Post by Trenton Vinh on Mar 26, 2010 2:59:57 GMT -5
Tiverian Joreth felt the chilling wind bite his exposed skin as he leapt from the airspeeder. When he landed, wisps of dirt shot out from beneath his boots.
"The cave is this way, as is our dark jedi." He yelled over the harsh winds to his team.
Three other Jedi Knights, all looking prepared and alert, nodded their heads.
The youngest of the group, Vesh Oras, had just completed his Jedi Trials a month ago. He looked worried, and asked Tiv, "Do you think he will come quietly?"
Tiv shrugged, "We would not be doing our jobs if we didn't try to end this peacefully. Whoever this person is, they've killed five people across four planets. Chances are they aren't going to come quietly, but we will do all we can to get them to do just that."
Rachi Sinda, a light-purple skinned twi'lek, said, "I can see the cave, let's get out of the wind, its freezing."
The group sprinted into the cave entrance, slowing to a walk once out of the cold air.
Tiv led the group in, Vesh beside him. Rachi was a few paces behind them, and vance brought up the rear.
Vance was the same age as Tiverian, 25, and much quieter. Tiv had only heard the man speak a total of ten words since they arrived on the planet.
As they cave tunnel lengthened ahead of them, Tiv noticed the ground beneath his feet incline slightly downwards, and turn from packed dirt into smooth rock.
Rachi muttered, "So did we find any clues as to why this guy is killing seemingly random people across the outer rim?"
Tiv shook his head slowly, eyes on the dark cave ahead of them. The further they got from the bright entrance, the more Tiv got the feeling this this was not any regular cave network.
Vesh stumbled when his boot clanked loudly into something metal. Dropping to his knees to inspect it, Tiv's hunch was proven to be correct; the cave was a mine shaft. The metal beam Vesh had stumbled on was no doubt a cart track.
As he straightened up he glanced at Rachi, "So far, all we know is that the people killed were all males, all single and without children, and all seemingly unrelated in any way. So no, no connections."
Rachi frowned, "And after the last murder at the nearby town, authorities chased the man here, where they called us to detain him?"
"Correct." Tiv confirmed.
The man had not been identified, all that was known so far was that he wielded a green lightsaber, an odd choice for a dark jedi. His cloak had hidden his face from the half-dozen or so witnesses to the last murder, which had taken place a mere three hours ago at a cantina.
Vesh asked, "What's this planet called again? I lost track of the names of these backwater rocks a week ago."
Tiv was beginning to find it hard to distinguish one from another as well, but he replied, "This one is called Cordon VI. The last ones were Yalara, Sxun, and Dorin II."
Vesh responded, "Why would this dark jedi be out here, as far as possible away from GA worlds? These planets are on the fringes of Galactic Alliance jurisdiction, I'm surprised the locals even know what Jedi are."
Tiv smirked, "Jedi are known across the Galaxy. Once I went on a mission to a planet deep in the unknown regions, a planet that had never even been a part of the Old Republic, and they knew of the Jedi. But I think we were called in because the police force was worried about their safety. If I was one of them, I would have called the Jedi as soon as I saw a man get murdered with a lightsaber too."
Vance said sharply, "Watch your step."
Tiv froze, and his heart jumped into his throat. Without even noticing it, Vesh and him had nearly walked over the edge of an open turbolift shaft.
Tiv looked around and found a button to summon the lift, and while it rumbled through the abyss up towards them, he said, "Thanks for the warning, Vance."
Vance, unsurprisingly, didn't respond.
Rachi smiled, "My, Tiv, you're losing focus. Keep your eyes open."
Tiv smiled as the lift arrived and the four of them piled into it.
Rachi and Tiv hid their slight attraction to one another by competing with one another whenever possible. Where Tiv would best her with a lightsaber, she could fly circles around him in a starfighter.
Tiv said to his team as the lift lowered to the bottom of the mine shaft, "If anyone gets split up, meet back here. Try to stay in contact with one another as much as possible, I don't want anyone getting lost down here."
Rachi eyed Tiv before nodding, she alone out of the group knew of why Tiverian was wary of cave networks and tunnels. His master, Jet Sumner, who had been a father to Tiv since he was young, had been murdered in a cave, years ago.
"Sabers out, but not ignited." Tiv ordered. He hadn't needed to, all of the Jedi had their sabers in hand already.
"He is close." Vance said darkly.
Tiv felt it too. A dark presence; not necessarily an evil one, but one that made him wonder what is was they were up against.
Who is this guy? He wondered.
The lift slowed to a halt, and the four Jedi disembarked, looking around the chamber they were now in.
They were in a large underground chamber, at least a hundred meters high and twice as long. The trickle of water could be heard in the distance, and steam floated above a silent pool of water. The pool along one side of the room was at the bottom of a nearly thirty foot drop. On the far side of the pool, a series of tunnels disappeared into the darkness.
A small hut was on the other side of the chamber, but it was abandoned, and definitely not the home of the murderer.
"What is this place?" Rachi asked aloud.
A calm voice answered her, filled not with malice or hatred, but firmness, "It will be your tomb, if you do not leave me be."
Four lightsabers blazed to life, filling the chamber with multi-coloured light. The man who had spoken dropped from his hiding place along one of the walls, but instead of attacking as Tiv had expect, he leapt past the Jedi and bounded across the cliff-edge. The Force-leap carried the dark figure over the water, steam parting as he passed.
The four Jedi immediately took chase, Vesh bellowing, "Stay where you are!"
The Jedi Knights leapt across the water, dropping thirty feet onto cold, wet stone. Experience paid off when making such a difficult landing, and while Tiv, Vance, and Rachi able to land safely, Vesh landed hard and twisted his ankle sharply. He let out a cry of pain as he fell to the ground, his lightsaber shutting down as it dropped from his hand. Clutching his foot, he managed to yell, "I'll be okay, follow him!"
Tiv, Rachi, and Vance sprinted into the tunnel the dark jedi had disappeared in to, and within seconds they were leaping across rocky outcroppings over another underground pool. The rocks served as stepping stones, slippery and sharp, but the Jedi were in-tune with The Force, and they didn't slip.
Stopping on three different rocks spaced out across the room, the Jedi stopped.
"Where did he go?" Rachi demanded, her lekku bouncing off her shoulders as she looked around.
Tiv couldn't sense the dark jedi either, and answered, "I don't know."
His voice echoed eerily in the room, and he noticed how worried his voice sounded. He forced himself to strengthen his tone, "He can't have doubled back on us, could he?"
"Not a chance." Rachi replied.
"Underwater." Vance said, his eyes on the water below. His blue lightsaber cut through the murky depths, where a black cloak lay discarded.
Without warning, a dark figure dropped behind Vance, and swiftly slammed the butt of an unlit lightsaber into his skull. Vance cried out in pain, and lost his balance. He slipped almost soundlessly into the water. Resurfacing a moment later, he gasped for breath and held a hand to his forehead, where a trickle of blood seeped between his fingers.
The dark figure leapt past Rachi and Tiv again, but this time, Tiv was ready. He force-pushed the dark jedi mid-leap, resulting in the man landing on the far edge of the pool. Tiv and Rachi followed, leaving Vance to tend to his wound.
The figure dashed down a side passage, opening out onto a rocky bridge, a natural pathway over a pool of water. The far end of the bridge had a steel doorway.
Rachi knew the figure was going to try to escape through the door, so she Force gripped the door and slammed it shut. The figure skidded to a halt before the now closed door, and turned slowly to face Rachi and Tiv, cornered.
"You're coming with us for questioning." Tiv said, breathing heavily.
The dark figure still held his unlit lightsaber, and shook his hooded head, "You do not want to do that." He said sharply.
Rachi shot back, "Drop the saber, or I'll cut your arm off with it.
Her blue lightsaber raised as warning. Tiv's own blue blade raised as well, he sensed a fight.
The dark jedi said, "I don't want to have to kill any of you, please, just leave me here. I know what I am doing. You don't understand."
Tiv stated, "We understand enough. You've killed several innocent people, and we're here to bring you in."
"Innocent?" the man echoed darkly. Beneath the hood, Tiverian could tell he was smiling, "Look into their lives a bit more and you'll see how 'innocent' they really are. If you did your job properly you would be here to thank me."
Before Tiv could ask what the man meant, Rachi started forwards. The dark jedi locked eyes with her and said, "One more step...and you will wish you never entered this cave. This is your last warning, Jedi."
The sentence was punctuated by the ignition of the man's lightsaber. The room, now bathed in blue and emerald light, made the shadows on the walls dance.
Rachi shuffled forward slowly, and the dark jedi turned sideways. A simple maneuver, meant to make for a smaller target. He held his blade horizontally at his hip, his muscular arm was a sign that this dark jedi was in fine physical form.
Rachi's eyes could have cut through steel, and the dark jedi seemed to know that she was not going to back down.
"So be it." He said, and as Rachi neared at him, he raised his blade and swiped it at her.
She blocked the attack easily...too easily, and for a split second, as Tiv rushed forward to aid her in the fight, he could feel her confidence rise. Then the feeling turned into one of shock as the dark jedi spun and kicked her in the chest, knocking her into the water.
"Rachi!" Tiv shouted as the water splashed his boots. He tried to keep one eye on the dark jedi while he strained to spot his friend under the water. She surfaced a moment later, but her robes snagged onto a rock, and she slipped back under.
"Stop." The man said to Tiv, when the young Jedi slashed with his lightsaber. The man didn't even parry the half-hearted attack, he merely twisted his body to avoid the energy blade.
Tiverian shook his head, "I can't let you go. Even if it means I have to kill you."
He lunged forwards, striking at his foe twice, lightning-quick, before twirling away. The dark jedi parried both blows and riposted, faster than Tiv expected, and he felt the sting of the blade against his shoulder as punishment. The wound was shallow, and the pain only a minor distraction.
Moving in again, Tiv tried feinting a high strike and then stabbing forward, but the dark jedi was clearly much more proficient than Tiv took him for, and for his arrogance he received two slashes, one on the wrist and one on the thigh.
The dark jedi resumed his prior stance, sideways with the blade low, having expended virtually no energy thus far.
Tiv ignored the pain of the three stinging cuts and leapt over his enemy, launching a flurry of attacks, flipping sideways off the wall to strike from all directions at once.
None of the attacks got through. Tiv felt a fist slam into his cheek, spinning him to face away from his enemy, and he felt a pang of fear strike him -- he was wide open for attack.
Before he could turn, he felt a sharp kick connect with his back, knocking him to the floor, where a rock cut into his temple.
He twisted to look up at his imposing enemy, who instead of slaughtering the defenceless Tiv, merely stood above him, silent.
Tiverian felt his stomach grow heavy; his enemy had not been remotely phased by his attacks. The wounds he had recieved were not lucky or desperate hits from his enemy, but calculated, precise strikes designed to do just this -- to take Tiv down without inflicting any serious injuries.
"I could have killed you, along with your three friends, but I chose not to. If you pursue me, I will not hesitate to slaughter the four of you, do you understand?" The dark figure said slowly. His voice was still not filled with malice or hatred, it remained calm and resolute.
Tiv just nodded slowly.
The man went on, "The people I killed were not innocent as you may believe. If you search their houses you will find that all of them were slavers, murderers, rapists, or worse. I took their lives because locking them up wouldn't be punishment enough."
Tiv felt a chill pass through him. So that's how the victims are connected...through crime?
"You were wrong to slay them. They deserved trials, prison, forced labor."
"Do you really believe that?" The man asked.
Tiv didn't answer, but the dark jedi understood, "The Jedi part of you sees it as wrong, but the part of you that longs for justice in the Galaxy agrees."
Tiv could only stare. His wounds stung sharply.
"You are proficient with a blade for one your age. Your combat style is not one that does well against a practitioner of my caliber. Keep practicing. Keep training. It will save your life one day."
Tiv asked, "Who are you?"
The dark figure turned and opened the door that Rachi had shut; behind it was another turbolift. The figure entered the lift, and as the door slid shut, he answered,
"I was once a Jedi like you. Now I am just a man with a lightsaber."
The door closed, and the lift disappeared upwards.
Tiverian remained still for a moment, stunned. He wouldn't give chase...but they couldn't let the man go, either. He decided to regroup with the others, tend to everyone's injuries, and report to the Jedi Council. He had the feeling they would not be pleased...
"The cave is this way, as is our dark jedi." He yelled over the harsh winds to his team.
Three other Jedi Knights, all looking prepared and alert, nodded their heads.
The youngest of the group, Vesh Oras, had just completed his Jedi Trials a month ago. He looked worried, and asked Tiv, "Do you think he will come quietly?"
Tiv shrugged, "We would not be doing our jobs if we didn't try to end this peacefully. Whoever this person is, they've killed five people across four planets. Chances are they aren't going to come quietly, but we will do all we can to get them to do just that."
Rachi Sinda, a light-purple skinned twi'lek, said, "I can see the cave, let's get out of the wind, its freezing."
The group sprinted into the cave entrance, slowing to a walk once out of the cold air.
Tiv led the group in, Vesh beside him. Rachi was a few paces behind them, and vance brought up the rear.
Vance was the same age as Tiverian, 25, and much quieter. Tiv had only heard the man speak a total of ten words since they arrived on the planet.
As they cave tunnel lengthened ahead of them, Tiv noticed the ground beneath his feet incline slightly downwards, and turn from packed dirt into smooth rock.
Rachi muttered, "So did we find any clues as to why this guy is killing seemingly random people across the outer rim?"
Tiv shook his head slowly, eyes on the dark cave ahead of them. The further they got from the bright entrance, the more Tiv got the feeling this this was not any regular cave network.
Vesh stumbled when his boot clanked loudly into something metal. Dropping to his knees to inspect it, Tiv's hunch was proven to be correct; the cave was a mine shaft. The metal beam Vesh had stumbled on was no doubt a cart track.
As he straightened up he glanced at Rachi, "So far, all we know is that the people killed were all males, all single and without children, and all seemingly unrelated in any way. So no, no connections."
Rachi frowned, "And after the last murder at the nearby town, authorities chased the man here, where they called us to detain him?"
"Correct." Tiv confirmed.
The man had not been identified, all that was known so far was that he wielded a green lightsaber, an odd choice for a dark jedi. His cloak had hidden his face from the half-dozen or so witnesses to the last murder, which had taken place a mere three hours ago at a cantina.
Vesh asked, "What's this planet called again? I lost track of the names of these backwater rocks a week ago."
Tiv was beginning to find it hard to distinguish one from another as well, but he replied, "This one is called Cordon VI. The last ones were Yalara, Sxun, and Dorin II."
Vesh responded, "Why would this dark jedi be out here, as far as possible away from GA worlds? These planets are on the fringes of Galactic Alliance jurisdiction, I'm surprised the locals even know what Jedi are."
Tiv smirked, "Jedi are known across the Galaxy. Once I went on a mission to a planet deep in the unknown regions, a planet that had never even been a part of the Old Republic, and they knew of the Jedi. But I think we were called in because the police force was worried about their safety. If I was one of them, I would have called the Jedi as soon as I saw a man get murdered with a lightsaber too."
Vance said sharply, "Watch your step."
Tiv froze, and his heart jumped into his throat. Without even noticing it, Vesh and him had nearly walked over the edge of an open turbolift shaft.
Tiv looked around and found a button to summon the lift, and while it rumbled through the abyss up towards them, he said, "Thanks for the warning, Vance."
Vance, unsurprisingly, didn't respond.
Rachi smiled, "My, Tiv, you're losing focus. Keep your eyes open."
Tiv smiled as the lift arrived and the four of them piled into it.
Rachi and Tiv hid their slight attraction to one another by competing with one another whenever possible. Where Tiv would best her with a lightsaber, she could fly circles around him in a starfighter.
Tiv said to his team as the lift lowered to the bottom of the mine shaft, "If anyone gets split up, meet back here. Try to stay in contact with one another as much as possible, I don't want anyone getting lost down here."
Rachi eyed Tiv before nodding, she alone out of the group knew of why Tiverian was wary of cave networks and tunnels. His master, Jet Sumner, who had been a father to Tiv since he was young, had been murdered in a cave, years ago.
"Sabers out, but not ignited." Tiv ordered. He hadn't needed to, all of the Jedi had their sabers in hand already.
"He is close." Vance said darkly.
Tiv felt it too. A dark presence; not necessarily an evil one, but one that made him wonder what is was they were up against.
Who is this guy? He wondered.
The lift slowed to a halt, and the four Jedi disembarked, looking around the chamber they were now in.
They were in a large underground chamber, at least a hundred meters high and twice as long. The trickle of water could be heard in the distance, and steam floated above a silent pool of water. The pool along one side of the room was at the bottom of a nearly thirty foot drop. On the far side of the pool, a series of tunnels disappeared into the darkness.
A small hut was on the other side of the chamber, but it was abandoned, and definitely not the home of the murderer.
"What is this place?" Rachi asked aloud.
A calm voice answered her, filled not with malice or hatred, but firmness, "It will be your tomb, if you do not leave me be."
Four lightsabers blazed to life, filling the chamber with multi-coloured light. The man who had spoken dropped from his hiding place along one of the walls, but instead of attacking as Tiv had expect, he leapt past the Jedi and bounded across the cliff-edge. The Force-leap carried the dark figure over the water, steam parting as he passed.
The four Jedi immediately took chase, Vesh bellowing, "Stay where you are!"
The Jedi Knights leapt across the water, dropping thirty feet onto cold, wet stone. Experience paid off when making such a difficult landing, and while Tiv, Vance, and Rachi able to land safely, Vesh landed hard and twisted his ankle sharply. He let out a cry of pain as he fell to the ground, his lightsaber shutting down as it dropped from his hand. Clutching his foot, he managed to yell, "I'll be okay, follow him!"
Tiv, Rachi, and Vance sprinted into the tunnel the dark jedi had disappeared in to, and within seconds they were leaping across rocky outcroppings over another underground pool. The rocks served as stepping stones, slippery and sharp, but the Jedi were in-tune with The Force, and they didn't slip.
Stopping on three different rocks spaced out across the room, the Jedi stopped.
"Where did he go?" Rachi demanded, her lekku bouncing off her shoulders as she looked around.
Tiv couldn't sense the dark jedi either, and answered, "I don't know."
His voice echoed eerily in the room, and he noticed how worried his voice sounded. He forced himself to strengthen his tone, "He can't have doubled back on us, could he?"
"Not a chance." Rachi replied.
"Underwater." Vance said, his eyes on the water below. His blue lightsaber cut through the murky depths, where a black cloak lay discarded.
Without warning, a dark figure dropped behind Vance, and swiftly slammed the butt of an unlit lightsaber into his skull. Vance cried out in pain, and lost his balance. He slipped almost soundlessly into the water. Resurfacing a moment later, he gasped for breath and held a hand to his forehead, where a trickle of blood seeped between his fingers.
The dark figure leapt past Rachi and Tiv again, but this time, Tiv was ready. He force-pushed the dark jedi mid-leap, resulting in the man landing on the far edge of the pool. Tiv and Rachi followed, leaving Vance to tend to his wound.
The figure dashed down a side passage, opening out onto a rocky bridge, a natural pathway over a pool of water. The far end of the bridge had a steel doorway.
Rachi knew the figure was going to try to escape through the door, so she Force gripped the door and slammed it shut. The figure skidded to a halt before the now closed door, and turned slowly to face Rachi and Tiv, cornered.
"You're coming with us for questioning." Tiv said, breathing heavily.
The dark figure still held his unlit lightsaber, and shook his hooded head, "You do not want to do that." He said sharply.
Rachi shot back, "Drop the saber, or I'll cut your arm off with it.
Her blue lightsaber raised as warning. Tiv's own blue blade raised as well, he sensed a fight.
The dark jedi said, "I don't want to have to kill any of you, please, just leave me here. I know what I am doing. You don't understand."
Tiv stated, "We understand enough. You've killed several innocent people, and we're here to bring you in."
"Innocent?" the man echoed darkly. Beneath the hood, Tiverian could tell he was smiling, "Look into their lives a bit more and you'll see how 'innocent' they really are. If you did your job properly you would be here to thank me."
Before Tiv could ask what the man meant, Rachi started forwards. The dark jedi locked eyes with her and said, "One more step...and you will wish you never entered this cave. This is your last warning, Jedi."
The sentence was punctuated by the ignition of the man's lightsaber. The room, now bathed in blue and emerald light, made the shadows on the walls dance.
Rachi shuffled forward slowly, and the dark jedi turned sideways. A simple maneuver, meant to make for a smaller target. He held his blade horizontally at his hip, his muscular arm was a sign that this dark jedi was in fine physical form.
Rachi's eyes could have cut through steel, and the dark jedi seemed to know that she was not going to back down.
"So be it." He said, and as Rachi neared at him, he raised his blade and swiped it at her.
She blocked the attack easily...too easily, and for a split second, as Tiv rushed forward to aid her in the fight, he could feel her confidence rise. Then the feeling turned into one of shock as the dark jedi spun and kicked her in the chest, knocking her into the water.
"Rachi!" Tiv shouted as the water splashed his boots. He tried to keep one eye on the dark jedi while he strained to spot his friend under the water. She surfaced a moment later, but her robes snagged onto a rock, and she slipped back under.
"Stop." The man said to Tiv, when the young Jedi slashed with his lightsaber. The man didn't even parry the half-hearted attack, he merely twisted his body to avoid the energy blade.
Tiverian shook his head, "I can't let you go. Even if it means I have to kill you."
He lunged forwards, striking at his foe twice, lightning-quick, before twirling away. The dark jedi parried both blows and riposted, faster than Tiv expected, and he felt the sting of the blade against his shoulder as punishment. The wound was shallow, and the pain only a minor distraction.
Moving in again, Tiv tried feinting a high strike and then stabbing forward, but the dark jedi was clearly much more proficient than Tiv took him for, and for his arrogance he received two slashes, one on the wrist and one on the thigh.
The dark jedi resumed his prior stance, sideways with the blade low, having expended virtually no energy thus far.
Tiv ignored the pain of the three stinging cuts and leapt over his enemy, launching a flurry of attacks, flipping sideways off the wall to strike from all directions at once.
None of the attacks got through. Tiv felt a fist slam into his cheek, spinning him to face away from his enemy, and he felt a pang of fear strike him -- he was wide open for attack.
Before he could turn, he felt a sharp kick connect with his back, knocking him to the floor, where a rock cut into his temple.
He twisted to look up at his imposing enemy, who instead of slaughtering the defenceless Tiv, merely stood above him, silent.
Tiverian felt his stomach grow heavy; his enemy had not been remotely phased by his attacks. The wounds he had recieved were not lucky or desperate hits from his enemy, but calculated, precise strikes designed to do just this -- to take Tiv down without inflicting any serious injuries.
"I could have killed you, along with your three friends, but I chose not to. If you pursue me, I will not hesitate to slaughter the four of you, do you understand?" The dark figure said slowly. His voice was still not filled with malice or hatred, it remained calm and resolute.
Tiv just nodded slowly.
The man went on, "The people I killed were not innocent as you may believe. If you search their houses you will find that all of them were slavers, murderers, rapists, or worse. I took their lives because locking them up wouldn't be punishment enough."
Tiv felt a chill pass through him. So that's how the victims are connected...through crime?
"You were wrong to slay them. They deserved trials, prison, forced labor."
"Do you really believe that?" The man asked.
Tiv didn't answer, but the dark jedi understood, "The Jedi part of you sees it as wrong, but the part of you that longs for justice in the Galaxy agrees."
Tiv could only stare. His wounds stung sharply.
"You are proficient with a blade for one your age. Your combat style is not one that does well against a practitioner of my caliber. Keep practicing. Keep training. It will save your life one day."
Tiv asked, "Who are you?"
The dark figure turned and opened the door that Rachi had shut; behind it was another turbolift. The figure entered the lift, and as the door slid shut, he answered,
"I was once a Jedi like you. Now I am just a man with a lightsaber."
The door closed, and the lift disappeared upwards.
Tiverian remained still for a moment, stunned. He wouldn't give chase...but they couldn't let the man go, either. He decided to regroup with the others, tend to everyone's injuries, and report to the Jedi Council. He had the feeling they would not be pleased...
