Ask Invasion Denon The Sacrifice of Denon

[Kaldar]

Thread is death enabled. This will be one of several threads to assault Denon (others to come), and this thread will be open to one opposition.​

Denon had been the heart of battles for the last three decades and had been torn down and rebuilt repeatedly, eventually becoming the vocal face of the anti-Force-user movements that had sprung up across the galaxy.

A sacrifice needed to be made, and the followers of Raze saw no better planet to sacrifice than one that had so vocally condemned them.

The galaxy thought that Raze was dead, but that didn't mean that his followers were without their own ability to still spread chaos, mayhem, and death in the galaxy. They were still stronger than anyone understood, and it was time the galaxy understood that. Weakness couldn't be tolerated in the game they played.

Darth Tiamat had opened up a hypergate to the planet, and Kaldar's abominations had run through. Violence poured out at street level as the creatures tore across anyone they found and ripped to shreds civilians and police alike.

Surprise was on their side, and by the time any kind of an official counter attack was mounted, hours had already gone by.

The chaos of the battle allowed Nagai forces to land on the planet and seize more critical pieces of the planet, and all over the planet death filled the air.

It wasn't as Kaldar that he joined the assault on the planet, but as Virious, the Sith shrouded in black armor with his knife tucked away and lightsaber hanging from his belt. He walked calmly down the street near where the abominations had entered the city, looking at the violent, mangled bodies that lined the streets, and in that moment, he understood a fraction of what Raze felt. He lacked the pure potency of his master, but this control over life and death was intoxicating.

 

[Jarrell DiVos]

In each Jedi's life, there comes a time when they must make a choice. They must commit themselves fully, absolutely, to their principles, regardless of what the broader galaxy's opinion was. They must put themselves in harms way, even if victory was futile. They must stand against the tide, even if that meant standing alone.

Jarrell DiVos would stand alone, then. Here as a part of a token medical mission to the ravaged world, the ravaging beasts had systematically targeted his patients and destroyed his clinic. He was only able to save himself. Another failure for their Order's tally.

As he walked the streets of Denon, though, he felt an especially potent presence amongst the abominations. Had their leader finally made an appearance? Every part of him told him to run. To evacuate with the rest of the . But what would he run to? What was the Jedi Order he was a part of? They seemed more interested in prom nights and constantly mingling with politicos than they did taking bold stances in serving the people, protecting the people, of the galaxy. It was a thankless job, made even more difficult by the incompetent and bizarre decisions of his fellow Jedi.

He thought back to every life taken by these abominations and their abominable leadership. All innocent, pawns in a game that Jarrell himself did not understand. He thought to the lives lost to liberate this world from the rule of the Sith Empire years ago. Had they freed it, just to let it die? Was this the result of the 'freedoms' they fought for everywhere?

He thought through options. Trying to hide in one of the crumbled buildings for an ambush would likely leave him crushed under rubble. Yet, charging straight at a Sith felt like an equally suicidal endeavor. Blasterfire and the screams of Denon's defenders filled the air around them, as soldiers engaged, often futilely, against the monsters. That took true courage. Jarrell would have to muster that himself.

Jarrell was clothed in a simple outfit, with a combat plate to cover his chest and back. He grabbed his lightsaber from his hip, his sole weapon, and took it in his right hand. He took a balanced stance, left foot forwards. They were still some distance (say, 15 meters/50 feet?) outside of melee range.

He had no clever quips, no righteous insults. Fear ran down his spine. But now was the time to act.

@Phoenix

 

[Kaldar]

The Jedi was like a candle in the darkness, a single pinpoint of light that was unmistakable and which had to be snuffed out. He could feel the fear festering within the Jedi as the two approached one another, that lightsaber a green beacon that said "come and kill me."

Virious's lightsaber burst to life in his hand, a brilliant red like the blood that ran in the streets. Virious took in everything around them as they prepared to clash. The mound of rubble off to his right, the mangled remains of the dead to his left. The crumbling front of the building behind his opponent as if it had been blown off earlier in the fighting.

In contrast to the Jedi's fear and determination to be into the fight, Virious seemed... almost relaxed.

At least you had the balls to come out here and die. How far you Jedi have fallen. You don't even have leaders for us to hunt down and kill anymore, he said. He would have loved to do as Raze and Andruil and Malicia did on Ajan Kloss and hunt down the leaders of the Jedi Order, but they were too impotent to even have those anymore. The words were a harsh reminder to this Jedi in front of him of just how alone he was and how much his people had failed him.

The strength of the Jedi is in unity, but here you are... alone, he said. The Sith were more powerful as individuals, but together the Jedi had always had a chance. Alone... well, the results spoke for itself.

Of course, if at any time the Knight got uppity, Virious would break off his discussion, not dropping his guard as he spoke, but he was a civilized fighter. A splash of conversation almost never went awry.

@Fine Dining Set[/abox3]

 

[Jarrell DiVos]

Kaldar's words rang true. They stabbed into his heart, ruminated painfully in his mind. There was something powerful in the Sith - always unafraid of who they were, proud of their identities as power-hungry murderers. Their willingness to embrace themselves, understand their core identity, made them strong. Yet, the Jedi Order of late had shrunk away from its duty to do the same. They became reclusive, bumbling, unambitious as failure after failure compounded. Even in its darkest days, Jarrell had not known the Order to face such darkness. Although the New Jedi Order was high in recruitment, and had a friendly presence across many worlds, it was as if they had lost their moral courage. That, Jarrell feared, was the real danger. Was this how their Order would die? Leaderless, hopeless, lost in the drift of the galaxy's pull?

Even until now, he had merely done the same: Stood aside as the galaxy crumbled to pieces. Ignored the great responsibility that their principles placed upon the shoulders. The label of Jedi was never meant to be an empty symbol, the Jedi were not meant to cloister in the mountains, away from the dangers of the world. Their mountains were the people. They had to stand with the people, the oppressed, the exploited, wherever they were. That was what it meant to be Jedi. It was not to win every battle, for such a feat would be impossible even by the greatest Jedi. And Jarrell was not that.

Yet the galaxy still yearned for justice. No one deserved to suffer Powers beyond the Knight's comprehension were at play - the forces of the worshippers of Raze, the resurgent Sith Order, the militarized Empire, the Hutt Cartel on the rise. Could the people of the galaxy continue to weather these constant assaults, the lack of respect to their life? Here, soldiers and civilians alike were torn apart by the violent machinations of an oppressive regime.

"It's not about the numbers of our people. It comes down to the strength of our character." He affirmed, mostly to himself. Even when the Jedi lacked numbers, they were expected to put their lives on the line because that was what it meant to be Jedi. Their lives were no more valuable than any of the people who had died on Denon today. To turn and flee would be to ignore the suffering of those who cried out as they took their final breaths. He could not control destiny - the Jedi Order could not do that if they wanted. Still, here he would stand.

Part of him wanted to keep the conversation going. He was a healer before he was a fighter, after all. Every moment he stood, circling the Sith Master opposite himself, people died. The anticipation was killing him.

Jarrell strode to Kaldar's right, towards the corpses, as he stretched out his left hand. Three fist-sized chunks of rubble from Kaldar's left rumbled to life, coiled by the Force. His movements were defensive, and he kept his guard. Jarrell flung them at Kaldar's midsection, hoping that angling himself in the opposite direction of the rubble would help to catch Kaldar off guard.

@Phoenix

 

[Kaldar]

Virious laughed scoffingly. Yeah, whatever that means. The lies you tell yourself to say "I'm not alone," he said. But he was alone.

In contrast to the Jedi, Virious was perfectly happy to simply... wait. He had always preferred Form III with a splash of Sith Shien mixed in, so he would wait his opponent out if the other man so chose.

Virious didn't miss the movements of the Jedi or the Force itself as it tugged at the stones. As they accelerated at him, he darted to the side, but rather than simply dodging, he used the Force to grip one of the stones and continue its acceleration, guiding it - now at a much higher velocity - toward the Jedi.

They passed by Virious harmlessly, but now posed a dangerous threat to the Jedi. Meanwhile, Virious moved in behind them, continuing to close the distance until he and the Jedi were within striking distance of each other, saber at the ready depending on how the Jedi had managed to compensate for the reverse uno card Virious had just played.

@Fine Dining Set

 

[Jarrell DiVos]

He almost chuckled: Of course a Sith wouldn't know the strength of character. His point remained, though. He was alone in this fight. He hoped another would rise to the occasion, to beat back the tide of the Sith abominations on this world. He would do all he could to stem the tide of this invasion. As Kaldar seized the stones from mid-air and fired them faster, stronger, Jarrell learned he was dealing with someone stronger than him. A straight forward confrontation would likely be suicidal.

Jarrell continued in his path behind the bloodied bodies. Using the Force, he raised the blaster-ridden husk of an abomination into the air and repulsed it into the path of the stones and Kaldar. The corpse was meant to wedge between Kaldar and Jarrell, absorbing both his stones and stalling him. It did not happen flawlessly, and one of the stones rocketed into his torso breastplate, denting the durasteel and cracking rib beneath. He hissed out the pain. From here, he gripped his blade with both hands and held it upright in a middle guard position, facing Kaldar as he stepped backwards. His goal was to stay just out of melee range.

 

[Kaldar]

Virous watched him opponent continue to back up, waving a dead body around as if it were some kind of shield only to have it unexpectedly thrown into him. It smack/body slammed Virious back, nearly knocking him off his feet as he stumbled back.

What the...? he exclaimed, did the Jedi just throw a body at him.

And the Jeid continued to just... back up. Virious had intended to put them directly into melee range, but if the Jedi didn't want to do that... well, Virious could accommodate. Unamusedly accommodate.

Really? Really? You know what, that's fine, you keep running away, I'm just going to kill some civilians while you just keep pissing around over here, he said, starting to back up to make good on his promise but certainly not turning his back on the Jedi.

If the Jedi didn't want to actually fight, then fine. Virious was clearly unamused by his retreating tactics and refusal to engage.

@Fine Dining Set

 

[Jarrell DiVos]

Jarrell wouldn't bite at the bait. As the Sith stumbled backwards, Jarrell stretched out his rear hand and coiled the Force around the Sith's planted heel. He ripped the heel inwards, at best inverting the foot entirely so his toes faced backwards. At worst, as the Sith was off balance stepping backwards, he would be sent tumbling to the ground following the weight of the carcass and the pull at his heel.

As Kaldar struggled against the grip, Jarrell would spring forward with his blade in his lead hand. The tip of the lightsaber pointed at Kaldar's chest as he lunged forward, hoping to the spear the Sith quickly through the chest.

@Phoenix

 

[Kaldar]

Well, kriff, Virious thought to himself, though that was about all he had time for. The Jedi was finally being aggressive, which Virious could credit him for.

However, his attack wasn't quite as smooth as he had hoped. With broken ribs of his own to distract him and a rapid transition from throwing a body to yanking a specific body part to moving into a saber strike all within a fraction of a second, things didn't go quite as perfectly as he had hoped.

Specifically inverting an already planted foot meant he was working against an entire body's weight of gravity, and trying to transition so quickly from throwing a full body to yanking on such a specific part of a body meant that it was less on the ankle and more along the leg as a whole, pulling Virious's foot momentarily against the ground in an attempt to overcome friction that was far less effective than he had hoped.

In other words, with all those factors combined with Virious's Force-user balance it had little effect on the Sith except to keep him from a more aggressive retaliation of his own: a fact that probably saved the Jedi's life in its own right

Virious's saber swept around and struck the Jedi's hard, smashing it off course and to Virioius's left and boxed out from the Sith even as Virious once again regained his footing and pushed off to his own right, rotating around to put himself on the Jedi's left side and further placing him out of the Jedi's stab line. Now the fight was really afoot... get it?

 

[Jarrell DiVos]

Indeed, the Sith was far more resistant than Jarrell had hoped. It had been a naive dream to imagine that he could end the battle in the first strike. He would keep the pressure on.

When Jarrell's stab with the blade was deflected by the Sith, he moved his hand to keep grip of the lightsaber, and his left hand met his right. He took a two-handed . Virious was over his left shoulder, now. He pivoted his right foot as he rolled his left shoulder. He did this both to move his head and chest off the center line, where he anticipated a strike, and to load his weight into his right foot.

His pivot changed his angle, so their hips would again be aligned. He struck again with his lightsaber, this time a horizontal cut coming from the Jedi's right side towards the Sith's left. His cut aimed towards the Sith's left bicep, and the torso that lay behind it.

@Phoenix

 

[Kaldar]

The Jedi swung at Virious, and the placement of the Sith's blade would lead the Jedi to believe that he was going to block. However, instead of stopping the strike outright, he dodged quickly backwards and let the blade pass by in front of him.

The Jedi's weight being thrown into a pivot would mean that leaping forward to close the gap would be impossible - not to mention such split second realization as to be totally impractical - and the Jedi's blade would pass by in front of Virious. If by some miracle, he managed to actually perform such a feat of pursuit, Virious's blade was still there to block nevertheless.

With a two handed strike such as the Jedi did, it was inevitable that he would over swing at least to some extent, and Virious would capitalize on that.

All it took was a flick of the wrist for Virious's saber to slash downward and a step forward, and due to rotational energy and pivot points, the latter part of Virious's saber moved far faster than the Jedi's arms could. In other words, Virious would slash down to chop through at least the Jedi's closest arm if not both arms above the elbow.

Meanwhile, his left hand unleashed a blast of lightning into the now-exposed side of the Jedi who, with both hands on his saber on the opposite side of his body and already having to contend with the lightsaber strike would be all but incapable of blocking, absorbing, or dodging the near-point blank lightning to his exposed right side. Even if he evaded one of the attacks, the other was almost certainly going to be devastating.

@Fine Dining Set

 

[Jarrell DiVos]

The Sith dodged the strike and responded with one of his own. When Virious hopped back, Jarrell tried to recover his guard, but he was just too slow. The gleaming, red blade caught his right wrist, severing his red hand from his body. His face strained in agony as he dropped to a knee, wounded, just in time to catch a blast of lightning to the right side of body. The burning scorched through his clothes and armor, leaving root-shaped wounds that scoured across his skin. His breath heaving. His body screamed in pain. His vision wobbled.

If this was his last moment, it would be one of defiance. Blood soaked into the hilt of his lightsaber, as Jarrell grit his teeth and swung at the Sith, one last time. From his position, the only possible strike he could make was a desperate one. He pressed all his strength to his feet, lunging to his right towards Virious. The rotation carried his saber, still in his left hand. He cut horizontally towards Virious's hips, as a final, desperate attack.

 

[Kaldar]

The blade bit into the wrist of his enemy and Virious watched the arm fall like a limp fish to the floor even as his blue lightning tore into the side of his enemy.

But it wasn't just electricity, it was the power of the self flowing into the Force, twisting it to one's will, and expelling it. It was the conduit of hatred that wracked the muscles and scorched the skin, withering it even as the victim was still alive. Agony in its purest form and control for the attacker.

The lightning would make every movement of the Jedi more difficult, his muscles spasming and seizing rather than twisting and attacking, and as he dragged himself through, it made it even easier for Virious to block the strike with an almost lazy parry before bringing his saber down to sever the second arm.

Only now, did the lightning cease for a moment. Virious looked down at the smoke rising from the Jedi's body, and the helmet matched the face beneath. There wasn't evil cackling or maniacal laughter, but there was the faint sense of satisfaction in the air. The sensation that he held total control over the life of another. Not just some peasant, either, but a warrior and a Jedi.

For a moment, he said nothing and then his voice rang out through his helmet.

Know that everyone here will join you soon, he said, and flicked his wrist across the Jedi's neck, ending the fight once and for all. The final thing the Jedi would hear was the agonized screams of the dying torn apart by the monsters of the Dark Side.

 

[Jarrell DiVos]

All his fighting, his battle, had been for naught. In the end, the Sith had triumphed. Jarrell took no pleasure in watching the world succumb to his fate - an agonizing demise - but his body could withstand no more. If he had more strength he would fit. If he had more wit he would barb.

But, his vision began to darken. His spirit would go on to the next world, joined by the souls of all those slain here today by the Sith monstrosities. His last thought was not to the battle, or the chaos, but to his Padawan. He could feel her, out there. No doubt, she could feel his connection to life fading. He wanted to send her a message of resilience. He wanted to give her a final lesson - that one must not forsake their principles in the struggle against a violent enemy.

The saber came too quickly. Silver and black, Devaronian blood spilled out into the streets.

Jarrell DiVos was slain.

/end thread