Jedi Insurgency 237

Jumping from pillar to pillar, Yon & Jax, the pair of twin Jedi Shadows hopped over the heads of the thousands of Coruscanti Guardsmen heading towards the command & control center. Along the way, they followed in their Master's footsteps, and placed tiny mines that stuck to walls with powerful suction technology. 

Yon was ecstatic to finally return to the Jedi Temple. Master had promised revenge, and today, one more chunk of flesh would be bitten out of the enemy's hide. Flicking a hand, he [Mind Tricked] a clone trooper armed with a flamer to view all other clones as Jedi, the next second, a hot gush of fire was unleashed upon the unsuspecting fools that called him brother. 

Along the way, he sensed a cloaked assassin posted up on a pillar up ahead. Violently yoinking his fist down, his stolen lightsaber activated, eviscerating him from the waist down. 

Screams and explosions followed in his wake, whilst the short, black haired teen took pleasure in his craft. Six months of tutelage, six months of watching his Master, and relentlessly studying after action reports had him copy as much of Master Corvus's battle IQ as possible. To be the very best, Yon was willing to run himself ragged every day. To prove himself to Master, and show that he was worthy of his trust. 

Glancing at the invisible spot that Jax occupied, Yon curled his lips. He would prove that even if he wasn't the first apprentice to be sworn in as a disciple, that he, Yon, was the one most worthy of inheriting Master's mantle. 

His fingers twitched, this time it wasn't to enact some Force power, but it was because he couldn't wait to wield his lightsaber. He somewhat envied the other Jedi, wishing he too could take part in that glorious frontal assault, and wade through those ARC trooper scum, decimating them like the filth they were. When he first stepped onto the battlefield, he had been rescued by a squad of commandos. He thought they were the coolest, now he realized that for all that training, they were insignificant compared to the powers of the Force. 

Inhaling a deep breath, he pulled upon an ability he had taught himself whilst studying within the holocron. Holding the air in his lungs, he entered a brief meditation where he didn't need to breath at all. This sensation of holding ones breath was then passed on to every clone within a 50ft radius. Suddenly, and without explanation, hundreds of the white plastoid armored nerf herders had fallen to the ground, desperately clawing at their helmets as they died of oxygen deprivation. 

The Darkside aided with this attack, and made it extremely potent due to the Force Nexus. The original 50ft radius rapidly expanded to 100ft. Yon for his part, felt a sweet feeling all throughout his body, as if some foreign source was attempting to make him fall in love with this sensation. Scoffing to himself, the short teen spat to the side in disdain, as if he'd fall for such petty inspiration! Although he loved killing traitors, that didn't mean he would allow the Darkside to get in the way of achieving his goal…only his Master's approval was what mattered to him! 

Silently reciting the Jedi Shadow's mantra, he balanced himself within the Force, refusing to allow these dark thoughts to cloud his judgement. 

Jax-who rarely spoke more than a sentence or two at a time-took exception with Yon's actions, and began to offer his criticism in a sharply whispered tirade. 

“You're too overt with these kills. Our path is obvious. The enemy commander will doubtlessly place ambushers and roadblocks in our path. Even if we can't be seen, anyone with intelligence could extrapolate the time of death of these soldiers, and then shoot at where we are going to be. Furthermore, the enemy leadership might reposition. This methodology is as prone to alert the enemy just like Master's overt acts of healing.” Jax said coldly, unhappy that they were revealing their hand in such a manner, eliminating the element of surprise. 

The plan had been to let the main force of Jedi draw all the attention, whilst he and Yon assassinated the leadership, causing chaos in the backline. 

“Blah blah blah. We're just drawing some aggro and thinning out the adds along the way. You're always so busy meditating, you never train your strategy in the sim. We want the enemy commander to move. The intelligence we obtained from [Mind Tricking] that one random clone earlier is hardly good enough.” Yon casually dismissed. 

At the same time, he continued with his terrorism, forcefully jamming several dozen thermal detonators with the Force, exploding a handful of squads into burnt out torsos, and flying limbs. 

“Stop treating this like a game. This is serious. Master is counting on us.” Jax sternly warned, trying to reign in his chaotic partner. 

“Who says I'm not serious? A million man Legion is in the Temple. Chipping away at their numbers along the way is the responsible thing to do.” Yon said in an innocent tone. 

Jax rolled his eyes, choosing to remain silent. Ultimately, the number of enemies didn't matter. So long as they held the ritual, and escaped towards the extraction point, then victory would be achieved. He feared Yon was looking at small gains, and not the big picture. 

“Hm, you sense that?” Jax suddenly narrowed his eyes as a dark presence made itself known up ahead. 

“Looks like a mini-boss.” Yon replied, taking a deep breath, he tasted the air with the Force. “I'd say he has slightly more raw power than us, but not by much.” 

“He's almost familiar…” Jax whispered. 

“Probably a traitor.” Yon added on in a bloodthirsty tone. 

“The ARC commander is our target, him and the Legion Commander.” Jax reminded. 

Yon's facial muscles twitched. He really wanted to kill this guy-the traitor that is-there was nothing he hated more than disloyal backstabbing, oathbreaking, honorless sons of Hutts. However, as much as it pained him, and it really truly did, Jax was right. Bleh! Just the thought of those words made Yon's face scrunch up in a sour expression. 

“Hmph, follow me, I know of an exploit.” Yon growled in a low tone. “Work with me.” 

Jumping up towards the ceiling, he ignited his green lightsaber that was tinted red, and cut a circular hole in the wall. Due to making physical contact, some clones down below noticed him. 

“There he is!”

“Blast him!” 

Jax sighed in annoyance, but backed his rival up, helping to deflect any incoming fire. 

“Let's go, we're ‘warping’ to the next level.” Yon laughed, disappearing into the floor. 

Jax's wintery white eyebrow twitched, wishing Master had never introduced the insufferable shortie to videogames. Jumping up after him, Jax was stunned to find that they were at the very back of a call to muster. Hundreds of men stood in perfect square formations, and were all facing a hallway prepared for battle. 

Yon put a finger to his lips, and smiled mischievously before becoming transparent once more. 

“Watch this exploit.” Yon whispered. 

Jax sighed once more, subconsciously copying his Master, and ran a tired hand through his hair. What was his rival going to do this time? He almost missed Yon's tireless pursuit of power. Now it seemed he had picked up their Master's bad habit of causing mischief. Although he thought this, he couldn't help but be curious. Just what was Yon's plan? He wasn't strong enough to [Mind Trick] everyone at this defensive chokepoint, just what was his game? 

Whilst he was musing Yon's next actions, the Temple began to continuously shudder & shake. The Force was running rampant, and several titanic clashes took place at the lower levels, leaving Jax to feel some concern. Although they were strong, he couldn't help but have some doubts about his fellow Jedi. Yon was somewhat correct, if those Masters had been so wise, and all powerful, then why did the Temple fall in the first place? 

All this violence and death was making him uneasy. To make matters worse, those cries for pain echoing in the Force were becoming dimmer and dimmer. It was as if someone's free will was slowly becoming eroded. The psychic scream of that trapped person was making him shiver as he felt something incredibly wrong was going to happen. 

When next he looked up, Jax saw Yon hold out his lightsaber in one hand, and a borrowed blade in the other. He then-running at incredible speeds-ran in a straight line, letting the super hot beam of plasma do all the work. Clone after clone was swiftly bisected, and they didn't even know what was happening since they were all staring forward at attention. 

Jax rolled his eyes, and could only begrudgingly admit that this ‘exploit’ had slain a great deal of enemy troops. However, he had bigger fish to fry. Positioned nearby was a comms station, and mini-FOB (forward operating base), something he had seen dozens of times during his deployment in the Clone Wars. And it just so happened a crimson armored ARC trooper was conspicuously, confidently issuing orders over the comms whilst watching the entire situation unfold via three dozen monitors & several holoprojections. Noticing Yon, the Commander raised his pair of custom heavy blaster pistols, and was about to get a bead on his brother. 

Now that won't do. 

Jax's wintery blue eyes took on a predatory hue as one of his precious people came under threat, and the aura of a protector surrounded his form. Flashing forward, he practically teleported in front of the man, and-knowing the ARC troopers wore energy shields-he held out his mechanical limb, and grabbed him by the neck. 

Suddenly becoming visible in the FOB, his eyes were mere inches from the commander's black visor. A primal nature possessed his form, and despite being the best of the best, the clone's fight or flight response triggered…and he froze. 

Just for a second, time seemed to stop, then as the Palace shook once more, the commander twitched, and raised his blaster. Jax dispassionally snapped his foe's neck, and tossed him aside. Those who targeted the people he had sworn to protect deserved nothing less. 

Standing tall, Jax saw that Yon had the battalion guarding the hall well in hand, then glanced over his shoulder as the ‘mini-boss’ made his appearance. 

Slow clapping like some villain from a holodrama, the pale faced Pau'an with red marks upon his bald forehead arrived. Dressed in form fitting black armor, and equipped with a lightsaber at the hip, it was: 

“Tr’son.” Jax slowly stated, narrowing his eyes. 

“I suspected you would have made a superb Sentinel. Who would have ever suspected that we two protectors would choose to walk a darker path.” Tr'son-a man Corvus would recognize as the canon Grand Inquisitor-said with a raised eyebrow. 

“I am still a protector.” Jax steadily replied, pointing one of his twin blue blades at the Pau'an. 

“Yes. Nothing screams protection like violently snapping the neck of a man.” Tr'son cooly replied. 

Jax didn't feel any anger at the insult, Tr'son's words flowed off him like water. Adopting a threatening pose, he seemed like he could strike at any moment. 

“Childish.” Tr'son tutted, then turned to his side, igniting his double-bladed yellow lightsaber. 

A beam collided with Yon's red-tinted green blade, blocking his flank. Without even turning to look at Yon, Tr'son grinned at Jax. 

“Let's see where your convictions lie now, boy.” Tr'son crowed, revealing a row of sharp teeth. 

Reversing his blade, he drove it home, directly at Yon's stomach. He stared Jax dead in the eyes, waiting to savor the exquisite expression of despair. 

…however, Jax remained stoic as ever. 

“Hm?!” Tr'son hummed in shock. 

Where his blade had struck down at, it had truly hit Yon square in the chest. Aaand then promptly collided with his [Energy Resistance] barrier. 

“We're the Sons of Revan, remember it in your last life, scum.” Yon grinned, and returned a stab of his own directly into Tr'son's spine. 

The former Jedi Sentinel's mouth worked, yet no words left his lips, as the tip of a bright beam of plasma was currently thrust out of his chest. 

Yon narrowed his eyes, feeling something was off. Instead of jumping back, he began to hack, slice, and dice. 

His intuition proved to be on point, as Tr'son's body had been undergoing a remarkable transformation. Selling his soul to Cronal-one of the Emperor’s Hands-he had become bathed in Sith Alchemy, and could transform his body into that of a warbeast. 

…however. 

“Hahahaha, he thought he could catch me off guard with a second stage! Ha! You only have one life bar, idiot!” Yon laughed like a madman as he diced the rapidly regenerating man into smoldering pieces until naught but ash & dust remained. 

Jax looked on wordlessly. He thought he had done well distracting Tr'son, he had even tensed up, preparing himself for a lengthy, grueling fight as the Darksider's aura soared…He never expected Yon to see through this trap, and take care of it before it could develop into a desperate situation. Maybe there was something to those videogames afterall? 

As Jax was musing, an incredibly powerful psychic wave assaulted him, and every living being within the Palace/Temple. 

She was coming. 

Yon walked up to his side, and was quiet as the grave. His laughter was gone, and his face was pale like milk. 

“Is that. Is that the princess you wanted to save?” Yon slowly got out. 

Jax slowly nodded, and looked out towards a certain direction. A connection he hadn't felt since he had first arrived on Malastare had made itself known. And it was heading directly towards the hallway where the Jedi assault was taking place. 

“...I think I can free her from mind control, but only if the Darkside Nexus is sealed.” Jax slowly got out. 

What went unsaid was that to accomplish that, many Jedi were needed. Someone was going to have to stay behind to distract her, and hold off the Darksiders whilst they did. 

Now that the raid had reached a fever pitch in intensity, something had Jax & Yon glance up at the PA system in startled delight. A voice they hadn't heard since their journey to Nar Shaddaa made itself known: 

“Glorious Statement: Hello, Meatbags.”