The Eternal Vigilance (The Maw)

[Ads-Gop Flif]

Ads tried to release his past, and he could let go of some, but not all of it...his memories of the Jedi stayed with him, as did the memory of the...well, nothing. The memory of the gaping holes in his personal history weren't going away, though...the Harder Ads tried, the worse he did...

[Hawker]

Mrakhh nodded. He had felt something he had never felt before when Gavin had jumped. Which just added to the mystery of it all.

 

"Mrakhh was paying attention. Mrakhh also have many questions. How did Gavin accomplish such a jump? What is the force exactly? How will Mrakhh be able to use it? What else can you do with this force?"

 

Mrakhh's mind filled with questions. He had heard of Jedi in books and tales, but had never witnessed one in person.

[Gavin Ryaro]

While Damon was teaching Mrakhh, Gavin took a couple steps to the right and began practicing what he had just learned, but doing it on instinct. He looked inward and found his focus, his inner peace. He bent his legs and pictured himself sailing into the air. Jumping higher than the physical laws of gravity should allow.

 

He propelled himself up into the air and tried some forward motion, moving his jump into a front flip six feet in the air. He came back down, landing lightly with his feet gracefully touching down on the metallic floor. He stood up and waited for his master to finish with the other apprentice

[BLACK1]

Black landed on Manaan and headed toward the Jedi Temple. He walked into the temple and began asking questions, asking for a particular apprentice. He got a few "no"s and mostly "I don't know", but he continued is search. He stumbled upon a group of three men, one seeming to lecture and the other two meditating. Black lifted his datapad in an attempt to study it for a second and approached the three. He looked directly at one of the two setting down, then at his datapad.

 

"You're...Ads-Gop Flif? I have orders to take you to Gala."

[Damon]

Looking at the two before him Damon stretched his arms and spoke.

 

"Mrakhh. Gavin performed his force jump by using the force. The force itself is an energy field that perminates and that is exherted though out every living being. The jedi are abled, with training to work with and control the force to accomplish many task. For instince."

 

A jedi student arrived infront of the three with a few bruises along his arm.

 

"One of the more some what complicated yet, good willed actions we as jedi will do is heal the injured." Making sure Gavin heard him.

 

"By using the force we can repair skin and remove pain." Putting his right hand over one of the bruises Damon foucsed and the bruise started to fade and the skin returned to normal. It was no longer sore or painful.

 

"Gavin. I hpe you paid attetion as this is your next task. Heal his bruise. Mrakhh, you need to with all your of will watch and look for somthing. You are looking and trying to feel the force. Before you can use the force, you must become aware of it."

[Ads-Gop Flif]

Ads stood up and looked straight into the man's dark green eyes.

 

"Yes, I am Ads-Gop Flif. Why am I to come to Gala?"

[BLACK1]

Black began to openly show his irritation.

 

"Look, I don't know. I have orders. Here isn't safe to talk out loud. Me being in public could jeopardize my whole operation. I don't know why the admiral pulled me off my assignment to pick up someone he classified as having diplomatic level clearance. He just did. So get on the ship...sir." With the "sir" he gave a half mocking bow, motioning toward the exit of the temple that lead to the particular hanger he landed at.

[Damon]

Looking at Gavin Damon waited for him to step forward. Gavin did not. With a sigh Damon healed the bruise intended for Gavin.

 

"I am unsure of what to do with you Gavin. However it seems training you with class mates it seem is not the way."

 

Looking upon the student who was with him.

 

"I am sorry, however it seems I have to train Gavin more than it seems and I can not train you properly as a result. Sorry but please find yourself another Master. You however can accompany me to Gala along with Gavin."

 

Damon lead the way as the three left and headed for Gala.

[SithAcolyte]

A small shuttle descended through the planet's stormy atmostphere and then disappeared into the equally stormy seas. They descended deeper and deeper into the murky depths. If there had been anyone watching they would have assumed the small lost. But deep beneath the sea rested a Jedi heaven. The Eternal Vigilance. An ancient Jedi vessel from a lost time. Inside were many Holocrons holding all manner of Jedi secrets. It was as safe a place to be as any. Darla didn't like the idea of leaving Darex there alone, but she knew that no harm would come to him and if he needed to get off world she was sure that he would find a way.

 

When they were safely aboard Darla turned to her friend.

 

"Well here we are... I guess this is goodbye."

[Darex Trevelian]

Darex replied with a small smile. "But not forever. I'm sure we will see each other again someday. The Force has allowed our paths to cross many times before, and you have been instrumental in making me the Jedi I am today."

 

He was truly grateful for having known Darla. He was glad for this chance to say goodbye--so many of his friends were gone now.

 

He reached out and gave her a warm hug. "Goodbye, old friend."

 

With that, the Jedi Master strolled deeper into the station, headed for the holocron rooms, where he would spend as much time as necessary studying, learning about the intricacies of the Force.

[SithAcolyte]

Darla wached while her friend descended the shuttle's ramp and disappeared into the vast bowels of the ancient vessel. She had the horrible feeling that she would never see him again. In a Galaxy so vast it was easy to loose someone. But the force always seemed to have a way of surprising Darla an bringing people back into her life both for better and worse.

 

If she and Darex crossed paths again it would surely be for better.

 

When Darex was far from her sight Darla sat staring at the ships console for quite some time.

 

Where to now?

 

It had been a long time since Darla had been alone. The feeling was strange... Not unwelcome though. Things seemed peacful and quite. Darla didn't want them to stay that way, but until she stumbled into her next adventure she was happy to enjoy her solitude.

 

With that thought in mind Darla left the planet behind and made the jump to hyperspace.

[Ads-Gop Flif]

"Well, you know what? I think that if I go to Gala it will be on my own and only if my master thinks it's a good idea. You see, from my experience, it's not good to go somewhere with some random guy. And quite honestly, I'd rather finish my training than go to Gala. I left there and came here, so...I'm going to stay, I believe. Goodbye."

 

Ads turned to Maroon, "I would like to continue my training, if that's okay, Master."

[BLACK1]

Black laughed at Ads as he lit a cigarette, admiring the guy's foolish resolve. Or was it fear? Maybe fear. Not only did he try to tell Black absolutely no, but he tried to end the matter by switching back to talking to someone else. Black let Heaven fall from it's holster and pointed it directly at Ads head.

 

"I have orders to take you with me. I have authorization to use force if necessary. I don't want to hurt you, but I will kneecap you and drag you to my ship if need be."

 

He brought his free hand up to his mouth and hit the cigarette again. They were at least ten feet apart. Nothing he could realistically do at this distance.

 

"Orders are orders..." He expelled the thick cloud of smoke at Ads. It went a foot or two before rising and disbursing into the air. "...sir"

[Apollo]

Lotus calmly looked at the man, curious as to his intentions. He didn't say anything at first, but it appeared he was quite willing to use brute force to take Ads with him, if required. If he was indeed from the Alliance he wouldn't have been so willing and so quick to use such aggressive means. He had to be either a normal bounty hunter or an Imperial agent.

 

The Jedi knight casually waved his hand, as if dismissing the man. In an instant the barrel of his weapon curled downwards as if it was melting. With another motion from one of his fingers, the cigarette snapped in half with the lit end falling to the ground.

 

”œThose are bad for your health; leave now.”

[BLACK1]

Black laughed loud and deep, sending an echo through the room.

 

"Well played master Jedi, well played."

 

He put the melted gun in one of the larger pockets in his coat and turned to leave, lighting another cigarette on the way. The path to his ship was less of a hassle than it was getting here. He boarded his ship, setting the half melted gun on the workbench as he passed it. He punched in the numbers for Coruscant and took off, silently chuckling to himself.

 

A little more entertaining than I was expecting. God I hate Jedi.

[Ads-Gop Flif]

Ads turned to Maroon. He was contemplating this man's strange appearance on Manaan. The man was lying about wanting to take Ads to Gala to see "the Admiral"...of that Ads was sure. And Ads definitely didn't have diplomatic-level clearance...

 

Or do I?......No...I definitely don't have that...

 

So why would the man have been there? The last time Ads had gone somewhere with a strange man, he was taken to Mimban and tortured and killed by the Dark Lord of the Sith himself.

 

Maybe I'm more important than I know...like in the tales of Revan...I can't remember my past...only certain things......family, the rebellion, and a couple moths both five and two years ago...and the past couple of months...why was that?

 

Did someone know his secret?

 

Only one way to find out about the man:

 

"Master...who was that? He didn't seem like he was with the Alliance...and he definitely wasn't a good liar..."

 

Ads pensively, yet naturally averted his gaze from Maroon, then moved his eyes back towards those of his master...Ads continued to ponder...

[Haphaestus]

A staccato flicker of pseudomotion marked the arrival of four ships from hyperspace. Three were identifyable stormtrooper transports, each carrying two squads of the Empire's soldiers. The fourth ship was just a small, nondescript vessel of starfighter size but probably not the combat capabilities.

 

But the fourth ship wasn't important. The one who piloted it was.

 

This being was one unlike any other, unique in a galaxy of strange characters. He was strong in the Dark Side and sheathed in an archaic suit of armor of his own design. Twin lightsabers upon his belt further marked his alignment with the Sith and, apparently, the Galactic Empire.

 

The ships passed through Manaan's peaceful atmosphere and quickly made their way to the city nearest the Jedi base known to be on this watery world. Once there, six squads of stormtroopers (for a total of 72 men) exited their craft and, led by the caped and armored character from the other ship, marched through the city.

 

They drew more than a few gaze, and more than one of those gazes was unfriendly, despite the pacifism of the native Selkath. The truth was that they didn't like armed troopers marching through their city. But they were still powerless to stop them.

 

The Imperials marched to the docks, where they loaded on to local hoverboats and such. They had to take several, but they left with no questions asked, their leader's information on the location of the Jedi base quite specific. After all, it had been attacked in the past and was going to be again. Presently.

 

The trip took thirty minutes, two seconds and eighty-three milliseconds, the elapsed time ending when the Sith Master's boot hit the metallic floor of the Jedi base, most of which was submerged. "Get inside and destroy the place from the inside out. Leave none alive," he commanded the troopers.

 

As the stormtroopers set to work, Haphaestus stretched out with the Dark Side and touched the minds of the nearby Jedi. This is my fight, he thought, heading for their location.

[Ads-Gop Flif]

Ads was waiting for Maroon Lotus to answer his questions when, much to his chagrin and astonishment, he felt a dark wave pass through the force.

 

"Master, what is this?"

 

((This is an edit-in that takes place after Helbrecht's next post. I'm just doing this so I don't have to post again, as it isn't important enough for its own post.))

 

Ads could see in Helbrecht's face that he could feel it, too. Ads couldn't make out what it was, though. It was as though a heavy, dark fog had descended over whatever it was. Simply put, Ads lacked the training to cast a light through the fog and decipher the currents of the force. Ads was sure that Maroon could tell exactly what was causing the disturbance...

 

It's not my real sight that's clouded. Just imagine a light through the fog...a light...

 

Ads relaxed his whole self, his eyes almost closed...

 

There was at least one man...the light was dim, barely able to break through any fog...there was at least one man...but it could break through...were there others? Ads was unable to make anything else out through the shroud of fog in his mind...blood will be spilt...

 

Maroon Lotus will know...

Edited August 12, 2007 by Guest

[Jarin Silocen]

A twinge entered Helbrecht's mind. The whole time he had remained in his meditative state, ignoring all distractions, even the poor excuse for a bounty hunter earlier. But now, he could sense something wasn't right. He wasn't sure what it was, but that didn't stop it from advancing on their position. He blinked, bringing neglected moisture to his eyes. The rock grew no more. There was nothing to say. Only patience would prove useful here. Lotus' show of skill earlier gave Helbrecht a little more confidence in their security.

[Raitaro]

As the first wave of stormtroopers enter Manaan's once peaceful base before Haphaestus, the lights flickered for a brief instant, in in their place a hurricane of emerald light appeared. From the door emerged a long Jedi, soaked in the blood of the entire squadron. He had mowed them down with a single flurry of strikes from nine foot long bracer mounted lightsaber blades, leaving them in pieces on the floor. The Jedi held out his hand to the Sith Droid, pointing ominously at the head of the beast, his scarlet lightstaff held behind him.

 

"You." He said simply, throwing off his gray robes with a few quick swings of his limbs. Raitaro nodded simply, preparing for the battle ahead.

 

((3 Post duel, KvC mod?))

[Haphaestus]

((Declined.))

 

Haphaestus was bemused to find that one of the resistors had taken out an entire twelve stormtroopers in a matter of seconds, only now to challenge him directly. He was even more amused by the aura of arrogance radiating from this one, who certainly considered him a Jedi despite his clear deficiencies in humility.

 

Had the Sith Master been capable of smiling, and if such an expression would have been visible through his helmet, he would have. As it was, however, he simply held his arms out, exactly forty-five degrees from perpendicular to the ground, and called to his right hand one of his lightsabers.

 

Igniting the dark red blade, Haphaestus held it before him, perfectly parallel with the nearest wall, and placed his second hand upon the hilt as well as his first. His opponent had a stylish but ultimately ineffective double-blade, which attempted to speed up the combat that one would execute with a single blade but failed even in that aspect as it allowed for only one blade to be brought to bear on its opponent at a given time.

 

He has no idea what he just got himself into, Haphaestus thought as, with a flourish, he brought his lightsaber around to point at his opponent's eyes. With a mere whim, he channeled from the dark blade a veritable storm of Dark Side lightning, one of the most potent of Sith abilities that was accessible to only the greatest of their ranks.

 

He didn't wait to see what the Jedi's counter was, but dashed forward suddenly, his blade now solely in his left hand as he made a controlled thrust. With his right hand he made a pair of motions with extreme quickness.

 

With the first, the two squads of stormtroopers that were directly behind him spread out and dropped into defensible positions. With the second, they brought their weapons to bear on the Jedi and attacked with a flurry of blaster bolts far too great for any Jedi to parry in its entirity.

 

They seemed completely unconcerned with accidentally hitting Haphaestus in the process, and the reason for this was made apparent when the first one bolt struck him in the back. It burned right through his cape, but when it reached his armor, it was redirected harmlessly into the wall.

 

At the end of Haphaestus' lunge, he spun and sidestepped with agility, putting the Jedi between himself and the stormtroopers and subjecting him not only to the blaster bolts as they came in, but also the ones that were reflected off his blades and armor to get a second shot at their target.

[Raitaro]

((Side note: It's a staff, like a pike, not a double bladed lightsaber. Like a long handle, short blade on the long end. I get where you could have gotten that though, since a double saber is sometimes called a staffsaber. I'll use lightpike from now on.))

 

The Comm circuit in Raitaro's cyberbrain activated as the forces surrounded him, requesting aid. As the wave of lightning approached he span his pike before him, the Symbiosis Weapon absorbing the energy within its force imbued durasteel.

 

The long handle of his weapon caught Haphaestus's lightsaber, curving it around as the Jedi knight pushed the blade into to the Sith's body. He sighed in annoyance as the blade bounced off a plate of phrik, pulling back with boost of the force as a hailstorm of blaster fire came towards him. Raitaro decided to retreat in an instant, his mind acting on instinct and pure force to guide him through the fire in a magnificent dance, spinning and jumping from side to side--his pike taking off some of the fire while he invaded the minds of individual stormtroopers in an attempt to help skew their aim.

 

When Raitaro made it to the door, the Jedi Sentinel worked to cloak his appearance from the eyes of the Imperials. He doubted it would fool Haphaestus, but the soldiers wouldn't see him there at all. Quickly he disappeared into the facility, trying to escape the Sith's grasp.

[Amon Saulot]

::The hijacked imperial gunship burst into atmo, coming as close to the planet as was possible with hyperspace technology. Amon had already been on his way to Manaan when he had received his former apprentice's message. With Amon were elite rebel soldiers, originally tasked for the rescue of the Jedi grandmaster.

 

The gunship came in low over Raitaro's co-ordinates and unleashed hell upon the Sith master and his stormtroopers. The stormtroopers were virtually discintegrated in the weapons fire, while Hephaestus was confronted with a virtual wall of armor piercing fletchette needles and laser blasts. Amon and the commando's disembarked with repulsor belts from the air, while the pilot prepared for another pass. ::

 

Amon had recognized the Sith master immediately. It was personal now.

 

"Father told me about you, tin man. Your corruption is at an end, servant of decay."

[Guest]

Ichi had been waiting patiently with Amon for quite some time. When he said they would be going back to Manaan did he get a little excited. It was much more difficult protecting his master when he was light years away. Only when he picked up the distress signal from Raitaro did his motivators start to constrict. When Amon flew low, Ichi took his chance. One hundred feet above the ground, he opened the unloading platform on the shuttle. He could see the assailent. The stormtroopers were being ripped asunder by the rebel fire. The real threat was the one out front. The one with the force.

 

Countless calculations worked in his head as the ship flew. Only when everything was just right did he jump. Flying threw the air, his stun fist lit up, electricity easily visible. Fifty feet. Filing through his countless languages, he access Shriiwok and roared something roughly translated as "YOU MOTHA' FRAGGA'". His heavy metal frame proved helpful yet again as he fell faster and faster. 30 Feet. Haphaestus had to know what was coming. 10 feet. 5.

 

BAM! Ichi's overcharged stun fist connected with the back of Hephaestus's helmet, cracking through and reached his head. As Haphaestus fell forward and Ichi worked to roll out of the fall, Ichi's left hand caught his left, stun cuff latching around his wrist. Completing the roll, Ichi brought Haphaestus over his shoulder, throwing him at the wall. As Haphaestus flew through the air, Ichi's second stun cuff detached from his wrist. With inhuman speed, Ichi threw the second cuff, catching Haphaestus on the right wrist. The electromagnets switched on, the light blue electric stun field turned on, the cuffs slammed together.

 

Ichi switched his shield on and extended the stun blasters on his wrist, ready to detain.

[Haphaestus]

((I was under the impression, Chad, that Haphaestus was indoors, but it matters not.))

 

The Sith Master Haphaestus was definitively amused by the proceedings that would have made many others would consider certainly of negative connotation (at least for the most part). He wasn't at all surprised when his first challenger, so confident at first to the point of arrogance, fled him entirely, proverbial tail between his legs.

 

But the arrival of the gunship was a little more surprising. Haphaestus didn't really feel much surprise, for he knew that all things were possible and there was no point in wasting time babbling over the probabilities and chances of such things happening, despite his acute awareness of those probabilities. They could be used to make decisions, but the best plans were subject to instant decay.

 

When one was a Sith Master, it seemed that things like that were positively frequent, and that was making a pessimist of Haphaestus' related programming.

 

Still, while the wall of incoming fire made hash of his stormtroopers, who, while useful for driving off weakling Jedi, were ultimately expendable, it did nothing to harm the Master of the Dark Arts. Even with but one lightsaber drawn and lit, he was able to parry each and every bolt that got close, not even relying on his armor's protective qualities. The sheer force of the bolts would cause the normal man to shy away and succumb to collateral damages, but Haphaestus parried with ease, even sending some of the bolts back to hit their source.

 

Slightly more surprising still was the sudden arrival of another Jedi who was apparently extremely skilled with stun cuffs. Haphaestus had sensed the being approaching from far off, but had deliberately allowed himself to be struck by the initial blow if only to test the being further before making a counter.

 

Still, despite the force of the hit, he barely flinched, and Ichi felt more like he was hitting a durasteel wall than a man. The damage to his fist must have been extensive, Haphaestus was guessing, and his helmet remained undamaged ((no mere bludgeoning attack could possibly penetrate phrik....)).

 

Meanwhile, the being ((I'm not sure which Ichi is...a droid or a wookiee)) easily flipped him over his shoulder in a admitedly impressive judo-esque move, and the second half of the stun cuffs found their way to Haphaestus' wrists. Still, the Sith Master had perfect control over his flight and landed it easily, disabling the stun cuffs with the barest touch of the Dark Side.

 

As they fell from his wrists, Haphaestus decided to take the offensive. He took a very direct course to his new opponent (his previous one still gone), and attacked with a series of lightning-quick jabs and slices that penetrated defenses time and again, each time scoring tiny but memorable wounds on his opponent.

 

This being is worthless. I'm here to combat Jedi.

[Amon Saulot]

::Whether the Sith master was too occupied with Ichi, or simply wasn't as good as Nurgle claimed, Amon didn't know, but somehow the idiot had managed to miss the arrival of the Jedi and his commandos. The commando sergeant readied the DEMP gun while silently and virtually invisbily closed the gap to Haphaestus. It was different this time. Unlike when Amon had fought Oblivion on the rebel command ship, Amon wasn't afraid. Khorne's eyes were upon him as he channeled the Force into his blow. Unlike the Sith, who coerced and prodded the Force into doing things around them, Amon, like most Jedi, used his own body as a conduit for the Force to act through him.

 

The strike that followed was devastating, inhumanly powerful, and capable of shattering durasteel. But the physical power of it was only the tip of the iceberg. The true power of the hit was in the realms of energy and spirit. Amon had exhibited early on a talent for absorbing and draining energy, and he called upon this talent to drain the powerstores inside of the mandroid, slowing down its movements immensely.

 

The final element of the attack was the reaction between Haphaestus's Nurgle corrupted flesh and Amon's divine form. While the putrescent biomass may have served Haphaestus as a source of dark power in the past, now it served as combustable fuel to the fire of Amon's divine soul. Blue and silver flames coursed across it under the broken armor. The cost of evil deeds finally catching up with the abomination.::

 

Were you a man I would tell you that I was releasing you back to the cycle to be healed of taint and darkness, but abomination, are nothing but taint and darkness. You will find no salvation, only the seven thousand hells of Nurgle.

[Guest]

Ichi had scores of burning holes in his frame, most of which were still glowing bright orange from the heat. The lightsaber blows were shallow, saving most of his precious mechanical interior. Some parts were scrapped, however. Ichi had lost part of his movement in his left side, a cracked motivator, and the hydrolics were almost shot in his right lower torso, but he was still moving. A brief diagnostic showed he would remain eighty percent efficient as long as he didn't push his parts too hard.

 

He saw the sith bot struck by Amon, his blow penetrating the droids tough armor, reaching all the way to the squishy parts. It really was a fairly epic blow. Hephaestus flew back from the impact, giving little distance between himself and Amon. Ichi took the opening. His right fist, slightly cracked from the previous impact dealt to the sith, started sparking, the energies normally set to stun overloading for a potentially lethal blow. He pushed himself farther than he should have, leaping at the sith as quick as he could given his condition. His fist fit perfectly in the hole placed by Amon.

 

For a moment, time almost seemed to slow down, the electricity serging through the droids body, overloading portions of his archaic circuitry. When the electricity made a complete circuit, the actually impact of the blow seemed to process in time, throwing the sith further into the wall. Sparks started flying from Haphaestus' new hole, something clearly wrong with his innards.

[Raitaro]

Raitaro reappeared from the halls of the temple, acting on the arrival of his droid and former master. He dashed to Amon's flank, holding his pike before him in deactivated position. He kneeled down with his weapon, using it as a beacon through which to center himself in the the base.

 

He called upon the force to begin creating a barrier with which to guard Amon, a nigh impenetrable shell of invisible force power. Creation came in rapid leaps, at first incomprehensible, then a slight hindrance like entering water, until it became dense like pure durasteel.

[Haphaestus]

((I still say you don't know Haphaestus' true nature. Please refrain from posting such until you give me proof via PM.))

 

Handling things one step at a time was getting to be enough for Haphaestus. But he was immensely capable, far beyond the capacity of any biological or droid alike. He could focus on a thousand seperate tasks simultaneously without suffering a decline in performance in any one of those many tasks.

 

The biological parts of his mind were not quite as fast, but such was their connection and integration into his consciousness that they suffered no lag as each happening was processed and, more importantly, countered even as it took place (or, rather, before, given the brief precognition granted by the Dark Side).

 

His other newly-arrived opponent, whom he had not failed to catch the arrival of, only not deigned to worry about him just yet, seemed to conjure some kind of great blast that, in addition to its pure destructive force, was capable of some great additional effects when turned against droids.

 

But Haphaestus was no droid.

 

The blast hit him, dampened slightly by a last-minute Force deflection field he conjured, and easily threw him off his sturdy feet. The physical force of the blast was capable even of penetrating a small hole in his light but extremely durable phrik armor plating, his third line of defense but not his last.

 

The energy that followed should have ravaged his internal systems, but instead it did nothing. It only found his skin. Now, this was not the ordinary flesh of humans, but something special, engineered by the chaos god Nurgle himself. The energy behind Amon's attack never reached his internal systems, so no power was drained. He was completely sealed.

 

Still, the fire was a little different. Haphaestus's flesh was 100% immune to mundane flame, but this was unnatural. It was of the Force...the Light Side thereof. Therefore, under his armor, Haphaestus burned. Pain erupted all along his body, beneath his mostly-intact suit of phrik. Pain was the greatest curse of biological features, something that Haphaestus had only felt on occaison.

 

This is a most unpleasant sensation... he thought. But not one that is debilitating. I can still function despite pain, which is superficial.

 

He ran a diagnostic in a quarter of a second. His skin was deteriorating despite its immunity to flame, but one of Nurgle's gifts quite effectively countered that. The skin was simply regenerating with every bit of the haste that it was being consumed.

 

It was a most painful predicament, but the Sith Master wasn't nearing destruction anytime soon.

 

Once again his limited droid opponent struck him with great force, taking advantage of Haphaestus' momentary distraction. Again, the Sith saw the blow coming but took it. The fist hit his burning skin and something fizzled beneath. Exterior chassis damaged but unbreached. Underlying neural web disabled. Amusingly enough, that was a system he no longer had any use for.

 

The skin closed over the hole that had ever so briefly formed, and Haphaestus knew already that he could triumph in this situation. The Jedi and their droid slave had coordinated against him rather well, but they had yet to do anything truly significant besides punch a small hole in his armor and dent his chassis.

 

Still not deigning to draw a second lightsaber, Haphaestus fought through his pain and charged back towards the droid that had hit him. The thing was quick as it seeked to avoid him as he neared it, but its combat programming was limited....very limited. There was simply no way such an artificial being could overcome one such as himself.

 

From his single lightsaber came pouring a storm of Dark Side lightning. This impacted with the droid in a wave, beginning to ravage his systems. Haphaestus combined this effect with another that held the thing in place beyond even its better-than-human strength's capability to free itself.

 

Then, with a swift motion, Haphaestus beheaded the thing, then, with a couple flicks of the wrist, reduced it into several smaller pieces.

 

It had done quite enough. The droids in this galaxy are disappointing, however. Strength alone is not enough. I could have defeated it four thousand years ago.

 

Now he faced the two Jedi Knights, those who had challenged him instead of hiding down in the base, as others were. He would get to them eventually. For now, he took a few long, inevitable strides towards his present opponents, his flesh still locked in its eternal cycle of being destroyed and regenerated.

 

He was a strange being for a Sith. He was cool and complected, definately arrogant at times but rarely full of anger and hate. He did not draw on the Force as many Sith did, through those emotions. He had a passion for power and the Dark Side that gave him great access to it, but most of his draw upon it was with a calm mind, much like a Jedi would summon it.

 

But now he had the chance to use the pain that coursed over him, threatening to slow him down. He planted his feet and raised a hand, and from it poured that pain. It took the form of a twisted storm of fire, lightning, and dark mist, a personification of the destructive powers of the Dark Side itself.

 

He had no doubt that it would quickly overwhelm the defensive shield his first opponent, having come out of hiding, had created. He would force a more direct confrontation.

 

((Sorry, Ichi, about the 2HK, but I have no small list of enemies to attend to. I don't intend to do it to Amon or Raitaro.

 

As for you two...I'm trying to get you guys to answer my PMs. Do you want a 2-on-1 duel, or shall we preconceive an ending? I do not wish any third path, and it wouldn't be any fun to RP.))

[Guest]

((If you were sorry, you wouldn't have done it. ))

 

Ichi flew through the air. A brief moment before the power to his head shut down, he had a rather profound thought.

 

Damn. I died a virgin. Wait, I'm a droid. I don't even reproduce. But still, I shall never experience the precious fruits of love. Oh woe is me.