Battle of Saleucami - Lake of Fire

[GABA]

Ebberla could feel Tristian coming, his thoughts loud and irrational, he was going to get himself killed. She had felt it was her duty to protect her army, Tris, Commander Fosra, and the rest of the Galactic Alliance soldiers that now stood anxiously awaiting to hear if they really do get to go home or not. She would do whatever she could do in her power to see everyone home safely.

The Sith spoke his name: Darth Umbra.

Her eyes remained focused on the Sith. She could feel Tris coming and knew by the sudden subtle facial muscle twitch by the sith, that he knew Tris was closing in. Ebberla closed her eyes focusing on her fellow Jedi, his thoughts still ran, but there was something different about them, a different purpose. Her mind was more secure than a dead man's and reached out with the Force touching Tris's mind. She sent a soothing calm, a reassurance everything would be fine. She hoped it would be enough to keep the Knight for doing anything irrational.

But in an ironic fortune the Sith had sensed Tristrian's hesitation and took full advantage, pinning the Knight to his seat. Ebberla gave another push against the Sith brace against her, attempting to bring his focus back to her and not on anyone else. Though, obviously he wasn't done as he spoke again and it would have been foolish to think he was in the first place. She saw something skitter out of his belt and onto the black surface of the ground she lied forcefully upon.

Ebberla closed her mind, cutting herself from anyone and everyone. She drew upon the Force, but there was something more sinister that lurked on the path the bug crawled. She felt the pincerbug climb curiously on her shoulder, it stopped at her neck, then continued along her cheek, and then to her forehead. She sought comfort in the Force, she knew it wasn't going to end well, she could feel it raise its stinger and then it pierced her skin.

It was simply agony. Far more than physical pain, it brought along something else: the dark side. The Jedi felt it sting her again, and then again.

Ebberla screamed, time slowed down, she retreated inside herself. She could feel the bug's venom seeping into her veins and it wasn't going to take long before it spread through her body. Ebberla's mind scrambled for focus as it begun a violent detoxification against the sith venom. But it was winning. She felt the dark side inside her, eating her away, smothering the light that burned inside her. She pushed back harder as it begun to whisper, whisper reassurances of comfort.

It would offer her comfort, safety, the power to overcome the toxins burning into her forehead. She reached into the darkness grasping for the light, it was fading and the darkness tempting her offered her an open hand, just to take it and it would be over. Just only to touch its finger tips...

Physically, Ebberla felt the bug skitter away. She opened her eyes, the world blurred and spinning. The Sith's hold on her nearly crushing her, she must have released the push countering against him.

Just a touch...

She heard it whisper again, she could feel the skin on her forehead exposed from the vemon of the bug that burned it away, her body still working violently, healing itself. She turned her head in the direction of her army.

All of it will go away...

Ebberla turned her head back to look at Darth Umbra

He made his pain go away...

Ebberla turned her head and looked to her other side, seeing Knight Dario restrained in his seat. Tristian-Ambrose Dario Baptiste, he was an arrogant fool.

The Jedi and their foolishness...

It whispered. Ebberla closed her eyes again, she could feel Tristian in the Force, glowing brightly and warmly in the darkness that shrouded her. He was the anchor she needed. There was a purpose for all actions even if they seemed foolish previously. Ebberla reached for the light side of the Force, the fading glow illuminated inside her once again burning away the darkness that threaten to drown her. The full fledged pain of the stings returned, but her strength returned.

She lifted her hand weakly and released a force flash, attempting to get the Sith off of her and creating distance as the Force begun healing her body from the pincerbug's poison.

 

[DeathToll]

Tris' body immediately flexed against an immense power, pinning him to the seat of the speeder. At first, his eyes shot over to the Sith's face, or lack of one, and searched for the strength to break free of his hold. The Sith began talking. The answer began whispering into Tris' mind. The question, wondering what the Sith would do to her; with all his words, he taunted. But really, Tris knew. Deep down, he'd already answered the question that stirred an intense doubt and pull on his heart.

His eyes changed back to her, pleading with her that she do something, yet saying nothing. But when thoughts were all that could manifest, he realized she had blocked him off from her. He felt the echos of a soothing calm. His eyes melted shut in the welcoming touch of that familiar feeling, head still pressed cheek against head-rest. It was her. The realization snapped him back into aggression, lightning striking through his eyes as he regain his awareness.

He felt some give from the oppressor's weighted forcefulness, due to Ebberla's push to regain his attention; at which Tris then tried to lift his head free, struggling only a few inches away. But then he saw it. He could sense the wretched insect imposing itself upon her, and he lost focus; his head planting back into the head-rest. He nearly spoke several words, but couldn't manage anything; just shaking his head.

"Nn.. Eh... Ph.. Dt..."

All he could do was watch the devilish thing creep and crawl up towards its target; her shoulder, neck, cheek, and then finally her forehead. Tris' hand, practically welded to the inside of the door handle, was making a dent beneath his grip in dreadful anticipation. It's stinger raised, and his mouth drifted open. His brow squeezed against itself with all the pressure that resisted against the Sith's force. His jaw couldn't be tighter, that lip quivering. And then, it stung her.

She screamed. Her voice, for all his ability that he could not comfort her, called out to all the shortcomings of his being.

It stung her again. It stung her again. Yet each time the malicious act made them cringe, Tris' eyes would not blink. In fact, they began to water so in the stress of resisting the natural urge.

"EBBERLAAA!!"

For all the strength in his voice, he knew she could not hear him. The bug skittered away. The blood had neatly formed a filling dollup of red upon her forehead, before dribbling off the sides. He could feel her unparralleld focus begin to fail, still more than a match for most any capable Jedi or Sith. Her head turned to the army. Tris' jaw closed tight. She turned to the Sith. Tris felt a strange ease come over him, an empowering calm like that which he exudes during a duel. He thought it odd that he felt that way now. What had come over him? But it was that same confidence he held when facing an opponent, as he always knew he was the superior. It was his arrogance, his weakness yet his strength. And then she looked to him. And before he knew it, he was in her thoughts; not her emotions as much her impressions. It was more basic, yet more insightful, then any emotion. If not for this painfull toll on her mentally and physically, he was not sure if he'd ever have felt this connection to her. He glowed brightly and warmly, within her. It was as if he were watching her discover him there, like the night discovering the dawn. Her eyes had closed, but then ...she saw him, she found him.

His hand squeezed the door harder than he realized, lost in that moment as if his hand were gripping hers, somehow. Her consciousness began building with a blooming light. Though he still could not move, he could feel it. Her hand barely lifted. He hadn't taken his eyes off of her. Then the Flash. Tris reeled from the light, loosing the connection as she came to; recoiling to shut and shield his eyes from the light.

 

[Zach]

((Sorry for the wait, had a lot on my plate the last couple days. On my lunch break, so here's a 20 minutes bit. Can count as a conclusion, or Raif can post with the ending details.))

Ruthric smiled viciously down at the Jedi Master, holding his left arm steady against the Knight in the speeder. The pincerbug crawled along the woman's neck to her forehead, preparing to strike and leave its imprint of the Sith upon her face. He er felt her emotions radiating from her connection with the Force, flaring as she held strong for her ally. The Sith Lord could feel the desperation coming from the one he held pinned against the speeder, wanting nothing more than to leap from his seat to aid his friend.

As the insect began striking Ebberla's face, Ruthric turned to the other and grinned evilly, wondering what he would do to him as well. As often as the assassin had expressed his dislike for the needless bloodlust of his Sith allies, the thrill of battle against a true enemy was well within his morals and ethics. The Jedi were the scum of the universe, and their existence was nothing more than a sham. These keepers of the peace would soon be eradicated, be it his doing or another's.

As the bug struck for the last time, he felt the intensity of Ebberla's connection to the Force surge, feeling the deepest of bonds with the power in its poison. He felt her will at work, attempting to purge the substance and darkness from her body, but it was for naught. Her attempts were not in vain, but the slightest of remnants remained, residing deep in the core of her mind until a later day. Perhaps it would mean nothing, and perhaps it would change the course of history - Needless to say, the Jedi Master's resolve was impressive, and her destiny was her own. Only she could determine what would happen in her future.

As the mark came to a bloodied completion, Ruthric recognized she was not beaten. A sudden surge of energy blasted forward from the pinned woman, battling against the Sith Lord's grip. His eyes widened in surprise - while he'd expected her to resist, the amount of power that came from her was shocking, to say the least. It was foolish of him to expect any less though. She was a Jedi Master for a reason, and this was ony a glimpse of her true power. For a moment, he wondered how she would fair as a Sith, if she ever chose to give in to the temptations of the Dark Side.

Ruthric's hold over the woman broke, shattering into a thousand wisps of kinetic energy, quickly dissipating in the smoky air around them. Even now, the surrounding environment was ashy and dark from the surrounding mounds that erupted in plumes of smoke. In a way, the battlefield had grown dreary and ominous, perhaps only seeming that way from the demoralizing efforts of himself and the Crusader, Royston. The Sith Lord recoiled from the energy surging around his unarmed opponent, but held his wall against the Jedi in the speeder.

Without hesitation, he dropped the concentration of everything he focused on, aside from the constant walls that barricaded his mind. The defense of his thoughts and will were his own, but it was his emotions of passion in battle that he kept most dear. Ruthric fueled the power of the Dark Side and bent it to his will, channeling the energy through his arms as if they were a conduit. He focused only on Ebberla's Force sensitivity, honing in the connection she held with it. he held no physical barriers against her, nor upon her nearby ally, but the art of Force breach was one he'd practiced several times against weakened opponents. Ebberla was by no means utterly defeated, but without a weapon or use of the Force, she wouldn't pose a threat.

"Your armies are beaten, Jedi," he called loud enough for the both of them to hear. "As promised, you will be returned to your homes... Remember my message, and delivery it to your masters. They will be the judge of what is to come, but I leave you with a gift of advice," he offered insincerely, grinning sinisterly in his mock tone. "Heed not the threat of the Sith, nor even the impending doom that the Imperium threatens your Alliance with; fear the Dark Side, but more importantly... Respect it," he cautioned, hoping she would take his words to heart. The future was always in motion, and you never knew how it could turn out - she very well may be the most powerful Jedi Ruthric had met, but that didn't mean she had to stay with her alignment. The Sith were welcoming to those with power - as long as they could embrace that power.

The two squads of commandos rushed hurriedly across the flank of the Jedi base, coming up on Ruthric's side opposite the Galactic Alliance forces. They aimed their weapons, but held their fire as instructed. They were here to detain those who'd surrendered, and bring them up to the fleet. From there, they would be dispatched to GA space, and returned to their homes. Darth Umbra felt no further need to keep them under Sith custody. They had their message, and it would be delivered, with word or silence.