NJO: The Darkness Shaped - NEW POST 8th September!

I'm with Lonewolf on this one. You're too good at suspense!

This is only halfway down the first page, but I'll

UP

it anyways.

 

Lonewolf & Lady_Tahiri, thanks!

For the 100th post, I figured it had to be a story-section - so here goes!

. . .

It was only when the door was sliced open that Master Yal Phaath realised he was trouble. A world of trouble. The aged Shaper wheeled round and stared straight at his ally, whose amphistaff was drawn; ?You?ve got to get backup here!?

?The Warmaster knew the Jeedai were here. He told us to wait for another two hours. The reinforcements arrive then, Shaper; we don?t have to hold them off for long.? As the first Jedi advanced warily, the war-leader threw blorash binding jelly down onto the floor behind him. Although Corran hadn?t encountered the stuff before, Mara had described it to him in detail, and he leapt away from the ball of slime; it sent small pseudopods in his direction, but he was already too far back.

?You see,? Vua Carr assured the Shaper with a smile, ?It is quite simple.?

At that exact moment the two lightsabers sliced through a wall a few metres away from the jelly, quickly slicing a perfect diamond shape. The Shaper Master moved aside, letting Vua Carr take the point; Carr gave him a look of absolute hatred and disgust, but Yal Phaath merely murmured something about ?not being a warrior?.

And then Vua Carr was in the fight of his life, as not one but two of the most skilled Jedi Knights struck at once. Their Force-gifts were useless here, but they were skilled enough, and Vua Carr was immediately on the defensive, blocking powerful saber-thrusts and barely managing to get an attack of his own. One managed to slice into the war-leader?s shoulder, but Vua Carr shrugged the pain off, as a Yuuzhan Vong should. Behind him, he heard Master Yal Phaath racing away ? the gods would judge him for that, Vua Carr knew. And that was his last thought, as Kyp Durron?s lightsaber brought a premature end to his glorious career.

. . .

Not all the Jedi, on the other hand, were faring quite so well; Anakin Solo, for example, was fighting for his life, battling against twelve of the best Yuuzhan Vong warriors he had ever had the misfortune to meet. But he?d trained for this.

It was all a matter of concentration, Anakin knew. You let it drop for a second, you were dead. He?d let the Vong force him into a corner ? that way none could attack from behind ? and was keeping himself cool. Let the Yuuzhan Vong expend all their energy on sweeping attacks, Anakin was blocking with the minimum exertion necessary, moving his saber as little as possible. One staggering blow swept towards his face, but rather than make a spectacular dodge he simply moved his head to the side and cut off the warrior?s fist. The armour was tough, and even with Anakin?s skill ? and the luck to hit a joint in the vonduun crab armour ? the saber still didn?t finish the cut, leaving the fist hanging in a grotesque way. Anakin ignored it; he?d seen worse, he?d seen the Vong do worse.

They were starting to press in, get too close for comfort. It was time to leave this battle, Anakin decided; and, opening himself fully to the Force, leave he did ? in a way the twelve were not anticipating. First Anakin allowed his grip on the saber to become slack, almost tenuous; then, with the Force, he began to spin the saber round in a dazzling arc. It took every ounce of his concentration to speed the saber up, more and more, faster and faster, until the scarlet blade was like a circular wall of deadly energy, spinning like a protective disc in front of him. Anything that got in the way was sliced apart, even the vonduun crab armour and amphistaffs, so great was the momentum of the saber. The ultimate defence. And as he used the Force in this way, Anakin allowed himself to drop on to his knees, the disc slicing into the floor and cutting a groove in it. Two razorbugs flew over the spinning defence, but Anakin sensed them through the lambent, and as they wheeled round over his head and shot at his unprotected back, he moved ever-so-slightly. The razorbugs totally missed their target, and slammed into t

 

*sigh* I never could count - that was Post 101...

 

Oopsy! I think you said Emperor's hand in that last post!!

Good otherwise.

 

*sigh* That'll teach me to pick up 'Heir to the Empire' just before a post with the Warmaster's Hand in it...

Thanx, ROP! Error corrected! Seriously, though, I'm nowhere near perfect, but I AM a perfectionist, so if you'll point out any errors you might see, believe me I'll be only too glad (and hey Am, you can get your revenge for ItMF... Call Mar, she'd enjoy it! )

'Night all!

 

Wow! The last posts were great!

 

*falls out of chair* Amazing job!! I loved Anakin's fight scene!! Post soon!

 

I love how you leave us hanging. I try to fo that in my own fics whenever possible.

JMAS

 

I saw two mistakes in a post by Dart -- this is certainly my day of revenge Oh yes, I see, I see. Terrific post! I found the fight scene with Anakin especially entertaining, besides it was flooded with your creativity.

Am

 

Sith_Lady: Thanx, I enjoyed writing those. I love playing around with Riina Kwaad, and I'm laying groundwork for some big character developments - more hints of some will be shown next post.
LoneWolf: I enjoyed writing the fight-scene, it was an idea I've had in my mind for a while - a swirling sword, moving incredibly fast. About the only way to take on 12 Vong at once, methinks! More soon!
JMAS: Love to leave you hanging? Me? Never!
Am: Ahah, vengeance is mine, sayeth the sword! (On the other hand, it's hard NOT to make mistakes with this keyboard - half the keys won't press. Just this answer keeps causing problems because all the vowels need five taps before they work, 't' needs three, stuff like that... Excuses out of the way, I'm not perfect by a long chalk - so corrections welcome, just bob them in a post, I'm quite happy with everybody spotting my mistakes, Am...)
Be warned: some parts of the next post will leave more questions than answers...

 

?Ganner! How good to see you again!?

While Alyx had been held in an Embrace of Pain, Ganner was not. For him, captivity was much more comfortable, with simply blorash jelly strapping his hands and feet to a table. Like all Yuuzhan Vong tools, the table was alive, and was used to keep his body at an even temperature. The Jedi Knight had obviously endured quite a lot anyway, with lines of salt across his cheeks where tears had swept down. ?Dear, dear, a man cried. How unseemly.?

There was utter hostility and contempt in Ganner?s eyes. ?I?d like to see your reaction to that thing, Tahiri. Why?ve you sold us out??

?I?ve shown my true colours, Rhysode, you?re the one who?s going to sell the Rebels out. Y?see, I understand the Force better than that fool Phaath - he?s nothing but a sadist, he delights in pain for no other reason than he has the power to give it. That?s why he has people held in Embraces of Pain here and there, so when he walks past they?ll scream. He?s a fool.? Riina Kwaad paced round him, and he saw that her eyes were pure-white now, now the beautiful green they had been before. It was like a veil had been swept over them.

Yet she was still Tahiri, Ganner saw, with the same level of scarring as before; but now, she wore a hard chitinous vonduun crab armour, strapped to her waist was an amphistaff and another small bulbous device, and she simply exuded danger. Suddenly she was leaning over him, and Ganner felt her Force-presence lightly touching his own. ?I, of course, know exactly how to deal with you. Five minutes and you?ll be one of us, Rhysode. Well, not quite. You?ll be a slave, while I?ll be the Warmaster?s Hand.? Ganner reacted violently to that one, and Riina Kwaad laughed - a cruel laugh, filled with a world of darkness and hatred.

It was happening again, and this time Ganner could feel her power in the Force acting as an inhibitor to his own. She had found power indeed in the Dark Side. His eyes fixed upon the ceiling, where a creature was sliding out of a hole directly overhead; this wasn?t its entirety, this was just its head, a hideous, almost-gelatinous, maw; out of the head stretched a beak, that moved slowly, inexorably, towards the centre of Ganner?s brow.

He?d been through this eight times already, but with the Force he had resisted. Now, there was no escape.

Riina Kwaad was whispering in his ear, and there was an evil grin torn across her face.

?You never trusted me after Yavin 4, did you, Rhysode? You were always looking at me, always suspicious, always watching me out of the corner of your eye. You were right to watch me.?

?He was wrong.? Ganner couldn?t see him, but the voice was unmistakable; Anakin Solo, and there was the telltale snap-hiss of the lightsaber that told him Anakin was ready for battle. There were no other sounds, so the others weren?t here yet. ?I?ve come for you, Tahiri.?

Riina Kwaad laughed. ?How long did you know I was her??

?Since the kiss. I couldn?t mistake your lips, Tahiri. The only girl I?ve ever kissed.?

From the table, Ganner sighed. ?Um? Anakin? While I realise things have probably gone more complex than they ever should have done, I don?t suppose you?d spare a thought for the helpless Jedi about to get his mind taken over?? There were the sounds of a scuffle, and then the clash of - lightsabers? Ganner couldn?t hear Tahiri?s, but she must have it. Hold on, the Vong couldn?t use machines - the Jedi shook his head dazedly, and the thing was getting ever nearer -

And Anakin Solo?s blade swept down into the blorash, slicing it neatly in half, and Ganner rolled to the side just in time. The creature in the roof moved upwards slightly, obviously waiting for its next meal.

. . .

It was strange, being free again. For almost nine days Alyx had been a prisoner of the Yuuzhan Vong; they had worked at her, attempted to break her, to tear her soul asunder, but she had resisted with all her might. And now she was free. What was more, she?d had her revenge.

Her clothes had been incinerated days ago, s

 

Yet another amazing post! More soon!

 

Whoa! Really, really good! Post more please!!!

 

Good job

 

One question -- what is an omak?

I think I'll comment on any errors when I beta. Anyways, lovely post! That 'Master' thing had me confused for one moment, until I caught on and loved it. You must have several pages of this by now.

Am

 

LoneWolf: Thanx for the praises, today's post may well be delayed a touch due to pressing homeworks, can't apologise enough. I helped the Geog department do a field trip instead of doing an RS test, so therefore I've gotta catch up!

Sith_Lady: You're determined to kill me, aren't you? It's already a post a day, d'y'know in the middle of Business Studies I was planning my next post? I'm getting obsessed! (On the other hand, that COULD have something to do with the fact that BS isn't exactly the most interesting thing under the sun...)

JMAS: Thanx again

Am: Omak - the Correlian equivalent of a horse. Wow, I even gave *you* a surprise there, that's fine with me, I like surprising my audience! Oh, current length is 61 pages.

*sighs* I was sure you were gonna ask it, but nobody did. You probably all guessed I wasn't going to answer the question anyway, but for the sake of posterity I'll pop it in;

"How in the wide world of wonders did Anakin Solo communicate with and control the ynvaroth?"

There's a reason - wait and see!

Oh, I'm also surprised I didn't get comments on how *EVIL* Riina Kwaad is in that post...

Again, I've got my reasons, wait and see. We'll be exploring Kwaad's personality in quite a bit of depth soon.

 

You keep this up and you'll be a professional SW author in no time! (Then maybe LFL will think differently about killing off awesome characters ... *sigh*)
Anyways, I loved all the action, can't wait to see what happens next!

 

WONDERFUL! Write more NOW, lest I see the need to threaten you with my dreaded Veg-O-Matic of DOOOOOOM!
Why yes, I am crazy, why do you ask?

 

UP!

 

Up!

 

?Sithspawn,? swore Riina Kwaad as she raced into Yal Phaath?s chambers and saw the body of Vua Carr. She took no pleasure in the fact that she was the only Yuuzhan Vong in existence who knew that particular word. A quick check of Carr?s body proved that he hadn?t been carrying a communications villip with him, so the Warmaster?s Hand had to set off at a pace to his chambers.

The rooms were Spartan, even for a Yuuzhan Vong war commander?s, but nonetheless deposited on the floor was exactly what Kwaad wanted; the precious villip. The small creature that could determine whether Anakin Solo lived or died. She quickly scooped the creature up, and caressed it gently, all the while cursing Yal Phaath and Vua Carr for their incompetence. At last the thing reformed into the shape of a face ? Riilo Shai, Carr?s deputy, of the dishonoured House Shai. Riina Kwaad allowed her face to assume an expression of vast distaste for talking to one she considered unworthy.

?Riilo Shai, it is time for the attack. The Jedi have slain your commander, and I would have you prevent them escaping the planet by devastating the spaceport in your first attack. You shall also target the four X-wings, I believe they have returned to the spaceport now, but they might pose some threat to your soldiers.? She made as if to deactivate the villip, but stopped when she saw the expression on Shai?s face.

?Warmaster?s Hand, your master has given us strict instructions. There is still over an hour.?

?Tsavong Lah, crowned with glory and splendour, is not here, Riilo Shai. He cannot observe the situation as it stands and alter his orders in accordance. We must adapt, deal with them here and now. I have no doubts that it was the same opinion that led to Vua Carr?s death.?

Shai shrugged. ?At least he died a true Yuuzhan Vong.?

And suddenly Riina Kwaad understood, and she allowed her fury to show. ?So, Domain Shai still want power, do they? Shedao Shai?s death wasn?t enough? You resent what I am, how I have risen to power, and do not believe me true Yuuzhan Vong. Sobeit. I will report your insubordination and your treachery to the Warmaster.? Shai scowled darkly, baring his teeth, but Kwaad returned the glare; and her own was a lot more dangerous. Suddenly the anger was gone out of her voice, and instead she was speaking slowly and calmly, her voice tempting and seductive. ?On the other hand, I might not oppose you. I might help you, Riilo Shai. I could champion your cause, help House Shai come to power, but there is one Jeedai here who could threaten the plans of every Yuuzhan Vong in existence. He died, yet lives. His very existence is a denial of the truths we hold dear, and he must be returned to the grave. Do this, Riilo Shai, and I shall support you, I shall inform Domain Shai of every plan, I shall assist you in returning to power.?

Her scowl was gone, replaced with a savage grin. ?Survival of the fittest. If Tsavong Lah cannot see our claws, he is worthy only of death. Will you fulfil your part??

. . .

It was Kyp who saw them first; flares of light in the sky, shooting stars blazing through the atmosphere ? yet not being consumed. ?Coralskippers,? Kyp murmured darkly. The hover-car was just pulling to a halt in front of the spaceport, and the Jedi hurried in.

?Berth 495,? Anakin reminded them, and the small group made the best speed they could; considering they were carting two wounded already, that wasn?t much. Nonetheless, speed was essential, considering it was obvious a formal occupation force was arriving.

The first problem came when they got to the ship. It was, not to put too fine a point, a junk; nobody wanted to try and hazard a guess as to what type of ship the thing was, but it looked atrocious and piecemeal, with gun-turrets added here as though in afterthought and a large amount of storage space already consumed by what looked like bacta-tanks. Nobody had time to tip the waste out, but the Jedi were lucky there was enough room for their X-wings, which had already docked.

 

Lady_Tahiri: Wow, thanx, high praise indeed! Glad I'm keeping you on tenterhooks!

TVS: AARGH, NO, NOT THE VEG-O-MATIC!
Heh, join the club!

JMAS: Thanx!

Sith_Lady: Thanx!

 

YES, the Veg-O-Matic! Bwahahahahahaha!

 

J_K_DART leaps out of his chair, hair standing on end, eyes wide open with the sheer terror of impending doom. Desperately he wonders what he can do to escape, and soon comes to the inevitable conclusion:

Get to work on the next post quick!

 

Good post!