Jedi Insurgency 265

A ring of red blades surrounded Corvus as the Sith Lords advanced. 

Each one of his opponents was a veteran of the Darkside, a graduate from the hellscape that was Dromund Kaas Academy, and dyed in the wool Sith. To emerge from the bottom rung of society, and be dubbed a Sith Lord was an accomplishment most Acolytes never lived to see. In the brutal hyper competitive atmosphere of the Sith Empire under Vitiate, only the strongest, or craftiest survived. 

Although he could easily one-shot a single Sith Lord, even reasonably crush a dozen or so at once, 50 gathered together was a tall order. It was important to note that even Legends Vader had at times struggled when facing large groups of Jedi. A Sith Lord was the equivalent of a fully fledged Jedi Knight, expected to be competent in one form of lightsaber combat, and possessing three or more expert Force abilities, they were no pushovers. 

In the past, he had fought against an army of both Sith & Jedi upon that scarred battlefield within the holocron. The one where Ulic Qel-Droma's memory-the student of Exar Kun-still continued to vex him to this day during training sessions. When he faced that army, he was alone, and could use the environment to his advantage. Here, he was undergoing a trial. It was easy to lose oneself in the thought of killing Malgus. However, the mission was to protect the Temple, and what was more precious a target to protect than the next generation? 

Glancing at the somewhat nervous, yet ultimately resolute Padawans, Corvus took this as the opportunity to learn that it was. Perhaps one day, he would have to break out of an encirclement protecting weaker Jedi in the future. As Order Master, he had to prepare for these sorts of scenarios. Order 66 was proof of the Order's arrogance, that even for all their power, there would always be someone in the galaxy who wished to topple them. 

Acting as the spear tip of the formation, Corvus led the Padawans in a slow retreat towards a side hall. Here, the area wasn't as wide, limiting the space one had to maneuver, and preventing flanking. 

The Sith Lords were quick to catch up to them, and had begun swinging their blades. 

As soon as he turned to face them, five scorching red blades were stabbing towards him. Those five lightsabers were wielded by heavy armored Sith Juggernauts, a red aura of [Fury] coated their forms, juicing them up, enhancing their strength, speed, and reflexes at the cost of rational thought. Behind them, a group of ten Sith Inquisitors had joined forces, conjuring a wide net of electricity above & behind Corvus, preventing his escape. Every other second, a bolt of [Force Lightning] struck downward from behind, intent on slaying him. Similar circumstances enveloped each Padawan, making it difficult to survive. 

Wielding his twin lightsabers, Corvus leveraged his superior speed and Pause to wage total war upon his attackers. Acting in quick succession, he did the following: 

To the foe furthest to the left, he batted aside their saber. The next cloaked Sith in line had his arms lopped off. Next came a thick woman in the middle who jumped forward with a cleaving slice, she was [Force Pushed] diagonally downward into her companion's blade, piercing her chest. Attempting to slaughter Corvus through his companion's corpse, the next Juggernaut in line roared at him, exchanging a flurry of blows…that is, that's what his brain said happened. [Mind Trick] clouded this berserker's mind, and in reality, his red blade had diced the final person besieging Corvus into sashimi. 

The only person relatively intact amongst this line up-the one on the far left who had his weapon batted aside-wanted to retreat, his aura awash with fear, but a new press of four more Lords lunged forward to take their fallen companion's place. The mindless berserker was cut down by his own reinforcements, whilst the armless man was [Force Pushed] at Corvus. Wailing in fear, the Sith Lord that was launched at him suddenly became silent as Corvus bisected him from head to toe. 

Black burnt carcinogenic flesh smoldered to the floor, yet there wasn't even a second of reprieve as the next wave came. A cage of electricity behind him, a gaggle of Padawans in the middle, and a pack of murderous Sith in front of him, retreat was not an option. 

Holding out both hands, he unleashed a powerful [Force Push]. The group of Juggernauts worked together to resist it, and as a group, furrowed the stone floor as they slid back several dozen feet. Growling, or looking at him coldly, they launched themselves at him once more. 

Side stepping a bolt of lightning falling from the sky, Corvus took this brief moment of reprieve to [Shadow Hop] past the saber monkeys, and invisibly landed amongst the ranks of the Sith Inquisitors. Focused on channeling their power, they didn't have time to react as he bisected more than seven Darksiders in less than four seconds. Holding his twin blades out to the side, all he did was run forward, and let the super heated plasma do the work. He didn't need any fancy footwork, or knowledge of the Forms to wield these bars of death! 

His red kyber crystal's spirit soared as it slew more and more people. Meanwhile, his blue kyber crystal was resolved to protect the Padawans whatever the cost. Light and Dark flowed through him in torrents as both sides of the Force were satisfied by his actions. 

The one Juggernaut who had his blade batted away witnessed this, and turned to run. Now standing within a ring of ten Sith Lords, they tensed, going still as their fight or flight nerves triggered. Stomping on the ground, a minor [Force Push] spread out in a circle, unsettling many peoples posture, even knocking one or two over. 

In that brief moment of change, he found an opening, and stabbed one blackclad Sith straight through the chest. This act seemed to trigger some unseen reaction, and all the rest of them swarmed him like a horde of ants bringing down a beetle. 

Tanking one saber with [Energy Resistance], he bisected the offender, and surprised the woman behind the now hot corpse with a stab to the heart. Jumping forward in a front flip, he bypassed several cuts nipping at his heels & flank. 

In that brief moment that he was airborne, a new group of Inquisitors had him in their sights. [Force Lightning], [Plague], [Weakness], [Slow], and a whole host of abilities were tossed at him in a desperate hail mary. All that in an attempt to forestall the inevitable. 

Corvus disappeared, and invisibly emerged from behind one Inquisitor. Closing his eyes, he enacted a mind trick. 

“There!” The man declared, and put his everything into a telekinetic strike. 

A large piece of the Temple ceiling came crashing down on top of the heads of ten Juggernauts besieging the Padawans. Two saber monkeys lost in their rage failed to dodge in time, and were instantly crushed. A wave of dust & debris filled the air. Within this brief window, his insidious whispers traveled into many a mind. 

‘The idiot Inquisitor wants to steal your glory…show him you are not to be trifled with!’ One thought pierced its way into one of the Juggernauts who dodged the collapsing piece of ceiling. 

‘He wields a blue & red lightsaber, that is the Jedi, kill him!’ Another intrusive thought entered many a mind, tricking them into seeing one of their ‘allies’ wielding a Jedi colored weapon. 

Stirring up the dust cloud with a wave of his hand so that vision remained obscure, Corvus silently approached the Padawans. 

“Disable your lightsabers.” His sudden command startled them, but trusting Corvus based upon his past actions & leadership, they were quick to comply. 

Disoriented, and chasing the ‘blue’ blades, the group of Sith Lords started to chop into one another with reckless abandon. Hidden rivalries, and the pent up rage of an Empire raised to hate the Jedi manifested itself in a glorious slaughter. 

It was team killing at its finest. 

The wall of electricity preventing their retreat had vanished, and when the dust had settled, a sea of chopped limbs, bisected corpses, and rolling heads coated the floor. Only eight Sith Lords remained standing of the original fifty-man assault force. Once the area became clear, they were no longer confused. Although Corvus's [Mind Trick] was potent, it wasn't brainwashing. As bonafide ancient Sith Lords, it wasn't as if they couldn't notice the reality of the situation. 

“Now, Padawans. Let us escort these invaders from our home, shall we?” Corvus rhetorically asked in an up-beat, confident tone. 

Swaggering forward, towards the group of Sith Lords, the Padawans followed closely behind him like a gaggle of baby ducks following their mother. Although they were only simulations generated by the Tython Temple trial grounds, the Jedi acted like real people eager to learn. Meanwhile, those Lords were slowly beginning to back up, and looking for an opportunity to scatter. The Darksiders were acting like antelope whilst the lion was on the prowl. The second Corvus made a move, they would sacrifice the slowest amongst them for a chance at survival. 

Unfortunately for them, Corvus wanted it all. 

Pressing out both hands, twin orbs of [Slow] shot out, and exploded amongst their midst. Blood becoming corrosive, and movements crawling to a slow, the Sith staggered backward in an attempt to escape. Due to their own skills, they somewhat resisted the ability, but that was like saying a pedestrian ‘somewhat resisted’ their contact with a head-on collision by rolling with the impact. 

From Corvus's perspective, it was as if the Sith Lords were moving at the speed of a professional speed walker. True, those guys weren't pushovers, but compared to him-the equivalent of a professional sprinter-it was like asking a polar bear to take it easy on a group of baby seals. There simply was no contest! 

Lunging forward, he easily side stepped one blade, and stabbed a hole into the black clad Sith's mask. To his left and right, the Padawans joined him in combat. Their skills weren't extraordinary, but between the buffs applied to them, the debuffs attached to the Sith, and their superior numbers, they started to turn the tide. 

Parrying aside another blade, and cutting off a limb, Corvus found that he didn't have to do much more. The enemy before them was completely massacred, the young Jedi left no survivors. 

Breathing heavily, Corvus saw that there were a few pockets of resistance still ongoing. In general, he would say that there were about 30 Jedi of the original 100, and perhaps 30 Sith of the original 300 remaining. Kiran & Sari were still battling their Darth's, whilst Malgus was battering Keira & Zellow at the entrance to the Temple. 

Speaking of the entrance, the main gate was utterly crushed, and the steps had been ground into a fine powder. Their struggle shook the building, ending predictably in Zellow's death. Keira, meanwhile, appeared as if she couldn't hold on for much longer. 

“Master, we need to help them. We can't just stand here and do nothing.” That one child Jedi said, tugging at the hem of his robe. 

“Indeed. Padawan, indeed. However, as we are, fighting Darth Malgus appears to be a lost cause…however, I have a solution, I just don't know if I should…” Corvus said trailingly, curious to see how this trial would interact with him. 

“Whatever it is, we must protect the Temple.” The boy stated firmly. 

“Even if it means acting unfairly, or cheating?” Corvus questioned. 

“Mn.” The child nodded. 

“Heh.” Corvus lightly chuckled. 

Holding his hands out, a minty green healing balm restored the limbs on corpses, and mended blackened holes. Then, [Revitalize] swept through the hall. 

The 70 or so motionless Jedi suddenly rose from the dead, lightsabers in hand. 

“Defeating Malgus in a 1v1, who said I had to do that? If I can cheat, then I'll cheat!”