Jedi Insurgency 247

The Force was strong upon Coruscant. Death and violence the likes of which hadn't been seen in thousands of years once more came to her doorstep. That maelstrom of metal scouring the Senate District, the million or so lives affected by Vader & Revan’s duel…it was a prelude, a mere tantrum compared to the true depths of a Master of the Force. 

Far above the hidden battleground beneath the Senate District, the surface of the megalopolis was beginning to die.

Entire city blocks vanished into black vortices that twisted through the atmosphere like wounds in reality. Towers thousands of meters tall folded inward and disappeared soundlessly into waves of folded pressure. Rivers of traffic were dragged screaming into the sky. Starships attempting evacuation were torn apart mid-flight, swallowed by spiraling clouds of violet lightning.

This phenomenon was all due to one thing, and one thing alone. It was a:

FORCE STORM. 

And it was growing. Fueled by conceptual hunger, it was not solely fueled by Palpatine’s will, but fed upon the life force of its victims. Like a fire & forget missile, this weapon that he had unleashed…not even Palpatine was entirely certain it could be withdrawn! Yet under pressure from three legends, his back against the corner, he had no choice but to take this gamble. The price of Yoda's head, of those rats cowering in the Imperial Palace…even if it meant sacrificing the seat of his power, their deaths would be worth it! 

Across the horizon of Coruscant, the night sky split open into colossal rotating maelstroms of dark side energy. The clouds above the world churned blood-red beneath arcs of continent-spanning lightning. Gravity itself had begun to fail in places. Entire sectors drifted upward before being shredded apart atom by atom.

Tens of millions died every few minutes.

Deep beneath the planet’s crust, Palpatine floated at the center of the cataclysm, robes spread wide like the wings of some fallen angel. His eyes blazed yellow-white now, a hint of all consuming hunger bled into the edge of his sanity. So careful was he to feed upon those slugs from Hoth, to maintain his mental focus, now in the name of victory he was willing to risk it all! 

Every scream upon Coruscant echoed through him. Every death became fuel. The [Force Storm] above intensified with each passing second.

Palpatine laughed.

The sound boomed across the collapsing subterranean world like thunder from a broken heaven. Every soul from within this side of Coruscant-from the lowest depths to the tallest spires, from the halls of the Inquisition to the vault of Galactic Bank-his laughter sent a paralyzing psychic shock to every last one of them. Even the Jedi within the Imperial Palace were on their knees, the soldiers assaulting them meanwhile, were laid out on their bellies, like worms. Only the likes of Obi-Wan, Shaak Ti, and the other Masters could barely stand. 

“At last! At last you witness it! The true nature of power!” Palpatine clapped. 

Entire mountains of debris constantly floated upward around him as they were funneled into the all consuming maw of the storm. 

Lord Kaan stood amidst the destruction, crimson specter-fire whipping around his form as both hands strained outward. Veins of red Force energy stretched from his palms into the surrounding ruins as he desperately held the battlefield together telekinetically.

Without him, the foundations beneath the Senate would have fully collapsed already, and Yoda would have nothing to stand upon. 

Great slabs of ferrocrete the size of cruisers hovered midair around the Sith Lord, locked in place through sheer willpower.

But even Kaan-ghostly apparition that he was-was being driven backward. Palpatine’s power was growing to an absurd scale. His current feat placed him amongst the very best; Naga Sadow, Marka Ragnos, Exar Kun, Vitiate. Any one of these men now stood shoulder to shoulder with this one feat of his. 

The Emperor extended one hand lazily, and an entire section of the underground city tore free. He did this with no deep seated motive, no perverse pleasure as per usual. No. Instead, he was like a child discovering the controls to a videogame for the first time. A dichotomy of sorts took place as the villain of the hour experienced childish glee for the first time in decades. 

Kaan’s eyes widened. The ancient Sith immediately thrust both palms outward.

The ‘country-sized’ mass that was going to be fed into the storm halted in place. For a moment, at least it appeared to halt. Then, the storm contracted for a second, before expanding, redoubling its suction. The rubble-and still living sentients trapped inside of it-were once more drawn upwards into the vacuum suction. 

Kaan snarled, revealing an ugly face as he looked up towards the all black sky. 

“This fool thinks himself so great. The [Thought Bomb] dwarfs this insignificant light show by a sector.” Kaan spat to himself. 

Perhaps hearing his words, the pressure intensified. Kaan’s boots gouged trenches through solid stone as he was driven upward by the sheer weight Palpatine was exerting through the Force.

“Mope to yourself in jealousy in the afterlife, Sith.” Hoth said in a belittling tone. “I have heard well enough of your pathetic dreams of grandeur in these last thousand years of forever war upon Ruusan.” 

Then, gathering a his might, the ancient Jedi warrior exploded upward using the suction as a force multiplier. Blue blade ignited in both hands, he was like a single light in the dark. 

“FACE ME, TYRANT!”

His roar shook the heavens. 

Channeling his lightsaber's kyber crystal harmonized with him, and bright blue shockwave after shockwave of [Force Stun] enveloped the surroundings, aiding Kaan in holding everything in place. Hoth-taking an unorthodox approach-had tricked the world into ‘stunning’ the buildings, and civilians in place, preventing them from being sucked upward! 

Jumping up through this debris field that looked like it had been hit with the pause button, Hoth struck at Palpatine like an enraged god. Form V became pure devastation in his hands. He hammered against Palpatine in a storm of colossal blows, each strike carrying enough force to shatter bunkers apart. Hoth abandoned all restraint now, channeling the entirety of his ancient martial prowess into relentless aggression.

Palpatine met him blade-for-blade.

The duel became incomprehensible.

Blue and crimson flashes erupted faster than sight. Shockwaves tore outward continuously as their sabers collided. The surrounding terrain vaporized merely from proximity to their strikes.

Hoth fought like a barbarian king.

But behind the fury lay a constantly calculating mind.  Every strike angled toward weak points. Every retreat was bait. Every apparent overextension concealed another layer of prediction.

Battle premonition flooded his senses.

He saw fragments of futures splitting endlessly before him.

In one future, Palpatine severed his arm.

In another, lightning pierced his chest.

In another, Coruscant exploded entirely.

Hoth discarded each doomed path instantly.

And struck through the narrow futures that remained.

The Emperor’s grin was all teeth. His blade became a red cyclone as he intercepted Hoth’s brutal assault.

“You're not the fool you portray yourself as, yet you are a fool all the same.” Palpatine taunted in a lofty tone during a saber-lock. 

“Aye! Took you long enough to notice!” Hoth laughed boyishly in his face, and then Hoth headbutted him.

Palpatine flipped backwards onto a frozen in place piece of debris, and angrily rubbed his head. That was the third time a Jedi had cracked his skull, and the second time in one day! 

Hoth jumped after him, his saber coming down in a sharp cleave. The Emperor scoffed, using the pull of the [Force Storm], he repelled upward, evading the incoming blow. 

Although he missed his target, Hoth's strike split the battlefield apart instead. A canyon hundreds of meters deep erupted through the underground foundations of Coruscant, and  the surface shook violently. 

Yet another fracturing district down below collapsed, only to be slowly sucked up into the growing storms overhead.

The death toll climbed higher as Hoth grimaced. 

“Fool. Overeager as per usual. If only you knew the meaning of restraint, he would be ours by now.” Kaan hissed. 

“Quit your chirping.” Hoth bit back. “We're just buying time anyway.” The big man said, raising his chin towards the silent, meditating little green goblin. 

Kaan clucked his tongue as he too glanced at the Grandmaster. 

The ancient Jedi Master sat cross-legged upon a floating piece of stone amidst the swirling chaos that was Coruscant. 

His eyes were closed, yet he wasn't entirely idle. Yoda’s hands moved slowly before him.

Rotating.

Turning.

As though shaping an invisible sphere between his palms.

Round and round.

Slowly.

Patiently.

Every motion was calm as a gentle stream of water, or like a relaxed baker kneading his dough. The Force around Yoda did not flow like a river as it did around Palpatine up in the sky. 

It spiraled in the opposite direction. 

Great luminous currents flowed toward him from unseen distances, threading through the battlefield in vast invisible arcs. The very energy of the Force around Coruscant had begun bending subtly around his presence. And indeed, the very energy of all those he had touched, and affected positively across the galaxy-these invisible threads of fate, gratitude, hope, friendship, and love-they seamlessly wove into this tapestry he was weaving. 

Neither Hoth nor Kaan understood fully what he was doing, but they knew something grand was in the works. Jedi did not often perform grand planetwide miracles, but when they did…it almost always resulted in the defeat of the Sith! 

Palpatine was not blind, and in fact, had been attempting to break Yoda's concentration with the deaths of millions. To compound this wave of suffering into a potent poison, one that would cloud the Grandmaster's mind like the most exquisite elixir. He had done something similar in the past, blinding the Jedi, now, he would do it again. 

…only this time, despite the countless deaths, Yoda remained unmoved! Every Sith knew that threatening the lives of the innocent was the best way to affect a Jedi into acting irrational, but Yoda remained in meditation. In fact, the aura around him only seemed to solidify further! 

Palpatine was beginning to once more feel the pressure. Thousands of possible futures flashed into his mind's eye, yet in every one of them, he saw himself emerging victorious. And yet, despite all this, why was it that his heart was palpitating wildly?

Masking his fear with hatred, he blasted Hoth backward with a colossal Force wave, then turned toward Yoda.

“Your actions are futile. If you are so powerful, why do you allow so many deaths to fall upon your shoulders?” Palpatine mocked, attempting to goad the Jedi into action. 

Yoda did not answer. His hands continued turning slowly, and his eyes remained closed, it was as if he were closed off to the world around him. 

Palpatine’s eyes narrowed.

The Emperor thrust both hands outward.

A tidal wave of [Force Lightning] erupted toward Yoda with enough power to atomize capital ships.

Kaan reacted instantly.

The ancient Sith Lord roared as he ripped every nearby slab of debris into the lightning’s path. Mountains of stone, steel, and sentients frozen due to [Force Stun] intercepted the blast, and were vaporized instantly.

Hoth charged through the explosion, a wild laugh upon his lips as his top-knot fluttered in the wind. His spectral body flickered violently under the residual lightning, but still he came onward like an unstoppable phantom built for war. 

Palpatine met him again. Their blades collided with enough force to tilt nearby skyscraper foundations above them. Far overhead, entire sectors of Coruscant began sinking into the undercity. Millions more died, and the [Force Storm] expanded across another section of the planet comparable to Australia in size. 

Ships attempting orbital escape vanished into hyperspatial ruptures. The atmosphere itself bled crimson, and Palpatine very seriously considered if he could destroy all of Coruscant. That to get past these troublesome pests, he may have to throw it all away. 

“You still do not understand! This is the destiny of the Sith! Not to rule over worlds, but to transcend beyond them!” Palpatine declared towards Hoth, attempting to expand the storm horizontally into new horizons. 

He blasted Hoth backward with lightning, then turned toward Kaan.

“You sought to unify the Sith through brotherhood.” Palpatine sneered. “Pathetic.”

The Emperor extended one hand, and Kaan’s telekinetic defenses barely held. Palpatine seized the ancient Sith specter in an invisible grip and hurled him through three floating landmasses.

Kaan erupted from the debris moments later, his red aura blazing furiously as a new aura of hatred permeated his form. 

“You arrogant little ghoul!” Kaan roared.

The founder of the Brotherhood of the Sith unleashed his full power at last.

The battlefield twisted as entire sections of terrain folded inward under immense telekinetic pressure. Great rivers of compressed ash rose into the air like serpents before crashing toward Palpatine from every direction.

The Emperor answered by opening miniature Force ruptures around himself. Kaan's attacks vanished, and reality itself had begun breaking down around Sidious.

And despite this world ending catastrophe, Yoda continued turning his hands.

Slowly, patiently, he did not deviate from his actions. The green Jedi Master’s expression remained serene. Something was close to manifesting, what it was, only Yoda knew.

“What have you done…?” Palpatine bit out under immense strain as he was locked in one hand with a saber, whilst the other kept Kaan's telekinetic will in check. 

Yoda kept his head bowed with his eyes closed, yet a playful smirk spread across his face. 

“Hmm, turning, the tide is.”