Jarrod; the man was already dead on the market floor as the New Republic agent arrived, blending into the background as best he could. He knew that the Dark Jedi probably sensed him, but he doubted that they cared. Anyone with that much power wouldn't give a second thought to a non-Force user. It didn't much matter one way or the other, really; it was obvious that his blasters wouldn't be of much use against the thing that had been Camden, even if he could get past its lightsaber. It seemed to be able to survive no matter how many hits it took.

So Mage did what he did best; he listened. The thing had been Camden was talking now that the threat of Jarrod had been removed, speaking to the other two beings present in its booming voice. As far as he could tell, the Chiss female had been the one who had found the blade, and the young human male was some kind of dark jedi apprentice. Finally, the being said something that interested him; 'Korriban.' They were headed towards the Sith burial grounds, now the headquarters of Mephet'ran. It stood to reason; a focusing point of Sith energies would be the perfect place for the Blade.

Mage placed a call in to the Gallant Quest, reporting on Jarrod's status, as well as what he had heard of Korriban, then continued to follow the Dark Jedi.

The trio made their way towards the docking bays at a rapid pace. They made no attempt to discourage pursuit; no mind tricks, no mad dashes, nothing. They were no doubt confident in their ability to handle anything that came in their way.

As they arrived at their ship, Mage was about to return to the 'Gallant Quest' and report in... just as Serin entered the scene.

"Damn," Mage his

Kaylen smirked. "So, the 'real' Jedi, and the big man with guns are going to take us out?" He couldn't resist a little showing off. "Why, I alone outnumber you." As he said this, Kaylen created two identical duplicates to his left.

TAG: All involved
OOC: It would have been longer, but I don't have much time online right now. So, I'm succinct.

OOC: Great post Coota - welcome back. Mage's wherabouts have been intergrated really well. I'll try and play on the heated confrontation between the factions rather than going to a full-out brawl.

Slight GM warning. (very minor)

IC: (The Blade/Camden/Taiin/Kai/Liana) Before he had even finished speaking, the Blade, still playing puppet-master to Camden had reached out and identified the newcomer through is thought patterns. It was the detective, Wizall - a non-Force user but one the Blade had learned though its observations through Camden was not be underestimated. The ones who were seemingly less-threatening could often be the most dangerous.

"Quite the decorated agent, you are, Inspector. And evdiently quite the well-spoken and courageous. Few non-Jedi would have the bravery to stand before us with little fear of their own demise. You are uniquely well-gaurded within the confines of your mind as well for one not endowed with the Force."

Camden took a few steps forward, but motioned for Taiin and Kaylen to remain where they were. They were just outside the main lobby of the dock and the sight of a floating boy with furious red eyes had caused many of the locals to run in panic. The sun was beginning to go down despite it being only mid-afternoon but on frigid world like Cargul which was only a few degrees removed from Hoth, the days tended to be short.

"However, both of your words will be in vain. There is little you can do to stop us - even in our current state, we are far more powerful than you and the Jedi combined. We offer this as your only chance to step aside, lest we burn your memories from existence!"

No sooner had Camden spoke, then an odd feeling coursed through the air, felt only by everyone save Mage. It was like a tingling of the spine and suddenly, everything seemed duller, less defined and surreal. It was an effect that Taiin recognised immediately; one that she had experienced herself in the past and managed to share with the others.

"Can you feel that sensation.....the dulling of the Force - from behind us!"

Turning, the trio of turned to see the charcoal and silver form of K4-G2, rolling towards them. The droid warbled a sarcastic greeting and Taiin noted with malice the object strapped to the top of the droid.

The slithering form of a pair of ysalamiri, the unique lifeform that was able to create a 'bubble' of invisible energy that somehow was able to negate the flow of the Force within a small radius which could grow larger if more of the creatures were swarmed together.

Taiin and Kaylen felt it first, like a cold shock as the Force was removed from them. Camden took a moment longer, the Blade pulsating his side. He hissed like a beast and tried to move, but was stopped by the sound of a blaster carbine being loaded.

He turned and wound up facing the barrel of a Blastech E-11 rifle, gripped tightly by the Twi'lek apprentice Liana Falzar, who sported a gash to the side of forehead. The gun leveled on Cam and without warning, discharged a single shot in the form of a spiralling blue flash - a stun setting. The beam hit Camden square in the chest and he was thrown to the the floor. Even in his weakened state, it was only enough to wind him at best.

Liana looked in the direction of Serin and Mage.

"Serin! Step back right now or you'll be caught in the bubble the ysalamiri are generating. Kai figured they'd come in handy to have, even if he had to hide them on the farthest end of the ship ..."

She looked down at Cam, several metres away from him. Her yellow eyes regarded him with a mixture of sympahty and fright.

"I'm sorry Cam.....I wish it was not like this."

So distracted with keeping a lock on Camden, she didn't notice Taiin come into play.

"Screw this.... I'm out of here Kaylen!"

The wily assassin moved as quickly as her reduced condition could allow her, which was still fairly speedy. She bolted towards Liana and in less than a second, she was out of the invisible b

OOC:

Just to seek some knowledge about the thread's plot, will they be arriving on Korriban, have they already, or is that just not going to happen?

Also, I was wondering if I could play a last little 'trump' card of sorts to the tune of invading Camden's soul in a valiant final battle to beat the Dark Side at its source of power over him?

EDIT: Please ignore those questions. Just read the post. (Oops.) Initiating cameo, regardless. I am not a waste of time. I am a pain in the Dark Side's you-know-what. (No, I will try to not make it a ghost-to-ghost trick. I will use the odd medical stuff from Star Trek that kept Captain Jean-Luc Picard alive for a long time.)

IC:

Jarrod opened his eyes to a strange world of gray, blue, and black. There were people walking all over the place. Everything felt strange, and he walked around in a daze. At length, he came across a blue ghost that looked like his girlfriend. In his stupor, he barely recognized her, but when he did, he was overjoyed. He ran to her and gave her a passionate embrace, but a searing flash of light intercepted him when they made contact, forcing his eyes closed.

They opened, strangely, a few minutes later. What he saw was not the smiling face of his girlfriend, but instead the lights embedded in the ceiling of a hospital room. He was strapped down to a bed, a wierd patch on his chest. Blood was pumping through him again, making him wonder what was actually going on. He then saw a piece of paper by his side, and knew what had happened. Someone had brought him from the marketplace to a nearby hospital. When he read the paper, he was ready to hurl. A mechanical heart!?

He took the strap at his waist and ripped it in two with his hands, breaking the bonds that held him to the bed. He then rose up and stormed out of the room in his combat uniform, his sword in his hands and his rifle across his back. The doctor at the door tried to make him stay, but he flipped the doctor the middle finger and continued to walk out, determined to make it to the scene of the fight and prove himself once more.

A few minutes later, he found the entire group, save for Denin, in what looked like an epic struggle. Time to join in, he thought to himself. He felt different from when he had been slain. The genome in him must have been destroyed when the fireball went through his chest. He stopped at a tall hill with some tree coverage, within sniping range, but just out of the eyesight of any normal person. He holstered his sword and armed his sniper rifle, his keen eyes giving him a read of the situation with the greatest of ease. He took aim, and the image that came to his eyes seemed to clear up what was going on.

He saw Kai, hugging some woman. Probably the person the Dark Side had in mind with that hideous offer it mentioned. He then looked at Mage, who had his sights on Camden. Don't worry, buddy. I'll be there in a bit. He holstered the rifle, and re-drew his sword, running at a breakneck pace to the scene of the battle. The presence of the other Dark Side Jedi didn't bother him; he had seen some Ysalamiri near the area, ensuring that the Force wouldn't come into play. Well, it didn't matter to him either way, because they still couldn't sense him very easily, if at all.
Jarrod slowed himself as he entered the effect area of the Ysalamiri, a broad smile on his face. "Hello, everyone. One angered soldier, recipient of a medical miracle, reporting as ordered." He then turned to the young boy, Camden, and the icy glare in his eyes was enough to dispell any doubt that he was back in full. "I command you, in the name of the Force, get out of the boy now!" He gripped the sword in both of his hands, channeling five seperate blasts of electricity through it. "1000 volts, bucko. You feel lucky?"

TAG: All

OOC: Hope that wasn't too much of a GM'ing warning. />/>

OOC: Okay, a few things to clarify/make ammends for:

1. KnightHawk - as of my last post, the conflict has been set outside the Kiros City spaceport with the Jedi/Alliance party making an attempt to stop the Blade leaving Cargul for Korriban.

2. I note in my last post I stated I'd try and avoid flipping into a battle - which I kinda didn't. Was hoping to give Mage and Serin an opportunity to confront Camden and co - that opportunity is still there. All I really wanted to do in my last post was to establish everyone as being in the same place, more or less.

3. ReallyBoringGuy - I completely neglected the 'illusion casting' that Kaylen did just before Kai and company arrived on the scene. I apologise profusely if there was a specific agenda motivating that. We must of been posting at the same time.

4. Back to KnightHawk again - as for your 'trump-card' suggestion/request - I'm going to leave it for now as I have some plans to impliment in the near future but I may take you up on it later.


That's it.... for now.




EDIT: Just saw yer own editting 'Hawk.

OOC: Damn. My crown-threatening edit might be for nothing.

EDIT: Saw the edit regarding my edit. Oops.

OOC: Might be gming; not sure. Can always change.

---

Mage moved fast, as soon as the Yslamari bubble began to cover the Force users, as soon as Kaylen's illusion faded, his connection to the Force having been severed. The young boy didn't have his lightsaber out yet, as he had been confident that the Force would be more than enough to deal with someone like Mage.

Mage was quick for an old man, and efficient; he didn't waste time with bluster and posing when it came down to combat. He was also an experienced street fighter, having long ago learned to fight hard in a corner, surrounded by seemingly superior enemies. His fist, encasing the butt of his blaster, slammed hard into Kaylen's stomach before the boy had a chance to react; the butt of the blaster served as a makeshift brassknuckle, quadrupling the damaging power of the investigator's fist.

His other blaster was not silent; he fired it at point blank range at the boy's chest, releasing a wave of stun energy into him. He then threw the blaster he had used to aid his fist, bringing his now free hand around to snag Kaylen's lightsaber away from him.

Mage stepped back, tossing the saber away from them both. He picked up his second blaster as he moved, covering both the stunned Camden and Kaylen.

"Like I said before, let Serin talk, kid. I didn't want to fight you, but if you want a fight, I can always provide one. Chances are you'll get away; you'll probably even get your saber back. But if someone wants to talk, instead of fight, you let them talk. My time as an investigator has taught me that it pays to listen."

At that point, Jarrod entered the scene, rushing for the Tainted Blade. Mage just shook his head. It seemed like everyone needed to learn that lesson today. This wasn't going to be a fight won by pure brute force or energy or whatever. It was going to be won by who was more committed to their purpose. He wondered how many times Jarrod would need to have his heart ripped out to realize that.

As far as Mage was concerned, destroying the Blade meant nothing; it was apparently inhabited by more than twenty five thousand years worth of evil. Something like that would know how to survive a little bit of electricity. Maybe this wasn't the first Tainted Blade; maybe there had been hundreds over the Millenia, 'destroyed' again and again by people who didn't understand that. No, the only way to stop it for good would be through the soul of the one it was depending on. Someone like Serin was their only hope for that. An assault on the Blade itself would only channel its collected millenia of rage into fighting back against any resistance Camden's soul might put up, and against the force blocking powers of the Yslamiri.

"Jarrod, step back; that won't stop it! I'm not quite clear on this, but I'm guessing it likes destruction. " Mage called to the SpecOps soldier, doubting he would get through to him.

---
OOC: I'm not sure if that's GMing; I didn't post your reactions, but Mage moved so quick I don't think they'd matter much. Without the aid of the Force, after all, I don't think Kaylen would be able to stand up to a fifty year old veteran of street brawls and gutter fights. I could be wrong, though, in which case I can edit or change this and post a different version

Knighthawk: Does Jarrod have some kind of electric shock thing built into his mechanized systems? Just curious; I wasn't sure how he was channeling the electricity into the blade.

OOC: {Another short post from me! [face_shocked] ) I'm fine with what everyone did with Kaylen, just don't kill him yet. In fact, if you hadn't knocked him out, he'd have grabbed the Blade, made a break for it, and probably died... But, what's Terow up to? I still haven't caught up on that..

OOC: As far as GM'ing posts go, that's very mild, Coota and acceptable in my books. I'm pretty loose when it comes to the GM policy these days so long as the rest of the players are as lenient.

As such, some slighy GM'ing to follow....

IC: (Kai) With Taiin still wrapped around him in a limp form, Kai watched as Mage moved with a speed that defied his middle-age and made short work of the somewhat surprised Kaylen. Wizall disarmed the younger man and gave him a painful reminder that he was not one to be trifled with as he leveled his guns on Cam and Kaylen.

The surprisingly-resurrected Jarrod also entered the fray and barked off a warning to Camden, who remained motionless. Mage shot him warning to remain where he was and Kai decided to enter the conversation.

He stepped forward, to where he was just outside the ysalamiri bubble.

"Cam....Blade.... You can't run. Trust me on that. Right now, you're powerless and we're holding all the cards. Don't doubt for a moment that Jarrod or Mage will hesitate to put another shot into you. All we want is you to relinquish control of Camden."

The boy sneered and cackled to himself.

"Really?! And what can you offer in return? You have nothing to barter with. Even your salvation of Taiin means nothing to us. We forsaw you would come to her aide when you realised she was involved - as the daughter of your former master, your ties to her are strong, much like they are to this form we inhabit."

Kai bit his lip and squinted. Taiin's grip on his arm was firm and she stared wide-eyed at the vile-looking young man they surrounded. Kai touched her mind for a moment and sensed her disgust and disappointment within herself for being such a servant to her darkest desires. However, her combat with Kai had been enough to break her out of the Blade's trance.

Now they just had to get Camden back.

"It's not a case of bartering; not anymore. You're not just dealing with a bunch of hero wannabe's here - you're dealing with the best the New Republic has to offer. And a cadre of Jedi at that. If we have to fight you, we will be it physically or psionically. And we won't give up."

The Blade said nothing and Kai wondered why. It seemed to be seething over something. When it did reply, it was through gritted teeth, causing Kai to grow suspicious.

"Mindless.....heedless....words...Halicon......."

Taiin leaned over and whispered to Kai at the sight of the visually strained Camden under the mastery of the Blade.

"It's up to something.... my psionics may be pitiful compared to yours, but I can feel it.....!"

As Kai reached out telepathically, he realised that she was right. The feeling was confirmed as the two ysalamiri strapped to K4's dome began to flail about maddly, changing colour to a dull purple and gasping for breath. The first spasmed for a moment the remained still and the other one followe a second later, the pair of them both dead from telepathic strangulation.

In that horrific instant, Kai realised the fact that the Blade had been secretly building its power up to a level the two ysalamiri could not compensate for; against such a powerful incarnation of the Force, even the fabled creatures proved useless as Camden's contorted face grinned a devilish smile.

The next thing anyone knew, a psionic shockwave with the power of a small earthquake exploded from Camden, the ripple of power coursing out in an expanding ring that sent the entire party hurtling across the street and causing cracks in the road and nearby buildings. Several of them were thrown into the air and landed hard, Kai and Taiin amonst them.

Taiin managed to in a crouched pose but was knocked over by Kai's falling form, his coat splaying across the ground. As the dust cloud that had been lifted by the attack began to settle, parts of the area had been reduced to rubble and Camden was nowhere to be seen. Daring to use telepathy, which in no way aided the splitting headache he now had, Kai

As with Coota, a summary would be nice if you could PM it to me. When I got it,i'll rejoin the adventure.

Time seemed to move in slow motion. Serin had been planning, focusing ahead. She'd fought more than this before, and was fairly sure this wouldn't be solved by words, but she wasn't deluding herself into thinking it would be easy. The boy, Kaylen, she wrote off almost immediately, but "Camden", or the thing inhabiting him, would be a challenge. And the other, Taiin...she was a wildcard.

And just at that moment, Mage appeared. Serin was both pleased and slightly annoyed to see him. His words confirmed he figured she thought they could talk their way out of conflict, though the Jedi'd abandoned that idea at her first look into the glowing red of what were no longer Camden's eyes.

In response to Mage, the young one, Kaylen, seemed amused. "So, the 'real' Jedi, and the big man with guns are going to take us out? Why, I alone outnumber you." As he said this, Kaylen created two identical duplicates to his left. He obviously didn't know the trouble he was in. Looking directly into Kaylen's eyes and ignoring his duplicates, Serin calmly said, "Child, tricks don't impress. Go home, before you get hurt."

With that, she looked back at "Camden" as he started speaking, directed at Mage, offering the cheap threats of a holo-fiction villain. She had to admit, she'd just about given up on the boy, and was resigned to the fact that they would have to destroy him, before something really bad happened. She was about to say something to that effect to Mage when she felt a dulling, a distraction of the Force. Experince taught Serin what it could only be, even as Taiin spoke up.

Serin took a few steps back, out of the radius of the ysalamiri as K4 rolled to a stop, bleeping at the dark trio ahead. The dark spirits inhabiting Camden were more than a little angry at this, and Serin rested both her palms on the hilts of her dual lightsabers, ready to taken him out. Better her than Kai having to do it.

Fortunately for someone, and Serin wasn't entirely sure who, the choice was taken away from her as Liana appeared, a blaster rifle levelled at Cam, and in a flash, he was down stunned.

Suddenly, a million things seemed to happen at once. Taiin charged and attacked Liana. Mage went after Kaylen, taking him out swiftly and efficiently, but taking his aim off Camden. Reacting without thinking, Serin's blue blade was in her had and at the boy's throat in a heartbeat, to keep him covered. The glow on his face produced shadows that made him look even more sinister, as he slowly stood but made no motion for attack. The move forced her into the force negating bubble, but her Serin was confident in her physical abilities to not mind.

Behind her she heard the sounds of a lightsaber battle, and what sounded like another joining the fight, Jarrod Serin found herself surprised to hear, but she refused to take her eyes off the boy.

The brief excitement ended, Kai calmly tried reasoning, for all the good it did. The Blade, as Serin was begining to think of Kai's former apprentice. It's responses were strained and through gritted teeth. Without any warning, Serin felt her connection to the Force returning, and it was screaming at her about trouble. And before she could think "What happened to the ysalamiri?", she was hit point blank by shockwave of incredible power...she remembered flying, and then blackness.

The next thing Serin knew, Kai was helping her to her feet. She silently watched him pick up Cam's former saber...HIS former saber.
Her head was pounding. She also found her nose bleeding, and tabbed that up with the sleeve of her robe. Taking a few tenative steps on wobbly legs, she moved over to where her lightsaber had dropped, and retrieved it. She eyed the young Kaylen, and as they started going, Serin grabbed her small comlink and signalled the Gallant Quest, hoping someone was still there (OOC: Terow or Denin, maybe?). "This is Kore. If anyone's left there, get the ship ready for takeoff, we're leaving right away"

Moving over beside Kai, she whispered, "Chasing the Blade will get us nowhere. We need to ma

IC: Hearing Serin's sound reasoning, he knew that there was litle chance of tghem stopping Camden/The Blade here. Kai remembered a final detail that he'd forgotten before.

Korriban. The place Mephet'ran was last based when I fought him six years ago. It's entirely possible he might be there still, after all, he's had a hand in it to some degree.

Turning to Serin, he holstered the second lightsaber at his side next to his own.

"You're completely right. We need to get there before him if we're to have any chance of stopping them. From what I've been able to glean telepathically - no easy feat given the Blade's formidable power; it's going to try and use Sith Holocrons as a focal point to realease itself into Camden."

"I know it sounds delirious, but if Mephet'ran is on Korriban, he may be our only chance. He's a great authority on ancient relics and he may know how to use the Holocrons to somehow disrupt the Blade's carrier wave and stop it. I've got a plan, but it relies on him being there."

He coughed, getting a raised eyebrow from Serin. When she'd been locating him telepathically, he'd established a psionic rapport with her in order for her to get a lock on him. It functioned like a psionic link and normally Kai would of been able to shut it off like a light, but in his weakened state, it would of just caused his ears to bleed due to the strain. For now, he kept it, which was odd because he had the feeling that the better part of his telepathic abilities were now residing in Serin. He could still utilise his telekinesis, the other half of his mind powers with ease as he moved a large chuck of wreckage from the path to the spaceport but it felt like half of mental abilities were being shared.

As such, he could get small sensations from her, but few and far between. Over the past few minutes, he'd occassionally seen things through her eyes and been somewhat taken aback by it. However, it might be useful for Serin to have use to his telepathic might; he himself was in no condition to use it and even his telekinesis hurt to use. On the other hand, a medium-level psionic like Serin might not be able to handle suddenly havin Alpha-level power. Straining himself as they headed towards the ship, he spoke to her again.

"Serin.... I don't know if you've noticed, but I have the strongest impression that our minds have somehow tagged a link to each other - it must of happened while you were trying to locate me. My psionics have been off since the Blade appeared. I think it has an effect on the whole astral plane."

"Anyway, I can't use my telepathy to any great degree now at all and I think it's because you've somehow managed to end up with it. I can't be sure, but it feels that way. You may not notice it initially, but it will come to make itself known. You may experience an overload in your senses because of the sheer raw power in my head seems to of migrated to yours. For now, we can't really afford any time to be lost trying to sort it; unfortunately it makes you now our strongest telepath."

"I know this may be strange but you can come to me if you need anything. It may seem strange as I have the feeling we're tagged together by a psionic tether now. I'm going to try and keep my thoughts to a minimum in order to keep your head from overloading and I'll suggest the other Jedi try and dampen their telepathy."

He sighed and tried to quell his troubled thoughts, but he wondered how things were going to go again. At the same time, a vision of home and the shrouded beach on the edge of the continent where he'd grown up came to view. The forrest was not far away and he tried to keep his thought brief as not to fill Serin's head with too much information.

Serin seemed to be taking it really well, having just become a formidable telepath. However, the problem of Kaylen returned and Kai heard her words in his head before she even said anything. Evidnetly, he could get some slight perception on her thoughts though he wagered now she was able to pick through his min

IC:

Darkness surrounds the sleeping form of Denin Law.

The darkness penetrates his body and mind, ensnaring his thoughts.

Denin, you can't escape.


The Dark Side is your destiny.


You know this to be true, Denin, search your feelings!


Denin...you must join us. There is no other way.


TAG: all/>/>/>/>

OOC: GM'ing warning, pretty huge this time. Feel free to criticize.

IC:

Jarrod ran behing Taiin, discharging the electric build-up in his sword. "Not funny," he said in regards to the battery comment. "You aware of Sith Witches and their tricks?" He then stopped at the wrecked market stall. "50 Ysalamiri, if you have them." He paid for the creatures, and left a huge tip for the damages that the shopkeeper and her stall had suffered. (OOC: I said I'd pay for that.)

As they continued running, Jarrod went over a few spells under his breath, including one on summoning a dead Dark Jedi. Those words seemed to catch Taiin's interest.

TAG: Kai

IC:

As soon as they arrived at the spaceport, Jarrod had his rifle out and aimed. "Stop right there, or I get the unenviable task of blowing your brains all over this starpad." He pulled the bag out of his arm's cargo compartment, and threw it open, spilling the 50 Ysalamiri on the floor. Enough of a Force-proof bubble came up that even 'Camden' would have a huge problem with it. (OOC: Yes, I am aware that talking is better. Unfortunately, I subscribe to brute force more often. Part of my personal little problem. Also, fight fire with fire. [Magical fire, that is. ])

TAG: Kai

OOC:b 50 ysalimari are just "available"? That seems a bit much to me, but I'm not the GM here...

On another note, who's playing Mephet'ran? I don't remember...

IC as Terow: Terow skulked atop a rooftop, shuriken in hand, Camden and Jarrod visible below. He'd managed to get lost quite promptly after he entered the city, but stealth was too deeply ingrained into him for him to ask directions from someone he didn't know. Thus, he'd wandered mostly aimlessly until he, by accident, had found these two. He wasn't sure what was up with those two, but they definitely weren't on good terms, and he wasn't certain why. (OOC: If anyone recalls his last few posts, he's totally lost as to what's going on.)

Why the two of them were looking ready to fight he had no idea, nor did he know which side to take if the pair did begin to fight. He'd have to play it by ear, but Terow devotely hoped that neither one would prove aggressive, and he could ask them about it later. Squeezing the shuriken a bit tighter, and re-calculating the tragectories yet again, he waited.

Tag: Kai, KnightHawk

IC as Kaylen: As the Jedi and allies left, Kaylen sat where he'd been dropped, totally confused. Overloading ysalimari? Getting taken down, pretty easily, by an old man without any Force skills? Taiin fighting Kai, then the two having a tender moment?

If that wasn't enough, the Blade, through its puppet, had knocked everyone around, including him, and, apparently, fled. Finally, the Jedi had just up and left, totally ignoring him as long as he wasn't being aggresive or didn't want to join them. "This is insane..." he mumbled to himself, more as a gripe than because he thought it would change anything.

Kaylen mentally reviewed his options: he could report to Mephet'ran, and, most likely, be revealed as a traitor to the Sith. He could join the Jedi, but he'd already been branded a traitor among them. Finally, he could follow the Tainted Blade, but he was no longer certain if he was willing to settle for a portion of its power, because, in that fight, he'd had a sense of complete, utter evil. It scared him, but not enough to ally once again with the Jedi, whom he viewed as weak-willed, mindless drones of the state. As he'd told Kai, the Jedi must rule. On the other hand, the Blade was worse. It would be unstoppable, and worse than the Emperor if it managed to bond with the host boy.

He grinned ruefully, with gallows humor. "Traitor to the Jedi, traitor to Mephet'ran, traitor to the Blade. I seem to be a serial traitor. No matter. I now know what I must do."

Kaylen scrambled to his feet, then adjusted his clothes. "I don't like the Jedi, but I think I've finally made a choice: the Blade is too dangerous to be allowed to exist. Even if the Jedi won't take their place as the rulers of the galaxy, guided by the Force, they're the best option around, and the best chance we have of stopping the Blade, which, no matter what, won't be listening to the Force for guidance. Different though our goals may be, we do have a common purpose. Rather than follow the Jedi, he hurried out of the city, to his fighter, intent of reaching Korriban before the Jedi, or, more importantly, the Blade could.

OOC: I think this is my longest post ever...

OOC:b 50 ysalimari are just "available"? That seems a bit much to me, but I'm not the GM here...

On another note, who's playing Mephet'ran? I don't remember...

IC as Terow: Terow skulked atop a rooftop, shuriken in hand, Camden and Jarrod visible below. He'd managed to get lost quite promptly after he entered the city, but stealth was too deeply ingrained into him for him to ask directions from someone he didn't know. Thus, he'd wandered mostly aimlessly until he, by accident, had found these two. He wasn't sure what was up with those two, but they definitely weren't on good terms, and he wasn't certain why. (OOC: If anyone recalls his last few posts, he's totally lost as to what's going on.)

Why the two of them were looking ready to fight he had no idea, nor did he know which side to take if the pair did begin to fight. He'd have to play it by ear, but Terow devotely hoped that neither one would prove aggressive, and he could ask them about it later. Squeezing the shuriken a bit tighter, and re-calculating the tragectories yet again, he waited.

Tag: Kai, KnightHawk

IC as Kaylen: As the Jedi and allies left, Kaylen sat where he'd been dropped, totally confused. Overloading ysalimari? Getting taken down, pretty easily, by an old man without any Force skills? Taiin fighting Kai, then the two having a tender moment?

If that wasn't enough, the Blade, through its puppet, had knocked everyone around, including him, and, apparently, fled. Finally, the Jedi had just up and left, totally ignoring him as long as he wasn't being aggresive or didn't want to join them. "This is insane..." he mumbled to himself, more as a gripe than because he thought it would change anything.

Kaylen mentally reviewed his options: he could report to Mephet'ran, and, most likely, be revealed as a traitor to the Sith. He could join the Jedi, but he'd already been branded a traitor among them. Finally, he could follow the Tainted Blade, but he was no longer certain if he was willing to settle for a portion of its power, because, in that fight, he'd had a sense of complete, utter evil. It scared him, but not enough to ally once again with the Jedi, whom he viewed as weak-willed, mindless drones of the state. As he'd told Kai, the Jedi must rule. On the other hand, the Blade was worse. It would be unstoppable, and worse than the Emperor if it managed to bond with the host boy.

He grinned ruefully, with gallows humor. "Traitor to the Jedi, traitor to Mephet'ran, traitor to the Blade. I seem to be a serial traitor. No matter. I now know what I must do."

Kaylen scrambled to his feet, then adjusted his clothes. "I don't like the Jedi, but I think I've finally made a choice: the Blade is too dangerous to be allowed to exist. Even if the Jedi won't take their place as the rulers of the galaxy, guided by the Force, they're the best option around, and the best chance we have of stopping the Blade, which, no matter what, won't be listening to the Force for guidance. Different though our goals may be, we do have a common purpose. Rather than follow the Jedi, he hurried out of the city, to his fighter, intent of reaching Korriban before the Jedi, or, more importantly, the Blade could.

OOC: I think this is my longest post ever...

OOC:b 50 ysalimari are just "available"? That seems a bit much to me, but I'm not the GM here...

On another note, who's playing Mephet'ran? I don't remember...

IC as Terow: Terow skulked atop a rooftop, shuriken in hand, Camden and Jarrod visible below. He'd managed to get lost quite promptly after he entered the city, but stealth was too deeply ingrained into him for him to ask directions from someone he didn't know. Thus, he'd wandered mostly aimlessly until he, by accident, had found these two. He wasn't sure what was up with those two, but they definitely weren't on good terms, and he wasn't certain why. (OOC: If anyone recalls his last few posts, he's totally lost as to what's going on.)

Why the two of them were looking ready to fight he had no idea, nor did he know which side to take if the pair did begin to fight. He'd have to play it by ear, but Terow devotely hoped that neither one would prove aggressive, and he could ask them about it later. Squeezing the shuriken a bit tighter, and re-calculating the tragectories yet again, he waited.

Tag: Kai, KnightHawk

IC as Kaylen: As the Jedi and allies left, Kaylen sat where he'd been dropped, totally confused. Overloading ysalimari? Getting taken down, pretty easily, by an old man without any Force skills? Taiin fighting Kai, then the two having a tender moment?

If that wasn't enough, the Blade, through its puppet, had knocked everyone around, including him, and, apparently, fled. Finally, the Jedi had just up and left, totally ignoring him as long as he wasn't being aggresive or didn't want to join them. "This is insane..." he mumbled to himself, more as a gripe than because he thought it would change anything.

Kaylen mentally reviewed his options: he could report to Mephet'ran, and, most likely, be revealed as a traitor to the Sith. He could join the Jedi, but he'd already been branded a traitor among them. Finally, he could follow the Tainted Blade, but he was no longer certain if he was willing to settle for a portion of its power, because, in that fight, he'd had a sense of complete, utter evil. It scared him, but not enough to ally once again with the Jedi, whom he viewed as weak-willed, mindless drones of the state. As he'd told Kai, the Jedi must rule. On the other hand, the Blade was worse. It would be unstoppable, and worse than the Emperor if it managed to bond with the host boy.

He grinned ruefully, with gallows humor. "Traitor to the Jedi, traitor to Mephet'ran, traitor to the Blade. I seem to be a serial traitor. No matter. I now know what I must do."

Kaylen scrambled to his feet, then adjusted his clothes. "I don't like the Jedi, but I think I've finally made a choice: the Blade is too dangerous to be allowed to exist. Even if the Jedi won't take their place as the rulers of the galaxy, guided by the Force, they're the best option around, and the best chance we have of stopping the Blade, which, no matter what, won't be listening to the Force for guidance. Different though our goals may be, we do have a common purpose. Rather than follow the Jedi, he hurried out of the city, to his fighter, intent of reaching Korriban before the Jedi, or, more importantly, the Blade could.

OOC: I think this is my longest post ever...

OOC: Wow, RBG, yer computer musta fritzed and submitted your last entry multiple times. Better add "master of the tri-post" to your signature.



Btw, Coota's still got the reigns of Mephet'ran though his character has been more behind the scenes for most of the story - the Blade has been the real foe.

As for the 'readily available' ysalamiri.... though I find it a outside the boundaries of availability, I'll let it go as altering it would change the course of the action. Besides, the occassional strain on realism amuses me.

IC: (The Blade) The Blade arrived at Taiin's ship, a beaten-up looking YT-900 series basic freighter (Dash Rendar's ship in Shadows of the Empire for those who don't know) dubbed the Scarlett Scythe for its deep ruby paintjob. Imputting the overide for the lock controls it had stolen from Taiin's memories, it threw the comatose Liana on the ramp as it felt a presence behind itself.

Taiin appeared first, her violet weapon in hand. She said nothing, but allowed her actions to talk for her, the dual blades snapping to life and humming in the walls of the space port. Jarrod came next, rifle at the ready. The Blade watched through Camden's eyes the next move Jones made - realising a horde of slithering ysalamiri from his grasp.

The Blade had to admire Jones and Toramaure's determination, but had little respect for their senses. It felt the Force weaken around it and though the creatures, even in such a vast number, were still unable to completely disconnect it from it's source of power, the Blade felt its hold on Camden weaken for a moment. In desperation, it grabbed the unconscious Twi'lek at it's side and grasped for its own housed form in the blade of Vader at Camden's waist.

"Back away, Jones, lest we are forced to scatter Halicon's other apprentice's cranial organs across the bow of this vessel!"

The lightsaber emitter was suddenly jammed up against one of Lia's temples and Taiin lowered her saber, disengaging the luminous blades. She gripped Jarrod's cybernetic arm.

"Jarrod - Kai was right - we can't win against it here...!"

The Blade began to move backwards, making sure it kept Liana up as a human shield as it negotiated its way onboard the ship. However, it didn't notice Terow overhead, who had a perfect opportunity to strike....

Tag: KnightHawk, RBG (this is a good chance for Terow to jump into the fray.)

OOC: Oops... apologies all around, guys. I have no idea why that happened... I only hit the "post" button one time...

IC as Terow: Terow was shocked. What had happened to Camden? Whatever the cause, the effect was immediately obvious: he'd turned against his allies. It didn't look like the others who were facing him had a good chance to stop him. Terow, on the other hand, had a nice, clear view of his back.

Perhaps this was Terow's chance to take him down. The Jedi, normally, should have been almost invulnerable to Terow's weaponry, but Camden was rather focused on the opponents he faced, and probably hadn't even noticed Terow.

One shot was all he'd get: if he missed, either he'd hit the hostage himself, or Camden would do the job for him. Just to make sure, he thumbed the shuriken down to a lower vibrational frequency, one that shouldn't go through Camden, merely stick in him.

Tensing, focused entirely on his task, Terow readied himself for his shot. This was the moment: if he waited any longer, the ship itself would block his angle.

With a sudden toss of his arm, Terow released the shuriken straight at the traitorous Jedi, and watched them fly unerringly towards his head, heart, and base of the spinal column...

IC: From above, the Blade sensed something moving towards it, a whirring noise breaking the sound barrier as three projectiles bore down on Camden's form. Unable to break free of the ysalamiri enclosure, Camden was unable to dodge all the three shuriken thrown at him from above.

The first struck his cheek, slashing across his face and drawing a torrent of blood. Buckling under the shock and the strain of holding the now semi-awake Liana in his grasp, he dropped in stature, allowing the second one to miss its intended target of his chest and instead dig itself firmly into the hull of the Scythe.

Growling in anger, he had no time to avoid the third throwing-star, which lodged itself firmly at the base of his lower back, missing his spinal chord barely. Twitching, Camden wrenched the sharp blade from his back and bayed in agongy. For an instant, no one moved.

Then Taiin leapt in, her blades held high over her head. Flipping, she landed on the ramp of the ship and stabbed towards Camden as Liana slumped from his arms into the doorway of the ship. Her violet blade snaked out and slashed past the tip of his left shoulder, the flesh cauterised the moment the wound struck. Engraged, Camden ingited the Blade, the red beam snapping to life with the sound of a thousand lightsabers being lit. Ducking low, he slashed in a wide arc, the better part of his blade wrenching through Taiin's ruby armour and tagging the soft flesh that covered her abdominal muscles.

Coughing blood and saliva, she retched for a instant and stepped back, her saber faltering in her grip. Recovering, Cadmen pulled Liana onto the ship and slammed the door closed, causing Taiin to fall back and off the ramp, rolling into an awkward position at Jarrod's feet. A pool of blood began to gather beneath her as the ship's turbines began to start and the manouvering jets lifting the craft off the spaceport surface.

Taiin watched up through hazy eyes as her ship began to lift off, slowly at first then with more speed as it barrelled its way out of the port and into the declining light of the Cargul sun. Funnily enough, the wound didn't feel that bad as she tore a strip off her cloak to wrap around herself, realising she should of listened to Kai.

Speaking of the devil, she wondered if they'd taken off yet. Attempting to stand, she masked the real extent of her injury to Jarrod as she reached out with her meagre telepathy to contact Kai, hoping he'd not left.

Kai.....they got away.....

Strangely, there was no response. It disturbed her, as Kai was the most potent psionic Jedi she knew and a simple message like that would of been childs play for a Jedi Master like him to pick up.

Taiin retrieved her lightsaber and turned to Jarrod.

"We'd better get back to the ship you guy's came here on. Korriban's a fair distance away, but my ship is the fastest in it's class and he could be getting a big head start on us...."


Tag: All.

IC:

"And I have this very damned huge idea of getting you to the local hospital, young lady!" Jarrod was perturbed, to say the least. (OOC: Again, I will be a little straining on the reality aspect. In an attempt to make the spell's result as real as possible, I'll dilute it heavily.)

As soon as they were out and running, Jarrod started muttering some strange nonsense. "The light of love shines brightly forward, casting its warm glow on everything real. Bright light within me, charge ever faster; seek for this woman; her wounds you will heal." A green bolt cast itself forward from Jarrod's hand, albeit weakly due to his lack of magical skill. The bolt hit Taiin just above the wound, digging through armor to arrive at the laceration and, hopefully, momentarily increasing the strength of her natural healing rate. "I hope that works," he said, somewhat frustrated. "We have a kid to save, and fast."

TAG: Kai