Star Wars Thriller The Coming Darkness - A Clone Wars RPG

Maya Qwan

"Yes, let us head down..."

Maya heard the chilling voice a moment after Lynnori had already sensed his presence. Both Jedi spun to witness the handsome man with long hair and piercing eyes: The yellow, bloodshot eyes of a Dark Acolyte.

A lightsaber ignited in his fist with a snap-hiss, and the crimson blade extended.

"Shall we?" he hissed, smirking.

Maya was not as adept at the sense disciplines as many of her fellow Padawans, but the evil menace radiated from this man in waves.

She resisted the fear and remembered the Knight was beside her. She raised her own weapon and ignited the azure blade, striking a stance. Maya took a deep breath, realising this was the most powerful foe either of them had yet faced.

The duel began...



@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha @TheAdmiral @Sinrebirth

 

Simultaneously with Maya's activation of her saber, Lynnori did likewise with her amethyst blade and sent its vibrant beam of energy arcing toward the suddenly arrived Sith wannabe. She deflected and at the same time moved to Maya's side so their blades could work in synchrony.

"Like all your ilk," Lynnori observed, "Your overconfidence will be your undoing."

 

Tol Skorr said nothing, he just lunged at the two girls. This should be easy enough. Dispatch the two brats then make a run for it with the data. Using the Force he lifted pieces of wrecked droids and hurled them at the Jedi.

Then with a sudden burst of speed he slashed at the Knight. Keeping the Padawan at the peripherie. If he could dispatch the more senior Jedi, the student would be a piece of cake.

Meanwhile the whole building shook as a stray missile from a V-wing that was trying to shoot a Vulture struck somewhere in the middle of the building. Cracks formed on the floor of the roof.

The data! Skorr’s eyes widened in surprise, but there was nothing that he could do now. He was engaged with the Jedi, hopefully the stupid clankers were able to continue.

The cracks started to widen and the floor caved in. Skorr had to jump back, just in time when a piece broke and fell, taking chandeliers, smashing racks of books and finally crashing on the tiled floor of the lobby.

He was relieved, but it was short-lived as the more pieces started to break and he found himself falling. Using the Force he managed to land and roll to the relative safety of an alcove on the side.

Now where were those pesky Jedi!?

TAG: @Kurisan @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

Cera scoffed at what Kya did. There went the element of surprise. As far as she was concerned they were going to face the enemy. Or maybe it was Krennic? But who was to say whether or not they were the same thing?

But she guessed her companion was right. It was the Jedi way, after all it could be some remaining civilians who stumbled upon a Jedi reliquary and triggered the Force alarm. “I sense people, but they don’t seem afraid...” she murmured, her thumb on the ignition button, ready to spring into action.

They reached a clearing and saw that the “ground” had opened, revealing a marble staircase. So it must have been a secret entrance. Strange, no one had mentioned such a thing.

An armored figure slowly climbed holding a pike or a halberd, it was hard to say, he was exuding confidence “Thank you Jedi, but we kindly refuse.” he said with a pleasant and melodic voice.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

Lynnori deflected and pushed the attacker's saber to the side with her own blade and as cracks started in the building structure and debris started falling, she leapt over a suddenly-there crevice, noticing her attacker was in a side alcove. She kept Maya in her sights, making sure the other didn't suffer any injuries. She also took hold of one of the falling pieces of masonry and tossed it at the Sithspawn's hiding place.

"Let's find a safe way out of here while we can if there is one." Lynnori suggested as she successively worked over to Maya.

@TheAdmiral \ @Kurisan

 

Maya Qwan

Maya prepared her stance beside Lynnori, ready for the lightsaber duel. But the Darksider deployed his skills in an different way. She felt the surge in pure, unbridled aggression ripple through the Force. Jagged parts of fallen droids suddenly flung themselves at the two Jedi.

Maya leapt to one side, spinning her hips to avoid the flying lumps of metal. She found herself separated from Master Fardreamer. Skorr was on the Knight instantly. Amethyst blade clashed with scarlet in the falling darkness, sparks flying.

Maya hesitated. To leap unexpectedly into such an intense duel could confuse and endanger her ally as much as her enemy.

Then the missile struck the building and the world lurched beneath their feet. Cracks yawned open across the roof. The two Jedi and the Dark Acolyte danced for a moment, trying to avoid the inevitable... but then the structure gave way and they were all falling.

Skorr propelled himself using the Force and found a stable alcove on the floor below, near to the outside wall. Lynnori also used her levitation powers to drift down - and even flung a large piece of masonry at the villain.

Maya leapt from falling chunk to falling chunk, more reliant on her physical agility - but this was not going to end well for her. Then the Padawan felt a giant invisible hand of the Force close about her and gently arrest her fall, then place her safely on the floor below.

"I've got to learn how to do that," Maya breathed as she nodded thanks to the Knight.

Lynnori swept towards her through the wreckage. "Let's find a safe way out of here while we can, if there is one."

"But, the data!" Maya said. "And we've still got to deal with him..."

She turned to keep sight of Skorr, lightsaber hilt still ready to activate and defend in an instant...

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha @TheAdmiral @Sinrebirth

 

OOC: And we are back in business!

Cera was surprised to see the armored figure. He did not look like any of the warring factions. A third party? Or some sort of a mercenary? But he did not give off the usual greedy feel of mercs, smugglers and bounty hunters.

That man was a disciplined warrior. His stance said that he was highly trained and the confidence and humor in his voice spoke volumes.

“Neither, Jedi.” the man said simply, “If you would be so kind as to step away while we take what we came for.”

Cera was about to open her mouth to say something but then the man beat her to it and added “Or not.”

But before she could do anything the armored figure lunged at her with a sweeping strike. Cera barely had time to ignite her saber and block it. The strength of the strike was great enough as to have her stagger.

Now he turned his attention to Kya striking at him.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

Tol Skorr managed to land safely, but it was too close. He did not have time to lose as he rolled on the floor to avoid the larger chunks of permacrete raining down on them. Stupid Jedi with their stupid Clones…

He growled and stood up, brushing the dust and pieces of masonry from his tunic. Dust swirled around the lobby. Sparks from the torn chandeliers were raining, along from hanging terminals smashed by the pieces of roof.

The droids protecting the Tactical one were mostly intact.

The sounds of the raging battle from outside were getting closer. A reminder of it was the sudden explosion of the sidewall when an AT-TE missed and hit the building. Further adding to the chaos as pieces of glass flew and he had to find cover behind a desk.

When he was sure that it was clear Tol jumped back on his feet and lit his saber walking slowly towards the centre of the lobby “Come one Jedi.” he said out loud “Let us finish this!”

TAG: @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha @Kurisan

 

Maya Qwan

Maya found herself in the lobby of the partially collapsed building, smaller chunks still pattering down from the yawning wound in its roof far above. Clouds of choking dust enveloped her and Master Fardreamer. Faulting electronic equipment spat out showers of sparks.

Another blast destroyed a nearby wall - some ordnance from outside had struck the building, further wounding it. Maya turned and dived behind a pile of masonry as shattered shards of glass flew like hails of arrows.

Her ears ringing with the acoustic shock, Maya rose and searched frantically for Lynnori through the shrouding dust clouds, when the rough voice filled her with dread...

“Come on Jedi. Let us finish this!”

Maya turned. A crimson lightsaber blade shone through the curtains of dust. A dark figure resolved itself, emerging from the white mist, clutching that blade. Maya's brow furrowed.

She re-ignited her own azure blade, took a step forwards. Then, with a battle-cry, she leapt into close combat with the fiend...



@TheAdmiral @Sinrebirth @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

 

Sparks from the torn chandeliers were raining, along from hanging terminals smashed by the pieces of roof.

The sounds of the raging battle from outside were getting closer. A reminder of it was the sudden explosion of the sidewall when an AT-TE missed and hit the building.
A side wall exploded.

Further adding to the chaos were dangerous pieces of glass like projectiles.

“Come on Jedi. Let us finish this!” Lynnori faintly heard through the din of battle.

Lynnori was temporarily pinned behind two large pieces of equipment and part of the wall.
She gave a Force shove and broke free in time to see Maya in close duel with the Sith wannabe. Crimson and azure blades crossed and parried.
With a Force-enhanced sprint and leap, Lynnori found purchase on an abutment above the combatants. She sent her saber beam down and aimed at the adversary's crimson blade where it met the hilt, hoping to render it useless.

 

IC: Maya Qwan, Lynnori Fardreamer, Skorr - combo with @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha & thanks to @TheAdmiral

Maya surged forward as the Dark Acolyte did the same, and time seemed to enter a new phase. Their blades whirled and clashed with impossible speed. Maya let her instincts and training guide her moves. The hum of the sabers filled her ears. Her brow creased with concentration on her martial arts.

Soon into the initial storm of blows and parries, something became apparent to the Padawan: Skorr was more powerful. Each clash of blades jarred up her wiry arms and forced her back a step at a time, her sandals sliding on the masonry dust caking the ground of the lobby. And he was patient. He did not just rush into an attempted killer blow immediately; he respected the Jedi’s training with a blade enough to know better. But like a carefully played game of dejarik, each move broke down her defences little by little, manoeuvring her into position for the kill.



Maya slipped. She reeled. She was open! She dived, hoping a desperate duck would save her from the inevitable strike… But just then an amethyst blade arrowed down from above. It struck Skorr’s armoured vambrace, spoiling his blow and almost destroying his saber.

As the Darksider glanced upward to glower at the smiling Lynnori Fardreamer, whose lightsaber neatly flew back into her grip, Maya took the chance to recover and retreat a few steps.

She grinned up at the Knight. Perfect timing! With both of them in the fight together, things suddenly seemed even again...

Skorr sensed it coming: Another thunderous boom shook the building. Maya did not know whether it was the droids or the clones, but the library took another pummelling blow. Walls shattered and the grand old edifice was now a crumbling ruin of its former self.

Something else happened.

Beneath the lobby, a great underground chamber of datastacks stretched away in a basement complex. The grievous wounds suffered by the library caused the once glorious marble floor to crumble in places. Cracks opened in others. Skorr stomped toward Maya, his patience now wearing thin. And just at that moment, the patch of floor they both occupied caved in.

Once again Maya fell into darkness.

She landed hard across chunks of fallen masonry, crushing the wind from her lungs and spearing a pain into her right shoulder. Even worse, the impact of landing knocked her lightsaber away. It rolled into the darkness. Maya rose, blinking in the sudden gloom. The hole in the ceiling seemed to be far above and shrouded in dust, so that no light penetrated down here.

Then a crimson blade ignited with a snap-hiss, and in its blinding glare, Maya saw Skorr watching her.

“You fight tenaciously, Padawan, but now you are unarmed. How is your control of the Force?” he said.



Maya prepared herself, thinking furiously. He was right. She had not yet learned to control the Force well enough. She had only one option; run. She sprang away...

Skorr reacted. An invisible hand seemed to grab her in mid-air. Huge, crushing fingers of pure willpower closed around Maya's body, suspending her helplessly. The invisible hand turned her around so that Skorr could stare her in the eyes. His own hand was outstretched, making a claw. He closed one finger tighter and the pressure around her waist constricted in response. Maya gasped for breath.

Skorr laughed. “Does that tickle, Padawan? Come on! Where is your power now? I will crush you, weakling!”

Meanwhile... Lynnori let herself sink into the Force like a rivercraft drifting with the current. She felt it in the instant it occurred, the fatal cracks in the floor, and gasped as she saw Maya and Skorr plunge to the depths below. Kark, I had no idea this building went down so far! she thought.

Lynnori was immensely relieved to feel Maya's continued spark and determination and yet at the same time Skorr became even more bold in his strokes.

Lynnori searched for an area which would allow a smooth, swift ascent rather than a precipitous plunge.

She found it as she felt Maya's spike of dismayed horror.

Only one thing could make a Jedi react that way, her weapon ... she had lost control of it somehow.

Lynnori concentrated. She was attuned to her own amethyst blade but she thought she could call another weapon to hand if need be. She thought of the blade as a leaf foating on the water and it came to her open hand.

Hey, Lynnori thought as she descended swiftly ... this is almost as good as having a double bladed saber.

She landed behind Skorr and saw that he was squeezing the breath out of Maya.

Lynnori smirked. It was easier to leap up then down.

She ignited both blades and leapt simultaneously, hovering above Skorr. He was so intent on Maya he didn't even notice. One blade severed the hand holding his own blade and the other weapon whirled and spun on its way to Maya.

Maya dropped, the rib-crushing pressure on her body abruptly disappearing. She landed into a crouch, momentarily confused by the blades of light dancing in the darkness, and took several quick breaths to recover.

A howl of pain and fury echoed... his voice. Maya understood now. She saw Lynnori standing over Skorr's crumpled form. He was holding the stump where his sword-hand had once been. The red saber was extinguished.

Maya's own saber hilt spun end-over-end towards her. She had only a fraction of a second to react as it appeared from the darkness. Her hand leapt up and caught it.

Lynnori said, "Here's your indispensable blade, Maya."

Maya swallowed. It did not sound like an admonition, but she knew how serious it was to lose her saber - she had been lectured enough times by Master Chodo on it. Still, the fight was won. I guess I was a good enough distraction, at least, she thought, ruefully. She stepped up beside Lynnori and looked down at Skorr.

"What now?" she asked the Knight.

TAG: @Sinrebirth / @TheAdmiral

 

Lynnori grinned. "You did splendidly, Maya. Even seasoned Knights can get caught off guard when an attacker comes at you all of a sudden, but you never lost your cool. I sure would like a thick nerf burger with sauted medallions about now. I wonder if our mission has changed up top and how?"

 

Maya's stomach growled. "Mmm, yes, and some zeeberry pie to follow, please!"

She giggled alongside Lynnori, then pointed her lightsaber at Skorr. "But, I meant about him... Also..." The Padawan looked about the underground vaults. "Does this seem like a good place to store ancient Jedi lore?"

 

The man exuded surprise when he got hit by the Force Push. Good thing they were facing a non-Force sensitive or he would have been able to leap out of harm’s way.

But that did not mean that he was incapacitated. He wore heavy armor and he seemed to have some experience facing off against Force users.

His body crashed into a wall. The armor, along with some of the tiles cracked from the impact. It seems though that it was built in such a way as to have the wearer survive an impact.

Cera was not hundred percent sure about the last part, but the way he handled the attack gave her that impression.

The man managed to stand up with a grunt.

“Round two then.” the synthesized voice could not hide his amusement. Reaching for his blaster with the practiced speed of a gunslinger he opened fire at Kya to get himoff balance.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

Skorr frowned. Ancient Jedi lore? In the main library. He laughed out loud “Stupid Jedi.” he spat “There is no Jedi lore here.” he grinned. It was a partial lie, there were some, but it was mostly technical, the one he was downloading.

So these two silly girls had stumbled upon him by accident. But what of the Republic forces outside.

“General Skorr.” crackled his commlink “The download is ready.” the Tactical Droid said.

“Proceed with the plan.” he said and focused back on the Jedi.

“I am afraid I have to go.” he smirked, “We will meet again.” the Dark Jedi gave a mock salute and jumped back.

As much as he wanted to deal with the two girls, he had a mission and he was sure that Count Dooku wouldn't tolerate any more failures.

Not after the whole Quinlan Vos debacle. It was time to move to Saluecami. The Nikto cloning facility awaited. Hopefully the data he managed to snatch from the Republic’s clutches would be useful.

Using the Force he moved swiftly towards the opening. “Goodbye Jedi!” the echo brought his voice.

It was followed by a loud rumble. The building was rigged to blow…

TAG: @Kurisan @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

 

Lynnori scowled at the verbal taunts from Skorr. She was surprised he could string two coherent words together after the thrumming she and Maya had delivered. The building rumbled. "Oops, let's make tracks out of here before the roof caves in!" She urged.

 

Maya was stunned. It was like the Darksider had frozen time... or used the Force to cover his escape with stealth. One moment he was there beneath Lynnori's saber, the next he was disappearing from the basement through the opening above.

"What, how...?" Maya stammered with indignation, but Fardeamer was immediately thinking practically and noting the imminent collapse of their surroundings.

The Padawan agreed sullenly. And we had better do it quickly...

She looked up. "Let's take the way we came in?"

She tucked her (recently retrieved) lightsaber into her cloth belt, then made a Force-enhanced leap up to the hole in the ceiling.

 

Lynnori followed Maya, and even though she hadn't voiced aloud her stunned incredulity as Maya had, she was in full agreement with Maya's sentiments. Like one of those mythical creatures you cut their arms off and they grow 2 more in an eye-blink.

 

Cera was looking for an opening. Kya was doing a good job deflecting the shots, but she could not jump in unless she wanted to risk a stray blast to hit her. So she decided to circle around slowly, until an opportunity presents itself.

She could sense the man getting distracted for a second. Did he have a commlink there? It should be enough for Kya to strike.

It was when she sensed the shock coming from the library, along with the rumble of the ground. What was going on!?

“It has been a pleasure, but I am afraid that I have to go.” It was the man’s turn to use the confusion to his advantage.

Cera barely had enough time to dodge the stream of crimson blasts coming… from above! She turned her head and saw a Skipray blastboat pass overhead and land nearby. She could sense several lifesigns, one of which was very familiar to Kya… Carnor Jax, the assailant from earlier.

The man tapped his helmet and turned to run as another figure appeared at the hatch, it was Kir Kanos, who opened fire as well.

“We have to stop them!” the Arkanian Jedi screamed to her comrade as she deflected a couple of shots that struck the blastboat and only managed to scrape the paint.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

Jumping to the ceiling proved to be a bad idea as the building was shaking as the explosives planted in the columns exploded one by one. The racket was deafening as pieces of masonry, permacrete, bricks exploded crashing into bookstacks, consoles exploding and the walls crackling under the pressure.

The two young Jedi had to decide whether to pursue Tol Skorr who was about to jump to the extended ramp of the shuttle hovering nearby or jump to safety among the Republic forces which were finishing up the mopping of the droid forces in front of the Library.

TAG: @Kurisan @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

 

As the building continued to shake, Lynnori weighed the options. She decided to jump to safety amongst the Republic forces in front of the library. Better to have reinforcements in case...

 

Maya scrambled through the falling pieces of masonry, ducking and dodging for her life. The columns of the library cracked around her as the explosions punished her ears.

Then, a moment of decision; Skorr was leaping toward the extended ramp of a hovering shuttle. He was escaping with whatever information he had stolen! Or there were Republic forces waiting nearby.

Maya did not hesitate. She went straight after Skorr. Enhancing her leap with a boost of Force power, she soared through the air and caught hold of the ramp. She scrambled up and over just as it closed and the shuttle lifted up and away...

 

Lynnori noticed Maya's trajectory, not towards the library entrance, but the shuttle on which Skorr was making a getaway. She squelched her instant sense of dismay. There was no telling where the shuttle would wind up and Maya was cut off from any assistance their team could render.
Still, Lynnori couldn't focus on the what-ifs and maybes of someone else's choices. She had to concentrate on the immediate situation, hard as that was.