The Battle of Coruscant -- The Jedi Temple: Archive Mainframe

[Wanderer]

He could feel her tearing at his mind, trying to destroy him from within. He was no fool. This was a fight he could not win...not yet. He scowled and used every ounce of the Force left available to him to buy him time and suppress the afflictions. The effort caused him unimaginable pain and his nose began to bleed. He summoned the last of his strength and performed a backflip to the upper levels of the Archives. The effects against his mind lessened with the distance, but not that much. He had to get further away. But before he left he stared at her with more hatred and fire in his eyes than a thousand suns. He could barely speak but he whispered where she could hear, "We...will...meet again...and I will kill you..."

With that he ran through the doorway behind him, using his lightsaber to slash the pillars and collapse it behind him. He had to get away before his mind was torn asunder. He couldn't hope to match her. As he ran and the effects very slowly diminished, he swore this would be the last time he would ever run away...and that he would find her one day.

 

[Snake Eater]

Clint Fox saw the Sith coming at him and made a decision that would possibly end his life. Calling on the force he threw his lightsaber, in a fashion as if it were a boomerang, at the stormtroopers. Without the lightsaber in his hands, Clint's ability to use the force was hindered and he began to recall his training from The Cult. He drew his long vibrosword in a slicing fashion that would make contact with the incoming Sith.

 

[Xan]

Before he could truly prepare for battle, Xanthus was unceremoniously picked up and flung to the other side of the room, towards the second Jedi to walk into the room. Most Sith would have been absolutely furious, but Xanthus wasted no time on something so petty. Instead, his enhanced mind worked swiftly to figure out how to use the fact that he was flying at a Jedi to his absolute advantage. He found the answer with relatively little effort. As his body flew, Xanthus gathered his arms and legs close to his torso and gathered the Force into and around his body. When he was close enough to the Jedi to have been considered within striking range, he released this drawn together Force energy in the form of one of the most powerful applications of telekinesis known to either Jedi or Sith: Force Wave. The Force blasted its way from his body in a powerful wave of energy that would at the least knock his opponent's vibrosword off-balance and cause it to miss its target. As well, the Padawan in front of him would likely be sent flying several meters into whatever happened to be behind him. Unless his grip on the vibrosword had been strong, he might even have lost the weapon as well. Landing on his own two feet, Xanthus looked at his opponent. "Well, that was unceremonious. At any rate, I offer you the same choice that I offer all opponents: yield, Jedi, or I will end you here and now."

 

[Snake Eater]

Clint was thrown backwards into another pillar, where he used techniques he learned as a suicide warrior, and bent he knees to absorb the energy that threw him back against the Sith. His vibrosword was lost during the shockwave but luckily he still had his short sword along with his lightsaber that was on a collision course with the enemy lightsaber. Kicking from the pillar back to the Sith, Clint flew horizontally towards his target and extended his arm to a point where he would stab his opponent. He was conscious of his lightsaber's trajectory and was prepared to trigger the ignition switch if need be.

 

[Xan]

As soon as the Jedi's feet were on the pillar, Xanthus read his opponent's move and figured that he was about to attempt to rush back at him, particularly because the initial wave had not been as effective as the Sith might have hoped. When the Jedi came for him, Xanthus leaped straight into the air, but kept his attention focused downwards. He pulled his arms back and when the Jedi was almost directly underneath him, and thrust them both forward when the timing would place the Jedi directly underneath him to be pinned by the blast of a Force Push directed straight down. The impact from the push alone likely would have been enough to send his opponent flying further than the wave itself had managed, since Xanthus poured the energy into a single point rather than an entire wave of points this time. However the truly devastating aspect of what Xanthus had done was that his opponent would be slammed into the floor of the archives and ground into that floor with bone-breaking force.

 

[Snake Eater]

Clint was sure he had his opponent but was proven wrong when his target jumped in the air. Holding his hilt with his thumb, he redirected his lightsaber upwards and was about to adjust his course when he felt the effects of the second shockwave. Clint was pushed down before he realized what was happening. Hitting the ground with full force, Clint felt his ribs crack and his jaw broken, he knew his body was out of commission.

 

[Xan]

After the shockwave slammed into the Jedi's body and sent it down to hit the floor of the archives like a rag-doll, Xanthus landed with a small amount of sound next to the Jedi's prone body. Flicking his wrist, Xanthus called his lightsaber from the magnetic locks on his back, igniting it in the same motion. The ignited silver blade now hung above the Jedi's body, poised for execution. "Well, here we are then. I must admit, Jedi, I admire your courage. You stood your ground against two more powerful opponents and a platoon of stormtroopers. However, your ally has abandoned you here, the Jedi Archives are captured, and here you lay under my blade. This battle is over. I do not suppose that you would reconsider yielding?" Though it was always worth a shot, Xanthus doubted that the Jedi would do so. Because of that doubt, he was already gathering Force energy into his free hand, even as his lightsaber was being held still over his opponent's form.

 

[Snake Eater]

"I don't think I have a choice," Clint said as he spit up blood, "what are you going to do now? It's not very Sith-like to kill an unarmed opponent."

 

[Xan]

'Well that was thoroughly unexpected.' Xanthus thought to himself as the Jedi underneath his blade yielded. 'So he is courageous, but he is not utterly and unforgivably foolish about his bravery. An efficient combination.' Xanthus decided within his own mind. Extending his left hand, Xanthus called his opponent's lightsaber into his waiting palm, holding it in his left hand away from his opponent. Merely because his opponent had yielded did not mean that Xanthus trusted him with a weapon lying about. "Actually, you would be surprised by the number of Sith who might take advantage of this opportunity. Slaying a Jedi appears nicely on our list of achievements. Fortunately for you however, I am not that type of Sith. You have yielded combat, and so combat has ended. So long as you do not resist, I will not harm you further."

Looking around, Xanthus spotted the leader of the platoon of stormtroopers, though his armor was considerably more blackened than the armor of the majority of hld is comrades. "Major, under the assumption that you are able to function properly still, would you considerably mind restraining the Jedi?" Xanthus said, with his blade still placed for swift execution of his opponent should the Jedi resist. "Master Vakri, the Jedi Archives of Coruscant are under the control of the Empire as of this moment." Xanthus said, though it was clear from the growing amusement in his voice that he was going somewhere with this. "Are you still interested in that holozine, or is there something else that requires your attention?"

 

[Kiro]

"Oh, I have everything I need right here... but I'm countermanding your order." Raide replies, having been busy with the other Padawan as dueled the less skilled of the two Jedi. "Your opponent might only be a Padawan. He might be beaten. But he is still a Jedi. He is still Force Sensetive. He might try to escape. So YOU will escort him back to Korriban, personally. Your defeat, your prisoner, your responsibility. Do not hand it over to Stormtroopers, and blame them for their failure when he does escape. Dismissed, Crusader." With that final compulsion, the Sith Master released her hold on the Force, and instead turned to the remaining members of the 103rd's platoon.

"Soldiers, see to your commanding officer. Now, up on your feet, Major. There's no rest for the wicked. You know they'll likely pin another medal on you for this." The Sith comments, smiling as the loyal Imperial soldiers rushed to tend to their Major. Raide took a minute to relish that scene, Imperials standing strong together, working as a unified team, caring for one another. And then she turned towards her prize. The main hub of the Jedi Archives. With a gloved hand, she brushes away the shattered datapad of the Padawan whom had ill-advisedly sought to flee, before letting the fingers of her right hand rapidly dance over the terminal's keys. The other went to the comm-link bead in her ear.

++My Lord? We have the Archives.++

 

[Rom]

A soft hiss filled the Sith Masters ear, sounding cold and deadly, but decidedly amused. ++Excellent work, my Hand. You shall be greatly rewarded for this success. Now, if you will excuse thiz one, the delegation from Zeltroz is trying to garner this onez attention...++

The sissing that followed was clearly laughter.

 

[Silverface]

The Major was anything but well. The platoon's medical orderly, armour painted with yellow identifying blocks to signify the trooper's profession, was fussing over the prone officer with all the typical care a battlefield medic has. Which is to say, none. Scryer waved the medic off, pulling himself upright and tugging off his smouldering helmet with a grunt. As both Sith addressed him, he simply nodded in reply.

"Get a speeder over here Lieutenant" he said, in his typical Imperial accent, now unmuffled by the helmet, pronouncing Lieutenant as 'Leftenant' "And see to your wounded. Secure the Archives for the Sith. Hopefully we've had enough excitement here for one day" he managed, tugging off his plastek canteen and draining it's contents. The medic kept fussing, trying to establish the brunt of the Major's injuries.

"Ma'am, Sir, once I'm back on my feet I'll have to head to the command post. They'll likely send me to another front. Make sure my men don't get into any trouble while I'm gone" he added, before blissfully passing out. When a speeder would arrive, the Major would be loaded onto it and sent back to the Battalion CP for a dunk in a bacta tank then reassignment to some other front on Coruscant.

 

[Xan]

Clearly the Major was not in any form of suitable condition. 'Well, it looks as though I'm stuck with the Jedi prisoner.' Xanthus thought to himself with a small 'hmm...' sound to attach itself to the thought. "Well Jedi, it appears as though you will be coming with me for now." Xanthus said as he pulled the blades away from execution position. "You have seen that I am reasonable, so we will continue as we already have. Make no move that could be seen as an attempt at escape, and you will survive the journey to the homeworld of the Sith. You have my word, for what it's worth." Turning towards the Sith Master, Xanthus gave a light half-bow. "Your will is heard and obeyed, Sith Master. Though might I offer a piece of knowledge, Master Vakri? Most Sith Assassins are greatly armored within the mind, particularly the ones who regularly engage in mental warfare." He said in a calm voice before turning back to his Jedi captive. "Come Jedi, on your feet. We leave immediately." On the assumption that the Padawan was being cooperative, Xanthus meant to head outwards from the Archives, already sending out signals seeking a shuttle to transport himself and the Jedi to the main fleet so that the prisoner could witness the end of the battle of Coruscant from within a rather secure environment and Xanthus could handle certain arrangements that required his attention.

 

[GABA]

The Jedi task team given charge of the Archives never reported in. In all the chaos, one could understand a delay in response, however, when no response came, it sprouted new concerns. Immersed in the ripples of the Force, Jedi Master and Warden Ebberla Daw made her way through the Temple's Halls, she had a long ways to travel pulling herself from the front lines as she snaked her way through death and darkness. Her presence revealed itself only as she carved through lingering Sith who stood in her way.

Her senses reached out, carefully to keep her Force signature to a minimum, mimicking that of a fearful padawan. The archives were close, another few turns of a corners and she would be there. A large presence of beings were present, their own giving their unique set of ripples, except for the Sith, Ebberla would have described them as waves, violent ones, and then two small lights, she knew they were Jedi. She counted to herself and let out a long breath, an Olys Corellisi curse seemed to escape with it too. A sense of regret seemed to be creeping in her thoughts, but she quickly pushed it aside with a whispering of odds. She could beat them, it was the Corellian thing to do. Ebberla paused though thinking about those odds one more time and rolled her eyes letting out an exasperated sigh.

Blaster fire was still echoed, she could feel vibrate off the wall as well as the explosions that shook the temple outside. The Corellian gripped her lightsaber hilt tightly forming a quick plan in her mind. Turning on her heal, she quickly made back the way she came, taking a detour and allowing herself access to the back way of the Jedi Archives on the upper floors. The Jedi woman submerged into the ripples of the Force once again, specks appeared, flickers of dark and light as she was able pick out those in the massive multilevel room.

All she need was a terminal, the process was simple, she knew the overwrite code and all was needed to enter the information and a palm scan. Ebberla looked around, keeping her presence hidden, attempting to find one that was not damaged by blaster fire as smoke still billowed from the shelves and desks. A blinking light reflected off her copper pauldron, catching her eye and she moved quickly.

Search Inquiry....PTT_19583_7890002​

Ebberla typed in the code, she could hear the march of buckethead boots below as they scrambled. The panel beside the terminal light up; Ebberla removed her glove with her teeth and placed it on top of the scan, her senses reaching out, the blaster fire had died down, she couldn't hear the hum of lightsabers any longer.

OVERWRITE ACCEPTED.
​

The Jedi replaced her glove and ducked down, pressing herself against the wall. However, what Ebberla did not expect what was to come next. The glowing slide panels of the archives glowed red, alarms sounded and the remainder of functioning terminals blinked signalling a system overwrite.

OVERWRITE 7%
​

Ebberla thumped the back of her head against the wall and let out an agitated sigh, so much for secrecy.

 

[Kiro]

The Sith Master chuckles at the hissed reply of the Dark Lord, blissfully removed from his everpresent aura of doom and terror. ++Of course, my Lord. Happy hunting.++ With those parting words, Raide turns to smile at the battered and singed Major Scryer. "Of course, Major. It's been an honour serving with you. And while I fully expect you to ignore my advice, please take an hour or two with a bacta tank." The short, blonde, woman kneels down to gently pat one of the injured Stormtrooper officer's singed shoulder pauldrons, and send a brief surge of the Force through the man. She had never been a skilled healer, and it was a rarely practiced technique amongst the Sith (far too many preferred shooting lightning and throwing great balls of fire), but she did what she could for the man. Just a little nudge, to start him on the recovery path.

At least until the alarm went off. "Fierfek! Troopers, secure the archive! Double-time! Kill any intruder!" The short Sith calls out, the Force resonating within her voice, as she harnesses the Force, and draws deeply on the Dark Side, to enhance her vision.

OVERWRITE 12%​

The Sith switched from her sword, sheating it, and drew and activated her lightsaber, with that unique glow, once more. It would be better for the task she had ahead. The Stormtroopers would spread out and search for the interfering Jedi. Meanwhile, Raide would do her best to save the Jedi Archives, and Darth Vereor's prize. And the first step was thankfully easy. Running up to one of the many stacks of computer banks, she swung her lightsaber down, and severed the cluster of computers and memory banks from the power grid.

WARNING: DATA-STACK 13 - OFFLINE.​

The blonde allowed herself a small smile. It was now a race. How many terminals could she sever from the power grid, shutting them down and saving their knowledge, before the overwrite protocol ran it's course?

 

[GABA]

Overwrite 15%​

The woman down below barked her orders, Ebberla could feel the tendrils of the dark side coax her words, sending the troops moving faster than anticipated. The Jedi Master smirked, she sounded fairly feisty, it should be a good show getting out of the Archives. The storm trooper boots echoed along with the snap hiss of a lightsaber; Ebberla crawled away from overlooking ledge before leaping to her feet.

Locking down her mind, she begun to form her plan of escape, her eyes catching her reflection in the transperiglass windows. She moved to the next aisle of data slides, her lightsaber gripped in her hand as she waited. She held the advantage over the storm troopers, she knew this place inside and out, and she knew they were coming for her, but they didn't know where to find her.

The Force channeled through the Jedi, she could hear the footsteps approaching closer, moving either side of the rows upon rows of data slides. She concealed herself in the Force, submerging into its ripples as she would blink from physical sight and sound as the group of troopers passed by. A warning echoed in the air, someone was disconnecting servers, Ebberla mumbled a curse.

Ebberla left her spot, her ears catching the troopers shouting out their clears, but the Jedi wasn't out of the clear yet. She made her way to an adjacent section of the archives, guarded by a pair of troopers, she could feel their alertness, their fingers itching to catch the hidden Jedi, however, Ebb was not ready to be caught. Her magenta blade ignited as she reappeared before the men, easily startling them.

One let out a cry as his shooting had fell with a thump to the ground, the other aimed and fired at the Jedi woman but her push was faster, throwing the man into wall, his own bolt hitting the datafiles behind her. She heard more orders from their leading commander as they now homed in on her commotion. The Handless trooper continued to yell and holler from his injury as he crumpled, hunched over from the pain, but Ebberla pushed on, making her way to the exit.

Overwrite 19%​

 

[Silverface]

Scryer had dragged himself upright the moment the Sith ordered the platoon to secure the Archive. He had tugged his helmet on by the time she finished her sentance. He was jogging a moment later, wheezing as he barked orders to the platoon. Breathing was agony to him thanks to his impromtu shock therapy, but he had to soldier on. The comm-link built into his helmet buzzed to life, reports filtering in of an intruder, an Archive wipe. The Major shook his head to clear away the fuzziness and tried to focus, filter out the noise from the information he needed.

The Archive, in the Stormtrooper's briefing before making planetfall, had been divided up into sectors by the officers who planned the mission. And right now, all Scryer was hearing was:

++"Sector A-19 clear, no contact"++

++"Sector B-32 clear!"++

++"Sector D-11, clea- Contact! Jedi, she's-"++

The comm-link was filled suddenly by the Stormtrooper's cries of pain. Scryer blinked at his HUD, quickly barking out orders to converge on the stricken trooper. Since the Stormtroopers had split off into pairs, it was odd that the other soldier hadn't reported in. Taken out? Concussed? It had to wait for now. Still focussing on his HUD as he followed the Sith, Scryer began plotting out likely routes of escape from the injured soldier's location.

++"Lieutenant ( Leftenant ), route squad one to this location, squad two to this chokepoint and set up the repeater to cover this exit. Shoot on sight. And get a medic to TK-98071, he's down in sector D-11. No signal from TK-34981, he's likely dead or knocked out. Send squad three to converge on my beacon, I'm with the Sith. Out"++

It was going to be tricky to cover all the possible routes of escape. But block off enough with enough firepower and the Jedi would have to be forced to consider routes less defended or completely devoid of defenders entirely.

"Ma'am, this Jedi, we can flush him or her out through sectors D-12, D-13 and E-01 if we move fast"

 

[Kiro]

OVERWRITE 21%​

"Very well, Major. Do it. And take out any and all power conduits you find. They can -not- be allowed to erase the archives!" Raide replies as she harnesses the Force, building small levels of telekinesis underneath her feet, boosting her speed and agility, letting her move and dart around as fast as possible. She jumps between stacks of data, her lightsaber flashing out and severing the power conduits which glows bright blue to her Force-enhanced vision.

This is taking too long... She hisses as she draws her sword as well, plunging it into a data-stack's power conduit, while throwing her lightsaber to sever another two. Yes, she was making good time, but even a single decibel point of a percent of data that was overwritten was priceless. And such it was that the Sith Master simply left the lightsaber embedded in one power conduit, and with her sword held firm in one hand, she grasped a severed conduit with the other, and harnessed the Dark Side of the Force.

"There is no Peace; Therein lies only passion." The first line of the Sith creed. She draws on her passions. Her unshakeable faith in the Dark Lord Vereor, and the Empress Andraste. Her righteous fury at the weakness and deceit of the Jedi. Her fear of failing Vereor, her fear of dissapointing the Empress. The power conduit within her hand begins to twitch and buzz as the Dark Side starts to churn and stir within her, manifesting in the purest form a Sith could express the power of the Dark Side. Lightning shoots out from the fingers grasping the conduit, and races through that cable which was designed to carry an electric current.

"Through my Passion is borne my Strength." The second line of the Sith creed. Like all Sith, Raide was empowered by her passions. They made her stronger. They gave her the power to defeat Jedi, the foolish Sith whom underestimated her as an acolyte and a crusader. That same strenght had taken her from her idyllic, tropical, paradise of a homeworld, to Korriban, to the Sith Academy, and had seen her rise to the rank of Master. And that strenght now raced deep into the bowels of the Temple.

"Through Strength, I unleash my Power." The third line of the Sith creed. Power that would see the Jedi broken. Power that would ensure her Vision came true. Power of the Dark Side. Power that was beyond what anyone could imagine. Power that was being used for the good of the Sith Imperium. Power that was surging into the Temple's main power generator, hidden far beneath. Like any machine, the generator which powered the massive temple, and the power hungry Archives was designed to handle only so much energy. And Raide was pouring alot more into it.

"Through Power, Victory is mine." The fourth line of the Sith creed. Victory would indeed belong to Raide. Victory for the Sith. Victory for the Imperium. Victory over the corrupt Galactic Alliance. Victory over the deluded Jedi. Victory for her vision. And more immediately, victory over the Jedi's deluded attempt to wipe the Archives' databases. As the petite Sith poured ever more of her essence and Sith lightning into the conduit, the first effects began to take hold. Lights began to flicker. The lights within the data stacks and holo-books began to dim and die. Lightbulbs began to pop at random. Holo-images became distorted and unstable.

"Through Victory, my Shackles are Broken." The fifth line of the Sith creed. Raide's shackles were long and truly broken. The Jedi would have her believe she was a slave. A slave of the Dark Side. A slave to Darth Vereor. A slave to her fear, her passions. But it was all lies. A true Sith, one whom embraced their passions, whom mastered the Dark Side, and proved their superiority over their opponents, transcended to a higher state of being. They were perfect. They were Sith'ari.

"The Dark Side shall set me Free!" The final line of the Sith code. As the reactor overloads, it explodes, shaking the temple above it, and every single data-stack goes offline, along with the lights.

 

[GABA]

The air suddenly grew very chilly, she couldn't tell if she was psychically feeling it or just in the Force, but it was apparent and she didn't like it. Ebberla stopped, taking cover as she reached into her senses, more so tracking the Stormtroopers were now more than alerted to her presence, she could safely guess they were now following protocol, intruders, however, ironically she found them to be the intruders.

She pressed her back against a shelf, listening as the Imperial's boots tapped quietly on the floor, the Force begun to rumble, something was wrong. She moved silently, the illuminators that still functioned begun to glow brightly, some shorting out and bursting from their sockets. Her eyes caught sight of a terminal:

OVERWRITE 22%
​

And it was speeding up, she smirked, thinking positive, except it would hit her fairly quick and the Corellian cursed. The Dark Side was growing heavier and heavier and the Jedi surrounded herself with the Light as it did enjoy the flesh of the living, the dark side did. It was like a wet blanket on her senses and it pushed the Jedi to compensate, however, she was able to pinpoint exactly where the influx of the dark side was coming from, at least it was only a single sith for now.

But Ebberla's thoughts wouldn't comfort her long as there was an explosive that shook the very foundation of the temple quite literally. The illuminators exploded from their sockets, sparks flew everywhere, some catching the skin of the Jedi Master, sprinkling her with sharp pin pricks of pain. The computer terminal screens blew out, but not before the Corellian caught sight of the final overwrite: 26 percent. She let out a sigh, comfortable knowing the Sith wouldn't get all their sensitive materials.

It was dark in the archives, the only light that filtered in where back up emergency illuminators that didn't catch the onslaught as well as the light from the battles that trickled in through the windows. Her work her was far past done, she couldn't do much more, she needed to get out. The darkness would work in her favor, things weren't bad yet as she begun to plot an exit. Ebberla focused for a moment, creating illusions from craft of the white current, two more identical Master Daws split from the Jedi, one headed back from which the way she came, the other followed ahead, looking for more Stormtroopers that may have been lurking.

Ebberla waited for a moment, listening to the Force, feeling for the troopers locations as well as to see if they would give it away by their blasters.

 

[Kiro]

Panting and and struggling for breath, Raide was left clutching the power conduit in her hand, in the nigh pitch darkness of the archives. Such a raw pull on the Force, even enhanced by the Dark Side, took a toll on any living creature, and the Sith Master was certainly no exception. But she had at least completed her mission. The archives, or at least the seventy four percent that hadn't been overwritten were now safe. And while even a single one of those twenty six percentile that had been wiped by the Jedi represented a vast amount of data, the majority had been preserved, and now belonged to the Imperium of the Sith.

But there was little time for the blonde woman to rest, for there was still the Jedi whom had initiated the data purge to deal with. And the stormtroopers. "Major, you and your men are to pull back. Leave two men here, but I want the rest of you to pull back and join the cordon around the Temple. And Major, feel free to go find a bacta tank." Thankfully for the Sith, the Stormtroopers under Major Scryer's command were well trained, and carried out their orders without comment, or at least none that Raide could hear. What they communicated amongst themselves, within the closed comm channels of their helmets was another thing entirely. But in the end, the Sith was left alone with two stormtroopers, whom moved up to flank her.

As the Sith laid a hand on both men's shoulders, she took a deep breath, and drew once more upon the Force. "I thank you for your service, gentlemen, and the Imperium will forever remember your great sacrifice..." And with those words, she began to draw out the very Force and the life essence from the two sacrificial troopers, into her own tired body, to restore herself in order to face the Jedi whom was still lurking somewhere in the darkness.