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
The door slides open, and there he is, unchanged from my memory of him. How long has it been, now? Between the spirit transference and the Cataclysm, I'm not entirely sure. Years, at least. It may as well have been centuries- the sight of him nearly floors me. Yet I advance, inexorably, even in the face of Trogdor baring its fangs, until I am just out of his reach.
Like a moth to the flame, indeed.
I'm almost hypnotized by the moment. My legs feel leaden, my fingertips tingle with a creeping numbness, and I wonder: is this real? Ah, but it has to be. No force borne illusion could hijack my psyche, no Lesser Sith's will could subvert my own, replacing my perception with a vision of their making. And then he speaks, a simple, generic greeting that almost pulls hysterical laughter from me. Almost.
Instead I nod, and pull my lightsaber from my belt with my right hand. The blade activates with its trademark -snap/hiss!-, but I don't move. There is no point. I cannot defeat Ryu- his very presence, standing here before me, is concrete evidence of that fact.
"Are you here to punish your wayward son?" I wonder aloud, my eyes never leaving his emotionless black orbs.
The station continues to fall, its hull surviving the rigors of atmospheric entry remarkably well. One wonders how it will fare during the inevitable impact.
*As Tal approaches, I draw my right hand to my face. As my fingers stretch over Devient's smooth metal surface, the series of latches which affix her in place release with audible clanks, and with a slight hiss, I remove her. A familiar face is revealed to Tal, complete with the signature black glass eyes.
For my part, with Devient no longer in place to act as my filter, my Force Sight is restored to its full capacity. Unrestrained, I clearly see the Force surging around me. I hear, more plainly than ever before, the footsteps of the man approaching me. I feel the cool air of the station, stinging my face. And I sense the conflict at hand.*
[/font] *How long did that take, I wonder?* “Coming to that realization is no cause for punishment. Discipline, perhaps, if you really have become wayward.”[/ul]
*His saber is lit, though I imagine Tal has reached the same conclusions about the futulity of challenging me as a test of power. But desperation may drive him to a point where the foolishness of a choice becomes irrelevant to him. What a waste that would be! The route he chooses is of no consequence to me; all that matters is that, when it is called into question, my power is able to respond. By fight or by guide, my power will do.
The freedom to see, and respond appropriately to this situation, is the privilege I therefore enjoy. With my powerful hand, I am free to bring about the most favorable outcome. My lips curl into a smile, one that he has seen me give on countless occasions in the past. It must get frustrating, from time to time.*
I considered his words for a long moment, weighing them carefully. I'd expected Ryu to snuff me out the next time we met. There was no question of his ability to do so, after all, and I had no doubt set him back by years at least with my betrayal. Not that I think anything so dramatic as vengeance would drive him. No, I imagined I'd just be cut down to avoid further inconvenience.
Thus, I am surprised- a perpetual state when dealing with Ryu, it seems. How many years had he mentored me, and yet he is still such a mystery. Aside from his manifesto, I know nothing about the man. But when that maddening smile appears on his lips, I heave a sigh and deactivate my lightsaber. Without preamble I toss it to the side. The curved, phrikite hilt rolled awkwardly down the sloping hallway and lodged against a bulkhead. I don't know it now, but I won't ever see it again.
"I don't know who I am anymore, Ryu. Certainly not a Lapay. I've...stagnated in your absence, and I don't know how or why. With you gone I was quite literally the most powerful entity in the galaxy. So why do I still feel these chains around my neck? Why have I not achieved freedom?
Was it all a lie?"
Ah, but I know better. I can feel, lodged in my gut like a poisoned quarrel, that I am the one that is at fault, not the prophecy. And yet I don't understand. There are none who can oppose me. I am free from any form of reprisal the pathetic, mewling denizens of the galaxy could possibly hope to muster.
Still, I am not free. Frustration gave way to rage gave way to apathy. What does it matter if I'm struck down here? In a way, I'm free from Ryu's reprisal as well. I have nothing to lose through death, no power to cling to. Maybe it would even be better, merciful on his part, to snuff out my consciousness. At least then I wouldn't have to come to terms with the full scope of my ignorance.
I took a halting step toward him on shaking legs, and then another, until I was standing before him, pale features drawn into a mask of...what? Pain? Anger? Bah. These emotions...unworthy of a Sith, of a Lapay.
*At these words, my smile, though unfading, becomes accentuated with a brief jump of my eyebrows, as Tal’s lightsaber clatters away, banished from his side. Can you imagine the ramifications if everything were indeed untrue? It is unthinkable. Very amusing, that would be! One almost longs for the possibility, just to see what response it would elicit from the Sith. (Most likely, and disappointingly, very little would change, because most Sith do not understand as we do the true meaning of what it is they claim to follow)*
*It never fails to please me to dive into these mental exercises with Tal. Indeed, the quality of my True Son is of such merit that it consistently demands of me nothing but my utmost meticulousness, knowledge, thoroughness, and wisdom.*
*His cry for help is inaudible, yet expressed as loudly as the roar of Korribanni air while the station plummets ever further. Speaking of which, the viewports begin to glow from the heat of friction as we enter the mid stratosphere.
I cannot help but notice that things are failing to line up exactly as one would expect. Tal states that I am the most powerful being in the universe, the only thing standing in his way. Well, that reveals all the more the motive behind the betrayal. But why is it that he refers to stagnation in my absence? Had he not already been stagnating on Kamino, and did I not seek to motivate him, at that time? Why does he refer to me being gone? This was just a brief excursion to Nubia, and assassination attempt on board The Vengeance, rigged for destruction in the event of failure, was it not? The signs of calamity in the Force which I see on the station, and Devient’s ominous words about the absence of traffic around Korriban, echo in my mind.
How long did I stay in hyperspace?*
*The word ‘we’ slips out automatically. Such a natural part of the phrase, but full of meaning when you pay attention to it. Already I assume my participation, but I suppose that was a given. More importantly, I assume his cooperation in the investigation. Obviously, I’ve not fully considered what this could entail.
But then again, isn’t that the way things always tend to go for me? Swept along by the currents of events, influencing them as it pleases me to do so, leaving them alone as I desire, unencumbered and unthreatened by any; this is my freedom, a signature of who I am.
How great is the allure of tumultuous waves when seen from the doldrums of a tide pool!*
I smiled despite myself. Ryu's arrogance has always been a tonic for my soul, though I couldn't say why. He is a chiding, smirking mentor that poked and cajoled his way through our lessons, smugly observing my fumbling attempts to grasp the truth he offered. From anyone else, such behavior would result in their death. Ryu, though, is different (and not just because I'm incapable of killing him). He is my mentor, my colleague, my friend...
How ridiculous. Moments ago I was consumed with apathy, adrift in the senseless ruins of an empty galaxy. And now I'm holding back a laugh at the sudden recollection of the time we had our way with the Emperor of the Tarisian Empire. Raven and his entire regime had been our playthings, wringing their hands and smiling nervously in the face of our unstoppable power, knowing the moment they stopped playing along would be the moment we swept them all from the playing field.
Those had been good days. Fresh-faced with enthusiasm and full of new purpose, I had felt unstoppable. Finally, I'd cast off the decaying trappings of the lesser Sith, and opened my mind to the truth. It had been exhilarating...intoxicating...
But I lost sight of the truth, and here we are. I force myself back from old thoughts, and meet his gaze once more.
[/font][/ul][/ul] The temperature was rising- beads of sweat were beginning to form on my forehead. A glance at the glowing viewports told me the station wasn't handling re entry as gracefully as it handled its collision with the frigate. Effortlessly, I cloak myself with a Force Barrier. Millimeters thick, it will nonetheless be more than capable of dispersing the kinetic and thermal energy that would otherwise vaporize me upon impact.
*It's the latter, then. Freedom was entirely Tal's to grasp, and he squandered the opportunity which was bowing before him. The diagnosis is of a lack of direction, or a lack of self-knowledge, to understand what next steps he ought to take. With such a bold claim of power — like a solar entity among mere candles — he ought to have been able to accomplish all that took root in his mind. Is there a more fitting definition of victory? To scoff at that, and to claim that the existence of this crude matter is reason enough to preclude the possibility of freedom's existence for you, is the height of both arrogance and willful ignorance.
Ironic! At the same time you assert that your existence amounts to no more than the atoms you consist of, you summon the Force to shield yourself. Tell me, what is the elemental composition of your Force Barrier? At the instant your complaint of being shackled to reality falls from your lips, you tap into the essence of the Great Mystery to defy the certainty of utter annihilation. Tell me, what is it other than your power to alter the fabric of reality that saves you here?
No one is more blind than he who refuses to see.
Long ago, I used the power of Battle Meditation to share my Force Sight with those who were unable to see for themselves, in order to grant them the power to defeat that monster, Solus. It was trivial, by comparison with this, to augment their physical vision and allow them to glimpse, transient though it was, the world from my perspective. It is far from being that simple of a solution, here and now.
We have uncovered a daunting task, after all. That's good; if the problem were soluble by any other, why should I be the one to face it? In silence, I consider all this. No flicker in expression or faltering in my breath to betray the decision I have arrived upon. It is futile to explain it any further at the present, especially given that we are overdue for a rendez-vous with the ground.
Tal enacts his Force Barrier sooner than I do, and in different fashion. Rather than a sheath covering the skin, more akin to Force Armor, I delve into the Force in order to construct a geodesic Barrier. Translucent hexagonal plates shimmer into existence, intersecting their edges and encapsulating my local area, including a portion of the floor I stand on for good measure, inside a protective sphere. And then —
Catastrophe.
As far as meteoric impacts go, the station is both smaller and less dense than most extraterrestrial incursions. However, most meteors also lack engines driving them, so there is more kinetic energy involved in this two-body problem than the average. We strike the desert surface with tremendous force. A fireball subsequently erupts as the fuel reserves are breached and burned, glassing significant amounts of sand in the immediate vicinity. Debris is thrown into the air to heights exceeding several kilometers, and massive quantities of smoke erupt in quick fashion from the cratered crash site. A significant amount of the station is immediately disintegrated, with the flames doing their best to consume the rest.
The winds blow and the air begins to clear. And, to any onlookers, at ground zero the shimmer of both of our Barriers becomes gradually apparent from within the haze.
The heat from impact dissipates shortly thereafter. When it does, I release my Barrier from whence I summoned it. And, at that time, I break my silence. The smile has faded from my face, and the tone of my voice has dropped into a deep resonance, at a volume scarcely greater than a whisper, yet one that carries with a surety louder than any other.*
Impact is anarchy, all around me. Durasteel and tile literally disintegrate mere inches from my body. Inferno sweeps through what survives, snuffing it from existence moments later. I've been in many a crashing ship and crumbling bunker, else it would have been a truly fascinating display, I'm sure.
My gaze never leaves Ryu's face.
When the last of the fuel cells finish exploding, and the raging fires begin to die, it's only the two of us that remain unscathed. Apex predators, unbowed on a field of glass, surrounded by falling cinders and wind-borne ash. It's all very poetic, isn't it? I would call it fate, if I believed in such things. But it does feel...right, somehow, doesn't it? We always find our way back to one another, even against our best efforts. Master and apprentice, seekers of truth and of higher power, bound not by destiny but by indomitable will and unyielding determination. The truth is that there IS no other path for me, save the one I walk at your side, Ryu. Even if one day, as inevitable as entropy, we will be forced to snuff each other out. This is also true, an immutable law of the universe. But is it not blasphemy to suggest there exists anything we can not transcend? Even reality itself seems a poor governor of our ambition.
I've made up my mind.
[/font][/font][/font][/ul][/ul]
A brief pause as I fumble through my robes before retrieving my comlink- a battered, outdated device good for little more than sending and receiving beacons. It's the work of moments to send such a beacon to Ielyn, who should still be stationed in the Valley of the Dark Lords. As long as no rogue planetary element has him in their clutches, he should arrive any moment.
For the first time in (months? years?) a long time, I feel something like hope burgeoning within me. Emotional motivations are for lesser Sith, it's true, but this...this I will allow. Perhaps I have not failed after all; perhaps I've simply been given a chance to direct my energies in a more productive direction. Second chances are few and far between when your goal is absolute dominion over every aspect of reality, after all, and so I savor the moment.
In the distance, I hear the whine of an approaching shuttle.
