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~Resurgence~
A L P H A
(part III)
 
 

"My love for Gen transcends the limitations of life and death.
She is my everything, she completed who I should have been."
~Val~





(FLASHBACK – OBI’S POV)
 

INTERIOR: JEDI TEMPLE - COUNCIL CHAMBER

Members of the Council sit in a circular structure, as a long figure draped in a Jedi robe stands before them, each of their eyes trained on his every movement. His eyes downcast as he knows that what he must do for the better of his true destiny placed upon a path different from the Jedi requirements.

We are looking though and hearing through a younger Obi Wan’s ears, as he stands in the darkness, looking to the scene with a three-quarter vantage point that only shows a portion of the room, the portion that matters most…the lone Jedi in the center of the circle and two chairs before him. In one chair sits Master Yoda, while the other houses Mace Windu.

MACE – What you are requesting cannot be undone Russel, you know this well. Have you considered the consequences of your actions?

Russel, now revealed to be the sole Jedi standing before the transfixed eyes of the Council boldly raises his gaze to look both Yoda and Mace dead in the eyes.

RUSSEL – Maybe you should be asking yourselves that question. It’s because of your own established code that I am forced to make this decision, look in your own souls and see that truth.

YODA – Rules in place for a reason there are, exception for you there is not.

Yoda stares deep into Russel’s eyes, letting the force focus his thoughts, raising up one of his three clawed arms as if scanning his thoughts, but to his surprise, Russel erects a mental barrier from them.

YODA – Ah, hiding something from The Council you are…deception I feel in you.

RUSSEL – No, I have no intentions of harming anyone, but I will no longer answer to either of you.

MACE – (calm) Russel Versai, please conduct yourself in a respectable manner to your superiors.

Russel shifts his foot on one heel, then takes a deep breath.

RUSSEL – It is the notion of “superior” that I am here.

MACE – (nods) I am aware of your request to leave the Jedi Order. What is your reasoning? You’ve always been loyal to your duties, I have never detected any corruption in your heart, and I fail to understand why you feel compelled to place distance between us.

RUSSEL – With all due respect Master Windu, I have made it clear on several occasions my reasons for having to come to his decision, and I will remind the Council that each and every one of you has neglected to accept nor condone my relationship with Kathryn.

Mace casts a solemn glance to Yoda, clasping his fingers in his lap, remaining focused and dignified, despite the conflict as Yoda nods and then smoothly replies to Russel.

YODA – Forbidden Love is, know this you did before relationship you built. Trouble I sense…much emotion there is with love, powerful emotion it is. Control it you cannot.

RUSSEL – My heart no longer remains governed by the Council’s wishes. I am an individual and your Code has consistently denied anyone here of that right to distinction. I have ignored this annoyance many years in my training, but I have come to a point it is no longer possible.

MACE – Yes, we’ve known of your relationship with the girl. We’ve allowed you to have that “distinction” Master Versai providing it does not hinder your responsibility of duty.

RUSSEL – (angered) SINCE WHEN DOES DUTY COME BEFORE FAMILY!

YODA – Calm yourself  Master Versai, answer your question we will.

Russel counts to ten mentally, adjusting his robes as he looks towards the council. Meanwhile, a younger Kenobi watches the proceedings either undetected or simply ignored for the time being. Russel was his friend; they both had crossed paths during training. While Russel’s Master’s identity was not known to him, Obi Wan during his training with Master Qui Gon, had come to a fateful moment in both their lives when Russel and Obi were chosen to spar against one another.

The match was a draw that day but it set into motion a sense of bonding between two Padawans, despite the Jedi Code forbidding anyone to form a relationship with another. You couldn’t defy the notion of friendship, it transcended rank and codes. From the time one is born, relations and connections must be made to learn, despite the allowed relationship from Instructor to Student, there was supposed to be no notion of friends between students beyond the scope of learning from one another on an emotionless level.

This is what allowed the Jedi in battle to focus on their task and not seek vengeance, nor rush to the aid of comrades who had already passed on to the force. Qui Gon was not a strict follower of the Jedi Council’s wishes however; that much was clear and that trait of individuality would be inherited by Obi Wan and lead to the slaying of Darth Maul years later.

Obi didn’t want Russel to leave the Jedi Temple, but he also understood about Russel and Kathryn’s romantic connection to each other, Russ’s need to have more then just duty and instruction all the time. Had the Jedi caught their romantic flings sooner, Russ might have been forcefully removed from developing a bond with Kathryn outside of the Council walls, but Obi also knew another factor that the Council did not.

While Russel chose to leave the teachings of the Jedi, he also was expecting a child…Kathryn was pregnant with Val and the danger was growing nearer around her. Obi respected Russel on the highest level for he showed great maturity having to prepare for fatherhood. Obi continued to watch the outcome of the Council Meeting, hoping for a peaceful resolution, but it would become everything but that.

MACE – Master Versai, we have been tolerant of your continued defiance towards our rules. You’ve changed however; something about you is no longer the same.

YODA – (closing his eyes) Understand I do! Yes, secret he has kept from us…with child Kathryn is.

The Council begins to turn into a sea of voices, some angered and irritated but Mace calmly holds up his hand to silence the outburst, his eyes staring a hole deep into Russel’s soul.

MACE – This is a breach of conduct Russel, a breach that cannot be undone with a child soon to be involved. He will undoubtedly possess the ability to use the force. If this child is born, you will turn the boy over for testing.

RUSSEL – You don’t yet understand do you? In all of your grand wisdom it has not been made clear to you that I have no intentions of being dictated by you or anyone else any longer. My son has no requirements to be raised here.

MACE – (nods) Selfish, arrogant, persistent and most importantly dishonest. The Council has no choice but  to strip you of your role as a Jedi Knight and be escorted  from the premises. We can no longer afford your sense of rebelliousness to exist here. Your views may become infectious.

Russel growls angrily ripping the robe off his shoulders, revealing the same style of attire Val is currently dressed in as he stares down at his lightsaber, we do not recognize as stolen by Quillion, an earlier primitive model that would solidify later, Russel’s choice to mock the structure of the Jedi Temple in his latter saber design.

YODA – (calm) Consider the consequences you must. The dark side drives your actions, consider your child’s future, you should.

RUSSEL – (glares) Don’t flatter yourself Master Yoda, I would not allow the Council the satisfaction of ending my journey. You see it is a journey you all have sent me on with his decree and I warn you now…more then twenty will leave these grounds long after I am gone.

MACE – (raises a brow) You imply there are more who share your questionable views?

RUSSEL – (growls) Of all people Master Windu you should be aware of the flaw in your beliefs! You deny everyone a sense of individuality! You are a species that doesn’t believe in love, family, or friendship. You replace your ranks by robbing the cradles of innocent strangers hiding behind your divine right to “sense” the force in them and train them into your cult, I know the truth and others have seen it as well.

MACE - (nods) Your accusations are still  without support

RUSSEL – (continues) You alone allow this dissention to continue. By your blind sided ignorance you fail to realize what all of the males of this cult have become? Eunuchs!

MACE – You’re bold to claim such accusations. We are not on trail here; if you do not believe in our methods you are released from your commitment to them.

RUSSEL – (smiles) Is it so hard to believe? Prove me wrong, all of you…tell me that I do not speak the truth of your actions and your social structures!

The Council erupts in the plethora of outraged protest, as Russel stands firm in the center of the room. Obi lowers his head sadly as he watches Russel slip further and further away from the unity of the Jedi, knowing that where Russel has gone, he can no longer return.

YODA – Dishonesty you speak…doubt you have tried to instill but stronger then you we are. Long after you have left, stronger still will we remain. The dark side clouds your thoughts, turn back you must or grave misfortune do I see in your future.

RUSSEL – If I am to face my destiny, I will face it on MY terms, not yours. I swear to you this much is certain and learn these words well, “Before duty comes family.” My family comes first.

Russel picks up his robe and hurls it with all of his might towards Yoda, blanketing him for a brief moment, symbolizing a more civilized method of a spit in his face, while at the feet of Mace, Russel unclips his lightsaber and tosses it with such force into the floor, the casing cracks, and sparks sputter, forever destroying the complex circuitry within.

MACE – (shakes his head sadly) Go Russel Versai, I can see there is no redemption in your heart. Wander wherever the force may guide you as a rogue just as others have fallen before you. Despite your aggressions the Council wishes you well in your endeavors.

Russel nods slowly, gazing down to his shattered lightsaber a moment, then paces out swiftly to a turbolift like device, leaving the Council shocked by his actions and left with a slight concern that just maybe Russel would be correct and others would abandon the council as well.

The scene shifts back to Obi and Val sitting in the room, returning to the present just long enough for Val to make a quip about already knowing his Father left the Jedi to raise him and protect his mother and still not having heard anything that warrants his concern.

VAL – This doesn’t open any new doors Obi Wan! I need to know where you became involved.

OBI WAN – (sighs) Patience Val, the answers will come. You asked me to explain how I knew your father before you asked me about your involvement in the Jedi.

Val shifts uneasily in his seat, hearing the details of Obi’s observance through his spoken words, although we visually have seen the event, Val does not contain the actual accuracy of the moment, leaving only Obi’s words to paint the full picture of Val’s dad standing valiantly against the Jedi Council, sticking up for his beliefs in family and love.

OBI WAN – (drawn out) Many years passed after your father exited that room. I thought that would be the last time I would ever lay eyes upon him. I was correct from a certain point of view you see, but it was your eyes I witnessed before he and I ever crossed paths again.

VAL – I must have been what, two?

OBI WAN – Yes…very observant. You were at the time a very “young” Val. I would come to discover that after your birth, the Jedi seemed rather interested in your force potential. Beyond my knowledge they located your father and mother, and took you from them. They reasoned their actions that you could be the “chosen” one to fulfill the prophecy.

VAL – Obviously I wasn’t.

OBI WAN – Exactly Val, they thought that the one to bring balance would lie in a child. They could feel the force incredibly strong in you upon your birth, tis how they found you. However I recall Master Windu’s exact words when you were brought before them.

VAL – What do you mean I was stolen from my Father and Mother?

OBI WAN – (holds up his hand) You’re father had some truth to his observances. On occasion Jedi did take away children from their mother’s at a young age, this was the mistake with Anakin...They forbid him contact with his mother because emotional connections could be used to serve the dark side.

Val ponders Obi Wan’s terminology a moment, running his fingers along his chin. Part of what Kenobi was saying started to make sense and it only confirmed his belief that the Jedi acted without sensible justification and even Obi Wan realized this to some degree.

VAL – Continue.

OBI WAN – Mace’s words were, “This child’s destiny does not lie within these walls…his fate lies upon another path.” Not wanting to make the same mistake with you that they made with your father, they placed you among the other “potentials”. Almost another year passed and you had reached the early age of three when I found you there in a nanny’s care. I didn’t feel what the Jedi had done was fair you or Russel. Despite a loyalty to my duties, your father was my friend and you belonged with him.

VAL – Then how did you get me back to him?

OBI WAN – (sighs) I bent my oath not to defy the Council’s wishes but once. Perhaps it was Qui Gon’s influences, but there was no harm in my actions. I used the Jedi Mind Trick to convince the nanny that you were never there. With The Council more concentrated on other matters, your importance was no longer an issue. I met with your father secretly in a remote section of Coruscant and returned you to his care.

VAL – How did my father react?

OBI WAN – I only received a glare of anger, not towards me but towards whom I represented. I don’t know how he really felt, but I received a warm smile from your mother Kathryn and a thank you. I hadn’t time enough to spare to stay longer and I said my goodbyes to you and your family.

Val’s fist curled into a tight ball as he listened to Obi’s words, like his father Val didn’t feel anger to Kenobi’s noble act, but dislike for the Jedi still burned through Val’s blood…well that is to say if he had physical blood as his downcast eyes still reassured him he was far from living.

VAL – (growls) I need to get away from here, far away from here…will you follow?

OBI WAN – (nods) I believe my time here is limited, but for the moment I should be able to go wherever you desire for us to travel.

Val nods slowly, glaring angrily to the Jedi Temple, storming in silence through one of the exits to the room, with Obi Wan closely behind him.
 

INTERIOR: VERSAI TECH – NORTH TOWER – SECOND FLOOR TERRACE

The calm nature of the Jedi Temple fades away as the scene turns towards a deeper, darker, night where once again it seems that inclimate weather dots the landscape, opening up first with a roving incline beyond a steel sign reading…

“VERSAI TECH COMPOUND”

Above a purple-blue sky, clouds gather ominously while our focus shifts to several spotlight devices scouring the area, for any sign of intrusion. Little do they know that intrusion is exactly what the “visitor” to this location is counting on.

As the view shifts skyward we can make out a solitary shape emerge and repel from out of no where, freefalling with incredible speed. Its arms are tucked into its sides, screeching towards the ground, while the security lights remain out of reach to detect its presence.

Suddenly with a bolt of lightning we can identify the figure as wearing the replica of Jango Fett’s Kamino armor, but it has been modified to an orange, red, and black palette. We know by the glint off the mask, that this intruder is none other then Skorne himself, in a brand new set of armor with two objectives on his mind. Apparently as he makes his way through the rippling cold of the night sky, he is now in the process of conducting his mission to retrieve the items Jenner demanded of him. With expert precision, Skorne shifts his body from headlong, to swinging around with his feet heading towards the ground.

Just as it appears he is going to smash into the unforgiving earth, his backpack whines with an electronic squeal as he suddenly repels his body upward, then comes to a stop, mid-flight hovering in the air like a hummingbird, and just as swift. He looks through the electronic display of his modified Jango Helmet, which has been not only repainted with orange and red, baring his insignia on the forehead of the Mandalorian visor, but also has a high tech imaging system, allowing Skorne to see everything in crystal clarity, and shades of monochromatic green night vision.

Hovering in the air a moment, we can get a very vivid grasp of the details on the suit. From first glance it is an identical version of Jango’s armor, however the gauntlets contain a different more curvilinear design to them, equally as much they contain no resemblance to Jango or Boba fett’s famous arm wear. His gloves are blood red, and creeping up his left arm, there is a quad barrel device affixed to his wrist, while on his left arm there is another concealed set of equipment, that for now can only be made out as a resemblance of a Mon Calimari cluster bomb pod, smooth and oval shaped, leading into another ergonomic sweeping protrusion, below the device there is thin slot, also found on Skorne’s right arm, leading us to suspect that there is a purpose to these entrances, not more then a few seconds of viewing them, does Skorne extend both his hands out, curling his fingers into fists, tipping them downward, aiming to a remote section of Versai Tech’s layout.

SKORNE – (electronic – comm.) ETA to mission completion, 15 minutes…retrieval point, Tower One Rooftop.

Skorne grins broadly behind his smoky black helmet, lining up his arms with his intended target, an isolated section of walls and blaster artillery in Tower Three, known as “sector four”. Skorne decided that with the layout of VT’s security wings, given to him by Jenner’s spies that this would pose a good place to unleash his plan.

Instantly, there are two volleys of flashes from the slits in Skorne’s wrist devices, as metallic discs slice through the air, fanning in separate pathways but all adjacent from each other, as Skorne hovers with his specially designed “repulsor” pack that allows him limited hovering capabilities and flight times, using batteries as opposed to the flammable fuel “rocket” pods Jango or Boba used in the past, giving him also the distinct ability of near silence, and no traces of exhaust nor light to be detected his presence could be noticed by sight, as his armor improvements also included a device that counteracted the detection equipment of VT’s surveillance methods, through an echo signal that bounced off of his armor as long as it remained in tact, the equipment would register “all clear”.

SKORNE – (talking to himself) Time to earn your paycheck boys.

As Skorne watches the four discs launched from his arms begin to disappear far below him, he times his movements’ just right, and then pushes a button on his left shoulder. Suddenly the discs jettison two half circle shaped pieces of metal as they spin, hurling them away to reveal a twin set of cylinder devices that spin in a gyroscopic fashion, shortly before a surge of energy pulsates through all of the discs, causing a brilliant miniature lightsaber like lance of energy to extend, making the discs glow with a fiery fury, leaving their internal mechanisms surrounded by a aura of deadly orange discus energy. The four devices shear into the compound walls without any hindrance, slashing through anything in their path, from the bodies of staff, innocent civilians and security personnel caught off their guard, to rooms of electrical equipment, and droid units, all without mercy or compassion. In seconds the entire wing is carved up with holes everywhere.

It doesn’t take long for the four discs to pare slender slashes in several of the rooms, tearing through glass, metal, wood, concrete or whatever else falls in their line of sight, having the properties of a lightsaber blade spun around on its axis, as motion sensor equipment that escapes the melee rings off an alarm throughout all of VT.

GUARD – Attention, Attention…there is movement detected in sector 4, I have arrived at the location. All I can see for the moment is sparks and metal flying in all directions; it’s a warzone down here! FOR THE LOVE OF AMIDALA! GET HELP DOWN HERE NOW! THERE’S BODIES EVERY…

The transmission abruptly goes silent, with only a high pitched whine. It is the last sound the guard is able to hear.
 

INTERIOR: VERSAI TECH – MICHAEL ANGILIS’S OFFICE

Guards grab any weapons they can find and the entire task force races across metal gantries to the scene. Michael Angilis sits in his office when he hears the alarm, grabbing his blaster pistols, then dashes out of the room and joins six other soldiers, heavily armed and wearing protective body armor.

MICHAEL – (racing down the hall) I want to know what the blazes is going on! Give me details!

GUARD 1 – (running along side) We have detected four sources of movement in sector four, we don’t know if its an invasion force or who is responsible, there is no detection of an intruder except in that portion of the base.

MICHAEL – Life signs?

GUARD 1 – None Sir but we assume they are wearing stealth and are heavily armed. Reports indicate that the entire quadrant is under heavy attack.

MICHAEL – Motives?

GUARD 1 – Ruthless aggression, there doesn’t seem to be any purpose in the assault.

Michael and the other guards race down the hallway and turn a corner, getting closer and closer to sector four, completely unaware of the true nature of the attack…distraction.
 

INTERIOR: VERSAI TECH – EVIDENCE COMPOUND

While Michael and his guards storm towards the far end of Versai Tech, on the other side of VT, far from the deadly discus demolition, Skorne is standing calmly inside a vast “secured” location, where tons of storage boxes are stacked collecting dust with “EVIDENCE” stenciled across their outer surfaces.

Inside this faintly lit location there are various relics from the former Killian stronghold. Looking around from one end of the room to another, we can see a set of Killian uniforms, a few of the clone tube prototype units, scattered books of information and recovered Killian blueprints of the Shadow Serpent, as well as countless discs of information, stolen from VT, transmitted to Cire from Jenner and Tula An’s involvement. Among the evidence gathered from the former Citadel, there are also sections of the throne room flooring, a few pieces of the devastated generators used to torture Val on the “X” chair, as well as the menacing device itself off in the far distance, and leaning against a wall the carbonite block of Krevlin’s skeletal remains.

Skorne smiles broadly as he listens to the security forces barking orders for more backup to handle the attack in sector four. All was working as Skorne had predicted, his four discs would eventually on a remote signal, self destruct at the right moment, destroying any evidence of their involvement. This allowed Skorne to stroll at his leisure to his various points in order to complete the mission Jenner gave him.

First on the list, was to retrieve Quillion’s Sith Sword. Skorne knew well that Versai Tech would store such a artifact in an “evidence” chamber, it was painfully obvious that most of the items confiscated from the Citadel were now gathered in this room, neglected when The Killian no longer posed a threat, probably thought completely wiped out after Val’s epic showdown with their defunct leader.

Personally, Skorne didn’t give a mynock’s wing about the sword or The Killian’s goals. Skorne was a man of business and personal desire. The business end was to find and present Jenner with his former Master’s precious sword, and secondly locate top secret samples of this mysterious prototype research and development project known as “Project Reflect.”

None of this mattered to Skorne, the only elements of the bargain that Skorne took this mission for was to keep his newly upgraded armor and his shot to end Valaryc’s life. Both of which he felt supremely confident in carrying out in fifteen minutes time. After Jenner had what he wanted, Skorne would take his business elsewhere and move on to the next high paying customer.

As Skorne keeps tabs on the activity on the far side of VT’s five towers, he walks past pieces of history from The Killian regime, from banners baring their insignia to ceremonial robes and some pieces of their now outdated stealth technology.

Among the dark shadows of objects, Skorne walks down another aisle way of boxes confining his path to the width of one person, trapping him at they box him in, leading his normal set “vision” to spy exactly what he suspects is what he is searching for, sitting upon a table, with a dusty gray tarp covering a long slender, rectangular object.

Through Skorne’s eyes we can see while he stands in one place, several meters from the object, we see our view magnify once, twice, then a third time. Each showing the covered device on the table in closer aspects, bringing into focus the jagged, smooth, metallic gold hilt of Quillion’s Sith Sword, were it is apparent that the blade runs adjacent, resting above a sword displaying unit, carved of black wood, with two feet extensions providing perfect balance on the table.

Observing his target, Skorne briskly walks to the table, ripping off the tarp as dust billows upward, where a single light shines down, reflecting the brilliance of Skorne’s orange, red, and black armor plating spread throughout his body.

Skorne picks up Quillion’s sword, smacking the blade, center first into the side of the table, as caked layers of dust break free, tumbling to the floor. Skorne keeps the sword’s razor sharp edges away from the surface of the table, as to not let them sever it into two halves. Grabbing an apparatus from his belt, Skorne lines up a magnetic circular portion of the device, then slides it along the length of the blade.

There are two LEDs on the miniature unit, as Skorne waits for the light to shift from red, meaning a “fake” or impure metal alloy, to “green” confirming that the sword is forged of the highest grade metal. Seconds pass and the light reads “red”. Frustrated with the readout, Skorne slams the blade into the table as hard as he can, upon doing so the end of the blade shattered in fragments proving the sword kept here to be one of Quillion’s clever decoys.

SKORNE – (sighs) Why can it never be easy…

Growling in fury, Skorne begins knocking over everything in his path, kicking over and shattering boxes left and right, growling with his mechanized voice at the top of his lungs, engaging his repulsor pack, hovering above the ground with an electronic whine emitted from his pack’s interior mechanisms.

Skorne races across the room in an instant, holding his arm outward as he sweeps several boxes off the highest shelf, then the secondary shelf, hurling the boxes to the floor as they shatter revealing their contents…finding more replicas of Quillion’s sought after sword spill outward. Skorne takes no risks, running his scanner over fifteen of the blades, before deducing by the stable red light, checking the rest would be pointless, crunching the weaker metal blades under the power of his boots.

Switching his vision to “penetration” mode, a form of x-ray vision reducing all viewed materials in its spectrum to levels of density and heat, he then cranes his eyes around the room until he notices a hidden compartment in the wall directly behind him, several meters back. Its contents are shielded from his view. “What could they be hiding in the safe?”, he wonders engaging his pack closing distance instantly turning off his vision, returning it to normal, spotting a wall panel before him.

Curling his fist up, he slams it into the metallic plate, ripping it from its foundations, revealing a thicker, highly polished metal plate behind it. Reaching along his left hip, Skorne wraps his gloved hand around the base of one of his custom designed pistols. Both look the same but function differently, as he trains a black and gray weapon on the door, engaging his pack to hurl him backwards to gain distance.

The pistol is ribbed with various sections of black and gray panels. While the hand grip appears to be the same as any standard firearm, his pistol has a unique extension from the base of the clip of his gun, slanting upward to a forty-five degree secondary grip, leading into the extended barrel of his pistol, where a short cylinder of chrome connects the latter end of the weapon with the forward barrel, granting Skorne the ability to hold his gun with a iron-clad grip, making it impossible to knock the weapon from his hand with the secondary guard in place, so that if one were to try and kick it out of his hand, the grip would wrap around his wrist, keeping the gun in reach, which would be a second too late to escape the flick of Skorne’s hand, re-gripping the weapon then swiftly, heartlessly discharging it.

Along the latter end of the handle, Skorne’s insignia was etched in silver. A dual fire switch, the same design as the one found on Val’s VTA flechette pistols allowed Skorne to alter his weapon from the green arrow or “single rate fire” to the red one, which would allow Skorne a semi-automatic burst rate.

For this purpose, Skorne decided to use the single rate feature as the green arrow lights up and a crystal energizes the chamber of his “disruptor” pistol. Skorne trains his aim carefully and then fires the pistol with a flash of brilliant blue light, moments later the burst impacts into the protective casing of the metal plate in the wall, as it flashes to a red to orange to white burst. When the flash clears, all in a fraction of a second no evidence of the metal casing is left…it simply vanishes without a trace.

Skorne extends his hand outward, as the sword housed within, another possible decoy of Quillion’s Sith Sword streaks, handle first across the air, into Skorne’s grip seemingly force called to his hand as he takes the same miniature device he used earlier, running it along the blade of the sword, this one not caked with dust but stained with traces of brown…dried blood.

Skorne is delighted as the scanning device remains a constant green luminance, proving the authenticity of the weapon, the very same instrument of destruction that has from its birth left a trail of death and destruction in its wake, from its first owner to Vachon’s attempted assassination on Kathryn’s life, down to her son’s climatic showdown with Valaryc Versai. Both Val and Cire’s blood stained the blade, as Skorne tucked the weapon into a section of his repulsor pack, outfitted with a special groove, housing the sword to its base, and then magnetically securing it in the pack, while not interfering with the repulsor generators running on both sides of the flight pack.

SKORNE – (grins) One target down, two to go.
 

INTERIOR: VERSAI TECH – TOWER THREE - SECTOR FOUR

While Skorne makes his way out of the evidence compound, heading off to the R&D laboratory to retrieve Jenner’s second goal, Michael and his squad of guards reach the entranceway to section four, seeing sparks, metal, and explosions erupt everywhere. Lining the halls and scattered along the floor are bodies, burned and sliced through, lifeless. Some line the walls, slumped over, others obviously caught by surprise never saw anything coming, where the discs entered their flesh through the back then emerged not only through the front, but clean into the wall they were facing.

Without notice, Michael ducks as one of the deadly discs nearly takes off his head in a blur of fiery orange and a screaming whine of electronic propulsion. The guard next to him, nor the three other guards behind him in military formation are not so fortunate as the disc shears clean through their bodies, without obstruction, as their corpses topple to the floor. The disc then shifts direction and zeros in on Michael, as he ducks into a near by room, where another disc races towards his leg, clipping it with its searing heat, dropping him to the floor while another disc races over his shoulder, turning to face vertical, raking a deep gash into his flesh.

Other guards attempt to fight off the discs, but what can you possibly do against weapons that are both slender and too fast to get a proper aim on? They squeeze off a few rounds of blaster fire in desperation as Michael limps his way out of the room to safety. No sooner then the three of the discs whizzing through steel, plastic, and iron weave in view then enter through a wall into another room, then back out, then in again closing a weaving, path of sizzling fury until they dive downward into the floor and disappear.

The guards here an echo of the discs’s movements gazing down to the floor beneath their feet, moments before the deadly discs shear through the ground and clean through two of the guards necks, while the other two discs form a sneak attack pattern, coming from behind two other guards, slicing into and through their chest cavities, while back up enforcements, numbering twenty storm the facility and train their aim, opening fire into the smoky, spark spewing battle field, hoping to have some impact in ceasing the discs rampage before they are able to determine that there was far more damage possible if they moved on, but not being intelligent, Skorne had sent these discs with limited AI to seek out and terminate traces of movement, which is why all of the guards were targeted without relent.

Michael glances to the guards, then hears the discs suddenly burst through another section of paneling then hover in a sequential line one above the other frozen in place. The whining gets louder and louder, as the orange brilliance of the twin saber like mechanisms get brighter and brighter…the guards becoming perplexed by the display as Micheal detects what is about to happen.

MICHAEL – THEY’RE GOING TO BLOW! GET OUT NOW!

Seeing an open air vent to his far right, limping to it and diving forward, shortly before the four discs self destruct, bathing all of sector four in a hellish ball of flame and destructive fury, reducing all evidence of their arrival to shrapnel, as Michael slides down the ventilation shaft, not able to control where he is going, let alone his decent, hearing the frightened screams of his men fall silent, lost in the roar of fire engulfing the room.
 

EXTERIOR: VERSAI TECH –TOWER ONE

With such ferocity, outside from an aerial view of VT, the third tower erupts in a superfluity of chain reaction explosions, until the entire building is decimated, toppling the structure as each echoed ripple of fire explodes through the windows until the top of the tumbling tower is reached, as Skorne in the distance, settled upon the first tower smiles wickedly, gazing to the destruction, knowing the rain that begins falling will put it out as he makes his way to the R&D main wing.

It doesn’t take Skorne long to breach the defenses of the R&D doors with his various lock-cracking equipment, miniaturized and housed in his trusty belt. It was also obvious by now that Val was not the only one who possessed custom engineering prowess. Skorne walks past several doors, leading to conference rooms and filing locations taking his time knowing full well that Tower Three or what remained of it will capture the extent of the security personnel’s attention.

Normally the R&D department would be swarming with lab technicians but this was all part of the timing of Skorne’s mission, with the data given to him by Jenner or rather Jenner’s associate Skel, they knew exactly when to strike Versai Tech at its weakest moment, while most of the staff was granted vacation due to the successful disbanding of The Killian Order. How ironic for them that by their own words and their carefully planned measure of security, it was their compassion for the lives of those lost in Tower Three that would allow Skorne to easily complete his mission.

Skorne paces into a bigger industrial themed room as he walked past various lab equipment in a mostly glass and steel constructed facility. His visor craning over to an enclosed room higher then the rest, engaging him repulsor pack as he repels upward, three stories up to another room, kicking in the security door with ease where he entered a “vault” like location, that contains no electronic devices in view, just a narrow rectangular room with soft ice blue lighting and smooth, beveled steel wall panels.

Keeping his ears open for any trace of danger coming to his location, he listens in as Michael comes over a comlink, requesting all available personal to search for survivors in the wreckage of Tower Three, while he also listens to a very interesting portion of the transmission…

MICHAEL – (com) All available security personnel immediately increase security around the lower decks of the Medical ward, make sure that Miss Zeridian is secure. Repeat, seal off and defend Ward 227.

Skorne smiles sadistically hearing and recognizing the familiar number sequence of the last prerogative on his mission list, he even remembers Jenner’s exact instructions to him, as Skorne’s red gloved hand presses a few buttons, level with the wall, as a sequence of numbers appears on a black and red LED bar.

JENNER – (Skorne’s thought) As per our arrangement…regarding Valaryc Versai. Kill him immediately; I will not make the same mistake as my Master. There is no point in letting him survive.

Skorne tapped in a few numbers into the console of smooth, polished steel, framing the red and black LED panel as the message “ACCESS DENIED” flashed across the bar. With a deep breath, Skorne continues to try different combinations, all again denied. Clearing his mind and reaching for one of his devices, he slides a pronged metal device into an access port as static discharge of blue and white emits from the prongs into the access port. Skorne presses the device deeper into the slot until he hears a click, as a rush of white hot sparks squeal from around one of the many rectangular steel panels, denoting a electronic overload in the locking mechanism as the panel begins to lower, slow and fluidic until it becomes as level as a table top, where a glass cylinder tube reveals itself.

Contained inside the tube, secured in the center is a long rectangular plate of metal, with the words “LUMATANIUM” stamped on the front of it. Skorne grabs the tube and tosses it to the ground, as four other identical tubes also come from the wall unit hitting the floor in sequence like a volley of logs.

Grabbing each piece of metal, about the size of a gold ingot, but much thinner, Skorne places them into pockets running along his black jumpsuit. Skorne paces out of the room and engages his repulsor pack with a running start, racing down a hallway in full flight, crashing through every door in his path, until he bursts through a window, exiting Tower One, hovering still as he recoils back a bit, tipping his body, level, curling his knees up, then diving headlong towards the ground, reaching for his disruptor pistol, unleashing three burst from the barrel, each shot hitting a piece of armor along the floor and like the safe, instantly disintegrating them, as Skorne disappears 4 floors underground, racing towards his final objective…

Medical Bay 227
 

EXTERIOR: DREAMSCAPE – FOREST MOON OF ENDOR – JEDI CAMPSITE

While Skorne heads off to complete his mission, prepping himself for the barrage of security that he will undoubtedly face entering the medical bay where Val is being kept, the moment dissolves into a dark, cloudless night. Gazing from behind a set of redwoods, our eyes gaze through the moonlight cerulean blanket of light surrounding a dusty, pebble dotted landscape of rising and falling miniature hills, and several bushes scattered about.

The focus of this place however is not on the landscape covered by the moonlight, but the flickering glow of a campfire, where several make shift structures are erected, as our views climb up and over a stone wall, revealing a deeper look that this is a small makeshift base of operations, devoid of complex technology, instead it features many scattered tents constructed of various animal furs. We can venture closer to see Jedi tunic’s scattered along the grounds, stained with blood and not all of the garments are in one piece, as boots and belts seem ominously spread around.

Among the disturbing sight there nearest the roaring pyre of fire, there is a stake driven into the ground, with ropes wrapped around the base of it, and a set of handcuff like devices at the base.

Shifting our eyes towards the entrance to the stone wall, we can make out the distinct and illuminated figure of Obi Wan and Val’s spiritual forms pacing towards and materialize through the stone wall, into the center of the camp. Obi Wan looks very solemn as he gazes around the scene, while Val’s fist curls into a tightly wound ball knowing this area quite well, having tried to repress his actions here long ago.

OBI WAN – (calm) What happened here Val? This is your memory and I am not familiar with this place.

Val doesn’t say a word slowly walking around the camp, which is apparently the source of several Jedi who occupied it, that is in the past. It slowly becomes clear to us that by Obi’s disturbed observances mingled with Val’s angered reaction to these grounds that this is the place Val ceased to be a hero, and became something less appealing.

VAL – (growls) Why here of all places? I made my choice then and I would make it now. None of these people had a right to invade my world.

OBI WAN – (nods) The dark side is strong here isn’t it? Something happened to you…something deeply personal and fearsome. Tell me young Val, what happened to the occupants of this establishment?

VAL – (grits his teeth) I don’t wish to discuss this, let’s move on.

OBI WAN – (sits on a rock) Val I believe the force has willed me to be here to show you the path upon which you avoid is attempting to find its way back to you. I don’t want to see you travel the same road Anakin did. Hiding the truth will not quench its hold over you.

Val spins around angrily towards Kenobi, pointing with rage filled eyes to each of the scattered Jedi outfits.

VAL – You want to know? YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED HERE KENOBI? FINE I WILL TELL YOU…YOU SEE ALL OF THESE JEDI UNIFORMS? I KILLED EVERY ONE OF THEIR OWNERS!

Val spins around to turn his back to Kenobi, expecting a reprimand of some sort, or a lecture on Jedi importance or their force given right to “remove” Dark Jedi from the galaxy for the safety of those who live within it, instead to his surprise, Obi Wan walks up and places a hand on his shoulder in comfort.

OBI WAN – (comforting) Val I have watched you grow into a man of virtue, I have seen you plagued with nightmares night after night over the loss of your cherished female companion. I’m not here to lecture or scold your actions, I just wish to understand why they occurred.

Val closes his eyes a moment taking a deep breath as he begins to allow his deeply repressed memories to bubble back to the surface, slowly gesturing for Obi Wan to get distance from him, as Obi returns to sitting on the rock. Taking a deep breath, Val begins to explain what he remembers of his deeds and the purposes of them.

VAL – (looks around) It was a cloudless night, exactly like this. I had finished recovering from a duel with Foe Raker, my brother…we both gained exceptional wounds from the fight and looked forward to relaxing after a draw. Later, a Jedi leading a band of twenty-four other Jedi deemed it his divine mission to rid the galaxy of us…the Dark Jedi because our views were a danger to their existence.

OBI WAN – (nods) How did those views end up in this chaos?

VAL – The leader’s name was Master Crystarr and he had a second in command named Nhat. They sent scouts into our grounds. To secure the secrecy of our existence, the scouts were executed. Whether it was right or wrong when they didn’t come back, we assume that the Jedi leader used it as an excuse to consider our entire Academy a threat. He invaded our institution, and in the melee he captured Gen Zeridian our Headmaster and my love interest.

OBI WAN – (shifts on the rock) So you sought out vengeance for his actions?

VAL – (growls) I did what I was born to do. I have been raised in a world of pain and suffering, I know it’s because of a curse placed upon my family. Yes I wanted vengeance but vengeance turned to rage when I found their camp…I was angry, I admit that but I was driven over the edge when Crystarr bound Gen to a stake and was about to set her on fire.

OBI WAN – (shooken) But that isn’t how the Jedi function, we have purpose in our actions. His actions did not represent our cause. You can’t blame an entire group for the faults of one individual. Surely you must realize this?

Val stares at the post, where Gen would have been bound, tracing the wood with his finger, keeping his eyes transfixed on the cuffs below him.

VAL – You don’t understand Ben, I wasn’t brought up with a conventional sense of right and wrong, I was brought up with means of survival and there was no “light side” or “dark side” to the force. The force was a tool used to win duels and continue breathing. My actions were probably extreme in your views but in my own mental state there was no other alternative.

Obi Wan nods solemnly, gazing into the fire as he listens to Val’s confession, yet to come was the inevitable moment where the dark side seduced and captured Val under its deadly spell; the same that would happen to Anakin under similar circumstances…it was indeed love that caused both to fail to resist the temptations of emotion.

VAL – I can’t explain what happened Ben…It’s just feeling really, hatred…pure hatred and a lust to not only liberate my loved one, but see that there would be no possibility of this scene ever occurring again. I wanted vengeance and I wanted closure. I can remember seeing red, my hands were moving on instinct…I didn’t hear any screams or watch bodies fall, all I did was let go…

OBI WAN – (nods) You surrendered yourself to your emotions, and the dark side used that against The Jedi, it used you as a weapon to destroy them didn’t it? I once warned Luke to bury his feelings deep down so the dark side could not use them against him…now I understand how correct I was in giving that advice.

VAL – (spins around) HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY UNDERSTAND WHAT I WENT THROUGH! You never had a love interest, you’re a Jedi you don’t believe in relationships or family…all you care about is duty and survival of your ideals! I didn’t butcher these people over politics from some “Clone War”, I killed them because they made themselves the enemy!

OBI WAN – (nods) But do you not see Val? These are Sith views, they hate the Jedi just as you do what makes you different?

VAL – (sighs) Because I gave up that power and deemed myself never to use it again. Although I came close against Agen and Cire, thankfully it never reached a point that I lost control.

OBI WAN – (stands up) Ah! Then that is why I was sent here Val, to warn you of the future. You say that the dark side made you lose control and that you treaded closer to your dark persona…what is to prevent you from being driven to that point again?

VAL – (swallows) My decision to defy my destiny Obi Wan. To atone for my mistakes and save as many people from the path I had once traveled. I rescued Lon Wol from his dark side prison. I took him under my wing and trained him so that he wouldn’t become an enemy I would one day have to strike down, he could be used for better things.

OBI WAN – But I made the same mistake with Anakin, if there is one thing this old man has learned it’s that neither you nor I in the position of a “teacher” can determine what paths our students will take, in the end it is their choice to make.

VAL – (quirks a brow) Then what makes you think that you have any authority in which path I choose? Understand this well, when I became the “Jedi Slayer”, I felt nothing but rage, anger, and hatred…I saw only in shades of red, until a point my purposes for that rage came to an end, violently but still a sense of closure. I rescued my Headmistress from her peril, at the price of all of their lives and the most disturbing aspect of that experience is that after all of the Jedi were dead…I never had a shred of pity.

OBI WAN – That is precisely the point I am trying to make to you Val. The dark side is powerful, but the human will has always proven stronger. Your decision to reform your course of action and become a man of nobility is what has kept you human.

VAL – Reform my course of action? There was no remorse in my actions as the Jedi Slayer! Why do you fail to recognize that? It’s not out of pity or respect that I vowed never to unleash that side of me; it’s out of fea…

Val suddenly cuts himself off in mid sentence, realizing the word he was about to say. “Fear”, it was fear that led to the dark side of the force, and in that moment of thought, Obi was right…fear was governing his actions as of late, fear that he might not return to his lover Gen and break the spell of this infernal “Dreamscape”. But wasn’t it fear that prevented recklessness as well? It didn’t make sense; didn’t a person need a certain amount of fear for survival? You know if you head to the edge of a high cliff, if you fall you’ll die…fear keeps your balance in check. Fear leads to hate, hate leads to suffering sure but it’s not a concrete theory Yoda once had.

OBI WAN – Where you trying to tell me something my friend?

VAL – (takes a deep breath) It’s out of fear that I don’t become whom I used to be. When I felt nothing, I felt neither love nor compassion, none of the souls I taken had any impact on me, nor did the consequences of my actions ending the lives of innocent people. I know fear leads to the dark side, but if you control it then it’s not a factor.

OBI WAN – But can fear be controlled? Or is that control simply another device of the dark side to keep you blinded to its intentions?

VAL – (shakes his head) I think you are confusing fear with caution. I am not scared of my inner demons to the point of hating or becoming jealous of them, I fear them to the extent that I need to contain them. Contain the beast inside me…preserve my humanity.

Obi Wan begins to stand up and pace around the camp, looking solemn as he stares into the fire again and feeling what measure of the force he can use in this foreign world. Suddenly Obi Wan becomes further and further mesmerized by the fire as Val takes notice stepping over, resting his hand on his blue aura.

VAL – What is it? What do you see?

OBI WAN – (reluctant) I see grave danger in your future Val. I see the loss of life and your humanity if you return to your world with these same thoughts you have shown me. Darkness clouds everything but there is little light in the image I foresee…I can tell you this much is for certain…

VAL – (curious) Tell me what you see…

OBI WAN – (reluctant still) Your life is in jeopardy even as we speak here…now, more importantly so is your companion Gen Zeridian. I cannot see beyond that, but another image is coming into focus.

Val anxiously glues his eyes towards Obi Wan, eagerly listening to every detail that he can.

VAL – You’re hiding something from me Kenobi, don’t speak to me in riddles just tell me the truth.

OBI WAN – (hesitant) What I’m going to reveal to you, you are not going to like, but if you wish to change where your destiny is leading you, you must accept and abide by my warning given to you.

VAL – I don’t care about the circumstances…tell me the truth.

Obi Wan circles the fire a moment, and then hesitantly lifts his eyes to Val, keeping them there, while he tries to formulate the best way possible he can tell him that he’s going to have to give up something very vital and very dear to him.

OBI WAN – (cautious) If your blade crosses with another, you will set into motion a course of actions that will consume everything you cherish. I wish I could make that more clear to you but I cannot.

VAL – My blade? What are you referring to? My lightsaber?

OBI WAN – (nods) If you wish to avoid confronting your past demons Val, you must surrender using that weapon. I foresee the moment you cross your blade, will be the instant where there will be no turning back from the darkness inside you. People you cherish will become lost, people you love…will suffer.

VAL – (growls) HAVE I NOT PAID PENTANCE ENOUGH! What price must I give to live in peace! Every moment of every day I have lived with agony, loneliness, and the tragedy of Vachon’s curse! She’s dead, and her curse with her and her retched son! How can I still be made to suffer? I’ve given up power, I’ve given up my own body to save others, I’ve taken countless injuries to prolong the lives of innocents, and now above everything I have to sacrifice the very instrument of my legacy? I can’t accept this!

OBI WAN – (shakes his head) Then the dark side has already won. I can’t govern your path Val, nor decide your fate all I can do is try to guide you upon the right trail…but you must make the choice, as our students had to choose theirs.

Obi Wan walks up to Val while he turns his back, once again placing the soothing hand upon his shoulder as Val struggles with the sacrifice he must make to attain what he desires most, to return to Gen’s arms. Obi begins to lead Val to the opening of a tent.

OBI WAN – (gesturing Val) Come Master Versai, lets take our business to some place more soothing. I think some relaxation might aid in your decision. Certainly dwelling within darkness will cloud your judgment and I’m fairly sure I’ve determined how this world of yours functions.
 

INTERIOR: VERSAI TECH – TOWER ONE - MEDICAL BAY 227

Val nods solemnly as Obi Wan and he enter the tent, emerging into another world of Val’s creation. Meanwhile our vision flickers away to enter the confines of a vast room, littered with machines and tubing. Sitting in a chair adjacent to Val slumbering in his coma, motionless is Gen Zeridian. Her eyes are narrowed as fatigue washes over her, tired of the wait but patient enough to tolerate the countless months she has watched not one portion of Val’s figure move from his bed.

Trapped in his coma, Gen keeps her hand intertwined with his own as she waits night after night for his deep brown eyes to lift, and his lips to once again embrace her senses in his warm, tender kiss. Gen isn’t aware of the action that has taken place, as Val’s hospital room has been safely soundproofed and secured several floors under Tower One’s foundation into a larger stretch of catacombs.

She is startled by the sudden rush of soldiers dashing down the hallway. Her amethyst eyes darting towards the exit to the room, where several VT security in full armor rush down the halls and seal off the parameter. Reaching for a comlink in her coat, Gen lifts it to her lips and speaks into it.

GEN – (comlink) Michael Angilis, I seek your response.

There is a short delay of static as Gen waits for Michael to pick up his comlink, she isn’t aware that he has become injured by the flying discuses or the explosion. Michael hears her voice on the other line having a good idea just what she is after, wanting to make sure she’s not panicked concealing the real severity of the situation with Skorne.

MICHAEL – (comlink) I’m here Gen, I’m handling some business in the…medical ward in Tower Four.

GEN – Have you become injured?

MICHAEL – (hesitant) It’s nothing I can’t handle…what is it you need?

GEN – I wish to know why there are several heavily armed men outside of this domain. What cause is there of this concern?

MICHAEL – Extra protection, nothing serious we just want to make sure that your parameter is secured.

GEN – (quirks a brow) Secured from what? Are you hiding something from me Mr. Angilis? Might I remind you that I do not have to be in the same location to read your mind if need be. I prefer the more civil approach to this matter; inform me of the true reason for this disturbance.

Michael swallows hard for a moment, pacing out his breath as the pain rippling through his shoulders set his body into agony, each time he moves and shifts his weight on his good leg. Trying to keep his cool measure of leadership, knowing full well Gen could make good on her threats, he determines the approach to answer her concerns.

MICHAEL – There was an annoyance on the top level of VT. We believe that it was a deliberate action of a band of intruders violating our base of operations. We’re running sweeps of all decks to find these unauthorized personnel and have them removed from the premises…nothing more.

Gen is not convinced of Michael’s explanation but her danger sense triggers inside her, causing her eyes to dart back out into the hallway, where the rushing of troops has become very silent. She knows this well as either the guards are no longer present or they are training their aim upon something.

GEN – On second thought Michael, I think its better we conduct this discussion in person. I have the slightest inkling that the one you seek is already here.

Suddenly Gen sees one of the guards going flying through the hallway, blasted back by some unseen force. Likewise three other guards also hurl through the air and slam into walls, as the sound of blaster fire begins to echo down the furthest end of the hallway.

GEN – I have to go now Michael, a matter of importance has just come to my attention.

MICHAEL – What do you mean a matter of…(cut off)

Gen quickly cuts Michael off as she reaches down to check her personalized lightsaber, the very same one that has stood the tests of time long after her passing, given back to her when Val slipped into his coma. She still wears her traditional black trench coat, with the yellow stripe leading to the tips of it, as well as her gray tights and midriff, even down to the signature belt design Val invented for her years ago during their time in the Dark Jedi Academy.

She trains her purple glare on the hallway, waiting for more evidence of motion, as the gunfire gets closer and closer, then suddenly it ceases as quickly as it began…the room falling dead silent now.
 

INTERIOR: VERSAI TECH – MEDICAL WARD 226

Shifting the view to the opposing wall to Val’s hospital room as Gen looks out into the hallway, we can see that Skorne is assuming the same position he had used against Sara upon the rooftop of Adega. In his hand is one of his signature pistols, this one identical to the disruptor gun but this one possessed a blue strip along the clip end of the pistol grip. This indicated to Skorne the difference between his disruptor pistol which could only fire in limited bursts, to his secondary weapon, a highly specialized plasma fed blaster pistol that did not emit the same properties of imperial weaponry or DL-44s, instead of the red-orange bursts, it fired a blue-purple discharge.

This moment we can see through his x-ray like vision once more, into the steel rib work of the wall opposing him, as we see two white, skeletal figures, the figures of Gen sitting in her chair, uneasy and the motionless figure of Val lying in his bed. Skorne smiles widely behind his mask as he trains his aim towards the wall in front of him, casting a sideward gaze to eight bodies of VT security lifeless on the floor, some piled into a heap, the others slumped against the wall, all with blaster holes smoking from their vests. Not only was Skorne’s weaponry unique, but his blaster could cleave clean through the protective body armor of his competition, which was another factor as to why he used alternate weaponry in his arsenal.

Turning his focus back to Val and Gen, seeing them through his “penetration” vision of blue and white tones, he lines up the site of his blaster pistol on Val’s skull, seeking to take him out and be out of the room far faster then Gen could react, far too late to catch him, leaving an easy getaway thanks to his trusty repulsor back. He didn’t know however that Gen was much more then just a simple girl, Jenner never gave him the specifics that she would even be in the room in the first place. To him she seemed just another innocent bystander in the wrong place at the wrong time.

SKORNE – (talking to himself) That’s it Versai…time to pay the check.

Skorne’s red glove starts to squeeze the trigger to his blaster pistol, when he notices that Gen is staring straight into the wall, on the other side. He can even see her eyes flicker with a more intense white flash then it occurs to Skorne what is going on as he watches her skeptically.

SKORNE – AH HELL!

Skorne fires off his blaster in desperation as a burst of purple white shears through the wall and emerges out the other side heading for Val’s skull but Gen’s lightning fast danger sense and quick minded reflexes snaps her bare, flat palm into the path of the shot, causing her force deflection to send the shot repelling into the opposite wall and out of harms way. Gen stands up staring into the wall as both her hands come up, with her fingers clasped together, palms presented.

Skorne panics and sets his pistol to auto fire, unleashing a hellish volley of purple bolts into Medical Bay 227, but Gen’s force guidance causes all of his bolts to careen off her force flat palms, and rip right back through the wall, firing back at their origin.

Skorne ducks for cover as his own blaster bolts slam into everything in the room, even portions of his armor, but deflect off that as well. It’s not so much the blaster bolts that irk him; it’s that even as he looks through his mask into the wall, the white glow in her eyes begins to build up in her hands. Before he can react, the wall shatters into oblivion as a large metal cabinet slams through it, followed by tendrils of Gen’s vibrant purple “Force Twirl” lightning which wrap around Skorne’s legs and attempt to dig into his skin underneath it.

In desperation, Skorne has little time to react as he sees Gen standing before him, where the wall has collapsed, hurling her twirl bolts without relent. Her eyes narrow in anger, as she tries to steer her barrage clear of Val’s still body which is completely unaware of the attempt on his life. The lightning casts her body in a hellish invisible wind, whipping her purple and pink locks in a vengeful fury.

GEN – (growling) YOU HAVE BROUGHT HARM TO ME, I DO NOT LIKE THAT!

Skorne engages his repulsor pack and fires blindly into the opposing wall furthest from Val, seeing that with Gen’s current positioning he is at a clear disadvantage, and having had his shot at Versai and failed, it would be best to try again another day.

Skorne hurls through the wall, as fragments of it pelt his armor, leading him into room 225, then 224, then 223 getting his distance from Gen, then disengaging his pack, running on feet down the hallway as Gen races behind him, dashing hot on his heels.
 

EXTERIOR: DREAMSCAPE – ALPHA XERIDIA - “KATHRYN’S BLUFF”

As Gen chases after the intruder known as Skorne, the image dissolves away to reveal a breathtaking landscape, high above rising volleys of trees and grasslands. Flowers of every color blossom, trees scattered along a rising cliffside, where a rainbow of spray reflects the glittering sun, from a vast embankment of water at the base of a high rising powerful waterfall. This domain is twined just a matter of half a mile away, where atop this shimmering, moist paradise there is a clearing of the trees, leading to the edge of the location in Val’s world known as “Kathryn’s Bluff”. This elegant, peaceful location is awe-inspiring and filled with the soothing fragrance of tropical flowers, where the sun bathes each array of colors in a spectrum of harmonic balance, blended evenly with the calm echo of rushing water, from the depths below, powerful and majestic.

Val and Obi Wan slowly enter from a dense set of flowers and trees that thins as they approach the smaller elements of shrubbery and rolling grassy terrain. Val seems calmer now as he walks side by side with Obi Wan still very much shimmering in his blue aura. Although the spell of the bluff is intoxicating and rhythmically comforting, heavy thoughts lay on Val’s mind, not conscious of the desperate battle forming between his former Master and her deadly advisory.

OBI WAN – (looking around) I was not aware such places of beauty existed in your mind, Young Val.

Val walks through the foliage till he reaches a log, settling down on it as he stares off into the horizon, gazing into a limitless landscape of other hills, mountains, beach sides, jungles and the like scattered throughout Alpha Xeridia’s home world, all second to the majesty of the Versai Mansion boldly rising its white luminous walls to the heavens. He knows that his home, so close was yet so very far from his grasp…that this portrayal of reality was simply nothing more then a mirage.

VAL – (sighs) That’s because its not a fabrication of my thoughts Ben, everything you see is just a snapshot of a very real place. There off in the distance, that dazzling building with white and gold? That is my home, that is my mansion…this place is where I come to think, to meditate, and to escape the pressures of reality.

OBI WAN – (nods) It is a good place to choose my friend, secluded…isolated, and yet still your home never leaves your vision. Does it have a name?

VAL – I named this waterfall after my mother, and the peak of it in honor of her service to the Jedi and the Old Republic. Her name was Kathryn and she was as stunning and innocent as this waterfall, the flowers are a testament to her intoxicating beauty. This place however, at the very height of her life is named “Kathryn’s Bluff”. I’ve learned that during her career she was quite adept at gathering intelligence.

OBI WAN – (looks to the right) What of that one, let me guess…that waterfall is named Russel isn’t it?

VAL – (nods slowly) Yes, and that precipice is named…”Russel’s Peak” I figure in some boyish way that to start from the bottom is a journey one must take, to reach the peak…you have to do whatever it takes to conquer nature and climb over any obstacle in your way. I’ve had Lon try to climb it you know…damn near broke his neck when he slipped halfway up.

OBI WAN – (quirks a brow) Are you sure he was ready to begin that trial? Often I have learned that a student transcends obstacles in their way with guidance, more so then instruction.

VAL – (nods) I must disagree on that notion. I believe its experience that lends itself to masterhood, there is a point we must remove that safety net placed around our students and have them learn to depend on themselves…dependence on others is self defeating.

OBI WAN – Ah but that is the way of a warrior, not a keeper of the peace. Without ample guidance, one can waver from the path you assume should be followed. I know this mistake Val, I wouldn’t want to see the same happen to you.

Val spins back on his heel giving Obi Wan a sharp stare, narrowing his eyes a moment then breathes in, resuming his calm nature, finding a change of subject more appropriate. Val closes his eyes, picturing his love, Gen Zeridian’s dazzling lavender gem bright eyes gazing back to him, her hair cascading down the smooth, inviting curves of her breasts as her lush lips, moist and full gently press upon his…deep in his heart, he longed for an escape. Kenobi’s company was not purging this desire to return to the real world, even with Obi’s words to sooth his loneliness, he still remembered the vision in the Jedi camp…and he also knew Kenobi was holding back…Val could see it in Obi’s eyes, there was something there. Something elusive that startled Ben more then he let on and whatever it was…Val was going to find out the truth.

OBI WAN – (closing his eyes) Do you love her Val?

Val blinks the image of Gen away, craning his eyes to Ben, his lips pursed in thought as he deduces the origin of the question…Obi Wan was tapping into Val’s thoughts against his wishes, however Ben was for the moment in the superior bargaining position as Val nodded slowly, taking another breath.

VAL – (staring off into the distance) My love for Gen transcends the limitations of life and death. She is my everything, she completed who I should have been.

OBI WAN – (blinks a moment) But if she is what you should have been, then you would have been just as sinister would you not?

VAL – (sighs) No…it was because of her own limitations in giving into the dark side, seeing what a soulless killer I could have been as the Jedi Slayer, that I think she decided there was a limit to just how far she would let herself slip. It was her choice of redemption that robbed her of her life for that decision. It was however, love that restored her to me.

OBI WAN – Love is a powerful emotion Val. You must understand that much like the dark side, it can be corrupted to inspire others to perform unspeakable acts of evil. It is a fickle as a raging oceanic storm. Like the waters it can be calm one moment and horribly destructive the next. To master the ocean, one must understand its nature.

Val paces up to Obi Wan glaring into his eyes, as he holds back his temper…How dare Obi Wan condemn love! What would a Jedi understand about the need for female companionship? Obi Wan didn’t even know Gen personally, what would he know about how deep or controllable her love was for Val? Still Val intended to find out more important matters…specifically the details of the vision Obi Wan had foreseen, that he left out.

VAL – Your apprentice fell to love…this I have read. He could not control it, but I can because I understand it more then a teenage crush. Gen is not as easily impressionable or youthful in mind as Amidala was.

Obi Wan stays silent a moment, thinking over Val’s words then gazes outward to the details of the Versai Mansion, silently admiring its radiant beauty. Ben could feel the anger rising and falling within Val’s subconscious; he knew Val led a life of endless turmoil. Ben admired that Val, even though he had his moments was able to prevent himself from succumbing to the dark side.

However…

Obi Wan also recognized the signs that led to Anakin’s fall from grace, and Obi Wan started to notice these dangers in Val’s increasingly problematic views, at least from a Jedi’s point of view. The hate and pain that surged through his eyes…the tension in his clenched fists as he spoke of the damage that two rogue Jedi brought upon him, to unleash his most violent persona. What disturbed Obi Wan more so then these dangers were that he had seen much more in the fire, as Val had surmised. It was for Val’s own protection that Obi Wan kept these details secretive from him…Obi already could see where in fact Val’s future would lie if he returned to the world, in the same manner that he left it.

It pained Ben to have the burden of bestowing Val such bad news, after so much pain there was little happiness in his revelation but then again one must keep in mind that a Jedi’s ability to see into the future is obscured and clouded, not always accurate…it was not destiny, it could be changed.

This was why Obi Wan decided to give Val the most effective warning, the pivotal moment that he felt would bring about a chain of events that in the end would result in devastating consequences.

VAL – Why do you ask of my love for Gen? Does this have to do with the vision?

OBI WAN – (nods slowly) If you decide to go back to her Val, you must heed my warning.

VAL – But how can I defend her if I do not use my best weapon?

OBI WAN – (sighs) You must find another way Val. If your blade crosses with another, you will set into motion a course of actions that will consume everything you cherish.

VAL – (ponders a moment) Wait a second…then you are implying I will be able to have a choice, won’t I?

OBI WAN – Indeed I am.

Val smiles a moment, pacing over to the edge overlooking the waterfall’s decent. His eyes try to peer into the misty darkness below, where the falls meet the earth in a glittering pool of water. He slowly looks back and forth from Obi Wan, to the bottom of the waterfall, then down to the Versai Mansion. Inch by inch he steps closer and closer to the very end of the cliff’s edge, perilously close to falling off of it. Obi Wan suddenly snaps his eyes upward, seeing Val’s danger.

Kenobi quickly rushes towards Val and pulls him back from the boundary of the cliff, his eyes looking to him in shock, not calming himself until his friend is out of harms way, pulled back meters from the edge.

OBI WAN – (stern) Just what in the blazes did you think you were doing!

VAL – You said it yourself Ben, I have the choice to draw my weapon or relinquish it. Didn’t you notice that in no time here has either one of use had possession of a lightsaber. That can only mean one solution right?

Ben trails fingers down to his hip, recognizing that Val is correct, neither of them have lightsabers all they had was their clothing, regardless of color or form and their subconscious minds. Obi Wan still didn’t understand what would possess Val to commit suicide by leaping from the falls, in which no Jedi alive could support the velocity of the fall.

VAL – If this is a dream then there is only one way out…

Obi ponders Val’s words a moment then starts to understand a method to his madness. However Ben is also aware that this is no ordinary dream either and as Val once deduced if he were to be wrong there would be no chance of his recovery, should he detach the only thread his conscious still had with the illusion of life, if Val was mistaken then the mind would think the body had expired, and with that the mind would then slip into shock and death. Such was the natural order of things when their time was at its end.

OBI WAN – (cautioning Val) This is no ordinary dream Val, what if you’re wrong? If you have read your history well even Yoda could not see the fate of Luke’s friends. Visions of the future are not always entirely accurate. I understand your motivation, but the rules here follow a different order then the physical world.

VAL – (glances over the cliff, from a distance) I can’t remain here…I can’t let my fear hold me back this time Ben, there’s only one way to free myself of this prison.

OBI WAN – (sighs) Do not make the same mistake others have in the past, don’t be impulsive my young companion. Think things through…give yourself time to be sure you really want to proceed with this suicidal reasoning…all logical rationale tells you that you’ll not survive. If this were the real world…(cut off)

VAL – (growls) THIS IS NOT THE REAL WORLD, THIS IS MY OWN PRISON! You said it yourself…I have the option to relinquish my weapon and there are no weapons here for me to do that, thus the choice doesn’t reside here…it resides out there, down there.

OBI WAN – Stubborn as your father…his resolve didn’t prevent you from suffering did it? Think about your decision Val, consider the consequences.

Val clenches his fist again and then storms over to a log, sitting on it, playing back his findings how this place functioned, over and over again in his mind he only saw one solution. He surmised that this world was composed of places he had ventured to; Obi Wan even proved that with his presence here, technically in his older form. Val had encountered Obi Wan with his more developed mind. Perhaps the notion that a child remembers and learns from color is what kept the details of the Jedi Temple in his mind crisp and sharp, while the temporary image of Obi Wan in his youth simply became lost and replaced. In his older years, Val’s mind would store visual information more easily. That would then lead him to consider the sequence of the worlds he has passed through. Each was a trade off from an interior location, to an exterior location.

If Val was now within an exterior location, and for the moment trapped here with no visible exits except to go back the way he came, there was only one exit…the bottom of the cliff. Val also thought about the idea of awakening inside an establishment, like a hospital room or inside a spaceship.

His gut instinct told him to take a running leap off the cliff and embrace take a risk, but Obi Wan was a wiser man with experience. Even locked up in his exile on Tatooine, Ben was able to adapt to his surroundings, environments most people would have perished within. Was he right? Would Val ruin his only chance to reunite with Gen with a foolish suicidal act? For the moment, Val stayed silent on the log, knowing Ben would keep his distance this time…there was already tension there. The conflict of views between Jedi philosophy and Dark Jedi training ethics was clearly driving a wedge between the two Masters of the force. It also didn’t help that Ben was hiding something more from Val.

Silently, Val gazed out into the horizon, watching the sun set in the far distance, casting the falls and the clouds above in a radiant blend of pinks, oranges, and soft yellows. Gazing into the sky, Val could see Gen’s face there, formed by a set of clouds rippling through the setting skyline. Val didn’t even care to try and reason why the sun would be setting, when every other location was frozen in place…in time, perhaps as the winds slowly rustled the trees around them it was a sign of change coming…the whole scene reminiscent of Luke gazing out to the twin settings of Tatooine’s suns, shortly before he made the choice to become a Jedi. In this case, a different location but the same circumstances still applied.

Val would have to decide when and how he would make his choice to resume his destiny.
 

INTERIOR: VERSAI TECH – HALLWAY

While Val lingers on the verge of a decision that could very well progress or bring his life to a grinding halt, elsewhere a grand scale battle between ways of the old and the technology of the present is taking place as the contenders rush down a series of corridors. Versai Tech security has heard the commotion in Medical Bay 227, dispatching several heavily armed personnel to the location. They are not aware that the battle has moved to another location, through several locations in fact as the thundering echo of feet racing across metal floors grows louder and louder.

Suddenly as our view is placed within one of the medical rooms facing the hallway, Skorne dashes by at breakneck speed, on foot shortly before Gen’s sweeping black trench coat billows by in a blur. Her eyes narrow as she gazes to the back of Skorne’s shimmering red and orange armor, underlined by a charcoal black under suit. For the moment the assassin is not yet in range for her to effectively attack him directly, using the force, best she can…a Master of it just as she was twenty-five years ago, hurling whatever her eyes come into contact with in Skorne’s path, as he leaps over medical equipment and storage contains tossed perilously in his path. One of the objects finds its mark more effectively however, as Skorne runs face first into a massive electronic tower, hurled from a control room.

The impact causes Skorne to lose his lead as Gen closes distance. She snaps her violet eyes forward as six guards enter from the far end of the room, boxing Skorne between Gen and the troops. Training their aim carefully they unleash a salvo of blaster fire. Skorne swiftly kicks over the massive metal unit in his path, dropping it on its side as the guard’s red bolts impact into the metal structure, sending sparks and smoke billowing in several directions while Skorne kneels down behind the cover, letting the VT soldier’s artillery bombard the blockage. His eyes shift in his mask towards Gen who gets within two feet of him.

As she reaches for her lightsaber, knowing the danger there Skorne quickly engages in a series of desperate kicks, no longer behind the fallen object behind him, as two blaster bolts screech towards his repulsor pack. Having no choice but to turn his back to keep his pack functional, Gen charges as he spins around and lets his orange armor take the impact of the weaker blasters, forced back into Gen’s chest, knocking both of them down.

Skorne is up in a fraction of a second as he taps some switches on his right gantlet. Upon his left arm, a few mechanism slide back, while two cylinder barrels spring out from the sides of Skorne’s wrist, both twining each other as he sends another kick to Gen’s stomach, causing her to lose her breath momentarily. Speechless and professional with military based accuracy, Skorne trains his aim on the six guards and fires two blasts from his left arm.

SKORNE – (mechanized) This matter does not concern you…

The soldiers stand firmly in the hallway, obstructing Skorne’s escape and do not have time to react, nor any place to run or take cover as two cylinder canisters launch towards them, then shuck their metal shells unleashing a metal ball that hurls forward, then snaps back as other, smaller electronically charged balls fan outward into a spacious six foot diameter wire netting, that ripples with a blue electronic current charge. Both nets impact side by side, ensnaring three men in each trap, with the electric charge, 5000 volts of coherent energy knocking the guards out in seconds. They drop their blasters and slump to the floor limp.

Another battalion of guards sweep into the area. Skorne hits another button and an electronic beep comes from within his left gauntlet which has a series of red lights slowly slide up to a green level. Moments later, like the reloading of a revolver, two new shells slide into his net launchers, and once again he takes his aim and fires, ensnaring another salvo of eight guards this time, who unlike the previous six don’t even get a chance to fire.

SKORNE – (grins) Failed the part of the test covering hostile engagement eh boys? UGH!

Out of the blue, Skorne feels Gen’s fist impact the back of his skull, then her hand clenches his throat spinning him around with her raw strength as his eyes view her glowing amethyst orbs from within the helmet.

GEN – (eyes focused) You will surrender yourself immediately, and cease this chase.

Skorne slowly nods and lowers his hands in submission, as he stands before Gen, clasping his hands along his hips, awaiting further instruction. I was apparent that Gen’s powerful seductive eyes were getting to Skorne’s mind rather swiftly, but then this is deception after all and a bounty hunter of Skorne’s caliber is not so easily ensnared.

SKORNE – Sorry to break this to you, but haven’t you heard? Your tricks only work on the WEAK minded.

Skorne quickly sweeps towards Gen’s legs as she evades the maneuver then grabs Skorne by his throat once more, from a back flip appearing in front of him. Her eyes narrow even more as she applies pressure, Skorne grins broadly then grabs three solid round projectiles from his belt, casting them to the ground as an explosion of sparks ignites the floor, casting up swirling clouds of smoke choking Gen’s lungs while Skorne glares towards the object in his path, taking a running leap, grazing the ceiling with his repulsor back clearing the large obstacle. Gen is not so easily thwarted. She uses the force to enhance her speed and strength, back flipping over the fallen machinery with fluidic grace as her coat swirls with her movement, landing on her feet then dashing twice as fast as before, seeing Skorne duck into a corridor, then disappear through a immense lifting doorway.
 

INTERIOR: VERSAI TECH – TOWER ONE - DOCKING BAY 1138

Skorne sprints into a massive chamber. The space is occupied from the entrance, first on the very right where two unused X-Wings lie perched upon a lowered flight deck. To the right is an A-Wing half assembled and just beyond it, one of its large engines securely attached to a massive claw device securing the unit over the back of the vessel. To the upper left, there is a vacant flight deck with yellow caution markings detailing a rectangular groove in the floor where underneath, motorized devices raise and lower the deck, while off along the wall is the control switch, a simple red and green oversized set of buttons and an emergency release lever. Along the lower left wall, there are several piles of weathered spacecraft parts in various unattended piles, this side of the room represents a junkyard and it is apparent that while the X-Wings are much more cleaner then the other objects in the room, this docking bay has not seen much use in several years, save for the one unoccupied deck that is highly polished and maintained.

Skorne doesn’t have much time to capture in his surroundings as Gen comes tearing through the substantial entrance to the chamber, fires of anger lit in her blazing purple orbs as she locks her gaze onto her target. Gen did not stand for anyone outfoxing her, much less making her feel as if she was weaker then her opponent. As Headmaster of the Dark Jedi Academy, she was the absolute ruler of the grounds, now here in this time she found herself no longer in a position of power… the actions of the hunter who attempted to assassinate her most cherished possession angered her even further. To prove to herself and to this hunter that Gen was not a woman who kowtowed to the “damsel in distress” syndrome, she allowed her training and her mastery of the force to guide and enhance her actions to take this intruder down, by any means necessary.

With devastating accuracy, Gen evoking the force to her bidding stretching out her hand and force pushing Skorne hard into the A-Wing’s right side, with a sickening crunch of bent metal and shattered gears. The only thing saving Skorne from getting his back broken in two by the thunderous impact is his highly durable repulsor pack, which absorbs most of the impact of the blow, allowing Skorne to refocus his efforts on Gen, watching her approach him. Stepping to the side as she sends a punch towards his masked temple, he grabs her arm and whips her entire body forward, sending her sailing across the cockpit of the A-Wing and clear on over to the other side, where her shoulder hits the suspended engine hard, sending her crashing to the ground.

Knowing he doesn’t stand a chance in a confined area, and realizing that he has more important matters to attend to Skorne desperately looks for a way to escape seeing a readout of the controls to the flight deck lift appear on his visual grid within the helmet. The walls are solid steel and it would take far too long to try and blast through them, likewise they are so thick that even if his disruptor pistol were used, it wouldn’t be enough to punch a hole in this vault like configuration. The only way of escape was to take the lift, but he was still a good 100 feet from it, turning his head back to watch where Gen has disappeared to, finding the answer quite quickly as a long metal pole cracks him upside his mask and akin to a baseball swing, sends him sailing into the air onto the cockpit of one of the X-Wings.

SKORNE – (Grunting) WHAT IS IT WITH A FEMALE’S OBESSION OVER POSSESSING LONG METAL OBJECTS!

GEN – (smirks) We like to handle large things…but you I gather have not experienced that pleasure.

Skorne growls towards Gen, then slowly cracks his neck in the suit, cracking his knuckles through his blood red gloves as Gen is revealed holding a long metal pipe in both hands, ready to take another swing, should she wish it.

As Gen moves in for another round of “bounty hunter baseball”, Skorne times his motions flawlessly then catches the rod in mid-swing, yanking forward as Gen’s grip is broken over the pipe. Snarling in feral, tone Skorne tosses the pipe across the room in fueled rage then snaps his mask back towards Gen as she quickly reaches for the hilt of her deadly lightsaber. Skorne is well aware of how powerful a force user’s will to win, can become with a lightsaber in their grasp. He desperately flings his heavier armor towards Gen, making her lose her grip on her weapon, again on the floor. With a powerful extension of her arm, and force enhanced strength, Gen hurls Skorne off her body. As Skorne becomes airborne, he smiles behind his mask and activates his repulsor pack, flying vertically at breakneck speed from Gen, who gives chase on foot, while both competitors come closer and closer to the end of the hanger, and near the flight deck.

As Skorne flies through the air, Gen uses the force in desperation for a way to slow him down, hurling anything she can find from computer monitors, to engine parts, carburetors, hyperdrive pieces, anything in her view to obstruct Skorne’s aerial path as we look through the electronic monochromatic red and orange display of his mask, seeing objects flung by Gen just barely miss impacting Skorne’s body, weaving past them back and forth, reminiscent of the Endor speeder bike chase.

As Gen draws both of her hands together with a slap, Skorne is bombarded by two storage crates, each slamming into his ribs from both sides simultaneously as he flies around shaken and incoherent, bouncing off a few pillars, careening headlong into a pile of machine parts as they scatter in all directions noisily, before skidding down to the pavement of the floor, bouncing a few times like a wrecked pod racer and finally, skidding along the ground comes to a complete stop with nowhere else to go but straight into the wall in front of him at the end of the hanger’s vicinity.

GEN – (angry) RELINQUISH THIS MINDLESS PURSUIT BEFORE I AM FORCED TO SERIOUSLY INJURE YOU!

SKORNE – Give it up girl I’m too fast for you…

Skorne dusts himself off and straightens his mask. His fingers curling into tightly balled fists, while Gen stalks towards him, her eyes focused in a cold stare, while her coat billows behind her. Letting her take her time, Skorne decides its best to take the battle to a more effective level…literally as the second Gen reaches for her lightsaber again, Skorne slams his fist into the green button, activating the flight deck lift controls.
 

INTERIOR: VERSAI TECH – TOWER ONE – FLIGHT DECK (IN MOTION)

With a suddenly lurch, Gen is knocked off her feet, onto her back, while the lift begins to pick up speed heading skyward. Skorne reaches for his blaster, but Gen is far too quick sending a roundhouse kick to the back of his mask, sending him head first into the wall as his metal mask careens off the unforgiving, moving steel that gradually streaks down faster and faster.

Gen uses the force to maintain her balance, having to keep her concentrate absolute, to adapt to the shifting gravitational pulls of the momentum of the lift, getting even faster, to the point the grinding becomes a smooth rushing blur of sounds, while she unleashes a flurry of well placed kicks from her black and silver rimmed boots into various portions of Skorne’s armored body, each finding their mark. Skorne growls through his mask as his anger echoes over the rushing winds sweeping from above the platform, arriving closer and closer to its final stop at the top of the tower, where this lift apparently guides down Val’s MARC, which is what should have been docked here.

Skorne prevents Gen from reaching her lightsaber, while likewise Gen prevents Skorne from reaching his deadly pistols, as both counter each other with punches towards the face and chest, batting away a grip to their deadly weapons which could easily turn the tide of the stalemate barrage of fists and flying feet.

SKORNE – (evading Gen’s feet) For a Dark Jedi Master, your hand to hand combat skills are pathetic…

GEN – For a Bounty Hunter, your assassination skills are laughable!

SKORNE – You’ll soon tire then you will see just how “laughable” my skills are when I dance on your corpse.

GEN – (growls) A true Master does not tire…they only become stronger.

Gen’s blood races through her veins as she charges into Skorne, sending a telekinetic punch into his ribs, then his stomach and lower torso, using the force to send penetrating blows clean through Skorne’s armor as he shrieks out in pain, feeling each one land acute impacts on his bare body. Having to react quickly, Skorne reaches for his blaster, and successfully gets his finger into the trigger, firing point blank towards Gen, but she is too quick as she sidesteps away, grabbing Skorne’s arm, painfully spinning it around, coming up behind his back and jamming his limb upward, stretching the muscle tissue into a taut pressure. Skorne swiftly throws his body backward, sandwiching Gen between his repulsor pack and the wall, driving her into the steel surfaces, pinning her between himself and the partition as he looks up to see the roof open, letting in a light at the end of the tunnel and 50 stories later, the very top of Tower One and his eventual escape.
 
 





**END OF PART III**
 

[ Back to Main Story Page I To Part IV ]


 

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