Brave the Storm (Jedi Mission: Siege of Malachor)

[StarWriter]

​

Brave the Storm​

Storm Beasts. Terrible, deformed abominations that had been induced into an unknowable and wretched state. Whatever these life forms once were has been lost to time, thousands of years ago. Now, these creatures are but aggressive monstrosities, brutally twisted by the Dark Side's corruption and transformed into ravenous creatures.​

Or so that is what Tycho had learned in the archives on Tython. Having never seen one before the Jedi Knight was not truly sure what to expect from this mission, but that didn't really matter. The foothold the Army had on Malachor was a tenuous one and these Dark Side created abominations not only put the entire campaign at risk, but more importantly endangered countless lives. At least he would not have to face this threat alone, Tycho was aware that two other Jedi would be joining him in this task. An initiate and a fellow Knight, neither of whom he had met before this day which weighed on his mind. Despite the growth of his youth under the tutelage of his former master and the still recent sting of having lost her to the Sith, his old introverted tendencies still reared their heads from time to time.

It had been a little less than an hour since he had arrived at Malachor, his Antarian starfighter was parked out with the rest of the Army of Light's ships at the rear of the temporary field base that had been hastily constructed upon the Army's arrival. Tycho sat, legs crossed beneath him, eyes closed in deep meditation. The draw of the Dark Side was so strong here. He could feel the taint that permeated this place like a blanket of molasses that clung to his mind, his heart and his soul like an insidious infection. He did not care for this place, and yet he knew that there was hope for it. Should the Army of Light succeed here, this once great world could begin the long and slow healing process that could see it once again be a verdant and beautiful world. As it assuredly once had, ages past.

A good vision to cling to and focus towards. For the moment there was naught to do but wait, for his fellow Jedi to arrive so they could begin the task of chasing away the packs of Storm Beasts that plagued their people.

Tycho sat near the center of the base itself, close to the stores of supplies and munitions so that they could outfit themselves as they might need in order to complete their objective. At present he had what he usually carried with him, his hood and mask up to conceal his face as was typical for him. Only when he was comfortable around someone did he ever show his face, it was simpler to conceal his emotions that way and felt as if he had a protective barrier between him and the sometimes uncomfortable or awkward social interactions.

As part of his meditations both of his single-bladed lightsabers were floating in soft circles around him as he waited, using telekinesis always helped focus his mind. Which given the nature of this world was a boon. Tycho hoped that his compatriots would arrive soon, if they weren't already here so they could link up and begin their mission.

@JaegerHD @Raydo

 

[JaegerHD]

Finally reaching the planet after several hours of travel, Lakata quickly entered the necessary commands to begin her descent. Leaving the pilot seat, she quickly rifled through her belongings to find her gear. Lakata spent several minutes frantically looking for her medical kit before coming to the realization that it was already strapped to her belt. "Of course. I forget to look for it in the one place it always is. I'm surprised I don't lose my own head without checking that it's there every five minutes." She pulls her cloak out of a nearby drawer and hastily throws it on, pushing the hood back. A soft beep reminds her that she is nearing the planet's surface. Looking at the dashboard, Lakata notices that she is late for the rendezvous. "Oh no. I'm so going to get yelled at for showing up late to my first mission."

The navigation beeps once again, letting her know that she needs to strap in for the final part of the descent. Jumping into her seat, Lakata pulls the seat-belt over her shoulders and locks it in just in time. With a heavy shudder, the ship slows down before coming to a jarring stop on the surface of Malachor. Unbuckling herself, she sees one of the Jedi already sitting outside meditating. Not wanting to keep him waiting, she speeds through the shutdown process for her ship. Opening the cockpit, she almost steps out before noticing that she left her book on the console. Snatching it from its resting place, she places it into her robes before leaping gracefully down to the surface. As she lands, the cockpit closes with a faint whisper.

Fascinated with the beautifully haunting landscape, Lakata takes a step towards a nearby cave before remembering why she arrived. Blushing to her self and admonishing herself for her drifting mind, she briskly walks up to the Jedi. As she comes to a stop in front of him, she opens her mouth to speak before closing it again. Lakata didn't want to disturb his meditation, but she also wanted to let him know she had arrived. Biting her lip, she rocks back and forth trying to come to a decision.

 

[Raydo]

Silas had been one the first Jedi on Malachor. He had help set up the Jedi Base camp, but had already been assigned another mission. He had tried sleeping, but this place gave him the creeps.

The Dark Side seem to ooze from the planet. It would take some time for the Jedi to bring any semblance of peace to the world. Their first task was securing the area so the Jedi army could use it as a staging ground. People had been getting attacked by some type of creature ever since they had first stepped onto the world.

It had taken three attacks before anyone caught a glimpse at the beasts responsible. Storm Beasts were creatures that had been exposed to Darkness for so long, they had become twisted abominations, despising anything that resembled the Light.

Silas rose from his cot in the large tent the Jedi were using as a barracks. He was only able to get a few moments of sleep, but it was time to head out and see what could be done about the beast in the area.

With bags under his eyes, he slowly clipped on his saber belt and pull his boots on before making his way to the staging area. He was the last to arrive. "Sorry for being late, it is impossible to get sleep around here." the Jedi Knight commented giving a brief bow to both of the Jedi. "My name is Silas Lightsinger." he said in introduction.

"We about ready to get this over with?" he asked as the introductions were made. He took a small hand drawn map and laid it over a crate for the other two to see. "Here are all the locations attacks have been reported." he said pointing to each of them on the map. They were all based in a loose circle around a nearby mountain. "This mountain." he said point to it on the map. "Has a large network of caves. It seems logical that our pest problem is centered there. Thoughts?" he said glancing to his fellow Jedi.

 

[Tycho]

As he meditated Tycho was vividly aware of his surroundings, every Jedi that milled about, the crews working on the starships, the support personnel moving about to try and get the field base as efficient as possible. The various ships taking off and landing on the field nearby. One in particular made an abrupt and hasty landing that caught his attention. It was noteworthy because he could sense an deep sense of urgency and worry coming from the occupant even before he saw the padawan hop down from the vessel.

Though he remained in his meditative state, the Knight was keenly aware of her presence and the fact that she was so eager to begin their mission that she nearly went off into the nearby cave. Beneath the cloth mask concealing his face he cracked a smile, he had been like that once and still was to an extent. Always eager to see the galaxy.

"Relax and be at ease. We're still waiting for one more to join us." He said softly while making the lightsabers drift and dance around him.

Slowly his eyes opened to look at her, the only part of his face that could be seen. "You should be a bit more cautious with your thoughts, I could feel your worry as you descended." Tycho was a skilled telepath though with how much she was projecting even a novice could have sensed what she was thinking.

Around this time he felt the presence of another approaching and heard the last member of their little squad make his apologies and introduce himself.

"I'm Tycho. Skyblade." He'd introduce himself after a moment, almost as an after thought.

When Silas began his briefing, he would rise to his feet to stand with him as his two lightsabers floated into his palms to be clipped to his belt. One on each hip, the right one clinked against the hilt of a third, rather charred and inoperable lightsaber. It had belonged to his master and the thought of it suddenly had his mind flooded with the raw emotion of that loss still fresh in his mind.

"Let's. The sooner we're done the sooner we can be away from this place. The Dark Side is like a gravity well that pulls on the soul." He commented and brushed his fingers over his temple briefly as he focused his mind and pushed thoughts of Master Kayde away.

He listened with great intent and would commit the locations of the attacks to memory.

"The mountain is some ways from here. We should take some speeders at least part or most of the way and then approach it with caution. We have no idea how many of these beasts there may be." Tycho would comment as he strode over to the armory nearby and retrieved a few things. A CryoBan grenade, a pair of fragmentation grenades and a few concussion grenades that he would secure in pouches on his belt before joining them once more. He had chosen mostly non-lethal explosives since they were meant to stop the attacks, not wipe out the beasts. Such death would only make the corruption of this world harder to cleanse. "Just in case."

Once again he fell silent, his glance darting between his fellow Jedi. He was as ready as he could be and more than eager to get to it.

 

[JaegerHD]

Startled at his words, Lakata took a second to formulate her thoughts. "It's nice to meet you Master Skyblade. I am Padawan Lakata. It's a great honor to work with you today." After being admonished for not guarding her thoughts, Lakata immediately concentrated on correcting the issue. Shielding her mind was always difficult for her. She did well until something excited or worried her and then she immediately would drop her shield. "Thank you for the advice. I will do my best."

Not having anything to contribute to the plan, Lakata walks over to the supplies and begins searching for useful gear. After a minute or two, she grabs a handful of medical supplies to supplement her kit, along with a powerful clip-on flashlight and signal booster for the communicators. The last this she wanted was to get separated and not be able to contact the other Jedi. Jogging back to the others, she began to memorize the location of the attacks and any landmarks leading back to the base. After she finished she looks up to Master Skyblade. "I am not very proficient in land speeders. I have a tendency to.... incapacitate them."

Not until he had mentioned it did Lakata notice the taint of the Dark side that permeated the air. It felt almost as if there was a blanket of dread covering the surface of the planet. Cursing herself for not being aware, Lakata closed her eyes and temporarily opened her senses. All at once she was hit with the anguish and pure hatred of the creatures that live on this cursed planet. The force of it caused her to drop to one knee. "How does anything survive with that much hate?" Struggling, Lakata pulled back her senses and resolutely blocked the corruption from her mind. Reaching up, she uses the nearby crate to help herself back up. "Is it even possible to save this planet?"

 

[Raydo]

He eyed the initiate as she fell to the ground. It wasn't that he didn't have empathy for her, but it was going to get a lot worse and she was obviously rattled by the place. He helped the Togrutan Jedi find her footing, shooting a glance at the older Jedi Knight. He questioned why the initiate would even be assigned to such a mission. Even if they made it back, the Dark Side tainted everything here.

"There is nothing that it too far from redemption." he said as bent over and handed her some of the gear that had fallen from her pack. "Find your balance in the Force and focus on that." he said quiet enough so only she would hear.

They could only just see the mountain range they were heading for on the horizon. Thunder boom as lightning rolled across the sky. "Of Course." he said to himself securing his pack and moving to one of the three speeders.

"The storms can kick up alot of dirt!" he said raising his voice to be heard above the sudden rush of wind. "If we are going, we need to go now!" he commented pulling the helmet on and googles over his face. He waited until his two fellow Jedi were ready to go before the speeder roared to life.

They left the camp and entered the rocky plain that led to the mountain. The storm built around them, lightning occasionally striking the ground near them. Silas leaned down further to avoid making his profile any larger than it needed to be as sand began to pelt him, stinging where ever it found bare skin.

 

[Tycho]

Despite his seeming unease at being in the company of his fellow Jedi, he did give the young initiate a nod at her comment. "That's all anyone can ask."
A slight hidden smirk formed when the young Jedi referenced her proficiency with speeders, this time he would merely glance in her direction and nod then reflexively move to her side when she dropped to her knee.

"Open your senses slowly next time. Doing that is like opening a flood gate to a raging river. Next time you may not be able to close the gate." He recited one of Master Kayde's favorite sayings.

"He's correct. Though it won't be an easy task." He glanced to his fellow Knight as he walked just behind him and towards the speeders.

Tycho quickly mounted one of the vehicles and powered it up, pausing only to ensure that the young initiate joined them. Though he didn't say anything, he would reach through the Force to try and help share his skill on a speeder with the initiate. If nothing else to keep her steady as they rode into the hastening winds. As the sand blasted across his face he was ever grateful for the goggles he wore and the cloth mask that covered all but his eyes. In this case it came in quite handy.

Tycho kept Silas in sight but made sure to ride beside Lakata to ensure if she had an issue with her ride that he could assist. A lightning strike hit the ground far closer than he liked and made him grip the controls tightly. At their brisk pace it didn't take their small party long to reach the foot of the mountains and he did his best to keep his senses extended as much as he could given the nature of this world.

As they neared the peak, he felt a mind, hateful, feral and amidst the raging winds that blew about mountain he glimpsed the scant profile of a large figure on the other side of Lakata. As with the initiate it was a small matter to read the thoughts broadcast, such hate, focused towards them. Anguish, pain. He knew what it was, a Storm Beast mid leap. Acting on instinct and reflex he would quickly raise both hands off the controls of his speeder, knees gripping the side of the vehicle tightly as he grabbed hold of the beast with the Force. Felt it wrap around the immense creature. Once that contact was secure in his mind he would follow through, using the beast's own momentum as he raised it a bit higher above the two of them so it would sail over their heads and be cast hard into a rock outcropping. A loud impact could barely be heard over the winds as he glanced back, leaning on the handlebars of his speeder.

"Stay alert. We're being hunted!" He yelled out to be heard over the storm. Tycho understood now why they had been sent on this mission. Barely minutes into it and they already had been attacked. And there was no telling how many more were out there. It was so hard to tell them from the background sensations of the planet itself until they were right on top of you.

 

[JaegerHD]

Recovering from strain took Lakata several long minutes. While that was happening she got onto her speeder, covered her face and put her goggles on. They began to travel towards the mountain at a brisk pace and Lakata was too busy protecting her mind to realize she was piloting her speeder much better than usual. Unwilling to reach out with the Force, she instead tried to use her species' natural sensitivity to try and keep her alert of any threats. Unfortunately, the storm and sand made it difficult for her to extend her sense more than a few feet. She didn't notice the Storm Beast until it was in midair and almost upon their group. As she was about to yell out to warn the others, she saw Tycho toss the creature away from them.

Not wanting to be caught unawares again, Lakata tentatively used to Force to improve her senses even more. Hopefully this would give them a few seconds more warning for the next attack. As soon as she began to do this, she could feel the pressure of the Dark side against her mind. It felt like a dull ache in the back of her mind trying to probe farther in. Setting mental walls against it, she almost didn't notice the new presence of another beast. Lakata turned on her comm and yelled into it,"There's another one coming up on your right, Master Tycho!"

As the beast sprinted forward, Lakata reaches to her belt and grasps her lightsaber. Unclipping it from her belt, she activates it and throws it in the same motion. The burning, yellow blade spirals through the air, cutting down the beast as it gathered itself to jump. Closing her eyes, Lakata feels for the lightsaber in her mind and pulls it back to her hands before it could get lost in the storm.

All the research she did at the Temple didn't warn her about how fast these monsters were and how difficult it would be to fight them. The books explained their tactics, but seeing it first hand was something completely different than imagining it. She was beginning to see why she was tasked with this mission. Without her natural sensory skills, this mission would be almost suicidal.

The nearby rocks and pillars were playing tricks on her eyesight. She saw figures that her other senses told her weren't there. Unable to trust her own eyes, Lakata closed them once again and poured more of her concentration on expanding her senses. As she reached farther out and her senses became more clear, she realized that they were nearly surrounded on all sides. Several of the creatures were keeping up with their speed, and others were laying in ambush up ahead.

"We need to find another path to the mountain! These Storm Beasts are closing around us, and we cannot hold them off in this storm. There's a cave system on our left coming up in a few meters. We should pull in there and continue on foot."

 

[Raydo]

One of the beast slammed against Silas' speeder just as he slowed the bike. It threw Silas several feet to his left, rolling to regain his footing. The beast surged forward as Silas plated his feet, starring the best down. At the last second, Silas jumped to the right, sweeping his blade and taking two of its legs. It cried out in pain and it fell to ground thrashing. Silas stepped in, his blade sliding into the beast's neck. It twitched one last time before dying.

He turned, only just barely able to see the other two. The Padawan was yelling a suggestion that they should enter the caves to escape the beasts. They had probably originated from said cave, but they didn't have much choice. They had to enter cave, not out of concern for safety , but because it would lead to heart of their den.

He moved closer to the two, his should already aching from the fall he had already taken. With his dark blue blade still ignited in his hand, they proceeded into the cave. It was large enough fall all three of the to walk side by side, the ceiling about seven feet high. As they stepped inside, the howling of the building storm could be heard, but as it grew dimmer the further and further they moved into the cave it was replaced by a far more sinister symphony of noises.

Growls and snarls could be heard echoing from unkown depths in the caves. As they rounded the corner, last rays of sunlight being disappearing, a other worldly scream echoed through the cave. It sent ice cold chills down Silas' back.

 

[Tycho]

Hearing the initiate's voice he picked out the presence of the beast in question and laid flat against his speeder as her lightsaber sailed over him to lay the creature low before it could attack. Afterwards Tycho came to the same realization that Lakata had, with the winds and sand raging around them their eyes could not be trusted so he opened his mind to the world around him to expand his senses. Eyes closed as he saw through the Force, he could feel the feral, primal rage and anguish of the beasts that seemed to easily pace them on their flanks. OR farther up ahead laying in wait to pounce.

He sensed the beast that struck Silas' speeder too late to offer any sort of aid, instead he redirected hi attention to a pair that were closing in on each side of him and Lakata. Still gripping his speeder's controls he grasped both of his lightsabers with a thought and flung them in the air towards each unseen beast. The teal blades ignited mid flight as they twirled in a deadly spiral and severed both legs on the respective sides of the beasts. Their howls of pain mixed with the wind as they fell. Tycho brought his speeder to a skidding halt near Silas after he dispatched the beast who attacked him, his own lightsabers returned to hover around them both while backing up towards the cave.

There was no escaping these creatures, not here, especially in their own domain. The caves would be even more dangerous than this, yet Tycho would rather them brave the network of tunnels than fight them on open ground. At least in the caves their numbers would not count for as much if they were careful.

Several Storm Beasts encroached on the entrance as they went in and he flung both sabers towards them in a brief flurry that took down one and was enough of a deterrent for the moment to make the rest back off. And why not, there were far more to deal with inside. Turning to face the direction they were now going, he took hold of his weapons and held them at the ready. Their teal hue blended with the dark blue from Silas' lightsaber.

He winced a bit as he began to feel more and more beasts ahead and all around them. "So..many." He voice wavered for only a moment before the Knight focused his mind and calmed his nerves. The sickening aura of this world made controlling emotions harder than usual.

"That was the Alpha." Tycho said, hearing the same scream that unnerved his fellow Knight.

The tunnel they were in slowly began to open up into a larger chamber, maybe a dozen meters high and with multiple other paths branching out from it. Growls and snarls could be heard down each and again that scream echoed almost as if on cue when they stepped in the center of the chamber. From each of the nearly dozen passages came pouring out Storm Beasts, each of which charged the trio.

Tycho settled into a defensive stance and brought both blades up to spear the beast to reach him first, right through the head and barely bring them out and up in time to shield himself from the claws of another. He placed his back towards the other two, hoping that they would do the same since it would give them the best chance of holding their ground. Especially the initiate, Tycho was concerned for Lakata's safety and threw one of his sabers at a beast that went for her, an act which distracted him enough to be knocked down to the floor by a Storm Beast as it barreled into him.

 

[JaegerHD]

Lakata followed the two Jedi into the cave system hoping that it would be easier to defend themselves from the beasts. As they enter, she hops off her speeder and takes off her goggles. Her senses warned her of an incoming beast and she fumbled for her sabers, but luckily for her Tycho took down the beast. Turning, she sees him get knocked over. As the best rears up to crush him, Lakata leaps forward and cuts cleanly through it. Landing past it, she spins and kicks the corpse away before it can land on Tycho.

"If you don't mind, I can heal your shoulder, Silas. It should only take a few seconds." Hearing another beast coming, Lakata turns around and sprints towards the creature. As it swings at her, she slides between it's legs. As she passes through, she shears off the beasts legs. Coming out of the slide, Lakata stands up and finishes of the creature with a swift thrust. "We really should get moving though. There should be less to fight once we lose them in the caves."

 

[Raydo]

He waved the Padawan off. "I'm Fine." he said in response to the dull ache in his shoulder. It wasn't the first time he would have to spend with the Jedi Healers, in fact, he found himself spending quite a bit of time.

They walked through the caves, stopping every few feet as another terrifying sound echoed though the place. Silas didn't realize how tight he had been holding his lightsaber until his hand started to ache. He looked down, forcing himself to relax.

They entered a cavern which branched off into many different caves that led in all directions. They had already made it about half way when chaos erupted as howls and screams exploded throughout the cavern as the beast rushed the three Jedi from all angles.

With his back turned to the other Jedi, Silas pulled the blaster pistol from its holster and fired several shots. Two of the storm beast fell, but replaced by three clambering to get over the corpses.

"What were you saying about the caves being safer?" he asked sarcastically as he slid to side, decapitating a beast who had over extended. While they held their ground for the time being, it was simply a numbers game. They would be overrun if they didn't do something .

He looked to his left just in time to see a beast leap at Tycho's side. Reaching out with the Force, Silas hurled the beast into one of companions rushing Silas.

 

[StarWriter]

Tycho muttered under his breath upon being unceremoniously knocked off his feet by the beast while defending the padawan. Thankfully she was swift enough to likewise come to his aid and sliced the creature in twaid before rounding on another one. At nearly the same instant he felt the Force fling the next one that attempted to make lunch of him. Before it was used to defend Silas by hitting another beast, Tycho used a bit of his acrobatic skill to spin from his rump to his feet in a crouch as two more beasts came his way. With a thought his twin sabers flew from his hands to disembowel them both as he stood up fully and glanced over his shoulder at Silas.

"We can control how many we face in here. We need to fight in the passages where they can't surround us." He called out as the lightsabers returned to his hands so he could cut through another two that charged him. His fellow Knight did have a point, they were even more ferocious here in the caves than on the surface. They were getting close.

With the tide stemmed for a brief moment he reached out with his mind to try and sense a beast in particular. The instant he did he felt nauseous. "The Alpha! I can feel him down the right passage. Go!" Tycho would project his urgent voice. "There's a lot more coming."

The determined Jedi would let his lightsabers float around him, using his training and skill with telekinetic lightsaber combat to fend off the beasts and shield all three of them as needed while he grabbed several grenades from his pouches. First came the concussion grenades one down two of the most crowded branches, followed quickly by fragmentation grenades heaved down the others. The multiple explosions created a near deafening chorus throughout the chamber and the caves themselves as they went off, stunning or killing a great many beasts and collapsing two of the passages. Leaving only the one passage they needed to take he would move last, letting the other two go first whilst his lightsabers created a deadly barrier between him and the beasts. He had bought them a rather brief window to get down the narrow tunnel, only two of which could walk side by side. It would let them handle a smaller number of the creatures. Sadly, the roars of many beasts could be heard directly ahead of them and there were already more beasts coming towards them.

 

[Raydo]

Several large rocks fell from the cavern ceiling as the blasts sealed off their respective caves. Silas dodged one and sprinted for the remaining tunnel that lead deeper into the mountain.

The Padawan was just ahead of him when he entered the tunnel. One of the storm beasts came around the corner just as she neared it. With one swing, it threw the woman into the side of the tunnel. She collapsed under the impact, sinking to the floor.

As Tycho finished sealing the cavern behind them, Silas surged forward cutting into the beast who was already diving for the unconscious Padawan. The killing blow came quickly to the distracted beast. More of the creatures could be heard from further down the tunnel, a piecing scream could be heard above the rest.

The uphill fight through the tunnel was gruesome. Silas and Tycho taking turns pressing the advance. They had left the Padawan back at the beginning of the tunnel. It was sealed from that end and if the creatures got past them, they were all dead anyways.

Silas wasn't sure if the slow push forward took minutes or hours, time blurred as the they struggled to not be overwhelmed. All the while, the howl became louder and louder.

Then all of the sudden, the attack from the beast stopped and they were left in silence. Just at the edge of the light given off by their sabers, another cavern opened up. Silas took in several labored breaths, blood dripping from a wound he had taken across the chest. He wiped the sweat from him forehead as he glanced over to the fellow Knight.

 

[StarWriter]

Tycho barely had time to take a breath as the tunnel was sealed behind them he turned to see the Padawan taken down by a beast and then saved by his fellow Knight. Despite the danger and concern for her, he realized that if they didn't press forward none of them would make it out of these caves.

It was a hard fight to progress through the caves, countless beasts harried them at every turn and put their skill with lightsaber and their endurance to the test as minutes dragged on as if time were barely able to flow. The beasts had the numbers and the advantage of high ground, putting more weight into their charges towards the Jedi.

Yet they pushed through, the roars and screams growing louder, harsher until they suddenly weren't. Chest heaving from the labor of near constant fighting Tycho had come out a little better than his counterpart, having more bruises than wounds. Upon seeing Silas' wound, he would hold out a hand towards him and extend a bit of healing Force, just enough to staunch the flow of blood.

Tycho felt a presence behind him and would kick with a foot as a beast attempted to creep up on them. It whined from the hard impact and Tycho heard countless roars come from all around them. He froze as the creature backed up, feeling an even darker presence ahead of them. Ahead in the next cavern.

"It's in there. The Alpha. Can you feel it?" He asked of his fellow Knight. Knowing full well he had to. Even the Padawan would be able to sense it.

Taking a moment to gather his breath and strength Tycho would attempt something he'd never done on anything other than domesticated, or the small wild animals of Tython. The beast that he had kicked was still there, just out of the light of their sabers. Closing his eyes he'd reach out with the Force. Calling upon his telepathic prowess to delve into its mind. It was so feral, so dark. Hate, pain, rage. The beast snarled and started to charge only to falter just in front of them both where it would begrudgingly stand still.

Both of his lightsabers retracted and he would let them float to the floor at his feet as he placed his palms on the Storm Beast's head. Tapping into knowledge he'd learned from his studies into ancient Jedi, the humanoid creature began to whine and snarl as the light side of the Force suffused into its body. After what felt like several agonizing minutes, Tycho would gasp and slump to his knees. The Storm Beast likewise fell partially, in a crouch with its front claws braced upon the stone ground. The reptilian like creature would look up and when it did, its eyes were calm. While it still held the taint of the Dark Side within it, he had managed to purify a great deal of its mind.

This was one of the reasons he'd been assigned to this mission.

In a surprising move, the Storm Beast would reach down and grab Tycho, helping him back to his feet. "Hnn...I wasn't sure that would work."

 

[Raydo]

Silas stood as the older Jedi Knight subdued the will of the beasts. It was no small feat, the darkside of the Force could be felt in every aspect of this place. Over generations it had seaped into the creatures changing whatever these beast's ancestors were into monstrosities.

He took several steps forward, hid blade now offering the only source of light in the large cavern.

The beast lifted the Jedi Knight up and stood crouched before the man. Even hunched over it was still equal to the now standing man in height. Silas stood with a grimace on his face. He felt the beast come down, the rage the filled the beast being held back by the Jedi Knight. It would take months of work for this one creature to be free from darkness, if it was even possible. They didn't have the resources or the time to try and redeem a lost species that had long since been swallowed by darkness.

Silas knew what he had to do. He took no joy in the task, but had moved to the side of the pair has they locked minds. The strike came quick. In a blur of motion, the young Jedi Knight came down with his lightsaber, striking the creature in the back of the neck. The creature let out a growl as the attack came, but it was too slow. The blade continued downwards, decapitating the beast. It was painless, it was the best they could offer.

The pair stood in the now silent caves. There was no distant howls, no screams of rage, just the quiet hum of his lightsaber.

 

[StarWriter]

Though it had taken more effort than he initially expected, Tycho was ecstatic when the beast aided him to his feet. Despite the fact that in order to truly free the Storm Beast, it would require more Jedi and more time, he had managed in some small way to purify something on this vile world. Even if only partially. The young Jedi felt a swell of happiness flow through him as, after all, the Order did intend to bring this world back to the light. Where better than to start with the natives.

Distracted by the accomplishment he just made, Tycho did not realize what Silas' intentions were until he heard the sudden whir of a lightsaber and watched as the super heated blade made contact with the beast's neck, eyes widening as he saw it slice clean through and sever the head. The body fell slack and dropped to the floor. "No!" His only consolation was the fact that it was a clean kill and a painless end.

Standing motionless in shock for a moment as he was minutely connected to the beast when it was slain took a bit out of him, he would eventually spin on his fellow Knight. "Why!? It was no longer a threat and could have helped us with the Alpha! I know we were told to deal with the Storm beasts, but we were also told not to just slaughter them all. Such acts will only add to the darkness permeating this world. We must try and stop them without completely destroying them."

Sadness and a bit of anger filled him for a brief moment as the planet itself seemed to try and draw out the more potent emotions in him before he was able to still his mind with a few meditative practices.

Both of his lightsabers would float from the floor into his hands as he turned away from his fellow Jedi and began to walk towards the next cave, where the Alpha and several more beasts waited for them.