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Jedi Insurgency Chapter 3
🕑 Added 2024-12-04 05:26:52 +0000 UTCAfter ending the call, and convincing the CIS leadership council to GTFO of Mustafar, lay a little trap for the Chosen One, and accept any Jedi fleeing to CIS holdings, Corvus destroyed the communication relay, then hurriedly left the side room, and entered the atrium.
“We have to go.” Corvus said with some urgency.
“More clones?” Linyin asked mid twirl as she used [Force Push] on a rock, mimicking Corvus's grenade toss method. Her lekku swayed to the side as she tilted her head in anticipation.
It seemed the little Twi'lek was more battle hungry than Corvus had thought. But then again, looking at her athletic Master, he shouldn't really be surprised.
“Wait, Jedi, why does it sound like you are being hunted? I overheard you speaking to Nute Gunray as I left, are you Dooku's new Apprentice?” Kurk, the Neimodian, nervously rubbed his hands together.
As soon as Kurk finished his statement, Yon ignited his lightsaber. The young black haired teen glanced between Corvus and Kurk as if he was going to attack either of them at any time.
“Hold, Padawan. Is it true, Corvus, did you contact the Viceroy?” Kyra motioned for Yon to stop, and looked towards Corvus in a patient and calm manner.
Corvus internally nodded his head. This woman was a Jedi Knight through and through. Not once had he seen her lose her cool.
“It's not true, I refuse to believe a healer could work for that genocidal monster.” Zork shook his head in disbelief.
“Yeah! I'd be dead if it weren't for Corvus!” Linyin added on.
“Padawans.” Kyra again raised her hands, and a soothing calm spread throughout everyone present. She then looked expectantly at Corvus.
Her serenity was the antithesis to a threat of violence, yet Corvus felt compelled to speak, as if he were a naughty child under the gaze of a beloved teacher.
“I have never spoken with the Count of Serreno, but I did contact the CIS leadership.” Corvus said with sincerity.
“A traitor? I hate traitors.” Yon scowled, and looked like he was going to lunge forward.
Kurk recoiled backwards from the slash of Yon's lightsaber, yet the young man was pulled back by a weak Force Pull from Jax.
“The Republic has betrayed us young man. If I were a Jedi Shadow, as you stated earlier, you would understand that it would be my duty to see to the survival of the Jedi Order, to destroy the Sith.” Corvus lightly admonished Yon.
“The clones killed your Master, and my friends. Corvus promised me revenge, I’ll follow him.” Jax coldly announced, and stood besides Corvus.
“Revenge is not the Jedi way, Jax. I am sorry you see the world in such a grim light.” Zork spoke up in a pitying tone.
While the Padawans were talking, Corvus and Kyra were having a bit of a staring match.
Corvus was opening himself in the Force, projecting nothing but sincerity. If he were a Jedi Shadow, everything he said would be 100% truth. She had no reason to suspect he was a traitor or hidden agent of the CIS.
“Very well, if Corvus says we have to vacate this area, we had best hurry.” Kyra said, her short blue-black hair tickled against her green skinned as she nodded.
Corvus nodded back, and was about to take point when he heard the sound of laser saws cutting into metal above. A dozen entry points were being cut into, and a dozen more clones waited behind each hole. In short, hundreds of troopers were poised to strike.
Witnessing a handful of grenades, and flash bangs coming through the holes, Corvus was about to push them back, when Linyin beat him to it.
When the thermal detonators exploded, the light-blue skinned Twi'lek flashed him a grin.
Corvus internally bemoaned the loss of exp, but grinned back.
“Jedi survivors! Captain Fox, your intuition was right, sir!”
“Gas them out!” A red armored Coruscanti clone trooper ordered.
“Yes sir!”
The clones that had cut holes into the sewer began to shoot canisters down below, flooding the atrium with a noxious fume.
Seeing this, Corvus knew they couldn't stay any longer.
“Let's move!” Corvus took point, and ran deeper into the tunnel.
The rest of the Jedi followed in close order a second later.
“Wait for us!” The Neimodian gasped as he sprinted to keep up.
For the briefest of seconds, Corvus considered leaving them behind, but that didn't seem like the Jedi thing to do.
While he wouldn't sacrifice his life for people he just met, he had greatly inconvenienced these people, and he had made a tentative pact with the CIS leadership moments ago.
Besides, he still had the Path of the Jedi ongoing. It was sitting at 4 out of 5 currently, and saving these two guys would count towards helping the weak, right?
Killing the droids from earlier had also brought him close to his next level…
Sighing to himself, Corvus cast [Force Valor] on Kurk and the Muun, increasing their speed, stamina, strength, and morale.
The act of helping them completed the quest, giving him enough exp to level up. Part three of the quest also popped up in Corvus's quest log.
Pausing, he checked the changes.
[Path of the Jedi III: Help the Innocent, Vulnerable, Pure, Just or Weak: 1/10. Reward: 4,500 EXP]
The exp offered was much more than last time, and was a much needed relief, because the exp needed to reach level 6 was 10,000 experience points!
Besides the new quest, he had also leveled up. This level, he got a Force Power, and 3 options to upgrade his skills. Next level, he would get a feat, and 2 Force Powers thanks to his Consular class.
Looking at his skills first, Corvus put some points into Awareness, Persuade, and Computer. He had the distinct feeling he would be needing to hack electronics in the future, and he might as well start investing in that path early on.
The skills that had changed now looked like:
Skills:
Computer Use: 13
Demolitions: 10
Stealth: 12
Awareness: 15
Persuade: 15
Repair: 10
Security: 10
Treat Injury: 10
As for the Force Power point he gained upon level up, he decided to hold onto it for now, and use it when he most needed it. Curiously, he saw that he could upgrade his current abilities to tier II, which was a level earlier than in the game.
He was really interested in upgrading [Force Focus] as the ability read “increases Force abilities, and reduces cost of Force abilities by 5%.” When he hovered over the upgrade option, the system showed that it upgraded from 5% -> 10%. [Precognition] also had a similar rate of triggering/advancement.
It was a low number, but if prioritized, Corvus theorized it may very well go beyond the 50% mark.
As for his other abilities: [Heal], [Valor], [Speed], [Energy Resistance], and [Push] they all had a 2x modifier for their tier II upgrade.
Which was, frankly, ridiculous in Corvus's book. With power like that, he was really tempted to go all in on Speed, Valor, or Energy Shield.
But with the power of pause, he would wait until an opportunity presented itself, and he was forced to upgrade to tier II. That, or he picked out a new Force Power to learn when it was most optimal.
Internally nodding at this decision, Corvus unpaused, and turned to the CIS operatives.
“Try and keep up!” Corvus shouted at them, and ran forwards until he came across another fork in the road.
Each path had thick vines draped all over the place, and they seemed rather uninviting.
A cold chill of danger crept forth from each decision, but the central most path absolutely screamed all but certain death to Corvus.
Coming up with a plan on the spot, Corvus aimed to disrupt the clone troopers' pursuit, and voiced his idea to the other Jedi.
“Kyra, go down one of the paths, and cut away at that overgrowth! Then come back and take the furthest most left passageway! Everyone else, take the left passage, I'll be back in a minute!” Corvus announced to everyone.
After shuffling the nervous Padawans out, he took action.
Taking some thermal detonators out of his inventory, he placed a few under a nearby piece of rubble, and put a 15 minute delay on it.
With another grenade, he tossed it down a separate path, and had it explode immediately.
Lastly, he ran down another passage, and used [Force Push] on some hanging moss, and overgrown vines to give the appearance that it had been recently trampled upon.
Applying [Force Speed], Corvus ran half a mile and kept this subterfuge up for a few minutes before he returned the way he came.
When he returned to the central hallway, he found Kyra waiting for him.
Arching an eyebrow, he noted that she was faster than him.
Kyra was about to say something, when a shocked expression came upon her face.
“Linyin is in danger.” Kyra said, then ran into the far left entrance.
Corvus was quick to follow.
Following hot on their heels, the clones finally dropped down into the atrium, and had come up to the fork in the passageway.
After a moment of hesitation, they started to split up their forces down each of the pathways.
Commander Fox remained at the fork, and was constantly monitoring the radio chatter, listening in for any updates.
A dozen agonizingly slow minutes passed by when he finally started receiving reports.
“Right side clear.”
“Center right clear.”
“Middle left clear.”
“Center is aurgghhh!”
“Sir, Jedi spotted on the left route!”
“All units, converge on the left passageway, I repeat, all units, converge on the left most passageway!” Fox broadcasted to his unit.
“What about Havoc squad in the central pathway?” A clone questioned.
“Our brothers will see themselves to safety. The Jedi are our priority.” Fox commanded.
“Sir!” The clone who had questioned Fox saluted.
Fox took up his blaster, and was about to go down the left path, when a series of thermal detonators began to blink, and emitted a high pitched whine.
“Ah bantha shi-” Fox got out before he, and the squad he was in close proximity to were taken out by the explosion.
After Fox's passing, Corvus received a nice chunk of 1,500 exp from his and his squad's demise, but that was little comfort as he found himself in a bind.
When he chased after Kyra, Corvus ran through a large amount of dark dank overgrowth, and had emerged into an incredibly low light setting.
The only things he could see were the bright lights of lightsabers, and little else.
But what his senses told him was that there was danger.
Pausing to get a better look, Corvus took stock of his situation.
One lightsaber lay next to Zork, who was crumpled up in a ball, and knocked unconscious.
Another lit up the fearful expression on Linyin as she found herself stuck in some sticky ooze, and Yon was full of fury as he was cutting into thin air.
Jax, apparently, had been waiting for him, and was at the back of the group, right where Corvus had emerged.
Meanwhile, Kyra was ducking down low, and mid roll, evading something.
In addition to her, there was a new Jedi joining the fight. It was one Corvus recognized from the Force Unleashed games: Kazdan Paradus.
The short grey-blue skinned alien was a Jedi Master, and retired from the front lines after losing every single clone trooper in his army. Currently, he served as the leader of the Temple's Engineering Corp. In his backstory, it was mentioned that Kazdan was inside the Temple during Order 66, but Corvus never anticipated coming across him like this!
Such an encounter made Corvus realize he well and truly was in a version of Legends continuity, which confirmed his fears of a Legends Darth Sidious…
Internally shaking his head, Corvus decided he could worry about that factoid at a later date, and focus on the here and now.
Turning towards the conflict, Corvus saw that Kazden was mobile in the air with a mech backpack. The backpack moved the little alien around like a spider, and in its mechanical forceps, wielded a Force Pike (basically a lightsaber on a pole/staff).
Besides the tiny Jedi Master, Corvus also tried to make out the enemy they were facing.
Crediting his Awareness, Corvus could just barely trace the translucent outline of a big, chitinous creature standing in the dark hall.
It was as long as a school bus, and had two large claws like a praying mantis. All along its body were dozens of legs like a centipede, and it had large teal colored eyes the size of a watermelon.
Distinctly, it gave no sense or feeling in the Force. As much as Corvus could look at it with his eyes, it hid its presence well.
If he was correct, this being should be what was known as a Taozin. He vaguely recalled a novel in which Darth Maul was exploring the Coruscant Underworld, and had squared up against such a creature.
In fact, this name tickled another memory. That of the Taozin Amulets! The Inquisitors wore pieces of waste that coated this bug's body, and could completely hide themselves in the Force!
Furthermore, the Taozin was a being that not only could hide itself in the Force, but it had flesh resistant to blasters & lightsabers!
In fact, at that moment, Kazden was slashing into the big bug, but all it did was leave a heat mark on its thick layer of chitin.
Dozens of such white lines covered the bug's armor-like skin, indicating multiple strikes, and the futility of their actions.
Corvus knew that to slay such a large being, the best way would be to strike its eyes, or get inside through its mouth.
However, it was so large, and seemed to emit a sticky, trapping ooze. Getting to its head seemed almost impossible.
He would like to chuck explosives at it until it couldn't move, but that might bring the roof down, or injure his allies.
It seemed like he was running out of options, so he checked out the list of available Force Powers.
Out of all of them, he had 3 in mind.
[Beast Trick]
[Fear]
[Shock]
His first two picks essentially did the same thing, and would have the purpose of scaring the monster away. However, the third pick, [Shock] came with the intent to harm.
Each option came with their inherent benefits and risks.
If he tried to scare the beast off, then he might be able to send them the clones' way, ensuring their elimination. While the exp he received from the thermal detonator was significant, it wasn't nearly enough compared to the hundreds or thousands of troopers that were pursuing them. That meant escaping from the troopers should be a priority.
However, the tantalizing prospect of getting his hands on items that would hide him, and others in the Force was impossible to resist!
His immediate safety may be at risk, but the reward was well worth it.
Given its size, he theorized he could make hundreds of these Taozin Amulets, not to mention how valuable its flesh would be when crafting armor!
Mind made up, Corvus chose [Shock I] with his free Force Power point, and unpaused.
In the next few seconds, he saw Kazden get ragdolled into a wall, and Kyra repeatedly slashing at the Taozin dozens of times with her twin sabers to little avail.
Corvus didn't hesitate, and unleashed [Shock].
A burst of lightning left his fingertips similar to what Douku did when he blasted Anakin in Episode 2. It was a relatively short ranged attack compared to a blaster, but it certainly packed a punch!
Bright blue-white beams of plasma connected with the insect, and it screeched so loud, it certainly gave their position away to the clones.
The Taozin repeatedly screamed in agony, and mindlessly swiped the area in front of it.
Corvus took a moment, and waited for his FP bar to regenerate, and then he blasted the bug again.
It writhed within its own slime, and curled up like a shrimp.
When Corvus was about to celebrate at a job well done, the thing snapped its eyes open, and suddenly flung itself at him.
It seemed Corvus didn't have time to worry about alerting the clones, as the translucent, barely visible creature began to run at him with a surprisingly high speed!
Witnessing this massive, bus-sized beast scramble towards him, felt like he was facing a train head on!
Scrambling backwards towards the narrower entrance of the hallway that he had entered from, Corvus caught sight of Jax's pale face, and he grabbed the teen along the way.
Moving at an incredible speed, Corvus was just barely faster than the Taozin. He could hear its mandibles crunching open and shut as it desperately hungered for his flesh.
The Taozin's breath was so hot, so near, he could feel it on his leg!
It was only when he reached the relatively narrow confines of the corridor, that the beast was forced to slow down. The Taozin's massive body was squished to the limit, but that didn't mean it was stopping!
Like a dog or cat that had shoved its head into a glass, the giant insect shoved its mass forward, utterly occupying the hallway.
Corvus had been blasting it all the while, and he felt like if he had a few more minutes to kite this beast, he would be able to slay it with ease.
Unfortunately for Corvus, time was a luxury he did not possess in abundance.
Because to make matters worse, right after Corvus had bust through a large piece of hanging moss, he came face to face with a squadron of clones.
“There he is.”
“Blast him!”
The clones tried to raise their guns, but Corvus was in such close quarters, he wouldn't let them get a good shot off.
Brandishing his lightsaber, Corvus diced through the barrel of a gun, then moved forward seamlessly from one clone to the next. By the time he had slain 6 of them, the remaining 6 of the squad had pulled back enough feet to get a bead on him.
All the while, the Taozin was chasing after them, it had slowed up slightly as it paused to feast upon the clone remains.
Corvus cast [Energy Resistance] just in time too.
While he deflected several bolts of the opening salvo, killing two of the troopers, the remaining four rained down a hail upon him that he would not survive if he didn't have the shield.
At that moment, he wished he had [Saber Throw] or [Force Pull], but he would have to make due with what he had.
Tanking the next few rounds with his shield so that he could focus on his speed, Corvus closed the distance, and cut the remaining troopers down with impunity. Upon their death, he made sure to tap them with his palm so that he could collect every piece of scrap and loot for the future.
After slaughtering the squad, he paused for a moment to assess his surroundings.
He was still in the corridor, and it had gotten tight, severely limiting the Taozin's mobility. At the same time, this was only a squad of clones. He could be certain that more would be on the way any second.
As it stood, he was presented with two options.
1) try and kill the monster before he got flanked. It was an incredibly risky option with a subsequently HIGH reward. Cloaking oneself in the Force was rare. He would be a fool to pass it up, but passing it up was a safer option.
2) he left the Taozin stuck in this passageway, confident that the other Jedi could escape. He then bum rushed the clone troopers, and tried to escape down one of the other passageways. This path was fraught with danger, but was guaranteed not to be flanked.
Reluctantly, Corvus concluded he would have to pick option 2 if he wanted to survive.
Unpausing, he was about to suggest they head back the way they came, but Jax spoke first.
“Up there, there's a maintenance hatch! We could take it, and double back to the rest!” Jax gestured with the stub of one of his arms.
“Kid, you're one in a million!” Corvus praised.
He was glad that this third option had presented itself.
Slaying the Taozin was the only viable option to begin with, he just had to get creative with it!
Besides, if he wanted to guarantee he could hide from Palpatine and the Inquisitors going forward, then he must get his hands on the Taozin Amulets!
Shaking his head at the intrusive thoughts, Corvus began to hastily drop thermal detonators one after another, and placed them on a timed delay. About 30 of them-half of his entire stock-were deposited at his feet.
He then jumped up, and carved a hole in the ceiling. Metal turned to slag as his azure blade cut through the rusted service hatch as if it were made of butter.
At the same time, a new wave of clones had turned the corner, and had begun to unload blue bolts of plasma at them.
“Follow me!” Corvus commanded.
He then turned back one last time, and blasted the Taozin with [Shock] for good measure, eliciting a raged roar.
It tried to follow them, but it was much too large to fit inside.
Once up in the service shaft, Corvus found himself crawling on his hands and knees. Despite being an area for maintenance, it was coated in a thick jelly-like lubricant, and the surface was exceptionally slippery.
“Move! Move!”
“I'm moving!” Jax all but snarled, as crawling without hands greatly inconvenienced these white haired teenager.
Corvus felt bad for shouting, but time was of the essence!
The Taozin began to slam its body upward, and shook the crawlspace they were in. Several powerful, crab-like legs pierced the steel surrounding them, and one leg had missed Corvus's chin by an inch. If he didn't have the ability to pause buffer, his brain would have been skewered clean through!
Corvus had felt bad earlier, what with the kids fate, and how he had yelled at him just now, but now he had no regrets as to what he was going to do next in the name of survival.
Waving his hand, he moved Jax forward with [Force Push]. Thanks to the slippery surface of the maintenance shaft, the young man slipped forward as if he were on a water slide.
Following after him in a rush, Corvus felt a premonition in the Force, and cast a fresh shield of [Energy Resistance] upon himself.
The flames of the explosion briefly coated him before dissipating. A second after which, a concussive force pushed him into the jelly, and saw him slip and slide uncontrollably until he came to a painful halt, and crashed into Jax.
Corvus blinked his eyes repeatedly, and felt a bit foggy in the head, as if he had been concussed.
Casting [Heal] on both himself and Jax, Corvus paused, and consulted his map.
‘Ah, we're right above the chamber we had left.’
Corvus was about to unpause, but he found he had advanced to level 6.
It seemed that between the two squads of clones he had slain, this monstrous beast, and whatever other clones had been caught in the final explosion had put him over the edge.
He was now resting at 800/21,000 required exp for level 7.
As it stood, he had a free attribute point as one was available every 2 levels, 2 Force Power points (since he had 2 available every 3 levels) and he could finally upgrade a Feat (as one was available every 3 levels.)
He decided to allocate his attribute to Dex once more, as the swifter and more agile he was, the better. Corvus also planned on piloting a spaceship sometime in the future, and Dex would be key to that.
Next, he held onto his Force Power points for the same reason as last time.
For the Feat, he chose [Regenerate I] which increased the rate he regained his Force Power meter by 25%. Corvus had noticed he had been spamming his Force Powers and lot, and several times, he found himself waiting for his meter to recharge.
In particular, the fight with the Taozin could have been ended much sooner and safer if he could've blasted it continuously.
Lastly, he put a point in Persuasion, Awareness, and Computer.
Unpausing, he was about to cut a hole in the wall, and drop down, but he caught some shouts, and overheard a juicy argument that had him pause.
“We must go, he is dead! His sacrifice was brave, but if we are to survive, we must go! Run, we must!” Kazden nervously shuffled in place.
“No way! We at least have to wait a minute for him. Zork is knocked unconscious, and Corvus is the only one who knows how to heal, or the way to a safe haven. Master!” Linyin pleaded.
“He's dead! Hahaha him and Jax. Dead!” Yon madly cried.
Corvus sensed longing in both of their voices, but both had their own selfish motives. For Linyin, it was as if she lost a friend, and someone reliable had been cut from her life. As for Yon? It was as if he had been right all along, and that there was no escape. Darkness and depression were gripping his heart, it was as if for him, giving it all up wouldn't be that difficult, now would it?
“Silence, Linyin. Yon, reach out, and calm yourself in the Force. And you, Master Paradus, should know better!” Kyra said in a serene, yet commanding tone.
“But Master!”
“No buts! Corvus is doing just fine. Isn't that right, Mr. Shadow.” Kyra crossed her arms, and said in a teasing tone.
Corvus grumbled to himself, then cut a hole to drop down.
“Yo, you miss me?” Corvus did a two finger salute, and winked at Kyra like a scoundrel.
“Yay! You're back!” Linyin cheered.
“You! That was Dark energy you used. Who are you!” Kazden screeched, and threateningly gestured at Corvus with his Force Pike.
All the while, the tiny blue man was ever so slowly edging towards the darkness of an exit.
It honestly felt bad to Corvus that a renowned Jedi Master with such a mind could be driven to such a fearful state.
But on the other hand, Order 66 was a traumatic experience. At his level, he 100% felt the death of all the other Jedi. Corvus pitied him for this. To dedicate ones life to a cause only to see it crumble in an instant? It was a sickening idea. Furthermore, it was as if his entire family and country had been destroyed at the same time. He was worthy of sympathy.
Buuut, not now.
They were on the run, and Corvus needed to survive.
Furthermore, Kazden was a genius when it came to engineering, and quite possibly might be in tune with mechu-deru. (The study of the Force on machines).
Recruiting this guy to their cause was in Corvus's best interest.
“You are aware of those secret keepers sworn to destroy the Sith, and all they teach, are you not, Master Paradus?” Corvus placed his hands within his robes, and faced the ominously, accusing blade of the Force Pike with a sense of serenity.
“Stand back!” Kazden warned as Corvus calmly stepped into the light of the blade, so that his face would be seen by all.
“I will destroy the Sith, and I need your help. All of you. I have a vision as to what needs to be done. I know the names of Palpatine’s key supporters. I know where to find allies, and where to hide. I know many things, but I am but one man. Will you help me in this quest?” Corvus stepped up to within a foot of the Force Pike.
Standing this close, he could hear its hum, he could feel the vibration of its blade. And if he paid close enough attention, he almost swore he could hear the kyber crystal within crying out for…
“Enough! Enough, please!” Kazden recoiled, and fell to one knee. His breaths began to become labored and ragged as he gripped his head with a pained look.
“Master Paradus!?” Linyin rushed to his side, yet he shooed her off.
Kyra looked at him with a thoughtful look, her hand rested on her lightsaber, yet she made no move.
Corvus felt eerily calm at that moment, as although some amorphous connection had formed, and been broken just as suddenly, the connection to the Force caused him to feel an incredible sensation of peace. As if everything in the world would be alright.
That calming effect radiated from him for just a moment, and calmed the crazed Master, while also waking Zork up from his concussion.
“Please.” Corvus said, and looked around at everyone present.
Within this dank, dark, smelly sewage drain, Corvus made sure to look everyone in the eye. He projected nothing but that calm sense of serenity and security to the best of his ability.
“What is your code name, Shadow?” Kazden stood up on his mecha-spider legs, and tentatively held out a hand.
“They call me Corvus.”
AN: Tentative Corvus appearance. Will prob post a poll on his look later, but if ppl want to post some pictures of what he could look like, would appreciate it!
Comments
Deathknight134
Wait, did he manage to get the taozin's corpse or not??
Karp
Hopefully it brings in enough new readers to make your dream a reality.
Michael DiVelbiss
What a great beginning. I envy future me a year from now dammit!
Erostan
Yet an amazing chapter, thank you🤠🍻
Ethan John Wuckert
Thank you for the chapter.
