Lightsabers sizzled as they clashed against each other, red against green, against aqua, against white. Talyc threw his vibroblade up in the air towards a somersaulting Relsor. Lian used the Force to guide it somewhat, but the Chiss Sith diverted the blade and it came rushing back towards Talyc. Lian slowed it with the Force and the Mandalorian was able to catch it. He looked Lian’s way and nodded his helmeted head, allowing Lian to know his gratitude.
He had come a long way, Lian thought; after everything he’d suffered at the hands of Relsor, for here he was in the fray, fighting him with the others. Relsor was right about one thing he kept repeating: it was a shame Talyc didn’t have the Force.
The Krayt Dragon flew quickly back to the group of Jedi and hovered low. A few shots fired, enough to distract Relsor as an old Force-user Lian assumed was Usharr jumped out of the ship. Relsor looked as though his attention was on the viewport, and Lian noticed he was staring right into it at Trylia, who stared back at him. Lian saw her shake her head, her eyes seemed to be pleading. Relsor shook his head in response and looked down.
The group of Jedi took advantage of the distraction to regroup. The ship remained in a hovering position, but Brenum and Trylia remained within the ship. Usharr walked right up to Relsor and tapped him on the shoulder, bringing the True Sith’s attention back to the fight. Relsor reacted in surprise and struck a blow at Usharr, who ignited his magenta lightsaber and blocked Relsor. They exchanged a few cuts and parries, and every time, Usharr blocked with precision and eloquence.
Relsor made to shove him aside and run towards Lian, who stood next to Fane, allowing the fight to go on, but Lian sensed Usharr had something in mind. The old Sith used the Force to propel Relsor back in place, which surprised all of them.
‘Out of my way, old man!’ said Relsor.
‘If you’d taken the time to speak to me earlier, you would know that there is no need to fight me,’ said Usharr.
‘Why? Because you’re too old to be worth the glory?’
Usharr replied with a flurry and lifted a hand in the air. Lightning struck Relsor from all around, as though a storm hit him. The irony of such immense dark side powers hitting Relsor back the way he would attack the Jedi was of an energetic beauty that Lian somehow appreciated.
‘I’ve met very few people who could perform this ability,’ said Relsor, ‘other than me, of course. Who are you?’
‘My name is Master Usharr, former Dark Council member of the Sith Empire, former High Master of the Sith Academy.’
‘Ah, I see.’ Relsor took a few steps back and sized him up and down in a condescending way.
The fight had finally stilled.
‘We are allies, if I understand correctly,’ said Usharr.
‘Yet you fight with the Jedi,’ said Relsor.
‘Who’s to say I was not brought here against my will?’
Relsor laughed. ‘Not with those powers, you weren’t. What’s your game?’
‘My game?’ Usharr shook his head. ‘Your game! You have squandered the lives of the Sith whom you recruited from the Empire. You have been treating us like fodder.’
‘That’s because you are fodder!’ Relsor snapped. ‘Do you truly think your Sith are more powerful than me?’
‘Who taught you your abilities?’ asked Usharr.
‘Darth Gourd, my uncle.’
‘Who taught him some of these special techniques in lightning abilities?’
‘Darth Kromus. What’s your point old Sith?’
‘Who taught Kromus?’
‘How should I know!’
Usharr spread his arms out. ‘You’re looking at the man himself.’ Understanding seemed to come to Relsor’s face. ‘There is nothing you know that I have not already taught. I am a Master of the dark side. You are still young, much younger than me anyway. Your technique is raw, unrefined. True Sith, my eye. The Sith Empire is the only place where you will find true Sith.’
‘The Sith Empire is weak,’ snapped Relsor. ‘Have you come to try to reclaim your glory? It looks like it is far behind you, human. I am a True Sith, far more powerful than all your academy of Sith put together. I could crush them all at once by a single thought and sheer will.’
‘Is that what you plan on doing then?’
Relsor’s lip curled up in one corner. ‘What I plan on doing with the Sith Empire is none of your business, but rest assured, you won’t be alive to see it come to fruition. The Empire is mine, as the Republic will soon be. I will control everything.’
‘You won’t kill me,’ said Usharr, taking a defensive stance. ‘And I will never obey you.’
‘Anyone who does not obey my command will perish with the malady that I am,’ said Relsor. ‘I demand compliance, and anyone who refuses to oblige will die.’
‘You will never have any of our compliance!’ shouted Talyc. Lian looked over at him. He could sense his anger escalating rapidly; he had been triggered. ‘No more compliance!’ Talyc ran forward.
‘Talyc, no!’ cried Lian.
Relsor screamed out loudly and harshly; it rang in Lian’s ears, but he felt it vibrate in his entire body and he felt unable to move momentarily. Force Scream. Relsor reached a hand out and lightning rained down on everyone, even more powerfully than Usharr’s lightning had been. Shadie screamed in pain as Fane absorbed what he could on his lightsaber. Shadie and Usharr sent lightning back at Relsor and the three created a lightning ball that seemed to crackle onto the ship. The Krayt Dragon lifted again and drifted away to safer grounds.
* * *
The Maw flew above a forest, scanning the area. There was a clearing nearby, and in the middle of it, as the scans had identified, was a man, running in the direction of one of the main bunkers.
‘There,’ said Knarf. ‘That’s Perce.’
‘He’s going towards the Communications bunker,’ said one of the Mandalorians.
Lashika turned her red head towards Knarf. ‘It contains one of the planet’s mainframes, hidden from the others, so it’s not easily targeted. Obviously, he knows our secrets now. He’s going to attempt to jam our communications again, I bet.’
‘Hey, look, more Mandos running towards the same bunker,’ said Knarf.
‘Good, more distractions for when we fight him,’ said the Twi’lek.
‘Are you sure you can take him on?’ said Knarf. ‘Sometimes I wonder if I’m able to take him on.’ Lashika gave him one of those looks. Knarf shrugged.
‘Don’t be greedy,’ was all she replied.
The Maw arrived at Perce’s location and hovered right above him. Knarf and several others jumped out of the ship. Perce looked more annoyed than surprised and was quick to send everyone back with a blast of lightning, sending bolt after bolt at each individual.
‘Perce!’ Knarf called out. ‘It’s time to end this. You and me, we fight once and for all.’
Perce laughed. The lightning stopped. Perce simply stood staring back at Knarf and brought his hand up slightly, cupping it into the shape of a claw. Suddenly Knarf felt a jolt of pain and the sizzling of lightning in his legs. He felt pain in his prosthetic. The fake leg felt real, that’s how the prosthetic technology worked, but he had never felt such massive discomfort from it, even when it was overdue for maintenance.
Knarf grunted and fell to his hands and knees as his leg buckled under him. He could not move his prosthetic and the pain he felt was spreading throughout his entire body.
‘You, you’re doing this,’ he said looking up at Perce. ‘You’re messing with my prosthetic!’
Perce smiled and looked satisfied. ‘Indeed!’ he said.
Knarf tried to prop himself back up as the Mandalorians began to send volleys of laser fire and assault cannon bolts in Perce’s direction. A wall of lightning seemed to absorb it all. However, while Perce seemed distracted by the attacking Mandalorians, Knarf continued to struggle; he still could not bring himself to stand. This was going to require more effort and discipline on his part if he was going to successfully fight Perce.
Finally, he managed to stand on his two feet and quell the pain that he felt in his body. He began limping towards Perce. He secured his helmet on his head and used the Force to regain control of his prosthetic. Within moments, he was walking normally again, yet the lightning pain still flickered through him. At least one thing had been fixed. Now onto the other.
* * *
Relsor grabbed Fane in a Force grip and yanked his lightsaber from him using the Force. He pulled, twisted and slammed the Jedi down in one swift swipe. He held his arms down after the movement, watching the Jedi crash to the ground flat on his stomach. Fane reached a hand out towards his lightsaber, but Relsor was holding it too firmly and his nemesis failed to call it back to him.
Relsor smiled, feeling satisfied. He relished in seeing his enemy squirm. He wanted them all to bend to his will. He wanted to show them that even if Shadie had reclaimed the Crypt, he was still more powerful than any of them were. Shadie and Talyc rushed to Fane’s side, calling out his name, as Fane moaned in pain and rolled over onto his back. Relsor laughed at the display. His rage was beyond any of their comprehension.
Relsor reached for Talyc next and used the Force to bend his vibroblade in two so it could no longer be used.
‘What in the kark!’ cried Talyc.
Relsor laughed even more loudly. ‘I’m only getting warmed up!’
Shadie sent lightning towards Relsor and he caught it on both his lightsabers. He used the Force to absorb it and transform it, and then he threw one of his lightsabers towards Lian. The Jedi healer caught it, which Relsor had anticipated, but the lightning that flickered across the blade stunned the Twi’lek and he dropped the weapon, taking a few steps back.
Relsor fired a storm of lightning above the group. The old Sith master kept sending him lightning bolts, but Relsor has created a lightning barrier to shield himself from the old man’s attacks.
‘It’s not working,’ he heard Usharr tell Shadie.
‘Keep trying!’
Shadie absorbed the lightning into a ball and sent it back at Relsor. He opened himself up to the dark side and sent his malady towards her ball of lightning. Before it could reach him, the blue-white lightning turned a sickly red-black and shrunk in size, growing tentacle-like filaments of dark light that extended to each of his enemies: Lian, Fane, Talyc, Shadie, and Usharr. They screamed in pain as the tendrils slithered around them and through them, dark side energy torturing them, rendering them unable to focus and incapacitating Talyc.
The Mandalorian shouted out. ‘Relsor! Please, stop! This torture is madness! Haven’t you made me suffer this pain enough already?’
‘NO!’ shouted Relsor, walking towards them with heavy steps, as they squirmed on the ground, spasming in pain. He brought another storm of lightning down on them. ‘You were taken too early from me, Talyc. I was not done with you. You will never suffer enough! None of you will.’ Relsor stopped in front of Shadie whose face was contorted with pain. ‘You took the Crypt from me, Shadie. You of all should suffer most.’
Shadie seemed to be trying to calm her trembling body. She looked up at him as she lay on her back.
‘What are you going to do to me?’ she asked in a feeble voice.
Relsor crouched and touched her head, sending shockwaves of dark side energy into her. Shadie screamed and balled her fists. She opened her hand up in a claw and scratched at Relsor. She gripped his thigh and he felt his dark side energy swirl back into him. He screamed, startled by the immense pain it caused him. He stopped and took a step back.
‘Let me see you use more of the dark side, Shadie!’
‘You no longer need me,’ she said, ‘so stop trying to turn me to the dark side. It’s not going to work.’
‘We’ll just see about that,’ said Relsor, and he continued his onslaught of dark side energy towards all of them.
“Protectors of the Force” is written by Celinka Serre (2021).
Disclaimer: The Characters in this Fan-Fiction are new and have original names. The story is an original written work. The story is derivative and consistent of Fan-Fiction since it borrows the franchise world of Star Wars. Certain jargon and places, or concepts mentioned, along with the SW Old Republic universe belong to Lucasfilm Ltd. and Disney. No characters or story lines from the films are used. No story lines or characters from the games or books are used. A handful of characters from the games may be referenced, but are not the main focus in this fanfic story. This fan-fiction story falls under Fair Use.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
You might also enjoy other SWTOR fanfics, Dragon Age Fan-Fiction short stories, Mass Effect Fan-Fiction, or Stardust Destinies the High Fantasy Fiction series.
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