While staying inside the shuttle, which felt stable and safe, I knew it was actually nothing but a faint illusion. I could sense the chaos playing out on the outside, and I guess Vila could too. I could sense it... not just in the Force, but in the very air that was brought up in here by those possessed bodies. That Raktan entity was now free and was trying to subdue everyone on board, as well as any other soul it came into contact with. No wonder we picked up on its call... it had been trying to get free for who knows how long, and it felt like his time had finally come.
Glancing at HK and his half-reclaimed body... I wondered. Did HK come here before? Or did it come in contact with other Rakatan relics in the past? Was it what 'tainted' its chassis? To turn him, probably without anyone realizing it, into a compass to lead people here? I couldn't help but feel that there had to be a reason for it... or the exact reason itself.
But I wasn't really worried about that anymore. No... I was focused on something else. Something far more problematic... The noise in my head was back, just the same as when I fell into that... flashback or whatever it was.
It started subtly, like static creeping in from the edge of my hearing. I would have swapped it with the actual ringing of my ears, but it wasn't that. There was a hum beneath it, a thought coming through the Force. By now, I was sure that this amalgamation of Rakatan consciousnesses had complete control over the Force in this system. Who knows how strong these people were before they joined their minds and souls... And they had time to twist the Force to their own bidding.
Knowing I wouldn't be able to block it out, as it was growing louder and louder, I began trying to filter it out to make it easier to handle. Maybe I could listen in on them... It was a collection of voices, after all. However, it was not easy, as there were not even a dozen voices, oh no... There had to be about a thousand... no, even more. But not all of them were in control; many were screaming for help. I guess... they were the voices and thoughts of sacrifices, remains of the rebels who were snuffed out...
Whatever it was, it was a chorus of thoughts, and I felt like I was trying to find someone whispering in the middle of a heated argument in the Galactic Senate.
Come on, Kael... You can do this... Trying to bolster my confidence, I clenched my fists once and then rested them on my lap, trying to focus without forcing it. My breath grew shallow, and I sat straighter on the bench seat while Vila knelt a few meters away, checking her sabers one more time. She didn't notice what I was doing at first; she couldn't feel it like I did. I could perceive that she kept watch while HK stood by the ramp, perfectly still, only the red glow of his optics marking him as powered on, ready to do battle if anybody came to attack us.
It meant... I could work on it without interference. Maybe my gift of being sensitive to emotions like this was why I was the one who had my consciousness dragged into the past... Perhaps it was an accident. However, whatever it was, I now had to turn the experience into something useful. That was when, inside me, something opened.
Next... Multiple whispers surged between my ears like the crack of floodwater.
::...Kill the bastards...::
::...Kill them all, and we will be free...::
::...Down with the Infinite Empire...::
My nails dug into my palms, feeling their emotions... I tried pushing it back, but it wasn't Force-sight or some guided vision. It was the contact with the amalgamation, and the first layer of it was made up of those poor bastards who were used as fuel for their terraforming machinery. I had to go deeper... cut through the echo of desperation and bitterness.
Luckily, they didn't seem to notice me. Not yet. However, I could feel them after I managed to ignore the general call for violence. There they were... Their minds were much clearer, much more... preserved. They had more complex thoughts and emotions, still joined into one, but... like different personalities of one man. It was surreal... yet real.
The six Revani disciples that returned early... They weren't there anymore. That much was obvious now. Their bodies had become hosts, simple, hollow vessels, their previous personalities merging into the outer layer. Now, their husks were filled with Rakatan spirits, or these... controlling minds stitched into their new host by a Dark Side ritual. A practice older than anything I'd studied, not that I had much knowledge of Sith rituals. No... Not Sith. This thing was older than most Sith records.
Ignoring the distracting thoughts, I continued to try to focus on the Rakatan minds...
I sank further back against the wall, willing myself to breathe slowly, allowing my consciousness to slip a little. My eyes slid shut, and my mental shields were weakened. Some of it was already cracked open from the vision anyway, from the trauma I experienced... So it started flowing in... And I listened.
::...Finally... Dominate them all, and we can return home...::
::...What takes so long? Do it faster. We must leave this wretched prison. DO IT ALREADY...::
::...Patience, brother... the Sundering... has passed... We were destroyed... We first have to rebuild...The Rakatan will return. But first, we deal with the insects...::
Their voices came in bursts, overlapping with each other as they weren't talking via sound, but thoughts sent through the Force, and through it, what they were saying also flashed into my head. It wasn't crystal clear. I still missed much of what they were discussing as they exchanged thoughts too quickly for me to follow. What I could gather was... More like impressions and fragments. But I saw a tower crumbling into the earth. Probably their memories. I saw slaves of a hundred species fighting Rakatan enforcers and their droids in hallways smeared with blood and oil. I saw a ritual chamber... Black crystal veins pulsing... Red light... Mist... blood mist, maybe.
::...Prepare the backup...Just in case...::
::...The backup...::
::...The backup...::
::...The backup...::
And then nothing... The Force collapsed around me, and my mind felt like I was discovered and kicked out of their collective. It was then I gasped and opened my eyes again, blinking sweat away from my eyebrows. My body was trembling now, though I didn't know when that had started. My lips felt dry, almost cracking open... The moment I made that noise, Vila glanced over at me, her brow furrowed.
"Kael...?"
"It's... Okay..." I raised a weak hand. "I'm fine," I lied. No wonder she didn't believe me... But she gave me space.
[Observation: Elevated neural activity detected. Your biometrics are inconsistent with regular Jedi meditation.]
"No kidding," I muttered.
I leaned forward and pressed my palm to my temple, trying to block the next wave, which, this time, was an actual attack. They were directing the dead sacrifices' suffering towards me.
::...they are warm... so warm... bodies... flesh to tear apart...::
::...let the blood flow...::
::...kill...::
::...kill...::
::...kill...::
I felt bile rise in my throat, but I took another breath, trying to protect my sanity against the waves of incoming emotions, trying to dismantle my mind. To help me ignore the impulses, I instead tried to focus on the facts. On what I knew.
They had waited all this time. Whatever ritual they enacted, they were locked inside the bones of their failed terraforming bullshit. Trapped within their own machines, sealed by ancient lockdown codes, they could no longer bypass alone as they had no physical presence anymore. They were mere phantoms, disembodied egos echoing through the dark side of the Force. Served them right... at least... Until I had lifted that lockdown.
I felt my gut twist. It was my fault...
No. It isn't anybody's fault... I tried to remind myself of that. I can't be blamed for a Sith's madness. Well... They weren't Sith, not exactly. Their madness had outstripped even Sith megalomania. These weren't conquerors anymore either; they were just a scourge. And if anybody can defeat them, then it is our Masters.
Trying to latch onto my Master's presence in the Force, I could feel them moving through the ship. I could sense them already fighting Vestara's corrupted disciples, their lightsabers clashing. I felt Master Kyle's raw strength, Ben's precision, and Vestara's cold fury. But... the Rakatans had their own designs, their own techniques, and the battle was... a stalemate. No... Our side was pushing them. We could win this...
::...The backup...::
It clicked then and there.
"Someone's coming." I moaned, trying to stand up, but with my injury and the still-incoming dark thoughts trying to order me to kill, maim, massacre, and suffer, the whole world was spinning, so I just collapsed back to the bench.
"Where?" Vila asked, igniting her sabers.
[Question: Are you sure? My sensors can't pick up any movement.]
"They talked about a backup plan... Our Masters are winning, so they will try to use the main battle as a distraction..."
"And take the shuttle." Vila sneered, straightening up. "No, they won't." She looked at me over her shoulder. "You stay put, whatever happens. Leave the rest to us."
"..." I knew I wasn't in any shape to argue, so... I just nodded. I trusted her... And I always would.
...
....
...
[Alert Statement: Hostile detected. Identity: Matching records.]
Vila didn't even answer when HK alerted her that the figure I knew was coming had arrived. Her body moved on instinct, her sabers buzzing with raw energy as she jumped from the ramp, facing the appearing figure, not wanting to let him get closer with another step.
I pushed myself upright, gritting through the flare of pain in my ribs and head, watching through the narrow-angle of the ramp as he stepped into full view.
HK was right... I recognized him, too. It was the younger Revani from before, the one Vila had fought once before when we were chasing my brother's accomplices. But now, he wore no mask. There was no theatrics, either... Just a... plain and... weird face.
And it looked so wrong.
Not physically, I mean. The features were the same, but the expression was devoid of emotion. What made it extra weird was that his eyes didn't blink. They glowed faintly, but not like a living being did... They were sickly yellow-green with dark splotches bubbling in them.
[Statement: Target confirmed. Engaging.]
HK opened fire immediately, his carbine spitting multiple bolts of energy that screamed across the hangar bay. The possessed didn't even flinch; his red sabers flared to life, and he moved his arms like wings. He didn't deflect the bolts, however weird it was, or how even was that possible, but he sliced them mid-flight with tiny flicks of his wrists as if he was trimming hedges. I had never seen anything like that... neither had Vila, but she didn't wait for an explanation.
Her body twisted in the air with a force-augmented leap, her sabers like arcs of orange light as she crashed into him with all the weight of Ataru's speed and aerial power. The inside of the Star Destroyer became a blur of light between orange and red, accompanied by the pressure of the Force coming from both of them. Yet... The possessed could keep up with her speed and began using something... unknown. His style was... alien.
There was no elegance in it, no economy of motion like the ones we were taught. His stance was low, almost simian, his elbows bent outward, defying the natural position of human arms, while his knees were wide apart like a beast balancing for a pounce. Every movement he made looked like an involuntary jerk or twitch, coming in short, devastating bursts. It was... hard to read. The rhythm was unnatural, somewhere between half-fighting and half-feinting everything. Vila had to adjust immediately or be skewered, sometimes only missing because her instincts let her waist twist away from the red blade like a trained twi'lek dancer...
Then, they split apart just so they could clash again.
Sparks flew everywhere again as her sabers carved long arcs into the hangar's floor or the metal boxes around them. Her opponent answered with a wide, circular strike that put pressure in the air as if the Force itself warped with each pass of his blade... It was a technique I had never seen before. He didn't just swing his weapon; he fused the Force into each blow, amplifying the weight as if his sabers had the weight of moving trains, not plasma. It was like his strikes were imbued with Force-push powers. Both of them knew that Vila couldn't meet those strikes head-on, or she would be done for.
So, she moved faster because she had to.
To gain some distance, she flipped backward, landing in a crouch, then sprinted along the side wall, using the Force to enhance her speed and change her angle of attack. I could feel her... She felt... furious, but not in a bad way. She managed to remain focused and not let it overwhelm her senses. She struck from high again, twirling through the air with that tight, whip-fast elegance that was the pinnacle of her Ataru form in my eyes. She slashed with one blade in her right hand, a feint. Then, she pivoted and thrust with the other, aiming for her enemy's center mass.
He spun in answer, not to dodge but to drag the air with him, one arm forming a claw-like posture, using the Force again.
The movement he did tore a gust of power, a strong wind, straight from his back like a cloak made of an airburst and tossed Vila aside mid-air, redirecting her Force-augmented strike. It wasn't Force push, really... It was... something stranger. He'd pulled the energy of the motion from Vila after it happened and used it against her like he was rewinding her momentum.
Still, she landed in a roll, recovered immediately, and then came at him again.
[Dry Statement: Target does not conform to expected Jedi or Sith fighting patterns. Addendum: Target is annoying.]
HK raised his carbine to fire again, as all this happened barely in a minute, but the possessed one, sensing his intention, reached out and closed his fist, not wanting HK to interfere.
The carbine cracked with a groan, snapping into two, and HK was tossed back like a rag doll, flying up the ramp and slamming into the rear wall of the shuttle with enough force to dent it. Sparks flared from his chest, and a puff of smoke hissed from one of his vents before falling to the ground.
"HK!" I shouted, but he gave no reply.
My eyes snapped back to Vila, feeling that the possessed bastard was still attacking, going in for the kill... But she stood and fought back.
Vila, drawing on the Force, moved like a blur once again. She didn't try to use tactics; she relied only on her instincts, using sweeping strikes, leaping overhead assaults, and constant footwork. And then... One saber slashed across the corrupted one's shoulder. She hit him...! The 'man' twisted to block her first swing, but the second saber in Vila's hand was already on its way, landing the strike. She followed through once again, wanting to cut his head off... He barely caught it. The next moment, their blades locked, sizzling in a shower of light, making me squint.
Vila was not a match to him in raw strength, so, to not drag it out, she dropped, trying to sweep his feet, then vaulted over him when that failed and came down with both sabers like twin guillotines. He raised both of his in an X-shape and caught them again, their blades screeching against each other once more.
This time, he leaned forward as if to whisper something... And I could feel the collective mind moving in to try and invade Vila's consciousness, which was now exhausted from all the focus she had to exert on their battle.
Not on my watch, you won't... And with that, I let out a breath, closing my eyes and reaching out, using everything I had in me to get a hold of the bastard's mind before it could harm Vila.