A massive cataclysm has struck the universe, and destroyed most everything in its wake. The survivors are now trying to pick up the pieces, and figure out exactly what has befallen them. Gather together, lightsiders!! The darkness has shattered the peace and calm of the galaxy...and they will do anything to stop anyone from finding out exactly what has been done! This is our first sitewide RP plotline. Lightsiders, you are looking for the source of this massive event. Clues must be found, lackeys tracked down, and bits of memory discovered. Darksiders, you guys don't want that to happen....because of the one behind the whole thing is furthering his ultimate goal. Mandalorians, and non-force users, you guys can decide where you stand on this line....do you side with the Jedi, and try to discover the reasons behind the ruined universe, or will you side with the darkness, and protect those secrets. Will the secret of the cataclysmic reaping be kept under wraps? Or will the Jedi and their allies find out the truth? Your RP and writing will decide the outcome!
BATTLE ARENA
Welcome to The Saga Continues. We have a section called the Battle Arena. Here you can use your characters to fight other characters. Hone your skills and see what you are made of. Don't worry, anything that happens here, does not effect your characters in posts, so if your character dies, you can still use them over and over. Have fun and check it out!
The Saga Continues is the product of the mind of ADMIN ADI; all contents are copyright their original owners. All characters belong to their original creators, and may not be used or replicated without permission. All images are copyright their original owners. This skin Operation Mindcrime was made by pharaoh leap of Pixel Perfect and put together by ADMIN KRYSTAL
A terrestrial world, Corellia possessed a breathable atmosphere, a temperate climate, standard gravity, and a moderate hydrosphere. Corellian weather was characterized by warm, sunny days separated by long, severe rainstorms. Like every other planet in the Corellian system, Corellia had a planetary repulsor. The surface of Corellia contained rolling hills, dense forests, lush fields, vast seas, beaches, mountain peaks and crystal swamps, as well as an eastern ocean and a western ocean. Corellia also featured urban terrain, was designated as an industrial world, and was considered a highly developed planet.
Several miles south of Coronet city among a small mostly preserved forest stands a mound of rubble where my home had once stood. Finally emerging from the treeline I stand for a moment, stunned. Even knowing what I would find couldn't prepare me for the sight of the once mighty academy now just one huge pile of mostly stone rubble. Looters had long since taken anything of value, leaving mostly just the stones that had once been the structure of the Corellian Jedi Academy. Despite knowing there was nothing I could have done I couldn't help but feel guilty for not having been here when it had finally met it's end. A fountain of faces passes through my minds eye as I make my way toward the rubble, the faces of friends mocking me as I walk through the graveyard that buried them. It takes all my training and self discipline to keep the grief at bay, shoving my emotions aside. This was not the time to grieve, besides he had spent a long time along with his grief as the galaxy morphed into a strange semi-destroyed image of itself. Now it was time to take action, to fight back. Before any of that could happen though I had to find the state of the galaxy and perhaps find some allies.
Although somewhat difficult to find my exact location relative to the destruction a calling through the force led me to my destination, my connection to the old forge pulling me forward until I was standing near the northwest corner of the rubble pile. What I needed was under there. Sitting down in the grass I close my eyes, reaching out to the force. The presence was more muted than my memories, but the lack of life and vibrant force energy that had once permeated this place had gone silent. Drawing on the echoes of that life I began my work, moving boulder after boulder, mediating as I concentrated on the monotonous but focus intensive work. With my head somewhat cleared and my work complete I set the last of the white stone pieces to the side to reveal a long slab of stone that had once been a basement floor. Dropping down into the now exposed basement I reach out with the force once again. Feeling for the section I had found decades ago I pull up a section of the floor that had been so perfectly cut that it had appeared part of the solid slab.
Dropping down a final time I drop into a shadowed room, the light coming in from the entrance bright enough to barely make out the small space. In front of me was the ancient Jedi forge where I had once created great blades. It's white stones obviously made from the same stone as the academy foundations it seems to almost grow out of the far wall, it's organic curves and asymmetric design make it appear like a living thing. In some ways it almost was, reaching out with the force it had a very distinct aura, it's fires having been used by master craftsmen for centuries with the force flowing freely into the things wrought there. It was comforting to know that despite the destruction above there was still something here that could create. Taking a long drink from the flask at my belt I sigh before speaking to the empty air. And so it begins...
As he descended to underneath the cloud cover, Adieumus realized the sheer devastation that had struck Coronet City. The entirety was in flames, or smoldering. There was nothing but chaos groundside. He didn't get close enough to the ground to see the civilian population, but scans were showing tremendous sections of the city with little, if any, life readings. Still other portions were filled with barely-alive individuals on a rampage, destroying and killing everyone and everything in their path. It had been called a few things so far, but the one that had seemed to stick was 'Red Eye'...named for the extremely prevalent and heavy redness that filled the sclera of infected individuals. This happened within less than 48 hours on most victims, and within 48 more, they were raging beasts, killing and destroying everything in their path. This was a virus unlike anything encountered in any of the history that Matango had learned, nor was it on the radar for any kind of biological weapon in any database available to him.
In essence, a quarter of the galaxy had gone out of their minds insane...and killed in upwards of twice that many once they went into their rage state. It was unbelievable....and it seemed nowhere was spared. The very Gods had thrown down their displeasure with the universe, and tried to wipe it clean.
The former Jedi master was snapped out of it when a com message actually managed to break through. It was Dr Bismarck at the Red Dawn Medical Complex.
::Matango here....Glad to see you guys have communications up and running again. Go ahead, Bismarck.:: ::Sir, we have tried to isolate this...whatever it is. So far, we have very little to go on. What makes it tougher is the fact that when the host victim dies, so does this superbug. We have figured out that it -is- indeed a virus....one that is very basic in its nature, which makes it all the more deadly. We also know that it is able to be passed through contact, air, and also through freshwater. That is how it was able to be transmitted so quickly.:: ::So its a bad-ass virus that targets humans and near humans. Any luck on isolating a way to stop it?:: ::Not yet, sir....we are working on it...but we are overwhelmed as it is. It is our top priority. What is the status of Manaan? Corellia?:: ::Same as Nystao. Massive death toll. I found a signal here that I am hoping isn't a glitch. After this, Im heading to Theed. I'll inform you of the situation there once I arrive. Matango out.::
The comlink was closed, and Adi gunned the throttle. He was headed for the Jedi Academy on the outskirts of Coronet City. It didn't take long to arrive, and as rapidly as he could, Matango sat the ship down in a clear spot. Here too, the devastation was evident. It was pretty much leveled. At least the infected seemed to have moved on to the city proper....it was quite literally a ghost town right now.
Looking around for the one that had sent the fractured text message to Adi when he had been on Manaan. If it were legit, then maybe the man who tried to get word to Adi was still here. Opening a short range open channel, Matango sent a com.
"Mike, are you still out there? I got your message....and here I am. Cmon, let's get out of here. Give me your location if you are hurt, and I will come to you."
*The clang of hammer on metal on anvil was all that was heard in that subterranean room for what felt like an eternity. There was sleep and whiskey too, but mostly just the fire, the metal, and the forge. So it was a surprise when the mostly abandoned commlink suddenly began squawking with a familiar voice. Giving a few moments to cool the metal with the force, finishing off the blade by quenching it with the force. Taking another moment to carefully set everything aside I finally take up the comm and rather than responding I reach out with the force, ignoring the recent feel of death it has acquired and launch the stone cap of the room out of it's place. Drawing more of the force I launch myself up from the ground and land on the stone outside, covering my eyes because damn that sun is bright. After adjusting to the light I finally pull the comm up to my lips.* ::If this is some sort of sick joke I'm playing on myself and not remembering it I'm going to be real angry with me:: *Yes it doesn't exactly make a lot of sense, but neither have the last few weeks so I wouldn't put it past myself to start programming comms with the voices of former friends just so I didn't have to face that they were all dead*
*In addition to the doubts in my mind the state of my clothing and ragged beard only show a hint of my former self. The blue robes I had once worn were now tattered rags barely hanging on my shoulders. My many pocketed jumpsuit was now splattered with blood, mud and smoke, in addition to it's usual grease. My grey and brown hair has begun to obscure my sunken ice blue eyes and my beard is just a little out of control. All in all really I look like a mess, but hey it could be worse... I mean not much, but it could be....*
Tireya had found her way out of Coronet now, the death and destruction of her beyond anything she would have thought possible. At least not possible within the Jewel of Corellia. Nevertheless, this death had stricken and it had done so with great haste. Still . . . she had at least survived the fallout as she was not one of a number of corpses that now lined its streets.
There a faint signature that rippled through the Force, though. It was something she'd felt before, yet could not place. Something both familiar and unknown. But what? Or Who?
She wrapped her brown cloak around her slender frame and continued hurriedly away from the smoldering remains of the city. Her ship was gone as was her home and she prayed that something would remain within the old temple that lay on the city's outskirts. Something with enough integrity to get her to Naboo where this "Grandmaster" person had summoned her and all other Jedi alike. She needed to get away and join with other Jedi to try and save what little remained of Corellia, if not the Universe, depending on the severity of the illness that sought to claim it.
As she got further and further from the city and ever close to the temple, the Force signature got stronger, but even so, she still could not fully recognize it.
A wave of relief washed over Matango as the reply came over the com. He transmitted his location to the man, and smiled. This was a worthwhile side trip to take before Naboo. He opened a channel to Mike.
::Grab what you need, and get to my location. We need to get out of here...There is still a solid population of infected in Coronet City, and me coming in like that would have drawn attention.::
He hadn't even gotten the words out of his mouth when the proximity detection system in the ship picked up a single life form making their way toward the Temple complex...and right to their location. Not a bad thing, necessarily...it wasn't a group...but it could be someone that they didnt necessarily want to meet up with....
...Maybe this -was- a trap after all...
As quickly as he could, Adieumus opened a channel to the ship.
::Loki, go see who that is. If they aren't a friendly, end them. If they are, get em on board. We are out of here in ten minutes.::
They were sitting ducks here. It would take three to four minutes to power the ship up to takeoff alone....almost fifteen minutes on the ground in a nest of infected, raging people was not a good place to be. Matango was a bit nervous to say the least. At least on Manaan the infection had pretty much burned itself out, due to the more concentrated population...but here? Things were more spread out. Coronet City was a wasteland...
...But it might turn out to be a goldmine for the RDMC staff trying to understand these poor victims. With the push of a few buttons, a message was sent to Dr Bismarck about sending a spec ops team to find a live victim, in order to study the virus. It might not be the most ethical thing..but right now, patients rights were not exactly a priority. If a live strain of this damned virus could be found, maybe some kind of antivirus could be created.....
*Holy hell, that certainly sounded like Adi. I mean it could still be a trick, but that seemed less likely, of course there was only one way to truly find out. Reaching out past the tainted feel of death I quest out with the force in the direction the signal was coming from and suddenly froze completely still. It really was him. The kid was alive and as far as I could tell uninfected. For the first time since I had watched those things with the faces of friends ripping people apart I smiled, maybe there was still hope for the galaxy. Coming back to myself I reach down into the hole with the force and pull up three things, a large bag, a four foot metal staff, and the mostly completed blade I had been working on. Strapping them all together I sling the unwieldy collection that was the remains of my material possessions over my shoulder and make my way to Adi's ship. The hum of the ship's working condition was music to my ears and familiar on a fundamental level. I had always had an affinity for mechanics and starships in particular, but I hadn't seen one in even a repairable state in weeks. My disheveled figure finally makes it's way to the base of the ship and I yell up the ramp* It's about damn time. *I can't help but laugh, almost hysterically, at the absurdity of the universe right now. Well things were at least looking up, if only a little bit*
Just as she was reaching the temple, she saw a figure exiting it. It was the frame of a man she recognized and now the familiarity of the Force signature all made since to her. The old drunk had made it through. Mike was alive and that in itself lifted her spirits, as did the roar of engines off in the distance. She had been confident Mike would have endured whatever this Darkness was that had set in on the world; he had a way a finding the appropriate time to duck out of a eerie predicament, but nevertheless she was filled with happiness at the site of him.
To Tireya, Mike had been a friend to her for a long time; there were only a few years in age that separated the two. Where their personalities may have been very different, she appreciated his company as well as his knowledge in mechanics. There had been so many times she had come to him in the past for aide with her ship when something was working right or it needed simple repairs or routine maintenance.
Reaching out with the Force, Tireya spoke to the man; her voice was soft and delicate. <<Master Frantz! I am so relieved to see that you have survived this disaster. I mean I know you would, but it still warms my heart to see you.>> At this point she wave an arm in his direction as she was well within sight for him now.
Loki walked out of the side room he had been in and ducked his head to avoid hitting the bulkhead, his body was encased in dented and dirty armor a testament to what the duo had been through in recent times. Loki nodded at Adi and placed a spiked helm on his head and sealed the visor. It snapped shut with a hiss and his duel bladed saber flew into his hand at the ready. He then stood before the ramp and slammed the lock as it slid open he was down and out before it touched ground. With a wave of his hand it began to retreat back up. He looked menacing his silver armor gleaming slightly from distant fires. His body emanated Darkness, in small shallow waves. Far from the Jedi he now allied with.
::Adi, you have a plan if things go Blumfruit shaped yes?:: Loki snapped over the com's as his wrist link picked up the approaching signal. Loki walked a slow methodical intercept path and waited about two hundred meters from the ship waiting for the signal. He breathed deeply, prepping himself for possible slaughter and escape. Like Nystato. He was the one being in the galaxy that insanity like this favored. Wholesale slaughter was his expertise.
Things were going smoothly....Mike had boarded, Loki had met up with the incoming person, and found out it was another Jedi survivor....but something felt off. It was like something bad was about to happen, and that's when it -did-.
Proximity alarms started to sound. There was a very large group of individuals making their way rapidly towards the Temple....At the size of the group, and the speed at which they were approaching, it was pretty apparent they weren't uninfected survivors. These individuals were some of the ones that demolished Coronet City, just like the rest of the universe....and now? They were coming for the group trying to make it off Corellia in one piece. It was time for drastic action. Moving quickly to Mike, Adi told him what was going on.
"You need to get the ship prepped for launch. We have heavy incoming, and I don't think they are coming for tea. Loki and I will hold them off until you get the ship ready to go, just don't leave without us."
Without even waiting for a reply, Adieumus turned toward the cargo hold. He sent a burst com to Loki, informing him of what was coming. He then pressed two keys on his wrist com, and a beep returned in acknowledgement. Within seconds, plates of armor started to fly to Adi, assembling a suit of powered armor....the CLoWDS platform. An advanced suit of battle armor, the CLoWDS was created to give Matango a fighting chance in a fight like this.....and with the size of the group that was bum rushing the ship....it would be much needed.
Within a few seconds of the first piece landing on the Arkanian, the suit was assembled. The HUD came up, and showed the incoming threats. There were hundreds...maybe even several thousand. Loki was already outside, and apparently ready, so Adi followed suit. He fired off the flight repulsors, and glided down the ramp, settling next to the big zabrak. It wasn't the first time they had encountered a group like this, and it probably wouldn't be the last.
The massive mob was thirty seconds out....and starting to come into view. It was literally a sea of infected, all moving as if controlled by one brain. They advanced as one....no military unit Adieumus had ever seen moved as one like this...it would be enough to make a military commander proud....had the 'soldiers' not been crazed maniacs hell bent on killing everyone and everything, regardless of which side they had chosen.
"We have to hold them back until Mike has the ship prepped and ready. It will take three-five minutes, depending on how long it takes him.
We stand and fight until he gets it done. You ready?"
Loki smiled as the armored man sat next to him. "You and your tech, Matango." He scoffed jokingly. The midnight black of his saber blades flaring to life before him. "Give in to your emotions and you would find technology like that wasteful." With that Loki suddenly crouched low letting his saber come to rest behind him. Suddenly the Dark side flared to life, what was once a shallow wave became a lake resonating through the temple, in his hand the void grew, while others used the technique like a pulse, it was crudely done, no Loki sent waves, and in its path destruction followed. He swung his hand in an arc and the blackness ripped forth, tearing into the horde shredding those before it going lines deep, as it dissipated the ones behind tripped or fell. Loki sent another two waves slamming through the horde, further disrupting them, they where like bantha to the slaughter.
*A lot of things happened all at once. As a familiar presence reaches out to me I can't help but smile, glad that Tireya had made it through this plague alive. Before I have a chance to respond Adi starts moving and I find out that a delightful hoard is on it's way and apparently I've been promoted from damsel in distress to getaway driver. As I make my way with force augmented speed to the cockpit I reach out to my friend giving her a very brief message* <<Get to the Ship, NOW!>> *Sure it wasn't the most polite request but I was about to get very busy and I'm pretty sure the other Corellian Jedi would understand. *
*Reaching the cockpit I begin flipping switches and pressing buttons at an almost instinctual level, allowing my affinity for machines to guide my hand as I activate startup sequences and disable a few safeties that were never actually meant to be bypassed. Then pulses of the darkside begin to reflect through the already tainted force and I curse, getting ready to turn back toward the boarding ramp before realizing that they were coming from Adi's "Ally". I may have to have some words with him later on, but right now since he was tossing around mindless plague victims and not innocent civilians I suppose I could let it pass. The universe was messed up enough as it was without dealing with philosophical and ideological differences while running for our lives.*
*It had been only about 30 seconds since Adi's departure and most of the user input for the startup was taken care of, now it was just a matter of the ship warming itself up. Shutting out the combat going on nearby I draw on the force, past the taint of death and concentrate all my focus on the ship, quickly entering a deep meditative state. What I was doing was not something taught by masters or pondered by philosophers, but I had always had an affinity for machines and starships in particular, having spent nearly half a century working on them in one capacity or another. I could feel the thrumming of the reactor and the hum of the engines as they began to power up, the same way most force users could feel the basic rhythms of life. Reaching out with my unique senses I begin to accelerate the process for both the reactor and the engines, using a technique similar to what I use to heat metal in the forge, to draw more energy into the systems to give them a sort of manual boost to efficiency. What I was doing wasn't very good for them in the long run but was exceptionally effective in cutting down the time of the startup*
*An almost unconscious part of my mind began questing out to the rest of the ship until I had become in a sense one with the vehicle. As I did I telekinetically tightened a loose port stabilizer, degunked the main fuel injector, realigned a few repulsorlift generators, and generally fixed a few dozen minor maintenance issues that the ship was suffering from. There was almost a sense of satisfaction from the ship. Yes, I know it's inanimate and doesn't actually have feelings, but ships definitely have a soul, it's just a matter of knowing how to find it. I keep up my multifaceted meditation as I speed up the ships startup sequence, hoping to get the old light freighter running before things got too rough....*
Matango grinned as Loki tried to tell him to use emotions in his fighting. What the large Zabrak didn't realize is that it -was- emotion that fueled his every move....albeit a different set than the darksider used.
As Loki fired off his waves, Adi was locking targets in the HUD.....at current count, there were over three thousand infected attacking them, and even with Loki's waves, there were still more coming.
::Gregory, fire everything we have!!::
There wasn't even a response before every single weapon available to the A-AI opened fire on the advancing mob. A 25mm automatic cannon fired shells that tore through the front of the group, and exploded toward the middle, taking out a dozen with each shot. What the bushmaster cannon missed, the minigun and the gauntlet repulsors were not. Bursts of mini-rockets exploded on impact, throwing the poor, infected individuals in all directions.
...And yet, they still came.
A roaring scream that could only be described as pure hatred put to voice grew louder as still more poured into the demolished academy. Adi activated the boosters, and launched into the air, leveling off and hovering at about twenty five feet off the ground. Yet again, the minigun and 25mm opened up, ripping holes through the mob.
And tears were streaming down Adi's face behind his visor. These people didn't ask for this, and Matango hated to do this. They were living their normal lives before someone or something caused this unbelievable outbreak. Now? They were mindless, wanting nothing more than to destroy and kill everything their eyes fell upon....including the ones now trying to get off Corellia. They didn't deserve to die in any way, shape, or form. However, until some kind of cure was discovered, a quick death was the most humane way to put these folks out of their misery.....otherwise, they would just end up succumbed to starvation and dehydration in a few weeks.
Matango saw that the readouts on the ship were coming online and warming up at a pace more quickly than he first anticipated. He could also feel the energy causing it to do so. He was now extremely happy that he had asked Mike to get that task done.
The minigun was beginning to overheat, so Adieumus switched to the 20mm grenade launchers in the shoulder slots. About two distinct 'thumps' per second sent high explosives all through the group, causing mass destruction in a fifteen meter blast radius, made more effective by the airburst detonations. The gauntlet repulsors ripped long tears in the lines, incinerating whatever they hit...
Tireya was overjoyed with the news that was now confirmed, however it was short lived from the tone Mike carried. There was an urgency about it, as was there some worry. She had missed something and as she turned her head to see what was behind her, it became evidently clear. Behind her was a horde of the mindless infected, a horde different than the one Adi and Loki were currently entangled with, though smaller.
Tireya was no fighter and as such, she hastened her approach to the ship. Her eyes fell upon the ship where Mike undoubtedly resided at this very moment. Relieve set in, but still the horde was closing in on her from behind.
Within a few moments she reached the ship, but instead of boarding, she turned to Adi and the dark side adept that fought alongside him. A strange duo to say the least, Tireya watched for a moment as the two of them struck down rank after rank of mindless horror.
Setting her feelings and judgement aside for the unknown Dark Sider that aided them toward their escape, Tireya drew in the Force. The light grew within her, as did her clarity of the situation. You see, Tireya may not have been one for fighting, but her talents were not completely useless. Still, she reached into the light side of the Force, and began to summon an ability. The Force reached out and enveloped both of the combatants as they did what they could to hold back wave after wave of mindless menace. Going against their own instincts by way of killing being after being. People who hadn't chosen to become what they had and had no control of what they now did. It was this plague. It changed people and made them unable to control their actions.
As the plague had first struck this world, the government had tried to issue a quarantine on the infected, however with the rate of the infection's spread throughout Corellia, quarantine efforts had become futile. It had take the world and in all likelihood, should have taken her as well. She had no explanation as to why it had not, only that it hadn't.
As the Force wrapped the two combatants, they would find their actions and abilities enhance and the valor exceedingly increased. She was a supportive fighter and the majority of the abilities she had learned to harness over the years were of a supportive nature. In this instance, she only hoped that it wasn;t too late to achieve its true effect.
Turning, she ran up the ramp and onto the freighter.
Loki looked over his shoulder as the girl ran by and then felt something wash over him. It was an alien feeling yet he knew it was the Force, albeit not the kind he worked with. He snarled and as Adi lifted off into the sky Loki surged forward on the ground wading into the mindless horde, his saber a blur of darkness sending heads and limbs in all directions as still others clawed at his armor, pounding it, trying to break through. With his free hand he crushed windpipes and severed spinal cords, bones cracked. "ADI!" He bellowed into the air. "Get to the ship!" He roared as he spun and blasted all the infected within ten meters of him back with the force.
There was lull in the violence as the mindless horde seemed to stare in awe at what he had done, even those running to the ship seemed to stop and stare. Then Loki tore off the other direction, and the horde gave chase. he slashed his way through their ranks, like a hot knife through butter, bodies hurled this way and that. Luring them away from the ship.
::Get the ship to the roof!:: He roared over the comms.
