The Eternal Vigilance (The Maw)

[MSA]

"It's ok man, we're gonna get out of here. But shake your head yes or no if Nom is here because we cannot leave him." Scorpio heard a familiar voice speaking to him, as he was mysteriously lifted up off the ground where he laid. After regaining his consciousness, Scorpio realized it was John Hartel speaking to him. He went to speak back, but nothing but air came out of his mouth, causing the Jedi Apprentiance to cuss whatever did that to him.

 

He soon remembered the previous fight, and the Sith's strange power. He went to reach for his lightsaber, but it wasn't there. Scorpio looked around for it, but it was nowhere to be found. "Damn Sith got what he came for", Scorpio thought to himself, "but it could have been worst." Scorpio, still feeling groggy from the sith's special power, realized he had gotten back most of his movement.

 

Scorpio, putting his hand up to let John know he could walk, walked over to his ship, and propped up against it. After realizing he hadn't answered John's question, shook his head yes, and motioned over toward where Master Nom & the Sith named Faust where standing. Scorpio grabbed John, hugging the young hopeful now turned apprentiance, just happy to see him up and about, considering the burns he had gotten earlier. Scorpio turned back towards where Master Nom was,worriedly, holding his finger on the pistol's trigger, hidden under his white cloak.

[Nom Anor's avenger]

Through the chaotic scenes flowing through the submarine, a small message cut through. "Scorpio, get out of here, now! I'll hold off Faust, escape as quickly as possible.

 

With the message sent, the Jedi Master slowly turned to face to the menace standing before him. His hair caught small puffs of wind and sheets of water as pockets of metal widened to create and entrance for the seeping water. A look of stoic sincerity lavished Nom's faced as he gazed at the infamous killer. There was a time when the Jedi Master was inches away from death caused by Faust's hands. It was a testament the hunter's danger that he wasn't aware of this. A killer can destroy when he wants to, but a truly dangerous man can end life even by accident. There was a time in Nom's life when his hands would start to shake and his voice would croak with an almost underserved defiance, crafted in fear. Yet that was not this moment. The Jedi Master stood motionless, letting Faut's deadly eyes bore into him with no result. His composure was not in response to his prowess to the Force. No amount of knowledge in the Force could defeat the humanity within. The experience and hardships in the man's life had crafted an almost impenetrable shield of emotion around him. What the Sith do no realize, is that each time they try to drive fear into the hearts of their pray. They come one step closer to saving them. After Kakuto Ryu, Dark Lord of the Sith, nothing could even attempt to waver him. Despite having died at the man's hands, the Dark Lord unwilling did his part to craft yet another strength within the Jedi Master's arsenal. Through fighting Hephaestus, an almost flawless anagram of power and speed, his every attack was carefully scripted to add as much carnage as possible. Having lost and died, the Jedi Master had gained more knowledge and skill then Hepehaestus was even programmed to lend out. Through the years, every defeat became strength. And Faust was about to contribute.

 

"Let me get this straight, I don't attack you, I die, but if I do attack you, I'm going to die anyway." There was a hint of sarcasm in the Jedi Master's voice. Yet the arrogance was washed out by the genuine perplexity in his thoughts. "I guess it's true what the say. Only a Sith deals in absolutes."

 

The Jedi Master's last word was accompanied by the snap-hiss of his own lightsaber. It was like a beautify symphony, a Jedi's mission. Each word he spoke, each life he fought for was like various instruments adding their part to the great work of art. Each activation of a lightsaber and offensive strike was the momentous finally to an intense masterpiece. The important thing was simple. As long as the Jedi's job was finished his life ending in the end was not as important. As long as the innocent within this ship got out and into the freedom of space, Nom had already won. No lightsaber duel was going to change that. Whether or not he died this day was of no consequence, as long as the symphony finished with same level of intensity that it had started.

 

Nom's own crimson blade thrummed softly, gathering as much time as possible before striking. The longer this fight took the better. "Have it your way."

 

The Jedi was in motion. The stormtroopers standing amidst them could not follow his movements. One noticed him standing motionless, blinked, and then saw him match blades with the great hunter, leaving only a crimson arch behind. Nom plunged his saber towards his opponent's heart and found it parried with incredible power and speed, though not nearly with such precision as a droid. The Force perception honned within the Jedi Master as each counter attack by the great hunter mapped itself in front of his vary eyes. The deep blue pillar of light stabbed directly towards the Jedi's neck. Rather than taking the easy parry, Nom ducked towards the ground, his motion parallel with the arch of the attacking lightsaber. Once the blade reached within inches of hitting his neck, Nom snapped his head as well as his whole body into a rotation backwards and to his left. The result opened a window to Faust's right side.

 

Rather than aiming his blade into a pointless strike that would surely bounce harmlessly off the armor, the Jedi Master regained his balance and sent a knee careening towards the side of the bounty hunter. Upon connection, the attack would prove to be much more than just a simple physical attack. The Force had a way of making things far more painful than originally designed.

 

 

 

((1))

Edited September 27, 2006 by Guest

[MSA]

As soon as Master Nom touch Scorpio's mind through the force with the message to escape, Scorpio walked up to a Sith trooper, tapped him on the shoulder, and when he turned around, Bam, one shot right between the eyes. Scorpio then proceeded to open fire at the remaining troopers, as Hartel gathered Master Lotus and Master Dash onto the Jade Scorpion.

 

Scorpio blasted one, tearing right under the shoulder armor and into his heart. He dropped dead, Scorpio then shot another round off, leveling another trooper. Scorpio dropped the blaster as it was out of shots, and brought out his Katana 3000. Scorpio then proceeded to behead 2 of the remaining troopers, and slice the arm off of another. Then, out of no where, another trooper got Scorpio in the leg, and Scorpio dropped to one knee.

 

Hartel stepped out of the ship, and buried his blade into the trooper's head with his vibroblade. Scorpio grabbed it, and made his way to the ship, closing the ramp behind him. Scorpio quickly got to the cockpit, refired the ship, and opened the door leting water pour in as his ship shot out into the water of Manaan, but not before the doors seal shut once more leaving Master Nom and Faust in safty from drowning.

 

Scorpio ship plunged out of the water into the atmosphere, Scorpio stopped just for a few seconds to look back and to drop off Master Dash onto his ship, wondering if Master Nom would be ok. He then typed in the coordiance of Haruun Kal, and blasted off into hyperspace. "See you on Hauun Kal, Master Nom," Scorpio thought to himself, hoping Master Nom knew what he was thinking.

[Joreel Ordo]

Hartel followed his companions lead and made off to Haruun Kal or Haarun Kal or Harrun Kal....whichever. It made little difference.

[Vladimir Faust]

As Nom echoed what must have been a favorite platitude, Faust laughed.

 

"There are no Jedi, no Sith, no soldiers or civlians, little fool, only hunters and prey, my naive little lamb. If you die, you and your friends are mine. I will slaughter all of you like sheep and-"

 

With that Nom began his attack. Faust watched his opponent close the distance. The Hunter, arrogant, found himself lulled out of his speech, and after a deft series of moves, finds a heavy knee impacting him in his right side. Even with his heavy armor, and a flexing and tightening of the muscles around there, the impact catches him solidly, sending him skidding across tha hangar surface to his left, knocking the wind out of him.

 

Falling to one knee, Faust braces himself, raising his head. There is a great flash of white teeth as the fire in Faust's eyes dance. "Well played little Jedi... but not enough to save your loved ones... I will slaughter you all!"

 

Faust knew these fools well enough. Time and time again, from battle and tortures inflicted on them that they were naively selfless. A threat against others, a promise to kill and injure those close or perceived as innocent had the most delightful way or riling them to action. Faust never made these promises idly. Having killed over the course of his hunts numbers in the billions, he made it known he could very easily fulfill that promise.

 

Faust's hands flash back to his sides, his sabers dissapearing back under his white trench coat. In the space of a breath, Faust is on Nom again, the distance closed at instant speed, marked only by the heavy clang of Faust's boots on the dry metal surface of the hangar.

 

Two of Faust's hands lash out, catching Nom's wrist in one and his saber in the other, grabbing his opponent's saber right by the shining red blade. Still laughing, Faust thrusts himself right up in front of Nom's face. There is a small of blood coming from the Hunter's breath, deceptively sweet to most noses. "The Force will not help you here, Jedi," Faust breathes, his eyes shining blue pits. "There is nothing that will save you and your friends!" Faust saw the Jedi's reliance on the force, and with his only special protection, reserved for force users after a humiliating defeat on Coruscant, knew the best, safest way to hunt them was to cut off their support. "Not a damn thing!"

 

Squeezing with his gauntletted hands, there is a horrible, horrible tearing shatter that echoes through the hangar. The mixture of Sith steel and cortosis driven against Nom's blade with incredible pressure takes hold and the blade of light seems to break apart into tiny pieces as it shorts out, the unharmed, but deactivated hilt knocked out of Nom's hands. Faust's hand flies forward, grabbing Nom by the back of his head, pulling his hair and shoving his face forward.

 

There is a brief moment where Faust's face seems to shift, its human visage failling aside, showing some terrible, murderous, revenous beast with burning blue eyes. His hand other hand locked and holding Nom's free hands at bay, Faust uses his remaining weapons- a set of savagely sharp teeth. Gouging into the side of his opponent's cheeck, he tears down, ripping out a large chunck of flesh on the side of Nom's throat, sending out a spray of blood that covers both combatants, mauling him like a savage cat. Sated, he throws Nom aside, laughing.

 

His face covered in blood, Faust looks down, hands wide and beckoning. "Come, little Jedi, attack me! Kill me or I'll do the same to your apprentice and all his friends!" He gives out a wolfish howl of delight and grins, showing off his fangs once more, now red with small, quivering pieces of his enemy lodged inside them.

[Nom Anor's avenger]

The thought of being captured in the grasp of a monstrous maniac bent on world destruction was not a pleasent feeling to anyone entwined in such a circumstance. Most would proceed to release any waste products within out of sheer fear of fangs driving into their neck. Fortuantely, Nom was not most people. The attack missed his jugular, leaving him out of mortal peril. Yet the screeming pain that followed left nothing to the imagination. Fortuanately, the Jedi Master had felt pain his entire life. It was simple as eating or breathing. Blood showered to the floor as the he sliced through air, cutting through like the battered soul he was.

 

Yet despite the pain and the slight humilation of being thrown across the room, Faust's first mistake was pinpointed. For so long, the Jedi had delt with enemies who worked to strike fear into the hearts of their opponents. He had fought Sith who preferred the fangs to the lightsaber, the claws to the fist, and the primitive animal like adrenenaline rush rather than the mind. Faust was no different.

 

The feral hunter slid his lightsabers under his cloak for the sole purpose of tearing a chunck out of the Jedi Master's neck. The fact that he chose such a gruesome attack would prove to be his undoing. As the Jedi Master landed, his hand shot forward. The surrounding stormtroopers remained still as if knowing their lives would end if they even twitched; and Nom was quite thankful for it. A blaster sitting motionless in a stormtroopers hand shot from its owners grasp as if meeting a particularly friendly magnet. The gun flew into Nom's arms, resting firmily against his torso. As soon as the weapon made impact, the Jedi Master pivoted towards his foe. A shot was fired even before his motion ceased.

 

The red streak of crimson energy flashed through the air faster than any man could see. It was man's only glimpse of atmosphereical lightspeed. And that very specticle lodged itsef in the defenseless torso of Vladimir Faust, having no lightsabers to deflect the oncoming threat. The weak layer of cortosis adorning his defensive suit burned away as the rest of the bolt was obliterated in the bulk of the armor itself. The hunter was left unharmed.

 

The Jedi Master remained motionless as he dropped the blaster to the floor. Faust's armor was much harder than he expected, leaving any projectile defice useless. The chunk missing from his neck felt as if it were a cap on a bottle. Once the cap was removed, pain rushed out in a terrential downpour. Nom kept his pain from betraying his stoic facial expression however. His crimson lighsaber flew to his hand and extended into its normal beam of energy. Water continued to spill into the complex as it mixed with the sweet in his hair, leaving a jumbled forrest of exhaustion and cohesion sitting atop his head. He kept from charging again into the art of battle. He knew the attempt was nothing more than suicide. He could do nothing but wait until the hunter revealed his tricks.

 

"You're going to have to cut the feral crap Vladimir. I've seen far too many of your kind. You might actually have to think to win this fight." A sarcastic almost satirical smile crept across Nom's facial features. It did nothing to illuminate his actually feelings within. He knew angering Faust would prove to be quite a foolish endevour.

 

((2))

[Vladimir Faust]

Faust's armor, made of the same materials as his sword, proved its worth more than merely absorb the blaster attack: it reflected it. Though cutting a smoking hole in his fine taylored combat ready trench coat, it reflected right back at Nom, rushing past his side and leaving a painful, though otherwise noticable blister. The storm trooper, who lost his blaster, abashed, huddled next to one of his fellows under the ysalmari's protective shield. Though he was ordered to stay out of the battle, his mere presence proved interference. Consequences would follow.

 

The Hunter gives a wolfish grimmace, knowing he struck a nerve. Too easy to follow through with the part he assigned himself, he decided to play his hand now. "This arena's getting too flooded for my taste," he growls. The whole structure of the Vigilance suddenly shakes as an explosion rings on the far side of the base, tipping it on that side. The floor shifts ever so slightly, the water gushing towards the other end, out a passage towards the interior, leaving the hangar dry, leaks producing at best a thin, slippery stream, leading further on in.

 

Without a word as to how he triggered the latest bout of pyrotechnics that tilted the entire base and removed the risk of flooding once and for all, Faust, in a show of bravado, takes out a small pocket flask and drinks from it, being one part Corellian vodka, and one part a lovely little substance he overdosed the last leader of the Jedi with. He swallows whole, having drunk deeply from his cup of Sithly darkness. He gives a refreshing sign, almost making the troopers around him wonder their general considered the battle at an end, giving his seeming indifference. Despite appearances, nothing could be further from the truth and Faust still watched his enemy with a cold, probing eye.

 

"Cut the feral crap, Nom?" he asks, patronizingly. "That is how we all are, beasts to the end, even with your pathetic veneer of a code. You have been known to sacrifice all to kill your enemies, including yourself, time and time again. That total drive, that suicidal immersion, drives you on a deeper, more animal, elemental level than even I would ever reach. How much do you justify giving up, besides your worthless self? Your friends who hang to your code as well, rationalizing their sacrifices? Then what about innocents? Sacrificing all for the greater good?" Faust takes another manly swig, seeming to stride over, swaggering, unhurridly closing the distance between the two of them. Swallowing, he speaks again. "Allow me to show you what manner of beast we both are, my dark friend." Faust takes one more drink, then contemptiously sprays the contents of his drink all over the Jedi Master, sending a burning sensation as the alcohol in the mixture eats into the open wound on his neck and eyes, taking in with it something fouler still.

 

Using the moment of distraction, Faust hammers Nom with a roundhouse kick. Flawless in exection, the kick is perfect, being everything a roundhouse should be. His right leg arcs gracefully, sending the tail end of his trench coat swirling around in a magnificent, cape like swirl. It hits solidly, the metal tip of his boot impacting Nom in the chin, along the neck, and right along the central bone of the rib cage. Given Faust's super-human strength enhancements, this kick could shatter stone; and though the Jedi would doubtlessly bend before that storm, it would still hurt like hell. It lifts Nom off the ground and sends him flying with a resounding crash into one of the hangar walls. It looked tough, manly, pure Chuck Norris. The kick achieved its aim, and with the same graceful, macho recovery, Faust watches Nom as the troopers roughly pull him up to his feet and into a standing position.

 

"Now," he continues, smoothly, all polish and smiles again, "you're feeling the burning sensation in your throat, but what you should be feeling angry about now. Angrier than you've ever felt in your life. Along with that fine vodka, that cut left you exposed to a little remembered Sith toxin known as Sith Venom. Harmless really, but it remains in your system, a Jedi's system, until it is purged in a burning flash of your hatred, giving in to the dark side. Even your former leader could not burn it away so easily, and the effort of that drove her mad, shattering her mind and body." Faust drinks from his flask one last time, then discards it to the floor with a dry, metallic clatter, as the poison never effected him, being at one with the vast fires of his inner hatred. When he speaks again, the voice is not his, despite the low, baleful undertones, but a perfect mimicry of Nom's own. "Now, let's see how the great Jedi master reacts when he's really, really pissed off."

[ObliviousKnight]

Before Armiena had even thrown the hyperspace lever a half-second early to initiate re-entry into realspace, the Jedi Master immediately sensed that something was dreadfully wrong with the Eternal Vigilance.

 

The beast had come to Manaan.

 

Armiena had prepared for a worst-case scenario, such as a full-blown Sith invasion with the backing of the Empire, but this surpassed even that possibility. It was as though Hell itself had opened its flaming maw and threatened to swallow the day, only to emerge from its nether regions as a twisted mutation of what it once was. "This certainly explains why Psycho One failed to report in. He's dead..." Armiena pinged the EV once with her active sensors to ascertain its condition. "And so will the EV, if he wins.

 

"Aryi--" Armiena grimaced. The Ghost Breath's symbiotic AI imitated Aryian's voice as its means for communicating with its master, but Armiena genuinely wished that the real Jedi Master was at her side in this battle. "Ghost Breath, Dine, take control of the ship. Don't be stingy with the ordnance. I'll be in the cargo hold; I've got an investment that I need to make."

 

X5-D9 tootled a cheerful affirmative, but the artificial intelligence chose to misinterpret her words. "May I recommend Industrial Automaton? Their CEO recently announced that they had exceeded their projected profits by..."

 

"Not that kind of investment."

 

Once in the cargo hold, Armiena retrieved her armor and a number of weapons and tools she suspected would come in handy during this confrontation. In short, she took most of the designs that she had already deployed in battle and a few that she had barely even tested. An unusual heat haze was beginning to rise from the polished plate of her Slaaneshi mail, but she felt no side effects from donning the enchanted armor.

 

A few minutes later, Armiena arrived at the Ghost Breath's boarding ramp in full battle livery. She had donned her Chaos-forged mail and crystal gauntlet, turning her body into a curvaceous, nigh-impenetrable mirror. Her gunbelt was festooned with all number of chrome-plated spheres and grenades of ingenious payloads, as well as her twin lightsabers. Her sword, also a gift from her brief service to Slaanesh, was secured to one leg. A matching pair of leather strips were wrapped around her armored forearms, seemingly for no reason--but if the light caught her arms at the right angle, one could see flashes of something slender and metallic resting above the armor's surface.

 

And she was carrying her Verpine sniper rifle. Hopefully, that weapon would be all that she would need during this battle.

 

The Ghost Breath approached the Eternal Vigilance cautiously, keeping an eye out for Imperial entanglements or Faust's personal ship, the Bhelliom. Although Armiena was certain that Aryian Darkfire's artificial intelligence was more than capable of thoroughly trouncing any Imperial pilot in a dogfight, the fact remained that she would be vulnerable to an ambush during one of her most daring stunts. Even with the aid of the Force, it would be difficult for her to get her shot; while executing high G-Force maneuvers and trading fire with Imperial gunships, it would be a shot that belonged in the record books.

 

Armiena took a moment to perform one last check on her ammo cartridges, then began to unwind a long strip of climbing rope...

[Nom Anor's avenger]

((It was fun Robbie, you never cease to entertain me with your posts. Have fun with this one.))

 

A blank look of an almost soulless design was quite apparent on Nom's face as his insides adjusted to the new sensation. He wasn't quite sure what he was feeling, yet his body felt as if each organ, tissue, and cell were rebelling against its master. It was the greatest and most personal mutiny any captain could experience. Pain seemed to influx within him like an electric jolt jumping from one bone to another as if playfully choosing which victim to decimate. The Force within him seemed nonexistent; its presence masked by the sheer confusion overwhelming him. Each attempt he made to summon the power to him, the more frustrated he became.

 

Beads of sweat formed on the Jedi Master's brow and stung as if they too were attacking him. His senses started to blur, mixing colors with smells. His vision only became a tangible euphoria of sight and sound as his perceptions chose to implode. In the center of at all, the only thing Nom could even make out was the face of Vladimir Faust, looking as if he were witnessing something that truly brought him closer to his own personal fulfillment. The Jedi Master had seen that look before...somewhere before. His thoughts began to fluxuate as more and more perplexity seeped through. Yet though all his lack of vision and logic; his memory came through.

 

Faust was sitting amid the holonet screen laughing as he proclaimed his greatest accomplishment. The utter annihilation of Coruscant and practically all civilians suffered instant deaths. Their lives were nothing but expendable figurines falling before Faust's playful desires and ambitions. Nom could remember the tears streaming down his cheek when he watched that message. His family, his mother and father were among the first to show up in the MIA list. To this day, Nom still has not heard a thing from them.

 

Suddenly each feeling of confusion, pain, and general distress manifested into one. Hatred rang through him, replacing the very blood in his veins. It was as if that very emotion controlled every aspect of his body in complete inherence with the physical needs and demands of his life. He only needed to embrace it like the air he breathed and it would all end. He stumbled backwards as what was left of his mind reflected on the daunting task before him.

 

His movement suddenly halted as his back pressed against the cold steel of the submersible. His only escape was pressed against his back as Nom finally realized how cornered he was. His hatred started to spread as if consuming him. He needed to get out, he needed to escape. He pressed against the metal with all his might. His futile efforts only pushed him further away as the solid structure held no sway. He could hold no more control as he unleashed a blood curtailing scream, destroying his vocal cords. His voice echoed throughout the submarine amplifying his distress to all who could hear.

 

Nom felt the horrible passion within begin to take control of his very actions. His fist suddenly slammed into the metal wall as if physically pushed by the very sin and evil tainting his soul. Every speck of energy within him seemed to seep out of him as his very Force presence was channeled to his hand. A crunching sound accompanied the impact as the bones within Nom's fist obliterated under such power. The vessel began to shake slowly at first. It was as if a sleeping giant were suddenly awakened from his slumber. Small cracks in the durosteel began to drive through the walls as the force of the impact permeated through the Eternal Vigilance. The explosion and general damage caused by Faust's initial assault on the submarine did little to help the walls stay intact as they were succumbed to an overwhelming force.

 

Small spurts of water began to pour inside as the foundations holding the ship together crumbled under the tremor gathering kinetic energy like a snowball getting steadily larger and larger. Water poured its comforting glaze on the Jedi Master as the pressure began to build. The release of his anger as well as the soothing liquid pouring over him did its work to release the Sith Venom within him. Nom suddenly felt the evil taint within vanish; all its energy consumed. Unfortunately the same could be said for the Jedi Master. The Force had been reduced to puddles within him as all conceivable power went into his catch of emotion. He was left with nothing but his mind and his will.

 

Yet those two would prove to be enough. The mounting pressure against the wall finally snapped as if it too released anger to due to Sith Venom. A geyser of water shot forth from the oceanic pressure outside. It slammed into Faust as well as his legion of stormtroopers some dying instantly due to the sheer force of the impact. Nom smiled, knowing full well the predicament Faust now found himself in. Through the extermination of the Sith venom within, his experience and logistical ability returned as if pouring from that very same gash in the durosteel.

 

I need electricity...

 

Attached to a solid section of the wall stood a power box, quite simple in design. It was used to regulate temperature, atmospheric pressure and even destabilizes for those tricky occasions when the sub went into those deep sections of the ocean. The snap-hiss of the lightsaber was drowned out literally by the sound of the endless stream of water as the ocean poured its contents into the submarine. There was already an inch or so of standing water. The Jedi Master heaved his weightless blade into the center of the electrical outlet while his crushed hand hung motionlessly at his side. Small sparks of electricity emanated from the box; quite minimal in destructive capacity. Yet once those sparks hit the stream of oceanic water, their power almost tripled as the liquid worked to amplify those dangerous effects. The makeshift lightning shot towards Faust and his stormtroopers, slamming into them with full force spreading its destructive power in such a way no body armor could stop.

 

 

((3))

[Vladimir Faust]

Faust watched the Jedi's "tantrum" with open amusement, studying this new beast. Finally, Nom would be a creature worthy for his blade to finish, a fine new trophy for his collection. More than a mere Jedi, added to his rows of victims, Nom had become something far more interesting.

 

Spectacular results awed even him as Nom unleashed a Vader like storm of fury at the already weakening durasteel walls. Faust realized that this, in addition to his earlier surprise, would be the final capstone needed to sink the Vigilance, even with the other restorative repairs already at work. The water began to rush in and it dawned on him at the moment of impact that Nom's inner darkness was not as submerged as he thought.

 

The fool is going to try to kill us all once more!

 

Thrown aside by the force, even one as super humanly strong as Faust could not stay standing. He hoped to burn Nom's alcohol soaked body to a crisp and turn him into an effigy, but right now Faust realized his own survival took precident over everything, even the hunt.

 

Battered to the ground, Faust watched Nom's blade ignite. Though he could not hear it as the whole hangar bay rapidly went under, Faust's cold eyes saw all too well Nom's intended target. Memories flooded back of the aftermath of his destruction of Coruscant. The feedback of energy at the command console tore through him, conducting off his metal armor, melting it to his flesh, making it of his flesh. The only pain to surpass that dark moment came from his near fatal duel with Ara, where he should have died. Once more a question echoes through his mind.

 

How? How did I error?

 

More memories darted back to him: A conversation at the Mos Eisley cantina from ages ago back when he had left the Imperial service to join up as the strong man in a smuggling operation owned by his Corellian friend, still at the height of Palpatine's empire. Words he echoed as "Anastasia" to Phillep almost as if they were out of his friend's mouth.

 

The Empire is doomed. It's doctrine of rule through fear and fear of force in turn leads the masses to anger and then hatred, empowering them to rise up against the oppressors. It's a classic Sith paradox.

 

His eyes flash, his mouth opens in a grin. This was what he wanted- to make a worthy opponent of the Jedi. He would not die here. His hubris would not allow it.

 

That brief, split second is all the time he needs. Rolling to his feet, he watches as if in slow motion, the saber plunging into the box. Faust, curled up like a ball, springs, launching himself into the air by three whole yards. Though lacking the force, he still had over five times normal human strength enhancing his naturally large build. The jump looked to be a temporary solution, merely evading the inevitable. From his vantage point, he could see his surviving troopers starting to flee. Faust also watched as one more inevitability took place- Nom, having executed his final attack, would be crushed by the same electricity he summoned out of the ship's back up generators. This confirmed Faust's suspicions of the Jedi's suicidal impulse.

 

But the Hunter would not die, not today.

 

His left arm raised up towards the roof of the ship, almost as if in suplication. Under the nail edges of his guantlet, thin slits of corusca gems slide out, sharper and harder than anything in the known galaxy. The hand blurs, shooting out of the wrist at lightning speed, extending itself and with a clink made inaudible by the tumult below, buries itself in the ceiling. Using his artificial, bionic arm as an grappling hook, he hoists himself up. As he flies towards the roof, his hand reaches inside his trench coat for a disruptor rifle. In one smooth motion, he pulls it out, fires, and using the momentum of his ascent, swings up through the newly made hole, landing in a crouch on the roof of the rapidly sinking, flooding base. His arm retracts with a snap. His parting words, made during his escape, echo below.

 

Farewell, Jedi. I leave you to face the consequences of your own actions!

 

Simple, mocking, and short, Faust's last look below showed Nom convulsing and smoking in the wake of the electrical storm he callously set over the hangar. Though merely an inch deep and rapidly rising, the ionized sea water of Manaan might have been copper wiring grasped in hand with Nom's last stunt. The Jedi burned all in his last attack, and already being electricuted, Faust could do no more, other than impart that knowledge that in the end, Nom proved to himself a greater enemy than Faust ever could.

 

It was the type of thing that breaks the spirit of the strongest warriors all the more surely than even a thousand swords or a thousand deaths.

 

It was rapture!

 

((Gven our agreement on outcomes, the way Faust exited the arena, and my newest challenger whom I need to address, I think there should be no problem in calling this duel a draw and leaving you to your own devices to pull off some escape from your current predicament without further worry. Excellent duel by the way, and it was very, very fun ^_^.))

 

Standing clear on the roof of the Vigilance, Faust watches as his a handful of the troops, now reduced to eight in number, limp to the surface. Faust opens his mouth as if he were to take a moment to speak to them, but the Bhelliom's accute censors picked up a new ship on the arrival, a Jedi ship. The hunter gives one perfunctory command.

 

”œWe better be going before more reinforcements arrive, report back to Cardia.”

[ObliviousKnight]

"Damn. DAMN!" Even as the Ghost Breath's boarding ramp opened, revealing a sniper who had bound her own body to the deckplates of her own ship in order to stabilize her aim, Armiena Draygo felt Faust leave the Eternal Vigilance like the coward he was. Her aim swivelled to trace the Bhelliom's departure even as her AI began to try for a firing solution, but she knew before she even released her rifle's safety that it was a truly impossible shot. Not merely impossible for an ordinary soldier to make, but impossible under all the laws of physics and the design parameters of her Verpine rifle, even with the aid of the Force.

 

Moments before the beast's ship entered the planet's orbit, Armiena succeeded in freeing herself from the ropes and sent an unencrypted message to all who would listen.

 

"Enjoy your prize, traitor. You may play war as a game, but war is my life, and I look forward to teaching you how to breathe pain and drink horror." No warmth or humanity was reflected in Armiena's voice, only the cold bitterness of Sith-forged steel.

 

As the aruetii's ship fled into the safety of hyperspace, the Force rumbled ominously as Armiena breathed out a dark wave of frustration. She had come so close to finally making the first strike in her private vendetta against the life-traitor, and now she was left to repair the damage in the wake of his presence. No more, she vowed. Armiena couldn't afford to meekly lie in wait for his passing; she had to hunt the self-styled Hunter.

 

But for now, the Eternal Vigilance was in mortal peril, and she had to move quickly if the ship was to survive the next few hours.

 

"Naomi..." Armiena collapsed onto her comm board, speaking with one of her assets on Coruscant. "I need as many submersible UDRD's and Squids at Manaan as possible, and I needed them two hours ago..."

[Nom Anor's avenger]

Pockets of electricity shot towards Faust as his troopers fried underneath the excursions of electric fury as they tore through water. Small spurts of electricity shot towards the Jedi Master, but the ionic charge of his lightsaber worked to stabilize the reaction. The charge strengthened as more and more water rushed inside, creating an almost foot of depth to the submarine. Nom brought forth his second lightsaber, its crimson arch working to absorb even more of the violent electrical fury. Yet even all of this was no use as the artificial lightning shattered through the standing water now leaking towards him. Pain jolted him just as it had on Ossus when struck by a lightning bolt form the heavens.

 

His dismay ruptured even his thickest line of resolve as Nom caught the glance of Faust running to freedom. How did he escape? The sight was more than enough to amaze even the richest magicians. The chaos of the water hitting the troops must have masked his escape. The pain of the weakened Jedi Master did not only bring him agony, but also awareness as if brought back to aware of the physical self by a particularly painful pinch in the arm. He could still feel the stream of Force within him as minute as it might have been. Suddenly the stream bucked as the Force latched out into his surroundings.

 

"There's someone here!" Nom's words were weak holding no emotion, simply exhaustion. Had it not been for his body's somewhat recognition of lighting, the Jedi Master would have already been dead.

 

Nom could sense the presence of a powerful force within the submarine. It was a Jedi Master. With the last cropping of energy he could muster, a simple Force message escaped him.

 

"Help!"

 

With that, Nom's consciousness resided into the state of rest as he blacked out. His body hung by a thread that was snapping. His life was now in the hands of Armiena Draygo.

[ObliviousKnight]

Some of Armiena's assets in the Survivor's Foundation were well on their way and would likely arrive at Manaan within the hour, and the Eternal Vigilance would be saved. It even seemed that the ancient ship's main computer played a bluff of its own and feigned a catastrophic failure of its repulsorlifts, as the ship had recovered partially from its inevitable dive towards the bottom of the ocean and was struggling to stay above water. All of the ship's remaining systems seemed to be devoted to this task: the remnants of the repulsorlift array, badly damaged sublight engines, maneuvering jets...

 

Help! Armiena reeled at the desperate voice of a fellow Jedi Master calling for help through the Force. Even she would have hesitated to board a barely-afloat submersible and brave failing electrical systems and contaminated salt water, but if the life of another Jedi was at stake... that overrode all concerns for her safety.

 

Before Armiena was even aware of her reaction, she had already rammed the Ghost Breath's throttle to its manufacturer's "red line". The electrical storm rendering a spectacular light show in the primary hangar gave the warrior woman a perfect beacon to set her sights on, and a perfect challenge for her to rise to the occasion against. Without protection or the assistance of the Force, she would likely be fried in seconds.

 

Once the Ghost Breath barely penetrated the hangar's battered interior, Armiena rose from her seat and sprinted towards the boarding ramp. Through a number of Force shields that drained Armiena's stamina, she redirected the flow of electrically charged water so that the two Jedi would be in little danger as she performed her rescue. She wasted no time; Armiena simply sprinted towards Nom Anorus' fallen body, grabbed a fistful of the front of his robes, and hauled him over her shoulders back to the safety of her ship.

 

Although Armiena was a mediocre healer, she was intimately familiar with emergency first aid. Once she dropped Nom's body on an unoccupied cot, she rushed for the Ghost Breath's first aid kit and began to tend to the more serious of Nom's wounds.

 

 

 

________

 

Far above the Eternal Vigilance, dozens of hyperspace contacts began to appear over Manaan. They were shuttles and freighters of all designs, but all bearing the colors of Armiena's Survivor's Foundation. They circled the drowning form of the ancient vessel and dumped the contents of their cargo holds all about the ship.

 

Dozens of amphibious UDRD 'Momma Spider' droids, waterproofed and hardened against electrical shocks, began to crawl over the dorsal surface of the EV. They were a modified edition of Armiena's original design, designed specifically for repairs in flooded urban areas. Although the bow of a capital ship was hardly a prime example of an urban zone, that failed to detract from their performance in welding hull breaches and pumping out water from the EV's interior.

 

For the more delicate repairs under the ship and in its interior, Armiena had designed the 'Squiddie', a similar mechanical medic that was originally intended to serve at Kamino before the resident Imperials rejected the Foundation's offer of assistance. Although the 'Squiddies' were truly hideous, simply a mass of flexible limbs with sensor and utility attachments, connected to a central hull, one could hardly argue with the results they produced. Their slender chassis was able to move throughout the ship with relative ease, repairing hull breaches and vital systems--often cannibalizing other systems to do the work.

 

Even though the Eternal Vigilance began to lose its battle against the ocean, the Jedi would soon see its rebirth.

 

And Armiena would have to make a massive donation to the Survivor's Foundation to cover up this unethical use of the charity's resources.

[Nom Anor's avenger]

The dark hazy fog of desolate darkness began to resign as Nom's vision slowly began to focus. Small details of the ship came into view, but the Jedi Master had difficulty decerning what they were. The image of a woman standing over him begame quite clear in his mind. She looked slightly familiar but Nom couldn't place her name. He had seen her somewhere before.

 

He tried to speak but found his words tangeled in an inarticulate mass of confusion and tampered conciousness. Recollections of the fight with Faust shot back to his mind every so often, emotions retelling their stories over and over. The pain and anger accompanied by the Sith Venom, despite being gone, left plent of after taste. After plenty of mental hardships and even some physical struggle, the Jedi Master was able to put his thougts into words.

 

"He escaped didn't he?"

[ObliviousKnight]

Before Master Anorus returned to consciousness, Armiena managed to dress his more serious wounds with bacta-treated bandages. The woman trusted her healing abilities well enough to close his less critical wounds. She also identified an unfamiliar residue on his wounds as a possible poison that she had never encountered--however, all her instincts warned her to avoid contact with it at all costs. She managed to recover a few samples of it. With any luck, they hadn't been too contaminated for her to send them to Skye Organa. The Jedi Master knew much more about the medical arts than Armiena did.

 

Under her boots, Armiena felt the thrum of the Ghost Breath's sublight engines flare to life and propel them away from the hangar.

 

"Yeah. I never even got into firing range before he escaped." Armiena's frustration, long built up after being afflicted by Faust's handiwork without a chance for retaliation, was evident in her voice.

[Kirana Sunrider]

The ship containing the two Knights and padawan(s) (is Cypher with us?) came in above Manaan, broadcasting the code that showed them to be Jedi. Kirana had joined Dashel in the cockpit as they neared the planet, and now looked out the front viewscreen for signs of the sinking Eternal Vigilance. Opening the comm channels, Kira sent out a comm on the Jedi frequency,

 

"This is Kirana Sunrider and Dashel Illioni. Where can we be of assistance?"

 

They'd need to have some idea of which they faced and if they had to call in any work teams. Kira hoped that her connections within the Alliance were still valid so that she could call in further work teams. She turned to Dashel as he piloted them down towards the Eternal Vigilance.

[ObliviousKnight]

"Hold on." Armiena held up a hand to forestall further comment from Master Anorus as she retrieved her comlink from her belted waist.

 

"Kirana, Dashel, this is Armiena Draygo on board the Ghost Breath. The EV really took a beating during the battle, but I've deployed a substantial number of droids for emergency repairs to its engines and power systems before we lose it completely." Although the ancient vessel was submerged against its will against the abyssal water of Manaan, its descent was quickly decreasing as her Squiddies repaired its ruined repulsorlift array. It was only a matter of time before it conquered its battle against entropy and rose to the surface.

 

Which made little difference to the Jedi Master. Her shallow reserves of patience had been drained to the point of aridity by witnessing the effects of Faust's particular brand of bloodlust. Now, she felt that she had no choice but to bury him in warfare--as soon as Armiena saw that the Eternal Vigilance's repairs were well under way, she would be leaving the planet to muster her resources for her bitter vendetta.

[Nom Anor's avenger]

Nom took the oppertunity of Armiena's comm to lay back down. He closed his eyes as he let himself be taken into the arms of the Force. He could feel its power flow back into him gradually, like water seeping through a cracked dam. Despite her lack of experiance in the area, Armiena still managed to heal what was needed to keep the Jedi Master alive. Nom would have to issue his official voice of thanks after her conversation was complete.

 

The Jedi Master searched through the Force, opening himself to the bond with his apprentice. It seems Scorpio was still alive. The distance was too great to define any other details about his padawan's current situation, but the fact that he still lived was enough to quell his worries for now. Despite the escape of Faust, there were no deaths after Nom had arrived on the scene. He had done his part.

 

Feeling like he posessed the necessary strength to sit up, Nom lifted his torso up against the wall behind him, letting its sturdy foundation give some support. He closed his eyes and waited patiently for Armiena to finish. A smile graced his lips as he finally was able to enjoy a moment of peacefilled rest. He could not count how long it has been since that last occured.

[Vladimir Faust]

During the period in which the repairs slowly progressed, Armenia's comm system goes off, revealing a communique from an unknown and untracable source.

 

Once more the voice in unmistakable.

 

I had guessed you would still be here, Ms. Armiena Draygo. It is my understanding that you wish to seek me out to settle certain affairs, especially with your own awoved mission statements and the way you seemed almost determined to catch up with my ship. I regret that I was unable stay and admire the resutls of my handiwork, but as it is you seem determined set a play date, I shall be happy to oblige and add to the debt you owe me. I pray for your sake you do not compound it further, lest I be forced to collect.

 

A set of interstellar coordinates flash on the comm, reading 0, 0, 0, followed by more specified coordinates on where to meet on the upper levels.

 

If you would come alone, I will be waiting for you to discuss this matter. When I say alone, I mean just you. No Jedi friends, no police or Alliance military, or even your friendly droid companions or AI bearing ships. In return I offer no tricks, no threats, though if you are premature in initiating hostilities, I guarantee you will regret it. Ta ta...

[Dashel Illioni]

Kira's look towards Dashel almost went unnoticed. He was concentrating instead on keeping the Black Sunday from crashing into any of the myriad cargo ships that were busy deploying Master Armenia's response to the damage done to the Eternal Vigilance.

 

Once they were in a section of relatvely calm space, he turned towards Kira and broadcasted over an encrypted, "Fellow Jedi, I know the EV is an enormous vessel, but there is a Jedi Master, two knights and an apprentice in orbit of this planet. Should that not be enough raise the vessel to the surface to ease the efforts of the droids working on her?"

 

He paused, considering what he had just said. "The effort should be know more than an extension of the principle behind Kira's Battlemind (?) coupled with Force telekinesis. In all probability, Master Armenia will probably have to be the focus point as she knows EV best, but I volunteer to be that point if she is unwilling."

 

Almost as an afterthought, he added, "Besides, what better way to defeat Sith, psuedo Sith, or any other evil than showing that the Jedi will always rebuild and enhance what they destroy?"

 

 

 

[/i]

[ObliviousKnight]

"Two Jedi Masters, actually. I have Master Anorus with me on the Ghost Breath, but he's resting. Either way, I doubt that we'll need to resort to anything that extravagant. It will be slow going, but my droids are making good progress on the EV's repairs." There remained the fact that if Faust's invitation was genuine--and Armiena had sufficient reason to doubt his honesty--the last thing the Jedi Master wanted to do was overexert herself before their inevitable confrontation.

 

Yes, Armiena intended to accept his cordial offer for an in-person meeting. She would have to speak with Nom Anorus and arrange for his transfer before she departed for Coruscant. If she was going to stand a chance against Faust, she needed to know what sort of weapons he had used in their duel.

[Nom Anor's avenger]

"So how are the repairs coming?" Nom's words were quiet, barely audible. His vocal cords were still strained by the ovbearing scream let loose by the Jedi Master what seemed like hours ago. Nom felt a slight tinge of guilt within him as a result of his fight with Faust. As much as he hated to admit it, it had been partly his fault for the damages obtained by the EV, Sith Veenom or no.

 

The Jedi Master had seen Armiena Draygo before. He just hadn't remembered ever speaking to her. It was certainly possible that they even trained together as apprentices. I suppose its never a bad time to meet new people... Nom rolled over onto his back, letting the mounting pressure of his body release from his left side. I wish I was more socially apt for this...

[Guest]

Malone's vessel slipped into the system as he eyed the planet. The hazy blue sphere shone brightly as the sun reflected off the atmosphere. Malone had done some research on the planet. He knew that the 14,211 km aquatic planet contained a 1.3 standard gravity, 26 hour days, and a year that lasted 422 of those standard days. He also knew that Manaan had two moons.

 

However, what he didn't know was far more important. Most of all being, not knowing what to expect from the people. He didn't know much about the culture of the planet or where the Alliance recruiting center might be found. He heard there was one here. That was the whole reason he had come to this planet in the first place.

 

Setting down his ship on a local landing pad, Malone stepped out. He figured his best bet was to go to the local dining establishment. He would likely be able to find someone who might know where he could find the recruiting center. Making sure everything else had been taken care of, Jace made his way to the nearest cantina.

[Dashel Illioni]

As he watched the momentus gathering that would slowly resurect the EV Dashel came to a conclusion. He was not needed here.

 

He left the ship in orbit then proceeed to the back of his ship to find both Kira and his apprentice. Once they were all together, he stated his next goal simply.

 

"On Tatooine, I took the oppurtunity to reinfore this ship's shields for a special occasion. We are headed to the remains of the Yavin system to see if we can locate some crystals that Odan will be needing for his lightsaber. It seems the only place that the Jedi ever found crystals of a natural red hue."

 

A few quick taps on his keyboard prepared the neccessary information for them. Into their datapads went the information concerning the remaining systems that needed testing or maintenance before heading insystem.

[Odan Zurr]

The engines of the starship turned on with a beatiful hum, and then a loud bang was heard followed by an ear peircing screech. Odan clamped his hands to the side of his head, until the noise stoped.

 

He then quickly looked for a tool box, he picked it up and walked to the engine room. He opended one of the pannels, sparks and smoke shot out of it like a missile from a capital ship.

 

He backed away from the thing until it stoped, he then pulled out a hydrospanner from the box along with a Jumper bypass and a macrofuser. He unsrewed the bolts allowing him to get to delicate wires of the ship. It looked as if soom of them had been almost put too close together, he shrugged and got to work replacing them.

 

He did this all while thinking, the Yavin system wasn't that where Exar Kun became on of the Dark Lords and created the brotherhood of the sith? Also not to metion one of the birth places of many Massassi warriors. He had heard about a few Jedi using it as a base at some time, but never actually thought Jedi would have lived on a planet where so many dark events had happended.

 

Though of course Coruscant was know to have gone through some pretty bad times. Odan then welded the last bolt back into place and closed the pannel door. "Okay try it now", Odan yelled to his master.

[Kirana Sunrider]

((Malone - in this RP, Manaan is totally a water planet, unpopulated, the only "base of ops" is the Eternal Vigilance which is being repaired currently, is a vessel that is more like a city sized submarine and is Jedi, not Alliance. If you're after the Alliance, head to Mon Calamari which is known, or find out from someone at the Last Call about Gala. ))

 

Kira had looked out of the viewscreen at the construction work being done on the Eternal Vigilance. There was little that they could do right now with everything under control. She had headed into the galley for a drink when Dashel come in, speaking to them.

 

"Yavin. Wasn't that destroyed? I guess some of the crystals may be in the asteroids where Yavin used to be."

 

She looked at the information that he put onto her datapad. Kira glanced up, seeing Odan take off towards the engine room, a bewildered look on her face as she had thought Dashel's ship was in perfect condition. The ship didn't seem to lose their orbit so she was curious as to what actually was going wrong with it. Kira looked at her former padawan,

 

"What was that?"

[Dashel Illioni]

Once his Padawan was out of sight, Dashel grinned towards his former master. He spoke to her in a tone of voice guaranteed not to pass beyond the two of them. ”œWhat my Padawan is now dealing with I created when I upgraded the shields on Tatooine. Its something of a minor mechanical test, but even more so of his ability to process information on an intuitive level and then prove it afterwards.”

[ObliviousKnight]

((Apologies for the absence. See the absent thread--it was not planned for, nor was I happy about it. At all.))

 

"You probably shouldn't be moving around," Armiena commented mildly. No accusation was in her voice; after all, she had a detailed history of ignoring the advice of a lengthy string of doctors and annoying the Jedi Order's medical droids. Anorus wasn't wounded that badly. With a healing trance, he would probably be in perfect health in a few hours.

 

"The repairs are going well enough, I suppose." She shrugged. "There's no way for me to tell without a major improvement--the Squiddies were built to be fairly autonomous. Aside from occasional reports to a centralized server, they only communicate with each other... oh." Glancing down at the Ghost Breath control surfaces, she noticed that a major power surge had been detected under the ocean's surface, and one of the EV's surviving beacons registered a gradual ascension to the surface.

 

"You have your answer." It would only be a matter of time before the ancient submersible was in working order.

 

Swivelling about in her chair, Armiena turned to face Master Anorus with an intense focus in her eyes. "I realize that this might be painful for you, but I need you to relate any impressions you got during your duel with Faust." She bit off that name as though it were the other "F-word". "Armor, weapons, techniques he used... anything of significance you can think of. I need it all."

[Korin]

((Wow...this thread's about as active as a sloth.))

 

A small starhopper-class craft came out of hyperspace, beginning to orbit the planet of Manaan. It was said that the Jedi had an outpost here, through different rumors in information trafficker circles, and for the measley price of 700 creds Korin had purchased this little bit of information, paying another 800 to buy this small old junky starship that enabled him to get here, with just enough money left to buy a small amount of fuel.

 

Korin was worn and tired, but finally he was here, and he hoped the information was correct. He shifted uncomfortably in the small cockpit, which was certainly not made for his extremely large frame. With effort, he keyed the comm, sending a short message into the surrounding space.

 

"To any friendly forces, this is the Prattling Baby, seeking any Jedi Forces..."

[Scubby]

Landing on the watery planet of Manaan... Well not on the planet but on one of the floating cities anyway Scubby was surprised as he looked around... he had come here because the it had seemed like the right thing to do. The force was his guide and as he followed it showed him what to do. Here it was no help. The force was virtually buzzing around him and his ship... ordering his droid, the metallic blue NoKiFour, or Nok as scubby called him to stay and watch the ship he wandered...

 

Descending the ramp he made his way past the customs checkpoint and up to a cantina. Entering he sfound a booth and settled himself. Ordering some Alderaanian Ale to pass the time... Whatever reason the force had brought him here, it would make its meaning clear enough sooner or later...