First Strikes

[Andraste]

As Alais pulled the Jedi closer, a glance to the side revealed that another Jedi was sweeping into view. She recognized him immediately from the trial, 20 meters of flying allowing her to easily spot another person joining the fray. As a result, she released her efforts on the pull as Dragen came within range, Siris more than capable of completing the effort himself.

Her focus was on Saeros who began to sweep in towards the ground next to Dragen, his focus on Siris. An immediate flare of anger took over her, a burst of emotions flooding her mind at the thought of anyone bringing harm to Siris. It was enough to fuel the powers she had already been gathering to herself as she saw Saeros (@Vosrik) descending towards the ground and before he could draw his weapons.

“No,” Alais hissed under her breath, abruptly coiling the Force around Saeros' neck hard enough before he landed to make him begin to suffocate as he focused entirely on trying to get the jump on Siris. He had made a critical error in doing that with Alais not too far behind Siris. Rage coursing through her as her eyes burned yellow, and she forcefully yanked Saeros up towards his own right while suspended mid-air and away from Siris and Dragen before he could ever draw his gun and saber. As an added precaution, she herself ducked before she attempted the maneuver in case he tried any desperate attacks and she'd be out of range.

Alais threw him directly into her line of sight in front of her where Vin’s shots blasted at the same time. At minimum two, if not all three, of the bolts would collide against his unprotected upper back as he was lift flung across (the rest flying off to collide against trees in the back above her ducked head). She moved him too quick for him to be able to draw or aim his gun properly, her hold directly around his neck to begin to press down on the bones. All her hatred towards Siris coming under attack were poured into the attack. Even after completing the move, her crushing hold on his neck wouldn’t release, and she intended to keep compressing till his bones snapped. This was the power of vengeful wrath all coming down into a crushing gesture that showed not a single shred of remorse.

 

[Siris Drast]

Siris planted his feet, (@Painus) the Jedi closing the distance rapidly as he angled his body to have his saber collide with Siris's and save him from death. The sabers connected and it pushed Siris back momentarily but he quickly recovered before Dragen even touched the ground. The moment (@Painus) the Dragen's feet landed on the ground, Siris brought his left leg around fast and attempted to sweep his legs. With the Jedi being flung into them, Siris waiting for him and prepared, the sweep would take less than a second as Dragen would be finding his footing to not stumble.

Electricity crackled in Siris's hand as he moved to knock the Jedi down, unleashing it as his kick came through. If the sweep worked and made Dragen stumble, the electricity would follow up soon after. From the distance between them (Dragen practically right in front of him with their sabers clashing) and the bad positioning that Dragen would be in, it would be hard for him to bring saber up in time to deflect the violent and destructive energy of his blast aimed at his torso. It would cook him alive as Siris continued to hold his blade in front of him in a defensive position at a 45-degree angle in case anything else decided to attack.

 

[Darth Kravos]

Whether she'd not seen the shots coming or something else had happened, Kal didn't know, but he did see his blaster shots drive home in her (@GABA Ren). It was an odd feeling and the final nudge that Kal needed, giving himself fully to the Dark Side as he (assumed) murdered someone who had once been an associate.

The feeling was almost relieving. His final step was complete and he could finally take his place among the others. The doubts and worries seemed to slip away and a new sense of purpose settled over him.

He didn't sit around pondering it, though, as he switched his attention to the next target. He fired a pair of shots into the bird man's torso as he flitted in to attack Siris (@Vosrik) and Alais seized his body to fling him aside. Kal was prepared to fire at him regardless of whether or not Alais was successful, and coming from the bird's right, they were almost perpendicular to Vin's shots, making focusing on both night impossible.

The pair of shots were quick and Kal didn’t fully lose track of the other newly approaching Jedi (@Raydo) as the former Shadow still had his saber ready if the man opted to make a quick move, though Camila was also there to run interference as well.

 

[Rhea]

Rhea continued to build the Force within her for the moment she would be required to defend her companions; but then the girl (@Wit) appeared. Rhea recognized her from the trial. She was another of Alais's original supporters. One of the ones the now-fallen-Jedi had labored over in those last moments before Rhea whisked her off of Ossus. Sensing an opportunity, Rhea abandoned her cover—there were enough lightsabers out front now—and stepped two meters to Alais's left, where she could make eye-contact with the one called Vin.

She stretched out with her senses—careful to keep her own thoughts and intentions behind a wall of static—following the currents of the Force Vin's mind, which she touched ever-so-softly. This soft touch—short of a full invasion—allowed her to keep her senses alert in case she needed to break the contact and project a defense against an incoming attack. But it also allowed her to pour telepathic words and images through the now-established link to the young Vin's mind. The girl was conflicted... and Rhea quickly learned why.

:: Murderer. :: she projected and images of Dax, of his killing, would flash behind Vin's eyes. The witch continued her whispers, her voice would crawl, like a worm, through the girl's head: :: Do they know what you are, murderer? Do they know what you have done? :: A sharp, malicious cackle would pierce the girl's mind. :: You're no Jedi, girl. You're just a murderer... like your friend. :: A flash of Alais was next. :: Murderer. You'll never belong with them... ::

She receded a bit, careful not to push too hard. The girl's mind would torment itself now. The witch only needed to sit back and wait, all the while primed to defend herself or her teammates at a moment's notice.

 

[Camila Shan]

Her defensive posturing seemed to have paid off, none of the Jedi had attempted to attack or reveal her. Camila shook her head in silent laughter and wondered how she had ever thought the Jedi would do anything for the galaxy except fill its graveyards. This group was fighting like it was the first time, there was no cohesion; nothing to be afraid of. They were pathetic.

Seeing a bearded man sprint from the encampment, Cami pulled the force into herself again and waited. Most things in combat were about timing and this was no different. She could have easily just rushed out into the open to fight but that would be stupid. Shadows weren’t stupid. Well, ex Shadows anyway.

Reaching to her back, Camila drew one of her lightsabers with her right hand but did not ignite it. She continued to watch, low and hidden, as the bearded Jedi (@Raydo) continued to circle to his right and come closer to the tree line.

She would wait until he was maybe a meter and a half from her position before unleashing all of the force she had been building into a powerful wave in front of her. The intention was not to send him flying but to heavily stagger the Jedi, leaving his defenses completely open.

Just as the wave was released, Camila moved with a sprinter’s start from her position, lightsaber igniting as she left the safety of the tree line and closed the gap between her and the Jedi. She would slash from Liam’s right shoulder down to his left hip, beginning to pull the force into herself again as she did so.

 

[Nora Grazioso]

She didn't even hear the shots fire, all there was is pain and the shock of betrayal. The force of the first shot sent her off balance, the second shot in the chest knocking her back, and the third one grazed from her forehead along her scalp as she fell backwards, smacking her head on the stone stairs.

There was only darkness, distrust, lies, and failure as she grasped for some kindling of the Force but was only met with the cold and the alluring beckoning of final peace.

 

[Liam Valros]

As Alais pulled Saeros in between herself and Vin’s shots, Kal fired his shots toward Saeros, and Rhea remained concentrated on Vin, The Force surged through Liam as he also took ahold of Saeros with unseen bonds. He pulled Saeros to his right along with Alais. As he didn’t struggle against Alais but aided the initial direction she pulled him in, Saeros overflew the spot he needed to be in to serve as Alais body shield by inches. Vin’s original shots flew by, just barely missing the Rishii Jedi Knight.

Liam, still holding his blade in a defensive posture saw Nora falling to the ground. He had only taken several steps to Nora's right in the time they had engaged in battle.

As his gaze returned the Kal, a surge of Force energy slammed against him, he took several steps back regaining his balance as a newcomer ran towards him. With his blade already raised, he shifted, deflecting her blade down to the ground as he took another step back.

 

[Dragen Wrexyl]

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Dragen was barely even thinking at this point. Adrenaline pumped through his veins and his heart pounded as a result. He was falling back on his natural instincts at this stage in the fight due to him being manhandled in the air, thrust into combat without any choice. Fractions of seconds felt like entire lifetimes as his brain tried to process every minor detail that was directly related to his own survival.

His blade having successfully stopped his would-be aerial bisection, Dragen had landed on the ground for a mere fraction of a second before Siris’ (@Orbit) next attack came. The man swept low, extending his left leg to try and knock Dragen off of his feet – presumably to set him up for a fatal follow-through. Unfortunately for Siris, Dragen had yet to bring his lightsaber around his body onto his dominant right side, the weapon having been stalled by his previous block. As he landed, the Jedi swept his lightsaber tip-down, pointed about thirty degrees away from himself, across his body – directly on a collision course with Siris’ extended leg. Due to his commitment to the sweep, there would be little plausible way for Siris to avoid the incoming slash, Dragen ascertained.

The Exile, having no leg protection of his own, would only briefly watch his leg get severed above the knee in his attempt to unbalance Dragen. Having now brought his weapon to his original intended guard, Dragen took only a fraction of a moment to see his unintentional removal of the man’s appendage, which would without a doubt send him falling onto his back, completely at Dragen’s mercy. This series of events would prevent him from any of his supposed lightning attacks, as he would never get the chance to perform the strike when Dragen didn't fall back.

Taking no time at all to react to this fortuitous circumstance, Dragen smoothly transitioned into a forward thrust with his lightsaber, pointing the tip of the blade at Siris’ chest. Simultaneously, Dragen activated the dual-phase function of his lightsaber, increasing the length of the blade to almost double, leaving Siris with little room to dodge effectively, given his wound and the surprise increase in blade length. Having done the deed, Dragen would pull his blade from the man’s corpse, switching the blade back to its original length, and kept it close to his side.

This would happen within such a quick-enough timeframe that Dragen would be able to acknowledge Saeros (@Vosrik) being pulled away by Alais (@Sreeya). Reacting entirely on instinct, Dragen outstretched his arm, sending raw, invisible waves of power toward Alais’ head, aiming to slam her skull against a nearby tree, either to disrupt her or knock her out entirely.

Dragen panted hard, not from exhaustion, but from the rush of adrenaline. He hadn’t been in a melee like this in his life.

 

[Vin]

Vin watched with horror as the Birdman was suddenly sent flying and into the path of her blaster fire. Suddenly she was reliving Jakku, first the horror of killing someone, and then the regret and shame on realizing what she had done to his family. Before she could react, much less scream out a warning, she found herself under attack. Not a physical attack, but a mental one. In a moment of weakness someone had lashed her against her metal barriers, and the flimsy things had simple fallen away. :: Murderer. :: The word floated into her mind.

She saw him then, the man she had killed. And not as the simple fearful memories from moments ago, but as visions so real she felt that she could touch him. As he fell so did she, dropping to her knees, the blaster slipping out of her hand to the floor. She heard a voice in her head, taunting her, blaming her, :: Do they know what you are, murderer? Do they know what you have done? ::, throwing her very worst fears at her.

No! The instinctive scream escaped in her mind as the voice continued speaking, calling her a murder. For a moment she felt her resolve return, only to vanish as she found herself staring not at the man she had killed but at Alais. Not the Alais standing before her now, but as she remembered her. :: Murderer. You'll never belong with them... ::

She was on her knees when the voice receded. Steadying herself on shaking hands, she looked up to see her companions fighting. Nora was already down, the others seemed to be holding out but things didn't look good for them. Thinking that Nora was dead, and in her distraught state assumed that it was somehow her fault. As her eyes drifted through the battlefield, she spotted the old woman, and realizing that she was the one who had been in her head Vin felt her dear and despair getting pushed aside by anger. And with that anger she lashed out through the Force.

Not really thinking about how easily the woman had invaded her mind, and what it must say about her abilities, she attacked her with a mental attack of her own.(@Malon) Not one as subtle as hers, but one driven by brute force. Slamming into whatever mental barriers the woman might have put up, she hit her with everything she had.

I am a Jedi! I am nothing like her. She shouted the words through their mental link. I. AM. NOTHING. LIKE. ANY. OF. YOU Each word would be punctuated by a mental push, her anger growing as some part of her realized what the woman had said wasn't entirely untrue.

 

[Saeros]

He had been fully prepared to touch down, when suddenly Saeros was prevented from doing so and gripped heavily by an invisible force around his neck. In a moment, he was launched sideways to his right while being choked — but another grip held him, one not laced with the malice and coldness of the Dark Side. This one was warm and gentle, yet firm, a manifestation of the Light. Instead of being hit by the triple blaster shots, Saeros' trajectory continued further than Alais had intended and therefore the shots missed. However, it was only by a thread — the first shot singeing multiple feathers and the other two hitting the tree just behind Alais. All of this had happened in a mere second, and while it was too fast for him to properly draw and aim his gun, Saeros snatched his lightsabers Lheithian into his right hand and Aranrúth in his left with the Force as the pressure had initially closed around his neck, igniting their violet blades.

As Dragen would be forcing Alais' skull into the tree behind her, Saeros would feel the grip on his neck then release. With the two blaster shots coming his way at the same time from the traitorous Kal Vox, he angled Lheithian to deflect the shots in Camila's general direction as she sprinted out of the trees. Even if Dragen's attack at the concentrating Exile (@Sreeya) had been insufficient to break the focus needed to maintain the chokehold, Saeros would still have been able to deflect the shots from Kal.

Despite the adrenaline pumping through his veins and the life-threatening position he was just in, Saeros' mind was perfectly clear and at peace. Focusing immediately after blocking the two shots, Saeros also launched a powerful force blast directed at Alais' head with his left arm outstretched. Arriving mere moments after Dragen had done the same, the blast would either drive her head even painfully further into the tree or it would smash her back into it if Alais had begun lifter her head away from it. After releasing the raw power, he would circle left a little further away from Kal and closer to Alais. From here, the Rishii would be around 10 meters from Alais and have his body turned, left side facing her.

Keeping his twin blades active, Saeros held Aranrúth defensively in front and Lheithian near his right side in case Siris had managed to escape Dragen's bladed assault.

 

[Siris Drast]

As Dragen had blocked Siris' saber from the original bisecting attempt with a diagonal, it meant his blade was layered above Siris' (Dragen's blade closer to his own body). Otherwise, Siris would have successfully completed the bisecting attempt. Having their blades already in contact, there was no way around Siris's blade and he didn't bother moving it for the man as he attempted to swipe at Siris's protected leg. With (@Painus) Dragen's saber on top of Siris's, Siris simply kept his own blade parallel to his body and it was easy to keep it out of the way from his leg, as his left hand came forward and lightning erupted from it. With the slash blocked, Siris unleashed his lightning as planned at (@Painus) Dragen's exposed torso. As a result, Dragen wouldn't be able to launch the push against Alais or any subsequent actions. Siris stepped back as Dragen's charred body fell to the ground.

With the blade blocked, Siris brought his leg back to him and squared his stance. Even with the lightning that came out of his fingertips, Siris remained vigilant and separated his blade from Dragen's and freeing it. He brought the blade back in front of him, continuing to hold it at a 45-degree angle. Siris's senses were still on alert, letting him have the ability to provide a defense from another attack as he confirmed to see if Dragen survived.

 

[Andraste]

Alais grimaced as she saw Saeros speed up in his quick move to the side, realizing that a comrade of his was aiding in the pull. Two shots flew above Alais and hit the trees behind her. With Dragen charred and out of the fight, Alais was entirely unaffected by a push of any kind. As she had been already compressing and choking powerfully on Saeros, she simply kept doing what she was already doing.

Saeros was flying through the air, getting choked, bringing out sabers, deflecting bolts, and then deflecting them all at a specific person all at the same time. He was doing all this while Alais focused 100% of her energy on simply choking him. As a result, he had absolutely no defense against her Force attack. Her maneuver completed and his neck bones cracked and snapped under the crushing force she applied, causing his lifeless body to drop to the ground. Even if he managed to send Kal’s shots out, she had no way to really stop that, but it did give her an opportunity to kill him. As a result of the crushing of his neck, every subsequent action Saeros performed (ie. Force blast) would be nulled.

With the bird out of the way, Alais finally stepped forth towards the battle, focusing her attention on Liam. Alais drew the Force to herself and rapidly coiled it around his neck, constricting it around him to suffocate him as she had done to Saeros.
@Vosrik @Raydo

 

[Rhea]

Rhea resisted the urge to cackle at the girl's pathetic attempt at a mental counterattack. It was quite clear that she was untrained in such things and Rhea was easily able to repel her presence with a little focus and even casually return a telepathic thought of her own. :: You are no Jedi. Embrace it. You are simply a murderer... like your friend. ::

Just then a barrage of blaster bolts flew by, alerting Rhea that her pupil was in peril. Acting immediately on the purest of instincts, Rhea let Vin slip from her focus and stretched out a hand towards Alais (@Sreeya) and finally unleashed the built-up Force energy she had been gathering for the past several moments by throwing up a protection bubble around her.

The bubble would manifest as a shimmering, yet transparent, blue orb, which would easily block attacks originating in the Force due to the amount of power Rhea had managed to accumulate, protecting her young pupil from harm.

 

[Darth Kravos]

Kal wasn't one to waste time in combat and quickly took stock of the situation in the blink of an eye. Nora was down, as would be the human and bird, which left only the other human who Camila engaged and... Vin. Kal didn't know her well, but he'd seen her before. They'd met on Dantooine when he'd met... Evalyn. The sting of that betrayal was still far too fresh on his mind and it sent a spike of pain through him. Pain that quickly melted into rage quickly redirected into Vin.

His pistol flung to aim at her (@Wit) as she was subjected to the horrors that Rhea seemed to show her and he fired a pair of shots first at her left thigh and the second to her belly. There was no hesitation or remorse, and as with any of the other Jedi, she would experience the pain of his betrayal, one more inch of his humanity to slip into the darkness.

Even as he did so, he was careful not to let the human still left blindside him, though he was relatively confident in Camila's ability to keep the Jedi at bay at least for the moment, and he was ready to engage the man as necessary.

 

[Camila Shan]

The bolts had taken her by surprise, one missing and the other grazing her back and causing her gritted teeth. They only fueled her intent though, as she followed through anyway.

The Jedi had been fast enough to catch her blade, although he wasn't capable of doing much but backing off it seemed. Camila wouldn't let him retreat and regain too much of his footing though, pressing her attack to keep Liam reeling. She would use the force she'd been building to send a raw ball of telekinetic energy into Liam's (@Raydo) stomach, just below the diaphragm. It would hit with the same power as a hard force push but be much more centralized, fully able to knock him backwards and push the air out of his lungs.

The distance between them wasn't that far and Camila didn't think the Jedi would have much time to brace himself, but she'd been wrong before. It also had the unintended c If it worked the way she thought it would Camila would follow it up with what she originally intended - a strike from right shoulder to mid torso, then pulling her blade back and back up to slash Liam through the neck.

Though she hadn't planned it, her saber strike would come at the same time as Alais' application of the force on Liam's throat.

 

[Dragen Wrexyl]

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Huh.

That was really the only thing that went through Dragen's mind as he realized his attack was blocked, effectively ending any chance he had at surviving the fight. As his saber remained still, the other man shot out his arm, sending a blast of malignant energy directly into Dragen's chest. Not having realized the power difference between the two, all Dragen could muster was a pained gasp followed by a short, but surprised yelp. His entire life had flashed before his eyes, the young noble finally realizing just how young he was at the moment of his demise.

In the fractions of nanoseconds that followed this revelation, Dragen thought about everything. His father would not know his only son - his family's only hope of carrying on the bloodline - would die an obscure death in a jungle on Devaron. He should have felt at peace; he was joining the Force in eternity! This should have been his goal in the end.

Instead, he only felt disappointment. Not in his comrades, who he would not see anymore, nor in the Jedi Order. He was disappointed with himself. He had failed to recognize his sin of being outmatched, yet his stupid self went in anyways. In those fractions of nanoseconds that followed his revelation, Dragen blamed himself.

The lightning traveled through his body, accelerating his heartbeat until the thing finally just... stopped. His brain soon followed suit, ending what few moments of misery he had experienced in the waning time he was alive.

Dragen hit the ground hard, his lifeless form twitching occasionally for a few seconds. His eyes were frozen in pained shock, dead and lifeless as they stared at Siris.

 

[Vin]

Vin felt herself be enveloped by pain as one shot and then another slammed into her. The emotions that had been fueling her attack on the woman moments earlier were gone, replaced with a blinding pain unlike anything she had experienced before. Gut wounds hurt, more than one battle worn Jedi had told her this, but until now she hadn't really understood just how much. No one really said it would be this bad.

Her hands slipped away from beneath her and she tumbled forward, unfortunately for her the stars she was perched on offered no barrier to stop her and she fell down the half a dozen feet or so to the ground. She almost blacked out, but after a few moments she was able to somehow pull herself together, sucking in sharp, painful breaths of air as she lay there. She couldn't see it, turned away from it all as she was, but she knew her companions must be down as well. These Exiles had been brutal. No, not these weren't just some Exiles, this was Alais. Forcing her eyes shut, trying to stop the tears that inadvertently showed up, she couldn't help but wonder for the millionth time if she had made a mistake leaving Onderon.

All this time she tried reaching to the Force, only for it to slip away, such was the pain she was in. After what seemed like an eternity, but must have been mere moments in reality, she finally felt something. An echo in the Force as one of the other Jedi died. In her desperation she held onto that, the shock of his death had broken through her pain and opened her to the Force once more, but she wasn't going to let it slip away. With the Force in her grip she was able to suppress the pain, not make it vanish altogether, but ignore it for. She pushed herself to her feet, and slowly turned around to stand facing the exiles. she was one, they were five. This was probably how it ended for her, and oddly enough she was okay with that. The woman had been right, she was no Jedi. She had never fit in with them, she had seen flaws in them, made fun of them, all to cope with the simple truth that she had always known. She was the one who was flawed, not perfect enough to stand up to the pedestal she herself had raised the Jedi Order up to.

Well, if she had not lived up to them at least she would die like them. If not in life then at least in death she would be a Jedi. Standing there, facing down five, she felt a hint of a smile tugging at her lips. Do your worst.

 

[Saeros]

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The pressure on his neck increased far more than Saeros could bear. He'd managed to deflect the blaster shots, but it was too late. His vision blurred, lungs burning for air as his claws gripped helplessly at the air beneath him. The Rishii's gaze turned to Alais, and his life flashed before his eyes. What had so changed this woman, once a young and innocent girl and beacon of the Light — now filled with nothing but hatred and anger? Saeros had even worked with Alais before, deep in the city of Hemelder Aurek fending off a pack of escaped Rathtars. He could clearly see it now, the jaws of the horrendous monster reaching for the young Knight even as Saeros caught her and carried her away from certain death. Had she forgotten? The Dark Side had clearly twisted her far beyond anything she was before. Yet here, in his last moments, the Rishii felt no hatred or malice for Alais. Even as his last breath escaped his lungs and eyes began to darken, Saeros felt pity and a deep sadness. He wished things had gone differently, that the Jedi were less quick to judge and be the shining light that the galaxy needed them to be. In truth, Saeros too had failed Alais.

The Rishii opened his beak as his body crumpled to the ground, Aranrúth and Lheithian deactivating and rolling on the ground. "I forgive you, young one..." he spoke surprisingly in Basic. "Tenna’ ento lye omenta," <Until next we meet,> he gasped, the light fading from his eyes and his silver mask falling from his refined face. His pure white plumage relaxed, giving Saeros a softer, fluffier appearance against his jet black talons. To the end, the Rishii had served the Light and died defending the Order. Today, the Exiles had won.

 

[Liam Valros]

Their lightsabers scorched the earth as Liam drove the woman's blade down. Before she recovered, Liam saw the pain flash across her face as the blaster bolts seared her back.

Liam raised his blade and brought it down for the killing blow as the woman let out a desperate blast of energy, knocking him backwards. Before he found his footing, a brief searing pain overcame him as the woman's blade cut into his chest. Liam didn't notice the pressure building on his throat, senses overcome by pain.

Time slowed as his eyes locked on the motionless body of Nora. Death loomed near, but life lingered for several seconds.

He had brought her back to the Order. He had convinced her to stay. He had convinced her to come here. She would die because of him.

It was all his fault.

He hadn't been strong enough for the Order. He hadn't been strong enough for her. A tear ran down his cheek as radiant light began to overcome his consciousness, burning away the pain that he felt. Unable to speak, he mouthed the words "I'm sorry." as he was pulled into the light that is the Force.

He held on to the last strings of consiousness for as long as possible, searching for any signs of life from the girl, but as he fought he felt more and more at peace. Finially letting go, he was gently pulled from this life into the Force.

 

[Andraste]

Alais sensed the deaths happening all around her. Where once it brought her anxiety and concern, she relished it now. She watched Liam drop to the ground in front of her, felt the raw energy that tore through Dragen and ended him. Most of all, she felt the power that crushed through Saeros’ neck. There was nothing but silence on the battlefield, the winds rustling through the leaves as if everything were all right.

The courtyard was littered with bodies, and it was right back to the group that met at the beginning of the path. Alais looked around, gazing at each of them before a grin began to form on her face. She was looking at the faces of the harbingers of a new world order. These would be the men and women that would reshape the galaxy, starting with removing one obstacle at a time. Alais remained where she stood for a long moment before walking over towards where she saw Saeros lay.

She recalled faintly who he was, even beyond the trial. She had flashes of the past in her mind, of a time where he had fought to save her. She had only been a child then, and he hadn’t known her. Even then, he had no qualms with saving her from harm. How did she repay that? The Force coiled around the mask that now lay at her feet, the ornate piece traveling to her hand. She grabbed it out of the air, glancing down at it. She would keep this as a reminder of what happened here today. He had been a part of an old life she had to leave behind. Every little trace of that life, good or bad, forged her into who she was today.

Alais kept walking forward, not bothering to see what the others were doing. They had their prizes to pick through on the field. Her attention was drawn to the fallen Jedi woman up ahead. Alais walked until she came to stand above her, glancing down at another familiar face. She crouched down next to the woman, eyeing her for a long moment.

She was still alive.

Alais was still empowered from the emotions and passions of the battle. Now with death around her, she was able to draw to her command the dark side, “I know you can hear me,” Her voice would pierce into Nora’s thoughts. She would be hit with images of Alais, of the girl she was, of the trial, of the pain and agony she felt, and finally the yellow-eyed woman that glanced down at her now, “So frail…so fragile…at my mercy...I can kill you so easily...so painlessly,” Her hand traveled to hover above Nora’s face, “Know what you have all created. Let this be a taste of what’s to come. Let it be understood that I will bring the galaxy to its knees. The Jedi have unleashed a blight and it will come with swift retribution. Take this message back to your people. Tell them what happened here and who laid you to waste. Tell them of the faces you saw. Tell them of the power that has been awakened.”

Nora was unable to move, rooted in place. She could only hear the voices and see the images Alais permitted her to see. After a moment, she would feel a searing pain on her face. It would burn horribly, but she wouldn’t be able to scream out loud. She would feel Alais pierce into her mind as well, pouring darkness deep into her psyche and into her very soul. It would remain a part of her.

Alais rose to stand again after a long moment, glancing down at her handiwork. The word ‘JEDI’ was carved across Nora’s face and branded into her flesh. It would be there permanently, touched by darkness that would only burn agonizingly and spread more if healing was attempted. No medicine would remove it. It was permanent mark and one that would forever be etched on her, effectively ending her career as a Shadow for good.

“Sleep,” Alais waved her hand to throw Nora into a deep state of unconsciousness that would let the other Exiles in the area believe she were dead. She then turned to look at Vin, slowly walking towards the girl. This was the first time they would have met since the trial, and there was something haunting about Alais. There was an aura about her that would cause a chill up Vin’s spine, and those yellow eyes would gaze right through her, “Vin, I thought you would be happy to see me again.”