Now, as promised, part twenty.
Dawn of Forever, Part XI-XIX
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The battle between Ben Sisko and Emperor Palpatine on Bastion had been the most powerful and awe-inspiring duel Annika had ever witnessed. After that, every other was only ever going to be competing for second place. This duel won.
Annika had heard lightsabers clash. It was a crashing sounding, raw energy meeting raw energy, neither of which would relent. But the first time Ben Skywalker's lightsaber struck the Oracle's sword, it was different. It was a very bass boom, almost below the range of hearing. But the acoustics of the situation were the last thing that anyone else would notice, because the conflict was furious. Ben was using two sabers; there only two kind of people who would fight like this, the highly-skilled, or the extremely stupid. Ben clearly fell into the category of the former; he was either ambidextrous or had spent years developing his off hand, because even Annika's keen eye for details couldn't spot any difference in his technique between hands. He also used them well together; the inexperienced unwittingly kept their center wide open, which was why they never got to become experienced. Either one blade or the other was guarding his body at all times, sometimes even both. The Oracle had both hands on the hilt of the sword and despite appearances there was clearly more strength in her than nature would have allowed.
Ben stepped around towards the Oracle's right, striking out with his left blade. The sword easily caught it, but he quickly spun in the reverse direction, the other blade lashing out. The Oracle snapped the sword up to catch it, then immediately back to deflect the flick of the wrist he tried to use to carve the tip of the left blade into her. She moved into it as she blocked, so that once the blow was caught she could drive the solid lump of metal at the base of the hilt into his shoulder. Ben rolled with the blow, spinning back the other way. His blade was so fast she barely got under it before he could decapitate her. She tried a swing with the sword in her left hand, but Ben brought his right up and under to deflect, a dangerous move because without precise control he would have chopped his own arm off. It almost happened anyway; the Oracle pointed her right hand up into his face and blasted him off his feet. Force lightning shot out at him almost the moment he landed, but his left lightsaber jerked up to catch it. He pointed at a rock with his other saber, flipped his wrist, and it shot up, striking the Oracle so hard she half-spun and stumbled under the impact, losing her focus just long enough for Ben to hop back onto his feet.
Ben's next onslaught was more furious, but still he didn't let his anger get in the way of strategy. The Oracle's movements were doubly fast, catching each attack before it could meet, without any sign of wearing down. The three blades finally locked together and it was a case of raw muscle. The two Sith twisted for the better positon, then Ben gave just enough to free his movement to put his foot into the Oracle's face. He yanked at the same time as the kick, sending her sword flying off. He wasted no time; unarmed the Oracle still had powers that could kill. He swung with each blade, but rather than backing off she continued to dash away at right angles, until finally when Ben swung she lunged, and caught both of his hands in her own. The two wrestled that way for a moment, then Force lightning began to crackle around both their hands; it was clear both were being hit by it. It was now a test of endurance: Ben's youth and rage versus the Oracle's experience and mastery. Sweat was running down both taut faces; it was obvious that both attacking and defending in this manner was taking everything they both had. There was no way either could perform some other Force-based attack without leaving themselves open. And Annika knew who that gave an advantage to... experience won about, because it knew that when things were even and you didn't know if you could pull it off, it was time to fight dirty.
Annika was right. The Oracle planted a firm kick in a very private place. It bought her a moment, and a Sith could do a lot with a moment. She gave him a massive Force push, yanking his lightsabers from his grip while he accelerated. She caught them as he rolled end over end, then lightning crackled around her hands again. The lightsabers sputtered and sparked and the beams vanished. She tossed the scrap aside, this time ready for his levitation attack, catching the boudlers that came at her and deflecting them into the wall, where they pulverized upon impact. She responded with more lightning; Ben snatched up a short lightsaber from the array of homemade weapons that hung from his belt just before it struck. The Oracle walked towards him slowly, keeping the pressure on. Without breaking her attack she reached out one hand and her sword rattled on the floor a moment before ringing like a bell as it flew up and landed in her grip. One more blast and she rushed at the still prone figure, slashing at him. He caught the attack, then swung at her legs. As he did, the end burst off his lightsaber and dangled from it like a chain, spinning very quickly with the practiced moves. The Oracle jumped straight up to avoid the swipe, so Ben brought the chained saber around again. She stretched her legs up as she descended, the blade skimming the soles of her boots as it passed before she extended, kicking off the floor and into a backward somersault to get out of range. Ben's saber reattached and he arched his back to return to his feet, grabbing a brass knuckle-type weapon in his left hand and igniting another short lightsaber blade from it.
The Oracle spun and threw her sword, but instead of flying towards Ben, it shot upwards, slicing through stalagtites that dangled from the ceiling of the cave. She gestured like a hyperactive orchestra conductor and they broke through the remaining rock and dropped towards Ben. The younger Sith was moving wildly to evade the exploding rocks as they struck the ground around him, narrowly missing him. He swung his arm and the equivalent of a bucket-full of debris was picked up by the Force and thrown into the Oracle's face, who relented and cursed in response. Her sword returned to her hand as Ben tried to press the momentary advantage, but she quickly fought him to a standstill. This meant she was at the advantage; the weapons he had now were specialty items created for certain specific exchanges; if he couldn’t do the job with real sabers, these weren’t going to cut it. He was on the ropes, but wasn't going to go down easily. His left saber deflected a strike, and he stepped forward, slamming the metal handguard into the Oracle's face so hard she almost fell to the follow-up stab. He used the left to grab her counterstrike and opened the chain lightsaber again while she rolled her head around. He flicked his wrist and the saber end looped over to strike her arms where they gripped her sword.
But the roll of the head wasn't a reaction to the blow. The long braids rose up on their own path, and the metallic ends connected with the lightsaber tip, just enough to deflect the angle. It gave Ben less than a tenth of a second, and with his left hand using all its strength to hold back the Oracle's sword, that wasn't enough time. It sheered through the middle of his hand, and he screamed in pain. The Oracle, with no pressure stopping her, brought her sword under and up, catching Ben's other, artificial, hand at the wrist. Ben backed off feebly, still on his feet, but only just. It was clear by the look on his face that he never really believed this would happen, that despite how powerful he knew she was, he could still best her. But now, now there was no question of who truly was the master, and who was just second best. The Oracle followed him slowly, her expression seemingly bereft of emotion. It would end with one of their death's, she'd said, and now they knew whose it would be.
The Oracle gave some theatric swings, which was something Annika couldn't understand. "Showy" wasn't a word to describe her, but the issue fell aside as the swing began to quickly decelerate, or at least it appeared to. It continued its perfect stroke through empty air, but it crawled rather than whirled. Annika tried to get a better view, but couldn't, because she couldn't move. That's when it sunk in. The Oracle was slowing time to a crawl... only awareness was left untouched. The sword began to thrust, and the point was obvious. So many killers had wanted to drag out that final moment, but only the Oracle had the power to do so. Ben's eyes were fixed on the blade. It crawled through the air; a hutt could dodge it at this apparent rate. But with all his reflexes, speed, senses, Dark side abilities, the full power of a Sith Lord, he had no means of stopping the blade that closed in on his heart. In a macabre sort of way, it was a rather interesting demonstration of the human condition. Ben was about to die, and though he could see it coming, there wasn't one thing he could do to stop it.
Blade tip touched flesh, and slowly slit in. The transmission rates of the human nervous system are fast enough so that, even in the crawl that time had become, the pain must have hit him almost instantly. Yet still, there was nothing he could do. The sword merely pressed on, slicing through bone and cartillage and muscle without slowing in its glacial strike. Soon it reached the heart, and split it open, shutting down the organ. Still the blade moved, still Ben experience every last iota of its movement. Eventually, it reached the back and cut the skin open, this time from the inside out. Red droplets leapt from it in some kind of slow-motion bid for freedom. The black of the blade was partially obscured by the smear of blood, but still it moved.
And now, so did the Oracle. She moved normally now, although everything else still seemed to be locked in the creeping passage of time. She stepped over to Ben's ear, and her voice was just above a whisper. "Now young Skywalker," she said as she released the blade's handle, "you will die..." And time returned to normal; the only evidence necessary was Ben's agonized scream. His strength faded as his legs slacked, but he didn't move. The Oracle's hands were glowing and crackling with green light... in his final seconds, she was still stretching out his life. There was a sound like a capacitor overloading, and Ben's lifeless body collapsed on the floor.
The Oracle gave him a kick so he was mostly lying on his back, then reached down and pulled the sword from his chest. No one moved, no one spoke, there was only the sound of metal on silk as she wiped the blade clean, then returned it to her scabbard. Blood began to pool around the corpse as she examined him. "Hmm," she mused aloud, "it seems that, in my anger, I killed him."
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Kilana looked out the side view of the cockpit as Han came in to complete the pre-flight check. Outside the clean up was under way. It had been a victory, technically, but so much had been destroyed, so many people killed in battle or slaughtered by Vong for the hell of it. "It's so pointless," she remarked. "You fight, and you lose. You don't fight, and you lose."
"Yeah, life's rough," Han said distantly, checking over the navigation information. Things were crazy on Corellia and he wanted to make sure nothing was wrong with his paperwork to cause undo suspicion.
Kilana gave him a wicked glare. "That's all you have? 'Life's rough?'"
Han shrugged. "Would it make any difference if I said it in a profound way?"
"It might imply you actually gave a damn."
"Well," Han said, closing his checklist down, "I'll be sure to find someone who can write me up something nice and poetic for the next time you see something ugly." He started the engines. "Sorry if it ruffles your feathers, kid, but I don't even have time to mourn for those I've had to bury... there's no room for strangers in my busy grieving itinerary."
"I'm starting to miss Kalib," Kilana said. "Next to him you almost seemed like a decent humanoid."
"You take that back," Han said as he lifted off the platform and raced for orbit, and Corellia.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Oracle slowly turned her attention to that of her audience. "Is anyone still not certain who is the master here?"
Alema Rar was the first to react; she immediately got down on one knee and bowed in reverence. The other Sith quickly followed, except for Molly, who seemed too shocked by the sight of Ben's corpse. However, it didn't take long before she too was kneeling before the Sith Master. Annika stood amongst them, not sure what to say or do. The Oracle walked casually in her direction. "What do you think, Seven?" she asked. "That man killed your husband, your nephew, your sister-in-law, your daughter-in-law, your unborn granddaughter, and drove your only son to join the Borg." She stopped eye to eye with Annika. "And now he's dead. How do you feel?"
Annika's throat was dry, but she forced the words out. "He was a monster, and I hate him. But what you did, captain... I pity even him that fate."
"Don't conspire against me, Seven," the Oracle warned. "You don't know what you've become involved in."
"I think I do."
"No!" the Oracle said, the word almost knocking Annika over. "You don't know the power of the Dark side! You cannot think that you could interfere and not be destroyed."
Annika stood her ground, but only just. "What is in that box?" she asked. "It's you, isn't it. Somehow it's you."
The Oracle stared at her, then held her hand out backwards. A vial hurtled through the air, through the hole in her lab wall into her hand; she looked at the green tube for a moment, then held it to her neck and discharged. It tumbled from her shaking hands, and the Oracle doubled over in pain, but even as she did energy crackled around her body, and the prostrate Sith suddenly dove away as it arced into rocky protrusions and equipment. But Annika saw the real show... the pool of blood was running backwards. It flowed up Ben's body into his chest wound, which slowly began to knit itself closed. The Oracle screamed, and a tornado descended, a cyclone centered over the body of Ben Skywalker. The energy arced between her and him, and he arched his back with each spasm. Soon he was crying out with each discharge, until the room was rocked by a pressure wave like a small explosion, followed by a thunderclap, and all was still.
Ben Skywalker touched his face, then his chest. Then looked around in horror at the equally confused and terrified Sith. The Oracle straightened up. "Ben Skywalker," she said, her voice rumbling with undertones, "your life is now mine."
Ben swallowed and nodded slowly. "Yes... master."
The Oracle turned her attention back to Annika. "That thing in the box, Seven," she said. "It is not your concern."
"Is it-"
Thunder rocked the cave. "There's an old saying, Seven, that you might reflect upon. Cowards die a thousand deaths..." Energy crackled up the Orackle's arms. "And so do upstart Borg. Alema, take her away and teach her some humility." The Twi'lek grabbed Annika's arms, who followed unresisting. "The rest of you... leave us." No further encouragement was needed. Soon the Oracle was left alone, walking about the place where Ben lay prone on the floor. "Your pride, foolish ambitions, they're behind you now, Skywalker."
"Yes, master," Ben croaked. He was beaten, and he knew it through and through.
"You lost your life. From this moment on you live on my time, to serve only my will, not yours."
"Yes, my master," Ben said, his eyes screwing shut.
"Have your wounds tended to," the Oracle said. "You will need to work very, very hard, to regain my favor."
"Yes... thank you, master." Ben pulled himself shakily to his feet as the Oracle strolled away. She stopped, cocked her head just a little, and held up her hand. There was a sudden breeze, and then the jagged metal of the hole in the wall of her laboratory straightened and sealed, so that there was no sign anything had happened. Apparently satisfied, she climbed the stairs, entered the laboratory, and sealed the door.
Annika had heard lightsabers clash. It was a crashing sounding, raw energy meeting raw energy, neither of which would relent. But the first time Ben Skywalker's lightsaber struck the Oracle's sword, it was different. It was a very bass boom, almost below the range of hearing. But the acoustics of the situation were the last thing that anyone else would notice, because the conflict was furious. Ben was using two sabers; there only two kind of people who would fight like this, the highly-skilled, or the extremely stupid. Ben clearly fell into the category of the former; he was either ambidextrous or had spent years developing his off hand, because even Annika's keen eye for details couldn't spot any difference in his technique between hands. He also used them well together; the inexperienced unwittingly kept their center wide open, which was why they never got to become experienced. Either one blade or the other was guarding his body at all times, sometimes even both. The Oracle had both hands on the hilt of the sword and despite appearances there was clearly more strength in her than nature would have allowed.
Ben stepped around towards the Oracle's right, striking out with his left blade. The sword easily caught it, but he quickly spun in the reverse direction, the other blade lashing out. The Oracle snapped the sword up to catch it, then immediately back to deflect the flick of the wrist he tried to use to carve the tip of the left blade into her. She moved into it as she blocked, so that once the blow was caught she could drive the solid lump of metal at the base of the hilt into his shoulder. Ben rolled with the blow, spinning back the other way. His blade was so fast she barely got under it before he could decapitate her. She tried a swing with the sword in her left hand, but Ben brought his right up and under to deflect, a dangerous move because without precise control he would have chopped his own arm off. It almost happened anyway; the Oracle pointed her right hand up into his face and blasted him off his feet. Force lightning shot out at him almost the moment he landed, but his left lightsaber jerked up to catch it. He pointed at a rock with his other saber, flipped his wrist, and it shot up, striking the Oracle so hard she half-spun and stumbled under the impact, losing her focus just long enough for Ben to hop back onto his feet.
Ben's next onslaught was more furious, but still he didn't let his anger get in the way of strategy. The Oracle's movements were doubly fast, catching each attack before it could meet, without any sign of wearing down. The three blades finally locked together and it was a case of raw muscle. The two Sith twisted for the better positon, then Ben gave just enough to free his movement to put his foot into the Oracle's face. He yanked at the same time as the kick, sending her sword flying off. He wasted no time; unarmed the Oracle still had powers that could kill. He swung with each blade, but rather than backing off she continued to dash away at right angles, until finally when Ben swung she lunged, and caught both of his hands in her own. The two wrestled that way for a moment, then Force lightning began to crackle around both their hands; it was clear both were being hit by it. It was now a test of endurance: Ben's youth and rage versus the Oracle's experience and mastery. Sweat was running down both taut faces; it was obvious that both attacking and defending in this manner was taking everything they both had. There was no way either could perform some other Force-based attack without leaving themselves open. And Annika knew who that gave an advantage to... experience won about, because it knew that when things were even and you didn't know if you could pull it off, it was time to fight dirty.
Annika was right. The Oracle planted a firm kick in a very private place. It bought her a moment, and a Sith could do a lot with a moment. She gave him a massive Force push, yanking his lightsabers from his grip while he accelerated. She caught them as he rolled end over end, then lightning crackled around her hands again. The lightsabers sputtered and sparked and the beams vanished. She tossed the scrap aside, this time ready for his levitation attack, catching the boudlers that came at her and deflecting them into the wall, where they pulverized upon impact. She responded with more lightning; Ben snatched up a short lightsaber from the array of homemade weapons that hung from his belt just before it struck. The Oracle walked towards him slowly, keeping the pressure on. Without breaking her attack she reached out one hand and her sword rattled on the floor a moment before ringing like a bell as it flew up and landed in her grip. One more blast and she rushed at the still prone figure, slashing at him. He caught the attack, then swung at her legs. As he did, the end burst off his lightsaber and dangled from it like a chain, spinning very quickly with the practiced moves. The Oracle jumped straight up to avoid the swipe, so Ben brought the chained saber around again. She stretched her legs up as she descended, the blade skimming the soles of her boots as it passed before she extended, kicking off the floor and into a backward somersault to get out of range. Ben's saber reattached and he arched his back to return to his feet, grabbing a brass knuckle-type weapon in his left hand and igniting another short lightsaber blade from it.
The Oracle spun and threw her sword, but instead of flying towards Ben, it shot upwards, slicing through stalagtites that dangled from the ceiling of the cave. She gestured like a hyperactive orchestra conductor and they broke through the remaining rock and dropped towards Ben. The younger Sith was moving wildly to evade the exploding rocks as they struck the ground around him, narrowly missing him. He swung his arm and the equivalent of a bucket-full of debris was picked up by the Force and thrown into the Oracle's face, who relented and cursed in response. Her sword returned to her hand as Ben tried to press the momentary advantage, but she quickly fought him to a standstill. This meant she was at the advantage; the weapons he had now were specialty items created for certain specific exchanges; if he couldn’t do the job with real sabers, these weren’t going to cut it. He was on the ropes, but wasn't going to go down easily. His left saber deflected a strike, and he stepped forward, slamming the metal handguard into the Oracle's face so hard she almost fell to the follow-up stab. He used the left to grab her counterstrike and opened the chain lightsaber again while she rolled her head around. He flicked his wrist and the saber end looped over to strike her arms where they gripped her sword.
But the roll of the head wasn't a reaction to the blow. The long braids rose up on their own path, and the metallic ends connected with the lightsaber tip, just enough to deflect the angle. It gave Ben less than a tenth of a second, and with his left hand using all its strength to hold back the Oracle's sword, that wasn't enough time. It sheered through the middle of his hand, and he screamed in pain. The Oracle, with no pressure stopping her, brought her sword under and up, catching Ben's other, artificial, hand at the wrist. Ben backed off feebly, still on his feet, but only just. It was clear by the look on his face that he never really believed this would happen, that despite how powerful he knew she was, he could still best her. But now, now there was no question of who truly was the master, and who was just second best. The Oracle followed him slowly, her expression seemingly bereft of emotion. It would end with one of their death's, she'd said, and now they knew whose it would be.
The Oracle gave some theatric swings, which was something Annika couldn't understand. "Showy" wasn't a word to describe her, but the issue fell aside as the swing began to quickly decelerate, or at least it appeared to. It continued its perfect stroke through empty air, but it crawled rather than whirled. Annika tried to get a better view, but couldn't, because she couldn't move. That's when it sunk in. The Oracle was slowing time to a crawl... only awareness was left untouched. The sword began to thrust, and the point was obvious. So many killers had wanted to drag out that final moment, but only the Oracle had the power to do so. Ben's eyes were fixed on the blade. It crawled through the air; a hutt could dodge it at this apparent rate. But with all his reflexes, speed, senses, Dark side abilities, the full power of a Sith Lord, he had no means of stopping the blade that closed in on his heart. In a macabre sort of way, it was a rather interesting demonstration of the human condition. Ben was about to die, and though he could see it coming, there wasn't one thing he could do to stop it.
Blade tip touched flesh, and slowly slit in. The transmission rates of the human nervous system are fast enough so that, even in the crawl that time had become, the pain must have hit him almost instantly. Yet still, there was nothing he could do. The sword merely pressed on, slicing through bone and cartillage and muscle without slowing in its glacial strike. Soon it reached the heart, and split it open, shutting down the organ. Still the blade moved, still Ben experience every last iota of its movement. Eventually, it reached the back and cut the skin open, this time from the inside out. Red droplets leapt from it in some kind of slow-motion bid for freedom. The black of the blade was partially obscured by the smear of blood, but still it moved.
And now, so did the Oracle. She moved normally now, although everything else still seemed to be locked in the creeping passage of time. She stepped over to Ben's ear, and her voice was just above a whisper. "Now young Skywalker," she said as she released the blade's handle, "you will die..." And time returned to normal; the only evidence necessary was Ben's agonized scream. His strength faded as his legs slacked, but he didn't move. The Oracle's hands were glowing and crackling with green light... in his final seconds, she was still stretching out his life. There was a sound like a capacitor overloading, and Ben's lifeless body collapsed on the floor.
The Oracle gave him a kick so he was mostly lying on his back, then reached down and pulled the sword from his chest. No one moved, no one spoke, there was only the sound of metal on silk as she wiped the blade clean, then returned it to her scabbard. Blood began to pool around the corpse as she examined him. "Hmm," she mused aloud, "it seems that, in my anger, I killed him."
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Kilana looked out the side view of the cockpit as Han came in to complete the pre-flight check. Outside the clean up was under way. It had been a victory, technically, but so much had been destroyed, so many people killed in battle or slaughtered by Vong for the hell of it. "It's so pointless," she remarked. "You fight, and you lose. You don't fight, and you lose."
"Yeah, life's rough," Han said distantly, checking over the navigation information. Things were crazy on Corellia and he wanted to make sure nothing was wrong with his paperwork to cause undo suspicion.
Kilana gave him a wicked glare. "That's all you have? 'Life's rough?'"
Han shrugged. "Would it make any difference if I said it in a profound way?"
"It might imply you actually gave a damn."
"Well," Han said, closing his checklist down, "I'll be sure to find someone who can write me up something nice and poetic for the next time you see something ugly." He started the engines. "Sorry if it ruffles your feathers, kid, but I don't even have time to mourn for those I've had to bury... there's no room for strangers in my busy grieving itinerary."
"I'm starting to miss Kalib," Kilana said. "Next to him you almost seemed like a decent humanoid."
"You take that back," Han said as he lifted off the platform and raced for orbit, and Corellia.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Oracle slowly turned her attention to that of her audience. "Is anyone still not certain who is the master here?"
Alema Rar was the first to react; she immediately got down on one knee and bowed in reverence. The other Sith quickly followed, except for Molly, who seemed too shocked by the sight of Ben's corpse. However, it didn't take long before she too was kneeling before the Sith Master. Annika stood amongst them, not sure what to say or do. The Oracle walked casually in her direction. "What do you think, Seven?" she asked. "That man killed your husband, your nephew, your sister-in-law, your daughter-in-law, your unborn granddaughter, and drove your only son to join the Borg." She stopped eye to eye with Annika. "And now he's dead. How do you feel?"
Annika's throat was dry, but she forced the words out. "He was a monster, and I hate him. But what you did, captain... I pity even him that fate."
"Don't conspire against me, Seven," the Oracle warned. "You don't know what you've become involved in."
"I think I do."
"No!" the Oracle said, the word almost knocking Annika over. "You don't know the power of the Dark side! You cannot think that you could interfere and not be destroyed."
Annika stood her ground, but only just. "What is in that box?" she asked. "It's you, isn't it. Somehow it's you."
The Oracle stared at her, then held her hand out backwards. A vial hurtled through the air, through the hole in her lab wall into her hand; she looked at the green tube for a moment, then held it to her neck and discharged. It tumbled from her shaking hands, and the Oracle doubled over in pain, but even as she did energy crackled around her body, and the prostrate Sith suddenly dove away as it arced into rocky protrusions and equipment. But Annika saw the real show... the pool of blood was running backwards. It flowed up Ben's body into his chest wound, which slowly began to knit itself closed. The Oracle screamed, and a tornado descended, a cyclone centered over the body of Ben Skywalker. The energy arced between her and him, and he arched his back with each spasm. Soon he was crying out with each discharge, until the room was rocked by a pressure wave like a small explosion, followed by a thunderclap, and all was still.
Ben Skywalker touched his face, then his chest. Then looked around in horror at the equally confused and terrified Sith. The Oracle straightened up. "Ben Skywalker," she said, her voice rumbling with undertones, "your life is now mine."
Ben swallowed and nodded slowly. "Yes... master."
The Oracle turned her attention back to Annika. "That thing in the box, Seven," she said. "It is not your concern."
"Is it-"
Thunder rocked the cave. "There's an old saying, Seven, that you might reflect upon. Cowards die a thousand deaths..." Energy crackled up the Orackle's arms. "And so do upstart Borg. Alema, take her away and teach her some humility." The Twi'lek grabbed Annika's arms, who followed unresisting. "The rest of you... leave us." No further encouragement was needed. Soon the Oracle was left alone, walking about the place where Ben lay prone on the floor. "Your pride, foolish ambitions, they're behind you now, Skywalker."
"Yes, master," Ben croaked. He was beaten, and he knew it through and through.
"You lost your life. From this moment on you live on my time, to serve only my will, not yours."
"Yes, my master," Ben said, his eyes screwing shut.
"Have your wounds tended to," the Oracle said. "You will need to work very, very hard, to regain my favor."
"Yes... thank you, master." Ben pulled himself shakily to his feet as the Oracle strolled away. She stopped, cocked her head just a little, and held up her hand. There was a sudden breeze, and then the jagged metal of the hole in the wall of her laboratory straightened and sealed, so that there was no sign anything had happened. Apparently satisfied, she climbed the stairs, entered the laboratory, and sealed the door.
Chuck
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2000AD
- Emperor's Hand
- Posts: 6666
- Joined: 2002-07-03 06:32pm
- Location: Leeds, wishing i was still in Newcastle
Woah.
Just ...... woah.
.
..
...
Ok, does this mean we can start calling Ben a zombie?
Just ...... woah.
.
..
...
Ok, does this mean we can start calling Ben a zombie?
Ph34r teh eyebrow!!11!Writers Guild Sluggite Pawn of Chaos WYGIWYGAINGW so now i have to put ACPATHNTDWATGODW in my sig EBC-Honorary Geordie
Hammerman! Hammer!
Hammerman! Hammer!
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darthdavid
- Pathetic Attention Whore
- Posts: 5470
- Joined: 2003-02-17 12:04pm
- Location: Bat Country!
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LordShaithis
- Redshirt
- Posts: 3179
- Joined: 2002-07-08 11:02am
- Location: Michigan
For some reason I was really rooting for Ben in that fight. I was really getting excited. I don't know why.
If Religion and Politics were characters on a soap opera, Religion would be the one that goes insane with jealousy over Politics' intimate relationship with Reality, and secretly murder Politics in the night, skin the corpse, and run around its apartment wearing the skin like a cape shouting "My votes now! All votes for me! Wheeee!" -- Lagmonster
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Star Empire
- Padawan Learner
- Posts: 242
- Joined: 2004-11-30 10:48pm
- Location: Columbus, Ohio
Chuck, really sorry about losing all that. I've lost paragraphs of papers before and really hate it, but this obviously is far rougher. Good luck rewriting it as good as it was the first time. If its half as good as the rest of this story I certainly won't complain. Take your time, don't feel rushed.
I loved this chapter. It took Sisko to defeat Palaptine, and I'm really wondering how Janeway can lose. I'm sure Sisko was prepared for this, and I'm sure somehow Sebastion will take care of her, but can't imagine how right now.
I loved this chapter. It took Sisko to defeat Palaptine, and I'm really wondering how Janeway can lose. I'm sure Sisko was prepared for this, and I'm sure somehow Sebastion will take care of her, but can't imagine how right now.
Yeah, I have to say that I was pulling for him too. Strange isn't it, that we find a way to take sides when two inherently evil people are fighting for mastery over the other......LordShaithis wrote:For some reason I was really rooting for Ben in that fight. I was really getting excited. I don't know why.
CERC
It's like WWF wrestling. When 2 bad guys are in a match, we just want blood and cheer for the more hated one between them to get totally ruined.CERC wrote:Yeah, I have to say that I was pulling for him too. Strange isn't it, that we find a way to take sides when two inherently evil people are fighting for mastery over the other......
CERC
Lusankya: Deal!
Say, do you want it to be a threesome with your wife? Or a foursome with your wife and sister-in-law? I'm up for either.
hahaha, good call!aerius wrote:It's like WWF wrestling. When 2 bad guys are in a match, we just want blood and cheer for the more hated one between them to get totally ruined.CERC wrote:Yeah, I have to say that I was pulling for him too. Strange isn't it, that we find a way to take sides when two inherently evil people are fighting for mastery over the other......
CERC
CERC
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consequences
- Homicidal Maniac
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Crazedwraith
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LordShaithis
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I think I wanted Ben to win because, while he is evil as fuck, he's at least an evil you can sort of understand and deal with. However badass he may be, he IS just a guy with lightsaber skills and a bad attitude. The Oracle is something much more subtle, and worse.
It's like rooting for Jason Voorhees to kill Hitler.
It's like rooting for Jason Voorhees to kill Hitler.
If Religion and Politics were characters on a soap opera, Religion would be the one that goes insane with jealousy over Politics' intimate relationship with Reality, and secretly murder Politics in the night, skin the corpse, and run around its apartment wearing the skin like a cape shouting "My votes now! All votes for me! Wheeee!" -- Lagmonster