Coalesced Purpose

[Zay]

"The shadow's prove the sun shines..."​

Kael stood on the same cliff face he had five years ago. The waves undulated with oceanic rhythm as they danced toward the shore. His adventures since the fated meeting had been far more treacherous than he'd ever imagined. Kael had only been on Dantooine for a day before he received a message from Corvo. The Jedi General was on his way to conduct Kael's debriefing himself.

Initially, the knight had been concerned. Corvo wasn't the type to go out of his way to touch base with a comrade. Momentarily, Kael wondered if the council was displeased with his work. It might be time to reach out to Logan. Playing politics wasn't something Kael enjoyed, but he understood the benefit of showing face. He'd ignored Logan's messages for five years. It was time to squash their dispute.

The Jedi stood stoically. His arms were crossed over his chest and his green eyes followed the waves. Under his vibrant globes, lines were beginning to etch into his skin. Worry and stress mixed with time to form light wrinkles on his chiseled features. Together with his scruffy beard, the lines added a seasoned ruggedness to his appearance. He was wearing his Jedi uniform relishing the simplicity of his wardrobe.

He reached around his back and pulled a thin datapad from a holster on his utility belt. Kael could feel a swelling of the force and knew that his superior was closing in. He navigated through the little computer and pulled up a file he'd been given five years ago. A video opened and in it he could see himself in the distance. Foliage from the surrounding trees obscured the full image from time to time as the wind blew. He fast forwarded through their conversation and got to the fight he'd studied for five years.

Being back on the same location gave the cliff face a presence that hadn't existed before. Kael's body remembered the battle and it felt as though he was reliving the confrontation.

The battle replayed before him:

(Kael)
What, are you looking to prove yourself? A fight?

Kael scoffed and replied, "Yeah, something like that." The young Jedi's sense's went on full alert and as Corvo stepped toward him he allowed his left hand to hover over the hilt of his lightsaber. Feral excitement radiated from the young man. He'd wanted to defeat an intruder, but now he was getting a shot at the former champ. The force truly was a mysterious entity.

Corvo still had his hands clasped behind his back. There was minor movement, but Kael didn't notice. He was too focused on the prospect of dueling the former supreme leader of the Sith. A grin spread across his face as his eyes met with Corvo's. If Kael wasn't mistaken the man before him seemed amused.

"Fine... you seem bored with the droids anyway."

Hand still hovering over the hilt of his lightsaber, Kael prepared himself for the battle. He centered himself in the force and took an athletic stance. He was ready to go to war.

The wind from the coast blew up the side of the mountain face and into the woods where his adversary had originally emerged. A single leaf caught by the wind floated through the air and fell directly between the two men. As it passed between their locked gazes the insignificant foliage became the war horn. Kael's body flew into action, the hand that hovered over his lightsaber, grasped the weapon, pulled it from his belt, ignited the blade and sent it into an arching vertical slash aimed at Corvo's center. Falling into his common practice, Kael shrouded his free hand in the force, customary to a Teras Kasi practitioner. His shrouded hand utilized tutaminis and was prepared to defend.

(Corvo)
Corvo let the Force draw in around him as they prepared to fight. As soon as his opponent's hand moved, Corvo's sabers snapped to his hands and his right blade activated flying upward to deflect the incoming strike. Both blades had already been set to their stun settings, so Corvo had no need to hold back and couldn't help but wonder if the other man had done the same. It sent the adrenaline pumping all the harder as he made his first movements.

He angled his blade about 30 degrees to the horizontal so that the momentum of his opponent's blade would carry the saber past his side and to the outside of Corvo's as Corvo flicked his wrist outward to protect his hand from the deflected saber. He used the space that created to drive his feet inward toward his opponent's body. He was still tracking that second hand as his own moved inward - deactivated saber in hand - aiming to strike his opponent in the gut with his clenched fist in something of an uppercut motion.

(PVP continued at this point)
Corvo's reaction was everything Kael hoped it would be. His opponent deftly deflected Kael's opening strike and moved inward preparing to deliver a punch directly to the Jedi's center mass. Luckily, Kael was prepared for his adversaries retaliation.

Kael's initial attack wasn't full force, it was a probing attack made to draw his opponent in and leave them open. As Corvo's attack closed in, Kael sprung into action.

His body spun to the outside of his opponent, clearing the fist. The hand he'd kept shrouded in the force remained close to center mass prepared to deflect his enemies weapon if Corvo activated it. As Kael's body spun he unleashed an attack with the hilt of his lightsaber aimed at Corvo's temple.

@Phoenix

 

[Phoenix]

It seemed a lifetime ago that he had first met with Kael on these cliffs and in the time that had passed, Corvo felt as though he had grown old. Indeed, in the last five years he had finally passed "over the hill" as most called it and he quietly wished for his younger body. If he were honest with himself, he was a bit surprised that he had survived this long through life. Most of those Sith he had grown up with were dead now, passed on to the next life but he remained. As a Jedi.

As he approached Kael, he saw the video playing out, their strike moving quickly. Every move in sync to undo the other and Corvo smiled.

---​

Corvo knew that Kael was quick and didn't waste a second lest he lose everything. Battles were a matter of seconds or moments and this was no different. As his opponent spun away from the strike, Corvo swung his right foot out and pivoted so that he was still facing the other man rather than letting him get behind. Then he saw his opening.

His uppercut had left his saber hilt pointed in the direction his opponent had moved. His opponent's hilt was coming around and Corvo's thumb triggered his left saber to activate, bursting to life. His wrist flicked upward 90 degrees where it would intercept the incoming strike. There was a slight cracking sound as the metal hilt impacted the phrik of Corvo's helmet. The impact sent his head slightly to the side but most of it was absorbed by padding.

It didn't stop Corvo's strike which would now almost certainly catch his opponent's extended wrist which was committed to the strike. Simultaneously, his right saber spun around to strike higher on the arm. Even if Kael managed to stop one of the attacks, there would be almost no way to stop or evade them both with his arm extended and committed to the strike. @Zay

 

[Zay]

Kael's reaction had been flawless, his execution masterful, but Corvo Vis was an opponent beyond compare. Kael felt like Hector staring into the burning eyes of Achilles and at that moment the young Jedi knew he would lose. His adversaries instincts and reflexes had been tempered in the fires of war. The ease in which Corvo moved astounded the younger man.

Kael had fully committed to his altered spinning back fist. As the hilt of his lightsaber glanced off Corvo's helmet the Jedi knight knew his only option was to follow his momentum and follow up. As his left hand followed the trajectory of his attack moving from it's glace off the helmet from right to left out and away from Corvo, Kael's centered force shrouded hand shot outward moving from right to left following the upward swing of Corvo's newly ignited lightsaber, the Knight's goal was to deflect the first saber retaliation hopefully sending the blade outward away from his opponent.

As Kael deflected the first strike Corvo's trap sprung. His opponents twin blades moved as one, arcing in opposite directions. Kael's deflection would knock Corvo's blade out and away, but in doing so the younger man would be making a sacrafice. In order to ensure a properly timed attack, Kael had to take a hit. As Corvo resisted the sudden deflection marginally, Kale knew he wouldn't come out unscathed. The slight resistance from Corvo was enough to slow the knights hand and put it directly into the path of Corvo's strike. The tip of Corvo's blade slammed into Kael's arm causing a grunt to involutarily escape the man's lips. As the blade bit into his arm, Kael launched into a spinning back kick aimed at Corvo's center mass. With his left hand deflected outward and his right hand down before him completing his attack Corvo's torso was open for attack. If the warrior was able to turn this to his advantage Kael wasn't sure what he would do.

Battles are won and lost in the blink of an eye. He'd already conceded that he'd lose here, but if Kael was going to lose, he planed to make his opponent work for it.
@Phoenix

 

[Phoenix]

There was the fighting spirit Corvo was looking for. There was a point where an opponent knew the battle was lost and in that moment, the way that someone reacted was extremely telling about them. Did they retreat? Did they simply give up and submit? Did they determine to inflict damage on their enemy? Kael chose the last and that told Corvo what he needed to know about him. He was the kind of man Corvo needed.

The fact that his opponent was extremely quick and clearly practiced in martial arts helped his case as well. Were these real blades, Corvo would have swept his saber through the arm and continued down to his opponent's leg, but that option was taken from him as his blade stopped against his opponent's arm, no doubt sending jolts of extensive pain shooting through the limb.

The foot came around and smashed into Corvo's belly, who exhaled upon contact out of habit in order to lessen the pressure of the blow, the armoweave padding him only a little bit as the foot made impact and sent him stumbling backward.

Even so, his two sabers moved in sync again. His right was unimpeded and already in contact with his opponent's body as it went scraping all the way along his opponent's arm stunning and triggering all the nerves until it would eventually made contact with the back of his opponent's neck mid-kick, while his left wrist rotated his blade inward, not to attack the leg but to cross diagonally in front of his face and prevent his opponent's blade from coming around at Corvo's head. @Zay

 

[Zay]

Kael's fleeting victory with his landed kick was immediately replaced by blinding pain. Electricity arched up his right arm as his opponent's lightsaber slammed into it. The pain was replaced by an intense numbing sensation, as if he's shoved his arm into a bucket of needles. However, his attacker wasn't done there. Corvo attempted to keep the paralyzing blade pinned to the younger Jedi, but with the blow to his stomach he was forced backward and during that moment Kael was able to drop into a roll and unleash a sudden burst of telekenetic energy. The blast was akin to a sudden burst of wind and would do little more than help create space between the two. However, that's exactly what Kael wanted.

The Jedi rose to his full height and then settled into a defensive stance. He inverted his lightsaber and held the hilt with a reverse grip. His right arm was null for the time being. The pins and needles he felt running the length of the appendage, made it hard to concentrate on any complex force maneuvers. His best bet was to remain on the attack and see if he could land one more small victory on the man before his incapacitation was facilitated. He was a body legnth away from the warrior before him now. With a deep breath Kael prepared himself for the final pass.

His breathing labored and a feral smile on his lips, Kael committed to one final attack. Lunging forward Kael drew his blade upward and then whipped it down with ferocious intensity. The strike was aimed to cut the man before him straight down the middle. The young jedi put everything he had into the final swing. Hoping to at least cause the man that had defeated him some final discomfort before he was finished off.

@Phoenix

 

[Phoenix]

As Corvo's blade moved along, he felt the blast to his chest, following up on the kick that his opponent had delivered. He stumbled backwards several paces as he had no defense to his belly.

Yet again, they were faced off, one man to the other. His opponent was angry now. Almost a blind rage or some sort of focus on nothing but harming Corvo. Blows had been exchanged and the man had fought well but fighting angry wasn't a viable answer.

He saw Kael's blade flip upward and then descend down quickly. Corvo layered his two sabers up above him and caught the downward blow from his opponent. He had no need to block his opponent's other arm which was all but worthless at this point. As the blades impacted, Corvo's right blade slid under his opponent's blade while his left pinned the blade there. It was quick, a flick of the wrist as his blade whipped around to glance across his opponent's leg much as a Makashi duelist might strike.

He didn't expect his opponent to be able to stop the strike in his current state, but he was never ready to count his opponent out until it was actually done, he'd seen that go wrong before. @Zay

 

[Zay]

Kael paused the video at this point and stared at Corvo Vis. The man was poised like a viper and even in miniature form his underlying ferocity was terrifying. Kael noted his mentor's stance and put to memory to the motions of his twin blades. Satisfied, he pressed play:

Kael's green lightsaber ripped through the air in a downward slash that could have split a mountain. But for all his might, Corvo's cunning won out. Bringing his twin sabers to bear above him he deflected the incoming weapon and sent Kael off balance. The disappointment of failure rooted in his chest as Corvo's blade slammed into his leg. The pain of the saber's stun mode made his leg jerk away unexpectedly and the Jedi knight found himself face down in the dirt.

He released his lightsaber and the blade extinguished leaving the hilt alone in the dirt as a wisp of plasma drifted upward. His left leg and right arm were useless. He'd been defeated just as he'd predicted. He chastised himself being so rash. Had he taken his time and searched for the bigger picture he may have been able to inflict one more hit on the other man before going down. Anger had nothing to do with Kael's motivation. He knew that the only way to get something done was to do it. This straightforwardness was his greatest weakness.

He pushed himself up onto his left knee and looked up to Corvo, "So, did I pass?"

@Phoenix

 

[Phoenix]

Corvo finally let out a heavy breath as the fight came to a close. The other man had fought well, far better than many Corvo had known. Both blades extinguished in his hands, setting them back to full force. As he snapped them back to his belt, he reached around to his own stomach. No doubt he would have a bruise there from the multiple attacks to the area as it was already tender to the touch.

Corvo nodded in response to the other man's question. He had fought well and though he hadn't won, that wasn't the thing Corvo was focused on. You could tell a great deal about someone from how they fought and what they did. Yes... now wasn't that a much better audition than anything else? No awkward interviews or anything of that sort. A fight and it was done. Although there were a few probing questions as well.

Corvo looked up from the video and glanced at Kael. My abs were sore for a week after that, you know. You should feel bad about that... he said jokingly. The entire thing had been quite interesting, for both of them Corvo thought. It seemed so long ago now. @Zay

 

[Zay]

Kael laughed and regretted it immediately. His body was numb struggled to respond to his commands.

"Couldn't have asked for a better test." He said as he winced at the pins and needles creeping up his leg.

The video darkened and the replay symbol appeared. Kael clicked off the video as Corvo stepped forward.

"My abs were sore for a week after that, you know. You should feel bad about that..." Kael scoffed at the remark.

"Pretty sure I couldn't move for the rest of the day..." he slid the datapad into his utility belt and turned to meet the Jedi General.

Kael stepped forward and offered his hand in greeting. "Didn't realize you were conducting debriefs now. We that under staffed?"

So far as Kael knew he and Corvo were the only members of their little group. He assumed the council knew, but wasn't sure how involved they were with the missions he'd been on in the past. Kael's curiosity was peaked as he awaited a response.
@Phoenix

 

[Phoenix]

Corvo smiled just a bit, not wearing his helmet for their meeting this time. Oh come on, we're always understaffed. It was a joke but had some truth to it as well. To Corvo, it seemed like the Jedi never had enough people to do what they needed to in order to stop the Sith. Sure, they might be able to slow them down or even hold them, but not drive them back. It kept Corvo running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

It was even more true of the Shadows. Their numbers had been... fluid for a long time and they weren't exactly the Council's most fond members, but they got results that surpassed any other group in the Jedi. Today though, wasn't about the Sith. Kael had done good work for the Shadows over the last half-decade, Corvo couldn't deny that and it was why he was reaching out to him for a new assignment, potentially more hazardous than ever before.

Or maybe I just like to keep a pulse on everything. You ready for another job? The question was laced with uncertainty but he didn't want to go into details if the other man wasn't ready. The Shadows were volunteers and if any of them ever felt that they weren't prepared for what they had to do, they didn't have to - and shouldn't go. He watched the other man, pondering his expressions and body movement to try to determine how he felt about something new. @Zay

 

[Zay]

Kael scoffed, "Its been five years ya know, I'd have expected you to recruit a secretary by now." The Jedi laughed. And then waved a dismissing hand at Corvo, "I'm kidding."

Kael had missed this camaraderie. The past five years had been spent in near isolation save his brief, very brief, run ins with other Jedi. The missions he'd completed weren't talked about. Hell, he had no clue where the intel he gathered went. Wasn't his place to ask. He was a pawn in the scheme of things. Nothing more, nothing less.

The younger Jedi rolled his eyes and laughed. "What tired of me all ready? I literally just got back ya know." He was kidding of course. Kael felt most alive when on a mission. The adventure and excitement were everything he'd hoped and while he missed the routine of Jedi life as a Librarian, he relished in the thrill of battle.

"Hand it over..." he said with mock fatigue gracing his words. This was it. He'd now be sent on a mission completely alone. If he failed he died. If he succeeded he got to test the Moirai's thread once again. Would it snap under the pressure or would it last one more time? Only the force knew the answer to that. In the back of his mind though, Kael couldn't help but wonder if he'd comeback the same as he always had.

Recently, the struggle between the light and the dark was becoming harder to decipher. He seemed to act first and think later generally this resulted in bad news. Was he really prepared for this? the fact that Corvo had come himself spoke volumes to the importance of the mission. On top of that the man had shown his face which only worsened Kael's growing dread.

"I'm guessing everything I need is in here?" he lifted the small data card and turned it over in his palm. It always surprised Kael, how insignificant something could appear. In his hands there was a very high possibility that he held his death. Striking the morbid thought from his mind he smiled and said, "Hey, if I make it back, can i have a cool mask? I feel like I need a cool mask."

@Phoenix

 

[Phoenix]

There was a weight to it all. They could both feel that this was going to be difficult, there was no need to say it. He was here to give the information and hopefully help his compatriot with the difficulties of what was coming, but there was only so much he could do. That was the trouble of doing this sort of operation, it was all up to the operative.

He pressed a datachip into Kael's hand. On it he would find protocols and codewords for contact (Westworld) with others outside the order, information they were looking for and the limited information they had about the organization. It wasn't irregular.

When you come back, you can have a dozen masks if it makes you happy. Although they both knew there was a chance that he wouldn't come back - infiltrating an assassin group wasn't safe after all - Corvo wasn't going to promote that point of view by using the word "if." They both knew the dangers associated with this. He'd chosen his path and seemed ready though. Even so, Corvo could sense the darkness seeping out and flowing around.

Perhaps it wasn't darkness per se, but Corvo knew how difficult it could be to maintain that connection to the light, particularly if you were or had been steeped in complete darkness. He hoped Kael wouldn't lose himself, but there was little Corvo could do for him if he did, except not send him out. But at this point, they didn't have many other options.

It wasn't that he didn't have faith in him, but bad things could happen to anyone. He had seen it happen in Shae first hand and it pained him. Be careful... of them, and yourself. He gave a nod. @Zay

 

[Zay]

Kael bristled at Corvo's warning. He tucked the data chip into his wrist com and made a mental note of the phrase the general had mentioned. Sometimes the Jedi general's intuition was far to accurate. Kael refused to hide his worry and merely accepted the other man's words. Few members of the Jedi commanded the young knight's respect the way the general did. He was a man of few words and when he spoke Kael listened. The advice of the General had been tantamount in his survival over the past five years. Ignoring it now would be folly.

Kael never responded to the other man, but he could feel a release. As if the force had given him leave to depart. He turned back toward the ever churning waters below committed the sight to memory. The undulating waves, soft zephyrs and taste of salt. This very spot was his solace and in that moment Kael vowed to return. Whether he was alive when he did so was up to the force.

Tearing himself from the welcoming waves Kael turned and began to walk away. He pulled out a ratty pack of cheap cigarettes and lit one up. As he reached Corvo his blue eyes met the deep russet irises of one of the galaxy's most powerful beings. I'll have eyes like that one day. He thought as he passed the other man. He made his way toward the line of trees Corvo had emerged from so long ago and he chuckled.

Calling over his shoulder he said, "I'm looking forward to the masks. I fully expect twelve of them."

Humor filled his words, but none of it reached his eyes as Kael began the familiar transition into his mission focused mind. He would become the warrior the Jedi needed him to be. His heart was heavy as he carefully and quietly made his way through the foliage. The force seemed to swell around him as he made his way toward the temple. His mission was laid out before him and he was fully prepared to do whatever it took to complete the task set before him.
@Phoenix