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Legacy of Darkness - A Fanfiction trilogy


MayhemofChaonus

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Got it done guys! This part is a Xalek exclusive, a little parting gift from our favorite bloodthirsty apprentice before we enter the finale which will finish off this story arc! So say your goodbyes, because it will probably be a while before we see this Kaleesh again!

 

 

The skies over Damerok were awash with the colored streaks of plasma bolts from the two fleets battling in orbit. The Damerokian defense fleet was small but determined, and no quarter was given or taken. Anti-orbital weaponry fired on Raze's ships from the surface, inflicting significant damage but not enough to turn the tide. Through the chaos flew Raze's personal shuttle, dodging and weaving through defense formations and debris fields left by destroyed vessels. Upon the arrival of Raze's fleet in orbit, Damerok had recalled every single one of its ships in the system, and was desperately trying to draw out the battle into a siege, so that Republic reinforcements would have time to arrive, if they ever did.

 

 

But if Raze succeeded in his mission, not even the Republic could get here in time. It would take several days for a sizable enough fleet to be assembled and dispatched to Damerok, and he was confident that by that time the treaty would have already been signed, making Damerok officially Imperial territory. Momentarily distracted by a squad of fighters that nearly collided with him, he failed to evade a strafe from one of the enemy ships and was hit. The shuttle bucked and shook as the cloaking device shorted out. Cursing, Raze was forced to immediately dodge a follow-up strafe launched by the fighters who had just passed him. Seeing him appear suddenly on their scanners, they had done a prompt about-face and were now bearing down on him, eager to blast him out of the sky.

 

 

Raze took evasive action, using the debris as cover for his escape and purposefully flying through hot zones in an attempt to lose his pursuers. He managed to lose three of them by the time he emerged from the other side of the battle an entered the atmosphere, but two of the determined pilots were still hot on his trail. Launching a compliment of missiles, Raze grunted in approval as two of the projectiles caught out one of the pilots and destroyed his vehicle mere seconds before he ejected. Suddenly a lucky series of shots by the final pilot hit his engine and left stabilizer. The engine was still working, but barely, and the destroyed stabilizer made steady flying impossible. Realizing the shuttle was going to crash just as he broke through the clouds over Seelar, Damerok's capital city, Raze aimed the shuttle for an industrial sector and unfastened his harness, rushing to the back of the shuttle to make his timely escape.

 

 

With a Force push, he blew out the docking ramp and leaped out, landing on a rooftop and turning to watch his shuttle crash into a power plant, exploding in a spectacular fireball. Hearing the distant whine of another aircraft, he turned to see the fighter that had been chasing him. Concentrating, he reached out with the Force and seized the fighter in his telekinetic grip. The pilot struggled to break out of the hold by attempting to swing the fighter violently from side to side, but Raze's grip was like iron, and he drove the fighter directly into the inferno that had replaced the power plant. The explosion that followed was all he needed to confirm his enemy's death.

 

 

Turning dismissively away from destruction he'd left in his wake, he decided it was time for an audience with the king.

 

__________

 

 

Hydrax walked briskly down the hallway towards the throne room, swinging open the massive double doors and entering the chamber. He continued to walk towards the throne as he spoke.

 

 

"Your majesty, we need to leave."

 

 

King Lareesh looked up in surprise and stood to his feet, shock and anger beginning to show on his countenance.

 

 

"Hydrax, what is the meaning of this?" Reaching the foot of the dias leading up to the throne, Hydrax stopped.

 

 

"They've sent someone after you. We need to move you to a safer location, now."

 

 

The king sniffed. "So let them come. That's what my guards and you are here for, to protect me."

 

 

"None of us can protect you from a Sith, my liege." Hydrax said pointedly.

 

 

"Sith?" The king looked visibly shaken. "They sent a Sith?"

 

 

"Yes, that's exactly why we need to move you out of reach."

 

 

Lareesh appeared to consider the situation for a moment before finally answering.

 

 

"Alright," he said suddenly, turning to the two guards stationed on either side of the throne. "Jenkins, Argyle, you're coming with us." Hydrax shook his head.

 

 

"They'd only slow us down m'lord."

 

 

"They're coming with us and that's final." The king declared, challenging Hydrax to disagree. He didn't.

 

__________

 

 

Raze slipped like a phantom through the halls of the royal palace. Armed guards were everywhere, but with Raze's Force cloak shrouding his form and silencing his movements, he was like a small breeze, weaving and winding his invisible way through the morass of the king's protectors. Some protectors they are, Raze thought. An intruder is right within their midst and they don't even know. Then again, what was the loyalty and vigilance of mortal men compared to the power of the Force?

 

 

Eventually Raze successfully navigated his way to the throne room, and it was then he discovered he had a problem. There was an entire platoon of armed guards keeping watch over the huge double doors, he couldn't open them without informing the guards of his presence, and subsequently setting off the alarm. Moving quickly, he scoured the surrounding area looking for anything that he could use. In a few minutes, he found it. A ventilation duct that seemed to run directly towards the throne room, and it was just large enough for him to fit into.

 

 

"Herein lies the problem with having large ventilation ducts." Raze mumbled to himself, as he pried the grill off of the opening. Looking inside, he discovered that the duct was actually riddled with security devices. Pressure sensors, motion detectors, microscopic cameras, and immediately he regretted his hubris. Reaching out with the Force, he dazzled the first security cam, freezing the image of an empty duct, and clambered in. Using the Force, he levitated the grill off of the floor of the room he had just left and brought it back into place, then turned his attention back towards the task ahead of him.

 

 

Many agonizing minutes later, Raze kicked out the grill of the ceiling mounted ventilation shaft and dropped to the floor of the throne room, instinctively reaching for his lightsaber as soon as his feet hit the ground. To his surprise, he found the throne room completely empty. Had they known he was coming? No, if they had discovered his presence in the duct he would have been surrounded by guards right now, there was some other explanation.

 

 

Settling himself on the throne room floor, Raze sat in a cross-legged meditation pose and surrendered his thoughts to the Force. He could feel the ebb and flow of its currents around him, and as he focused, he saw back in time to the King's hurried departure. The bounty hunter, the one called Hydrax, had intervened, escorting the King out of the throne room and likely out of the palace. There had only been a few minutes since the event, he could still catch them if he hurried.

 

 

Rising from his spot on the floor, Raze dashed to the door near the throne that his quarry had exited by, throwing his Force cloak around himself as he flung it open and ran down the hall beyond.

 

____________

 

 

Hydrax lead the group through the palace at an urgent pace, avoiding main thoroughfares and sticking to the winding and complex back corridors. They passed several patrols which often stared at the sight of the King skulking about the palace with such a heavily armed escort. Eventually they reached the lower levels and the corridors became more run down and in need of care. Hydrax lead them to a door that looked as old as the palace itself and quickly picked it with an extendible tool that sprouted from the fingertip of his gauntlet.

 

 

"This way your majesty."

 

 

"Where are we going? What's down there?"

 

 

"This is a network of caverns meant to be used as a hideout or means of escape." The massive bounty hunter said. "It's the only way to get you out of the palace safely."

 

 

"How did you even know this existed?" King Lareesh asked worriedly. "No-one outside of the royal family and the elite guard is supposed to know about it."

 

 

"I always do my research." Hydrax replied. "Now are we leaving or would you rather stay and find out what the Sith has planned for you?" After a moment of indecision, the King entered the dark passageway beyond the threshold, and his two guards followed, with Hydrax bringing up the rear and locking the door behind them.

 

 

They descended down a long flight of stone steps until they reached a carved cave tunnel at the bottom, following it they passed through several forks with the King leading the way. Eventually they reached a large, open cavern with five other tunnels leading off of it.

 

 

"Now, if I remember correctly," the King mused, "the second tunnel from the middle is-" he was cut off my the sound of a heavy blaster belching twin bolts of plasma into the backs of the two guards, Jenkins and Argyle. He whirled to see Hydrax holding his huge blaster, its barrel still smoking a little.

 

 

"You traitorous scum!"

 

 

"I tried to convince you to come alone." Hydrax said, his voice never wavering, much like his blaster, which was aimed squarely at King Lareesh's forehead. "But you insisted they come with us. Their fates were sealed in that moment, you killed them, not me."

 

 

"You have the gall?!" The King spouted furiously, seeming to forget that Hydrax was holding an enormous blaster on him. "You just shot them dead in the back and you accuse me of killing them?"

 

 

"They wouldn't have had to die if they weren't here." Hydrax pointed out. "No one had to die because of this, but you made that impossible. Now shut your mouth before I decide this gamble isn't worth the risk and just shoot you."

 

 

The king seemed like he was about to say something, but reason caused him to bite back whatever he was about to say. Hydrax used his voice activated comlink to open a channel.

 

__________

 

 

"Greetings, my lord." Came an unfamiliar voice over Raze's com. The sound caused him to stop dead in his tracks.

 

 

"I know you're here, in the palace. Don't worry, I'm not going to out you to the royal guards. Instead, I want to make you an offer."

 

 

"Who is this?" Raze demanded, finally finding his voice after the shock of realizing his personal comm channel had been sliced.

 

 

"Hydrax the Relentless, my lord." Came the gravelly voice again. "I'm sure you've heard of me. The Mandolorians tell stories about me, or so I hear."

 

 

"How did you get into this channel?" Raze demanded. There was a sound that might have been a sigh on the other end, then Hydrax spoke again.

 

 

"I've got a friend back on my ship, one of the best slicers in the quadrant, don't blame your personnel, they didn't have a chance at keeping him out."

 

 

"Speak your offer." Raze replied.

 

 

"Well, let me put it this way," the sound of a blaster being cocked could be heard on the other end of the line. "What's this world worth to ya?"

 

 

Then Raze realized what was happening. Hydrax, for reasons unknown, had decided that protecting King Lareesh was no longer as profitable a venture as it might have seemed. He had correctly deduced that facing off against Raze would likely put him six feet under, and had instead decided to sell out a world to save his own skin, and make a friend in the Sith Empire. Raze wasn't a haggling man, but even if he had been he would have been in no mood to haggle. He had to make an offer good enough that Hydrax would accept without a second thought, otherwise the hunter might opt to simply kill the king and vanish. Raze mentally reviewed his stipend and resources, calculating how much he could afford to offer.

 

 

"Three million credits." He finally said. "Paid upon safe delivery of one living King Lareesh to my flagship in orbit."

 

 

"You're straight to business," Hydrax remarked. "I like that. I have a feeling this relationship is going to be very profitable, for both of us." The comm channel cut out.

 

 

"Alright your majesty," Hydrax said, waving his gun in the direction of the second tunnel from the middle. "what was that you said about the way out?"

 

__________

 

 

Two hours later, Raze, escorted by Commander Harkanous, approached Hydrax's ship, the Spinax, as the boarding ramp extended to allow the bounty hunter, still holding his captive at gunpoint, to descend into the hanger bay. When they reached the bottom of the ramp, Harkanous stepped up and slapped stun cuffs on King Lareesh.

 

 

"Your accommodations are this way, your majesty." He said with just a hint of a sneer, eliciting a chuckle from the honor guard of Imperial soldiers. He took the king away, while Hydrax holstered his weapon and turned to Raze.

 

 

"And my payment?"

 

 

Raze wordlessly took out a datapad and pressed a few buttons on the touch screen. Hydrax immediately received a notification on his wrist computer, and when he checked it, he actually chuckled to himself.

 

 

"Not bad for a day's work."

 

 

"There is much more where that came from." Raze replied. "I have need of someone with your skills, if you are so inclined to offer them."

 

 

Hydrax entered something into his wrist computer and a message appeared in Raze's inbox.

 

 

"That contains my contact information, as well as protocol for contacting me in an emergency." Hydrax said. "I don't give out that info lightly, only to my best customers." Raze smiled.

 

 

"Pleasure doing business with you, Hydrax."

 

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Ho ho ho! Darth Santa has reappeared! And since you've all been so BAD this year (:p) you're getting Halloween for Christmas!

 

Lol in all seriousness this finale was supposed to be ending around Halloween, but my altered work schedule blew that out of the water. So here you go, the start of the "Season 1" finale. It's almost 5000 words of action and build-up, most of it written in a feverish haze at 4 in the morning, so forgive me and Demunoki if everything isn't fully up to snuff...

 

With regards to my plans after the finale, I'll be taking a break from the main LOD storyline to gear up for the next story arc. In this time I'll also be writing a new, more novella-length fanfiction similar to the other authors here on the forums, one that focuses on the story of LOD on a microcosmic level, as opposed to a macrocosmic one.

 

But that's enough of my yabbering, let's open your present!

 

Merry Christmas everyone! :D

 

 

"My lord, one of your acolytes has gone mad." Maiya said hesitantly to Lord Hargrev. "Your protection may be...wanting."

 

 

"I am concentrating! I'm trying to focus-" He turned at the sound of Nox's approaching footsteps. "What?!"

 

 

Nox nearly electrocuted him for the disrespectful, rebellious tone in his voice, but recognizing that wouldn't help anyone he gritted his teeth and stayed his hand.

 

 

"We don't have much time." He insisted. "I've recovered the computer core but the Dread Masters are launching an attack on the Empire."

 

 

Hargrev whirled around and slammed his fist on the screen of the portable console behind him. "Blast it all!"

 

 

"That explains the signals we're picking up," Maiya said, glancing at the now cracked screen. "hyperdrives coming online in the Dread Fortresses outer courtyard."

 

 

"Get the gate codes off the computer core, we're invading the fortress next." Nox ordered.

 

 

"Yes, of course." Hargrev said. "But please-do not let the Dread Master's ships reach our worlds." Hargrev begged. "What they would do is...unthinkable."

 

 

Nox suddenly felt every alarm in his brain go off, he heard that terrible sound again, accompanied by a deep rumbling and the same two familiar presences; that of the Dread Masters, and that of Death.

 

 

"Hurry as you wish," the voice of Dread Master Tyrans boomed. "but you will watch your planets burn."

 

____________

 

 

Swiftly and silently, Nox and HK moved through the Dread Fortress's heavily guarded outer courtyard. The layout was seemingly designed to confuse, with countless walls separating the wide open space into loosely connected sections with each one usually dominated by one or several of a large takeoff platform upon each of which an imperial-style red shuttle sat, being prepped for launch and guarded by entire platoons of the elite Dread Guard.

 

 

Slipping through a large group of the aforementioned guard, Nox descended a small flight of stone steps into a much larger section than the one he had just left. The first thing he noticed was the three shuttles on raised platforms, with guards and pilots milling about them, and perched on a raised section beyond, overseeing it all, was a blue-skinned female Twi'lek. She paced back and forth anxiously, her lekku tips flicking and twitching with stress. She was dressed in a form-fitting jumpsuit with no stomach, and in her hand she clutched a double-bladed lightsaber. She was obviously the commander overseeing this section, and Nox realized that he would have to take her out first so she couldn't stop him from sabotaging these shuttles.

 

 

Signaling to HK, he sent the droid off to take up a position atop one of the shuttles and prepare for the fight, Nox prepared by projecting an aura of distraction and absentmindedness as he moved through the assembled troops. It was a variation of several mind control techniques that allowed him to briefly muffle all external stimuli outside of ten meters from the affected. Despite the distant sounds of battle one hundred, fifty, or even twenty meters away, the soldiers would remain distracted and distant, each of their senses temporarily afflicted with its own equivalent of near-sightedness. The effect was only temporary and would wear off in a few minutes, which was why Nox had to move quickly. If the affect wore off while he was still battling the commander, he might suddenly find himself swarmed by near endless waves of Dread Guard, and without the godlike might the Ritual of Power Transfer afforded him, he would be vulnerable and exposed.

 

 

Reaching the steps up to the commander's platform, he placed the numbing daze on the nearby guards and moved in on the commander, sinking deeper into the Dark Side even as he summoned it to prepare for battle. The Twi'lek, despite her paranoia, never saw him coming until it was almost too late.

 

 

She barely dodged Nox's attempt to skewer her through her exposed stomach, but quickly recovered, bringing her own double-bladed weapon to bear against her attacker. Nox immediately erected his signature impenetrable defense and unleashed the full oppressive power of his dark Force presence on her, perfectly blending his use of the Force with lightsaber techniques to make himself invulnerable. He unleashed bursts of lightning and dark energy in jolting staccato rhythms that culminated in the familiar salvo of depredating volts. She responded with dexterity and grace, artfully dodging his attacks or blocking them with either her lightsaber or the Force. She was surprisingly skilled at creating and exploiting holes in his defenses. Her lightning fast Ataru strikes quickly began to wear Nox down, and the holes she created in his defenses with double and triple feints grew larger and larger by the second. Still, her progress was frustratingly slow. It seemed she was used to most opponents having collapsed by now, and it was only ten seconds into their duel. Her speed and reflexes increased, the frequency of her attacks multiplying exponentially as she dipped into her deepest energy reserves. Nox was now focused solely on defense, utilizing the Force to harry and slow her reactions while using his weapon to parry, deflect, or block her attacks with insane speed and accuracy.

 

 

Growing desperate, his opponent dug down deep, and summoned the very last of her reserves in an effort to end him before she exhausted herself, but it was already too late. Nox felt her willpower break under the effect of his stifling presence and saw her focus completely shift to ending him. She was vulnerable. For a split second he shifted his focus, reaching out with the Force across the courtyard, causing a small piece of broken metal sitting atop the shuttle upon which HK-51 was perched to lift up and clatter back down. A millisecond later, almost in the same instant, the shot HK had been charging was launched from the barrel, burning through the air with a speed that seemed supernatural, burying itself in between the Twi'lek's exposed shoulders, punching through her drained personal shields and Force armor like it didn't even exist. The Twi'lek went rigid, standing perfectly frozen for one breathless moment, then collapsed to the ground like a sack of meat.

 

 

Sheathing his lightsaber, Nox cloaked himself in the Force and moved towards the now also cloaked HK, who leaped from the top of the shuttle and activated a detonator moments after landing. All the shuttles in the area exploded into roiling balls of flame, and immediately every guard in the vicinity whirled to gaze at the sudden spectacle, the spell Nox had placed over them shattered. Smiling to himself, Nox met HK in an unoccupied corner of the courtyard.

 

 

"Can you finish things here?" He asked the droid in a low voice.

 

 

"Affirmation:" HK whispered. "Absolutely master! Clarification: would you prefer I enact chaos, genocide, or infiltrator protocol?"

 

 

"Chaos." Nox responded. "The confusion will assist me in accomplishing the rest of my mission."

 

 

"Recommendation: I suggest you eliminate all your targets with extreme prejudice master."

 

 

"Thank you HK, I will do just that."

 

__________

 

 

Nox approached the bare-chested, dual-wielding Dread Guard commander at a hurried but measured pace. Khem Val was standing hunched over right beside the tall human, cloaked in the Dark Side as Nox was, waiting for the signal to strike. After casting the perception-muting spell on the last and nearest group of guards, Nox took up a strategically hidden position by an obelisk and flashed Khem a hand signal. The Dashade dropped his cloak, raising his blade to strike down his surprised next meal. The marauder blocked the monster's vibroblades with crossed lightsabers and threw off the crushing attack with surprising strength. He ferociously attacked Khem, utilizing the Ataru form with much the same mastery as his Twi'lek comrade.

 

 

Khem, to his credit, stood his ground, but he was not as skilled as his opponent, and his personal shield and body both took consistent damage from his opponents hundreds of stabbing, thrusting, and sweeping attacks. Nox kept himself busy by keeping a steady stream of Force corruption flowing into the Dashade, healing his wounds almost as fast as they formed and lessening the physical damage by maintaining a shell of Force energy around his Shadow Killer that acted as a second layer of energy-based defense. Nox could sense Khem employing his dreaded ability to consume the Force energy of his prey, and he could feel the commander's growing fear, which he was directly converting into rage. It became a contest of which would win out in the end, Khem's ability to devour Force energy, or the commander's ability to create more through his fear and anger.

 

 

Suddenly, the commander pierced Khem's blade defenses with a sweeping and dizzying array of attacks. His lightsabers ravaged and then broke his enemy's shields and struck flesh. Khem let loose a low bellow of pain, and Nox was grateful that he had made sure the Dashade had placed a noise-dampening field generator nearby, otherwise the sound might have broken the tenuous hold Nox's spell held over the nearby guards. Horrible scorch marks on Khem's chest and shoulders smoked and crackled as the enraged beast responded to his attacker's brutality with some of his own. His Force-consuming abilities amplified by his hatred, the beast began to suck the very life essence out of his foe, even as he brutalized his defenses with his blade.

 

 

Nox reached deep into the dark well in the core of his being and summoned dark, swirling energies that gathered in a writhing ball in his hands, focusing the darkness, he then unleashed it into Khem's ether body, accelerating the monster's own cell regeneration to biologically impossible rates. The grievous wounds began to heal before the commander's very eyes, and with disappointment, Nox realized what was going to happen next. The commander reached out with the Force, summoning a swirling, localized tempest that kept Khem trapped in a tiny vortex of wind and power. Turning and locking on to Nox with surprising efficiency, the commander leaped off of the balcony and came crashing down on Nox's raised Force barrier. The man continued to savagely beat on the somewhat opaque force field, but a continuous flow of dark energy from Nox's raised hands to the inside of the barrier kept it stable and unbreakable.

 

 

For about ten seconds the bare-chested human threw himself against the unyielding wall of Nox's will again and again, until the whirlwind occupying Khem faded and dispersed, and the raging monster sent his own massive bulk hurtling through the air, coming crashing down on the man, nearly catching him off guard. The commander continued to try and break Nox's barrier, even as Khem drained his Force energy and attacked him with all the strength he could muster. Nox actually laughed at the man's sheer desperation, and ceased to channel the barrier, taunting his enemy. The marauder went berserk, striking savagely and with little thought, sparing only some of his energy for defending himself from Khem's most damaging or fatal blows. When he saw the barrier beginning to weaken and waver, his desperation blossomed into triumphant determination, and he began utilizing positioning, footwork, and artful dodging to avoid Khem's attacks, saving all his offensive energy for attacking Nox.

 

 

"Pathetic!" Nox spat, stretching out his hand just as the Force barrier collapsed. A bolt of lightning spiraled down his arm and unleashed itself from his fingertips in a split second. It pierced his enemy's Force defenses and shocked him out of his berserker rage, causing him to briefly lose his coordination and dexterity, allowing Khem to slice off one of his arms with an opportunistic strike. The human howled in pain, and Khem moved in, slicing off the commander's other arm at the elbow, both stumps now bleeding freely. The Shadow Killer reached out with one, three-taloned claw and seized the agonized man around the neck, raising him high up off the ground so that his booted feet kicked helplessly at Khem's armored knees. As Khem choked the defenseless human, he opened his mouth and white tendrils of energy began to drift out of the human's skin, falling into Khem's gaping, lamprey maw like energy being sucked into a black hole. Nox savored the man's death through the Force as Khem slowly, agonizingly devoured his soul, piece by piece. To the victim, it felt like he was being eaten alive but on an entirely different level, the agony was transcendent rather than carnal, meaning there was no hope of even the sweet mercy of unconsciousness. He would experience the entire event in all its terror and suffering. His last moments were a literal hell.

 

 

Khem finally dropped the empty corpse to the ground, and turned to his master.

 

 

"Dushaneey wauss, Ominei demou shulna apybaun."

 

 

"I enjoyed it too, think nothing of it." Nox said, the tone of his voice reminiscent of a man who had just had a particularly satisfying sexual encounter. A light haze covered his thoughts like newly fallen snow, and he felt satiated in a way he couldn't quite describe, despite it being familiar to him. Ever since meeting Khem all those years ago, he had found that empathically experiencing the devouring of his enemies' souls at the hands of his morose monster to be an immensely satisfying experience that easily rivaled the decadent pleasures that many Sith, including himself, indulged in. It always struck him as a perverse miracle, and more than once he wondered if the pleasure that Khem inadvertently brought him through simply doing what nature had decreed his species must do to survive was clouding his judgment regarding the Shadow Killer, in much the same way that his childish crush on his master, Darth Zash, had nearly blinded him to her treachery.

 

 

"Deshalii sabuun ominei mau duusc." Khem said. "Shalrey teemun sulii meenau voos."

 

 

"Just finish up here," Nox said glancing around to see the first signs that the spell was starting to wear off. "You know what to do, stay hidden and use the chaos to your advantage. When you're done meet me in the main thoroughfare of the fortress for your next orders."

 

 

"Saibuna tuminay sumak cheiss." Khem affirmed, before raising his Force cloak and vanishing to do his master's will. Nox too, cloaked himself in the Dark Side and departed to accomplish the final part of his mission, which would drive the final stake through the heart of the Dread Master's plans.

 

___________

 

 

When Nox arrived in the main thoroughfare, he was not surprised to see entire squads of Imperial troops battling the two remaining Force sensitive commanders of the launch. The short, squat commander in arcane robes with a strange helmet was pummeling men to death with pieces of the fortress itself ripped from the walls and ground and levitated by his telekinetic power, while his tall, battle-armored companion was alternating between masterful use of Shien to combat the ranged troops and Djem So to beat down the vibroblade-wielding soldiers. Still under cloak, Nox observed the large number of dead bodies in the area, most of them Dread Guard. It seemed the invasion force sent to hold his route out of the fortress had seen great success, until they encountered these two.

 

 

Turning his attention back to the two Force users making a mess of his men, Nox dropped his cloak and unfurled the full weight of his dark presence, simultaneously alerting both the enemy commanders and his men to his presence on the battlefield. The men couldn't help but cheer and roar with triumphant battle lust as they felt his power flow into them, bolstering their reflexes, strength, resolve, and morale. Nox's eyes glowed purple, the one-way lenses of his helm failing to hide his power. A visible aura of dark Force energy surrounded him, and five orbs of dark energy could be seen orbiting him like satellites.

 

 

Drawing his lightsaber, Nox activated it, waiting for the enemy to make their move. He didn't have to wait long. One of the fools, the helmeted one, tried to pick up Nox telekinetically and toss him around like a toy, only to find that he couldn't even budge him. So instead, he turned and gestured towards a small group of soldiers, levitating them off the ground and pinning them in midair, helpless. He then turned back to Nox just as his companion charged the Dark Lord with a Force-imbued leap.

 

 

Nox could sense that both of his foes were strong willed, the truth of it proven by the fact that they continued to fight even after his appearance on the battlefield. Now they weren't just outnumbered but outgunned, yet still they fought on, their conviction like durasteel in their veins. Still, Nox could also sense that conviction, and their willpower, wavering under the oppressive weight of his dark power, and the renewed ferocity of the soldiers they had believed to merely be target practice. It wouldn't be long before they both lay broken and defeated at his feet.

 

 

The tall, armored brute was a skilled Djem So duelist, and he put his skills to work trying to bully Nox into retreat, while the helmeted kinetic tried to keep the soldiers busy while also unleashing barrage after barrage of debris at Nox. Nox felt several shots of kolto beams strike him on the flanks, and he spared a moment to realize that the squad medics had taken up support positions around him and were channeling their kolto shots at him, recognizing his life as the key to their victory. Encouraged by their loyalty, Nox reached out with the Force, planting the seeds of hatred and rage in the kinetic commander's mind, easily slipping past the man's wavering mental defenses.

 

 

Possessed of a sudden rage, the robed man stopped focusing on the soldiers and turned his wrath entirely on Nox. He unleashed thick streams of Force lightning at him, which strained Nox's Force armor and personal shields, but shots of Kolto from the imperial medics kept Nox's energy reserves high, while his foe's power and resolve continued to wane under the relentless assault of the troopers. The duelist commander ran through a staggering variation of sequences and angles of attack with limited success. He could occasionally create and exploit holes in Nox's defenses, but Nox was always carefully limiting the amount of damage he could do by balancing his Force and lightsaber defenses so that they complimented each other, even while he battered and weakened his opponent with both his martial skills and the Force. At the peak of the battle, Nox truly was like a Rancor, equal parts an unstoppable force and an immovable mountain. He crushed and brutalized his two foes with his overwhelming power and unrivalled skill, while also simply taking their strongest attacks in stride and continuing to beat them into submission.

 

 

Eventually, a dark shadow emerged from thin air and nearly managed to sever the armored man's head with its massive vibroblade. The armored man whirled just in time for his blade to catch the assailant's blow and parry it, but now he found himself facing off against a terrifying-looking monster that was easily as big as he was, and seemed equally skilled in his own form. The kinetic soon found himself under fire from atop a pedestal midway down the long thoroughfare, as blaster bolts were launched with inhuman accuracy and frequency across what was likely over sixty meters distance. The kinetic raised an impenetrable Force Barrier much like Nox's own, channeling dark energy to constantly reinforce it underneath the constant and overwhelming barrage of fire from both the soldiers and the distant sniper. The duelist was so focused on his battle with the Dashade and deflecting incoming fire that he seemed to have completely forgotten about Nox.

 

 

Moving to a spot directly in the middle of his two enemies, Nox began to draw on all the power that he could, summoning it from deep within the dark well at his core. He could feel his hatred and anger rising, increasing his power exponentially, and he let it consume him. Unleashing a roar of triumph, he reached out his hands and threw his head back, yanking his two enemies from their positions with the Force and depositing them only a few meters away from him. Almost instantly, the power he had summoned unleashed itself in a spectacular explosion of dark energy, it swept over his disoriented opponents, knocking them prone. Immediately following the explosion, a lightning storm about fifteen meters across appeared out of thin air, summoned by the Dark Lord's own power. Appearing out of thin air a few meters above the ground, the unnatural maelstrom ravaged the vulnerable Dread Guard commanders, leaving them writhing and convulsing on the ground as Nox poured out his wrath.

 

 

Nox laughed, a joyfully maniacal and unhinged sound. He laughed as the power filled him to overflowing and his entire being felt hyper-energized by the sheer volume of energy passing through him and exploding out into the material world in a storm of fury. He laughed as he drank in the suffering and agony of his dying, despairing foes, and he laughed as the or.gasm of destruction and suffering reached its transcendent peak.

 

 

When the last burst of power left his body, he fell to the ground and collapsed onto his hands and knees. It was then he realized he had been hovering several feet above the ground and he hadn't even noticed. The energy storm had taken all of his remaining power to summon, but it had done the job spectacularly, and while his power was now exhausted, that was merely a drop in the bucket compared to what he could summon when the time to face the Dread Masters finally came. As he got to his feet he realized that all the imperial soldiers were staring at him. Some in shock and awe, and others in terror.

 

 

"Well? Get to your posts men! I need this thoroughfare kept clear of scum for when I return!" He barked.

 

 

As if jolted from a daze, the soldiers rushed off to take positions along the boulevard that lead to the gates of the Dread Fortress, and Nox turned to begin making his way up the distant, massive set of steps that lead up to those gates, which were now open and waiting, courtesy of Hargrev and Maiya successfully slicing the stolen computer core.

 

 

That horrible, chillingly familiar noise suddenly came from behind him, and Nox once more felt the cold breath of the void on the back of his neck. Temporarily paralyzed with terror, he felt another familiar presence wash over him, and the ground trembled violently, as if seized by terror as well. The golden mask of Dread Master Tyrans appeared before him, and a ring of fire sprung out of nowhere, surrounding him completely and bringing with it an oppressive heat that provided a startling contrast to the abyssal chill sweeping over Nox's petrified body.

 

 

"Not enough." Dread Master Tyrans booming voice echoed in Nox's head as the dark and shadowy forms of the other Dread Masters stepped out from behind him while he unleashed a wave of dark energy and madness that slammed into Nox's mind with the force of a starship, actually making him stumble back a few steps as his hands instinctively flew to his head. The attack didn't pierce his mental defenses, but the same was apparently not true for everyone else. The entire legion of soldiers clutched madly at their heads, some rolling around on the ground screaming in pain, while others unleashed the tortured howls of beasts and madmen as images, false memories, and terrifying delusions instantly crushed their spirits and broke their wills. Even Khem Val seemed dazed and out of it, staring off into space for a few seconds before shaking his head as if to clear the cobwebs in his brain, only to stare off into space again.

 

 

Surveying how easily the Dread Masters had crushed the minds of his troops, Nox decided his initial plan was the best option, whatever the Dread Masters had planned for him, he would face it alone. Turning back to the Dread Masters, he was hit in the face with Raptus's shocked and angry accusation.

 

 

"You dared to stop our launch! For every Dread Guard killed we will destroy one of your soldiers."

 

 

"Unless..." Dread Master Brontes said with her signature haughtiness, "you wish to bargain."

 

 

"Tell us a secret," Dread Master Bestia said, her tone that of a traitorous lover trying to pry information from her beloved's lips. "tell us what you fear and we will spare your servants."

 

 

"Stop it!" Nox demanded. "You want to know something I'm afraid of, I'll tell you!"

 

 

"Speak!" Raptus commanded, pointing at Nox. "Name your fear!"

 

 

"I've been a slave, an apprentice, and a collector of dark spirits." Nox said, barely suppressing the emotion in his voice as he worked himself up to speaking his worst fear aloud. "I have claimed power from nothing and conquered the Force itself, yet Death still pursues me. It haunts my dreams and stalks my every waking moment. It plagues me night and day and takes a thousand different forms to try and catch me unawares. It comes as my enemy, my ally, my servant, and my master. What I fear most, is that one day it will come, and I will be caught unprepared."

 

 

A low chuckle came from Raptus, but rather than him it was Dread Master Brontes who spoke next.

 

 

"Let that thought suffuse you."

 

 

All the Dread Masters raised their hands towards him and swirling vortexes of red and black energy swirled around their wrists. Nox heard that same hollow, rapid beating sound growing louder, as if the spectre of death was drawing closer, until it was right behind him. Despite the heat of the flames, Nox felt as cold as if he were in the deepest depths of void, he couldn't feel the heat at all and darkness began to drown his vision. In pure panic, he thought he was going to die, right here, right now. He couldn't stop a stifled cry of protest from escaping his lips, and with that the experience ended.

 

 

"Enough humiliation." Dread Master Bestia said. "You will join us soon."

 

 

With a swirling of dark energy and a flash of light, the specters of the Dread Masters vanished, leaving Nox standing alone. Behind him, the soldiers began to come to their senses, and Nox turned to them.

 

 

"This will all be over soon," he promised. "All I need from you, is to keep this passage open. Once I return with the Dread Masters heads, we can all go home."

 

 

There was no verbal reply from the men and women before him. They were too shaken and stunned to process what he had said right now.

 

 

"Khem," Nox said, turning to the now fully alert Dashade. "I want you and HK to assist these troops in defending this avenue of escape, lead them in battle if you have to, but do not let this position fall to the enemy."

 

 

"Dashade nou weizu." Khem said. The response translated to: "I will not fail." although the use of the species name, rather than his own name or the Dashade's word for "I" carried a sense of racial honor. If Khem failed to deliver his oath, Nox had permission to dishonor all other Dashade's in his place. It was an oath not ever used lightly, and was typically used when the one swearing it did not expect to survive.

 

 

"Then do your people, and mistress Death, proud Khem Val." Nox exhorted him. "Die with honor."

 

 

"Mortei nu halabas." Khem repeated in his own language.

 

 

Leaving the Dashade, Nox turned and began ascending the massive flight of stone steps leading up to the gates. When he reached the open gateway, he kneeled down and began to focus. He felt the dark minds of his children come alive at his telepathic touch, and each mind responded in one way or another. Some with acceptance, others with requests to wait. As he waited for the remaining children to create alibis for the event that was about to occur, Nox drew power from the ones who were ready. As the dark tide of energy rushed into him, filling his being, he experienced the welcome ecstasy that always accompanied this rush of unfathomable power. The darkness inside his soul grew and multiplied, and a palpable, visible aura of darkness and power swirled around him, making him the nexus of a vergence in the Force. Then, as each child signaled their readiness, he drew the final bouts of power from them, and when the last drop of it entered his being, he once more saw the door, flung wide open with the power of the abyss flowing freely out. The darkness rushed over him like a tsunami, thousands of whispers filled his ears and he felt dozens of unfamiliar limbs comprised of ethereal matter with non-Euclidean geometry curl around him. He felt the darkness swallow him up, but he was not dissolved, instead he became the darkness, one with it, bound to it. He was its embodiment, its chosen avatar through which it could interact with existence. He felt the power of a god flowing through his veins.

 

 

Standing to his feet, Darth Nox strode through the gates of the Dread Fortress, the very embodiment of the Dark Side, and across the galaxy, all who were exceptionally strong in the Force raised their heads, as a great shift, one the likes of which would not be felt for another three thousand years, rocked the galaxy.

 

Edited by MayhemofChaonus
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First of all, happy holidays and thanks for posting on Christmas this was an excellent gift. That ending was amazing

The way you're handling the masters storyline is truly astonishing, I especially like the ending where Nox has to connect with his children in order to gain the necessary power to defeat them. I also enjoy how you've been writing Khem Val's relationship with Nox, he was my favorite Sith Inquisitor companion and it's nice to see him getting some spotlight.

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First of all, happy holidays and thanks for posting on Christmas this was an excellent gift. That ending was amazing

The way you're handling the masters storyline is truly astonishing, I especially like the ending where Nox has to connect with his children in order to gain the necessary power to defeat them. I also enjoy how you've been writing Khem Val's relationship with Nox, he was my favorite Sith Inquisitor companion and it's nice to see him getting some spotlight.

 

I will echo Flame and agree that I really enjoy your take on the DM story and your way with Khem. Nicely done. I hope you had a nice holiday Mayhem. :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi guys! I was planning on releasing a part much larger than this, but frankly I just don't have it in me to keep going, I need another week or so to finish the Dread Fortress encounter so that its high quality, anyway hope you enjoy my take on the first half of the DF op.

 

One thing you should note: I took a few liberties with the dread monsters (Nefra, Grob'thok, trash mobs ect.) You will notice my descriptions are nothing like how they appear in-game. That's because in my universe the dread monsters actually look like monsters and not copy-pasted versions of every other animal or creature in SWTOR!

 

 

A silence as deep and dark as the shadows filling the massive, spherical chamber hung stagnant in the air. The smell of death, rot, and stale air filled the space, even though all organic beings in the room were technically alive. Seated on their ascended thrones sprouting like insidious plants from the room's central platform, the five Dread Masters watched in mute fascination as the vortex of Force energy that Nox had become entered the gates of their fortress. The voice of Dread Master Tyrans broke the deathly silence.

 

 

"We expected this, and yet he exceeds our expectations."

 

 

"We were foolish to discount him on Belsavis." Bestia said with a level of admiration in her voice. "We haven't seen this level of ambitious competence since Darth Revan, or perhaps the Emperor himself."

 

 

"His power is formidable," Raptus said, voicing what they were all thinking. "He has reached a level closer to us than anyone in our lifetime, left to his own devices he might well exceed us."

 

 

"Then let us harness him," Calphayus suggested. "latch onto him like Suulwari leeches and ensure that power is shared among us, instead of focused in a singular vessel."

 

 

"There is no alternative." Brontes affirmed. "Without a sixth we will inevitably lose our hold on sanity and surrender to the void, and he is the most suitable candidate who just so happens to be delivering himself right into our hands."

 

 

"The promise of greater knowledge and power is more than ample bait." Raptus added. "As powerful as he is we possess secrets and knowledge that would allow him to refine that power and put it to proper use. He will come to us, he will face our trials."

 

 

"And should he prove to be worthy," Tyrans continued, "We will have a more than suitable replacement for Styrak."

 

 

"Who will oversee the first trial?" Raptus said. "And what should that trial be?"

 

 

Brontes rose to her feet. "Now that we see his true power, I think we would be remiss not to test it. The first trial should be trial by combat."

 

 

"And you intend to carry it out?" Raptus asked rhetorically.

 

 

"Of course," Brontes said, as six golden tentacles, forged of the same material as the crown-like crest atop her head, slithered out from behind her back, twitching and turning their tips like the heads of strange mechanical serpents. "I have the matter well in hand."

 

______________

 

 

Nox strode confidently down the avenue leading from the outer gate deeper into the fortress. As he walked he tuned his comlink into the Dread Host frequency, and was immediately blasted in his ear by a harsh, commanding voice.

 

 

"This is Gate Commander Draxus, the intruder has breached the outer gate and is approaching the Gatekeeper, all forces on alert!"

 

 

They have a gate commander, Nox realized. Another obstacle he would likely have to remove. As he began to draw near to the walled courtyard at the other end of the boulevard, his eyes and Force sense suddenly picked up some aberrations just inside. Through the Force, the beings looked like shimmering, multi-colored gems of Force energy with an unmistakable dark taint. From what Nox could see of their physical forms, it became clear that these beasts were not products of natural evolution, possibly not even native to this universe.

 

 

Most of them were large humanoids covered in black armor which had lustrous, opaque red orbs embedded in places like the chest plate and shoulder plates. They all had hairless skin as black as their armor stretched over tight, thick muscles. Some of them were top-heavy armored cyborgs that were easily ten feet tall and walked on four-taloned feet set in a cross formation with a sole tentacle replacing each of their arms. Others resembled armored quadrupeds that had been forced to walk on two legs. They shambled along uncomfortably on the crooked, backwards-bending limbs, which in conjunction with their massive, clawed paws and mouth full of huge, thick fangs spoke to a canine past. These canine monsters were fifteen feet tall if they were a foot.

 

 

Scurrying about the area in droves were strange, twisted little humanoids with skull-like faces. They moved with the nimbleness and speed of insects, yet their climbing style and hunched posture pegged them as primates. Each one likely stood about eight feet tall at full height, mostly thanks to their elongated, serpentine necks which they instead used to place their heads out in front of their bodies, allowing them to see past the overly large shoulder pieces of their exoskeletal armor that protected their long necks from decapitating swipes when fully erect. Their bodies appeared as skeletal as their faces, and even their armor reflected this, the chest giving the rough appearance of a rib cage and vertebrae, enclosing their unfathomably long and thin torsos. At the end of their long and thin arms were five-fingered claws, each talon as long as the finger it sprouted from, and each creature balanced on the balls of its clawed, thumbed feet, allowing them to move quickly and nimbly across the courtyard, the clawed thumbs of their feet allowing for extra dexterity while climbing.

 

 

As Nox drew closer to the courtyard's entrance, two of the canine abominations noticed him and unleashed a bone-chilling sound easily interpreted as their version of howling. Dropping onto all fours, they charged him, their massive bulk racing towards him with astonishing speed, claws reaching for him, toothed mouths slobbering red saliva, yellow eyes seething with primal malice and hunger. In a blur, Nox moved past them, racing in between them with such supernatural speed that he was already standing in the center of the courtyard by the time they even realized he was gone. Nox paused, allowing his presence to settle over the area like a miasma, letting the darkness draw his foes to him. One by one the twisted beasts perked up and began to notice him, and as they did, they began to close in on him. Nox counted four of the canines, six of the claw footed creatures, and roughly fourteen of the skull-apes. Dangerous numbers to be facing when he didn't know what precisely it was he was facing, but nonetheless he was confident his power would more than suffice.

 

 

He called to the darkness, and felt it answer. The air became charged with electricity, and as the now galloping horde of monsters bore down on him, that power reached its peak. All of a sudden, a lightning storm erupted in the courtyard. The entire space was filled with thousands of lightning bolts that appeared seemingly from the thin air above the battlefield and poured their voltaic wrath out on the legion of mutants below. Most of the skeletal primates were electrocuted immediately, while the survivors writhed and thrashed on the ground, their screams resembling the sound of laughter more than the sound of beings in agony. The Claw Feet curled themselves up into balls, screeching in pain, their tentacles barely managing to stay wrapped around themselves due to the electric current that caused them to constantly twitch and spasm. The massive canines were slowed and weakened by the liquid agony coursing through them, but impressively they seemed resistant enough to the power that they could continue to slowly crawl towards their prey.

 

 

Nox hovered in the air, channeling the storm and feeding on the deaths of those who died in it to fuel his power, until the massive Dread Hounds had come close enough that a few more steps would allow for a direct attack with their massive claws. He allowed the lightning to subside, leaving behind the smoking ashes of the skull apes, and the charred corpses of five of the Claw Feet. Released from the debilitation of Nox's lightning, the Dread Hounds pounced, only for Nox to slip out from under them with the same preternatural speed he had used to enter the courtyard.

 

 

The two hounds crashed into one another with the sound of ringing metal, and the two dogs that had charged Nox outside the courtyard leaped over their stunned comrades to continue charging him. Nox unleashed a powerful kinetic wave that sent them both flying onto their backsides, and then he was gone, moving across the yard in seconds and drawing his lightsaber as he bore down on the one remaining Claw Foot that had finally struggled to its feet and began to move in on him. In a series of movements too fast to see, Nox cleanly sliced off both of the creature's tentacles, causing it to scream in pain. He then proceeded to begin severing the tubes connecting the beast's armored mask to a strange device on its back. The creature's cries quickly became strangled, and it fell over face first, its body shuddering and jerking as it gasped for breath, suffocating after being cut off from its air supply.

 

 

Turning back to the two canine monstrosities bearing down on him, Nox took off towards them at impossible speed, dodging their swiping claws with the dexterity and speed of an insect dodging swatting hands or stomping feet. Nox utilized his lightsaber to deadly effect, repeatedly striking at unprotected areas such as the lower neck and jaw, or the hind feet and toes. One of the Dread Hounds was already dead by the time the remaining two caught up to the battle. Roaring with rage, the three beasts tried to overwhelm Nox, but to him it seemed as if they were moving in slow motion, and with his constant and clear premonitions of each second of the fight moments before it happened, he knew exactly when to dodge, when to strike, and where to move. The fight had been over from the moment it had begun.

 

 

Slicing open the last hound's neck and using the Force to rip out the suffering monster's vocal chords, Nox sheathed his lightsaber as the abomination collapsed to the ground, thoroughly dead. Turning away from the corpse, Nox moved towards the steps leading down into a lower courtyard, where another abomination at least eighty feet tall stood, twitching impatiently. It seemed not to have seen or heard Nox slaughtering its compatriots hundreds of meters away despite its great height, so Nox guessed it was near-sighted with not very good hearing or smell. The beast was the most humanoid of all the abominations he'd seen thus far, despite its four arms and hideous face partially hidden behind an armored mask. The armor plates on each of its four shoulders and the backs of its four hands, as well as those covering its pectorals, abdomen, and groin were embedded with the same crimson spheres as the smaller creatures, with long claws sprouted from its gauntleted hands. It's armored feet appeared more like hooves, but it seemed to have no trouble balancing its large, top-heavy body on them.

 

 

Nox felt the presence of Dread Master Brontes wash over him, and her voice echoed in his head:

 

 

"Nefra will collect her toll, and it will be paid in blood."

 

 

Almost as if she had heard her master's voice and taken it as a command, the monstrosity spotted Nox and began to lumber forward, her four clawed arms ready to seize and crush and eviscerate. Sensing her animalistic mind, Nox reached out with his will, summoning the Dark Side to his aid as he attempted to crush the behemoth's will and bend it to his own. To his surprise, the creature's will wavered and shuddered under his mental assault, but held firm.

 

 

"She does not fear you." Brontes said, amusement and derision both prevalent in her tone, "Only us."

 

 

Ceasing his mental attack, Nox instead lifted off the ground through the power of Force Flight, darting in and around Nefra's multiple arms while unleashing salvo after salvo of Force lightning at her. She howled and tried to swat at him or snatch him from the air, but her efforts were futile. Nox avoided her attacks with unnatural precognition and speed, buzzing around the mammoth monster like Turanian blood fly, the stinging bites of his lightning wearing her down slowly but surely.

 

 

"Send in reinforcements! The Gatekeeper is under attack!" The harsh voice of the gate commander barked in Nox's ear. Taking one precious moment to scan his surroundings with the Force, Nox determined that a several squads of Dread Guard were closing in on his location from the courtyard behind him. Narrowly avoiding a vicious swipe of one of Nefra's claws, he turned away from her, swooping down towards the shocked Dread Guards who immediately opened fire on him.

 

 

Deflecting their blaster bolts with his lightsaber, Nox moved through the squads like the Reaper, his twin bladed lightsaber whirling and twirling in a storm of death. When the reinforcements all lay in pieces on the ground moments later, Nox turned his attention back to Nefra, who had begun lumbering across the courtyard to continue attacking him.

 

 

"Predator. Prey." Brontes mused in his thoughts. "Fear can drive both."

 

 

Crushing the unease that threatened to take root in his being and paralyze him, Nox instead harnessed it and turned it into hatred, hatred of Nefra, for not bowing to his will and obstructing his progress towards his goal, hatred of Brontes for idly watching while they fought and continuously spouting her inane observations in his head, and hatred of the Dread Masters for putting him through these motions, for doubting his ability and power. The hate suffused him and strengthened him, and his lightning blasts became more powerful, and he began casting ball lightning from his hands at his foe, hurling them like they were physical objects. The spheres of bright energy rained down on Nefra like hail. Roaring, she tried to use her four arms to shield her face and upper body from the painful orbs as they battered her mercilessly.

 

 

"More blood must flow." Brontes said in a tone that somehow managed to be demanding without being deprived of her typical sense of emotional aloofness. In response, Nefra suddenly lashed out with impossible speed, using an arm to send Nox flying across the yard and into the far wall. If he hadn't erected a Force barrier in time, he likely would have been seriously injured, his Force armor, physical armor, and body shattered and broken by the impact. As it was the impact was jarring enough, and Nox dropped to the ground, unable to maintain his Force flight. Nefra barreled across the yard, her long legs eating up the space between them, hooved feet big enough to crush him thundering against the stone floor with every step.

 

 

Nox was just recovering his bearings when she suddenly seized him in one, clawed hand, bringing him close to her eyes. In them Nox saw there was more to her primative mind than he had first believed, there was an intelligence there, the capacity for a hatred beyond that of an animal, and that was when he felt the intrusion in his thoughts.

 

 

It wasn't Brontes, it was Nefra. She had some sort of power over the minds of those within close proximity to her, allowing her to bypass their mental defenses and force herself on them psychologically. Revolted by the intrusion into the most intimate parts of his psyche, and bewildered as to how it could have happened so easily, he was jarred back to a semblance of awareness by the voice of Brontes once more infecting his thoughts.

 

 

"I have changed her, as she will change you." Brontes stated flatly. Capitalizing on his shock to jolt him out the light trance Nefra's power had placed him in, he realized what was going on. The reason Nefra had been able to penetrate his mental defenses so easily was that part of her power was biological, rather than purely mental. Turning his Force sight on himself, he discovered that he was infected with pheromones Nefra was releasing, lowering his mind's ability to defend against her intrusion, allowing her to dominate his mind as if he was her offspring locked in a psychic link with her. He quickly understood that this was how the Dread Masters controlled such a vast army of abominations, merely by controlling one monster that could control the others.

 

 

Turning his disgust into hatred and rage, he felt it spread throughout his body, the fire of the Dark Side burning away the pheromones and allowing him to reassert control over his own mind. Nefra screamed in frustration and tried to push harder, but she was unaware had lost her only advantage and that brute force would no longer help. Reversing the connection, Nox began to try and dominate her will. Finding himself unable to do so, due to the creature's deep-seated fear of what her masters would do to her should she fail, he instead focused on tapping directly into her neurological network to cause her pain by directly triggering the appropriate neurons.

 

 

"The creature's pain will only drive it further." Brontes asserted, her disdain at his less than subtle approach to accomplish what she perceived to be his goal apparent in her inflection.

 

 

What she didn't realize was that Nox did not intend to break the beast's will with pain, he intended to simply win. With one final push he set off a series of explosions of agony within Nefra's mind, and with a final howl, the monster fell unconscious, collapsing onto her back and releasing Nox from her grasp as she lapsed into a coma.

 

 

Landing nimbly on his feet, Nox stared at the still and silent creature, registering a low and soft pattern of breath making her chest rise and fall. For a long moment he considered mounting her torso and severing her head to kill her. But as he reflected back on the fight, and on what he had come here to do, he decided that it was best to leave her alive. Based on the wounds he had inflicted on her and the depth of the coma she was now in, it was unlikely she would be a threat for several weeks, even if she was to awaken soon.

 

 

Turning away from Nefra's unconscious form, Nox moved up a set of steps and through a portcullis into the outer lobby of the gatehouse, contingents of Dread Guard rushing in from the other three corridors, the portcullis of each one slamming down behind them. Nox smiled, it looked like the fun was just beginning.

 

 

Several minutes and several hundreds of slain Dread Guard later, Nox arrived in the inner lobby of the Gatehouse, where an exceptionally large humanoid dressed head to toe in a set of armor Nox found absolutely fascinating stood defiantly. The red armor suit appeared to be repurposed Rakatan tech with very thick, heavy plates that gave him the appearance of a heavily armored, humanoid insect. Glowing purple lines ran along the large pauldrons protecting his shoulders and upper arms, while a series of sequential purple lights in the center of his chestplate, and panels of the same light on the crests of his boots glowed softly.

 

 

On his head was an Obroan style helm with no crests or flair of any kind, except for the eyes, which glowed with the same purple light as the other luminescent parts of the suit. The entire set of armor seemed to vibrate and hum, releasing waves of energy through the Force, and it took Nox a moment to realize that the suit was storing and conducting Force energy like a battery, and it was at that moment that Nox decided he could not let any of the Dread Master's treasures fall into Imperial hands. He would have to ensure that they merely got the crumbs, while he saved all of the best for himself. The man cocked his blaster rifle, which resembled schematics Nox had seen of Rakatan beam rifle technology, only this one looked like it had been heavily modified and upgraded.

 

 

"Destroy the intruder! The Master's demand it!" The man screamed, and as if on cue waves and waves of Dread Guard and skull apes began to pour into the space from all six of the open entrances, with the entrance behind the man in the strange-looking armor blocked by a lowered portcullis. With a dreadful smile, Nox spread his arms wide, and let the power flow.

 

______________

 

 

With a thunderous explosion, the gate barring entry into the Dread Forge flew inward, crashing to the ground in a broken and twisted heap. The tall, red-skinned, black-armored, six-armed creature turned at the noise, its huge, reptilian maw releasing a low, threatening growl. The beast stood one hundred feet tall, clad in heavy black armor with four purple spheres embedded in a square formation in its chest. Its six muscular arms ended in clawed hands, and its five-toed feet were also equipped with deadly claws. It's hatred-stained yellow eyes fixed on Nox, and its square jaw lowered to unleash a bellowing roar.

 

 

"Science. Technology. The Force. Life. All can be turned to our purpose." Brontes said, her grandiosity irritating Nox to no end.

 

 

The beast charged, clawed hands reaching for him. He dodged and slashed at the monster's bare arms with his now drawn lightsaber, only to find that the plasma blade barely broke skin. The creature followed up by pounding its fists into the stone floor, attempting to pummel him to death, roaring in anger, but Nox quickly put some distance between them, darting across the forge faster than the beast could follow.

 

 

"Grob'thok is angry you hurt Nefra, his mate." Brontes scolded, as if she were speaking to a misbehaved child. "Perhaps I will let him throw you into the forge, like he does with everything we give him."

 

 

Suddenly Nox heard the sound of machinery coming to life, and he looked up to see a large crane magnet hanging from the ceiling moving towards him. He heard the sound of the electro-magnet turning on, and went on the run, the magnet and Grob'thok chasing him around the very large room. The tremors from Grob'thok's thundering gait caused fissures to open in the floor, with lava bursting out in spurts and jets, making it harder for Nox to navigate without stepping into puddles of bubbling magma.

 

 

Suddenly, Grob'thok stopped chasing Nox, reaching instead for a nearby junk pile and seizing a large piece of pipe that he gripped with two of his right hands. He brought the pipe up and then crashing down, trying to crush Nox beneath it. The impact was like a metal tree hitting the floor, and the ringing briefly disoriented Nox despite his subconscious sensory protection. Grob'thok raised the pipe to strike again.

 

 

"Embrace death," Brontes cooed in his head. "as all things must."

 

 

The resounding crash of the pipe didn't stun Nox so badly this time, now that he was prepared for it, and as he moved about the Forge, dodging both the crushing blows from the pipe and the powerful force of the magnet, he got an idea. He started hanging around closer to Grob'thok, making sure to stay out of reach of the creature's other four arms and avoid being caught by the magnet or crushed by the monster's stomping feet. The next time Grob'thok raised the pipe to strike Nox moved in closer to him, running directly between his legs. Grob'thok tried to slam the pipe down, only for it to get caught on the magnet, the powerful machine holding the pipe in a vice grip as firm as Grob'thok's.

 

 

The massive beast turned his attention away from Nox for the moment, placing all six of his powerful hands on the pipe, and pulling it down with all his might. There was a great, terrible screeching noise, as the metal holding the heavy magnet up strained and complained about the stress. Roaring with the effort, Grob'thok pulled harder, his muscles clearly straining beneath his deep red skin. Then with a thunderously loud cracking and metallic tearing noise, the pipe came free, along with the magnet. The improvised mace slammed into the ground, releasing shockwaves that would have knocked Nox off-balance if he had still been on the ground. Instead, he was busy clambering up Grob'thok's armored back, heading towards the monsters helmeted head.

 

 

Grob'thok picked up his newly upgraded weapon with all six arms, and began looking around for his opponent, when he couldn't find the little pest, he began searching in earnest, his head turning every which way as he shifted his feet and examined the space around him, so he was totally unprepared when a figure suddenly appeared directly in front of his left eye and the next moment the eye erupted in searing hot pain. Howling in rage and agony, Grob'thok dropped the pipe and clutched at his now ruined eye with four hands. Nox pushed himself off the giant lizard-like muzzle just before all four hands came down on the eye and backflipped twice before landing on his feet in a crouched position, watching as the tormented monster crashed into walls and junk piles, screaming and roaring its suffering at the world. Nox began to gather his power to take further advantage of the beasts agonized distraction, when the voice of Dread Master Brontes once more resounded in his inner mindscape.

 

 

"Fear can unite all things." She warned, as the pealing squeals and grunts of a legion of Ugnaughts pouring out from hiding and charging towards him reached his ears. Annoyed at the distraction, Nox turned his gathered power on them, unleashing rivers of chain lightning that electrocuted dozens of the squealing, pathetic creatures. The survivors were met with explosions of Dark Force energy that sapped their very life force out of them and channeled it into Nox. By the time Grob'thok had recovered and found Nox again, all the Ugnaughts were dead, either charred husks, or empty ones.

 

 

Roaring in unadulterated, abject fury, Grob'thok bore down on his prey, determined to rip the tiny little insect apart. That was the moment however, that the insect took off and started buzzing around his head, stinging him again and again with thick streams of lightning and blasts of dark power.

 

 

Grob'thok roared and swiped at Nox, but no matter how many of his arms he employed, Nox slipped through his grasp every time and continued to harry the massive beast. Slowly, Nox could feel the monster's strength fading, despite its anger.

 

 

Backing off and flying across the forge, Nox began to enact a ritual to finish the monster. By the time it fixed its one-eyed gaze on him and started barreling across the room towards him, he completed the last rite. The ritual unleashed a stream of black mist from Nox's chest, which struck Grob'thok in his chest, stopping him in his tracks. He roared in pain as the ritual stripped him of his very being and converted it into raw energy that Nox devoured and absorbed. As piece by piece of the creature's very essence poured into him, Nox savored his foe's agony and suffering as much as the surging influx of power that restored his reserves.

 

 

When the ritual completed, the deep red skin of the enormous Forge feeder had turned rather grayish and pale, with blackened veins showing underneath the partially translucent skin. The purple orbs on its chestplate that had once been lustrous and vibrant, now looked dark and drained.

 

 

"Our creations are legion." The voice of Brontes echoed angrily, "You don't yet know the danger that you face. So many new fears await you."

 

 

Ignoring her, Nox landed and approached the body, his gaze locked on the purple orbs. Their change in color seemed to have been a consequence of him using the Force to drain the creature's spirit and Force energy, as if they had been somehow connected to their wearer's spirit. Fascinating. It seemed that the armor that all the Dread Master's monstrosities had worn so far were somehow able to enhance the bearer's strength in the Force, or perhaps they allowed the user to subconsciously utilize the Force to a greater effect without any need for sentience let alone training...

 

 

Thinking back to his confrontation with Gate Commander Draxus, Nox realized that his armor must work on the same principle, the glowing purple lights being an indication of the armor's Force-enhancing abilities being active, just as the purple orbs in Grob'thok's armor and the crimson orbs in the armor of Nefra and the other creatures were indicators. Truly intriguing technology. Nox reached out to touch one of the orbs, and pulled his hand back as soon as it hit the glassy surface. In the instant he had physical contact with it, the orb had somehow siphoned power directly from him!

 

 

So they don't just act as indicators, Nox thought to himself. They can also be used to drain power from other sources. Getting to his feet, Nox dusted himself off, and began to move deeper into the fortress.

 

Edited by MayhemofChaonus
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That was amazing. I knew you'd handle the dread master encounter differently than in game but your creativity with the monster was really good.

I also enjoy how you've handled the fights, Especially with Nefra as she's a boring tank and spank fight in game with barely anything interesting happening. Those orbs are also an interesting plot point.

For last I am a fan of how Nox drained the life-force os his enemies to restore his own, I imagine he'll need to be at full power to face whatever Brontes has cooked up for him.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hey guys! Just a few things to note:

 

- Corrupter Zero is the same size as in the operation, just colored white and grey instead of gold and brown

- The Brontes fight is not completely faithful to the source material. I drew on various experiences with RPG bossfights from many different games, as well as cinematic fights from movies to create the battle.

 

 

As soon as Nox entered the courtyard with the cross-shaped paths he knew he was in for a real fight, and the tinny voice of the unseen commander droid confirmed it.

 

 

"All units, engage carnage protocols!"

 

 

Suddenly, a massive droid, a larger, white-painted version of the droids he had seen on his ascent of the watchtower wearing a black cape dropped seemingly out of nowhere, landing in front of the small army of similar, almost identical droids whose weapons were all cocked and aimed. The commander droid rose to its feet and pointed one metallic finger at him.

 

 

"You dare invade the residence of the masters. You will be crushed for your insolence, organic!"

 

 

"What is your designation droid?" Nox asked.

 

 

"I am Corrupter Zero. I am the master's first and greatest technological creation, and I will not let you harm them!"

 

 

"I'm here to save your masters." Nox replied evenly. "Without me they are doomed."

 

 

"You lie!" Corrupter Zero snapped. "And now I will show you what happens to trespassers. This is the end of the line. The end of your life!"

 

 

Nox threw up a barrier just as the legion of droids opened fire on him. The sheer volume of plasma might have overwhelmed him in any other situation, but thanks to his immense power it just felt like someone hammering on his barrier with their fists.

 

 

"Is this all you have?" He taunted Corrupter Zero. "I'm growing bored!"

 

 

Corrupter Zero touched a button on his wrist, and immediately the doors on the east and west ends of the courtyard opened to allow more droids to pour out.

 

 

"Fear my army organic!" Zero spat, as he touched another button and took off, his jetpack propelling him high into the air. Hovering at a certain height, he began to rain down salvos of missiles on Nox, forcing the Dark Lord to go on the move.

 

 

"More units! More! Go forth and dismember!" Zero howled as droids continued to flood out of both doorways, filling the air with blaster fire and surrounding Nox on three sides. Nox moved through their ranks like a deadly wind, slicing and dismembering them at breakneck speed. Yet still, every time one fell another droid stepped up to take its place, the never-ending stream of reinforcements filled their ranks as fast as Nox could deplete them.

 

 

"All units: annihilate." Zero ordered, and instantly the squad of droids Nox was in the process of destroying started to twitch and shake. Sensing what was about to happen moments before it did, Nox barely had any time to escape the blast radius before the entire squad of droids self-destructed, creating a blast that temporarily deafened and staggered Nox. He instinctively erected a Force barrier to protect him from incoming fire, but not before a few shots found their way to his shoulder and hip. Thankfully his natural Force armor and the cortosis armor woven into his robes protected him, but the blasts left black scorch marks on his otherwise intact equipment.

 

 

"Together, my army is invincible!" Zero crowed in triumph as Nox hunkered down behind his Force barrier while endless streams of plasma and countless salvos of missiles rained down on him in a deluge of fiery death. Nox could feel the power building inside him as his rage and hatred grew. He reached deep down into the well of infinite blackness and brought the power to the surface. A massive wave of Force energy erupted from him, sweeping outward like a crystal clear nuclear dome. The army of droids was blasted back into the walls of the courtyard, shattering like toys. The blast overloaded the safeties on the door panels, and the doors of the east and west passages slammed shut, locking themselves in accordance with lockdown protocols.

 

 

Corrupter Zero landed in the courtyard's center within arm's reach of Nox, drawing the twin vibroblades he had on his back.

 

 

"You are about to experience true agony, I will disassemble you!" He snarled, advancing on Nox, huge weapons swinging. Nox slipped to the side, avoiding the crushing blow of one of his foes blades, then retaliating with a flurry of strikes that did little more than deal superficial damage. The droid's armor was pure Beskar. This thing was made to fight Force-users, Nox realized.

 

 

Slipping under another of Corrupter Zero's assaults, Nox tried to strike at perceived weak points, only to find that those places were protected by miniature shield generators that boosted the strength of the droid's personal shields in a localized area. Parrying a strike from the large automaton, Nox realized he was going to have to try something else.

 

 

"My masters love to hear your screams!" Zero taunted him, as he aggressively battered Nox with a series of heavy-handed blows from Djem So. Nox responded by leaping backwards and unleashing a thick stream of lightning at his foe. The droid's charge, which it had initiated to pursue him, slowed to a crawl as its systems struggled to maintain its personal shields under the intensity of Nox's Force Lightning. Nox amped up the voltage, and Zero's advanced slowed even further, as the stream became a river. A shimmering aura of purple surrounded Nox and emanated from his eyes as he channeled the Dark Side into sheer power. All of his concentration was focused on bringing his enemy down, and his efforts were rewarded when, one by one, he sensed the droid's shield generators overloading.

 

 

Noticing this as well, Zero suddenly stopped his advance and activated a concussion pulse. Nox clutched at his head, releasing the droid from his electric assault, as the pulse sparked nearly every pain receptor in his brain momentarily. The agony was like a flash grenade going off inside his head, and by the time he had recovered, Zero was gone.

 

 

"Engaging offensive weapons level: Omega!" Came the droid's tinny voice from across the yard. Nox looked towards where the voice had come from, and with a start saw Zero standing in front of the northern doorway, his chest panel having opened to reveal a large barrel from which was emanating a brilliant red glow. In a flash, Nox moved into the east-west corridor just as a massive beam of crimson energy blasted down the north-south corridor. Feeling a tremor in the ground only seconds after, Nox glanced down at the eastern doorway to see Zero had relocated, and was charging for another attack.

 

 

"You will not win. You are not allowed to win!" The droid said, and Nox briefly wondered how the Dread Masters had managed to program such realistic arrogance into a verbobrain. The moment of distraction nearly killed him. At the last second he managed to erect a Force Barrier that protected him, the energy flow breaking against it like water breaking over a rock. The attempt took a lot more effort than Nox was willing to continue expending, and he decided he was going to end this now.

 

 

Zero began charging his beam again, and Nox bore down on him with reckless speed, not even bothering to defend himself from the impending blast. Instead, he drove his lightsaber blade down into the barrel of the droid's chest cannon until he felt it pierce something, then he retracted it and took off straight into the sky, his Force Flight carrying him away from the now imminent explosion.

 

 

He felt it rumbling up beneath him, and when the shockwave reached him, he was lifted like a bird in the wind. When he finally stabilized himself and descended back on the courtyard, he saw the blast had left a crater in the spot where the droid had been standing. Approaching the crater, he looked down into it. Nothing. The droid had been atomized.

 

 

A loud clattering noise caused him to whirl to see what had made the sound. At first he didn't see anything, but then he noticed the scorched and blackened head of Corrupter Zero lying in the center of the courtyard like a piece of refuse. Approaching it, he turned it with his foot to examine the droid's eyes. Miraculously, there was still a glow coming from them. The ruined vocabulator sparked and hissed as the automaton's last words were spoken.

 

 

"My masters will see you pay for this affront...." Then the light in the droid's eyes winked out.

 

__________

 

 

Nox walked down yet another unoccupied hallway. The mysterious absence of any guards or Brontes incessant goading was beginning to worry him. Was she really all out of minions? Or did she have something else planned for him now? Turning a corner and ascending a rise, he reached a partially open set of double doors and stopped as he tried to process what exactly he was seeing.

 

 

Dread Master Brontes was hovering in mid-air in the center of the room, overtop a large ventilation shaft that no doubt led to the fortress's geothermal power core. Six golden tentacle arms, composed of the same substance as her helm, sprouted from her back and hung suspended in the air, like the wings of a fallen angel. Her head was tilted back, looking up towards the heavens as if in rapture. The entire picture struck him as the scene depicted in a great work of art, such as Rushilea Tukari's "The Angel" or Gemorri Vosa's "Ascension".

 

 

"Yes..." She said in a tone more succulent and seductive than any she had used up to this point. "Come closer...closer...." Her tone, like a beckoning finger, was reminiscent of a lover calling to her mate, inviting him into her sweet embrace. Despite himself, Nox felt his primal instincts briefly take over, and he began to walk towards her. Her head lowered to gaze at him as he approached, and she leaned down, extending a hand towards him, as if to lift him up off the ground with her. Barely knowing what he was doing, Nox's own hand extended, reaching for hers. Just before their fingers would have touched, Brontes disappeared, her echoing laughter filled with arrogance and scorn.

 

 

Nox felt his anger and hatred bubble to the surface. She had hypnotized him, entranced him. His moment of weakness, of being taken off-guard, had allowed her to put him in her sway. The doors on each side of the room suddenly opened, and hordes of the Dread Master's armored monstrosities began to pour in, howling and screeching as they bore down on him.

 

 

Nox unleashed his hatred, and the room erupted into chaos.

 

 

___________

 

 

Nox walked swiftly down the long corridor leading to where Brontes was waiting. He knew she was on the other side of the door ahead, he could sense her. Her presence in the Force was like the scent of a rotting corpse, a pervading, unmistakable stench that was at the same time, somehow as captivating as the scent of the most beautiful perfume, it attracted him as much as it repulsed him. Nox had never been in Vitiate's presence, but if this was what the physical presence of a Dread Master felt like, he could only imagine what it felt like to be in the same room as the Sith Emperor.

 

 

"Your future is here." Brontes said, her intonation equal parts haughty and inviting. "Your body will be ours to mold, our minds will be as one." Nox's instincts threatened to take control once again, but a supreme effort of will crushed them into submission and forced his body to obey his will. His steps towards the door remained measured and steady, and when he reached it, it opened seemingly of its own accord.

 

 

He walked into what was probably the largest courtyard in the fortress next to the one in which he had fought Nefra, and immediately noticed Brontes in the center-north area, hovering above the ground, her golden metal tentacles spread wide like spider legs.

 

 

"You are a fascinating specimen. Let's see what you're really made of shall we?" She said, genuine curiosity and anticipation in her voice. Nox drew and activated his lightsaber.

 

 

"Then let us begin."

 

 

He charged. Brontes moved towards him, using four of her tentacles as legs, with the other two telescoping to reach for him, ready to impale and electrocute him. Nox repelled her first assault with a spinning parry and moved in to try and strike at her directly, but her two middle tentacles took turns parrying his blows along with the top two, so that she was always standing on at least three of her metallic limbs.

 

 

Nox fell back into a ready position to recoup for a second attack, and Brontes took advantage of the opportunity to taunt him.

 

 

"Submit. Let yourself be unmade." She cooed, her invitation equally tempting and enraging Nox. The temptation stemmed from his body and mind betraying him to her power to manipulate thoughts and compel impulses and emotions, but the rage came from his own hatred of her for attempting to control him. He had sworn he would never be a slave again, not to anyone or anything. Yet this Dread Master compelled his own body to betray him, and it was only through his own exertion of willpower that he maintained control over it.

 

 

"Flesh is insufficient. You must discard it." Brontes scoffed, and suddenly her top two tentacles unleashed twin streams of electricity straight at him. Snarling, Nox extended his hands, absorbing the energy as his eyes glowed violet. Brontes was taken by surprise, and barely managed to deflect her own reflected blasts that Nox launched at her. Nonetheless she moved on him immediately, three tentacles thrashing and stabbing and whipping themselves at her foe, while she stood mounted on the other three like some kind of monstrous arachnid mutant.

 

 

Nox leaped backward, calling on the power of Force Flight to carry him to the wall behind him and then shot up it, hurling ball lightning at Brontes. Unwilling to let him put distance between them, Brontes pursued, using four of her tentacles to scale the wall after him by stabbing them into the stone, while the other two batted away or dispersed his ball lightning and responded with energy blasts of their own. Just as Nox reached the top of the wall and was about to fly over her and unleash a barrage of lightning upon her from behind, one of her tentacles slipped past his guard and wrapped itself around his waist, hurling him back into the center of the courtyard, where he managed to land on his feet, skidding to a stop.

 

 

"You can become so much more." She promised him. "But first your limitations must be explored."

 

 

Suddenly loud howls and snarling yelps came from all around. Nox spared himself a moment to look around and see that several packs of Dread Beasts were pouring into the courtyard from all sides. The red orbs in their armor gleamed under the torchlight and the reddish glow of Oricon's sky as they loped, bounded, and shambled their way towards him. There were four Dread Hounds, their huge claws scratching on the ground and massive fangs snapping as they ran. Behind them were too many Claw Feet to count, although it couldn't have been more than ten. Scampering in behind the hulking monstrosities were several packs of Skull Apes, their battle cries sounding like eerie laughter as their skinny limbs ate up the ground separating them from their prey. Laughing, Brontes suddenly threw herself off the wall and took off into the air, hovering in the very center of the courtyard quite far off the ground.

 

 

"I will know what you are truly capable of." She taunted him. Four of her tentacles came together in front of her, their tips almost touching as they charged up with energy. Sensing what was coming, Nox sidestepped the beam of raw power that slammed into the ground where he had been standing.

 

 

"Hmm, your reflexes are slower than expected, further research is required." Brontes said mockingly. This time all six tentacles came together and charged up to unleash electric blasts. Nox went on the move just as a much larger and stronger beam of energy literally ripped the ground to shreds beneath him, vaporizing the stone floor and the dirt beneath it. The beasts that had been unleashed chased after him as he moved around the yard, trying to outrun the massive beam.

 

 

Brontes ceased to channel the beam, and Nox turned to unleash his own attack on her, when he noticed that she was surrounded by a Force Barrier, and more importantly, simply pausing to charge up her next beam attack.

 

 

Suddenly Nox had an idea, and just as Brontes unleashed the energy beam, he turned and ran directly towards the horde of monsters she had summoned. The beam slammed into the ground just behind him as he moved through the ranks of the monsters with preternatural speed. Both him and the beam chasing him moved so fast that the monsters were completely vaporized before Brontes could even register what had just happened, leaving nothing but a smoking furrow behind.

 

 

"Ugh!" She hissed her disgust at his success in baiting her. "I am..." she paused. "Impressed." She said the word out begrudgingly, reluctant to recognize that she had been outwitted.

 

 

She remained in the air however, and Nox noticed a black aura beginning to encompass her as the eye slits in her helm glowed a deep violet.

 

 

"Witness the potential of perfection." She said, and Nox heard the calls of more Dread Beasts as another horde, even larger than before, flooded into the yard. Brontes was channeling her remaining power, so there would be no helpful beam to vaporize them this time, he would have to rely on his own strength to eliminate these creatures.

 

 

Summoning the darkness, Nox felt it fill him like a vessel, taking root in his very being and building to crescendo. He'd never tried this before, but there was no time like the present to try. When he felt the dark power within him reach its peak, mere seconds before the beasts would be upon him, he released it. A dome of darkness exploded out from him, instantly turning everything living thing it touched to dust. Flesh and bone had the Force stripped from them instantaneously, the energy drawn back into Nox to add to his already vast stores of power. In a single moment the massive Death Field devoured the life of every beast Brontes had summoned, wiping out the entire legion of mutants and feeding their Force energy to Nox. The only things left behind were the pieces of their armor, the once gleaming orbs now dull and drained.

 

 

Surveying the damage his amplified Death Field had caused, Nox was immensely pleased. He could feel the power that had once been housed in his victims surging within him. Between this and Grob'Thok he had gained back most of what had been spent.

 

 

Just then he felt a great disturbance in the Dark Side, and he whirled to see the Force Barrier surrounding Brontes fade away. The black aura seemed to have swallowed her entire form, her eyes shining with dark power.

 

 

"Now, share your true strength." She demanded as she descended on him like a fallen angel, using the power of Force Flight as easily and instinctively as walking. Nox moved like an acrobat, leaping, twisting, and dodging as her tentacles speared the ground like striking serpents, determined to impale him. She moved with impossible speed, but Nox was still faster, still quicker to react. What he couldn't dodge he deflected with his lightsaber, but he was on pure defense now, trying simply to avoid getting hit.

 

 

Her tentacles were everywhere, shrouded in the same black aura as her body, they struck with unimaginable speed and accuracy, predicting Nox's feints and ruses with uncanny certainty. Every second they came closer and closer to catching him, and Nox realized if he didn't end this fight soon, it would end him.

 

 

Faster than he could blink, one of Brontes appendages knocked his lightsaber out of his hand, and it clattered to the ground halfway across the yard. Nox turned and twisted himself in mid-air to avoid being impaled by two separate tentacles, then took off like a humanoid missile, flying through the air as fast he could towards Brontes. The other four appendages tried to stop him, but he whirled and twisted and rolled like he was born flying, slipping through her metallic grasp with the dexterity and agility of one of the airborne Tirol serpents of Geenihar. He extended his hand, and his lightsaber flew across the space in an instant. He felt it sink into his palm, and thumbed the activation switch.

 

 

Brontes gasped in complete surprise as she felt the plasma blade pierce her chest and go straight through her heart. She opened her mouth to say something, but all that came out was a scream as Nox channeled his dark power directly through the weapon into her body. In a panic, she realized he wasn't trying to kill her directly. He was channeling a Sith Sorcery anti-spell directly into her body, using his lightsaber as the conduit. She could feel the ritual and alchemic binding spells she had placed to keep her power in check and prevent it from totally consuming her evaporating. For the first time in centuries, Dread Master Brontes felt something she had believed she would never feel again: Terror.

 

 

As she looked into the black, empty eye sockets of her foe, she understood now why he wore that helmet. At this moment in time, all she could see was the cold gaze of death staring back at her. In them there was no pity, no hatred, no anger. Only a cold, insatiable hunger.

 

 

"You have destroyed much, but not all." She managed one last taunt. "This is not the end of your trials, only the beginning."

 

 

As her own power devoured her flesh, Brontes felt the pull of the void, and her heart trembled like a little child as she felt death opening its maw to swallow her up. Then, all became blackness.

 

 

___________

 

 

Nox deactivated his lightsaber, hovering in the air. Brontes was defeated, but at the last moment he had felt her spirit escape the jaws of the void, propelled or pulled somewhere. As if she was still bound to this plane of existence.

 

 

The air around him grew dark, the world seemed to dim and the shadows lengthened. The four specters of the remaining Dread Masters appeared in the four corners of the courtyard, looming over him like a council of gods.

 

 

"You killed her." Dread Master Raptus accused. "Now you will descend into madness with us."

 

 

"Your soul will be forfeit, as ours also are." Tyrans threatened.

 

 

"We will have our revenge." Bestia said. "If we must die then the galaxy dies with us."

 

 

"I have a different plan." Nox said. "Surrender yourselves to me, and I can cure you of your afflictions. You will live on and your power will shape the nightmares of countless generations from now until the end of time."

 

 

"Fool!" Snapped Calaphyus.

 

 

"We are not so easily led." Raptus said hotly.

 

 

"It does not matter if you come to us or flee." Tyrans growled. "Your fate will be the same." The specters vanished, but the gloom remained.

 

 

"We will be waiting." Raptus said, and then the presence of the Masters faded.

 

Edited by MayhemofChaonus
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Despite being very different from the game's fight it was really well done.

 

Brontes' final moments really is helping set Nox as the embodiment of death itself, he isn't merely a dark side but a void that consumes his enemies.

Also props for you for using her tentacles in a creative way during the fight.

 

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Funny how Nox imitates Death, and yet fears it isn't it?

 

I really enjoy getting a different take on the events in the game. Veering from the game stories, is always a good thing because I think the stories people imagine for their characters are much more interesting than getting to see a rewrite of something most everyone has done, so good for you for changing it up. Different is good. ^^

 

I really liked this line:

The four specters of the remaining Dread Masters appeared in the four corners of the courtyard, looming over him like a council of gods.

 

Nice job with the Dreadmasters. I look forward to seeing where Nox goes from here.

Edited by Lunafox
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  • 3 weeks later...

Finally got it done guys. Hope you weren't holding your breath the past three weeks! Still trying to pump out good quality stuff in a timely fashion. Thanks to my messed-up schedule and (I must confess) laziness, its proving difficult, but I already have a general idea of what the next part is so that's a start!

 

 

Nox strode through the darkened hallways of the Dread Palace, the very air around him vibrating and pulsing with the power of the Dark Side. In the fortress outside it had been a kind of lingering presence, like a scent carried on the wind but here, that presence had become an overwhelming pressure. He felt like he was at the bottom of an ocean of Dark Side energy, and that the only thing keeping his mind and spirit from being crushed was his own power pushing out from his core, combating the overwhelming pressure.

 

 

As he climbed a large staircase leading up to the place where the Dark Side was stronger, he noticed that the shadows, deep as they were, seemed to grow larger and thicker, despite the soft red glow coming from wall-mounted illumination crystals. Reaching the top of the staircase, he entered a dark foyer with a central path leading to another staircase on the opposite side of the room, which had six paths leading off of the main one and into dark tunnels in the left and right walls of the chamber. Nox could feel the presence of the remaining Dread Masters wafting out of four of the tunnels, and he decided to enter the closest one.

 

 

He entered the tunnel and followed it as it wound its way down into the depths of the palace, the tunnel becoming more and more like the lair of some beast rather than the sanctuary of a master of the Dark Side. Finally, he entered an expansive chamber with a throne in the center. The chamber was filled with strange and disgusting objects. There was a lot of the strange root-tentacles Nox had discovered were the limbs of the living trees outside the fortress, but these roots seemed to have not been affected by Nox's ritual. Gathered in large clusters on the room's edges were some kind of bloated, liquid-filled flesh bubbles that were larger than your average humanoid. If Nox had to guess he would have assumed they were the eggs of some deep sea creature from another planet, and that hypothesis became a little more believable when he thought he saw movement inside one of them.

 

 

Embedded in the walls were more of the flesh-bubbles, only these were much larger, and the murky red liquid inside kept any potential movement obscured. The floor was littered with corpses, human and alien, most curled up near the mysterious "eggs" lining the chamber's edges. As Nox walked towards the throne sitting on a raised dais in the center of the room, he noticed that the murky water covering the rest of the room's floor seemed to occasionally stir and ripple, as if something was moving underneath the surface.

 

 

He reached the steps of the dais, and stared at the empty throne for a moment, contemplating whether he had made a mistake and chosen one of the abandoned chambers.

 

 

"You come bearing your sin proudly, and like a pack of vipers it swallows you whole." Dread Master Bestia said, her voice seeming to come from nowhere and everywhere at once.

 

 

"Show yourself." Nox's voice was low and threatening. There was no anger in his tone, only authority.

 

 

Bestia released the veil in the Force she had been using to mask her location, and descended from the spot near the ceiling where she had been hovering, lowering herself to the path that Nox had just traversed to get to the center.

 

 

"You have come through fire and pain, my sister and brother tasted your strength and were given death in return." Bestia said, an undertone of animosity, contradicted by the apathetic amusement in her voice, giving weight to her words.

 

"Surrender to me, or I promise to give you the same." Nox said, his voice low and steady.

 

 

"I think not." Bestia said, turning to pace away from him. "You have come through many trials already, but your true evolution hasn't even begun. In order for you to become the perfection you seek to embody you must be born anew. Your past wiped away, your body reforged into a vessel for true power. The changes that you made on Belsavis with the help of the Mother Machine were a start, but they will not be enough."

 

 

"I know what you're doing because I've done it myself." Nox stated flatly. "Don't think to manipulate me with promises of power, I'm well aware of what is required."

 

 

"Are you? Are you truly?" Bestia asked, turning to face him once more, the soft red glow of the few illumination crystals mounted on the ceiling and walls making her golden helm gleam softly.

 

 

"Yes. I will be reborn, but on my own terms." Nox replied firmly. Bestia laughed.

 

 

"You cannot achieve rebirth on your own," She said with scornful amusement. "anymore than a fetus can decide when to be birthed."

 

 

"A god decides not just where he goes, but when he goes." Nox responded. Bestia laughed again.

 

 

"So you fancy yourself one of us already?" She cackled. Red, shadowy energy began to gather around her hands, and a crimson Force barrier sprang to life around her.

 

 

Suddenly nearly every one of the fleshy "eggs" ruptured, blood-red liquid spilling out into the water. With growing disgust, Nox could see white, pale, wormlike creatures with tenticular limbs and large, lipless mouths full of sharp teeth slithering out. As he watched, he saw several of the creatures feel their way to the nearby corpses, and enter them through the nearest orifice. He could hear the creatures chewing, and watched in horror as the bodies literally deflated as they were hollowed out by the newly born larvae. Just then, the wall-mounted eggs ruptured, and the lower portions of the room were filled with the crimson amniotic fluid. Out of the broken remains of the strange wombs came large monstrosities with teeth, tentacles, and fields of eyes. One of the beasts was obviously a Dread Hound without armor, but much larger than any of its kin that Nox had fought. The second beast was a massive, slug-like creature with a body made of pale ooze, eight eyes, and two fleshy antenna atop its bulbous head.

 

 

The third beast was a lizard that walked on two, hooved legs, had a lipless mouth filled to the brim with impossibly long teeth, and two long arms tipped by hands that boasted claws even longer than its teeth. The fourth and final beast, for all intents and purposes, seemed to just be a mass of slithering tentacles that slithered out of its former incubation chamber like a nest of snakes. Only when it had moved its full bulk out of the womb did Nox realize it had a body in the center of that mass of tentacles.

 

 

"Do you like my corruptions?" Brestia said laughing maniacally. Nox did not speak, but simply drew and ignited his lightsaber.

 

 

"You seek true pain." Bestia noted. "It will be given. Children, consume him!"

 

 

The four Dread beasts attacked. Nox moved quickly to dodge the leaping charges of the Dread Hound and the hooved lizard, but was nearly hit by the slug's stream of sticky white paste and the tentacle beast's thrashing limbs as a result. With quick slashes of his lightsaber he sliced off the tips of several tentacles and managed to contort his body to avoid being hit by the white stream, which struck the floor behind him and almost instantly solidified into a rock-like coating.

 

 

Moving with blinding speed, Nox landed a series of savage blows on the Dread Hound and hooved lizard, before moving past them towards the tentacle monster. He dodged, slashed, and hurled his lightsaber around, using the Force to guide it as it flew through the air like a laser saw. He grew close to the creature's main body and began moving with godlike dexterity and alacrity between its thrashing limbs, slicing many of them off close to the base. He saw that the creature's body was little more than a mound of flesh, with no sensory organs to be seen other than its tentacles, and a gaping mouth that looked like it belonged to a Syrox. With hateful vehemence, Nox unleashed a burst of lightning into the creature's maw, causing it to howl and screech in pain. Nox continued to sever tentacles as they came near him, interrupting his pruning to occasionally send another blast of lightning into the yawning chasm of the monster's maw.

 

 

Suddenly two pairs of claws came slashing at him, and Nox had to cease his attacks on the tentacle beast to dodge them, realizing that the other beasts had now turned and were attacking their own sibling in order to get to him. The slug was pinning the tentacle beast's limbs to the walls and floor with its solidifying goo, allowing the others to slash and claw and snap at Nox without too many limbs getting in the way. Leaping up and spinning like a top, Nox hurled his lightsaber in an expanding circle around him while hurling lightning spheres in all directions. The Dread Beasts fell back, and even the slug contracted itself, shuddering and quaking whenever some of the balls of energy struck its slimy body.

 

 

Nox landed, and once more began attacking and slashing at the two melee beasts, while dodging the blows from the enraged tentacle monster and the insidious slug. Suddenly he felt the Dark Side building around him. Realizing what was about to happen a split second before it did, he shrouded himself in the Dark Side. The Death Field erupted a mere half-second afterwards, the energy tainted red instead of purple. Nox deftly slipped under a sweeping strike from the Dread Hound, slid between the legs of the hooved lizard, and exited the Death Field's area of effect before his shroud evaporated. The two beasts weren't so lucky. They howled in agony as the field of pure Dark Side energy consumed the flesh off their bones. The field lasted for a few seconds, which in itself was an impressive display of Bestia's power. But even more impressive was the fact that the creatures did not simply evaporate in the space of a second under the field's effects. Though they were much the worse for having suffered under it.

 

 

Bestia's laugh echoed through the chamber. "You think you can win? Fool! My pets are legion, behold!" At the sound of her voice, nearly every corpse in the room rose to their feet. Their eyes pure black, and their forms resembling nothing more than skin stretched over bone. With a chill, Nox realized where the Skull-apes had come from, they were likely the fully matured form of those worm-like creatures, who by that point in their life cycle had probably merged with the corpse they animated to an extent. Beneath the skin of each cadaver, Nox could see the rippling of the tentacled worm's muscles as it moved the skeleton like a macabre puppeteer. One corpse opened its mouth, revealing it was now where the worm had placed its own fang-filled maw, and unleashed an unearthly howl. As one the entire horde of animated corpses descended on Nox, forcing him to go on the move, hacking and slashing his way through their massed ranks. Nox realized that he had a long hard fight ahead of him, one which would likely cost him more power than he could afford to lose, unless he found a way to completely flip the tables.

 

 

"That's it children," Bestia cooed as her monstrosities pursued him. "tear him to pieces, and bring me his heart."

 

 

Suddenly, an idea sprouted in Nox's brain. This was supposed to be a trial, granted Bestia was likely trying to kill him in her own madness, but it was still likely a trial of some sort. He had already faced Brontes in a trial of conquest and combat in the fortress, so there must be more to this trial than simply fighting off a horde of abominations. The whole fight Bestia had done nothing but encourage and command her "children", so the trial likely involved them somehow-

 

 

He was forced to break off that train of thought as one of the previously inactive root-like tentacles under the water suddenly wrapped itself around his leg just as the Dread Beasts pursuing him launched a particularly well-co-ordinated attack. His surprise at the sudden intervention of the last remnants of the Dread Trees nearly cost him, as several of the Skull Apes attempted to bite off his limbs and head, his Force armor and personal shield protecting him. What nearly killed him however, was the simultaneous attack from the four large Dread Beasts, who attacked in eerie unison.

 

 

The Dread Hound and Dread Lizard attacked from opposite sides, while the slug shot a stream of its paste over his head to prevent him from escaping with a leap, and the tentacle beast surrounded him and cut off other escape routes with its long reach. Instead of dodging, Nox summoned all the power he could muster on such short notice, and unleashed it in a wave of power that was part Dark Side energy, part kinetic energy. The powerful wave was strong enough to send every Skull Ape around him flying, while knocking back the hound and lizard as well as temporarily unbalancing and disorienting the slug and tentacle beast.

 

 

With the moment of reprieve this afforded him, Nox connected the last few dots in his head and had an epiphany. The Skull Apes had gotten to their feet and were charging at him, followed by the now-recovered Dread Beasts. Nox stood perfectly still, preparing himself, then he unleashed a powerful wave of psychic energy. Every Dread Beast in the room stopped cold, their feeble, pitiful, savage minds filled with Nox's brilliance and intelligence. Through the psychic wave Nox had given every monstrosity in that room a glimpse of him as he truly was. A glimpse of his desires, his goals, his plans and the plans he had within plans. They saw, although they could never truly comprehend, the depths of his intelligence. They saw his power, and what he had done and fought against to gain it. They saw him for what he truly was. As far as simple beasts like them were concerned, he was a god.

 

 

Slowly, one by one, each beast lowered itself into a posture of submission and deference. The hound and lizard lowered themselves to the floor, their muscles relaxed. The tentacles beast stopped thrashing and curled its tentacles in around itself, while the slug quivered and retracted its antennae into its head.

 

 

"No!" Hissed Bestia. "Children, I am your mother! Obey me! Destroy him! Destroy him now!"

 

 

None of the creatures moved. Nox waited a while before speaking.

 

 

"You may be their mother, Bestia. But without a father, these creatures are little better than mindless savages who can never accomplish anything of value."

 

 

"Lies!" Bestia howled. "Children, obey me!" Her voice had become a harpy-like screech, and Nox could tell her already fragile psyche was beginning to crack.

 

 

"They obey the one whom they respect, and they respect true power." Nox replied, his voice as firm and steady as it had been before the battle. "Children may love their mother," He said, lifting a hand towards Bestia. Her barrier, made fragile by her distraction, instantly collapsed and she was flung to the floor into a posture of complete abasement. "but they respect and fear their father!" He said authoritatively. Bestia howled and thrashed against her invisible bonds, attempting to summon enough of her own Force power to break them, but Nox's hold on both her physical body and ethereal one were too strong, and she couldn't summon enough will to break free of his stranglehold.

 

 

"Now, submit!" Nox's voice boomed, as he increased the pressure on Bestia.

 

 

"Never!" She screamed in helpless fury.

 

 

"I said SUBMIT!" Nox repeated, lacing his words with dark power. The creatures trembled as the wave passed over them, and Bestia squirmed in pain when it touched her.

 

 

"I WILL NEVER SUBMIT TO YOU!" Bestia screamed, and in a flash, Nox felt the power of the other Dread Masters surge through her, and he instantly prepared himself for battle. It was unnecessary however, as Bestia simple vanished without a trace, as if she had never been there in the first place.

 

"Enjoy this moment of victory." Bestia's disembodied voice advised. "It will be your last."

 

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That was a very interesting chapter.

 

I still love how you can make the Dread Master monsters look so alien and weird, truly an lovecraftian creation. The origin of the skull apes is also interesting, it reminds me from the zombies of a particular Geonosian hive that kept fighting even after death during TCW, I also enjoy the trial of taking control of Bestia's pets.

 

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Fascinating chapter :)

 

 

I can see that the Dread Master's really inspired you and it's made for some interesting reading. I agree with Flame that your descriptions of the monsters/Bestia's pets are very Lovecraftian. You do conjure quite an image in how you describe them. I could practically feel the ooze and the pulsating eggs. Well done. I also appreciate Nox's calm in facing such a situation.

 

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@ Flame Thanks flame! Lovecraft is a pretty big inspiration, especially in this part of the story! The idea for the skull ape origin actually came out of nowhere. I never planned on it being a thing until I actually sat down and began to write this part. The trial I thought was appropriate. To truly be considered a god, you must have an overwhelming paternal aura. That is, the ability to instantly instill fear and respect and command obedience without even saying a word. I felt the imagery of Nox being the father figure to Bestia's maternal figure was powerful, another example of Nox's character development as he makes his way toward godhood.

 

@ Luna You have no idea lol. IMO the Dread Masters saga was hands-down the BEST content in SWTOR. Period. It makes me sad that they only released them as operations and never made a Solo version that only watered down the bossfights and left the story intact. I hate operations, and almost never do them. The Dread Master ops were the one exception. It's actually a funny story, one which had me staying up till 6 in the morning with a PUG group I joined on Oricon...

 

I don't think my style and diction in describing the monsters is very Lovecraftian tbh. Lovecraft and many of his fan-authors have a such a uniquely compelling way of phrasing things that paints such a chaotic and terrifying picture in the reader's mind...While my monster design may be Lovecraftian, I'm not sure the same can be said of my prose. But either way I'm glad you enjoyed it and hope you will continue to enjoy reading!

 

Nox's calm was born of two things: Confidence, and determination. He has decided he is going to win, and that no other outcome is possible. That determination has brought him into a "zen state" of sorts where his entire intellect is now completely focused on his goal, allowing him to use his emotions as fuel for his power without those same emotions blinding him or affecting him mentally. His confidence does, of course, help this as well. He is certain of victory simply because he knows that for all their power, the Dread Masters are the weakest they have ever been. Their madness has made them vulnerable, and he intends to take full advantage.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi guys! I'm super excited about the next part after this one! It's going to be a doozie! There's going to be a lot of foreshadowing in it so pay close attention!

 

As for this one...well. I'm less excited. It didn't quite turn out the way I wanted it to/hoped it would, but its acceptable content to publish IMO. I welcome your guys opinions on this one ESPECIALLY. I'm so nervous that this one sucks, and whether it does or doesn't, I need the band-aid ripped off so to speak.

 

 

Nox walked into the chamber at the end of the long, descending staircase that led to it. Mere seconds after he entered the room, a wall of fire erupted from the threshold, sealing off the doorway. Turning back to glance at the flames, Nox heard the voice of Dread Master Tyrans boom through the wide open space.

 

 

"So you come, like a lamb to the slaughter."

 

 

Nox turned his head back to the far end of the room, where the voice had come from. There, standing just in front of a throne raised a full meter and half off of the floor, was Tyrans. With a casual air, Nox's opponent stepped off of the throne's platform and landed easily on the floor below it. It was only then Nox realized that the chamber was far longer than it was wide, and the floor was comprised of massive tiles. Hanging from the ceiling, like a morbid chandelier, was a red, inverted pyramidal holocron, casting its soft red glow through the room.

 

 

"Are you prepared?" Tyrans asked. Nox felt like laughing.

 

 

"Ask Styrak and your sisters." He retorted.

 

 

"However powerful you may be," Tyrans replied. "you are still just an insignificant Sith. A speck."

 

 

With that, walls of fire erupted from the cracks between the tiles, turning each one into a island in what seemed a sea of flames. Too late, Nox felt the grip of the Dark Side on him, and realized what Tyrans had done.

 

 

"You performed the ritual of Kalabaan."

 

 

"Correct." Tyrans said, his voice betraying not even a hint of his emotions.

 

 

"Now neither of us can leave, until the ritual is complete, until the game is won." Nox said, as if by wrote.

 

 

"Then let us begin." Tyrans said, raising his hand, palm facing directly outward. Nox followed suit, and in a burst of dark energy, the ritual siphoned their power, converting it into raw energy, and giving it form and substance.

 

 

In the center of each tile there appeared a person or creature. Only the center row of tiles was left vacant. Tyrans side of the room was populated by simulacrums of members of the Dread Host, not unlike the ones Nox had encountered or seen outside the fortress. His front line was composed of Dread Guard soldiers, their weapons cocked and at the ready, and Dread Guard acolytes, with their skull-faced masks, red, white, and black armor, and glowing yellow lightsabers. His second line contained two Sorcerers dressed in Dread Guard robes, wearing Obroan-style skull-like helms, and two Dread Guard Marauders wielding a lightsaber in each hand. His third and final line, just in front of him, had two Dread Guard Enforcers on either end, each wearing heavy armor and wielding a heavy assault cannon. On the center two tiles stood both a Dread Guard Corrupter like the ones Nox had fought when he destroyed the terraforming machines, and a tall Dread Guard Overlord like the ones Nox had seen guarding the watchtower outside the fortress, wearing the same robes and ornate Obroan helm.

 

 

Nox's front line was composed of both soldiers dressed in armor identical to the Dread Guard on Tyran's side, and black-robed acolytes that looked fresh from Korriban. The soldier's armor differed from the Dread Guard only in that it was purple and black instead of red and black. The second line of Nox's army was comprised of two Sith juggernauts resembling Lord Demise, with purple blades and helms nearly identical to Nox's own, and two dark-robed assassins with double-bladed violet lightsabers and malicious smiles peeking out from beneath the cowls of their cloaks. The third line had two massive Terentateks on either end, with spitting images of Darth Skade and Darth Raze between them.

 

 

"As the defender, I reserve the right to make the first move." Tyrans said. At the sound of his voice the Dread Guard Overlord began to glow with a red aura, which soon appeared around all the other members of Tyrans army as well, with the exception of the two Enforcers. "I move my Dread Acolyte on the right forward two spaces." The walls of fire blocking the way vanished, leaving the acolyte in question a clear path to his target, one of Nox's soldiers. Charging forward, the acolyte deflected the soldier's blaster shots, and executed his enemy with a leaping strike.

 

 

"I also move my other Acolyte two spaces forward." Tyrans declared, and the scene repeated itself with eerie accuracy, only this time it was another of Nox's soldiers that fell. "I move my right-side Dread Guard to attack your Dark Acolyte." Tyrans said, and this time the soldier on the far end of Tyrans front line charged forward, the flames vanishing to allow him to pass. The battle ended as quickly as the others, with Tyrans minion standing triumphant, while another member of Nox's front line vanished like a spectre. "And now, for the final strike." Tyrans said, gesturing. The last remaining soldier of his first wave descended on the last of the Dark Acolytes, and with that, Nox's front line was gone.

 

 

"Already your demise manifests itself." Tyrans gloated. "In my first turn I've already crushed your first line of defense."

 

 

"But will that be enough I wonder?" Nox returned the jab.

 

 

"We shall see." Tyrans said as he directed the remainder of his forces to form an inverted T-shaped formation behind his unbroken front line. "I end my turn."

 

 

The soft blue glow surrounding the simulacrum of Darth Skade grew brighter at the declaration, and Nox raised his hand to point at the Dread Guard acolyte on his right. "I attack your second Acolyte with my second Assassin." He declared, and in a blur of movement the black-robed pawn descended on the unfortunate acolyte with incredible speed. In a single strike the acolyte was impaled and collapsed to the ground, vanishing not long afterward. "Next is your marauder." Nox said, even as the assassin flew at his new target. The Dread Enforcers, which were positioned just behind the marauder, opened fire on the assassin, but he was too fast to hit.

 

 

"I think not." Tyrans countered, and suddenly the Dread Overlord performed a quick series of hand motions, unleashing a burst of power into the Dread Marauder with a combat ritual. In burst of speed and strength, the marauder engaged Nox's assassin, who missed the killing blow and was given two lightsabers through his chest in return. The dark figure collapsed to the floor and faded into nothing. The Marauder however, seemed to be all the stronger for the battle. His rage manifested around him in a palpable aura, no doubt increasing his strength and speed.

 

 

"Like a blunt instrument, you strike blindly out of fear." Tyrans taunted him.

 

 

"I'm not finished yet Tyrans." Nox replied. "I'm also attacking your other marauder with my other assassin." At his word the remaining assassin disappeared from sight, leaving the path that opened empty except for the one remaining Dread Guard Acolyte and the Dread Marauder behind him. Tyrans gestured, and the Dread Guard Overlord repeated the combat ritual, imbuing the marauder with power. The Enforcers behind him cocked their weapons and prepared to open fire. Suddenly, the marauder dodged and twisted just as a violet lightsaber blade blossomed from thin air and would have ran itself through him. Instead it only grazed him, leaving the now de-cloaked assassin vulnerable to a decapitating strike.

 

 

"Is this what you call strategy? " Tyrans laughed. "Over and over, you try and you fail."

 

 

Nox said nothing, merely pointed at the marauder he had just attacked. "My right-side Juggernaut attacks." With a massive leap, the juggernaut covered the distance between them. The Dread Enforcers opened fire on the airborne warrior, but the Force gathered around him in an unbreakable shell and deflected the blaster bolts. The Juggernaut brought his lightsaber down in a crushing overhand strike that drove the Marauder's own lightsabers, crossed in front of him in defense, back into himself. The illusionary corpse collapsed and vanished.

 

 

Nox indicated the image of Darth Raze as he declared his next move. "I use Darth Raze's Talent to attack your last marauder." Darth Raze vanished, much as the previous assassin had, and for a moment everything seemed still. Then the last Dread Marauder grunted as Raze's blade impaled him from behind. The Dread Enforcers opened fire on Raze, only for him to deflect their attacks until the walls of fire reappeared, preventing them from continuing the assault, an aura of power surrounding him as he fed off of the death of his victim.

 

 

"Next he's going to eliminate your final Acolyte." Nox declared, and the flames separating Raze from the unfortunate peon disappeared. Raze made short work of the acolyte and took his place, the flames returning to seal him off as his dark aura intensified from the slaughter. "I end my turn." Nox declared, moving Darth Skade, who's own bluish-white aura had grown stronger at his declaration, and his right-side Terentatek into a defensive formation beside the other one as he did so.

 

 

"My rightmost Enforcer attacks that Juggernaut." Tyrans said, pointing to the warrior that had eliminated the marauder last turn. The protective flames disappeared and the Enforcer opened a hailstorm of blaster bolts up on the Juggernaut. The armoured warrior deflected them with his lightsaber, but a few broke through his defense and scorched his armor. In a quick leap, he closed the distance and came down on the gunner, but his foe activated his shield at the last second. The staggered Juggernaut was immediately hit by a kinetic pulse that sent him flying back onto his own tile, and with a signal from Tyrans, the Enforcer opened fire again. This time, the bolts flew past the stunned warrior's flailing weapon, piercing shields and armor and leaving his corpse full of holes.

 

 

Tyrans laughed. "Looks like the odds are beginning to stack against you, little Sith."

 

 

"There's no such thing as luck in Kalabaan," Nox replied. "and we both know it. The victor will be the one who truly deserved to win."

 

 

"That will be me." Tyrans said, extending a hand, palm outward, towards his Dread Guard Overlord. "Asuuley tuuni verikas." He recited, and a brilliant red light began to encompass the Overlord. When the light faded, the Overlord was gone, in its place was the image of the Watchtower commander with the featureless oval helmet. "Asuuley tuuni verikas." Tyrans repeated, duplicating the process with the Dread Corrupter, who transformed into a simulacrum of the red-robed commander he had fought in the Dread Watchtower's control center.

 

 

Tyrans took a moment to analyze his next move. He regarded Nox's formation, probing it for weaknesses with his gaze. It was only after a minute of hard analysis that he realized there was none. No matter what angle he attacked Nox's forces from, no matter what units he used or in which order he used them, no matter what Talents and Skills he utilized, it would all end the same: with him at a severe disadvantage. However, he soon realized that doing nothing would place him in a very similar position. Either option would allow Nox to tip the balance and gain an unacceptable amount of momentum.

 

 

No, he thought to himself, it can't be. There's no way he could have defeated me already, not in his first turn, and not after losing so much ground!

 

 

"Any problems Tyrans?" Nox's smug voice asked from across the chamber. Tyrans gritted his teeth, enraged by his foe's arrogance and his own helplessness.

 

 

"Do not attempt to comprehend my methods." He snapped.

 

 

"I wouldn't dare dream of it." Nox's smug sarcasm was dripping from his voice, and it took great effort for Tyrans to keep his cool.

 

 

"I move my other Dread Enforcer one space forward." He said, trying to project confidence and certainty. If I can draw him into a position where he exposes himself, I can give myself a chance to at least even the score, maybe turn things back in my favor. He moved both of his new commanders and the Sorcerers right up behind the advancing Enforcers in an unbroken line before declaring "I end my turn."

 

 

Skade's already brilliant aura grew brighter, her Force power continuing to build with each passing cycle. Nox indicated Raze, "I use Raze's Talent." Darth Raze vanished from sight, and Tyrans braced himself for what was about to happen. Raze's blade sprouted from the Dread Shadow's chest, and a second later, the Enforcers whirled to open fire on him. The body of the Dread Shadow toppled over, and Raze barely managed to defend himself from the two streams of plasma until the fire barriers reappeared. By the time they did, the simulacrum of Raze looked battle worn. His armored robes were scorched in places, and he gave the appearance of being exhausted, despite being merely an illusion of Sith Sorcery.

 

 

"Now Tyrans," Nox taunted him. "let's see how you deal with being outmaneuvered by a real strategist." He extended his hand, palm outward, just like Tyrans had done during the previous turn. "Asuuley tuuni verikas." Nox chanted, and in a flash of light, Raze was transformed. The being that stood in his place was one that Nox knew very well, but that Tyrans had only heard described once before.

 

 

"Darth Andru..." Tyrans said, with growing horror as the realization of what was about to occur slowly dawned on him.

 

 

"Well, well." The apparition spoke, shocking both players into awestruck silence. "I never expected to see a game of Kalabaan from this angle." The pale, wiry Sith drew both of his lightsabers from his belt and thumbed their activation switches. "But I suspect it's going to be a lot of fun!"

 

 

The first to shake off his surprise, Tyrans practically shouted his response. "I use Dread Sentinel's Talent!" The blood-robed commander on the tile right next to Darth Andru vanished immediately, reappearing seconds later in the far corner on Tyrans side of the board. Tyrans allowed himself to feel a small measure of relief. He'd saved his last remaining commander, but from what he knew of Andru's capabilities, he was pretty certain he wasn't going to like what was about to happen.

 

 

Finally having recovered from his initial shock over what he had thought to be an illusion exhibiting signs of intelligence, Nox finally declared his next move. "I use Darth Skade's Talent." He said, and the illusion of Ashara used her accumulated Force power to form Force armor around each Terentatek, granting some to Darth Andru afterward. "Now, for the final nail in your coffin." Nox said with hateful glee. He extended his hand towards Ashara, "Asuuley tuuni verikas!" In a familiar flash, Darth Skade vanished, to be replaced by a dark-skinned, tattooed Sith with a deceptively calm face.

 

 

"So, you finally decided to let us out hmm?" Lord Ergast said, turning to Nox. "Did it have to be in a game of Kalabaan?"

 

 

"I'd watch your tongue if I were you Ergast." Nox retorted. "That goes for both of you." He said to both his new commanders.

 

 

Andru growled. "Normally I'd kill you for giving me an order little snake, but since these riff raff are within reach I think I'll take my anger out on them."

 

 

"Which I was going to make you do anyway." Nox said. "Ergast, use your Talent before Andru jumps the blaster."

 

 

"As you command." The Sith Lord replied bitingly. He channeled his power, then unleashed it in a series of brief hand motions, causing all of Nox's army to glow with a soft aura of power.

 

 

"Andru," Nox ordered, indicating the figure on a left diagonal from the cloaked and armored Sith "Attack that Sorcerer."

 

 

Andru grinned despite himself. "With pleasure." He hissed, and as the walls of fire came down, he descended on his victim with unnatural speed and agility, easily dodging and deflecting the bolts that the Dread Enforcer beside his target unleashed on him. In seconds he tore through his victim's defenses and sliced the illusion into pieces which dissipated before they hit the ground. Andru's dark aura grew more potent as he fed on the energies released by the simulated death, growing stronger.

 

 

"I activate Darth Andru's Talent." Nox declared, confirming Tyrans worst fears. Andru's dark aura became a bright red glow, and his rage became palpable as well as visible in the air around him. "Kill everything in your path Andru." Nox ordered.

 

 

With that, the dark-armored Sith became a ravenous beast. He tore through both the Dread Enforcers, taking their salvos as direct hits with batting an eye, eviscerating them like zucca pigs, and absorbing the Force energy they were made of. Without even pausing, he was on top of the Sorcerer and the Dread Guard soldier at the other end of the battlefield before they would have knew what had hit them, their dissolutions strengthening him all the more.

 

 

When it was all said and done, Andru looked all the stronger for the battles. Other than some cosmetic damage to his cloak and armor, he looked like he could have kept going until every last one of Tyrans minions was reduced to Force energy, had any been within reach.

 

 

"I move my rightmost Terentatek right one space." Nox said, directing the massive beast with his will into a tile diagonally adjacent to the seething, raging Andru. "I'll also move Ergast and the other Terentatek over one space as well, then end my turn."

 

 

Lord Ergast's previously diminished Force aura grew brighter as his power regenerated itself, almost as if signaling the start of Tyrans turn. Looking at the board, Tyrans knew he was in dire straits. He'd lost nearly his entire army, except for one commander and a pawn, so now his only choice was to play defensive and hold out while he waited for his opportunity to strike back. It would come, but only if he kept his last commander alive long enough...

 

 

"Asuuley tuuni verikas." He ordered, and when the flash of light faded, the image of Banok Ral, one of the commanders of the outer fortress, had replaced the Watchtower commander. "I use Banok Ral's talent," he said as the simulacrum cast a Force Barrier around itself, "and move it two spaces to my right." He glanced quickly at the board, and seeing a faint glow surrounding his last Dread Guard, he decided there wasn't any harm in risking it.

 

 

"I attack your last Juggernaut with my last Dread Guard."

 

 

"Cut off the nose to spite the face?" Nox quipped as the wall of fire separating the two combatants vanished, and they engaged in battle.

 

 

"I'm simply making use of the tools at hand." Tyrans replied as their minions continued to fight.

 

 

"Is that what you call making use?" Nox asked mockingly. Tyrans said nothing as both minions, exhausted, backed off and the wall of fire rose between them once more. Neither one had expired, but they had both suffered damage.

 

 

"I end my turn." Tyrans said. Now, he thought, it will be decided.

 

 

Ergast's dark aura grew more intense, signaling the beginning of Nox's turn. "I activate Darth Andru's Talent." He said, and once again Andru's aura transformed into a red glow of palpable rage. A pathway across the board leading directly to Banok Ral, opened up, and Andru barreled down it as his opponent readied himself. Andru attacked Ral's Force Barrier with a savagery and fury that seemed to go beyond human capacity for emotion, but the barrier seemed to hold firm. Nox felt a flicker of concern as he realized he might have just risked his advantage in a reckless maneuver, but then the barrier suddenly collapsed, leaving the enemy commander defenseless.

 

 

Unfortunately, Andru appeared to have expended all his energy in the attack, and the simulacrum of Ral took advantage of that by unleashing a blast of lightning at his foe in a counterattack. The blast made Andru stumble back, just as the wall of fire raised itself to end the battle. Determined to finish off his foe while he still had a chance, Nox gestured at Andru as he spoke the words that he hoped would be his redemption.

 

 

"Asuuley tuuni verikas." The burst of light replaced Lord Ergast with the spectre of Kalatosh Zavros, and the second burst replaced Darth Andru with the towering form of Horak-Mul.

 

 

The two quickly noticed where they were and what was going on, and Kalatosh whirled on Nox. "Really?" He questioned. "This is your legacy? Playing games like children? Whatever happened to Sith fighting their own battles?"

 

 

"Watch your tongue." Horak-Mul threatened him. "Kalabaan is no mere game. It is the greatest contest of wits ever devised, something I doubt you would understand."

 

 

"What I understand is that we've graduated from being prisoners to game pieces!" Kalatosh retorted. "First he binds us, then he traps us, now he's using us for amusement!"

 

 

"Kalabaan is not for amusement." Horak-Mul said gravely. "It is the highest form of contest known to the Sith. Engaging in a game of Kalabaan is to put not just one's own life or soul at risk, but to risk being responsible for the elevation of your foe. If he had the courage to accept the challenge then we should do our part gladly."

 

 

"But don't you know what that means if he loses?" Kalatosh nearly screamed. "If he loses we get turned into raw Force energy, no more him, no more afterlife, no more us!"

 

 

"I would think that would be all the motivation you need not to lose." Horak replied.

 

 

"Not that either of you could disobey me anyway." Nox added.

 

 

"Damn you! Damn you all!" Kalatosh raged.

 

 

"I attack your last Dread Guard with my last Juggernaut." Nox said to Tyrans, as the wall of flames came down and the battle began again in earnest. Bolstered by the Force presences of both Kalatosh and Horak-Mul, Nox's minion had the clear advantage and crushed the soldier easily. Kalatosh's Force aura grew brighter as Nox declared the end of his turn.

 

 

Tyrans couldn't help it. He began to laugh. "Fool!" He spat. "Witness my mastery!" Darkness began to shroud the Dread Master's form, and his laugh became an echo. Suddenly, a cloud of dark smoke surrounded Banok Ral, and malevolent energy began to build in the vortex. Then, with an explosion of energy, the smoke dispersed, and Tyrans stood where Banok Ral had been. The Dread Master's booming laugh echoed through the chamber, and his eyes began to glow a brilliant red from the darkness behind his eye slits. Horak-Mul, his face twisted in both disbelief and fear, stood frozen as the strength was drained from his body and the courage from his heart. The wall of fire separating them collapsed, and Tyrans attacked.

 

 

Horak-Mul tried to defend himself, but under the effects of the Dread Master's overwhelming power to inflict terror and the potency of his sorcery, the pureblood Sith's defenses were practically non-existent, and his counterattacks were useless. Tapping into the bond between them, Nox took over Horak-Mul and summoned all the power the ancient Sith Lord could muster. Horak-Mul's eyes and hands began to shine with electric energy as Nox tapped into the Dark Lord's command of Sith Lightning. He unleashed it in a massive blast that thundered towards Tyrans like a raging river of power. Tyrans raised a hand, and a Force Barrier sprang to life around him. The deluge of lightning didn't break over the shield like water over a rock however, it clung to the barrier like a static charge. Individual volts finding weaknesses and holes, slipping through to shock Tyrans even as he struggled to maintain his concentration against the burgeoning power.

 

 

In the end, Horak-Mul didn't have enough power to break through the Dread Master's defenses, and the lightning storm faded as Horak-Mul dropped to the ground exhausted and drained.

 

 

"Promise me, Nox." He said urgently in a hoarse, raspy voice as Tyrans approached his prone body. "Promise me you'll win!"

 

 

"You have my word." Nox promised. The ancient Sith closed his eyes, and Tyrans drove his lightsaber through his chest. With an explosion of dark energy, the body disappeared, Tyrans feeding on some of the residual energies to strengthen himself.

 

 

"You have no hope now." Tyrans taunted him.

 

 

Nox smiled darkly, "I've never needed hope." and Tyrans noticed a dark aura beginning to form around Nox.

 

 

"Impossible." He said incredulously. "You know-"

 

 

"I know more than you ever will." Nox replied, as the darkness began to swirl around him, forming a vortex much like it had with Tyrans. The same aura formed around Kalatosh, and with an explosion of dark energy, the other Sith was gone, and Darth Nox was standing in his place.

 

 

"Now it's you and me Tyrans." Nox asserted, his eyes glowing with violet light as the Dark Side swirled around him. "Looks like we really are going to fight after all." A path opened before him, and he advanced towards Tyrans, stopping two spaces away from the Dread Master. "Now come and get me."

 

 

Tyrans laughed, and Nox felt a familiar shift in the Dark Side as Tyrans summoned the power of the other Dread Masters to add to his own. "Your ambition will be your downfall." Tyrans said as his body was enveloped in a red and black aura. His booming laugh once more began to echo, as his form became shrouded in a red and black mist that seemed to have manifested itself from nowhere.

 

 

Abruptly, the sphere of pure Dark Side energy unleashed a wave of power that annihilated every illusion in the room, leaving only Nox and the sphere of energy behind. Nox felt a sudden overwhelming terror begin to swallow him up, and heard Tyran's voice echo in the corridors of his mind. Give yourself to oblivion.

 

That sound, that dreadful, terrible sound filled his ears again. He felt the ice-cold breath on the back of his neck, cold as the abyss, and felt the harrowing presence of Death fall over him. His legs went rigid and his body froze in place. The sphere of power that Tyrans had become floated towards him, tentacles of dark energy reaching out to wrap him in their entropic grasp and drain him of his power, his life, his very being. He felt like he was in a nightmare, only this was real. He couldn't move. He tried to turn and run but his body and mind both betrayed him, remaining frozen.

 

 

Is this how it ends? He thought as he felt a skeletal hand rest on his shoulder. Do I die here? Having come so far only to fall to that which I have devoted my entire life to escaping? He lost all sensation of the world outside himself, and felt only the cold embrace of the void. Floating in the endless black, he felt his thoughts and memories slipping away, replaced by a strange kind of peace. The utter stillness that came with absence and emptiness. Who was he? What was he? He knew he had something important to do, something he had to remember...but what was it?

 

 

He didn't know how long he stayed like that, but suddenly he remembered something.

 

 

Peace is a lie.

 

 

He grasped at the thought, like a drowning man reaching for an object to hold on to.

 

 

Peace is a lie.

 

 

Yes, he thought, Peace is a lie.

 

 

Peace is a lie!

 

 

He forced himself to finish the thought, reciting the words that he had carved into his very being since the day he first heard them.

 

 

Peace is a lie. There is only Passion.

Through Passion I gain Strength.

Through Strength I gain Power.

Through Power I gain Victory,

and through Victory my chains are Broken.

The Force shall set me free.

The Force shall set me free.

The Force...shall set me...FREE!

 

_______________

 

Tyrans, immersed thoroughly in the sphere of dark energy surrounding his physical form, regarded his helpless prey as he closed in. Darth Nox had gone rigid like a corpse, his mind and heart frozen by the overwhelming power of terror. Despite the Dark Lord's might, he was no match for the combined powers of Tyrans and his brothers and sisters. As he closed in on the petrified Nox, Tyrans extended his Force reach to seize upon his foe's mind and unravel it in the abyss he had crafted from the Dark Lord's own deepest and darkest fear. Death.

 

 

Suddenly, he felt something. Something, odd. It was a shift in the Force, but like none he had ever experienced. It wasn't so much like a tectonic shift, as most shifts were. Instead it was more like something new had simply appeared, a deeper, darker vacuum within the void of the Dark Side that displaced the Dark Side itself. In that moment, Tyrans felt the first flicker of doubt. Then he saw the purple glow alighting in the still petrified Nox's eyes, piercing his helm's one-way lenses from the inside, as an ominous aura of inky black darkness began to shroud his enemy's form. The darkness quickly became a whirlwind of living shadow, and Tyrans realized with growing fear that something horrible was happening. Something he didn't understand, something he hadn't even thought to plan for.

 

 

He became the petrified one, as the vortex of darkness grew larger and began to batter the opaque sphere of dark energy that surrounded him. The darkness surrounding his former prey didn't feel so much dark as it felt black. It felt like standing on the edge of the abyss, staring into its depths, unable to look away. He felt every fiber of his being, whether mundane or ethereal, shudder involuntarily as the fear he had sought to inflict suddenly blossomed in the now fertile ground of his own heart.

 

 

With mounting horror, he saw a pair of glowing purple orbs alight within the depths of the swirling black tornado. They were spaced too far apart and were too large to be Nox's eyes, or the eyes of any being or form small enough to be hidden by the vortex. Yet Tyrans knew they were staring at him, that they didn't just see him but saw through him, and the fear that had sprouted in his soul blossomed into the fully-formed flower of terror.

 

 

"Who are you!?" He demanded, his voice for once losing its deep bass and becoming a terrified baritone.

 

 

I am Death.

 

 

The voice spoke purely in his mind, except it wasn't mere telepathy, but rather a transfer of knowledge from one ethereal being to another. The words pierced his mind and soul, rooting themselves in his very essence, corrupting it by their mere presence, and forcing his powers to abandon him, as if in flight.

 

 

The dark vortex suddenly began to expand rapidly, tearing through the ball of dark energy that surrounded Tyrans and encompassing him in seconds. He tried to scream as the darkness began to devour the flesh from his bones, erasing his body from existence like a swarm of locusts devouring a field of vegetation, but he heard no sound. Nothing but the hollow roaring of the dark winds that were wiping him from the galaxy. Just before he lost all sense of himself, he felt a tug, like a hand grabbing him by the collar and yanking him backward, and as he felt the corrosive touch of the darkness consuming his body fade, he managed to breathe out a single parting sentence.

 

 

"This was but a game. The true test is yet to come..."

 

Edited by MayhemofChaonus
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Dude that was phenomenal, seriously.

 

The way you made Tyrans' encounter a chess game was really creative, I really enjoyed him playing a game of strategy as opposed to just blindly jumping and fighting. I've also enjoyed seeing the force ghosts again, and Horak-Mul respect for an ancient Sith game. Once the fighting did start though Nox handled the situation in a very Sithy manner, reciting the Sith code and turning his enemy's greatest weapon against himself.

 

Truly an enjoyable read, keep coming with them! Can't wait to see how you tackle Calphayus.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi guys,its me! No not Demunoki, I'm just possessing his body again. Since Demunoki will no longer be a suitable vessel after he loses his subscription, I will be re-subbing once chapter 5 is complete to post the updates to it and finish off the prologue arc. At that time I will be clarifying what lies ahead for this saga and its place on these forums.! I hope you guys enjoy this part, although you might want to keep a box of tissues nearby while reading, some of the content is truly traumatic (at least it was traumatic for me to write it, honestly not sure whether other people will find it the same). I think its also the longest part yet, although it may not feel like it as there's a lot of content stuffed in here (IMO).

 

Sorry, I'm rambling. Let's get on with the show!

 

 

From the moment Nox entered the chambers of Dread Master Calphayus, he knew this trial would not be like the others.

 

 

 

You’ve arrived.” Calphayus said, raising his head from its bowed position and dropping his clasped hands to his sides. “Then you have survived your previous trials. As I foresaw.

 

 

 

“And just what do you have in store, Calphayus?” Nox asked, taking on a remarkably civil tone.

 

 

 

The Dread Master gave a sinister chuckle in reply. “You cannot receive insight so easily, you must earn it.

 

 

 

“Then perhaps we should dispense with these riddles and nonsense and get down to it.” Nox said, his civil tone vanishing to be replaced by frigid airs.

 

 

 

Do not make light of this.” Calphayus scolded him. “I see you. I see your true self. I see your future, your past, your doom!” His hands shot forward in a summoning posture, and he became cloaked in an aura of power. Taken by surprise, Nox felt the world spin around him, then vanish into the depths of the vortex in which he now found himself. Just before he lost consciousness, he wondered if he had made a terrible mistake.

 

____________

 

 

 

Little Teri stood shivering in the cold winds of Skull Grotto. The filthy rags wrapped around his small frame did little to protect him from the chilling bite of the air currents as they sapped the warmth from his body. In front of him, rising into the sky like a monument to fear and death, was The Skull: A large rock formation that looked harrowingly similar to its namesake, and served as the entrance to a vast network of caves that burrowed deep into Dathomir’s surface. It was also home to a monstrous creature older than the rocks themselves, a beast born of nightmares and hate.

 

 

 

Teri had come here with his mother, she had told him to wait outside while she went in to get whatever it was they had come here for. That had been at dusk, but it was night now. Teri had been standing in the cold for what felt like hours, staring into the impenetrable darkness filling the gaping, yawning maw of The Skull, waiting to see his mother emerge, but she never did. The thought that maybe the Beast had gotten her flashed through his mind, but he shook his head to banish it. His mother was strong, she would never fall to such a creature, she would never leave him alone in the world, she-

 

 

 

His thought was cut off by the very loud, very deep growl that suddenly came from somewhere behind him. Teri stood stock still and stiffened like a corpse, his little ears listening as intently as they could as his panicked mind raced through possibilities at light speed. Being a child of almost 5 years, his imagination was more than developed enough to present him with a series of possibilities, each more terrifying than the last. He wanted to turn around to put all his fears to rest and assure himself there was nothing there, but his body was petrified with fear, and the only thing he could do was stand as still as stone, hoping that he was just imagining things.

 

 

 

He felt a dark presence sweep over him, and his fear blossomed into terror. He felt the source of the presence drawing closer, approaching him from behind, and tears began to stream silently down his face as he soiled himself. Suddenly, he felt a cold breeze on his neck, colder than any of the winds that been howling through the grotto minutes earlier. The chill made his skin feel like ice, and he felt the call of the abyss.

 

 

 

Unleashing a scream, Teri took off blindly at a full run. So terrified was he, that he didn’t notice or care that he was running straight into the mouth of The Skull, straight into the darkness.

 

____________

 

 

 

Teri trudged along in the dark. His eyes had adjusted to the deep darkness long ago, but that still didn’t help him figure out where he was or how to get out. He felt like he’d been walking for hours, a fact his feet reminded him of with every step. He wanted to lay down and rest, but the thought of that icy breath on his neck gave him a new dose of adrenaline. He was tired, terrified, and miserable. Tears fell continuously down his face, but he released no sobs or hiccups. There was no noise except for the sound of his feet hitting the stone floor, and a low, continuous, hollow roar, like the howling of spirits, that always seemed to be coming from deeper into the tunnel, no matter which way he turned or what tunnel he took. He’d already passed through several forks and intersections, and there was no telling how many he had passed through when he was running from the Beast. He was thoroughly and utterly lost.

 

 

 

The tunnel finally opened into a much wider, more cavernous tunnel, where fields of stalagmite formations with a hole in the top of each of them covered the majority of the floor and walls. The new tunnel was softly lit by glowing blue moss that formed colonies on the strange formations. As Teri continued along the path that seemed to have been worn through the strange landscape, he suddenly heard a noise coming from one of the larger formations nearby.

 

 

 

Overcome with relief, he scrambled over the few stalagmites in his way to reach the one from which the noise had come. “Mommy?” He called out. “Mommy, it’s me!” He reached the structure and mounted it so he could peer into the sizeable hole. “Mommy?” The darkness inside remained still and silent, that is, until a pair of tiny, glowing red slits opened and glared directly at him. Teri was frozen in fear, and watched petrified as more red eyes materialized in the darkness, filling the void with the angry glares of a thousand demons.

 

 

 

In an explosion of beating wings, the creatures flew at him, biting, scratching and clawing at his eyes and face. When he threw up his hands to try and beat them off, they gnawed and grasped at his fingers and arms, teeth and claws digging into his flesh and leaving deep, bleeding furrows in his skin. Teri ran down the path to try and get away, his teeth clenched and his hands flying in every direction as he tried in vain to beat them off. His tired legs and worn feet burned with pain, but he didn’t even notice. He ran blindly, occasionally stumbling and tripping in his mad dash to escape his furious tormentors.

 

 

 

Then he felt his heart stop when his next step didn’t touch the floor, and for a moment he felt himself tumbling down, down into the dark abyss, into the waiting jaws of the Beast. Then he hit water, and with it came sweet relief. Unwilling to follow their victim, the winged residents of the caves had ceased their assault. For a moment, Teri considered staying underwater for as long as possible, but then his lungs protested, and he burst to the surface, gasping for air. He swam to the edge of the pool, clung to a ledge that jutted out from the rock wall, and stayed there, shivering.

 

 

 

His legs and feet hung uselessly in the water behind him, and he took the moment to enjoy the rest, despite the piercing cold and the realization that he no longer had any clothes. The rags he had been wearing had been so scratched and torn by the winged creatures that had attacked him, that when he hit the water they must have slipped right off and sank to the bottom.

 

 

 

At least he was safe here. The creatures from before hadn’t followed him down here, and the Beast…the thought trailed off as he realized he was a sitting duck. If the Beast found him here, there was nowhere to run or hide, he would be trapped. Panic gave him new energy, and he quickly began moving around the edge of the pool, searching for a way out. His heart flooded with relief as he found a path, seemingly carved out of the stone, spiraling up to the top.

 

 

 

In a few minutes, Teri was once more walking down a tunnel, naked and shivering but alive. He had to find mommy. That was his only hope. If he could find her, she could protect him from the Beast and they could go home together. Without her, he would wander down here, trapped, until either the Beast or hunger got him. He had to keep moving, he had to find her.

 

 

 

As he walked, he forced his voice out from between his trembling lips in a low call that echoed softly and eerily down the tunnel: “Mooooommmyyyyyyy…” He listened intently, hoping against hope for a reply. Nothing. He tried again, this time slightly louder: “Moooooommmyyyyyyyy”. Listening to the echo, he realized it sounded like the haunted call of the spirits he had seen Mommy and the others summon back in the village, and the thought brought back the memory of the Beast, and of its chilling breath on his neck.

 

 

 

The tunnel eventually opened into a large cavern with no floor. His only way forward was a path carved into the stone wall that ran left of the tunnel he had emerged from. Thick steam was rising from the dark abyss below, and Teri could feel the heat it brought. The change in temperature relieved him of his chills, but for some reason, Teri felt more afraid. The moment he stepped into the cavern, apprehension rooted itself in his brain and he felt like he was being watched. Trying to ignore the feeling, he turned and began to walk down the pathway away from the tunnel, softly calling out to his mother to comfort himself with the sound of his own voice. His fear made him stutter, and even as he spoke, he thought he heard the same low growl he had heard outside The Skull. Every hair on his body stood up and goose bumps spread across his flesh. On instinct he whirled around to look behind him, and saw…nothing.

 

 

 

His fear was not satiated however, and even as he turned back and continued on his way, he still felt like he was being watched. What little Teri hadn’t seen was the malevolent, inhuman face sneering at him that had formed out of the steam, vanishing just moments before he had turned to look back.

 

_____________

 

 

 

After reaching the end of the path carved in the wall of the steam-filled cavern, Teri had once more found himself faced with the deeper darkness of another tunnel. He had been traveling through it for a while now without encountering any forks or intersections. The cuts on his arms, face, and hands had already started to scab over, and the blood surrounding them had started to dry. They still stung however, and his feet and legs were beginning to feel tired again.

 

 

 

He entered a large cavern that looked normal compared to the ones he had passed through before, but once his eyes adjusted, he could make out a strange silhouette standing in the center. As he looked harder, he realized it has a humanoid form, and a thought possessed him. “Mommy?” he called out. “Mommy!” He cried, running to his mother. Her back was turned to him so he couldn’t see her face. “Mommy! It’s me, mommy!” He grabbed her hand when he reached her, and felt chills sweep over his body. It was ice cold.

 

 

 

Slowly, she turned to face him, and horror overcame him. Her face was gone. In its place was a mass of rotten flesh barely covering an exposed skull. Maggots crawled in and out of her empty eye sockets and nostrils, and her mouth was a skeletal grimace.

 

 

 

“What’s the matter Teri?” She asked, her lipless, mouth opening and closing as she spoke, revealing her decaying, maggot-infested tongue. “Aren’t you happy to see me?”

 

 

 

Teri tried to scream, but the sound caught in his throat. He could only stare at the horrifying creature as it leaned over him.

 

 

 

“Come on Teri.” His mother said, “Let’s go home together.”

 

 

 

Just then, Teri saw it. Behind the abomination that may or may not have been his mother, was the Beast of The Skull. It was massive. Its body was made of living shadow that moved and rippled like a liquid. Its eyes were slanted, evil red slits on a face that was nowhere near human. Its gaping maw was a cruel muzzle with massive, sharp teeth that resembled huge ritual knives. Its long, bone-skinny limbs, of which there were six, ended in oversized talon-like claws just as long as its teeth. The dull, hollow roar Teri had been hearing in the tunnels, and had gotten so used to, was emanating from it.

 

 

 

In that instant, Teri knew he was going to die, and that’s when everything clicked. He remembered who he was. He was no longer the terrified boy who had gotten lost in those caves so long ago; he was no longer the weak, mewling little lamb that had been terrified of his own shadow. He was no longer weak, he was no longer afraid, he was fear. His anger, his fury, his hate, they all came rushing back to him, filling him with strength and power. Suddenly, he was no longer two feet tall, but six. He was no longer naked, but wearing his familiar armor and skull-faced helm, with his lightsaber clipped to his belt. He was no longer cold and afraid, but filled with the infernal heat of rage.

 

 

 

He drew his lightsaber just as the beast lunged, and impaled the reanimated corpse of his mother through her gut. The Beast stopped cold, and then unleashed a howl of agony.

 

 

 

“Enough, Calphayus!” Nox bellowed, his voice echoing throughout the vision-world. “I’ve passed your test!”

 

 

 

Calphayus’s familiar, sinister laughter was his response, and Nox noticed that it was coming from the impaled illusion of his mother’s corpse. Her rotting face was thrown back in laughter, her grimacing mouth thrown open.

 

 

 

Oh no, Teridax.” Calphayus said with obvious glee. “The true test has only just begun.

 

 

 

Everything around Nox began to waver and shift. The Beast evaporated as his mother’s corpse dissolved into dust. The cavern began to wobble like a sheet of flimsy being shaken by a child, then the floor gave way, and Nox found himself plummeting into unconsciousness.

 

_____________

 

 

 

When he awoke, he found himself lying face-down on the rocky ground. Getting to his feet, he took stock of his surroundings. He stood on a wide, level platform of rock that seemed to be a natural formation. The area was brightly illuminated, but not by the piercing golden light of a star, rather by the soft light of a moon. Nox glanced up at the brilliant white orb shining down on him from the night sky, and a chill ran down his spine.

 

 

 

There were no stars. Other than the incredibly large moon, the only objects in the dark and dusky sky were several dark clouds that moved steadily despite the noticeable lack of wind. Possessed by an apprehensive curiosity, Nox approached the edge of the platform, and peered over. Vertigo and primal terror mingled in his cortex as he stared into the bottomless abyss that was a mixture of very dark blues and dull greens, mimicking the sky on a planet where the sun had slipped below the horizon enough to shroud its natural light from view, but not so much that it left the sky black. Pulling back from the edge and backing away, Nox tried to organize his thoughts, and failed.

 

 

 

Wherever he was, it was not anywhere in the universe he recognized. It reminded him more of the strange universe he had glimpsed through the eyes of the strange abomination he had encountered in the hypergate on Asation. The coloration of the “sky” made no sense, as did the presence of a lunar satellite in the absence of any landmass besides the floating platform on which Nox currently found himself. The thought that the landmass on which he stood might, at any moment, plummet into the depths of-of-wherever this was threatened to flood his mind and body with fear.

 

 

 

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. The platform, much like the rest of this place, seemed perfectly capable and content to defy any law of gravity that existed here and continue floating, despite Nox experiencing no noticeable change in the gravity he normally experienced. Wherever this place was, it defied all natural laws and laws of physics, which meant he had to be ready for anything.

 

 

 

Looking straight up, he saw the sky became a progressively deeper blue until, at the point directly above him, it seemed to become pure black. While he pondered what this could mean, he heard a voice he never thought he would hear again from behind him.

 

 

 

“Beautiful, isn’t it apprentice?”

 

 

 

Nox whirled to see his old master, Darth Zash, standing behind him. However, he immediately noticed that something was off. Her skin was a blackish- gray, and the more he looked at her the more it seemed less like skin, and more like solid shadows. Her robes were a much darker black, and her hair was a lighter gray than her skin. What struck him most were the eyes. They weren’t normal, they weren’t even human. They looked more like the eyes of a Chiss, except they glowed with sinister intent, and she was cloaked in an aura of shadow, as if her body was composed of dark flames.

 

 

 

The shadowy imitation of Zash put her hand on her hip. “What’s wrong apprentice? Is that any way to greet your old master?” Her voice was familiar, but the tone was mocking.

 

 

 

“You always did need a lesson in showing the proper respect.” Came yet another voice Nox had feared he would hear. He turned to see a shadow version of Thanaton standing off to the side. Nox could have sworn he wasn’t there before. “Perhaps we shall have to teach you.”

 

 

 

“Yes!” Came a voice that surprised Nox more than either of the previous ones. “Teach him a lesson!” Nox turned once more to see a shadow of Rylee Dray. Now he was surrounded on all sides, with his back to the edge. “Teach that no-good traitor that he can’t just get away with everything he’s done!” The voice was unmistakably Rylee’s, but Nox had never heard it tainted with such venom and hatred before.

 

 

 

“Did you know this would happen?” The shadow of Rylee glowered as she and the others began to close in on him. “Did you know when you abandoned us to those charlatans and thieves on Nar Shadda that I’d find you and seek revenge? Would you still do it?” Her words were brimming with animosity and her eyes almost seemed to be on fire.

 

 

 

“I made a mistake.” Nox admitted.

 

 

 

“Gods don’t make mistakes!” Rylee yelled. “What kind of god abandons his own people? His own faithful?”

 

 

 

“You’re no god.” Thanaton said derisively. “You’re just a pretender and a false Sith.”

 

 

 

“You couldn’t even get rid of me.” Zash accused. “You locked me away because you were too weak to kill me once and for all!”

 

 

 

Nox clasped his hands over his ears, but it did nothing to block out their voices.

 

 

 

“You were a failure as an apprentice.” Zash mocked him.

 

 

 

“You bring nothing but shame to the name of Sith.” Thanaton denounced.

 

 

 

“You’re no god.” Rylee accused. “You’re nothing but a pathetic failure.”

 

 

 

“SHUT UUUUP!” Nox screamed. A blast of Dark Side energy exploded out of him, wiping away the shadows as they unleashed haunting screams of hatred and frustration. Nox stood there for a moment, panting heavily as he tried to gather himself. When he could finally think straight, he stopped and took another look around. He noticed there seemed to be another floating island off in the distance. When he moved towards the edge of the platform, rocks suddenly appeared from below, forming a broken path across the void to the other island.

 

 

 

Nox only hesitated a moment to test whether the path would support him and not collapse the moment he put his weight on it. When it held, he stepped out onto the unnatural bridge and began making his way across. As he drew closer to the island, he noticed it was covered in trees and vegetation. It also seemed to be significantly bigger than the one he had come from. When he reached the island, he stepped off the floating path, and it collapsed, vanishing below.

 

 

 

Nox stood there for a moment, regarding the completely silent forest in front of him. Illuminated by the unnaturally bright light of the large moon, but vacant of any movement or noise indicating the presence of life, the forest seemed eerie and eldritch rather than normal. Steeling himself, Nox entered, making his way through the perfectly still trees, the foliage casting long shadows on the forest floor. It was so picturesque it might have been beautiful, were it not for the current situation. It was a few minutes later when Nox realized that he should have reached the other side of the island by now. Turning back, he couldn’t see the edge he had arrived on, only a seemingly endless forest.

 

 

 

Squashing the growing sense of unease that tried to wiggle its way into his brain, Nox continued on. Not long after, he arrived at a rather primitive-looking domicile. It seemed to be made of wood and some kind of bleached, solid stone similar to permacrete. Despite the dwelling’s simple design, it had an extremely rustic sort of charm. It looked very…homey.

 

 

 

“Daddy!” He heard a child’s voice call from behind him. He turned in confusion, and saw two children, a boy and girl rushing towards him with the most excited looks he had ever seen on two children’s faces. The girl was a Togruta, and the boy a Dathomirian Zabrak. Nox did a double take, and realized something that served to confuse him even more. The girl looked a lot like Ashara, different in subtle ways, but it was obvious who her mother was. The boy was the spitting image of Nox. Other than having different tattoos he had the same lean build, the same piercing eyes, the same formation of horns…

 

 

 

For a moment Nox struggled to process what he was seeing, then he realized why the children were running towards him. I’m…their father? The notion seemed ridiculous, yet he couldn’t deny the genetic similarities between these younglings and him and Ashara.

 

 

 

“Daddy! I’m so glad you’re home!” The little girl squealed, attacking his legs like a hungry K’lor’slug, wrapping her tiny little arms around him.

 

 

 

“Dad, can you teach me some new staff techniques?” The boy asked, his wide eyes looking up at Nox with a mixture of anticipation and hope. “I’ve been practicing the stuff you taught me, and I’m ready for some new moves!”

 

 

 

Nox’s confusion had morphed into determination, and he decided it best to play along to get what he needed.

 

 

 

“Actually I was looking for your mother, do you know where she is?”

 

 

 

“Mommy went up to the clearing to watch the moon.” The little girl said. “She told us to tell you to come and see her when you got back.”

 

 

 

“Then I’ll do just that.” Nox said, untangling himself from the persistent embrace of the young girl. “Although, I seem to have forgotten which way to go.” The girl giggled.

 

 

 

“Silly daddy. You just go that way.” She indicated the proper direction, and Nox reached down and rubbed her headtails as thanks. “What would daddy do without you?” He pretended to tease her, thankful that his ancestor’s mask hid his expression.

 

 

 

The girl giggled again, and the two younglings scampered into the house as Nox departed in the direction he had been told to go. After less than a minute of travel, he started ascending a hill, the brilliant light of the moon shining down from the top. He had no doubt the view of it from the top would be rather spectacular.

 

 

 

He was not disappointed. Upon reaching the summit and entering the clearing that was his destination, he was greeted to the sight of the immense white orb showering the clearing with its soft white beams. The scene seemed downright magical. He was so caught up in the sight that he failed to notice Ashara standing in the center of the clearing until she spoke to him.

 

 

 

“Amazing, isn’t it?” She asked, causing Nox to stop a few meters from her.

 

 

 

“What’s going on Ashara?” He asked in a deeply serious tone. “What is this place? Why are our-” he paused, struggling to get the word out “-offspring running about that primitive construct?”

 

 

 

Her head, which up to that point had been tilted back staring at the moon, fell into a lowered position. Nox recognized the movement as an indication that she was trying to suppress her emotions. She turned to face him, the moon clearly illuminating her from behind.

 

 

 

“Because Teri,” she said. “this is our life.”

 

 

 

“I don’t remember this part of the plan.” Nox said. “Nowhere in our plan to rule the galaxy as Emperor and Empress do I recall us living in a makeshift hovel.”

 

 

 

Ashara shook her head, biting her lip in repressed exasperation. “We gave that up a long time ago, don’t you remember?”

 

 

 

“No.” Nox stated flatly, “I don’t.”

 

 

 

“We realized what that power would do to us.” Ashara said, as if this had all happened not too long ago. “We realized that if we continued down that path, we would become nothing more than the tyrants and monsters we sought to liberate people from.”

 

 

 

Nox couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He’d always feared that one day Ashara’s conditioning would break and she would realize that she was going down the path to the Dark Side, but she seemed to be implying that he somehow agreed to this, this peasant’s life.

 

 

 

“When I confronted you about it, you saw the truth I did, and we left the Empire and our old lives behind forever. We settled on an Outer Rim planet, built a home from almost nothing, lived off the land, and then…” She paused, as if hurt by his lack of reaction, “then a miracle happened, two to be exact. When I got pregnant with Ashatta I couldn’t believe it at first, but eventually I knew. Then, not a year later, Zaalix came along. The Force blessed us with children, despite it being impossible.” Thanks to the moonlight streaming down from above, the subtle glint of tears could be seen in the corner of her eyes. “Are you telling me you’ve forgotten the births of your own children?”

 

 

 

“I haven’t forgotten,” Nox said coldly. “because those children don’t exist.”

 

 

 

The look of horror and shock on Ashara’s face stung him. More intensely and more deeply than he would have believed possible. She stood in heartbroken silence, tears streaming freely down her face, her mouth open in a permanent expression of horror at his statement. When he didn’t react, she lowered her head and covered her mouth with a closed fist.

 

 

 

“It’s not too late.” She said in a barely audible whisper.

 

 

 

“What?” Nox asked in genuine confusion.

 

 

 

“It’s not too late.” She repeated. “We can still have this, you don’t have to do this.”

 

 

 

“Do what?” Nox pressed her. “What are you talking about?” Ashara pressed her hands to her temples, her breath coming sobbing gasps and her moist cheeks glistening in the moonlight.

 

 

 

“PLEASE, DON’T DO THIS!” She screamed, her sobs forcing her to gasp for air. “CAN’T YOU SEE WHAT’S HAPPENING? CAN’T YOU SEE HOW THIS POWER IS CORRUPTING YOU???”

 

 

 

“Power is all that matters.” Nox replied, the fires of his fury slowly building. He was angry, at himself for allowing things to get this far, for allowing himself to have genuine feelings for her, and at her for being so stubborn and strong-willed.

 

 

 

“Please.” She said, raising her head to look him in the eye, “Please Teri, don’t do this, can’t you see the monster you’re becoming?”

 

 

 

Suddenly, Nox felt as if he were no longer in control. His own voice spoke, yet he hadn’t thought the words, or willed his mouth to say them. “All I see is a chain that needs to be broken.”

 

 

 

Ashara’s pupils dilated and she froze, letting out a single breath as a squeaking sob. Then, when she felt the fist go through her abdomen, she opened her mouth to try and gasp, but only a trail of blood came out, trickling from the right corner of her mouth down to her chin. She tried to speak, but only empty hiccups came. She turned her head to look Nox in the eyes, her own filled with more suffering, shock, and betrayal than any Nox had ever seen.

 

 

 

“Why…” She gasped as he withdrew his arm from her and she collapsed to the ground. For a moment, Nox just stood there; staring at the blood-soaked arm that he had driven through the only woman he had ever truly loved. It was only after a few moments of staring at it that he realized it wasn’t the arm he recognized. It was much thicker, more muscular, and covered in black scales. The hand was a claw, with sharp talons for fingernails. His gaze travelled over the rest of his body, and he realized it was not the one he recognized. The entirety of his form was covered in black scales just like his arm. His torso was still humanoid, but his legs, while thick and muscular, ended in a four-toed claw-like foot. Feeling something on his back, he shifted his shoulders and felt something move. When he flexed his back muscles, he felt a disturbance in the air around him. He quickly realized he had massive, leathery wings. Reaching up to his head, he felt a pair of curved twin horns protruding from his forehead.

 

 

 

Slowly, he turned his attention from his own monstrous form, to the broken form of his former lover, and it began to dawn on him what he’d done. He reared back his head and roared in anguish. The sound seemed to split the sky, rising into the infinite heavens like a beacon, carrying his rage, his sorrow, his regret, his suffering with it. Not even thinking, Nox crouched down and leaped straight up into the air. His wings unfurled themselves and bore him up, a strong wind rising out of nowhere to give him height and distance.

 

 

 

He flew. He knew not for how long. He didn’t care. All he wanted was to outrun the memory of what he’d done. But he couldn’t, it kept pace with him as if it were the wind itself. Eventually he saw another floating island, this one adorned only with a crystal clear pool of water that reflected the luminous moon on its glassy surface. Landing next to the pool, he dropped to his hands and knees before it, staring at his demonic reflection in the makeshift mirror. His new visage made a mockery of his old one. The horns that other species might have referred to as “demonic” were gone, replaced with the thick, twisted, deadly-looking pieces of bone that sprouted from his forehead and curved up and back. His face was also covered in black scales, with intense purple eyes set deep into his brow. His nose was flat and wide, and a beard of bone spikes emerged from his chin and jaw line, while his brow was slanted so that he always look at least slightly malevolent and sinister.

 

 

 

“What have I done?” He said, staring at the monster in his reflection. “Oh Force what have I done?” His mind was a storm of emotions that consumed him, preventing him from forming any coherent thought other than that of Ashara’s broken body lying in the clearing, illuminated in grisly detail by the moonlight. He wanted to weep, but tears wouldn’t come. Being unable to properly express his anguish and sorrow made it all the more intense and painful. It became so bad he couldn’t stand it.

 

 

 

Look at you,” a dark voice said, thick with revulsion. “mourning for the chains you have broken. Your weakness disgusts me.

 

 

 

Nox’s head shot up to see who could possibly be speaking to him. He was shocked when he saw a face much like his new one, only the eyes held nothing but contempt and pride. The being was like him in almost every way, except below the waist his body dissolved into shadowy tendrils that trailed behind him wherever he moved. Although his wings were extended, they didn’t seem to facilitate his flight. He moved as a spirit, unencumbered by a physical form.

 

 

 

You behave like a lost child who has broken his favorite toy,” The entity sneered, his voice hauntingly familiar. “how despicable.” Nox growled.

 

 

 

“Silence your tongue.”

 

 

 

Or what?” The dark being sneered. “You’ll rip it out? Like you did to poor Ashara’s insides?

 

 

 

Nox lunged blindly, his massive claws grasping for the smug entity’s neck, but with an outstretched hand, the entity unleashed a storm of pitch-black lightning that knocked Nox back on his haunches and left him screaming in pain. The agony was like nothing he’d ever felt before, it could only be described as transcendent. His mind started to go blank from the sheer overload, when the pain mercifully stopped. It took him a moment to realize it was because the entity had ceased to channel the black lightning.

 

 

 

If we are to become what destiny has ordained us to be,” the being lectured, as if Nox was nothing more than a mere apprentice, and it his master. “then you must learn to access the source of true power, and forsake all the vices of mortality.” Finally catching his breath, Nox snarled.

 

 

 

“Do not presume to lecture me about pow-aAAGGGGHHHH!” his retort was cut off when he was once more enveloped in black volts of energy. The entity let him suffer for a few moments to reinforce the point, then ceased.

 

 

 

You must learn to not merely hate individuals, systems, or societies. Even hating entire galaxies or universes full of sentients is not enough. You must learn to hate existence itself.

 

 

 

Nox felt the urge to say something, but when he remembered the pain of the entity’s lightning he restrained himself.

 

 

 

The seed must be planted,” The entity continued. “but that cannot happen until you suffer.

 

 

 

The black bolts of energy wrapped Nox in their agonizing grip, and he screamed.

 

 

 

Remember,” the entity sneered, “you killed her. You broke her heart, shattered her soul, then drove your fist through her, through the very same place where she had felt your love so many times before.

 

 

 

At those words, something snapped inside Nox. He no longer felt the pain, and he rose to his feet as the surprised entity turned the storm into a sphere of black energy. For a moment Nox was encompassed, then a purple glow broke through the black. The shadow energy began to fade as Nox absorbed it, his eyes shining like purple stars, violet lightning gathering in them and around his arms and hands.

 

 

 

Nox unleashed his might on the shadow entity, and when the torrent of energy struck the spirit it dispersed, the shadows it dissolved into melding with Nox. Nox could feel the shadows rooting themselves deep inside him, and as he stood to his full height, for the first time he felt truly liberated. There was nothing holding him back. Just then, he perceived that he was being watched. Lifting up his eyes towards the moon, he saw something that made him blink and look closer.

 

 

 

Hovering in front of the brilliant white orb, silhouetted against it, was a being of vaguely humanoid shape. It appeared to be a humanoid with an extremely slim build and narrow shoulders, dressed in a heavy, dark, hooded cloak that was far larger than it and that seemed to have no sleeves. Even at this distance, Nox knew that there was nothing underneath that hood, nothing but an empty, black void. At the end of the cloak, where one might expect to see legs, there were instead a spread of tentacles too numerous to count. As Nox stared at the thing, he could feel its gaze on him. It knew he was watching it, it knew him as intimately as if it could see into the depths of his soul, see his every secret, his every thought, his every motivation and belief laid bare. Nox could feel its gaze pierce his form and see him for what he truly was. The experience was harrowing beyond words.

 

 

 

The world started to spin, and the last thought Nox had before he lost consciousness was that he had just come face to face with something no sane being would ever wish to.

 

_____________

 

 

 

Nox came to with a start, and seconds later his feet slammed into the ground and he crumpled onto his hands and knees while he got his bearings. When he stood up and looked around Calphayus’s chamber, he realized that the Dread Master was gone.

 

 

 

Just as the thought crossed his mind, he heard Calphayus’s voice whisper in his head:

 

 

 

My visions are unchanged. Destiny awaits you.

 

 

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"Amazing. Unbelievable. Splendid"-Talos Drellik

 

I really enjoyed how Calphayus made Nox relieve his past and live a possible future, it is something that if I were ever to write a fan-fic I'd do it as well and you've done it in a pretty good way to expand his backstory. I also enjoyed him pulling a Malgus on Ashara.

 

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  • 2 months later...

Hey guys! Guess what? I'm baaack!

 

The last segments of Chapter 5 will be hitting soon. I also plan to complete the "Outfit Guide" for any in-game (or possibly out-of-game?) cosplayers over the next 60 days. (Not that I seriously think there will be any, I just want to share my unique fashion sense with everyone!)

 

Before I sign off for good though (2 months from now, not right now lol), I plan on adding a "Goodbye" post in this thread detailing where I and LOD's future lies. I'm sure said future won't be on these forums unfortunately, but I've been getting really, really positive feedback from readers on RoyalRoadL (totally recommend to every author on here that they try it. I find it a far superior site to both Wattpad and Fanfiction). LOD's score has yet to drop below an overall 4.5 on there, and all the reviews/comments are positive. I find myself to be the harshest critic of my own work (which both worries and pleases me simultaneously).

 

If I ever do return here in future years, rest assured I will be posting the 2 other Star Wars fanfictions (both of which happen alongside/within LOD) I have planned for you and others to enjoy! This topic however, will remain only a gateway to the rest of the story. The 5 Chapters here will be the "hook", and the complete saga on RoyalRoadL and Fanfiction.com will be the real deal, hopefully leading more and more people to LOD. In case I don't ever return to these forums, I want you guys to know this was a very formative experience for me and you all helped to turn me into the aspiring writer and novelist that I now am. From the bottom of my black, cold, dead heart, thank you all!

Edited by MayhemofChaonus
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Hey guys! Guess what? I'm baaack!

 

The last segments of Chapter 5 will be hitting soon. I also plan to complete the "Outfit Guide" for any in-game (or possibly out-of-game?) cosplayers over the next 60 days. (Not that I seriously think there will be any, I just want to share my unique fashion sense with everyone!)

 

Before I sign off for good though (2 months from now, not right now lol), I plan on adding a "Goodbye" post in this thread detailing where I and LOD's future lies. I'm sure said future won't be on these forums unfortunately, but I've been getting really, really positive feedback from readers on RoyalRoadL (totally recommend to every author on here that they try it. I find it a far superior site to both Wattpad and Fanfiction). LOD's score has yet to drop below an overall 4.5 on there, and all the reviews/comments are positive. I find myself to be the harshest critic of my own work (which both worries and pleases me simultaneously).

 

If I ever do return here in future years, rest assured I will be posting the 2 other Star Wars fanfictions (both of which happen alongside/within LOD) I have planned for you and others to enjoy! This topic however, will remain only a gateway to the rest of the story. The 5 Chapters here will be the "hook", and the complete saga on RoyalRoadL and Fanfiction.com will be the real deal, hopefully leading more and more people to LOD. In case I don't ever return to these forums, I want you guys to know this was a very formative experience for me and you all helped to turn me into the aspiring writer and novelist that I now am. From the bottom of my black, cold, dead heart, thank you all!

 

Thanks for dropping bye and giving us an update, sad to see you go, not yet but still. I do wish you luck on your future endeavors and hopefully I'll be able to keep reading your fan-fic, it's definitely interesting to see your take on the story.

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When Nox entered the chambers of Dread Master Raptus, he instantly felt the mesmerizing presence of the de-facto leader of the Masters sweep over him. It was like the urge to sleep, only hundreds of times more potent, and Nox had summon the power borrowed from his children just to keep his eyelids from fluttering closed.

 

 

Such a mind.” Raptus exclaimed. He was seated comfortably on his throne at the far end of the room. He looked for all the world like the god of nightmares that Nox himself was named after. “Such fertile ground for terror.” Raptus continued, standing to his feet. Every word from him was like a dose of a powerful sleep drug, and when the Dread Master spoke Nox found it increasingly difficult to stay conscious and keep control over his mind and body.

 

 

“Why did you and the other Masters seek power Raptus?” Nox asked, his words slurring slightly. “You must have known that whatever gains you would make would merely draw the attention and ire of Vitiate, so why risk it?” Raptus chuckled.

 

 

Do not seek reason.” He said with a hint of scorn. “You cannot comprehend.” His voice, laced with the immense hypnotic power of the Dark Side and coupled with his presence in the Force, wormed its way into Nox’s mind like an alien parasite. The Dark Lord summoned his full power to purge himself of the steadily growing influence, and the act temporarily returned Nox to a more coherent state of mind, but he was only delaying the inevitable.

 

 

“I comprehend madness well enough.” Nox retorted. “Let me release you and your siblings from your suffering and return order and sanity to your union.”

 

 

Sanity is a prison.” Raptus admonished. “Let madness release you.

 

 

He raised his hand, and a black and red aura surrounded it, swirling as he brought his full power to bear on Nox. Weakened by his previous trials, Nox actually struggled to resist the imposition of the Dread Master’s will, and the mental battle intensified.

 

 

You seem to want to die.” Raptus said in annoyance. “I can assist you.

 

 

“I won’t fall to the likes of you.” Nox declared, his eyelids half-closed.

 

 

By resisting, you bring this on yourself.” Raptus replied, as if speaking to a child he was about to discipline. The psychic pressure suddenly increased, and Nox felt himself losing control. Desperate, he clung to consciousness with the fervor of a drowning man, put he continued to slide slowly into the abyss.

 

 

Suddenly, his grip on his own mind slipped entirely, and he began falling down into the vortex that had formed in his subconscious. The last thing he heard was the irresistible voice of Raptus echoing in the void, drawing him down into the dark like the currents of an unseen sea.

 

 

Spin, ever downward. Fall. Disappear…

 

____________

 

 

The grey sky, choked with lethargic clouds, hung solemnly over the stony and barren landscape. The ground was littered with the bones of all manner of creatures, both massive and small. The remains of the more massive creatures formed odd formations that emerged from the land like gateways or ancient animal traps, while the remains of smaller beings formed piles or were spread haphazardly around, as if they had simply fallen here and there. Most of the bones were neither brown nor white, but seemed as grey as the murky sky above and the stones upon which they lay. Other than their strange shapes and formations, at first glance one might not differentiate the bones from the stones.

 

 

A dreary wind blew dust across the gloomy landscape as it moved the clouds across the sky. The air tasted stale, as if it too were grey and lifeless. Beams of weak sunlight managed to pierce the cloud cover in certain spots, allowing for some light to illuminate the barren world, but most of the light was blocked and muted by the thick mantle of the smoky substance polluting the upper atmosphere. A persistent, thin fog that had no moisture whatsoever clung to the ground, rippling and flowing in and around the broken skeletons scattered across the horizon.

 

 

Nox’s unconscious body, bare-chested, and dressed in nothing more than filthy rags, lay face-down and covered in a thin layer of dust. He stirred as the dry wind swept over his exposed skin, and opened his dust-coated eyelids to see the world around him as memories brought themselves to the forefront of his mind. He had been somewhere, fighting something or someone. He couldn’t recall details, but he somehow knew that he had not been here before he woke up. Turning himself over onto his back, he looked up at the thick layer of clouds blocking out more than half of the sunlight for a moment, before a thought came to him. But where is here? He sat up, looking around at the dismal landscape in bewilderment.

 

 

The world around him was a graveyard in the most primal sense of the word. There was nothing here but the hollow, lifeless atmosphere of a dead world. Everything about the environment whispered of death and slow decay. In a way Nox supposed it was a microcosm of a dying universe, nothing here would vanish tomorrow or the day after or millennia after, but one day, after countless thousands of years, this would all just be an ashen, sunless world of dust and clouds.

 

 

A soft glint just inside his peripheral vision caught his eye, and he turned his head to see a familiar cylinder: his lightsaber. Reaching for it, he picked it up gently, turning it over to inspect it for damage. When he found none, he thumbed the activation switch. Nothing. Puzzled, he tried again. Still nothing.

 

 

Concern and just the tiniest bit of fear blossoming in his heart, he gingerly disassembled the weapon into its separate components. When he finished he found the problem. The lightsaber crystal inside had dissolved into dust. How long was I asleep? Nox wondered as he watched the wind blow the remains of the crystal off into the barren wastes. I couldn’t have slept for millennia, surely… his thought trailed off as he struggled to make sense of his current situation. He found he couldn’t, not through any traditional logic or reasoning anyway.

 

 

After a few minutes of simply sitting there, wondering what to do next, he noticed another dull glint coming from not too far away. When he investigated, he discovered an ancient, rusting blade poking out from underneath a pile of bones, with a piece of ancient, primitive armor lying near it. An idea came to him, and he set about searching his surroundings for blades and leather armor straps. After what seemed a good deal of time searching, he found the materials he needed and got to work. After several minutes, he had finished tying the blades securely to the pommel of his lightsaber. He tested the new weapon several times by slamming it into the largest and thickest bones of the massive skeletons lying around, and when the straps failed to keep the blades strapped as securely he had thought they would, he inspected the materials and tried again. This time the straps held the blades firmly in place, and with his new weapon complete, Nox decided to make a strap to hold it to his back so he didn’t have to carry it in his hands all the time.

 

 

After finding usable pieces of leather strap, he tied them together to form two pieces of strap the exact length he needed to keep the double-bladed warstaff firmly on his back. Then he tied the ends of each together in a loop, and placed them crossways over his shoulders to form an “X” on his chest and back. He slid the warstaff into the X so that one blade and a portion of the handle emerged from behind his left shoulder, pointing to the sky, while the other blade poked out from behind his right hip. It would be relatively easy to draw the weapon, and the blades wouldn’t cut into his flesh this way.

 

 

Surveying the landscape, Nox found himself once again lost. He didn’t know why he was here, how he got here, or where to go. Now that he’d finished his self-assigned task, he was completely clueless as to what he should do next. The wastes just seemed to go on forever in all directions. Finally, Nox decided that if this was true, it didn’t really matter which way he went. So he merely began walking in one particular direction, pushing all doubts from his mind for the sake of what little practicality he could retain in such a situation.

 

 

After walking for an inordinate but indistinct amount of time, Nox saw nothing of interest, and no signs of the landscape changing. He realized he could probably go on for days or even weeks with no visible changes to the environment, and he started to wonder about supplies. There was no food or water here; at least none that he could see or detect. Everything was dead and dry. Even the Force itself seemed hollow and empty. The whole experience was similar to a legend he had read of a Sith Lord who had stood on the surface of Nathema and returned to tell the tale. It unnerved him, but not to the extent that the writer had claimed.

 

 

Struck by a sudden thought, Nox stopped dead in his tracks and picked out a skull that was sitting on top of a nearby bone pile. Once he had the object in his mind, he tried to lift it with the Force. To his shock and mounting horror, nothing happened. Extending a hand to mime the motion he was trying to make in the Force, he attempted to lift the skull a second time. The object didn’t budge. His fear blossoming into full-blown terror, Nox extended both hands and desperately tried to lift the skull from its perch. The object shuddered slightly, but didn’t move. Nox increased his focus, trying to feed off of his fear and anger, and managed to lift the skull an inch above its perch, before the strain of the effort required to perform the feat brought him to his knees and the skull dropped back onto the pile.

 

 

Kneeling there on the ground, panting with exhaustion, Nox took stock of his situation. He was alone in a desolate wasteland with no idea how or when he had gotten here, no idea how to escape, and no food, water, or civilization in sight. His weapon was all but useless against any serious enemy he happened to encounter, and his ability to command or even feel the Force and its subsequent absence was greatly diminished if not all but non-existent.

 

 

The fear of his imminent death clouded his mind, and he found himself swept up in a storm or grief and despair. Is this how it ends? Wandering in this hellish waste like a little lost nerf until thirst, starvation, or some as yet unknown enemy kills me? How am I supposed to get back to where I came from when I can’t even remember where that is? But his despair became frustration, and his frustration quickly morphed into anger and fury. He unleashed a primal roar and began pounding his fists on the cold, hard, unforgiving stone. His knuckles began to bleed, and the pain washed over him, clearing his mind and sharpening his focus.

 

 

He continued to attack the ground until his hands were bruised and bloody and the pain finally overrode his anger. But he was no longer lost in his own despair and hopelessness. His suffering had given him renewed focus and determination. He may be trapped here but he would not remain here. No matter if it took him all eternity to escape this endless waste, he would spend that eternity bathing in his own suffering, hatred, and rage. And when he finally did escape, he would unleash all that fury tenfold on the being or beings responsible for putting him here.

 

 

Rising to his feet, he began walking once more, his wounded knuckles leaving a trail of blood behind him. He kept walking. He didn’t know for how long, time seemed to have no meaning here. At no point did the scattered beams of sunlight ever vanish, and night never descended on the Bonelands. No creatures emerged from hiding underneath the bone piles or the sands. The dead world seemed to be stuck in an eternal twilight between light and darkness. The winds themselves seemed to carry an atmosphere of despair, and the surroundings just became blurry and indistinct. Nox couldn’t recall ever being so bored.

 

 

The next most notable event that brought him back to himself was when he noticed that his knuckles were scabbed over. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t recall the moments that they had stopped bleeding or that the scabs had formed, and he then realized the full effects of there being no way to determine the passage of time. At no point in his journey thus far had he felt hungry or thirsty, and no part of his body other than his damaged hands felt sore. The thought that he might very well wander this place until he died of old age, rather than hunger or exhaustion flashed through his mind, but he roughly pushed it out.

 

 

The next notable event was when he began to notice that the smaller bones became fewer in number as the amount of dust increased. Once again he had no idea how much time had passed, or how much distance he had covered, and he seemed to notice the land’s transformation halfway through. As he continued walking, even the larger bone formations became smaller and seemed to be vanishing. Eventually, it reached a point where there were no small bones at all, and the ground was completely covered in grey dust. The remaining large skeletal formations were thinner and seemed to be decaying into the same grey dust that blanketed the world.

 

 

After another inordinate amount of time, Nox reached a massive stone monolith emerging from the dark sands. Up ahead he couldn’t see anymore bone formations, and he realized that he seemed to have escaped one hell only to walk right into another. Deciding to inspect the monolith more closely out of curiosity, he discovered words carved into it. At first the language seemed to be unlike anything in the known galaxy, but the longer Nox stared at it, the more it slowly seemed he could understand it.

 

 

Pay heed, damned soul

If thou wouldest traverse the Dead Sands

Wherein the Wurm Dieth Not

Thou dost take thine own soul into thine hands

Suleh Muukinuu Ashuwai

 

 

Nox stared at the last line, but it remained stubbornly incomprehensible. He turned his attention to the third line instead, pondering the significance of the capitalized letters in the last three words of the phrase. The name of this desert of bone dust was obviously “The Dead Sands”, but what was the Wurm? And why wouldn’t it die?

 

 

Deciding he wasn’t going to accomplish anything by staring at a stone monolith, he abandoned it and struck out further into the wastes. There were no large dunes in the Dead Sands, and the sand-like dust simply rose and fell in small waves, as if it had once been a grey ocean that had been frozen in time by some apathetic god. After yet another eternity of walking, he was brought back to his full awareness by a distinct murmuring in the barely detectable hum of the Force. He suddenly felt vibrations beneath his feet, and in the split second before the sand exploded beneath him, he leapt as hard and as far as he could to the side.

 

 

He turned back just in time to see a great, grey cylinder in the process of emerging from the sand, but it was only when the cylinder began to curve and arc itself in order to dive into the sand that he realized with horror and fear what it was. It was a great worm. One glance was more than enough to tell him why it was “The Wurm that Dieth Not”. It’s easily two hundred meter length was covered in scaly armor plates, with the only unarmored part being the edges and inside of its mouth. However, the mouth was lined with rows and rows of sharp teeth made for grinding and stripping flesh from bone. He watched the creature’s length emerge from and disappear into the sand from its exit and entry points for a few precious seconds, before scrabbling to his feet and going on the move. He probably couldn’t outrun it, but he could evade it until he found a weakness, provided it had one.

 

 

The sand behind him exploded, and he threw himself hard to the left, rolling when he hit the ground to maintain some momentum, then sprang to his feet and took off, not even bothering to look back at the worm, which was once more diving into the sand. After a few minutes of running, he felt the vibrations, and this time he waited until he could practically feel the horrific maw of the worm opening to swallow him up from below before he threw himself backward as far as he could go.

 

 

The worm burst out of the sand, and Nox was raised up on the creature’s back. Finding the scent of its prey tantalizingly close, but unable to detect its movements, the worm thrashed its head about in an attempt to locate its would-be meal. Nox had to draw his blade and jam it in between the plates of the worm’s strange exoskeleton to stay mounted. Suddenly feeling the rusty blade between its armor plates, the worm tried to bend back on itself to pluck the annoyance from its back and devour it, but Nox used the opportunity to remove his blade and then drive it into the gums of the cavernous maw lined with sharp teeth. The stinking mouth closed briefly, and then the worm reared back its head and screamed. Nox’s blade flew from its jaws, doused in black blood.

 

 

Summoning all the strength of will he could muster, Nox drew the heavy blade back to his hands as it soared into the air, then ran up the rest of the creature’s writhing length towards its head, struggling to keep his balance without the aid of the Force. When he reached the beast’s gaping, screaming jaws, Nox was nearly overcome by the intense stench of rot, death, and decay coming from the monster’s insides. He didn’t want to imagine what it would be like inside. He drove his dull blades into the soft flesh surrounding the creature’s mouth while he braced himself against its armor plates to keep from being shaken off by the worm’s convulsions.

 

 

The worm howled even louder and began to whip about violently, tossing Nox clear and sending him flying tens of meters away. He bounced several times when he hit the sand, spinning and rolling as he went. When he finally stopped, he saw the worm tunneling into the sand once more. He forced himself to his feet, despite the aches and bruises he had suffered screaming in protest, and took off running again, trying to draw the beast into attacking him. Running helped him build momentum for when he needed to dodge the beast’s attack, but it would also make him a target. Sightless as it was, the worm no doubt located its prey by vibrations, such as those caused by movement and feet impacting the sand. Running made him an easy target, bait too good to be resisted.

 

 

He almost wasn’t ready though, when the worm’s next attack came. The ground in front of him erupted, the gaping hole of the worm’s mouth emerging from the sand to swallow him whole. Nox threw himself to the side and slightly forward, slipping past and under the attack, rolling in a somersault and springing to his feet. The worm didn’t return to the sand however, and instead it slithered along on top of it, gathering itself in coils like an armored, headless snake and raising itself up to open its maw and roar at him. The sound was filled with hatred and primal rage, and the expulsion of air from its depths sent flecks of its dark, oily blood flying. Nox, his warstaff in hand, charged the beast, answering its challenge with a roar of his own. The worm reared back and pounced, Nox slipped to the side, dodging the attack and landing a counterattack on the fleshy parts of the outer mouth.

 

 

The monster reared back up and howled in pain and frustration. Nox took to opportunity to strike at the flesh visible from between its scales, causing it to thrash about even more. A few scales broke off the monster under his assault, and Nox eagerly attacked the exposed flesh, leaving deep, bleeding cuts that released the creature’s bubbling black blood. The worm began burrowing into the sand again, and Nox broke off his attack and started running again.

 

 

This time when the worm emerged to swallow him, Nox managed to leap onto it and use his warstaff to break off a few more of the beast’s scales before it vanished back underground. After repeating the lengthy process enough times, the area around the worm’s head was largely exposed. Nox turned his efforts to making mincemeat out of the worm’s unprotected flesh, running away whenever it returned to the underground, only for the monster to inevitably emerge again and try to devour him.

 

 

Eventually, Nox began to tire. His adrenaline was keeping him mobile, but even it was starting to fade. His paltry strength in the Force left almost nothing in reserve for him to draw on, but the worm showed no sign of ceasing its attacks. Nox once more turned his efforts to breaking off more scales, these ones closer to the center and tail of the beast, to open up even more freely-bleeding wounds. These seemed to have more of an effect on the creature, and once Nox opened up the fifth gaping wound in the worm’s flesh, the creature stopped burrowing below ground altogether, and merely emerged from the sand like a living pillar, striking at him like a serpent, or attempting to crush him with its body weight.

 

 

The beast was getting desperate, and the blood loss it had suffered was affecting what little judgment and instincts it had. Its own rage and hatred of its prey were overriding its survival instincts; it seemed entirely focused on killing him, even at the risk of its own life. Now that it wasn’t disappearing below the sand, Nox took to circling the beast, using his warstaff to break off its scales and spill more of its blood onto the grey sand, which soon became stained black due to being soaked through with the viscous substance. The worm did not simply let him do this however; it continued its attempts to crush him by slamming its body down on him or by bending its surprisingly flexible form to attempt to swallow him. When the creature’s body became too exposed, it would pull itself deeper into the hole to protect the exposed flesh, at which point Nox had to start all over again with a new set of scales from further up the monsters body, now at ground level, while still dodging the worm’s attacks.

 

 

Finally, only a relatively small portion of the beast’s body remained above the sand, the rest was a bleeding mess hidden beneath the surface. The monster was noticeably slower, weaker, and lethargic; the blood loss was taking its toll. With the last of its strength, the creature let loose a haunting death cry, and then crashed to the sand.

 

 

After checking to make certain the beast was dead by breaking off a few more scales and opening deep gashes, Nox walked to the front of the dead worm and sat down beside it, staring at the once great beast he had just slain. Blood was pouring from its countless wounds, and when he examined himself, he found he was covered in it quite generously. He spent the next twenty minutes or so trying to clean himself as best as he could without water, but there was nothing he could do about the rags he had for clothes, which were stained permanently black.

 

 

After having rested enough that he felt like he had recovered his strength, Nox took one last look at the worm, before heading off in the direction which the dead creature’s head pointed to. He was once more consumed by the unending monotony of the Dead Sands, and the passage of time ceased to have meaning. By the time he saw the strange dot on the horizon, the battle with the worm felt like another life. By the time the dot became a ruined castle, he couldn’t even remember fighting the worm at all.

 

 

Entering through the ruined portcullis, Nox examined the surroundings. The shredded tatters of ancient banners, their color and symbols devoured by the ravages of time, hung from the ruined and broken walls. The courtyard was littered with bones and ancient armor composed of leather and primitive metals. Broken and shattered pottery lay strewn as haphazardly as the bones and other refuse, and here and there small scraps of cloth or similar materials could be seen. Suddenly he felt a dark and sinister, but tantalizingly familiar presence sweep over him. Then when a voice came from a hole that had been made in the wall of one of the stone towers, and he turned and saw a being standing there, and he realized why the presence was so familiar: the voice was his own. Standing there was Darth Nox, in all his dark glory. The helm of Lord Kallig covered his head, its empty eye sockets like the gaze of death itself. On his hip was the familiar form of his lightsaber, and he was dressed in the armored robes that Nox had started wearing after his ascension to the Dark Council.

 

 

You should not have come. Now your fate is to rest forever among these bones.” The duplicate said, gesturing at the ruined courtyard and the bones scattered within.

 

 

“What is this place?” Nox asked the copy, trying to pry answers of any kind from the being he suspected would become his opponent.

 

 

This is your domain.” The clone replied. “The kingdom ruled by hate and fear will always come to ruin, and in the end you will find the hell you never wanted, but always sought.

 

 

“Cease your riddles!” Nox demanded. “Give me a straight answer.”

 

 

You will learn, either now or then.” The other Nox said. “But if you refuse to see now, you will beg for what you once feared most, only to find that it too has abandoned you.

 

 

“Enough!” Nox said, waving his hand for the imposter to be silent. “Speak plainly or do not speak at all!” The imposter unhooked his lightsaber from his belt, and thumbed the activation switch.

 

 

Can you see?” He asked, and then he leaped from the hole down into the courtyard. In a flash, he attacked Nox, his violet blade buzzing through the air. Not knowing how, Nox actually managed to dodge his clone’s attack, despite the imposter’s Force-enhanced speed. Nox danced out of the way of the follow-up strike, putting a few meters distance between himself and his opponent.

 

 

You cannot change what is to come.” The clone said, before he rushed Nox again it blinding speed. Nox once more managed to defy logic and remain untouched by his foe’s blade. He quickly drew his own staff with the few seconds that his evasive maneuvers bought him, and managed to avoid getting his head and legs separated from his body when the copy attacked him again. This time, Nox used those precious seconds after the attack to counterattack, feinting to draw his opponent’s attention away from his target, then changing direction at the last second to drive one of his blades into his enemy’s left leg.

 

 

The clone stumbled back. Thanks to his armored robes the rusty blade hadn’t reached bone, but the robes were designed to absorb energy, not protect from physical weapons. The rusty blades had pierced the fabric and penetrated skin and muscle, and the wound was bleeding. Unleashing a growl of pain and anger, the imposter was suddenly enveloped in a dark aura, and his eyes glowed purple with dark energy. Suddenly, Nox heard an unholy noise coming from one corner of the courtyard. Not a moment later, the noise came again from a place across the courtyard from where the original sound had come from. Then the noise began to come from everywhere at once. As Nox watched in growing fear, the bones that were scattered around the courtyard began to coalesce into recognizable forms. Femur and leg bones came together, arm bones attached themselves to armored, skeletal torsos, and skulls perched atop the ghastly ensembles like morbid birds.

 

 

In a matter of moments, the courtyard was filled with undead. From their empty jaws echoed harrowing and ghostly howls of pain, suffering, and rage, the call of the damned. As one, they converged on him, screeching, hissing, and bellowing their hatred. Hundreds of voices, unrecognizable and horribly distorted, hurled judgments and accusations, or called for blood.

 

 

You did this!

 

Attack!

 

He is flesh.

 

Kill him!

 

Tear out his heart!

 

Make him scream for mercy!

 

 

Nox could feel their hatred wash over him like a tide as the horde converged on him, and he felt something stir deep inside him, giving him an uncanny confidence. He quickly picked out the closest two undead warriors, and attacked. In a series of rapid strikes, he knocked them back, and then followed up with a series of wide sweeping strikes that drove back the rest of the undead mob that was converging on all sides. Acting on instinct, he threw his blade in a spinning throw that should have sent it flying off to the right. Instead, felt the Force surge within him, and he reached out with his telekinetic grip to seize the blade and send it spinning in a wide circle around him, slicing through countless skeletons and reducing them to piles of sliced bone. When the blade completed a full rotation, he recalled it to his hand and launched another assault on the two warriors he had originally attacked.

 

 

They didn’t stand a chance. Nox reduced them to dust and bone splinters and before long was carving his way through the crowd, crushing any of the mob who came within reach of his thrashing, spinning blades. So lost in his bloodless massacre was he, that he was nearly caught off-guard when the imposter materialized out of the undead horde and descended on him. This time, he wasn’t so lucky. Between the legion of undead surrounding him, restricting his movement, and the imposter’s speed and accuracy, he was hit by a glancing blow from the enemy’s blade, which left a sizzling scar on his left shoulder.

 

 

He howled in pain, but channeled his suffering into strength and speed, dodging the follow-up and responding with a heavy blow to his foe’s helmeted head. Temporarily stunned by the attack, the imposter staggered backwards dropping his guard enough to allow Nox to land a solid kick to his opponent’s chest, sending him sprawling. Nox drove the tip of his blade into the clone’s ankle, causing it to scream in agony. Nox suddenly found himself flying through the air, and braced himself for the impact he knew was coming. He slammed hard into the stone wall of the keep, and felt the wind get knocked out of him. He slumped to the ground, his bruised muscles and battered bones screaming. He quickly got to his feet, and saw that the imposter had unconsciously released a wave of kinetic energy that had blown away all the undead.

 

 

The imposter however, was once more surrounded by a dark aura, and Nox could feel the Dark Side gathering around his foe in a swirling vortex of power. Then the power was released, and two black portals opened in the ground. Out of the portals, moving as if they were crawling out of quicksand, came two shadowy beings. At first Nox couldn’t recognize them, but once most of their forms emerged, a chill went down his spine.

 

 

The two beings were made of living shadow, and the forms they had taken were that of Ashara and Xalek. Once the shadowy apprentices emerged from the gateways, the portals collapsed into nothing, and to Nox’s horror, they both ignited lightsabers. The three lightsaber-wielding beings converged on him, and his entire focus became staying out of the way of their sizzling, crackling weapons. In the first few seconds his improvised warstaff was sliced into useless pieces, leaving him weaponless against three foes that launched constant, coordinated attacks.

 

 

He somehow managed to keep from being eviscerated, but not without suffering multiple wounds from glancing blows or close calls. The pain of the burns fueled his hatred, and he felt the familiar black tide bubbling up inside him again. When his hatred reached a fever pitch, he unleashed it in the form of a wave of lightning and kinetic energy that sent his foes flying back from him. In the split second that afforded him, he charged forward and drove his fist through the shadow of Xalek. His eyes glowed violet, and the shadow screamed as Nox absorbed it into himself. The saberstaff it had wielded fell from its grasp, but Nox used the Force to pull it to his hand and switch it on.

 

 

He whirled just in time to engage the Ashara clone and his own copy, who descended on him in an intense dual-pronged assault. Now that he had a weapon to defend himself with, the fight became a very different story. While both his own copy and the Ashara shadow clone were duplicating his and Ashara’s fighting styles and techniques very well, they were imperfect. The shadow of Ashara was the next to fall, with Nox disarming and absorbing her.

 

 

With both his shadowy companions gone, the imposter seemed to fight that much harder. The battle now became a true duel, a test of skill, finesse, and mastery. Nox began to slowly gain the upper hand as the battle of attrition dragged on, but just when it seemed that the fight was drawing to its conclusion, the clone hit Nox with a Force push that sent him flying through the open doorway of one of the keep’s ruined towers. The clone rushed to block to door, aiming to take the fight into an enclosed space in an attempt to gain back the advantage. Reaching the door before Nox, the clone used the Force to collapse the part of the winding staircase above it, sealing off the exit.

 

 

The two Sith flew at each other, abandoning their defensive postures for aggressive maneuvers. At one point, the imposter leaped up and over Nox to land on the staircase above, hoping to buy a brief respite. Nox, determined to keep the pressure on, followed, forcing the clone to leap to the staircase on the other side of the tower. They began working their way up the tower, leaping from staircase to staircase, back and forth across the tower. They would often pass close to each other mid-leap, and used the opportunity to attack the other while both were still in mid-air. The sound of their clashing blades echoed up and down the hollow stone spire, and eventually they arrived at the top. The imposter was the first to emerge out onto the tower’s roof, but Nox was close behind him. They battled furiously, each trying to use the small space to their advantage by driving the other close to the edge.

 

 

The duel became a flurry of light, sound, and movement as both combatants dug deep into their reserves, struggling to outperform each other. Suddenly, an opportunity presented itself, and Nox seized it. With a flurry of feints followed by a kick to the left knee and a blow to the head, the imposter was sent reeling, and Nox disarmed him by severing his weapon hand.

 

 

Crying out in pain, the false Nox clutched his blackened stump to his chest and bent over. Nox shoved him to the ground and pointed his weapon at his foe’s neck. For just a moment, he allowed himself to savor his moment of triumph, and then he raised his weapon, seizing it in both hands, and drove it into the enemy’s chest.

 

 

The clone grew still, and Nox withdrew his blade, switching it off. He watched as the corpse turned to ash, dissolving as a stiff wind rose out of nowhere, carrying the ashes away on the breeze, off into the barren wasteland. Nox watched them go as he stared out at the desolate world, and he remembered what the imposter had said:

 

 

This is your domain. The kingdom ruled by hate and fear will always come to ruin, and in the end you will find the hell you never wanted, but always sought.

 

 

He continued to gaze on the dead world as he pondered the deeper meaning of the clone’s words, but suddenly it all vanished, and he found himself lying on the floor of Raptus’s chambers, staring up at the ceiling. The words of the Dread Master echoed in his mind as he stood to his feet.

 

 

Your mind is strong. But not strong enough…Come, it is time.

 

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Very interesting chapter.

 

It reminds me of Luke's travel to the Dark Side cave during Empire. Albeit a far more nihilistic one, and I suppose the vision telling him his kingdom will be ruin is foreshadowing? Or merely Raptus attempting to make Nox feel like an inept Sith?

 

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Welp, its finally here guys, The final part of Chapter 5. This isn't goodbye though, unless you want it to be. You can follow Nox's adventures for as long as I write them on Fanfiction.com and RoyalRoadL, once I pick them up again that is.

 

It's been a blast, and to all of you who've decided to get off the ride here, thank you for your time. I know how valuable that is and appreciate you spending it on my work.

 

 

From the moment Nox entered the Dread Council chambers, he felt the true power of the Dread Masters wash over him. It was only then he realized that the Dread Masters he had fought in their personal chambers were merely projections, these were the real thing.

 

 

The Dark Side was alive and pulsing within the giant stone sphere that served as the Dread Master’s gathering place. Nox could swear he could feel the vibrations of a powerful heartbeat as he walked down the long pathway from the double doors that accessed the chamber towards the circular platform that was situated in the center of the room, held aloft above the floor twenty meters below. In the center of the platform was an exceptionally large pyramidal holocron, and the seats of the Dread Masters seemed to sprout from the platform like stone plants, with the flower being the thrones upon which they sat.

 

 

When Nox reached the platform, he quickly noticed something that chilled him to his bones: There were six Dread Masters, not four. Brontes and Styrak sat on their thrones along with the others, and it was only when he felt the pull on his spirit that Nox realized they were no longer alive, but merely Force Ghosts.

 

 

You have passed our trials” Raptus said.

 

 

You performed unexpectedly well.” Bestia added.

 

 

We will make you one of us.” Tyrans continued. “Then we shall bathe the galaxy in fire in blood together.

 

 

“This is your last chance.” Nox said firmly. “Surrender yourselves, and I will save you from this madness.”

 

 

We do not fear you.” Calphayus said. “We do not fear death.

 

 

Our union transcends death.” Raptus declared. “Abandon your mind, become one with us, let us fulfill our destiny together.” Nox sighed and shook his head in exasperation.

 

 

“Very well, if you will not surrender, then I will take you by force.”

 

 

Your time is over” Calphayus scoffed. “You cannot defy our will!

 

 

Victory will be ours alone.” Tyrans said, standing to his feet as he spoke. The rest of the Dread Masters followed suit.

 

 

Let us begin” Bestia said, and with that all six of the Dread Masters leaped from their thrones and landed in a circle around the holocron in the center of the platform. They all adopted channeling poses and their physical bodies appeared to double and then triple in size. They became shrouded in an aura of darkness and their eyes glowed red. Waves of Dark Side power began to emanate from the holocron, crashing over Nox like tidal waves.

 

 

Realizing his time was short, and that the ritual the Masters were conducting could not be stopped, Nox began casting a ritual of his own, the ritual he had been long preparing for this exact moment. His body became enshrouded in a familiar dark aura, his eyes glowed a brilliant violet, and he spread his arms outward as his head fell back and he began to rise into the air. He lost all feeling and perception of the outside world as the darkness within him consumed him from the inside out.

 

 

In a few moments, he was standing in a place of living darkness, and standing before him were the four Sith spirits he had bound and the one additional Voss spirit that he had bound while searching for a cure for the effects of the Force Walk ritual.

 

 

“Why have you summoned us?” Kalatosh demanded.

 

 

“What is this, what is happening?” Ergast echoed.

 

 

“To say goodbye.” Nox replied.

 

 

“What? What is that supposed to mean?” Kalatosh replied, his anger increasing with every word.

 

 

“The treacherous little snake betrays us!” Andru hissed, pointing an accusatory finger at Nox.

 

 

“You shall suffer for this.” The Voss spirit warned. “So blind, so arrogant. Your fall will come quickly.”

 

 

“Is this true?” Horak-Mul asked Nox directly. He was surprisingly calm given the implications of the accusation, but Nox could feel the Pureblood’s hatred and rage simmering beneath the placid exterior.

 

 

“Yes.” Was all he said, before he took one step forward and raised his hands, lifting all of them into the air, clutching at their throats as Nox took hold of their very essence. One by one, the ghosts began to dissolve, screaming in agony as they did so. When only Horak-Mul remained, the Sith Lord began to glow with power, and with an exertion of force, he managed to break free of Nox’s grasp in order to spit out one last curse.

 

 

May your blood betray you, may your plots be foiled and exposed, may your enemies outlive you, and may the Force forsake you!

 

 

Nox summoned a surge of power, and with a gesture he seized hold of Horak-Mul once more, dissolving the Sith spirit as he had done to his brethren. Horak-Mul screamed as his consciousness was deconstructed, his essence converted. When it was finally done, Nox allowed the Pureblood’s final screams to fade, before he lapsed back to consciousness, his body, mind, and soul alive with power and intent. The thought of what he was about to do invigorated him, and when he returned to his body, it released a shockwave that disrupted the ritual of the Dread Masters.

 

 

This is unexpected” Bestia said in bewildered surprise.

 

 

Nox gathered the Dark Side to him, and became engulfed in the swirling vortex of power that formed around him. The Dread Masters, having ceased their ritual out of shock, made attempts to shield themselves from the effects of the Dark Side storm forming in the room. Unfortunately, nothing could protect them from what Nox was about to do.

 

 

Tendrils of darkness launched from the vortex, striking each Dread Master square in the chest. They howled in pain as the tendrils pierced their bodies and attached themselves to their minds and spirits. Their howls became wails and screams as the tendrils began to siphon their essence directly from them.

 

 

This cannot be!” Calphayus exclaimed.

 

 

How, how can you do this?” Raptus gasped through the agony.

 

 

Ugh…Impossible…” Styrak protested, as his ethereal form began to disappear.

 

 

Death…I feel it.” Bestia said in rapt wonderment.

 

 

The building power reached its peak, and in a destructive burst the vortex dispersed, casting the bodies of the formerly living Dread Masters to the floor. Nox descended, lowering himself to the ground like a god descending from the heavens. He shone with dark radiance, and his presence filled the massive room.

 

 

One of the bodies on the ground stirred, and Nox approached it. It was Calphayus. The Dread Master seemed only stunned, for he slowly got himself to a sitting position and shook his head as if to clear it. It was then he felt Nox’s presence sweep over him and he remembered where he was and what had happened. He immediately looked up at the approaching Nox and began to scramble away on his hands and knees. Nox pinned him to the ground with a thought, and drew his lightsaber as he reached the helpless man.

 

 

When Nox released his Force grip on Calphayus, the Dread Master scrambled to his hands and knees, prostrating himself before Nox in desperation.

 

 

“Please Sith’Ari, please spare me!” Nox stopped.

 

 

“What did you call me?”

 

 

“I see it now.” Calphayus replied. “You are the successor, the one who will take the mantle from Vitiate.”

 

 

“I do not desire his throne.” Nox replied.

 

 

“I speak not of the throne.” Calphayus replied hastily. “I speak of his mantle. The mantle of Sith’Ari. I see it now, you will become the perfect being that will lead the Sith to glory!”

 

 

Nox stood still, lost in thought. It was in that moment that he realized something. Calphayus had survived his ritual somehow, and he seemed to have been freed from the union that had once existed between the Masters, and now bound those same beings to Nox. The same strength that their union had once had in life, now bound their spirits to Nox in death. There must be a reason Calphayus was not affected, Nox wondered. Whatever it was, the reason eluded him for the moment, but this development brought to light a new thread weaving its way through the tapestry of his Grand Plan.

 

 

He needed a tool he could use to accomplish his plans, a hero to stand against the threats to galactic security he would create, but there was always the chance that his chosen vessel could stray from the path he intended it to take. For such emergencies, he needed a way to ensure some kind of more direct control over this vessel, and now Nox realized that that method of control was kneeling before him, begging for his life.

 

 

“I will spare you, Calphayus.” Nox said, sheathing his lightsaber as the former Dread Master looked up in surprise. “But you may come to wish I hadn’t.”

 

 

The Dread Palace was silent except for the piercing wail of Calphayus’s screams.

 

__________

 

 

Jay-Li was hunched over the attack plans for the assault on the Dread Fortress when he heard a disturbance coming from the camp entrance. Looking up from his work he walked over to where a crowd of soldiers and Jedi were gathering around something. He pushed his way through the crowd and was shocked when he reached the center. There, sitting on the ground mumbling to himself, was a Dread Master without his golden crest. His face looked ancient and weathered beyond belief. Such a visage might have been more suitable for a corpse. His eyes were vacant and he was constantly twitching and moving, making all the soldiers pointing their weapons at him jumpy.

 

 

Peering into the man, Jay was surprised to find no mental block prohibiting him from gaining access to the man’s mind. It only took a few moments to confirm what Jay already suspected.

 

 

“Lower your weapons!” He ordered those around him. “It’s Calphayus. He’s beaten and harmless.”

 

 

“My death never came.” Calphayus murmured. “I am nothing now.”

 

 

“That isn’t true.” Jay said, approaching him slowly, as if he were a wounded animal. “We all have a place, a purpose to serve.”

 

 

“Serve…yes.” Calphayus mumbled. “The fear…the fear gave us rage, and the rage gave us strength. We were chained to one another, servants enslaved to a higher purpose…” He looked up at Jay. “Tell me, how does a man walk without chains to uplift him? How do you endure?”

 

 

“I don’t think this man is any threat.” Ogan-Dei said, his eyes wide with shock at seeing a former enemy so broken and humbled.

 

 

“I had a wife once,” Calphayus said. “I…I didn’t fear her.” His voice and eyes, for just a moment, seemed to reflect something like affection and peace.

 

 

“Master Jedi!” Cried Sergeant Trila, “We should kill him before he recovers!” Cries of assent came from many of the assembled soldiers. Jay could feel their anger and hatred towards Calphayus, and he sighed inwardly.

 

 

“Look at him.” He commanded, turning to face the crowd. “Look into his eyes and tell me he is not broken, lost, confused, and scared. What are we if we execute him when he is so helpless? We are no better than he was!”

 

 

Dead silence. Jay could feel the invisible battles going on inside each and every individual, as their lust for revenge fought their sense of justice for control. Master Ogan-Dei broke the silence by stepping forward to help Calphayus to his feet.

 

 

“I will see that he gets some medical attention.” He said, throwing the former Dread Master’s arm over his own shoulders.

 

 

“I will assist you, Master Ogan-Dei” Jay said, stepping forward to do the same.

 

 

The crowd slowly dispersed, some individuals muttering and grumbling under their breath, but none dared to openly object. The two Jedi helped Calphayus over to the medical tent, where a doctor came rushing out to meet them. When he saw the robes of the being draped between them, he stopped cold, shock showing clearly on his face.

 

 

“Master Jedi, are you…are you sure he is safe?”

 

 

“We’re sure, doctor.” Jay reassured him. “Can you see to him?”

 

 

“If he has any physical injuries yes,” the doctor said, “but I’m not sure about his mental state.”

 

 

The two Jedi led Calphayus to one of the few unoccupied beds that wasn’t covered in blood, vomit, and excrement. Jay couldn’t help but grimace as he laid the Dread Master down, the bed may have been clean, but it stank horribly nonetheless.

 

 

“Darkness…” Calphayus murmured, his eyes closed, his head moving slightly from side to side, as if he were dreaming. “Darkness…coming.”

 

 

“What is he saying?” Master Ogan-Dei asked Jay.

 

 

“He said darkness is coming.” Jay replied. Suddenly Calphayus sat straight up in the bed and seized Jay’s robes, his eyes wide open and full of fear.

 

 

“The darkness,” he hissed loudly, “it’s coming, it’s coming for you! It wants you, it needs you! You cannot escape!”

 

 

“Doctor, some sedative!” Ogan-Dei called out, drawing his lightsaber. Jay held up a hand, indicating he should let events transpire.

 

 

“What is the darkness, Calphayus?” Jay asked.

 

 

“Not what,” Calphayus said, his voice shaking with terror, his eyes filled with fear. “who.”

 

 

At that moment, the doctor plunged a needle into his arm, and the powerful sedative began to work immediately. Calphayus’s eyes closed and he fell back onto the bed. In moments he was deeply unconscious. Master Ogan-Dei looked down at the slumbering Sith, and sheathed his weapon.

 

 

“What did he mean, Master Kenobi?” Jay was staring down at the sleeping man, asking himself the same question.

 

 

“I don’t know.” He said finally, then turned and walked out of the tent. He reached the middle of the camp when a dreadfully familiar sensation blossomed in his cortex. He stopped and turned his head to look at the Dread Fortress in the far distance. The once overwhelming power of the Dread Masters that had emanated from the structure was fading. It was still potent, but definitely weaker than before, but that was not what had caught his attention. Now emanating from the fortress, barely perceivable through the now fading aura of the Dread Masters, was the same dark power that had haunted his visions of doom for the galaxy.

 

 

As a chill ran down his spine, he couldn’t help but wonder what forces they were dealing with. If the rising darkness was somehow responsible for the apparent demise of the Dread Masters, there was no telling what horrors that heralded for the galaxy.

 

Edited by MayhemofChaonus
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