Jedi Insurgency 248

Whilst Yoda was meditating on the Force, Corvus was struggling to survive. The [Force Storm] raging above the skies of Coruscant was apocalyptic. Buildings were being ripped up into the sky with the same ease that a vacuum cleaner would have sucking up an ant. 

At first, he had attempted to hold some people back with his base telekinesis, or even slap a [Force Barrier] on them…but it was to no avail. He could only watch on powerlessly as those lives he had worked so hard to save when fighting against Vader were slaughtered. One of the most disgusting things about this ability was the after-effect it left in the Force. 

This level of Human suffering was magnified to an unspeakable degree. Corvus had personally cut enemy combatants into pieces, inhaled the foulest stench aftermath of thermal detonated flesh, and burnt skin. He had even killed others with [Force Lightning], a genuine Darkside ability that tortured the soul as one died. In truth, he was guilty of a hundred war crimes, a villain to many clone troopers, perhaps even an anti-hero to rebels like Bail, and a necessary hero to the boys. 

That being said, he had only ever targeted those who tried to kill him. This storm, however? This storm was murdering millions every minute. Not only did it suck people of their life essence, but their path to join the Force had become perverted, one might say corrupted even. Although there were no new Force ghosts, Corvus sensed that even when ground into atoms, they still felt pain. It was as if the storm had feasted upon their souls, and held them within its belly. That so long as this monolith of despair persisted, those who had died under its weight would not find release! 

An overwhelming sense of doubt & despair permeated the skies. Those dead souls clouded the realm with their wails, piercing the invisible veil of the Force, and casting all of Coruscant in a shroud of melancholy. If not for [Valor], Corvus felt as if he would have ended himself, such was the after-effect of this psychic blast. 

This was just the aura radiating off of the technique. Palpatine-the mad genius that he was-had combined several concepts to create his own unique [Force Storm]. Yet at the end of the day, it not only held devouring properties, but remained as one of the most deadly Darkside abilities known throughout the galaxy. 

Jumping between a set of skyscrapers floating up into the void, Corvus dodged a sudden rift that opened in front of him, and watched helplessly as a freighter was swallowed up. Right now, he was rushing towards Jax's location. Through their [Force Bond], he sensed that the boy was in grave danger, that any delay would result in his permanent demise. 

During his trip, he occasionally caught a glimpse of the intense battle happening miles away. Although he couldn't see much with his eyes, what he could sense horrified him. He was certain without a shadow of a doubt that if he came across Palpatine at this very moment, the Sith Lord would be so fast, that Corvus would barely last a dozen moves. [Shadow Wrath State] was almost done with its cooldown, but even then, he felt like he would be trying to piss in a fire to put it out. That even if he ran to Yoda's help, he'd just distract the Grandmaster. Right now, his plan was to stick to the original plan. 

Rescue Windu, collect the Jedi, and get out of dodge. 

Running at full tilt, he [Shadow Hopped] through another anomaly, and arrived just in time to see his limbless disciple and a broken Mace Windu tethered together in some sort of Lightside stasis. He could only surmise that Yoda had done something when he arrived, because the world around them was being sucked upward, whilst they were held in place. However, this stasis field was being eaten by the storm, and its light was fading. 

Sensing that if he ran into it, he would also become paralyzed in stasis, Corvus narrowed his eyes. An anomaly was constantly eating at the field. To rescue the pair, he'd have to jump in at the right time, then escape, otherwise he'd be devoured! 

Pausing every 0.1 second, time passed by agonizingly slowly. Yet he wasn't going to risk losing his boy, nor Windu after coming this far! 

1.5 seconds later, the stasis field broke, and Corvus had [Shadow Hopped] by their side. 0.3 seconds later, he was gone with the pair of Jedi in his hands. Looking down, he saw that the corner of his robe had been shredded, its Cortosis-Weave properties ineffectual against the true might of the Darkside. The [Force Barrier] he constantly wore around himself like a shroud had popped upon the slightest contact. Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, he dropped a [Heal] on both of them. 

Windu’s broken bones mended themselves, and Jax regrew his limbs. Although Corvus felt a little heartbreak, knowing Jax wanted to heal his own arms, now wasn't the time to run around with a cripple. The whole world was at stake! 

“Master?” Jax groggily called out, and reached at him disbelievingly. 

“Up now, we have no time to dawdle. We need to reconvene at the Temple, then escape. Coruscant is no longer safe.” Corvus said, pulling his student up, and brushed some dust off Jax's shoulder, looking all over his pale-skinned student like a father worried their boy is hurt. 

“Not possible. A ship can't leave through this atmosphere. The only way out is to help Master Yoda.” Windu said after pulling himself up from the ashes. 

Corvus regarded Windu for a second, then nodded. What he said made some sense, however…they were too weak! 

“How do you suggest we aid Yoda, Master Windu? No offense, but I think we would only distract him.” Corvus steadily replied. “...unless perhaps you have seen a Shatterpoint?” 

Windu nodded, then shook his head. 

“We need to weaken the storm. Master Yoda will handle the rest.” Windu said in an incredibly serious, no nonsense tone. 

As per usual with the man, he didn't elaborate, and merely looked at Corvus with a raised eyebrow. 

Perhaps if he were Anakin, he'd rage at this, and view it as Windu withholding information. But it was unlikely that even Windu was 100% certain on what Yoda planned. 

Between the two of them attacking the cloud, they probably could punch a hole in the storm, then escape. But then, what would be the fate of Coruscant? How powerful would Palpatine become? Would he lose all his rationality, and transform into another Nihilus? That was a nightmare so terrifying, he could only place his trust in Master Yoda. 

“Very well. Jax, work with me. This world requires [Healing].” Saying that, Corvus took a meditative posture, and began to put his everything into [Heal]. 

Windu nodded at them, then began to mix Shatterpoint with [Force Shockwave] claps, tearing apart large sections of the storm. 

Although neither of them could contain the beast together, they had indeed punctured several holes in the clouds, revealing the night sky. 

Windu stared upward, his tattered robes, and long white dreads whipped violently in the gale. His brow was furrowed as he stared at one particular spot, waiting as if he were a fisherman, waiting for his prey to fall into his net. 

Nearby, Jax struggled to remain standing. The young Jedi’s white hair snapped wildly in the gale whilst his own blood still stained portions of his tunic from the battle earlier. He had been healed, and was nourished by his master, but even with his support, Jax was-at the end of the day-merely a Jedi Knight. 

Despite this apparent weakness, he didn't hesitate for a second, willingly placing himself in harm's way to combat the storm. 

Corvus watched him quietly. Proudly. 

Standing at the edge of a ruined platform that looked like something out of Hiroshima, his cloak billowed behind him as fragments of debris slowly drifted into the anomaly. His eyes remained fixed upon the heavens.

“Master, this hunger. Is it possible to sate it?” Jax questioned from the side. 

Windu looked toward him sharply, also curious. 

Corvus extended a hand toward the sky, and pinched his fingers together. 

“Darth Nihilus became a void possessing a mask & cloak, such was his craving. Whole systems became devoid of life due to his relentless craving. It is possible that this [Force Storm] will not end until all of Coruscant is swallowed whole.” Corvus raised a conjecture, stroking his chin. 

The teen lowered his head, then his ice-blue eyes met Corvus's mask, as if silently asking ‘you have a solution though, don't you, Master?’ 

Wryly smiling behind his mask, he wanted to say no, but as he looked upon the scattered dark clouds, he couldn't help but catch a glimpse of its shadow. Experiencing a brief look into its potential future, he felt his eyes begin to sting, as if he had looked into a computer screen for 32 hours straight. 

“Hmm. It appears this storm isn't as monolithic as I had once assumed. It appears to be somewhat layered, like a sandwich or more like a stack of pancakes.” Corvus slowly said, rubbing his chin. 

Interwoven through countless spiraling streams of Darkside energy was a thick outer layer on the top & bottom, sort of like the crust/breading. On the interior, a vast concentration of rage, death, and fear threaded together into a singular catastrophic phenomenon.

“I can see it. Although the analogy could use some work, your master is not wrong in describing this technique as being layered. Well spotted, Master Revan.” Windu said, nodding in acknowledgement. 

Windu slowly smiled.

“You really are insane for spotting that defect.” Windu said softly.

Corvus’s mask tilted slightly toward him.

“I've certainly been called worse.” 

“...then, do we cut away the crust, and eat the filling?” Jax asked in a hesitant tone. The typically taciturn teen was still holding on for dear life, and appeared to be somewhat in a hurry to resolve this conflict. 

“In 45 seconds, I can tear away this outer portion over here to the right.” Windu said, pointing his finger. 

Corvus silently nodded along. Closing his eyes, he maintained his peak FP, and prepared to dodge any unexpected encounters. 

After the allotted time passed, Windu made his move.

The Jedi Master inhaled deeply and reached into the Force, aiming at a flaw in the threads of fate. 

His Vaapad-honed senses expanded across the heavens until the storm no longer resembled a dark mass of clouds, but…a sandwich. Windu wanted to curse at Revan for polluting his mind with such a childish analogy-just like Skywalker-but he had to focus. 

He saw the cracks, those weak points, those trembling seams that held this cloak of evil together. 

“There.”

Windu slammed both palms together. A colossal invisible detonation erupted from his body in the form of [Force Shockwave]. 

The shattered avenue beneath them exploded apart as a titanic concussive wave blasted upward into the heavens. Entire spirals of dark energy ruptured apart upon impact.

The sky split, and for a brief instant, stars became visible above Coruscant.

The [Force Storm] shrieked like a wounded beast.  Windu attacked again, and again, tearing apart this bottom thick layer, the crust. 

Each shockwave targeted another Shatterpoint, collapsing massive sections of the storm into stiff breezes. The effort drove him to one knee as blood leaked from his nose, but still he continued.

For years Windu had acted only according to the rules. Today, he would do what was right, damn the rules! 

This personal choice of his resonated through the Force louder than any sermon he had delivered to the younglings, or lecture on meditation delivered to the Chosen One. 

Another rupture tore through the storm. Taking a knee, he glanced at the master & disciple. 

‘Don't make my trust be misplaced…not again.’ Windu thought to himself, his long hair shading his eyes, the cold wind from the storm hiding the pain in his heart due to all the innocent life lost this day. 

Jax saw the opening, and thrust both hands skyward. Green light exploded outward from his body in a luminous wave. The Force answered him with warmth. After casting [Heal], he mixed it up with [Force Valor]. 

Golden radiance spread outward across the district in expanding rings. Civilians hiding beneath rubble suddenly found strength returning to their limbs. Panic lessened. Exhausted rescue workers rose again despite shattered bodies. Fear receded as the suction force in the nearby area became less and less. The dark clouds above them hissed violently as if burned, the Lightside was making itself known! 

Jax grimaced in repressed agony. Using such an ancient technique on this scale was tearing through him like molten glass, but he held firm. After experiencing the loss from earlier, he was overdrafting his everything. If he continued to persist, he would likely fade away, joining the river of the Force, not even leaving behind a complete corpse…but if it meant protecting the people he loved, there was no threat, sacrifice, or pain he was unwilling to bear in the name of his precious people! 

Beside him, Corvus closed his eyes.

His hands slowly rose, and the air around him changed. 

Gone was the violence surrounding him.

Gone was the fury.

The Force around Corvus became still.

One might even describe it as gentle. 

Countless pale streams of luminous energy began flowing outward from his body like rivers of moonlight. They spread throughout the broken district, touching the wounded, the dying, the trapped.

Bones mended.

Collapsed lungs filled with air.

Burned flesh cooled.

Children buried beneath debris awoke gasping as pain vanished from their bodies.

The ancient art of [Heal] uplifted the people, then harnessing the resulting positive emotions, Corvus melded them into an invisible spear, and thrust it deep into those concepts of pain, hunger, and torture that permeated the storm. 

If Palpatine could press conceptual levels of ideas to the raw power of a [Force Storm], then why couldn't he do the same with [Heal]?! 

Every life Corvus touched became another candle against the darkness. Each second that ticked by caused the storm to become lesser. High above, portions of the black vortex began destabilizing as radiant fractures spread through its structure. Several portions directly exploded, and the land around the Jedi for several miles returned to relative normalcy. 

As for why it was relative…well, all of the buildings and debris that had been sucked towards the sky didn't return to earth, they remained fixed, hovering in place as if they were starships. Additionally, the unnatural darkness still clouded the sky. However, the anomalous vortexes in this region no longer spread uncontrollably, and the devouring suction was only as powerful as a stiff breeze. 

“You know, I thought you were only using the Jedi for your selfish desires.” Windu remarked offhandedly, covertly wiping the blood from his nose. 

Corvus remained silent. His own body ached beyond belief. After dueling Vader, and experiencing the strain of the [Shadow Wrath State] upon his body, this most recent excursion left him mentally & physically drained. 

Windu looked upward toward the weakening storm, seemingly staring beyond into some distant future. “I think…we both know how today will end. But trust me when I say what we did here will change the course of history.” 

For once, Corvus had no clever reply.

Whatever Yoda was planning, Corvus hoped it was worth it.