Jedi Insurgency 267

Within the Jedi Temple, the last remaining Sith other than Malgus met their ends. Kiran-with the support of his allies-swarmed the double bladed sickly Darth-and he belched hot fire upon the Sith, melting him dead. Siri meanwhile, bashed the Pureblood's skull in with her staff. The remaining Knights & Padawans swarmed the few remaining Lords & Acolytes, hacking them to pieces. 

Corvus-wearing his new, all white reforged white robes-stood at the helm of this coalition, his mask gleaming in the dusk's sun. By his side, Keira, Masters Zellow, Kiran, and Siri stood solemn and ready. Flanking these Masters were the remaining 100 Jedi. 

A powerful aura radiating order, justice, and the Light poured out from this group. 

Standing across from them was a solitary man. Cloaked completely in black, and heavy armor, his hood was still raised despite having fought off two Masters. Not a scratch was on him, his gear was perfectly immaculate, as if it had been polished minutes ago. 

Malgus's crimson blade hummed by his side, promising violence, and showcasing his unyielding spirit. That in the face of overwhelming odds, he would never retreat, never surrender! 

Around the Sith Lord, the battlefield smoked, broken columns laid strewn across the hall, and statues of famous Jedi were sliced into bits. A gust blew, and the tattered remains of a Sith banner-one a Lord had mounted in the Temple to declare victory-fluttered down into his grasp. Squeezing it for a second, he clenched his fist, vaporizing the offending cloth. Malgus observed his opponents, resolving himself to the end. 

A hundred Jedi stood before him. Their spirits soaring, confidence and victory all but dancing in their eyes. Momentum was on their side. Thanks to the Jedi even older than him Revan, exhaustion did not claim them. Their blades formed a ring of light: blue, green, yellow, violet, and orange, all pointed towards him in a silent vow. 

Malgus looked from Revan to the green skinned alien, then to the hundred Jedi encircling him. A deep, asthmatic chuckle left his mouth. “A hundred Jedi, and still you hesitate.”

One of the younger Jedi tightened his grip and stepped forward. Revan raised one hand without looking back, and the boy halted in his steps. 

“Have none of you the courage?” Malgus baited once more, his voice dripping in disappointment. 

The Sith Lord's plan was simple. Slay the lesser Jedi, crush their morale, and force the weaklings to become bystanders. Then, and only then would he have a chance at slaying these five Masters at once. 

Seeing that his words weren't working, Malgus surged forward, seizing the initiative. 

The movement was explosive. One moment he stood amid the entrance; the next he was upon them like a siege engine breaking through a gate. Revan met him first, azure and red colliding with a sound that cracked through the courtyard. The force of the blow drove fractures through the stone beneath Revan’s boots, but he yielded half a step instead of resisting fully, turning the impact aside with a sharp twist of Form VII.

Keira came in from the flank, fast and low.

His red blade hammered downward, forcing her strike away before it could land. Keira slid under the counter, spun with the grace of Form IV, and snapped back up with a rising slash toward his ribs. Malgus wrenched his body aside, took the edge across armor instead of flesh, and smashed his left fist into the air.

The Force hit Keira like a battering ram. She flew backward through the fallen dust of the Temple's ceiling, twisting midair, catching herself with one hand against the ground. Her boots carved two long lines through the hall as she landed on one 

Malgus advanced, warding off a turbulent bout of fire with his lightsaber, and he retaliated against the old orange lightsaber wielding man with a blast of lightning. However, the staff wielding Jedi formed a barrier, transforming his savage rebuttal into a harmless gale of wind. 

Then the ancient Jedi was upon him. Azure & crimson light flashed in tight, vicious arcs. Revan’s style was controlled fury, aggression bound by absolute discipline. He pressed Malgus from the front with a sequence of fast, cutting blows meant not to overwhelm by strength, but to test the Sith Lord’s armor, rhythm, and stamina. Occasionally, a group of Knights would harass him from behind, forcing Malgus to continuously use the Force, warding them off. 

He felt like a beast being torn apart by a thousand cuts. This only served to fuel his rage more, further increasing the amount of Darkside energies he could channel. For this ever increasing power, the price he paid was substantial. The wound on his lungs was a constant 11/10 in pain, nearly knocking him unconscious, and his already pale skin practically turned translucent, it was so thin, blood clots and bruises became apparent all over him. 

Yet for all this weakness, power like none other swelled through his form. Speed that allowed him to fight five Masters simultaneously coursed through his veins. Raw power allowed him to bash aside incoming blows, and send the lesser Jedi flying into pillars and walls. Standing tall, bleeding from a dozen internal wounds created by his own design, this beast, this God of War and Champion of the Darkside marched into the hail of blades with the intent to win. 

Each movement carried terrifying purpose. His blade did not dance. It crushed. It sheared through Revan’s attack lines, broke angles apart, and forced the ancient Jedi to keep moving or be split open.

Keira attacked again, this time with Form I’s steady strikes. She did not try to dazzle him. She cut at wrists, knees, throat, and exposed gaps in armor. Malgus gave ground for the first time, but only enough to draw her in. His saber locked against hers, then he slammed his forehead into her face.

Keira staggered, Malgus kicked her in the chest, sending her flying once more. 

A dozen Jedi moved at him once more.  Malgus turned on them with savage intelligence. He did not allow them to surround him and leapt toward the weakest side of the ring, where three injured Knights stood too close together, and brought his blade down in a two-handed cleave. Two sabers rose to catch it. A third thrust toward his ribs.

Malgus twisted, trapped the thrust beneath his elbow, and unleashed a pulse of Force power through the ground. The three Jedi perished on the spot. Others rushed in, but Malgus was already moving, using broken pillars and collapsed stairways as obstacles, forcing the larger Jedi formation to break apart. He was not some mindless berserker, but a warrior through and through, a man who would take any advantage he could if it meant achieving victory. 

Collapsing pillars, walls, and the ceiling in an effort to diminish their numbers, he eventually isolated the wizened Jedi Master. An orange blade came soaring down at him, only for it to vanish. The hum of a blade suddenly stabbed at Malgus’s back. A millimeter from piercing him, it suddenly halted. The Sith Lord deeply chuckled. 

“Your [Mind Trick] is pitiful in comparison to Jadus's.” Malgus snarled, crushing his fist tight. 

The orange lightsaber wielding Master-Kiran-gasped as the life was choked out of him. Master Zellow tried to hit him with a diagonal jump, but Malgus already had his number, having handily defeated him in the duel earlier. Side stepping the blow, he diced the man dead. 

Revan came next, swirling out of the shadows, bearing down upon Malgus, but the Sith Lord had seen this trick one too many times, and was already shifting backwards, avoiding the sneak attack. At the same time, he diced the choking Master into pieces, preventing any sort of resurrection. 

Whilst he annihilated his foe, Keira had made a comeback. She launched herself from the broken railing moving at high speeds. This time she came in with Form IV. Bounding from stone to stone, green blade flashing overhead. Malgus raised his saber to meet the descending strike, but Keira changed direction at the last instant, kicked off a pillar, and passed behind him. Her saber slashed across the back of his thigh.

Malgus roared, and moved to stomp her out before the hit could connect. He spun to meet her, but Revan was there again. Blue met red in a blur of brutal impacts, and his armor finally formed a black line. Although it deflected most of her attack, molten metal liquid dripped onto his weakened flesh, eliciting true pain. Revan pushed onward, pressing Malgus's momentary malaise. 

Driving him backward three steps, then five, then seven, Revan's blade snapped from high guard to low cut, from thrust to backhand, from feint to killing angle. Malgus blocked the first few, before catching several hits on his chestplate. Thicker than his thigh armor, no molten metal singed his skin this time, but just a few more stabs, and it would be his heart that was pierced! 

Malgus answered this overwhelming offense with lightning. 

Revan caught it on his blade and slid backward, making his boots grind into the Temple floor. The storm branched around him, striking columns and blasting chunks from the temple facade. Siri threw up barriers behind him, protecting the Knights & Padawans from this vicious attack. 

Wielding her staff, the tall foreheaded woman entered the frey. Her long stick spun in a defensive wheel, catching stray arcs as she charged. The traditional Jedi fought in a method resembling Form III, meeting the slowly exhausting Malgus with the Form most notable for both defense, and sapping its foe of their stamina. 

Malgus cut off the lightning and pivoted. Siri was already inside his guard. A powerful Force-enhanced jab stabbed towards his respirator. Malgus caught her wrist with his free hand, and held the staff with his other. Meanwhile, his own lightsaber telekinetically ignited behind him, blocking a fatal strike from Revan. 

Bones snapped, and Siri cried out in pain. Inspired by Revan's fight against the other Darth's, Malgus-genius that he was-copied the ancient Jedi's technique. He unleashed a point-blank: 

[Force Repulse] 

The powerful disintegrating impact tore Siri asunder, melting her into tiny fragments. Revan, meanwhile, was pushed back, barely getting an extra barrier up in time protecting not only himself, but Keira as well. 

Having expanded a great deal of energy in this time, Malgus was breathing heavily. The pain was excruciating, and black spots frequently appeared in his vision. Armor smoldering, leg currently absorbing cooling molten metal, he refused to bend, and stood tall like a pine. However, he was not ready for what came next. 

Blue-white energy crawled over his black armor, snapping into the cracks and smoking seams. Malgus snarled and hurled several nearby Jedi into the lightning. Revan quickly canceled his technique to catch his allies. 

“Fool. That was your chance. To finish me.” Malgus darkly chuckled. “Only. A Jedi. Would throw away such. A victory.” 

“No, Malgus. The only fool is you. You call me a fool because I chose to save them instead of striking you down. But that is the difference between us, Malgus.

You see strength as the power to destroy. I see strength as the power to protect.

Any butcher can kill a wounded enemy. Any tyrant can sacrifice others for victory. There is nothing remarkable about choosing yourself over everyone else. The galaxy is full of men who have done exactly that.

The true test of a warrior is not what he is willing to take. It is what he is willing to stand for. 

You believe I lost an opportunity. Perhaps I did. But if victory demands that I abandon those who trust me, then victory is not worth having.

A Sith conquers because he fears weakness. A Jedi endures because he accepts responsibility.

So call me a fool if it eases your pride. I would rather be a fool who saves one life than a conqueror who values only his own triumph."

Revan's gaze hardened, unwavering.

"And besides, Malgus...if I truly wished you dead, you would not be standing here to lecture me about my mistakes.”

Face & mouth twitching, Malgus slammed his fist into the ground. The courtyard exploded.

A circular shockwave tore outward from him, ripping slabs of stone free and sending them spinning like shields through the air. Jedi barriers flared across the battlefield. Some slabs shattered against invisible walls. Others punched through and threw Knights from their feet. Dust swallowed the ring. The sound was enormous, like the rolling explosion of a nuclear bomb. The entire Temple-a mega skyscraper in its own right-split in half, only to be wielded by this God of War as if it were a weapon of his own. 

Malgus rose within the storm of debris. His breathing was chaotic, dark bruises coated his pale flesh, yet power, POWER coated him in a bright red hue like nothing else. 

“Come then! Show me the strength of your resolve! Show me the strength of a warrior, REVAN!!!” 

Revan lifted his blade, and the Jedi beside him answered. There was no reckless charge, but a joined sense of unity. 

A hundred presences joined in the Force. Barriers overlapped. Injured Jedi were pulled back and healed. Those skilled in defense held the flanks. Those skilled in movement took the high ground. Those strong in telekinesis caught the flying stones and hurled them aside. The Jedi Order had been tested, and were now making their final stand. Live or die, they had no regrets. 

For they were one with the Force, and the Force was one with them. 

White robes billowing, Revan held his arms wide, and shouted up to the wounded beast. 

“ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!” 

~~~~~~

AN: One or two more ch to wrap up the Malgus fight, then back to Tython wholesomeness.