Bespin: (Black Sun's) Cloud City

[Ulan]

The black hilt of the lightsaber rested peacefully in the Sith's hand, tempting Ulan to action. The easy path towards escape clouded Ulan's mind causing him to forget about the absent Gavin and focus on the Sith's words.

 

To wager one's life in combat is the purest expression of self.

 

The sentence lingered in Ulan's mind forcing him to consider why he had attacked the Sith to begin with.

 

"Right you are that beliefs opposing in view wars do start, and that the rules of the few conincide not with those of the many--"

 

A pause stretched the air between Ulan and Kakuto, "Seperate me from you the choice to be one of the few does. Stuggling for what is right easy is not, but against your evil I will always fight."

 

Ulan bravely walked closer to his enemy, circling slightly. The Force radiating off the two was now affecting bystanders. The power echoing outwards into the environment caused civilians to unconciously avoid the area. Only a few stragglers remained in the street to breifly glance at the interaction between the ancient enemies.

 

"Define myself I do not by my conflict with you. The Force my purpose guides. The Force gives meaning to life demonstrating the ways I should live, the ways interact I should with my environment, the ways communicate should I--with you."

 

Ulan paused in his pacing, stretching out with his feelings to better comprehend his surroundings. He could feel the Sith's anger growing with each word he spoke and knew that his defiance would soon bring violence.

 

"Why believe do you that purpose violence defines? More to life there is than death."

 

Ulan ignored his lightsaber dangling only feet away, resisting the temporary protection and comfort it could offer. This battle had turned into a battle of will. Lightsabers would be the quick and easy way out. This was a struggle Ulan would have to win by embracing the light and relying on all that is good.

[Kakuto Ryu]

"You disappoint me, Jedi."

 

The mask made his voice grinding and mechanical. Though his contempt was slowly forming into rage, he restrained himself.

 

"The Light is but an delusion brought upon by your dogmatic worship of the 'All Knowing Force.' You use this promise that you're doing the 'Good' and 'Noble' to help justify your actions. These words mean nothing. The force is much greater than you, Tiny Jedi. This ideal you have--this is what I fight to break. The universe you fight for is but a fevered dream. You constrain the true nature of the universe with your rules, your restrictions, your arbitrary 'right' and 'wrong.' "

 

The Warrior slowly tightened his grip around the lightsaber, as if trying to crush it. Bitter that Ulan would not take his weapon, Kakuto heaved heaved it away and watched it land in the street far away. He turned his back to Ulan again, withdrawing his own from inside his robe.

 

"Power is the only truth. Only those with the strength to fight are worthy to achieve victory. Would you throw your life away, having accomplished nothing, or would you fight to the death, knowing that you stood for what you believed in, regardless of the outcome?"

[Ulan]

"Fight to the death would I."

 

Ulan watched his lightsaber hilt bounce, roll, and eventually stop a few hundred feet away. He wanted to call it to his hand if for nothing else but protection. A threat was growing, pressing in on Ulan's soul, but he knew whatever attack the Sith made would not be fought off with a lightsaber. He would have to rely on his faith in the Force to guide his will.

 

"In fighting different you and I are not. For a good cause die I would, without a question asked. The cause different you and I makes, though. Correct you are that power a truth is. Truth, though, the most important thing in life is not."

 

Ulan searched his feelings as they interacted with the atmosphere surrounding the Sith. He could feel the Sith's anger growing with each word he spoke, and knew that the Sith particularly despised his last statement. However, touching the darkness spewing from the foul creature made Ulan want to pull back, but pull back to where? Out in the open there was no place to run or hide from this dark demon. He had to stand his ground.

 

"Other truths are there--aspects of the universe exists that understand your kind never will." Ulan tried thinking of peace as he inwardly battled the swelling evil. "Darkness would I argue a delusion is. Blind you to the good of the univerise your selfishness does. What cause do you fight for, ask should I. For justice, peace, and the lives of others my cause is, but as far as I understand fight only for yourself do you. For your own passions and lusts your cause is. If truth be what's important to you, in darkness how do you expect to find it? Feeling around in the dark like a child for a lost toy, you are."

 

Ulan sensed the coming assault. He knew the Sith would soon strike and that he would not be able to defend the attack, but Ulan felt compelled, pressured by the Force to make his next statement.

 

"Turn from your wickedness and new truths will you find."

[Aira Cadan]

After eight standard hours, the whole planet had been searched with the top-of-the-line scanners from the newest ships in our small fleet. There was no sign of any Imperial presence on Bespin. As for the Sith, we also didn't pick anything up except a few random reports of people feeling uneasy and several saying they were hearing voices. I didn't know whether or not to lend any credence to these reports, but Commodore Argus didn't seem worried, so I took a leaf out of his book and decided not to worry either.

 

We swept the planet until we were certain the Imps weren't going to use it as a restocking station. Finally, Commordore Argus approached me, Master Anorus having retired to his quarters a few hours ago feeling ill. "There is no sign of any Imperial activity on this world that we can detect," he reported. "I think we have completed our mission. Have you been monitoring the holofeeds from Gala?"

 

I nodded. "I think our return will come not a moment too soon. Leave the Garm's Charm and the Spirit of Zahn here just in case, and we can recall them after the battle of Gala. We don't want to leave the Bespinites vulnerable."

 

The Commodore nodded his agreement and relayed the orders. "Then we are off to Gala?"

 

I nodded. "To battle."

 

A few minutes later, the fleet, minus the Corellian gunship and the Maurader-class corvette I had mentioned, jumped into hyperspace.

[Kakuto Ryu]

The air between the two was quiet for only an instant, a shrill cackle of Dark Warrior breaking the silence a mighty guffaw. Ulan's vision seemed to blur as the Master's image distorted, pulsing and stretching in time with his hideous laughter.

 

"Your strength belies your ignorance, Tiny Jedi..."

 

The shadow of warrior overtook Ulan's senses, casting him into an illusionary world of darkness. Kakuto turned and began to walk toward Ulan, his lightsaber drawn but unlit. He leaned down over top of the Jedi, who was barely taller than his knee, and looked directly into his eyes for a moment, mere inches from his face. Though Kakuto's appearance was hidden behind his mask, even behind the tinted transparasteel his eyes were inescapable.

 

"Look..."

 

His right eye was different from his left, a strange like the light passing through a diamond. It was entrancing, and the deeper Ulan looked, the more he was able to see, until he could see nothing but the prismatic shimmer dancing through his mind. Closer still, he began to notice distinguishable shapes, objects, people and places he didn't recognize. He saw glimpses of a thousand lives within the Dark Warrior's eye.

 

"In a few moments, the Gaseous Carbonite Lines of Cloud City will rupture."

 

A swirl of crimson overtook the vision, and the individual lives he was witnessing now portraying their agonizing ends. Many were frozen solid by the gas, others escaped enough to watch their limbs crumble into pieces, while still more died suffocating on the hardened carbonite in their lungs.

 

"I have forseen this disaster. It is why I have come here, it is why I have brought you to this place."

 

The image of a large machine in the depths of Bespin appeared for a moment, a hairline fracture appearing over top of it. The crack scattered, spread, spreading to every facet of the grand nightmare. All at once the image shattered, leaving Ulan alone on the street--his lightsaber in hand.

 

A security guard ran away from Ulan yelling that he had been attacked by a Sith into his radio. Just behind Ulan sat the corpse of a guard who had been intimate with a lightsaber. Kakuto was nowhere to be found, but his presence was hard to miss. He was close by, that much was certain.

 

"I will not stop you, should you attempt to try to save these people. But why would you save the people who would treat you as a murderer, when you could just sit back and wait for the show to start?"

 

((OOC: Was in a rush, posting from Vacation. If you catch any errors or confusion lemme know and I'll edit it. I'll try to keep from getting too behind on my posts while away, but no promises.))

[Ulan]

The smell of burned flesh tickled Ulan's nose, but he knew he was not responsible for the crime. How the lightsaber had ended up in his hand and where the two guards had come from he knew not. He did know, however, what would happen if he failed.

 

Images of choking, dying civilians still lingered in Ulan's mind. He could feel the pain that they would inevitablly suffer if he could not succeed. It crippled his emotions, made him fear the future. The green man was actually scared of his own failure, but what choice did he have? The Sith obviously wanted him to give up, to give in, but he couldn't. He'd die first.

 

 

But why?

 

 

Instead of chasing after the surviving guard, Ulan fled in the opposite direction with his unlit lightsaber in hand. He had to reach the flawed machinery and somehow contain the eminent disaster. To his right was a small vent, just large enough for a two foot tall bipedal alien to squeeze into. He reached out with the Force, ripped the cover off of the shaft, and dropped through the hole into the deeper levels of Cloud City.

 

 

A clang...A soft thud

 

 

Ulan stood in a long, white hallway empty of civilians. Pausing for a moment, he stretched out with his feelings searching for the quickest most logical route to the faulty equipment. From the depths of the images placed in Ulan's mind by Kakuto's dark finger came several paths for reaching the appropriate room.

 

"Provide this information to me, why you have? Save will I these people, but against your will be that would."

 

Ulan was puzzeled by the Dark Lord's decision to give these people hope, but that was the only thought which kept Ulan's tiny feet moving; he was their only chance.

[Kakuto Ryu]

"I do not care what happens to these people. If I wanted them dead, I would kill them."

 

Kakuto stepped out from behind a corner. He leaned against the wall, removing the glove from his living hand to idly pop his joints.

 

"What you saw was not a vision of mine alone. I did not cause this, nor would I without some substantial gain. I would merely stand to encourage you to think as I do, sit back and watch. The way Sith is not always malice. Sometimes the way is apathy. With that in mind I highly recommend you get comfortable. I know a great spot where we can take refuge and watch the world end."

 

Kakuto looked up, pointing behind Ulan. He ducked behind his corner again, disappearing from sight and sense. The hallway blast Door drew closed suddenly, barring Ulan from proceeding to his goal. A voice came over the intercomm.

 

"This is Bespin Civil Enforcment. Alien Life form, you are accused of the murder of a City Guard. Surrender immediately."

 

An armed speeder blocked the door opposite his progress while armed guards began to take cover at the exits. The Door's control box had been run through by a lightsaber. Clearly it wasn't opening any time soon. Guns raised at Ulan, his possible exits grew narrower every second.

 

"MOVE and we'll FIRE! This is your only Warning Cop Killer!"

 

Kakuto's ghostly visage appeared behind one shaking cadet, seemingly invisible to the guards. Kakuto cupped his hand to his mouth and whispered into the Cadet's ear, visible panic overtaking him. He closed his eyes and squeezed the trigger, starting the firefight before Ulan had a chance to plead his case.

 

((Have fun! I'm sorry it took so long. I promise to pick up the pace or you'll have one of my lightsabers. Don't go too far though, I wanna milk this plot a little.))

[Ulan]

Sympathy lurched out from Ulan as the wave of fear and panic spread across the young gaurd's face. He could not imagine leaving these people alone to die, and the fact that the Sith could only made Ulan that much more frustrated. A faint surge of hate spread silently through his bones as he looked upon Kakuto's taunting shadow urging on the blaze of violence.

 

Why?

 

Meeting the red bolt in mid flight, Ulan's green blade sprung to action. He called upon the Force, his emotions urging him upwards into the air. With an inconcievable amount of grace and flexibility Ulan spun through the forest of blaster fire unsure of what to do next.

 

What a waste, to sit and watch.

 

Ulan despised the idea. How could he, a Jedi, wait for people to die, even if they wanted him dead? Yet the seed of darkness had been planted. The Evil Lord knew too well how to toy with Ulan's youth. The padwan, as he ducked, dodged, and deflected blaster bolts became angrier with every swing of his bat. Peace was not something he had mastered, nor a concept he currently remembered, and when a bolt meant for his head came too close Ulan lost is patience.

 

"Save you I am!" he tried shouting as he bounced a red beam back at the gaurds.

 

Time slowed. Ulan's brow scrunched up in a look of disgust, waiting on the incoming barrage of weapons fire. A single red bolt slashed through the air flowing against the current of the onslaught, and at precisely the wrong time the young man who had jumped the gun initially, moved. Ulan's deflected shot ate into the boy's leg, penetrating any armor the gaurd was wearing and burning through flesh. Ulan immediately smelled the wound.

 

No...

[Kakuto Ryu]

He's going to kill you.

 

The Dark Lord's insidious whisper rang in the Cadet's mind as the burn on his leg rendered him unable to run. The men around him seemed determined to stand and fight, but he knew better. The voice had told him. They were all doomed, just as he was.

 

His thumb switched the activator on a grenade still on his belt, and he broke rank, hobbling forward as the grenade ticked down.

 

Kakuto's visage, a shadowy blur of white and black, leaned calmly against the blast door behind them. His arms folded, he stood still, watching. Laughing. Taunting.

 

"Any time you're ready to ignore their plight, I'll be happy to help you escape."

Edited June 24, 2009 by Guest

[Ulan]

The men's faces drooped as the wounded soldier rose to attack the miniature Jedi. Ulan could hardly think as unheeded orders were issued to the young, rogue guard. Although despite the chaos, a sense of relief swept over Ulan.

 

Thank the Force dead he isn't.

 

The moment of comfort quickly faded as Ulan once again made eye contact with Kakuto's devilish grin. It wasn't until he heard the faint beeping noise coming from the activated grenade that Ulan knew what the Dark Lord was up to. A cold chill spiraled up the Jedi's short spine radiating a feeling of doubt throughout his old mind. He broke eye contact with Ryu, choosing to ignore the Sith's comment, braking into action.

 

He wasn't sure how to handle the situation as he was now afraid of the strength and power he held over these men; the power he knew Kakuto wanted him to demonstrate, but sacrifices make I must.

 

A small green blur broke through the lightened blaster fire--many of the men were now afraid of hitting their battle crazed comrade--and as he flew, a blade of light sliced through the air removing the wounded guard's arm, the same arm that tightly held the active grenade.

 

Forgive me.

 

As his body soared past the guards, Ulan tried to send the message to the screaming boy, but communicating the thought was only his second concern. First on his mind was ridding the small enclosed room of the live grenade. Bouncing towards an outside wall, Ulan's green blade cut through a large window, shattering glass as the Jedi's mind wrapped around the discarded arm hurling it and the grenade into Bespin's atmosphere.

 

For a moment Ulan stopped and stood on the ledge looking at the wounded man. Most of the men were stunned by what had just happened, obvious by their inability to fire their weapons. Breaking the silence an explosion and the shattering of another window could be heard several stories below their current level. Ulan locked eyes with Kakuto transmitting a message of determination.

 

Fix this will I.

 

The little green Jedi flipped backwards off the wall, guiding his descent with the Force. Black and grey smoke was still drifting away from the broken window when Ulan's tiny body dropped into a new hallway, his changing heart racing.

[Kakuto Ryu]

Shards of glass drilled holes in Kakuto's Cloak as he appeared, standing before Ulan. The Gaunt and imposing skull mask gazed motionless at the small Alien.

 

"You have come far. No doubt that soldier will be scared for life, wielding a clumsy prothesis or better, nothing at all. There's one life you have ruined, but not taken."

 

Kakuto stepped backward, swinging his hand outward to indicate that Ulan may move freely.

 

"This floor is locked down or empty. The security forces have already evacuated it. The Hangar and security ring is below, where they are setting up their Last Stand. Their formations are amusing, they seem to have left you gaps to the hangar, as if hoping you'll steal a ship and leave them be. It's amusing-- the cowardice of civilians when faced with a foe they do not understand. They're begging you to leave, but you refuse."

 

Kakuto took a step, shards of glass falling loose from his cloak.

 

Or are you at last prepared to leave them to the fate that belongs to them?

 

In an instant he had faded from sight, a pile of glass revealing his foot prints, but nothing more.

[Ulan]

Fate. Who was Ulan to determine the fate of these people? Who was he to decide whether it was their time to live or die? The Force had led him here, it had brought him out of the forests of Wayland back into the raging conflict of the galaxy. Would it not also lead these people to their appropriate place in the universe?

 

Living by the Jedi principles he had learned up to this point he should follow Ryu and let the people of Cloud City live or die on their own accord. To control the will of the Force the dark side is. By slicing off the guard's arm had Ulan been trying to control fate? He had caused an untold amount of pain and suffering for an individual: The way of the light that is not. The dark side thrived on pain. If Ulan created pain was he a practitioner of evil?

 

Feelings of hatred and frustration filled the room as the Dark Lord's image vanished. Ulan hated Ryu for making him endure this charade, and he hated the people of Cloud City for being ignorant and helpless. His green blade lit up the empty hallway and slashed through the wall in a release of intense emotion.

 

What could he do? What should he have done? He could have allowed the guard to kill himself and probably several others, but evil is that not? To stand back and watch a man destroy himself when the power to save I have is as evil as inflicting death with my own hands.

 

Was he wrong or right? Gavin had never taught him the difference between light and dark; what makes an action good or evil? Could sacrifices be made for a greater good, or were those sacrifices evil actions themselves, and did a greater good cancel out smaller sins?

 

Ulan's blade whirled through the air following the now non-existent Kakuto Ryu. The shortened saber dug into the wall opposite Ulan, humming as it melted melted steel.

 

Why had Gavin not prepared him for this? Why had his master abandoned him to this fate? Gavin's fault is this?

 

The thought was fleeting, but planted a hint of jealousy and anger in Ulan's soul. Already he was succumbing to Ryu's intentions, but a decision to make still he had. Would he continue on, risking his own soul to save the ignorant, or would he follow the Dark Lord?

 

He could see Ryu's footprints in the glass and could still hear his lingering words. Follow him I cannot. Ulan knew this to be true. Despite Gavin's failed teaching methods, Ulan had learned a significant lesson on Ilum. He had been charged by the Force to use his power, and the Dark Lord would not easily erase the memory of the most significant event in Ulan's life.

 

Continue I must.

 

Ulan called his saber to his hand and fled down the hallway in an opposite direction from which Ryu had retreated. He would do what must be done; light or dark, but the Dark Lord had left his mark. Ulan was a shaken pupil of the Force who knew not where he wandered. All he knew was that he had to keep pushing forward, down into the bowels of Cloud City. He found an elevator and headed deeper into a frightening situation.

[Kakuto Ryu]

The silvered turbolift doors slid closed, and where he would expect his reflection, he saw KR.

 

So you won't give up. Fate is what you'll make it. Protect the order of the cosmos at all cost.

 

Kakuto's image lifted up toward the wall, and before he realized, he had pressed the lift button that would express him to the carbonite control ring.

 

You have to act, to do what is 'Right.' Oppose evil wherever it may hide.

 

Kakuto's reflection moved to the back of the elevator, growing much smaller in the distorted panel.

 

I wonder though...

 

The Indicator that provided the floor number turned crimson. It was still several floors above the destination.

 

Is all that you cannot control Evil to you?

 

The elevator doors swung open, revealing a cadre armed soldiers, set up behind portable cover. Two men with E-web blaster turrets covered the left and right, while a circle of men sealed him into his corner. In the center, exactly where he was in the reflection, Kakuto stood over the squad's captain, miming his furious report,

 

"FIRE!"

[Ulan]

A long time ago, the word control meant a lot of things to the galaxy far, far away. To a Hutt it meant power and domination: how many systems and trade routes could he control. Despite their idealistic proclamations, the Republic and Imperial governments were similar; their goals were to control as many peoples as possible so to impose their beliefs and values on the galaxy. The same understanding of control was held by the Jedi and Sith, and at the moment blaster fire streamed towards the open elevator, Ulan, the old Jedi Padawan, was struggling with how to deal with the concept of control in relation to his place in the Force.

 

He had been taught to follow the flow of the Force allowing it to sweep him towards its ultimate will. The question Ryu had raised in the Jedi was whether he was following the flow or pushing against it. What if the destiny of Cloud City lay in a broken machine in the dark depths of the city's core? If these people were meant to die as Ryu's vision had foretold, then was Ulan doing as the Dark Lord had described: controlling all that he saw as unfit regardless of the will of the Force?

 

Ulan's short, stubby legs sprang off the ground pushing him straight up into the air allowing the trydictal to pierce the grated ceiling with his claws. He clung for dear life as bolts of energy burned into the back wall of the elevator spewing a dark cloud of smoke up and out of the transportation tube.

 

Allow the light in you to cleanse the darkness in the galaxy...

 

The words rushed through his mind as his claws gradually slipped towards death. Ulan had been charged with one mission in life, and it was his purpose, not duty, to fulfill it. If he were to believe the lies of Ryu now, he should release his hold and fall into the red bolts because he would have nothing else to live for.

 

The Force has placed me here for a reason, he communicated to Ryu, floating his blade to his side. Once ignited, the blade swirled around Ulan, ripping a hole in the ceiling. Quickly, just as the tips of his claws were the last of his being holding the metal, the cut ceiling flipped around allowing Ulan to roll into an empty air duct. The tiny alien charged through the tunnel towards the gang of men that were beginning to cease fire. He could hear fewer shots scorching the elevator's wall.

 

Force powers guided his eyes and hands, pulling his green blade into the bottom of the air duct, cutting a hole and dropping Ulan in behind the troop of guards. By now their blaster fire had ceased with all of them peering into the smoking elevator, wondering where the alien's body was. It was a total suprise to them all when a wave of energy slammed them all in the back. Each man would be knocked flat on his face, but when they turned to find the perpetrator all they would see was an empty room. The padawan would be headed towards his final destination.

[SithAcolyte]

They were at Bespin, slowly descending to it's gaseous atmostphere. It felt like a serpent had crawled into Darla's gutt and had begun twist and turn it's body into tight coils. Her muscles tightened with anxiety and dread threatened to make her vomit.

 

She took deep breaths and tried to steady herself. If her nerves got the better of her now, she would be no good to anyone.

 

"Gavin, we need to find Ulan's presence. Can you feel him?" 

 

Darla was certain that Ulan was still alive. Gavin had been worried that his Padawan would be killed. But Darla knew that Kakuto would wait until he had an audience.

 

Why did he have to bring me here? Of all the places.

 

Bespin was the place where Darla had first encountered Kakuto Ryu. She had just been an apprentice. Darla had felt, through the Force, the horrific mutilation and death of a Jedi Master at the hands of Kakuto. Buy the time she had arrived at the scene he was gone. All that had been left was the ruined corpse of his victim.

 

He had brought her back here to torment her.

 

But Darla couldn't understand why. For all she knew, this mightve been his sick way of saying hello...

 

There was only one place on Bespin that knew of; Cloud City. It had been so long since Darla had been to Bespin that things might have changed. When Gavin located his apprentice, they'd know where to head. They'd also have an idea of what was happening to him, if Gavin could sense any feelings from him.

[Kakuto Ryu]

At last a freight life lowered Ulan down to the Gaseous Carbonite Regulator, a labyrinth of pipes as wide around as a tram station, laced above and below the suspended walkway that held up the control deck. A great machine rose vertically through the center of the platform, spitting off into a great thread of pipes at it's top and bottom. As the lift descended he was able to make out the control pit, in which several computer consoles surrounded the "trunk" of the machine. He recognized them from the vision. They were all unattended, save for one.

 

A man in a jumpsuit lay doubled over in his seat. He was delirious, crushed by the weight of Kakuto Ryu's Presence. Sweating and shaking, he could only repeat a grizzly warning.

 

"Don't do it. Please. Don't do it."

 

The air was sharp with electricity. He was near.

 

Time Left, there is not.

 

The voice in his mind was his own, but the words were not his.

 

Save Bespin, I will.

 

Gavin's approach was hidden from Ulan's sight by a cloud of shadow.

 

Always in motion is the future. (Click!)

 

The last phrase pierced his mind with a dulling pain.

[Gavin Ryaro]

Gavin felt his muscles tense as Darla broke the silence that had ovrewhelmed the cockpit. He listened to her question before clearing his mind and taking a deep breath. Much relied on his correct grasping of the situation. His apprentice's life was not something to be toyed around with and neither was Darla's. If he could correctly pin-point Ulan's position then they might be able to end this ordeal quickly with a minimal loss of life.

 

He began to sift through everything that was happening in the floating city. His mind's eye worked like a computer to filter through the useless information and store that which could possibly be used to find Ryu and his apprentice. A lot of events had transpired at this location in the past few hours and it had caused chaos to spread.

 

Gavin was beginning to become frustrated when he finally found the presence that he was searching for. It was dim but he was just able to see a glimpse of the little alien that he had come to know over the past months. He could feel turmoil inside his ancient padawan's mind. A conflict that hadn't been there when his presence had left Gavin on Ilum. The storm that was raging was not one that would easily be calmed. Gavin knew that he would have to move quickly if he was to salvage anything that remained of his apprentice.

 

"He's in the depths of the city. His mind was not clear in the least bit but I did manage to get a general location. He's moving towards one of the carbon freezing chambers in a hurry. Something must be wrong. We must move with haste. I believe that the closest landing platform will do."

 

As Darla began to pilot the ship towards their intended destination Gavin decided to see what other information he could gleen from Ulan's mind. He could feel questions being formed in the back of Ulan's mind. Doubts that had business being there were taking up shop and distracting him. It quickly became obvious to Gavin that he had failed his apprentice as a Master. It had been his job to root his charge in the doctrine of the Light Side of the Force and the task hadn't been accomplished.

 

Gavin thought back to his own training. Damon had never focused on the doctrine of the Force. As a matter of fact he had never focused much on anything. Gavin had always felt that his training was rushed in order to pump out more Knights for the Jedi. Perhaps this failure could be blamed on Damon. Gavin was only following the example set for him.

 

Or maybe it was Ulan's fault. Perhaps the padawan was not as strong as Gavin had once believed. After all, Gavin had been instructed in the same way as Ulan had and he had turned out alright. There had never been any doubt in him. No conflict had ever invaded his soul. If Ulan was a true Jedi he would have never let the questions form in his mind and even if they had he would have immediately pushed them aside instead of dwelling on that which he had no control over.

 

Gavin shook his head as he came out of his revelry. He didn't know what had transpired here but he was sure that none of them would come out of the experience the same. He only hoped that all three of the Jedi involved survived to figure out what exactly they believed...

[Ulan]

Always in motion is the future.

 

The thought pierced Ulan's small green skull, shocking his mind with a stinging pain. His eyes scrunched as he tried to shake the confusing thought away, but ache lingered. Ulan did not understand what was happening, his thoughts were not his own, yet they were his thoughts. The confusion clouded everything. The Force felt distant and weak one moment then strong and overwhelming the next.

 

Save Bespin!

 

Another thought not entirely his own struck hard, making the only clearly visible things in the room the squirming man and the broken machine.

 

"Out of the way!" Ulan yelled, uncontrollably flinging a wave of force energy in the man's direction. It was a violent surge of unnatural power, twisted and manipulated by the dark clouds infecting Ulan's mind and soul.

 

The man screamed as he flew helplessly through the air smashing into a wall. Ignoring the man's fright, Ulan held the technician suspended in mid air upside down.

 

"Danger are you in," Ulan said slowly with a great deal of frustration as the man slowly floated towards the padawan. "This machine, off will you turn."

 

A green blade slid out of its hilt, nearing the upside down man's neck. Ulan was in need of help. At any moment thousands of lives would be lost, but regardless of Cloud City's fate the padwan would be changed, possibly lost, forever.

[SithAcolyte]

Darla piloted the ship towards one of the landing platforms as Gavin reached out to find his apprentice in the Force. When he told her where Ulan was, Darla's heart skipped a beat.  

 

Carbon Freezing chamber...

 

If Kakuto wanted to capture her alive, that was one way to do it. Perhaps she could turn that against him. If she could freeze him first, then she wouldn't have to kill him.

 

But then what would I do? He wouldn't stay frozen for good.

 

A part of Darla dreamed of freezing Kakuto and escaping from Bespin with him. Then she could awaken him somewhere safe and far away and begin go heal his fractured soul...

 

Yeah, right! You tried that one remember?!

 

Kakuto Ryu had been unresponsive in the past, why would he be any different now? No, the only thing that he understood was violence. Darla had wasted her compassion on him too many times.

 

As they landed, Darla reached out with her own Force senses. Kakuto had to be near by... Before she had a chance to find him she felt him. He was forcing words, thoughts, feelings with a frightening intensity into another beings mind. 

 

SAVE BESPIN!

 

The words weren't meant for her, but through her link with Kakuto they hit her like an over whelming force. Who were they meant for? Why would Kakuto be almost demanding someone to save Bespin.

 

"This way!" Darla shouted to Gavin as she led the way to the Carbon Freezing chamber.

 

When the two of them were in an elevator taking them down to the lower levels of Cloud City, Darla reached out once more trying to get a better feeling of what they were walking into.

 

"I heard Kakuto... It was as if he was talking to somone. No... It was more like he was... Implanting a thought. Through the Force."

 

It must have been aimed at Ulan, who else would Kakuto being trying to communicate with?

 

Suddenly Darla felt a rush in the darkside. Dark energy being called upon. But the presence that Darla felt was weak. Did Kakuto have an apprentice with him? Was that who he was communicating with?

 

In her minds eye Darla saw a tiny green man. One of Bespin's workers floated upside down in front of him. The smaller being ignited a lightsaber and held it to his throat!

 

Ulan! That's him!

 

"Gavin, did you feel that? There was a small surge in the darkside. I reached out to it and I saw Ulan! Whatever has happened to him, Kakuto has pushed him near to using the darkside. We need to get him and fast... I think that he's going to do something terrible..." 

[SithAcolyte]

Darla felt Gavin's shock in the Force. She hadn't been expecting Ulan to be a threat to them. Quite to the contrary, she had expected to find him bound in someway. Perhaps frozen in carbonite. Darla had under estimated Kakuto Ryu. What had he done to the small man to cause him to attack a civilian.

 

Anger bubbled inside Darla. Kakuto had corrupted an innocent just for kicks. Just to get to Darla and draw her there. It wasn't flattering, it enraged her.

 

And she could feel her connection to the Force swell... Grow...

 

But it was the darkness that she was feeling. Not the light healing energies of the Force, but the raw unadulterated power of it. As the lift descended to it's destination the energy within her rose up.

 

I can handle this... I can control it...

 

Ever since she had lost her connection to the Force Darla had thought that her only way to touch it may have been through the Darkside. Her few outbursts over the past year had edged her towards this line of thinking. The way she was feeling now filled her with dread. Perhaps she had been right.

 

When I fought Julio, I was nearly broken... Nearly... Deep into my own Darkside...

 

The elevator came to a stop and Darla stepped out. Her breath was coming in heavy gasps now. A Dark aura radiating from her. She pulled her hood back. Her faced seemed different. Her features set in a grim snarl and her eyes... Her eyes had turned completely black. Not a hint of colour in them.

 

She saw Ulan the worker, terrified floating in front of him. The sight of it made Darla mad. Why was this happening? What was Kakuto trying to do?

 

Reaching out with the Force, her connection to it feeling as strong as ever, Darla yanked Ulan's lightsaber out of his Force grip and brought to her own hand. She deactivated the blade. With her free hand, Darla reached out into the air as she strode purposefully towards the little alien. Her finger curled in a grasping motion and Ulan could feel Darla's Force grip pressing into his throat. Cutting off his airflow, crushing his windpipe.

 

"PUT HIM DOWN." With her voice projected through the Force it filled the room, making any listeners ears sting from the sheer Force of it.

 

What am I doing? Who am I?

 

A tiny voice in Darla's mind made her stop. She had come to Bespin to save the Padawan, not crush his throat. It was frightening how quickly Darla had let the anger take her over. This was what she was suppossed to be fighting, not what she was supposed to be becoming.

 

Perhaps to fight Kakuto should would let herself become a monster, but this was wrong. She didn't have to resort to the Darkside so quickly and she wasn't here to harm the Padawan.

 

Gavin and Ulan could see the struggle within Darla and then the resolution. Her features became soft once more and the blackness faded from her eyes. They were once more a pale green filled with sadness.

 

"I'm sorry..." Her voice seemed so small compared to the Forceful shout that had erupted her her moments earlier. Her next words were a little firmer, a little more certain. "I'm sorry, but you're playing into his hands. Can't you see he's controlling you? Let this man go. Leave with your master. He'll take you away from this place and help you see things more clearly. Right?"

 

She turned to face Gavin. A sad look on her face. A look that said...

 

I'm sorry...

[Gavin Ryaro]

((Terribly sorry, I didn't realize that you had already posted once.))

 

Gavin stood silently concentrating as the turbolift rocketed down towards the carbon freezing chamber that he had pinpointed Ulan in. He looked up as the doors opened and followed Darla out of the lift.

 

The sight before him caused Gavin to stop in his tracks. He had never seen Ulan performing such dark acts. The turmoil that he could feel radiating off of his apprentice astonished him and he wasn't sure what to do.

 

Darla was the first to act. He watched motionless as Ulan's lightsaber flew out of his grip and the small alien began to grasp at the invisible hand that was constricting his airways.

 

"PUT HIM DOWN."

 

Gavin shook his head and came back into the present. As he was about to act he heard Darla speak again, this time with less force behind the statements.

 

"I'm sorry..."

 

"I'm sorry, but you're playing into his hands. Can't you see he's controlling you? Let this man go. Leave with your master. He'll take you away from this place and help you see things more clearly. Right?"

 

Darla turned to him and gave him an apoligetic look. It was something that Gavin wasn't sure how to respond to. What was she doing? If everything went right then they would all three be leaving together.

 

"Put him down. Even if Ulan were doing Kakuto's bidding it's still his choice."

 

Gavin turned to face his apprentice.

 

"Just because I believe that this is your choice doesn't mean that I agree with it. What's going on? You were so passionate about becoming a Jedi and you're going to throw away all of the work that you've done simply because some man can make a good speech? What is this destruction going to gain you?"

[Kakuto Ryu]

"She hasn't seen what you've seen..."

 

Kakuto's imposing visage appeared to Ulan just behind Darla. It was clear neither her nor Gavin could see him as The warrior's head drifted over Darla shoulder. The skull mask did little to disguise how enraptured he was by her attack.

 

His gloved fingers reached to touch her shoulder, but instead appeared on Ulan's. The profile the bone white mask drifted into his peripheral vision.

 

"The clock is ticking, and the man you threatened has not the faculties to do what you ask. "

 

Even through the attack, the technician never blinked, never flinched, just repeated his grisly warning with the same empty gaze.

 

"Don't Do it. Don't do it. Please. Please don't do it."

 

Kakuto's fingers raised up, then swung down to Ulan's shoulder. The sound that should have accompanied it coming instead from above the great machine's console, where the Warrior tapped out the seconds on the the metal top.

 

"I wonder if they will be counted among the dead if you fail in your cause?"

 

Kakuto looked down, watching the keys input the access codes on it's own, in pace with the Sith's tapping. With a final tap the Sith vanished again, the screen changing to reveal a number of options.

[Ulan]

Ulan dropped to a knee as the dark haired vixen released him. His lightsaber was no longer ignited being in the hand of another, but the facility attendant still hung upside down. All in the room had spoken, except the little alien.

 

"What is this destruction going to gain you?"

 

"Destruction?" Ulan said the word in a confused, troubled voice unable to understand Gavin's motives for askng such a question. All the padawan could see was death stretching its ugly hand over Cloud City. However, the Jedi Knight's last word was drowned out by Kakuto's endless barrage of suggestions and temptations.

 

"No, know you not the danger," Ulan said to the two newcomers.

 

"I wonder if they will be counted among the dead if you fail in your cause?"

 

He raced to his feet, dropping the attendant who continued to babble. "Stand in my way you cannot," he said to Gavin. "A mission I have to fulfill." Briefly as he spoke, Ulan locked eyes with the Jedi Knight creating a moment that intensified his fear of the impending doom. He could not let his master die, no matter how ill-prepared Gavin had left him.

 

The ticking filled Ulan's long green ears, urging him onwards. He raced to the console and scrolled over its options.

 

"Don't Do it. Don't do it. Please. Please don't do it."

 

Fear and anger swirled throughout the room touching the lives of each of the people present, forcing them all into a battle with demons from the past, present, and future. In one way or another they were all consumed by the darkside, leaving questions about the existence of light in the galaxy. For Ulan, his mind was shrouded from the truth to the point that his thoughts were nearly not his own. The only concept his brain could ponder was the rescue of thousands from a mechanized disaster. Fitting it was that a naturalist--a being who had lived his whole life in communion with all that was original to the galaxy--would save man from his own faliable, finite creation.

 

Ulan's thick green finger scrolled over the console reaching for the only option that seemed logical; emergency shut down.

[SithAcolyte]

Ulan was clearly confused. Kakuto had messed with his head somehow. Darla's danger sense flared. Whatever it was that the little green man thought that he needed to do, it was trouble. Big trouble!

 

"No, know you not the danger,"

 

He thinks that he's saving us from something. He thinks he's doing the right thing!

 

Ulan hadn't turned to the darkside, he was surrounded by it, clouded by it. Perhaps even under it's influence. But he'd been tricked. Fooled into thinking that he needed to save Bespin from something.

 

Kakuto you bastard!

 

Anger flared up in Darla, but she kept it in check. She couldn't let it cloud her vision. She to stop Ulan without harming him.

 

Before she had a chance to think, before she had the chance to decide the best course of action, Ulan was in motion.

 

"Stand in my way you cannot," he said to Gavin. "A mission I have to fulfill."

 

There was dark energy around Ulan. The taint of Kakuto. He rushed to a console, his small green hand hovering over the buttons. Then his finger edging forward to press something. There was a sense of urgency emanating from the small alien.

 

Darla's danger sense screamed at her.

 

Stop him! Now!

 

All the dark foreboding feelings that Darla had felt in the elevator had led her to this moment. This was the terrible thing that Ulan was going to do.

 

Before she even had a chance to work out what he was doing, Darla reacted.

 

She thrust Ulan's lightsaber hilt at him. Speeding up the hilt with the Force it flew through the air at an amazing speed. It spun end over end building up kinetic energy. Darla guided it towards Ulan's head hoping to knock him unconscious.

 

Seconds stretched by like hours. Darla held her breath, hoping her aim was true.

[Ulan]

Light and Dark had staked their claims on Bespin, clouding the minds and souls of the innocent. The war reached out from the inner chamber where the illustrious party met manipulating all that came too close. Ulan, the Jedi Padawan, served as the battle ground in which the two ancient enemies dueled to the finish. His mind was the most affected, the most warped by raging rapids of two opposing flows of Force. There was little that his mind could sense through the fog of war including the swelling presence of power propelling his own hilt.

 

It was as if the alien wore blinders; the darkness of Kakuto's images clouded and directed Ulan's sight. All he could see as the black hilt sped towards his unsuspecting cranium was the tip of his green finger and the long, yellow finger nail millimeters away from the digital screen.

 

Save them...

 

The thought trailed off into oblivion as unconciousness captured Ulan's mind and dropped him to the floor. All hope was lost. Ulan had been the only one aware of Bespin's doom except the legendary Dark Lord who by his nature would do nothing. Perhaps, Ulan would think later if his frail body survived the impending annihilation, nature the victor is, after all. It was man's nature to fail at perfection yet succeed at destruction. In the end all would, as Kakuto had promised, be set right.

[Gavin Ryaro]

Gavin stood, shocked by Ulan's words. He obviously thought that he was saving them from something but Gavin was almost positive that that wasn't the case. Kakuto had twisted his apprentice's mind to such an extent that he wasn't even in his right mind anymore. That monster had taken his padawan and formed something that Gavin couldn't even recognize.

 

As he was about to speak Gavin watched the hilt of his apprentice's lightsaber collide with the back of his head. The little alien collapsed to the foor and Gavin immediately reacted. He surged forward and kneeled next to the slumped body. He checked the vitals of his apprentice and was relieved to find out that his apprentice would be okay. He would have a headache when he woke up but he would be okay, at least physically. The question remained as to whether or not his apprentice could ever forgive him. Whether or not Gavin could ever forgive himself.

 

He picked up his apprentice's limp body and looked at Darla with confusion apparent on his face.

 

"What now? We can't just leave if there's a chance that there is actually something threatening the city."

[SithAcolyte]

Heartbeats stretched by where Darla was sure that Ulan was going to push the button, that she had been too slow. To her surprise, her aim had been fast and true.

 

Thank the Force!

 

She had hit Ulan on the head, knocking him unconscious before his small green finger had reached it's mark.

 

Darla exhaled.

 

Her danger sense began to wane and for now, she felt that she was in no danger. Gavin had rushed over to his apprentice to make sure that he was alright. Darla shouldn't have caused him much harm, maybe some bruising and a concussion. But it had been necessary. she was sure of that.

 

Darla rushed over to the console to check that everything was in working order. When Gavin spoke, she looked to him and replied.

 

"Kakuto Ryu is the only thing that's really posing a danger to this place."

 

She looked back to the console. Ulan had been about to initiate the emergy shutdown procedure, which would have turned off tghe Carbon chambers cooling system. The plant would have rapidly overheated and they would have had a complete meltdown on their hands and an explosion that would have likely destroyed most, if not all of Cloud City.

 

"He was about to initiate the emergency shutdown procedure. It would have blown us all sky-high. That must have been what he was babbling about. Kakuto convinced him that he need to shut the plant down in order to save the people here..."

 

Darla let out a long breath of air.

 

"That was close... Too close..."

 

She thought about Gavin's question for a few minutes.

 

"You should get Ulan to safety. Make sure he's alright. Kakuto is still here on Bespin. I'll find him."

[Gavin Ryaro]

"You should get Ulan to safety. Make sure he's alright. Kakuto is still here on Bespin. I'll find him."

 

Gavin stared dumbfounded as the words left Darla's mouth. How could she think that he was going to let her face the monster that was Ryu, alone? Kakuto had nearly killed him and almost driven his apprentice to the dark side and there was no way that he was going to walk away from this nightmare.

 

"You've been driven insane if you think there's anyway that I'm gonna let you face that monster alone. This is as much my fight as it is your's. I'll agree that we need to get Ulan to safety but I'm going with you."

[Kakuto Ryu]

The Menace would not relinquish his grip on the Padawan so easily. Unconscious, his power over him receded, but it was not long before The Dark Master's voice began to haunt his in his dreams.

 

"There is still time..."

 

An arc of lightning shot from the lift console on the far side of the room, spurring the platform to jerk upward, then slam down through it's shaft to explode out the bottom. The walkway shook violently as the only apparent escape was shredded. The sharp edge of the square platform caught a horizontal pipe, piercing the side with a great billow of gaseous carbonite. The destroyed lift froze in place--standing on it's edge.

 

Peering through flashes beneath the darkness, Kakuto fluttered through Ulan's mind. As the darkness receded he formed wearing naught but his scars, from whence he bled shadow. Where Ulan had cut the beast poured a massive cimmerian flow.

 

"I can give you the power to continue, but it will come at great cost..."

 

A sharp pang struck Darla's mind, prompting her to look up to an angled pipe near the apex of the massive machine. There he stood, robed in black; a feint outline save for the glint of his lightsaber hilt.

 

The warriors left hand appeared for Ulan as a silhouette, surrounded by a feint blue glow. In his right hand, he held the hilt of sheathed sword. When he spoke his silver hair came in and out of view, as if below murky water. His right eye never came into the light.

 

"You know what it is I offer you..."

 

Kakuto's sinister grin peered out from below his hood.

"The force is with you, Darla, but you have not beaten the Darkside yet."

 

From beneath his robe he withdrew his mask, sliding it up beneath his his hood and locking it to his armor. With a whistle it sealed shut, and the rhythmic shutter of his oxygen mask began to ring through the amphitheater.

 

The Kakuto's features slowly slipped back into the darkness until only the hand comprised of shadow itself was visible.

 

Kakuto's palm extended toward Darla.

"Take my Hand." he ordered, his words heard clearly by Darla and Ulan alike.

[SithAcolyte]

Darla hoped that while Gavin was gone she could lure out Kakuto. She didn't want the other Jedi getting hurt. He obviously thought that it was his fight too. she could understand that. But at the same time she felt guilty for dragging him into it. If it hadn't been for her Ulan wouldn't have been captured and used as bait to lure her to Bespin.

 

Even if Gavin came back before Darla managed to find Kakuto, at least he was going to take Ulan to safety. That was the important thing. He was truly an innocent in the whole thing.

 

Hope was quickly destroyed. Kakuto was in the room with them. It was too late!

 

He seemed like a mere spectre in the shadows, but he was very real. He made that clear by blocking their only exit. The games were beginning and he wanted all the players there.

 

His words reached out to Darla's mind. He beckoned to her. He beckoned her to take his hand. Was that what this was all about? Some twisted courtship? Did he really think that she would take his hand and leave with him?

 

No... Remember what happened...

 

Darla saw that next layer of meaning. Yes, he was taunting her, but it was also a challenge. A very real challenge. He was challenging her to repay him for the cruelty he had inflicted on her.

 

The last time that the two of them had met, Kakuto had severed Darla's right hand. At the elbow. It had been a brutal blow and she had been lucky to survive. The arm had been lost and she'd had it replaced with prosthetics.

 

It was his right hand that reached out to her. The same side as the hand that he had taken from her. But the right hand was also the hand of love. Was their still love inside his twisted black heart? Could Darla still reach that man buried within the monster? Was that the true challenge?

 

She had caught only glimpses of him as he spoke. A face that despite everything she still found handsome, was soon covered by a gaunt skeletal mask. At least she wouldn't have to look him in the eyes. That would make this easier.

 

Darla was dressed much like her enemy. Clad fully in armor, except for her face. Her hood up concealing most of her weary at still striking features.

 

Before she could think up a plan, before she could consider the idea of love being able to save her foe, the anger came.

 

"Gavin! Get Ulan back, don't let him never Ryu!" She snarled back at her friend as she pulled the rocket launcher from her back.

 

"I'll take more than your hand!" She screamed into the darkness. Launching a projectile to where Kakuto has stood only a moment before.

 

The small missile blossomed into a fireball and Darla knew that it it was too much to hope for that Kakuto had been consumed by the flames. If he was dead then it had all been too easy, if he wasn't then at the least he would know that she meant business.