Insurrectors / Complete (Important Story Notice! 4/24) New Short Story Announced!

Yay! Looks like I get to post the next part after all!

And now is where things get crazy. I'm now starting to cash in for all the reader-concessions I've made earlier.

Enjoy...mweh heh heh...

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{Musical Note: "Master's Suite" from Read or Die OST}



Two lightsabers clashed together, dark blue against turquoise, the combined force of their collision forcing them both apart again. Kelak backed a few steps away, while Jadis did likewise. Then with another fierce battle cry, the Queen charged again, swinging her lightscythe around at Kelak?s midsection. The Battlemaster caught it on the lower blade of his own lightsaber, and tossed her weapon back while rotating the other blade in a diagonal slash towards her shoulder. However his blade only met empty air as Jadis rolled to the side and out of the way.

As Jadis rolled to a stop, she held the hand with the lightscythe back, and stretched out with her free hand, sending a large fireball rocketing towards Kelak. Unable to block the flaming mass, Kelak Force-leaped up and above the projectile, bringing his lightsaber in a downward arc angled towards Queen Jadis? head. However, Jadis had already brought up her lightscythe in defense, blocking Kelak?s attack. Using the Force to change the direction of his momentum, Kelak used the resistance against the two blades to turn his descent into a roll that brought him over Jadis? head. Landing on his feet, he lashed out with a sideways slash behind him, where he thought the Queen was, but already Jadis had leapt away.

?Your style has improved in the last two years,? Jadis complimented, as she rolled into a crouching stance several meters away from Kelak, ?I had hoped this wouldn?t be like our last battle.?

?Well,? Kelak grunted, as he massaged a bruise on his side, ?I do aim to please.?

?It would please me more if you simply surrendered,? Jadis said, her face turning gloomy, ?But I doubt you?ll oblige.?

?No, can?t say that I would,? Kelak replied as he tightened his grip on the lightsaber handle. Then using the Force to enhance his speed, he dashed forward.

Jadis anticipated his move, and brought up her lightscythe to intercept him; however she did not anticipate his ducking into a roll, bringing Kelak under scythe, and up behind her. Kelak lashed out first with his foot, catching Jadis in the midsection and eliciting a pained grunt from the Queen. At the same time, he brought one of the blades on his lightsaber around to take off her head at the neck, but she was already using the force from his kick to roll away from the dark blue blade.

Kelak whiled around, and prepared to resume the battle, but as he did, he saw Jadis? fingers begin to flicker with the tale-tell signs of Force-lightning. Rather than catch the lightning on his lightsaber blades, he opted for a sideways somersault that carried him out of the path of the lightning. Then while standing on his hands, he used the Force to boost his strength, as he pushed off the ground, before Jadis could alter the path of her lightning assault. Landing deftly behind her, Jadis reacted just in time to receive a fist full of lightsaber handle just under the chin.

Staying in close to the Queen, Kelak found he was able to bat the lightscythe aside with ease once he was in close quarters. The Queen?s weapon was too bulky to be effective when fighting in such close proximity. Though he was never able to make contact with the Queen?s flesh with the blades of his lightsaber, he was able to land a few punishing blows with his fist that kept Jadis on a slow but continual retreat. Then stomping down on her left calf, he was rewarded with a cry of pain, as Jadis collapsed in front of him. He whirled his lightsaber around to deliver the killing blow.

However, Jadis was far from defeated. With a scream mixed with pain and fury, she sent a wave of dark side energy that hurled Kelak away from her easily, as she rose shakily to her feet.

?That HURT, you self-righteous, simple-minded PRICK!?

 

Ok, before I read the post, I never saw Trigun or any of that stuff. Remember, I'm anime-less.

And active pacifism? Isn't that an oxymoron in itself? Active means to take action, and pacifism means to be peace, to not take arms. That's why the call it the PACIFIC Ocean (which is fitting on the California side without the hurricanes and the tsunamis... but dumb because of all the strife taken place in the Pacific Ocean).

Ok, reading that post now!

 

There we are.

Ok.





OOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And how do you know an eyeball explodes in blood? Have you seen an eyeball explode? I sure haven't, and I don't WANT to!

OW!!!!!!!!

And lessee... behind the eye is the brain, so that means Jadis is stabbing her thumb and is probably hitting his brain!!

Sheist!

if I remember the brain correctly, she's plunging into the frontal lobe, meaning that's where Kelak's conscience and personality is!!

Jadis is giving Kelak a crude lobotomy!!!!!!!

 

Heh, can't say I didn't warn ya. But let me answer your first post first.

Alright, granted active pacifism may not have been the best phrase to use back there. However, I will contend that things such as Military Intelligence, Self-Help, and Political Science are likewise oxymorons, and are widely used by many people but that's beside the poit.

Nevertheless, you are correct that activity and pacifism are in some respects, polar opposites. However I look at the central core of pacifistic belief to revolve around the idea of not killing folks. From there, things like not taking up weapons, and not hurting folks kinda springs from that central hub.

So...

If the central idea behind pacifism (according to me at least ) is not to kill, the the logical progression towards 'active pacifism' would be doing anything you can short of killing your enemy.

And that's pretty much what I had Saul doing back there. He stopped his enemies either through his wit, or by injuring them enough that they can no longer fight. Obviously there are some situations where Saul may be forced to kill, but that's where interesting inner-character conflict comes into play.

Now for your second post. Yeah, can't argue with that. Losing an eye hurts a heck of a lot, or so I would imagine. And I have seen quite a few instances literary and on some TV shows where that happens, and usually there's something symbolic that goes along with it. I'd get into the symbology, but I don't feel like writing out the full dissertation right now.

As for how much damage that actually did to Kelak...weeeeeeelllllllllll...I could explain everything...but that would spoil the suspense of the moment. Rest assured you will learn the ramifications in due course.

 

In a perfect world, everyone would have ears.

Most folks know my opinion so I won't express it here.

Getting to the post: SPIDERMAN DRAMA! I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE THAT USES IT!!!! Great job, Rok.

 

A shocking post like that and only 2 people respond?

 

YOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

Oh, Jadis you sadistic little (insert profanity here)

I hope the GDF has good medical coverage. Wait a sec, is Bsiek <sp> still around? Maybe he can fit Kelak with an eye/Playerin Bol for next time.

OOooh, is Dejirra gonna be PISSED!

 

Casper: Yupp, and it's largely thanks to you that I do use those kinds of techniques. Let it not be said that we don't indirctly help each other. Thanks, glad you enjoyed that last post.

Jaxx: Hmmm, guess it must just be a busy weekend, being a three-dayer and all. No worries. The real shocker is yet to come.

Whiskey: Now there's a thought, gettinf a Vong eye replacement. I hadn't considered that. ;/ Yes, Dejirra will be PISSED. However she won;t be able to do anything about it until next story. Bummer.

Alright, I'm working on the next post as we speak. Since I'm trying to get this done as soon as possible, this may be a long post to write so expect something either later tonight or tomorrow morning.

Later, chummers!

 

And now for the GRAND FINALE!!!

You think you've been shocked so far! You think I can't take it any farther? Well consider yourself forewarned, 'cause I'm taking us into waters previsouly uncharted. You may want to read this one a few times just to make sure you don't miss something critical. It really is THAT NUTS!

And without any further ado...the climax of Insurrectors





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Backflipping onto an overhang, Saul barely managed to avoid getting slashed into three distinct pieces by the blades of Shade and Rage. The Sith twins were now working together, and doing a rather effective job of it; forcing Saul to use his lightsaber almost constantly now. Running along the length of the overhang, Saul tried to put some distance between himself and the Sith.

However, the two twins weren?t going to have it. Saul was forced to leap off the overhang, as two red blades ripped through the duracrete where his feet had been seconds earlier. He landed slightly off-balance several feet away and whirled around to meet both the Sith Knights as they charged forward to finish him off.

Saul backpedaled and reached out with the Force to snag a lightsaber from one of the unconscious Sith Knights. The red blade activated complementing the purple of his own lightsaber, as they rose to parry the twin blades of his attackers. While not skilled at fighting in a ?Florentine? style, or using two sabers at once, Saul had most of the memories of the deceased Sith Lord, Darth Maul. Maul?s primary weapon had been a twin bladed lightsaber, and Saul now wielded the two lightsabers in a similar fashion in order to keep Rage and Shade at bay.

As Shade made a feint to the right, Rage backed it up by making a heavy-handed overhead slash that arced from left to right. Saul jumped and flipped his body sideways; avoiding both slashes, and lashed out with a kick that caught Rage in the cheek. Rage staggered backwards, while Saul landed on one hand and flipped away, trying to draw Shade in with him. The female Sith did as he predicted, trying to press forward in order to make up for the temporary loss of her brother. Saul found himself hard-pressed even with two blades to keep up with the woman?s frenzied attacks.

Crossing his blades in an ?X?, Saul pushed forward suddenly, catching Shade off-balance and forcing her to retreat a few steps. Saul then executed a stylish flip over her head, and ran up to meet Rage who was newly rejoining the battle.

Saul now found himself sandwiched between the two Sith Knights, and running out of places to run to. Grimacing at the difficult choice ahead of him, Saul began to focus his attention back on Rage. While keeping Shade at bay on his one side, he began to make several stabbing feints at Rage in order to draw him out. Eventually the large male did so, parrying Saul?s blade to the side, and bringing his saber back around for a slash that would cut the wily Jedi in half. However, prepared for an attack such as this, Saul dropped down onto his back as Rage?s blade sailed overhead. Once he was flat on his back, he kicked upward with his leg, catching Rage square in the ?sweet spot?.

While Rage dropped to his knees, clutched his injured groin, Saul arced his legs back, and pushed off with the Force, executing another flip over Shade?s head. Saul landed deftly behind the woman, and grabbed her from behind before she could whirl around to meet him. Deactivating his lightsabers, he slammed the dark end of one of them into the side of Shade?s head, knocking the woman unconscious.

As he lowered her body gingerly to the ground, he watched out of the corner of his eye to see Teyrnon engaged in mortal combat with Seri, and was greatly distressed to see how the Trandoshan Jedi was fairing.

Trandoshans are tough and hardy creatures by nature, and Teyrnon was no exception. However, over and over again, the lizard-man was forced on the retreat by combinations of vicious lightsaber attacks and dark side sorceries. Even now, the Jedi

 

WHoa, that was wicked! Neat little trick that was, and it took at least two stories to pull it off. Good job.

 

I'm...speechless.

So much loss, but then that's what war's all about, isn't it?

Saul made the supreme sacrifice to ensure the safety of the galaxy, if only for a moment. But, if it took that to give the victory to the GDF (in spite of their losses), how will they possibly withstand the battle necessary to wipe Jadis out of the galaxy for good?

 

Thanks, both of you!! I'm glad that post got its desired effect, one of relative speechlessness.

Forgive me for not answering each of your replies separatly but A) I feel the need to give a long explanation and B) Hopefully both replies will be addressed one way or another.

The Word According to the Author

Alright, there's not really any good place to start, but I do want to address something Jaxx said earlier that I said I would explain at a later time. I'm talking about the extent of Kelak's injuries at the hand of Queen Jadis. (pun intended)

While it is true that the frontal lobe does lie behind the eye socket, that part of Kelak's brain was not damaged. As I imagined the scene, Jadis was holding Kelak up by the head. In order to have the poper leverage, her palm would probably have to rest somewhere along his jawbone, putting the tip of her thumb just below his eye. Now in order to maintain that leverage, there's only so much of her thumb that she can use. As I estimated, only the end digit of her thumb would have enough reach to get to his eye. That's about enough to crush the eye against the back of the socket on the skull, but not enough to penetrate through the skull and into the brain cage.

So to make a long explanation short, Kelak has lost his right eye and that's about it.

Now to address the focus of what you guys replied about, I think Whiskey put it best. Yes, Saul did make the ultimate sacrifice and that's pretty much what most of this story, and in my humble opinion the movies, are all about.

Think about it: when is the light side at it's brightest in the movies? (The books IMO don't get this same effect as well too any great extent) The answer, when the Jedi make the big self-sacrifice. Examples: when Old Ben allows Vader to cut him down, when Luke throws away his lightsaber in ROTJ and shortly thereafter when Anakin sacrifices himself to destroy Palpatine; these are the places in the movies where the light side really gets to strut its stuff. And in the books, there are similar examples, like when Anakin^2 sacrifices himself to save his siblings and comrades on the Vong worldship.

And in the movies, I'm also delighted to note than when the Jedi take the opposite approach and try to use the light for their own sakes, they don't do as well. Ex: when Anakin tries to fight Count Dooku, or when Luke tries to face Vader for the first time. Yeah, my logic may be kinda specious in those instances, but it works in my mind.

Now onto my next point; just what was a I trynig to pull back there with all those special effects and whatnot? The answer...I'm not really sure...

Nah, just kiddding. Though to be honst what kinda happened was that I built myself up into a climactic situation with no easy way out. So I kinda cheated and said the Light Side took care of everything. Kind of a Mary-Sueish climax? Yeah you could say so, but then again, I say it was the Light Side, it can do whatever it wants.

But, I didn't do this without justification. It all kinda boils down to the views on the Force that I expressed at random points along the way, plus stuff from the movies that I found backed up my thinking.

Think back to when Luke asked Obi-wan if the dark side was stronger than the light. Obi-wan sagely replies, 'Stronger? No, but it is easier to use and more tempting than the light." Or something to that effect. So that started me thinking: well, the dark side is pretty gosh-darn strong, what with Palpatine able to create things like Force-Storms that can rage across the galaxy. Plus, there are beings like Casper's Sith Maidens, who are unquestionably powerfuol beings.

And the light side is supposed to be stronger than all that? How?

Answer: What you guys just saw. Light Side style Divine Intervention.

I'm sure most of you recall earlier when I had Saul make his case that the Force was some kind of Supreme Being. It seems to me, that the light side of the Force is the creating/sustaining power of the galaxy, whereas the dark is the destructive f

 

Um, aren't we missing the obvious??

WHO GAVE SAUL THE FORCE? Does that mean there's a Supreme Being who gives the Force to everyone? What are the ramifications of such a thing? Ok, let's suppose that there is a Supreme Being, then why does he give the Dark Side of the Force out? Or is it a Satanic figure who does this?

And with change of color of tatoos on Saul's face truly symbolizes his change. No longer is he a Sith Menace, but truly, a warrior for the Light Side, a sort of a Force Seraphim for the Lord of the Force.

Astounding job, Rokangus!

 

AAAAH YOU POSTED WHILE I WAS MAKING MY REPLY!!

So what if I left the computer for an hour

Time to read that reply

EDIT: Aaaaaand off we go!

What if Yoda wasn't of the light side?

I've had this conversation a few times before with Whiskey, but what if Yoda was evil? It's a plot bunny I've been playing with.

And you said almost EXACTLY what I said without me reading what you said. I, um... *pauses, rethinks previous sentence, accentuated with finger moving and waving*

yeah, that's it

 

Dark Hope proportions? (sigh) Not even published and I'm being ripped off.

Kidding, and if you say so then perhaps I will try to download this interesting stuff.

And excellent point and interptation of elements. By doing so you have added to the uniqueness of your story and created a deeper well of thought. Always room for more thought, especially when the medium like this allows you to do it.

And it's a nice opposite of what I am doing, so both stories are genuinely different; we both have similar readerships, so they are really lucky to have such two distinct engrossing stories to read. With luck in the future perhaps the others will find time and read either one; not to judge which one is better, but to be enlightened to a whole new possibilty. I think that will be educational to them all.

 

Jaxx: Ah, there you have hit upon a very crucial question, and one that unfortunately I cannot answer until the events of HellFire. Indeed, if the Force was given to Saul, then how does the Force piece itself out? how do I then justify the Sith? Is there a Satanic character who mirrors it's Light side component? Again, I rgret to say that I can't say just yet.

However you are absolutely correct in your other point. The change of Saul's colors IS a direct physical change to symbolize his spiritual epiphany. However the path that he takes or does not take will be left for HellFire to explain.

Yoda not of the light side? <Thinks for a moment and grins evilly> An interestng idea. i had never looked at it that way before. It would exlain several things, I suppose...

Thanks again for the reply, Jaxx!

Casper: LOL! What can you say. When you're good, you're GOOD! And yeah, I would recommend downloading at least a few episodes to see if you like it. But judging from the style your story takes, I think this series is right up your alley. A lot of that 'Spiderman Drama' techniques you mentioned earlier.

And I'm glad you find my points and interpretation so unique and enjoyable. And I agree that our plots tend to complement each other much like the oriental yin and yang symboligy. Both of us take a look at the light and dark side respectively and broaden the interpretations of both to areas most people haven't ventured before.

And I've said this once, and I'll probably keep on saying for a good long time: I seriously just don't know what to make of Sith Maidens! They're just so evil...and yet so GOOD! They're a wonderful creation that never fail to boggle the mind and throw my imagination for a loop!

Thanks again for your awesome support and replies, everybody! I'm still not sure when the next post will be here, so discuss away! this is what I live for!

 

Well it helps to have a story of complexity to broaden the complexities of their existence. I sometimes think folks are waiting for the other shoe to drop, and when it doesn't the first timers go "well" but the old timers say "OH! oh, what's this now.". Then it happens and the first timers are like 'well heck!' or 'Ah shucks.'

It does mean a lot to me because I don't think I have done enough yet which the Sith Maidens to have such a glowing endorsement, but I just remain humble, take it, and don't let it go to my head.

FORWARD!

 

Casper: LOL, yeah, sometimes that can be true of the old timers too. I know I still let out a "Ah, heck" every now and then too.

And with the Sith Maidens...a lot of it IS what you've yet to do; the mystery is intriguing in and of itself.


But now, on a completely separate note, I've had an idea for a new contest sitting on the back burner and I've been thinking to myself, "Well gosh, if only I had the time to put on such a contest..."

Then I realized...wait a tick, I have that time right now!

Since this will be a relatively short contest, I'm planning on starting it later today sometime in the late afternoon. And its something I think you all will like to see because it is largely visual in nature. This of it as the first Select Image for HellFire

So if you're interested I'll post the rules and the contest itself sometime today just before noon. Stay tuned, everybody!

 

Okay, let's see if I can make this work...

Official Contest #3 Rules

Okay, this contest is gonna be pretty simple and pretty quick.

This is a link to a promotional poster I created for HellFire:

HFPoster

Here's the contest: Correctly identify the person featured in yon poster. It is someone who has been featured in the EoT so answering "future character" ain't gonna cut it.

The winner is the first person to answer correctly. You only have one chance, though, so make sure it's the one you really think it is.

The prize will go to one person only. if it comes to the point where there is no clear winner (should fate be so tempted) then I'll come up with some sort of run-off.

The Prize? the prize is an explanation of the poster.




Now on a separate note, you may have noticed that the release date for HF is set for April 2003. Shortly thereafter you may have thought: 'Holy Hell! That's a long time to wait for more EoT!'

Never fear. I have an idea for a 'filler-fic' to come out sometime around Christmas time (it will be analogous to Casper's TFL prologue stories). So that ought to tide you guys over in the time between the major fics.

Peace out and good guessing!

 

Thanks!

 

Well I've gotten three replies back from Whiskey, Jaxx, and Casper respectively on the contest. And I must say that the results are really unprecedented.

No one guessed correctly.

To be honest, I hadn't anticipated this at all, nor do I know how to proceed next. As I see things there are one of two choices.

A) Ty-gon still hasn't answered yet, but given that he hasn't made an appearance on the board for a while, I don't know if it's wise to wait for him, yet it is an option.

B) I could give you guys a second chance to make a guess. However, I am reluctant to do this simply because of the process of elimination. The next logical guess might simply be too obvious.

So I leave it up to you guys. Wait to see if someone else can guess the corrct answer, or give everyone a second chance? ?

 

lol Rokangus. Second chance of course.

I can explain why I guessed who I guessed, but I won't on the thread, but PM it to you, if you like...

Ta ta

 

Ah, heck wit it! Go ahead and take a second stab at it everybody! I'm feeling in a generous mood.

The surprising thing is that everyone unanimously believed that the picture depicted Taryn.

However i'm going to give the same hint I gave to Jaxx in a PM. The main emotion that I was trying to convey is one of terror and foreboding, not necessarily just sadness, regret, or loneliness; although those are in there as well, but more background emotions. Also don't be afraid to make a leap of faith or two to arrive at the correct answer.

Whew, hope I didn't give away too much.

 

Bleh

 

Well, I am not Le Artiste, nor do I examine art that well, until I decided to get the damn thing blown up to 400% it's original size

but Rokangus, damn, still an awesome picture. Wish I could draw like that, else I'd have a host of Trials images.