Post by Badger on Sept 5, 2006 16:58:07 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]II in the {Etcheron} Legend[/glow]
After bidding their farewells and receiving blessings for their safe return, the band of nine {EW} stepped foot into the cave. However, after walking for about an hour, they found nothing.
“Are you sure this is the right way, guys?” questioned Squirrel impatiently.
“GUYS?!” Mouse shouted as she gave a glaring stare at her brother.
“Yes it’s the right way.” Wickwire assured him. “See my mines? I made sure to set them so we could retrace our steps. We should be near to where the man took Palpatine.”
After walking for a few more minutes, they came upon the boulder they had tied Palpatine to. To their complete and utter surprise, he was there again!
Dawn walked up to him. “No pulse.” she told the others. K.A.L. gave the signal for a defense circle. As everyone started setting up firing positions, Wickwire noticed Mouse had a horrified look on her face as she stared up at Palpatine.
“What’s wrong?” Wickwire asked her in a caring voice.
“It’s...just…so freaky here…” Mouse stuttered. “I’ve never been in a place like this.”
Wickwire nodded and headed toward K.A.L. and whispered to him that they should probably scout out a little. With a serious look on his face, K.A.L. set his EMP at the full power and nodded. InuYasha’s voice broke the silence.
“Do you hear that?” said InuYasha. Everyone looked toward him with a dazed look in on their faces.
“Hear what?” questioned Dawn.
“Shh…” whispered InuYasha.
“Humph,” pouted Dawn as she turned her back.
“I hear it too” said Lunch, “Sounds like claws.”
Then an odious smell came over them. Everyone panicked, shifting nervously around, their eyes searching. Suddenly a wall behind the group collapsed. “FIRE!” Squirrel yelled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back at the ‘ranch’, everything was going smoothly. Goblin and Spitfire were enjoying a calm watch duty.
“My shifts up.” Goblin said as he stood up to leave. “It’s Spade’s turn to watch.”
“Alright, take it easy, Gob!” Spitfire shouted back as Gob was already halfway gone. In a few seconds, Spade was sitting next to Spitfire, and decided to strike up a conversation.
“Yeah…do ya’ know what’s up with everyone?” questioned Spade.
“Not a clue.” responded Spitfire. “I agree, something’s up. But they hardly tell us anything.”
“I just hope they bring back Palpatine. It’s not really fun without him. He's a great guy.”
“Yeah…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“INCOMING!!!!” shouted Caz as he ducked out of the way from a projectile.
“What are these things?” screamed Inuyasha as he emptied another clip from a blaster rifle.
“Darn them, they can take some punishment. Mouse, Wick, get your missiles launchers loaded!” Shouted K.A.L. Blaster fire was covering the room as the small band defended themselves from the unknown group of beasts. The beasts had a thick hide and threw sharp spines from their backs. Each stood approximately 3 meters tall.
Squirrel took out a large blaster rifle, aimed, and unleashed a fury of blasts. Blood and gore splashed on the floor as the beast writhed in agony.
Wickwire started loading his dual missile launcher while InuYasha gave him cover fire. “Watch out!” shouted Mouse to Lunch as a beast came charging at him. She fired her rocket launcher without the benefit of aiming. The rocket flew past Lunch’s arm and hit the beast dead on, spilling out its brain. The odious smell grew overpowering.
"Argh!” screamed Lunch in pain. The rocket had been shot very close to his arm, causing it to be burned severely.
Caz and K.A.L. stood side by side, twin tornados. After they had taken out two beasts each, they fell back and reloaded.
“Where’s Squirrel?” shouted Badger above the blaster fire. “I’m right here!” Squirrel shouted back as he came running from behind him. “Sorry 'bout that. I didn’t get any reception back here. I wanted to check in on the base.”
“We’re almost done.” shouted K.A.L as he threw a detonator into one of the beast's mouths. The head exploded, leaving K.A.L. in a shower of maroon.
The din quieted, and the {EW} relaxed.
“Nice job, guys.” Badger breathed quietly.
Then the gnashing of razor sharp teeth was heard again. The {EW} joined together. Squirrel comforted them. “If we all take this one together, it should be a piece of cake.” The creature came nearer and nearer.
Mouse screamed...
...It was a rancor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The {EW} stood in shocked horror as the rancor bent down, stretched out his long neck, and roared with the ferocity of a Star Destroyer engine. Drool and spittle flew everywhere as it pronounced its war cry. It swung its claw at Lunch, but he managed to fall prone to ground just as it reached him. Wickwire shot a rocket at the throat, but hit the hard chest armor instead. Lunch threw a thermal at the beast’s shoulder, causing it to moan in pain.
Everyone but Squirrel just randomly fired in panic. He rushed behind the rancor in the confusion and placed a detpack on its short, stubby tail. After placing it he screamed to the others, “Run! Run!”
He pressed the detpack controller. The rancor blasted five feet forward, rocked slowly, groped around, and fell. K.A.L. went up to the head and finished it off with a hand pistol.
A malicious chuckle came from the shadows. “Settle my servants.”
Out from a dark shadow, came the dark man.
The man was dressed in a pitch black robe that was illuminated only by a single red lightsaber. That lightsaber was wielded by Palpatine, who stood right next to him.
An evil voice cackled from the corner. "Pathetic fools.” laughed Palpatine. “I now have complete control.”
“Imbecile...” said the dark man under his breath. “I no longer need your service.”
As Palpatine turned to glare at the man, he was force pushed across the cave and hit the wall with a horrific splat of bones and flesh.
“What’s going on?” demanded InuYasha.
“I’m not quite sure.” replied Caz.
“I’ll tell you what’s happening! You just killed one of your own friends.”
At that moment, the dark man moved his hand, and Dawn appeared from a corner. Her body was covered in blaster rifle wounds. The scene couldn’t even be described. Her body was just so unrecognizable. Only her face gave away the fact that she was {EW}Dawn, and even that was bloodied and torn. The woman who had been strong in {EW} for so long, was dying.
“What have you done to her?” said Badger with a horrified look on his face.
“It’s not what I have done to her. It’s what YOU and YOUR friends did to her.” The dark man replied. “She was there throughout your entire gunfight.”
He then stared straight at Badger. Badger flinched.
"You, come with me. We can be friends like we were a long time ago. You don’t remember those days? Ah, of course not, you were brainwashed. But I can help you, come with me…we can be a team again."
“Badger, don't listen to him!” said K.A.L.
“I have given you a chance ‘Badger’, join me, or I will strike you down..." He paused for several seconds, waiting for Badger, but Badger never replied.
"Well since you’re all about to die, I guess I should tell you this so it haunts your souls.” The dark man laughed.
“Your friends will all soon die. I only wanted one of you, but now I see that you are all too formidable to stay alive. I will crush you all.”
His yellow eyes glimmered, “I will come back and kill you.”
“You’ll do nothing of the sort!” shouted Mouse as she dashed toward the dark man with her combat knife extended.
“Fool.” taunted the dark man as he applied a force choke on her. He began to lift her while choking her. Caz opened fire on the man, but missed due to his agility. But in the process of dodging, the man stopped the force choke he had on Mouse, and she began to fall. Wickwire ran up and caught her at the last second.
“You ok?” asked Wickwire. “Yes. Thank you.” said Mouse. The tender moment passed as quickly as it had come.
The man then lunged towards them, Palpatine’s lightsaber ignited. As he came within striking distance, he lifted the deadly crimson blade. With no hesitation, he brought down the blade. Both Wickwire and Mouse closed their eyes, certain that they were dead.
But the blade was blocked by a blazing purple lightsaber, wielded by K.A.L.!
“You two owe me one.” K.A.L. said with a grin. The dark man jumped back, surprised.
“I picked it up in your caves, sir.” smiled K.A.L. as he held the lightsaber in a defensive position.
The dark man laughed “These aren’t my caves, lad…”
K.A.L. charged the man wildly. K.A.L. instantly put him on the defensive, making a number of slashes and thrusts. Very soon after the blades connected, the {EW} formed a ring around the two contestants. It was obvious that the dark man had fought with a lightsaber before, but was no means a Sith Lord.
While all this was happening, Lunch managed to crawl down the hallway to safety.
“Why can’t I contact the base?” he asked himself. Then a figure appeared.
"Where are your friends?" said the figure. Lunch felt a feeling of safeness and replied
"Down the hall."
"Thank you. Take this, it will help you." said the figure as he handed Lunch a canister of bacta. "Thanks." said Lunch. The figure then walked down the hall towards the others.
The battle between K.A.L. and the dark man illuminated the dark cave. The man mocked K.A.L. the whole time during the duel. He then caught K.A.L. off-guard, and took K.A.L.’s lightsaber with a force pull. After grabbing the lightsaber, the dark man threw it at Dawn. The blade pierced her heart. With a final gasp of air, Dawn's tortured head lolled downward. The once beautiful gold hair was tangled with blood. Dawn had finally been killed.
K.A.L. clutched his chest as he felt the life being torn from the force.
"Feel the power of the Global Killers, K.A.L.” laughed the dark man. He then force pushed K.A.L. into a stalagmite. K.A.L.’s shoulder was punctured by the rock, and he screamed out in anguish. Blood poured everywhere.
Badger rushed to get the lightsaber from Dawn's chest, but just then a green light emerged from down the pathway. A hooded figure appeared, carrying an emerald lightsaber. “Dark One, its time for your demise.” The mysterious figure said deeply.
At that moment, the figure leapt up towards the dark man and they began to fight. The lightsabers were moving so fast that even the glow of the awesome blades couldn't keep up. The dark man started throwing boulders and other items with his limited force abilities at the mysterious figure. But the figure was well trained in Jedi arts.
The figure easily cut through each projectile. They then met again in a whirlwind of power, their lightsabers moving faster than ever. The mysterious figure withdrew two, double-edged lightsabers, and began to assault the dark man. No mastery of skill had every been achieved by either a Jedi or Sith beforehand. The dark man fell victim to the barrage, and was knocked against the ground. The Jedi breathed quietly and then began to chant the Jedi Code.
There is no emotion; there is peace.
There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.
There is no passion; there is serenity.
There is no death; there is the Force.
The Jedi continued to chant the Jedi Code. The dark man transformed into a slobbering monster and tore through the ranks of the {EW}.
After a second’s rest, the figure disappeared without a word.
“Let’s get Dawn back to base.” suggested Badger after a few minutes of stunned silence. Everyone gathered up everything and left the caves. As Badger and Wickwire walked out they stopped the others.
"This cave shall henceforth be called, 'Fading dawn'."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back at the base, they told the {EW} everything. It was a dark day for {EW}. They lost a fellow member, whom they were partly responsible for making suffer. That night, they gave their fallen member a proper burial. Sparks flickered everywhere as they cremated their friend.
After the cremation, Wickwire found K.A.L. punching a wall with his good arm. As he came towards K.A.L., he could see his fist was bleeding badly from the punching.
Wickwire put his hand on K.A.L.'s shoulder. K.A.L. cried angrily. “My own weapon killed a fellow member. How can I deal with such disgrace?” said K.A.L.
“We all killed Dawn, it wasn’t just you. You didn’t kill her, the evil man did. We all did. You have to rise above your feelings.” Wickwire said, trying to reassure him.
"Yeah, you’re right.” K.A.L. said. “Let’s just hope we don’t have to do anything like that again.”
They walked down the darkening hallway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After bidding their farewells and receiving blessings for their safe return, the band of nine {EW} stepped foot into the cave. However, after walking for about an hour, they found nothing.
“Are you sure this is the right way, guys?” questioned Squirrel impatiently.
“GUYS?!” Mouse shouted as she gave a glaring stare at her brother.
“Yes it’s the right way.” Wickwire assured him. “See my mines? I made sure to set them so we could retrace our steps. We should be near to where the man took Palpatine.”
After walking for a few more minutes, they came upon the boulder they had tied Palpatine to. To their complete and utter surprise, he was there again!
Dawn walked up to him. “No pulse.” she told the others. K.A.L. gave the signal for a defense circle. As everyone started setting up firing positions, Wickwire noticed Mouse had a horrified look on her face as she stared up at Palpatine.
“What’s wrong?” Wickwire asked her in a caring voice.
“It’s...just…so freaky here…” Mouse stuttered. “I’ve never been in a place like this.”
Wickwire nodded and headed toward K.A.L. and whispered to him that they should probably scout out a little. With a serious look on his face, K.A.L. set his EMP at the full power and nodded. InuYasha’s voice broke the silence.
“Do you hear that?” said InuYasha. Everyone looked toward him with a dazed look in on their faces.
“Hear what?” questioned Dawn.
“Shh…” whispered InuYasha.
“Humph,” pouted Dawn as she turned her back.
“I hear it too” said Lunch, “Sounds like claws.”
Then an odious smell came over them. Everyone panicked, shifting nervously around, their eyes searching. Suddenly a wall behind the group collapsed. “FIRE!” Squirrel yelled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back at the ‘ranch’, everything was going smoothly. Goblin and Spitfire were enjoying a calm watch duty.
“My shifts up.” Goblin said as he stood up to leave. “It’s Spade’s turn to watch.”
“Alright, take it easy, Gob!” Spitfire shouted back as Gob was already halfway gone. In a few seconds, Spade was sitting next to Spitfire, and decided to strike up a conversation.
“Yeah…do ya’ know what’s up with everyone?” questioned Spade.
“Not a clue.” responded Spitfire. “I agree, something’s up. But they hardly tell us anything.”
“I just hope they bring back Palpatine. It’s not really fun without him. He's a great guy.”
“Yeah…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“INCOMING!!!!” shouted Caz as he ducked out of the way from a projectile.
“What are these things?” screamed Inuyasha as he emptied another clip from a blaster rifle.
“Darn them, they can take some punishment. Mouse, Wick, get your missiles launchers loaded!” Shouted K.A.L. Blaster fire was covering the room as the small band defended themselves from the unknown group of beasts. The beasts had a thick hide and threw sharp spines from their backs. Each stood approximately 3 meters tall.
Squirrel took out a large blaster rifle, aimed, and unleashed a fury of blasts. Blood and gore splashed on the floor as the beast writhed in agony.
Wickwire started loading his dual missile launcher while InuYasha gave him cover fire. “Watch out!” shouted Mouse to Lunch as a beast came charging at him. She fired her rocket launcher without the benefit of aiming. The rocket flew past Lunch’s arm and hit the beast dead on, spilling out its brain. The odious smell grew overpowering.
"Argh!” screamed Lunch in pain. The rocket had been shot very close to his arm, causing it to be burned severely.
Caz and K.A.L. stood side by side, twin tornados. After they had taken out two beasts each, they fell back and reloaded.
“Where’s Squirrel?” shouted Badger above the blaster fire. “I’m right here!” Squirrel shouted back as he came running from behind him. “Sorry 'bout that. I didn’t get any reception back here. I wanted to check in on the base.”
“We’re almost done.” shouted K.A.L as he threw a detonator into one of the beast's mouths. The head exploded, leaving K.A.L. in a shower of maroon.
The din quieted, and the {EW} relaxed.
“Nice job, guys.” Badger breathed quietly.
Then the gnashing of razor sharp teeth was heard again. The {EW} joined together. Squirrel comforted them. “If we all take this one together, it should be a piece of cake.” The creature came nearer and nearer.
Mouse screamed...
...It was a rancor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The {EW} stood in shocked horror as the rancor bent down, stretched out his long neck, and roared with the ferocity of a Star Destroyer engine. Drool and spittle flew everywhere as it pronounced its war cry. It swung its claw at Lunch, but he managed to fall prone to ground just as it reached him. Wickwire shot a rocket at the throat, but hit the hard chest armor instead. Lunch threw a thermal at the beast’s shoulder, causing it to moan in pain.
Everyone but Squirrel just randomly fired in panic. He rushed behind the rancor in the confusion and placed a detpack on its short, stubby tail. After placing it he screamed to the others, “Run! Run!”
He pressed the detpack controller. The rancor blasted five feet forward, rocked slowly, groped around, and fell. K.A.L. went up to the head and finished it off with a hand pistol.
A malicious chuckle came from the shadows. “Settle my servants.”
Out from a dark shadow, came the dark man.
The man was dressed in a pitch black robe that was illuminated only by a single red lightsaber. That lightsaber was wielded by Palpatine, who stood right next to him.
An evil voice cackled from the corner. "Pathetic fools.” laughed Palpatine. “I now have complete control.”
“Imbecile...” said the dark man under his breath. “I no longer need your service.”
As Palpatine turned to glare at the man, he was force pushed across the cave and hit the wall with a horrific splat of bones and flesh.
“What’s going on?” demanded InuYasha.
“I’m not quite sure.” replied Caz.
“I’ll tell you what’s happening! You just killed one of your own friends.”
At that moment, the dark man moved his hand, and Dawn appeared from a corner. Her body was covered in blaster rifle wounds. The scene couldn’t even be described. Her body was just so unrecognizable. Only her face gave away the fact that she was {EW}Dawn, and even that was bloodied and torn. The woman who had been strong in {EW} for so long, was dying.
“What have you done to her?” said Badger with a horrified look on his face.
“It’s not what I have done to her. It’s what YOU and YOUR friends did to her.” The dark man replied. “She was there throughout your entire gunfight.”
He then stared straight at Badger. Badger flinched.
"You, come with me. We can be friends like we were a long time ago. You don’t remember those days? Ah, of course not, you were brainwashed. But I can help you, come with me…we can be a team again."
“Badger, don't listen to him!” said K.A.L.
“I have given you a chance ‘Badger’, join me, or I will strike you down..." He paused for several seconds, waiting for Badger, but Badger never replied.
"Well since you’re all about to die, I guess I should tell you this so it haunts your souls.” The dark man laughed.
“Your friends will all soon die. I only wanted one of you, but now I see that you are all too formidable to stay alive. I will crush you all.”
His yellow eyes glimmered, “I will come back and kill you.”
“You’ll do nothing of the sort!” shouted Mouse as she dashed toward the dark man with her combat knife extended.
“Fool.” taunted the dark man as he applied a force choke on her. He began to lift her while choking her. Caz opened fire on the man, but missed due to his agility. But in the process of dodging, the man stopped the force choke he had on Mouse, and she began to fall. Wickwire ran up and caught her at the last second.
“You ok?” asked Wickwire. “Yes. Thank you.” said Mouse. The tender moment passed as quickly as it had come.
The man then lunged towards them, Palpatine’s lightsaber ignited. As he came within striking distance, he lifted the deadly crimson blade. With no hesitation, he brought down the blade. Both Wickwire and Mouse closed their eyes, certain that they were dead.
But the blade was blocked by a blazing purple lightsaber, wielded by K.A.L.!
“You two owe me one.” K.A.L. said with a grin. The dark man jumped back, surprised.
“I picked it up in your caves, sir.” smiled K.A.L. as he held the lightsaber in a defensive position.
The dark man laughed “These aren’t my caves, lad…”
K.A.L. charged the man wildly. K.A.L. instantly put him on the defensive, making a number of slashes and thrusts. Very soon after the blades connected, the {EW} formed a ring around the two contestants. It was obvious that the dark man had fought with a lightsaber before, but was no means a Sith Lord.
While all this was happening, Lunch managed to crawl down the hallway to safety.
“Why can’t I contact the base?” he asked himself. Then a figure appeared.
"Where are your friends?" said the figure. Lunch felt a feeling of safeness and replied
"Down the hall."
"Thank you. Take this, it will help you." said the figure as he handed Lunch a canister of bacta. "Thanks." said Lunch. The figure then walked down the hall towards the others.
The battle between K.A.L. and the dark man illuminated the dark cave. The man mocked K.A.L. the whole time during the duel. He then caught K.A.L. off-guard, and took K.A.L.’s lightsaber with a force pull. After grabbing the lightsaber, the dark man threw it at Dawn. The blade pierced her heart. With a final gasp of air, Dawn's tortured head lolled downward. The once beautiful gold hair was tangled with blood. Dawn had finally been killed.
K.A.L. clutched his chest as he felt the life being torn from the force.
"Feel the power of the Global Killers, K.A.L.” laughed the dark man. He then force pushed K.A.L. into a stalagmite. K.A.L.’s shoulder was punctured by the rock, and he screamed out in anguish. Blood poured everywhere.
Badger rushed to get the lightsaber from Dawn's chest, but just then a green light emerged from down the pathway. A hooded figure appeared, carrying an emerald lightsaber. “Dark One, its time for your demise.” The mysterious figure said deeply.
At that moment, the figure leapt up towards the dark man and they began to fight. The lightsabers were moving so fast that even the glow of the awesome blades couldn't keep up. The dark man started throwing boulders and other items with his limited force abilities at the mysterious figure. But the figure was well trained in Jedi arts.
The figure easily cut through each projectile. They then met again in a whirlwind of power, their lightsabers moving faster than ever. The mysterious figure withdrew two, double-edged lightsabers, and began to assault the dark man. No mastery of skill had every been achieved by either a Jedi or Sith beforehand. The dark man fell victim to the barrage, and was knocked against the ground. The Jedi breathed quietly and then began to chant the Jedi Code.
There is no emotion; there is peace.
There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.
There is no passion; there is serenity.
There is no death; there is the Force.
The Jedi continued to chant the Jedi Code. The dark man transformed into a slobbering monster and tore through the ranks of the {EW}.
After a second’s rest, the figure disappeared without a word.
“Let’s get Dawn back to base.” suggested Badger after a few minutes of stunned silence. Everyone gathered up everything and left the caves. As Badger and Wickwire walked out they stopped the others.
"This cave shall henceforth be called, 'Fading dawn'."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back at the base, they told the {EW} everything. It was a dark day for {EW}. They lost a fellow member, whom they were partly responsible for making suffer. That night, they gave their fallen member a proper burial. Sparks flickered everywhere as they cremated their friend.
After the cremation, Wickwire found K.A.L. punching a wall with his good arm. As he came towards K.A.L., he could see his fist was bleeding badly from the punching.
Wickwire put his hand on K.A.L.'s shoulder. K.A.L. cried angrily. “My own weapon killed a fellow member. How can I deal with such disgrace?” said K.A.L.
“We all killed Dawn, it wasn’t just you. You didn’t kill her, the evil man did. We all did. You have to rise above your feelings.” Wickwire said, trying to reassure him.
"Yeah, you’re right.” K.A.L. said. “Let’s just hope we don’t have to do anything like that again.”
They walked down the darkening hallway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
