FORSAKEN II - Eternal Dawn

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The Exobogans jumped at the Force adepts. Theleema switched to lightwhip mode lashing at two of their foes before they could complete the leap. Reigniting her blade, she parried an attack. Syrran repelled a cyborg with a kick before it could land in front of him. His shotos blocked two incoming strikes. He realized the Exobogans were heavier and sturdier than he first thought, but they moved faster than a normal sentient and possessed greater strength. Their precise moves were synchronized, and they were well-versed in all Jedi fighting forms. When Theleema tried to Force-push one away, she learned something about the constructs interfered with the Force. What kept her and Syrran from falling to the Exobogan's blur of blades was their combat skills, and the Force bond they had developed since they got together, which allowed them to harmonize their actions.

Syrran blocked a strike and stabbed the armed hand with the pummel blade of his free shoto, disarming the Exobogan. He barely had time to use the lightsaber to parry a second enemy. Kicking the cyborg, Syrran blocked the handless Exobogan, and punched his pummel's blade into the creature's face. Syrran killed the Exobogan with a downwards slash as he brought the lightsaber to slice the leg of the other foe, while he parried with his other hand. Another block gave him the chance to thrust through the cyborg's chest with one shoto and behead it with the other, just in time to deflect a third attacker coming from behind.

Next to Syrran, Theleema brought down a bladed staff, pinning it to the deck with her foot. She hit the wielder with the pummel of her sword, before she had to deflect a pair of incoming strikes from two other foes. Killing the trapped cyborg, she kicked the pinned down staff into one of her foes for it to block. The distraction allowed Syrran to jam a pummel blade into the back of the cyborg's head, as he fended off two others. He moved out of the way when Theleema used the Force to send a crate toward a cluster of Exobogans. All but one dodged it. Theleema turned the rivets that spilled out into projectiles, shredding a pair of the creatures from behind. She and Syrran moved to the gap caused by the flinging crate to keep their enemies in front of them, and their backs protected by a pile of containers to avoid being surrounded.

While the Exobogan smashed the crate and threw it to the side, the other cyborgs closed in fast on Syrran and Theleema. Gorin's war helmet knocked one cyborg down a moment before the Kyuzo landed in front of his friends, fly-kicking another Exobogan away. Drawing a circle around him with his lightsaber spear, Gorin made the rest of the artificial assassins step back.

When Virra landed, she used the momentum to deliver a barrage of strikes with her lightsaber pike, forcing the overwhelmed Exobogan to retreat. She weaved the cyborg's staff around, cutting its leg. Virra pushed the creature back with her hilt, and pivoted around in the opposite direction to slice its shoulder. Bouncing back from the strike, Virra faced her enemy, bringing her lightsaber up to parry an overhead strike. Rather than blocking, she stepped out of the way, turning off the blade. With nothing to stop his weapon, the Exobogan overextended his strike, leaving itself wide open to a decapitating blow from a spinning Virra.

Gorin defended the attacks of his flanking opponents. He kicked the blunt end of his lance, making one block low. Gorin used the impact to flip his weapon over the cyborg's head, eliciting a high parry that allowed him to side-kick the construct. Dropping down, Gorin ducked a swing from the Exobogan behind him, as he thrusted his blade into its foot. Rising up, he severed the creature's arms, then jabbed the kicked opponent with the blunt end. Flipping his lance around point down, he carved through the limping Exobogan's torso with both hands, as he Force-threw his war helmet from the floor at the remaining assailant. Theleema tore one of its legs with her lightwhip and ripped through its neck with the backlash.

The Exobogan that Gorin had fly-kicked separated his staff to face Syrran. Exchanging a flurry of blows, Syrran parried with one shoto while checking the other blade with his second shoto. He circled around the blocked weapon, using his bodyweight to collapse the Exobogan's arm out of the way, slashing its head. Syrran cut off the hand with a scissoring motion of his pummel blades, and pierced through the Exobogan's chest.

The Exobogan that Gorin had knocked to the ground with his initial war helmet attack, had hopped back to its feet when Jarriss confronted it. When their blades clashed to a halt, Jarriss pressed on his enemy's weapon, baiting him to push against his. Jarriss went along with the motion, bringing his lightsaber around to slice off the creature's fingers, and preventing it from deflecting his thrust and subsequent decapitation.

Ilum intercepted the cyborg that had been smashed by the crate of rivets, before it could join the others. To him, the Exobogan felt like negative space in a fabric of reality, but that was all he needed to fight it. Wielding his greatsaber, he traded strikes with the Exobogan. Parrying high, Ilum hooked the bladed staff with his quillons, prying it out of the way. The Exobogan brought one end to the Shard's head, but Ilum blocked it, spinning around to pierce the cyborg's shoulder with his unrestrained sword. He reversed the turn, making the Exobogan defend high again. His unengaged blade cleaved the creature's fingers with a flick of his wrist. Having impaired his foe's left arm, Ilum had no problem cutting his foe to pieces.

"These things are tougher than the Inquisitors," Gorin said.

"Can someone answer me?" Elynn came up on the comlinks, having failed to get a response telepathically.

"We're fine," Virra replied. "We were ambushed, but we dealt with the threat."

"Thank the Force. We were worried sick."

"Who was it?" Addia said.

"A group of cyborgs similar to the ones I saw attacking Quinlan," Syrran said.

"More cyborgs? What's this, a new fad?"

"They're more than that," Theleema said. "They were the source of the dark side vergence. I don't feel sick anymore."

"How can they be the vergence?" Ilum said.

Jarriss knelt by one of the mangled corpses. "I don't know. But whatever it is, it has to do with the crystals housed in the implants in their chests. I want to take one of them with us to examine it."

"Eels, I need you to come over and copy the ship's hard drive," Syrran said. "I want to know what went on."

"On my way," Elynn said.

"The Empire is producing their own Force-wielders," said Jarriss, still absorbed by the creature he studied.

"Project Eternal Dawn," Ilum said. "That is what Master Vos was trying to uncover."

"Sickening," Theleema said.

"Lum, take that one back to the Outcast, please." Jarriss pointed at the Exobogan Syrran had killed with a stab to the base of the skull. Its body was the least damaged.

"Certainly," Ilum lifted the cyborg over his shoulders. "How can something this heavy move so fast?"

"That's one of the many things I want to find out."

"Sorry to interrupt your impromptu symposium," Addia said. "But the Imps are here."

"The distress call," Virra reasoned. They had no idea how long it had been transmitting.

"Time to burn rippinnium." Theleema hurried toward the Outcast leading the group.

"Eels—" Syrran said.

"I'm staying put," Elynn said. "They haven't spotte us yet, but you better hurry."

"We're on our way," Gorin said.

Ilum sealed the airlock the moment the entire team was back onboard the Outcast, and then Addia hastily took off. By the time the Star Destroyer spotted them, the Outcast jumped into hyperspace.