Chapter 10: 10
Along the green-yellow irradiated roaring river running through the city, Unchained and Resistance fighters grappled one another for supremacy.
Dirge bashed the butt of his blaster rifle into a Resistance fighter's jaw, knocking her over, then repeatedly swung down once, twice, then paused as he heard that all too familiar sickening crack.
Blood flicked onto his scaly green face, and he errantly licked it off. It tasted like freedom.
Dirge hissed, and howled into the sky he had never felt so alive!
All around him, the Unchained met the Balmorrans in fierce melee combat.
Ammunition was running low, and the soft minded Resistance fighters had no stomach for close combat.
Where the Unchained died spectacularly at the start of the conflict, it was now their turn and duty to free these misguided souls.
Born on Trandosha, Dirge was the smallest in his clutch. All his life, he had been pushed, and used by his brothers and sisters.
Eventually they sold him into slavery, claiming he was of no use to the Great Hunt.
Bah! Great Hunt so what! Dirge had found a new calling in the Force.
He had found new brothers and sisters! The song had united them like nothing before. He had never felt such intense emotions!
On Trandosha, it was only cold, calculation logic. Here there was fire, there was love, shared hopes and dreams, here there was-
"Freedom!" A brother ran past Dirge and exploded in a fine mist.
His brother's presence in the song became a bright point, brighter than all others before joining the great Harmony.
Inspired to keep up the fight, Dirge hefted his rifle turned club.
Bounding forward, Dirge spotted a man with medals on his chest, and a refined air about him. His shots were calculated, and took out more of his siblings than any other fighter.
Dirge ran at him, two shots scorched his chest, but the song encouraged him to move forward.
The holy words taught by the Prophet came to mind as he felt death near.
"Witness me!" Dirge shouted as he put his jaw to the officer's neck.
"Witness!" His brothers and sisters sang in concert.
The coward raised his pistol, and blew his own brains out before Dirge could finish the job.
Dirge howled in rage that he was denied such a glorious death!
Vision fading to black, he felt that his song would be dim, and uninspiring.
That is until he saw the flashing glow of a green lightsaber.
All around him his siblings fell to that menacing blade.
Yet the Jedi ran right past him, ignoring him just like his siblings on Trandosha.
No, he would not be ignored! He had a bangle of thermal detonators strapped to his chest for such an occasion!
"Witness me!" Dirge rose from the ground, and hugged the back of the Jedi.
"Master!"
Dirge heard a girl's voice shout before everything went white. He felt his spirit leave his body, and of the alternatingly warm/cold embrace of the Force.
Dirge grinned into the light.
"Master!" Seya ran to her master's side, and looked down at him in worry.
Her master's clothes were blackened and torn, but he seemed to be in one piece! His old gray beard was intact, and his skin was mostly the same white pallor that it usually was.
It seemed he got a barrier up just in time! Unfortunately the impact of the blast was so powerful, it must've broken through his defense!
Letting loose a sigh of relief, Seya rested her hands over her unconscious teacher, and began to heal his internal injuries.
Gathering her understanding of temperance and compassion, Seya asked the Force for help, and gently guided the soothing energies to her hands.
"Huh, it seems this old man has to thank you once again, Padawan. After this I'll have to recommend you to Knight! Then you might finally have the courage to ask out that Togruta boy!"
"Master Noom!" Seya stopped her healing, and blushed in embarrassment.
"Mhm." Noom grunted in pain. "Forget I said anything!"
Seya felt guilty at her master's pained expression, and gave him one more dose of healing hands before she was satisfied.
"Alright we've cleared this Sector out. Let's get a move on Seya, we're overextended as it is, and we don't want to stray to far from our line."
"Right!" Seya nodded her head.
The first class on war tactics she took specified that they should fight as a team as much as possible!
85% of Jedi died to non-Force sensitives when they separated from their units, or were overwhelmed by superior numbers.
They had to get back to the front! She could feel everyone's hopes and aspirations placed on the back of her teacher.
As a Jedi, she couldn't stand by and do nothing while the people suffered to these, these abominations!
"Careful Padawan, you must steady yourself. I know this deployment has been anything but easy, but you must remain strong." Noom placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and smiled.
Through their Force Bond, Seya received feelings of fatherly love, and determination.
She nodded, and smiled back.
When they were about to rejoin the front, Seya felt IT.
Dark whispers assaulted her mind.
Waste. Unworthy of him. Ugly.
He would never love a green skin like you.
Kill yourself.
Do it.
Do it.
"Seya!"
The bond snapped Seya into focus. She blinked her eyes, and saw her lightsaber barely being held back by her master.
One more inch, and her neck would be gone.
A cold shiver ran down her spine.
"W-what was that master." Seya said, her voice quivering.
"This Sith will be more trouble then I feared. Stay by my side, and we shall take him together. Should I fall in battle I want you to go, no questions asked."
"Master I-"
"No you will listen to me Seya! At the first sign of my defeat, you are to run, is that understood!" Noom gripped her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes.
Urgent love and compassion pushed into the bond.
She didn't remember her Mirialin parents, but she didn't need to when she had her master's guidance.
Seya's will firmed. No, she wouldn't let that happen! She wouldn't abandon her master because they would kick this Sith's butt!
"Understood." Seya nodded.
"Girl." Noom began in a skeptical tone before blaster fire interrupted their conversation.
Raising her lightsaber, Seya parried each shot to the side.
It was a squadron of MK-I Imperial Battle Droids crawling down the broken highway on six legs toward them.
She could barely hear their mechanical clanks over the roaring river and distant battle.
However, the droids were very real, and very dangerous.
Each missed or parried bolt destroyed a chunk of rubble the size of her head. Their blasters were of such high energy, it was difficult for anyone other than a Master to parry them back.
"Follow my lead Seya, the Sith must be lurking nearby." Noom diverted one more shot, then turned around toward their line.
As they escaped the blaster bolts, six lightsaber wielding droids dropped down from a blown out florist shop, and cut off their path of retreat.
"Don't stop!" Noom shoved two into a pile of concrete rubble.
The droids fell down damaged, but were far from destroyed.
Noom then parried a saber, and quickly stabbed one, then two droids straight through the chest, and flicked up with a flourish.
His Form II training kicked in, and Noom began to move swiftly amongst the enemy combatants.
Four lightsabers met in a clash, and Noom grunted from the effort of holding them back.
"I've got you master!" Seya closed her eyes, then pointed at one droid.
It twitched and spasmed, then suddenly its lightsaber decapitated another droid.
"Good girl, now we can-"
"Look out!" Seya ran between her master and a beam of lightning heading toward his back.
She raised her lightsaber, and used the Force to direct the lightning into her blade like she had been taught.
Bright blue light assailed her eyes, she grit her teeth, and was slowly being pushed back toward her master's rear.
The steady clank clank clank of the battle droids slowly encroached onto their position and the Sith's lightning seemed endless.
All the while, the evil whispers grew stronger and more sinister.
Worry and doubt assailed her heart.
They had to end this stalemate quickly, otherwise there would be no escape!
More lightning began to pound into her, and escape her hold. Small shocks burnt the sides of her arms and legs, but most importantly…
"Master! No!" Seya cried in alarm as many bolts of lightning circumvented her, and struck him in the back.
"Master?!" The Sith briefly let up his attack in surprise and shock.
Noom grinned, this wasn't the first time his advanced age had led others to believe in his supposed powers.
Many a Youngling had thought him one of the wise Masters based solely on the length of his beard!
Noom grimaced in pain.
The lightning was beginning to take its toll, and he couldn't hold out much longer. Had he been alone, the swift blows and blocks these droids delivered would be a trifle to handle. But what he needed most was running out. He had to hurry.
He didn't have the energy to hold on to much longer, but he could at least rescue his precious one.
Noom closed his eyes, and released his hold on the enemy's saber. Before it sliced into his neck, he tossed his Padawan into the river with a Force Push.
'Goodbye my daughter.'
He smiled at the betrayed look on her face as he became one with the Force.
[+5,000 EXP]
Varrus released his Lightning Hands when the Sith training droid penetrated the old man through the chest.
The victory over him was a perfect success by all meanings of the word, but Varrus couldn't help but feel hollow.
There was no epic clash of blades, no test of his new armor. No sense of danger. And the 'good guys's' student got away. The Force truly acted in bullshit, if not semi-predictable patterns at times.
If there was any lesson learned, it was that a Jedi was most vulnerable when they were outnumbered or ambushed. Order 66 had taught him that much, and he wouldn't be caught dead fighting a 1v1 if he didn't have to.
Honor, courage, loyalty. They were high ideals to strive toward, but for Varrus and all Sith, victory was at the end of the day, all that mattered.
Because if the Sith genocide had taught them any one lesson, it was that defeat came with the ultimate price. And if there was a second lesson, it was that Jedi were sanctimonious hypocritical assholes.
At the very least, they were fat stacks of EXP.
Speaking of which, each of the Resistance fighters was worth a paltry 10-20 EXP in comparison. There was however, a +5 EXP gain for every fighter killed by the Unchained that were under the effects of his Battle Meditation.
Varrus had also killed 856 according to the kill count app.
That amounted to a whopping [13,696 EXP] post modifier.
Tag on the kills via meditation, and that was another [11,303 EXP]. Unfortunately, kills via Battle Meditation did not benefit from the danger modifier when more than one enemy was being killed within a similar period of time.
This gain proved that killing an epic proportion of trash mobs was superior to more powerful opponents.
However, he only leveled up his skills once or twice during this entire conflict. He was close to reaching lvl 30 in most of his skills and abilities, but even after killing hundreds, it wasn't enough.
His dedicated training during the flight to Balmorra really raised his sensitivity, lightning, and meditation. In this battle, he almost exclusively used his Lightning Hands and Battle Meditation. Whereas comparatively, his lightsaber forms were lacking due to no a lack of use.
Overall, he was satisfied with what he had, but was disappointed that he couldn't go over level 30 in anything. His level 20 hard cap was overcome by Vowrawn's intense training. Varrus was beginning to wonder what kind of intense stimuli would be required for him to surpass 30!
Stats
[Force Sensitivity lvl 29]
[Form I lvl 19]
[Form II lvl 5]
[Form III lvl 4]
[Form VI lvl 6]
[Force Lightning lvl 26]
[Lightning Hands lvl 23]
[Lightning Shield lvl 10]
[Lightning Absorption lvl 25]
[Force Concealment lvl 8]
[Meditation/Battle Meditation lvl 29]
Clearly he needed to up his game, otherwise he wouldn't be strong enough for the serious threats.
For instance, the Resistance fighters weren't even professional soldiers. This deployment was a joke to Varrus. The only serious threat came from the Jedi. Thankfully Captain Rigg's strategy worked, and they were able to lure them out to this secluded point.
However, if he didn't become stronger. His fate would be to end up just like that Jedi.
That is, to be surrounded and killed by regular mobs!
Nodding his head in resolve, Varrus decided to rejoin the fight. He had EXP to farm.
Varrus held his communicator, and updated Captain Briggs of his success over the Jedi who had decimated their western forces.
He snapped a quick picture of his defeated foe, and led his remaining droids into the shields.
When he entered the actual base behind the shields, Varrus was anticipating some heavy firepower to rain down on his position.
However, he was surprised to find Traga leading a ceremony with the Unchained over the corpses of their enemies.
"Master, you have arrived!" Traga stopped what he was doing, and ran over to bow.
"Good work clearing out the base defenses Traga." Varrus begrudgingly complimented.
His EXP was gone, but he wasn't asshole enough not to pay respect when respect was due.
"My Lord? When we arrived, the automatic base defenses had turned upon the Resistance forces. We then fell upon the diminished troop, and cleaned up rather easily. We had thought the destruction was your doing. Was it not?" Traga tilted his head in confusion.
Varrus frowned.
"Follow me into the base."
(Earlier)
"Sir, we have lost contact with all Sectors! Our signal is being jammed…they're in the base!" The Ensign said in a panic.
"How long?" Aakars asked.
"Sir?"
"How long have you prepared for this?" Aakars drew his gun, and pointed it at the back of the Ensign's head.
The rest of the command staff watched with bated breaths.
"General Aakars sir, what are you doing to Ensign Yui? Sir-" An officer rose, only to be silenced as a bolt scorched the floor in front of his foot.
"I SAID HOW LONG!" Aakars yelled, then tore away the Ensign's helmet to reveal a blue face.
"Would you believe me if I said I only read her file yesterday?" The previously feminine voice spoke with a man's masculinity.
"Clever, very clever. You had her mannerisms down to a T. Furthermore, your voice modulator was top notch. I was almost completely in the palm of your hand from start to finish."
"What gave me away?" The Ensign quirked an eyebrow.
"I won't be spoiling what led to your discovery. No, I think I'll let that knowledge fester within a cold cell." Aakars taunted.
"Pity. I took you for the bragging type. It seems I'll have to reevaluate my analysis matrix."
"You can reevaluate those matrix's behind bars. Men, come arrest this spy. Afterwards, follow me to the escape tunnels to-ah!" Aakars froze up as his armor received an electrical shock.
"And that's all I needed. Thank you Aakars, you will continue to serve as a hero of the Republic." The Ensign smiled and held up a sophisticated recording device.
A dawning realization came upon Aakars's face. He was going to use his voice, his codes!
"S-shoot him!" Aakars weakly called out.
Only for the spy to swiftly and accurately gun down everyone in the room.
Aakars struggled to override the paralysis. He slowly reached his hand toward his blaster, struggling to get a grip on it.
"This is goodbye General. I do hope you've enjoyed our time together. I know I have."
Cipher 9 leveled his pistol, then Aakars's world turned to black.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone