Twilight Venom

[Dennys Waszylla]

The room was open and spacious, a place that Dennys hadn't been to before despite being on Ossus during his time with the Jedi. This must have been someplace secret, even from the rank and file. That the constructors of the Sith Temple didn't find this place was astonishing, perhaps believing that this was just solid foundation for the new building. There were stairs on the far wall leading down into further depths, perhaps the vault that the Jedi were seeking. The Force had gathered in the center of the large room, though, and coalesced into something that Dennys could feel wanted to impede their trek. A guardian of sorts, conjured from the Force. Perhaps a bit like Lothwolves, if he had heard right in how those creatures were made up. Such random thoughts were banished as the creature sprung into being, the main event about to begin.

The thing was large, nearly half again as tall as Dennys was and seemingly made of pure metal armor. No joints showed if there was any flesh beneath, especially since where the head should have been a bright torrent of light spilled forth from the open neck hole. In it's left hand a shimmering shield of some opalescent stone hung ready to use, while in it's left a lightsaber of pure white exuded the same kind of light as what poured forth from the neck. Dennys could tell this wasn't going to be an easy fight. That's just the way he would have it. He glanced at Kal, wondering if the other man's blood also boiled at the sight of a battle. Oh, this was going to be fun.

@Phoenix

 

[Darth Kravos]

Even in his time as a Jedi Master, the old Shadow hadn't ever stumbled across this place. There was no stumbling to be had with it, and it was clear now that he was here that it had been intended to be a secret. He wondered how many even knew it existed. The Council? New Masters? Or just those who protected the Jedi's archives: librarians and their ilk?

Apparently the guard they'd sent back (he'd been a librarian after all) had known about it and intentionally came here to guard it. How ironic that the guarding he was supposed to be doing had been nothing but turning it over to the Dark Lord himself.

The Sith's hand reached for his saber, wrapping around the hilt and pulling free its familiar heft in his hand. This guardian here had been created to protect the secret archives, and it was clear that it didn't intend to let the pair of Sith pass. He wondered if this, too, was some sort of fallen Master or Councilor as the Lothwolf on Lothal had been. If it was, he hoped that it wouldn't have the same power as that one and even more so that it didn't have friends.

His saber lit in his hand, the familiar feeling of ice flooding his veins and raising the hair on his arms came rushing back as he prepared for battle. The Force bent to his will, even in this place of Light, and he glanced to the Sith Master to see if he was ready. Kravos took steps to his left, away from Dennys and hoped that Dennys would move the other way, allowing them each to get on either side of the warrior-creature. He didn't want to lash out yet, but he also wasn't eager to begin bandying words with the undead.

 

[Dennys Waszylla]

Dennys indeed started to circle the other way, the nuances of squad combat always lurking in his subconscious. He had no idea what this thing was capable of, yet it hadn't attacked yet. It seemed to truly be a defender of the way down, meaning the two of them would have to make the first move. With his teal lightsaber at the ready and the Force gathered to him, Dennys suddenly leapt towards the armored creature's flank to see more what the reaction would be as well as how the thing moved while attacking. As partially expected, despite not having a head it didn't seem to have a blind spot, perhaps using the Force to see. It deftly managed to turn and catch the lightsaber on it's shield, blocking it without taking any damage. As it brought up it's own white blade, though, Dennys had already used the momentum from the blocked attack to throw himself back just before the white lightsaber slashed for his midsection. Seemed like they were playing for keeps.

@Phoenix

 

[Darth Kravos]

Kravos saw Dennys move in and took full advantage of it. While the guardian managed to take advantage of blocking the initial attack from the Sith Master, it wasn't so lucky against the Dark Lord. The saber in his hand swung around and slashed into the guardian. He had years of experience as a duelist and a warrior, and it showed in his attacks.

The plasma blade swirled deftly through the air, smashing into the back of the guardian's armor, tearing a gaping hole in its back as the shield spun around to try to bash the Dark Lord over. He jumped back, clearing the piece of metal as it zoomed through the air in front of him. It now had a large hole for the pair to exploit, but that meant landing another hit at least.

His saber spun through the air again, deflecting the sword to the side as he unleashed a blast of lightning that was this time caught by the shield. It was still a chance that Dennys could land another hit with the thing distracted, but only time would tell.

 

[Dennys Waszylla]

GodDAMN did Kal know how to hit a motherkriffer. If that had been the skin of any regular enemy, the creature would be deader than Jinlo and those other Jedi who had killed Cregan by now. The hit did seem to have an effect, though the supernatural nature of the armored foe meant that it wasn't down and out yet. As the shield was hit by the lightning Dennys realized two things. One, he was just out of range of being able to make a decisive blow, the quick apparition having just enough time to bring the shield back around to make his blow glancing at best. The second thing he realized was that the lightning blast had put the creature in a very awkward stance. Using the Force that he had built up, Dennys devoted all his concentration to catching that arm with the shield in it in Stasis. It could probably break free if it concentrated for a few seconds, though it would have to beat the full strength of a Sith Master to do so. This should give Kal plenty of time to land a blow while it was distracted, as either it could try to defend itself with it's lightsaber or focus on the Stasis. Either way, it would have to deal with the full power of the Dark Lord while being flat-footed and unable to use it's best defensive weapon.

@Phoenix

 

[Darth Kravos]

Kravos let end his stream of lightning that had done little more than annoy the creature in question. He pulled his blade back and away from the sword, spinning it counter-clockwise in front of him in an attempt to hit the guardian's chest with a quick thrust. It was a variation of his Form II practices and he'd done similar movements many times before, but even with its shield restrained, this creature seemed quick.

It swung around, using the fact that its shield arm was stationary as a pivot, allowing it to throw itself bodily to the side and use the shield as an anchor. It's body flung out of the way of the blade, but its shield prevented it from moving in an uncontrolled manner. Meanwhile, its sword lashed out at Dennys, looking to cleave his head off from Dennys's right side as it spun all the way around its stationary shield.

It was clear that this being was quite skilled with the blade, and Kravos wondered if it had somehow been imbued with full knowledge of the various saber forms or if it knew some other, more esoteric combat form. Either way, it seemed to have no trouble holding its own against the pair of Sith.

 

[Dennys Waszylla]

It was annoying that the apparition had still managed to contend with Kal's attack despite his own attempt to hinder it, though he quickly let that go. He released the shield, not wanting to use up all of his endurance, and had a different thought. He needed to get BOTH arms tied away, which there was only one way he could think of doing so. Using the Force to increase his speed, he ran up behind the creature as it still focused on Kal and leapt on it's back. He then switched from enhancing his speed to his strength, wrapping his arms around the armored foe to pin the enemy as best as he could. The thing was strong, yet seemingly surprised as the grapple worked. Hopefully this opening would be enough for Kal to deal a critical blow to the Force Apparition. If not, Dennys had a couple ideas. Most involved the word Suplex.

@Phoenix

 

[Darth Kravos]

Dennys had managed to jump on the creature's back and keep him restrained for the moment, and Kravos thought he saw an opportunity to land a more lethal blow. The armor in the front was still intact, which could no doubt present a problem, but with a few moments of free impact, it could be brought down, he hoped.

He was preparing to slash his blade at the guardian, when things went a bit sideways on him. Without so much as losing a moment's hesitation, the guardian raised a leg and planted a firm kick in the Dark Lord's chest. Even with his armor on, it hurt. Quite badly. He stumbled back, grunting with the pain and having to catch his breath for a moment. In fact, he was trying to think of the last time he'd had this much trouble with a single opponent. It had been quite some time.

 

[Dennys Waszylla]

NOW Dennys was getting pissed. These punkass Jedi and their punkass Guardians were getting in his and Kal's way. All they'd originally wanted was some Holocron construction items, now they had to deal with this armored asshole. Dennys began to channel the BADASS to power his connection to the Force. FIlled with energy and the desire to save his friend from further danger, Dennys planted his feet on the ground and threw his torso back, giving a cry as he did so. "WASZYLLA SECRET TECHNIQUE # 82!! SITH SUPLEX, MOTHERKRIFFER!!" The sound that rang out as he connected the blow was almost deafening, the clang of metal against stone and almost a bone-shaking groan of pain from perhaps the Force itself. The ground was cracked where the apparition had been forced into it, the neck and top of the shoulders and arms stuck in the floor from the force of the blow. Dennys kept holding onto the creature, wanting Kal to finish it off. He needed a beer after this.

@Phoenix

 

[Darth Kravos]

It seemed that Kravos's luck just really couldn't improve today. Was he losing his touch? He was beginning to wonder with how this fight was going. He'd lost a teammate in his last fight even with a quartet of high ranking Jedi killed, but he'd lost a teammate. And now this. What was happening?

This all flashed through his mind because he made another movement to attack his target, and despite being stuck in the floor, it still seemed to want to destroy the Dark Lord. It managed to conjure up a blast and unleash it at the Dark Lord. He was about to deliver a final blow when the Force of it hit him, sending him flying despite the barrier he'd errected around himself. He went flying backwards, striking the wall harshly but managing to cushion it with the Force. He grunted again, feeling that he was going to have some very bad bruising after this, and thankful that he had his armor.

 

[Dennys Waszylla]

Dennys was thoroughly done with this motherkriffer. Suplexed, partially in the floor, and severely injured, the apparition STILL managed to repel the Dark Lord. Perhaps that was a good thing, though, as it allowed Dennys to do his own attacks unimpeded. The fun was now over, especially as it seemed to be vexing Kal to no end. Still channeling the Force to increase his strength, Dennys began to hug the armored foe with all his strength, the weakening of the armor from the attacks causing it to buckle. After some heavy resistance, yet thanks to Kal distracting it, eventually he scissored through the metal and the whole thing disappeared. The feeling of the Force had gone, they had beaten the guardian. He stood up, patting off dust and debris as he moved over to Kal. "You okay, Brother? Damn, if the Jedi ever did anything it was make some strong guardians. Maybe we can find out how to do that ourselves with OUR temples. You ready to go down and whoop some Jedi ass?" He held out his hand to the man, smiling at his friend.

@Phoenix

 

[Darth Kravos]

Kravos watched as Dennys smashed the guardian into the ground and bash its pieces apart. Kravos couldn't say he was very sorry to see the guardian go down, and it was just one more thing out of their way. It had put up way more of a fight than the Dark Lord had expected or seen out of an opponent in some time.

He pushed himself back up to his feet, grabbing Dennys's offered hand and letting out a sigh as he did so. He couldn't wait to see what they had in store deeper inside, but he couldn't imagine that it would be worse than what they had just faced off against... or at least, he hoped.

We should figure out how they made it, he agreed with a nod, looking down at the broken body. It could certainly come in handy in the future to have something similar for the Sith. Perhaps they'd find the answer below, but he doubted it. Let's finish this, he agreed.

 

[Dennys Waszylla]

Dennys grinned, glad that Kal was otherwise unharmed from the fight. Figuring out how they made the Apparition could be a fun adventure, but for another day. They had to go down the staircase and follow after the Jedi and his helpers before they stole what was already rightfully stolen from unworthy hands. Then they could make their legacies and go into battle without regrets. Twilight was beginning to settle over the world, perhaps over the entire galaxy. This would be when the weak would lay down and wait for their betters to fight it out, to see who would be victorious. Dennys was determined to be one of the ones standing on top of that pile, if only to help push Andraste up even higher.

/Endthread