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Post by Cain on Apr 15, 2010 13:19:01 GMT -5
It was an all too familiar scene, buildings in flames, the sounds of screams and blaster fire ringing through the night air, chaos and carnage encircling the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. It was war. A war that was supposed to fought far far away by people we'd never met on planets we never heard of. Not here, not this close to home. The death grip that the Sith and their Empire held on the core worlds did little to satisfy their insatiable desires... desires that turned outward toward the outer rim. The man whose ambitions were most directly responsible for this war was none other then the Dark Lord of the Sith himself, a monster simply called Cain.
"A monster?" Cain chuckled softly, thinking to himself, "Is that what I have become? They say that every man is a reflection of his life as a whole. To imply then that I was a monster would be at the very least understandable if not a gross understatement. What has been done to me was, in every sense of the word, monstrous. Those who've not fallen as I have will never truly understand what that means. To them a monster is not something to be sympathized with, not something to be pitied. To them a monster is a threat, it is something to be feared. After all, what is a monster without the fear? Maybe I was just tired of being afraid..."
Amid the scorched red skies of Coruscant Cain sat atop the Jedi Temple's ziggurat, motionless, his eyes flickering beneath their cover. The noise of the fighters screeching past on all sides and the blasts of gunships exchanging fire didn't faze him in the slightest. Cain was a man of unimpressive build, not overly muscular, with a strangely youthful look about him. His skin was smooth without so much as a hint of the hardship his mind knew all too well. His belt held only a single lightsaber hilt and on his back was sheathed a small katana.His long dark hair whipped in the wind despite being tied off at his back at around shoulder length. Cain wore black Jedi robes, garments one might associate with members of the Jedi Order, not a Sith Lord. Though Cain never promoted himself as Sith.
Despite the fury of the war raging around him Cain sat with a quiet serenity, the Force gathered around him in a thin veil. Cain's concentration was focused on the Imperial troops in the dog fight, he would use the Force to unite their consciousness and strike at the enemy as one while at the same time using the dark side to cripple the will of the enemy Federals and Mandalorians. It was a skill known as Battle Meditation, a technique that required great concentration and even greater command of the Force.
Standing on either side of the Dark Lord as he focused on his battle meditation were a pair of Elite Guards garbed in black armor. There helmets offered only thin slits through which no facial features could be discerned. The Elite on the left was armed with a pair of blades crossed over her back and a pair of lightsabers on either hip. The Elite on the right was armed to the teeth with blasters and grenades of all shapes and sizes. The two of them stood just as motionless as their master, the wind blowing through the dark cloaks that lay over their armor.
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Post by Zilfer on Apr 15, 2010 14:00:28 GMT -5
Through the Chaos that had been unleashed on Coruscant, for that's the only thing that it could be described as, Zilfer had made his way to the Jedi temple. He had no doubt that it was were his Master would be waiting, in feint calm. He was sure that Alex Drake, or Cain as he was known to most others was waiting at the top. His long dark hair blew in the wind behind him as he began his ascension of the Jedi temple. The band for his hair had come off somewhere along the way to the Jedi temple, and his blue eyes where locked forward, his force presence wide open. A sword was sheathed on his back. Its wrapped in a dark cloth that stopped just before the end which seemed to hold a faint glow. Two lightsabers were strapped to either of his sides, about a dark black robe. His hands wore gauntlets and around his legs were bracers that gave him the appearance of a very lightly armored combatant. The low hum of the personal shield was ever present as he continued his speedy pace up the temple. He had picked it up to protect him from blaster fire, sniper shots, in the area so he could make it to Cain without fear of having to engage in a street battle or be taken out by a well positioned sniper.
Not mere hours before his companions had decided what everyone's roll was best suited for but when it came to Cain, everyone had dropped silent. Elifain had opted to stand by him almost immediately when Zilfer had taken the challenge of occupying Cain during the battle. Yuki, had very much the same reaction that Elifain had, but he knew that focusing on Cain with obsession would only play into his hands. If they were on the chess board, and Mandalore and the Federation's leader were the Kings of our side in this war, than Cain was completely removed from the board replaced with only the disguised king. A King of false hope, but Zilfer knew better. Cain wouldn't let everything rest on a single battle. He had taught Zilfer to know your enemy better than they know themselves, and the face of the matter was, everyone was focusing on taking Cain and the Empire down. They were wrong in thinking that. He had come to realize that they do not need to defeat Cain directly to win this war. Cain without his Empire while formidable was no match for a combined forces of all those allotted against him.
"So it comes down to a duel between Master and Apprentice, what Alex must have wanted all along. I tried to stay out of the affairs of the Empire, but one thing after another always dragged me back in." thought Zilfer as he crested the top of the Jedi temple. Three figures came into view, no doubt Cain was expecting more of an invading party than had showed up. Zilfer without flinching or missing a step walked forward until he was about ten meters from Cain and his two lackeys. He gave short note of Cain's guards noting the lightsabers and blades that adorned one of the guards, and the other seemed to be his polar opposite. Grenades, and blasters. If this had been any other time he would have found the humor of their representation of Yin, and Yang. Cain was focusing no doubt on some form of Battle Meditation, and Zilfer wondered if he had found any resistance from the Jedi who had decided to help. He had suggested a similar strategy himself, and the Jedi had told him that they would take care of it. Regardless that wasn't important now.
"I'll tell you both this once," said Zilfer flatly his gaze intent on their movements. He expected nothing less than treachery from these three. "Step aside." Zilfer's personal shield expired its time limit powering down to recharge again for its next use, and its hum died down leaving only the wind and sounds of battle echoing through Coruscant as sounds. "So what's it going to be...."
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Post by Cain on Apr 15, 2010 14:52:11 GMT -5
There was very little reaction to Zilfer at first. The Elites and Cain were content to allow him to approach to within ten meters when suddenly the Elites seemed to jolt to life. Kairys, the Elite on the left removed her helmet letting her long jet black hair flow down. Her eyes were glazed over and glowing a gentle yellow. The Elite on the right, Statsu, did the same. His head was shaved but his eyes were the same as his twin sister. Kairys Ranka and Statsu Ranka. Their names were derived from the ancient language of the Sith on Korriban meaning "Left Hand" and "Right Hand". Each of them had skin of a slightly reddish hue, they were clones made using the DNA of both human and sith subjects. They were bred and trained each for specific areas of combat by Cain himself.
Cain was no fool, centuries of life had necessitated the need for the Dark Lord to find new vessels for himself at an ever increasing rate. While each new vessel allowed him to prolong his life there was a price to be paid. While one's mind is carried over between each new vessel, one's physicality will always be destroyed with their body. As Alex Drake, Cain was a formidable and powerful young man. However, after switching from body to body Cain had become physically very weak. To compensate for this weakness Cain created his right and left hands... puppets of flesh and blood. While Cain himself acted as the mind, Kairys and Statsu would work as the hands, attacking his enemies.
In order to deal with this new threat Cain would have to suspend his battle meditation. Wielding his puppets required his full attention. Their three minds were one which would make their attacks all the more formidable. Statsu began by drawing a pair of heavy blaster pistols while Kairys unsheathed both of the blades from her back. Zilfer's threatening words caused the Elites to chuckle.
"Hmph... why such a scary tone?" Statsu asked.
"Is that anyway to talk to an old friend?" Kairys added, "You always were ambitious to a fault, my old apprentice, but to think you'd come before me so unequipped... I do hope you armed yourself with a plan at the very least."
"I hope you will be able to keep up," Statsu commented, "I would hate to think I wasted all that time with your training."
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Post by Zilfer on Apr 15, 2010 15:20:05 GMT -5
Zilfer watched as they revealed their heads. "Male and female, as if they couldn't get any more opposite." thought Zilfer as he watched them prepare themselves. It was evident quite fast that Cain was controlling them, by some technique. If he would have to guess, he would have guessed that it was some form of technique that bound them to his will. They had been emotionless just a second ago. The two figures off to the sides began to speak almost in union like they were of one mind.
He quickly surmised that he wasn't facing three people but one person in three bodies. An interesting technique to say the least, and one Zilfer didn't care to learn. He preferred to stay in his own body, where he was at home. He would need to understand the capacity of this technique fairly quickly however, just because he wouldn't use it was no reason to place it beneath oneself.
"Three bodies then.... one wasn't good enough for you? I guess the next step is to control hundreds of minds at once. You might even achieve immortality if you got that far..." said Zilfer deciding to bide his time for a more seconds. He wanted to be sure he knew his opponents armament before beginning, for overlooking one thing could spell death. He had already chosen his first target, the man to the right for his weapons could be used against himself. Lightning cracked from above as a few more fighters flew past in some sort of dog fight, resulting in one of the ships smashing into a nearby building and blowing up. Despite this all the combatant's attention was focused upon each other.
"You know I was never one for small talk," said Zilfer as he had already began his move. "Forgive my impatience." He accessed the force feeling for the grenades on the man's body and would attempt to simultaneously set them to go off at once. As he did so Zilfer jumped back activating the shield once more in case the grenades explosion was larger then he thought. As he landed on his feet once more he reached behind his back drawing a crystalline blade and wiped it downwards in front of him. He used the motion of the slash to form a very thin but sharp rift in the force and propelled it forward at the woman wielding the blades. If his suspicions proved right, the force would shield her, and confirm without a doubt he was fighting not only physically but spiritually with the force as well. If not then he was overestimating Cain.
He hoped to weed out the other two so he could face Cain on somewhat even terms. Right now, Cain possessed the threatening advantage of numbers. An Advantage that over time could prove deadly. Zilfer wasn't willing to risk his neck assuming these two guards were push overs, and he had a feeling that he hadn't quite figured out everything about the technique. Hopefully by the time he did it wouldn't be too late.
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Post by Cain on Apr 15, 2010 15:55:48 GMT -5
The purpose of the thin veil around Cain and his Elites with the Force now made itself clear as Zilfer attempted to mess with Statsu's grenades. The veil itself was too thin to offer any sort of defense as it currently was. Creating and maintaining a protection bubble required a great deal of concentration and would be ultimately a waste of resources. Instead, an almost imperceptible veil of the Force was cast around Cain and his hands. Using this Cain would be able to sense any disturbances that might try to get through... disturbances like say someone clumsily probing forward with the Force. Sensing the danger through the use of the veil, Cain's telekinesis met Zilfer's to cancel it and keep it from setting off Statsu's grenades.
Zilfer's Force Blade met the veil around Cain and his hands as well, warning him to the danger headed Kairys' way. What happened next all transpired very quickly. As the Force Blade reached Kairys she raised one of her swords. The Force Blade was redirected to her left with telekinsis and Kairys followed after it with a swing of her sword, spinning a full 360 degrees around before sending a horizontal slash of Telekinetic energy back at Zilfer. Aside from that the two Elites did not move a step from their positions. Cain did not want to waste any energy that he did not need to. While Zilfer had occupied himself with testing the strengths of the Elites Cain's main aim was to slowly surround Zilfer and the Temple in his influence, beginning a gradual saturation of his opponents mind from all sides.
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Post by Zilfer on Apr 15, 2010 16:18:20 GMT -5
Zilfer found himself a bit surprised when his own technique was sent right back at him, for it was a bit different then he had anticipated. Zilfer attention turned to it but for the slightest of moments tearing the thin and fragile telekinesis apart so it would be lost in the winds blowing all around them. The previous plan having failed, Zilfer decided to switch it up taking an entirely different approach. If his opponents wanted to stand still that was perfectly fine with him. He held his blade in front of him still and closed his eyes, it had been a long time since he had attempted this technique. If Cain knew about it then he had never said anything about it, but hopefully it would thrown Cain back on his heels at least for a moment. The act of severing someone from the force was no easy task, and some wouldn't even call it ethical. It was however what Zilfer had decided to do.
"Fine then, stand still for me." said Zilfer reaching out towards their presences once again. Zilfer began to envelope the man and woman with his own force power trying to block out Cain's connection to them by cutting off their connection to the force. It was a risky move for it left him almost entirely focused on that task before him, if Cain was able to figure out what he was doing and move his puppets fifteen meters before Zilfer successfully cut them off from his influence then it would spell trouble. He felt the presence of the darkside slowly growing stronger. Feelings of despair, fear, weakness, anger, and hatred loomed in the air, but Zilfer pushed through this with an exerted calm. The sword in his hand amplified his own force presence, for he had forged the blade through the force and in doing so made it a conduit for his natural force power. He remained calm holding no hatred, towards Cain or fear of his life. His heartbeat was calm for he had found his center. Zilfer slowly worked on caging Cain's darkside aura.
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Post by Cain on Apr 16, 2010 11:19:58 GMT -5
Zilfer's reaching towards Cain and his Elites with the Force once again was felt by Cain through use of his veil. The attack seemed to be aimed at Cain's hands. Though it might have been possible for Cain to shield Statsu and Kairys from Zilfer's assault, there was little need. Cain was a bit surprised by the simplicity of Zilfer's strategy as well as the attention he paid to Cain's hands when the real danger was not coming from them at all. Though Statsu and Kairys had willingly submitted themselves to Cain, that was not to say that they were vegetables or in anyway weak minded. As Cain released his hold on their minds their eyes melted from a pale yellow to a deep brown color. Recognizing the danger, Statsu instinctively raised his blasters and opened fire at Zilfer.
Releasing the strings on his puppets for the moment would not only protect Cain from whatever assault it was Zilfer may have been trying to use on his right and left hands but it would also allow him to concentrate all his focus on his mental assault. It was certainly a risk to let the Elites go on their own. If Zilfer was as proficient with telepathy as Cain, he might be able to take hold of the puppets himself. But if Cain could work his way into Zilfer's head it wouldn't matter...
Since Zilfer had arrived atop the Jedi Temple Cain had been gradually setting up his attack on Zilfer's mind. First simply radiating his influence and presence in the Force, a saturating aura of the dark side that Zilfer would feel in the form of negative emotion; fear, anger, despair, etc. This was only a smokescreen, however. Being so enveloped by Cain's dark presence would hopefully blind his prey to the gentle probing of their mind. It was difficult for Cain to convey to his students how this sort of technique was done. He could only equate it to lightly running one's fingers over a smooth surface, probing it for cracks and weaknesses before coming in with the knock out blow. This gentle probing was certainly perceptible if one knew to feel for it, but with the rest of the Dark Lord's influence clumsily swirling around, it would be difficult to discern.
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Post by Zilfer on Apr 16, 2010 15:56:37 GMT -5
If Zilfer hadn't activated his shield when he had thought the grenades were going to go off, he would have found himself in much more trouble then he already was in. The Heavy blaster bolt bounced off faint blue shield heading off in a random direction.
As Zilfer felt the intangible connection between Cain and his puppets he changed up the strategy. He attempted a sort of reverse konisu, while not meaning taking something out but putting something other then himself in. Zilfer gathered the force energy he had thrown around Statsu, and Kairys to make them look like enticing deserts to the Kuragari drawn by the massive darkside presence of the nexus upon Coruscant, and Cain's dark presence in general. They would be willing to gobble up two unsuspecting subjects, and if Cain hadn't taught them anything of the force they would be in dire trouble with the mass of intangible Kuragari in the void. Needless to say if they where tossed into the void it would be one minor hassle he wouldn't need to worry about and so his attention shifted to the main big daddy.
Cain would find a hard time to enter Zilfer's mind now that he was in his own meditative trans. That by no means made Zilfer's mind a perfect shield for Cain had many thousands of more years of practice on him, and he knew from experience that both of them meditated for prolonged periods of time each day to keep their mental abilities in tip top condition. Regardless of whether the other two had entered the void by his simple trick or not, Zilfer unveiled the second secret of his blade. He unleashed the 'cap' on the massive force power stored within. When he had made the blade he had referenced both sides of the spectrum, the Jedi Forging techniques and the Sith Alchemy techniques that allowed them to strengthen swords or items. One item in particular had caught his interest, an item that a Mitsukai intangible Archos had used in the past. He had forged the crystalline blade to be both heavily resistant to breaking, and allow anyone wielding the blade to have a much easier time using the force. In addition however he had copied the ability to store force energy, and every day he had put a small amount of force energy into the blade for emergencies. It was time to unleash it now.
Zilfer began to speed up the molecules all about the air, a heat wave would fall over the general area making the difference in temperatures between the clouds above and down below quite distinct. In mere seconds the area had heated up to a blistering temperature, that the water on the surface of the temple was beginning to boil and steam. This would make also make the cloud and the ground's charges much different, and allow lightning to strike the area more frequently because of the negative charge found naturally at the bottom of storm clouds. He was already building a difference in potential to unleash thunder down upon his enemies. The massive amount of force power would hopefully repel Cain's further attempts to enter his mind, but while it was occupied on other things there may have been a few holes in his defenses. Zilfer could feel his hair standing on end. Bright flashes soon erupted from the sky, as lightning slammed down onto the the top of the Jedi Temple.
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