The Full Metal Alchemist

[Cain]

Ryuu's freighter exited hyperspace in Horuset system, making its way towards the system's second planet, Korriban. Compared to the noise and business of the Dromund Kaas, Korriban was a terribly silent and depressing world. The Dynamic class freighter entered the atmosphere, flying low until the remains of what was once the Dreshdae settlement came into view. Ryuu put the ship down among the ruins, knowing this place was not far from the old Sith academy.

"We're here," Ryuu said as he came through the crew quarters, "stay sharp, though this place may look dead, there are many thieves and fallen Jedi who are drawn to this graveyard for its many secrets and dark power," Ryuu turned back to Ama then with a smile on his face, "Much like us..."

The ramp lowered and a strong chilly wind swept into the ship. Ryuu pulled his hood up over his head and stepped out into the ruins. The skeletal remains of the Sith that had destroyed each other here were still strewn about the wreckage.

"Our mission here is to find the holocron of a legendary Sith Alchemist called Vaasek Noir," Ryuu explained, producing a datapad from his robes and displaying a hollow projection of a serpent like Thisspiasian, "Cain believed that Jack Makura was last to have been in possession of this holocron... but he now has reason to believe it may have found its way back here. The first place we'll check is the Sith academy..."

[Moonfire]

Ama returned the smirk as they exited the ship onto the chilly deadness of Korriban. A heavy shiver went through the Twi'lek as she walked faster, the muck that have covered her legs earlier now dry and cracked, flaking off. She certainly wasn't on Dromund Kaas anymore. It was strange, the silence, save for the ever blowing wind.

"Ama doesn't like this place." She said quietly, listening as Ryuu explained their objective. Her fingers gently moved over the hilt at her hip. There was something about the silence that unnerved her. She could feel the darkside as well, and readily basked in it. It wasn't the same wound in the Force that radiated about Kaas, a more solid, more quiet kind of dead.

[Cain]

Ryuu's droid scurried out of the freighter just before the ramp was raised, following behind Ryuu and Ama as they made there way through the ruins of Dreshdae and into the ancient Sith academy. The structure was still fairly in tact, though it had been abandoned since the time of Revan. There were the marks of many battles here, bodies long since decomposed gathered in the corners just as they were in Dreshdae. Most of the corpses had long since been looted by theives, the Sith's lightsabers taken apart, their artifacts stolen away, even the clothes on their backs had been taken to be sold on the black market.

Ryuu closed his eyes. The dark side was heavy, but Ryuu was steadily learning to flow with it, instead of having it cloud his vision. There was someone... or something here. Ryuu's eyes opened and he carefully made his way towards the dormitories. There was blood on the floor. Ryuu's droid gave a long uneasy beep as Ryuu knelt down, feeling the blood with his index fingers and rubbing it between his thumb. Ryuu rose back to his feet, the blood formed a trail down the hallway and into the darkness up ahead. Ryuu slowly unclipped his lightsaber from his belt and started forward.

At the end of the hall was a room that seemed to have at one time been sealed with a heavy door that was blown away by a massive explosion. Inside was a Sith holocron... but it was damaged beyond repair. The blood trail led to the bed where a strange looking droid lay motionless. Ryuu approached carefully, the mattress under the droid was stained completely red. The droid was generally in the shape of a serpent and as Ryuu looked closer there seemed to be... organs inside of it, "What the hell..." Ryuu whispered, leaning in closer.

Very suddenly the droids heart began to beat and one of its arms shot out, wrapping around Ryuu's neck, throwing him against the wall. The remote droid beeped wildly, opening fire on the droid which came to life with a roar, shoving the remote back with a force push. As the droid unfurled itself it became clear that this was no droid at all. It was a Thisspiasian whose flesh had been completely replaced with cybernetic prosthesis, only leaving its internal organs and skull which was covered with metal plates.

[Moonfire]

The feel of Temple was curious, the chills still running up and down her spine. "Ama has a bad feeling about this..." She stated, following Ryuu as they wandered through the Academy, following the curiously fresh trail of blood.

Jumping back as the Thisspiasian whirrled back to life she extended a hand, wrapping the force about the creature, moving to its organs and wrapping it tightly about its heart, squeezing just enough to cause the creature pain. "Give Ama a reason not to crush your heart now!" She shouted, adding a little more pressure on the organ for emphasis.

[Cain]

What was left of Vaasek Noir used his own force power to lift Ama's grip off his heart and charged forward at her. Ryuu meanwhile quickly picked himself back up, using the force to catch his remote droid before it could hit the wall and be smashed. As he saw Noir lunge forward, Ryuu ignited his lightsaber and leapt to intercept him, surprised to find his lightsaber only clashed against Noir's forearms, unable to slice through them.

Vaasek backhanded Ryuu aside, knocking him onto the ground. Ryuu's anger began to build. He channeled this emotion, stretching out his hand, letting the force flow through his limb and unleashing a blast of lightning at Vaasek. The electricity pulsing through the metal caused the Sith's body to tighten up, unable to move, "Now Ama!" Ryuu shouted, "Use the force, tear open his chest plates!"

[Moonfire]

Jumping backwards, saber in hand Ama attempted to slash at Vaasek's back, her blade strangely stopped against his metallic skin. Ramming her blade against him once more, she frowned deeply. That certainly wasn't working. Sliding backwards as Ryuu struck the being with lightning she smiled at his command.

Extending another quick hand, channeling the anger and hate within her she grabbed at the chest plates, ripping the metal away, exposing the organs within. "Now, Ryuu!" The Twi'lek screeched.

[Cain]

Once Ama had ripped Noir's chest plate open Ryuu gave a nod to his little remote droid, "Do it!" Ryuu called out. The droid beeped in compliance, letting out a rapid succession of blaster fire that hit its mark right into the Thisspissian's vital organs. Noir let out a grunt as he was hit, falling down to the ground with a metallic clang.

"Good shot..." Ryuu said, taking a deep breath and standing back up. His remote beeped happily as it floated back to its master's side. Ryuu gave the mangled form of Noir a kick, "This does seem to be Vaasek Noir... but I've never seen anything like this before. His holocron doesn't seem to be here either..." Ryuu thought a moment before his remote floated off along the trail of blood, beeping loudly at Ryuu, "What is it?" He asked, following after the droid.

The remote led them along the trail of blood in the other direction. The trail led out of the academy into the Valley of the dark lords where Vaasek's ship had landed, "Good thinking, old friend," Ryuu said as he approached the ship. The ramp was lowered and partially buried in the dust of Korriban. It seemed it had been there for some time. Inside everything was shut off... it appeared that Noir had left the engine running and the ship's fuel supply had run out, he must have been in a hurry. Ryuu searched the ship before finally discovering a tattered black jacket in one of the cargo holds, the jacket was being used to wrap around Noir's holocron.

"Bingo," Ryuu said taking the jacket and holocron with him. His remote then started beeping again and Ryuu perked up, "Another ship? Where?" Ryuu hurried back outside just in time to see an X-wing Starfighter land in the valley nearby. The hatch opened up and a strangely familiar face emerged from inside.

Ryuu ignited his lightsaber as Kyo hopped out of the X-wing. Ryuu's remote beeped once more, "I don't know..." Ryuu responded, "Is this some kind of joke? Who are you, did Cain send you?"

Kyo was silent. Finally... it was Ryuu. Kyo had so many questions, but first he would have to answer Ryuu's, "No no... Cain didn't send me. I'm Kyo... I guess you could say I'm your brother. I'm glad I was finally able to find you, we've been looking for you for quite some time now. We should go, this place definitely isn't safe."

"You've been... looking for me?" Ryuu asked, keeping his guard up.

"Yes... Moonfire, the rest of the Jedi and I... we'd thought you were lost to Cain," Kyo answered.

"Hmph..." Ryuu chuckled lightly, "So the Jedi are still looking for me then. I guess that would make you a Jedi Knight?" Kyo nodded softly, though he didn't need the confirmation, Ryuu could see the lightsaber on Kyo's belt, "Well I'm sorry, 'little brother', but you may have come all this way for nothing. You can tell your friends that I'm through playing Jedi games with children."

Kyo's half smile quickly melted away listening to Ryuu, a look of concern replacing it, "What do you mean?" he asked, "If you stay out here alone Cain will surely find you again, and Moonfire has been worried sick! Come with us, where it's safe."

"Haha... foolish little brother," Ryuu chuckled, "You Jedi may run and hide, but I don't have to run away anymore. I have become more powerful than any Jedi, and soon enough I will be more powerful then even Cain. You would do best not to get in my way."

Kyo couldn't believe what he was hearing, he had thought that it was the darkness of Korriban that he was feeling in his visions... but he was wrong. Ryuu had changed. Kyo didn't know what to do. He summoned his lightsaber to his hand and ignited the yellow blade... but he couldn't really fight Ryuu, could he? "Whatever Cain has told you, it's a lie," Kyo said, "He's only using you!"

"I don't care," Ryuu said. Kyo's eyes widened, he was quite surprised by Ryuu's response, "As a Jedi I was too weak to make a difference. If Cain wants to use me then so be it, I will use him as well and once I have the power I need I'll cast him aside."

"So this is your answer? Stop Cain by becoming like him? I can't let you do that!" Kyo shouted.

"I thought you might say that..." Ryuu responded, staring daggers into Kyo. Kyo suddenly felt himself becoming ill, his vision blurred and his body ached. Ryuu was using the force on Kyo to simulate the effects of a deadly toxin... this was the dark side technique "Plague". As Kyo began to waver Ryuu was suddenly right on him, swinging his lightsaber at Kyo. Kyo lifted his blade to block, but in his weakened state his saber was easily knocked aside and Kyo was kicked hard in the chest, knocking him on his back.

[Cain]

Ryuu's remote droid began to move foward, but Ryuu extended his arm in the droid's path, "Stay back," he said calmly, "I'll take care of this one."

Kyo could feel the Plague spreading through him as if fire were flowing through his veins. He knew he was in trouble, but he had to concentrate. The force was being used against him, altering the cells in his body and slowing their regeneration process to a near halt. Kyo quieted his mind, feeling where Ryuu was manipulating him and attempting to reverse the process. Kyo had practiced using the force on larger and larger scales, but it had not occurred to him to focus on the very small. Kyo's focus stopped the spread of the Plague and he began to reverse it, even speeding up his cell's regeneration beyond normal.

As Ryuu moved in with force aided speed Kyo's lightsaber suddenly snapped back on and met Ryuu's, the two blades hissing as they clashed in bursts of blue and yellow, "Impressive," Ryuu said, spinning his saber to break the lock and taking a step back, "Moonfire has taught you well... but even if you are able to match my knowledge of the force, you could never match my skill with a lightsaber." Ryuu moved his lightsaber into the Juyo opening stance.

Kyo moved his lightsaber up over his head into the opening stance for Djem So, "Your thoughts betray you, brother. I can feel the conflict in you... your feelings for her are still strong."

"Hmph!" Ryuu chuckled, "There is no conflict. Love, friendship... those sorts of attachments only end in pain. Didn't the Jedi teach you that, boy? I've suffered because of my bonds."

"She does still love you... she'd never admit it, but I have seen it in her eyes... I've felt it," Kyo said, a very serious expression on his face, "Would you make her suffer as well?"

Ryuu frowned slightly, his eyes still locked with Kyo's, "If that is her destiny..." The coldness of Ryuu's words stung Kyo. He thought about how much Moonfire cared for him, how tirelessly she had dedicated herself to save him, how he had come so far just to help her do this. And now here he was, willing to throw it all away and for what? Kyo felt a twinge of anger pulse through him and his entire body shook from it. Ryuu remained patient, his icy stare stuck on Kyo. Kyo could not hold himself back any longer, he lurched forward and swung his lightsaber at Ryuu who knocked it aside and force pushed Kyo back. Kyo was catapulted backwards, sent rolling and tumbling across the canyon floor before finally gaining his balance and steadying himself to a stop with the force.

Breathing heavily Kyo picked himself back up and raised his lightsaber again, "No..." Kyo said between gasps of air, "I won't let you hurt her. Even if I have to cripple you and drag you back to the Jedi myself."

Kyo focused the force through his body, heightening his strength and speed before charging back at Ryuu. Both of their lightsabers whirled through the air at dizzying speeds, each combatants advances being perfectly countered by the other. Finally Ryuu dodged one of Kyo's slashes to the side and used the force to pull him past. Ryuu then swung his arms in an "X" motion across his body sending two razor thin pulses of telekinesis at Kyo from behind. Kyo spun himself around and used a crude force push to try and disrupt the attack, but it only blocked the center of the attack. The telekinetic slash landed across Kyo's leg and face, leaving a long gash from Kyo's left temple down to his chin.

"So naive..." Ryuu said, shaking his head as Kyo fell backwards, "Your feelings for her are strong as well it seems. Strong enough to even blind you from the obviousness of the truth."

"What truth?"

"Come now..." Ryuu said with a snicker, "Even I have noticed the power of the force between the two of us... If I have felt it surely you have as well. You have foreseen where her destiny lies, just as I have."

"No... it doesn't have to be that way!" Kyo shouted back at Ryuu.

"A fool's hope. The force is a cruel puppet master... none can escape their destiny."

"I'll find a way," Kyo answered, "I'll save her, even if you can't."

Ryuu continued to stare down at Kyo, though his expression then became heavy with sadness, his gaze finally moving down away from Kyo, "Why... why would you go so far for them? Why make yourself suffer?"

"I made a promise to myself a long time ago," Kyo answered, "I won't abandon any of my friends to the darkness... not even you."

Ryuu closed his eyes, smiling softly. He turned off his lightsaber and turned around and started to leave, signaling Ama and his remote to follow with him. Focusing hard Kyo used the force to quickly regenerate his cells and close up his wounds. Though he still bore the scar on his face and his leg still was in pain he shot up and started to chase after Ryuu. Ryuu paused, glancing over his shoulder before vanishing into the shadows, reappearing behind Kyo and laying a hand on his shoulder, "Kyo... thank you."

Before Kyo could react Ryuu violently drained the life from him to the point where Kyo's vision went black and he passed out. Ryuu stood over Kyo's unconscious body for a moment before stepping over him and continuing back towards the Sith Academy.

"Come on... we've done all we need to here. It's time we returned to Coruscant..." Ryuu left Kyo in the valley and led Ama and his remote back to his ship. There they took off from Korriban en route back to Coruscant.

[MikDaTv]

The Hyperion entered the system at high speed. They hadn't bothered to do a precise drop out and the ship had entered near the systems sun. It did an Immediate about face and headed back for the planet.

Rita's voice came over the intercom in the bridge. "I'm detecting a ship exiting the system. It's trajectory makes it as leaving the planet Korriban."

Jor slammed his fist against a bulkhead. Captain Onasi turned to the Helm. "maximum speed. Get every ounce of power into the engines."

Lieutenant Ven's fingers moved swiftly over her control panel. The ship accelerated quickly. So fast in fact that the bulkheads started vibrating. Rita's voice came back over the intercom. "the ship just jumped to hyperspace."

Jor clenched his fist and walked off the bridge. "i'm heading to a shuttle, have one ready for me."

As he walked down the corridor he talked to thin air. "Rita, any life signs on the planet below?"

"One, it's very faint, possibly dieing or unconscious"

Jor's walk turned into a run. He climbed into a shuttle and didn't bother to wait for a pilot. He sat down in the pilots seat and fired the engines up. He didn't even wait for clearance to depart. He punched the engines from the landed position, scraping the landing gear along the flight deck for a few feet before rising and moving through the magcon field, bound for the planets surface.

Using coordinates given to him by Rita he landed near the ship Kyo's position and practically flew out of the shuttle. He skidded to a stop on his knees next to kyo and felt for a pulse. The kid was alive but out like a light.

Jor put a hand on the new knight's forehead. He wished his mirror counterpart was here. A doctor would be most helpful right now. He reached into Kyo and joined with him, letting some of him flow into Kyo to give him strength.

[Cain]

Kyo was unresponsive for a long moment before finally taking a deep gasp of air followed by a fit of coughing. He wasn't quite sure what had happened, but he felt like he'd just been hit by a Basilisk war droid. He sat up slowly, not even noticing Jor at first as he scanned the area for Ryuu.

"Jor...." Kyo said softly, unable to utter the next words as his emotions welled up inside him. He closed his eyes tightly and bit down on his lip to try and hold them back, composing himself for a moment before continuing, "I'm sorry, Jor. He was here, Ryuu was here. I felt the darkness around him but I just... I couldn't conceive of it. I told myself it was Korriban I was feeling... maybe I just didn't want to see the truth. I guess I messed up pretty bad this time, huh?"

[MikDaTv]

Jor helped him stand. "I'll say you did you idiot. Listen if you want to go after Cain himself, thats fine. Your A Jedi knight and i can't stop you. But for Force Sake don't do it alone."

Jor pointed over towards his X-wing. "Are you ok to fly? or do you want me take you up in the shuttle and send a pilot down for your X-wing?"

[Cain]

Kyo nodded, "I'm fine..." he answered, summoning his lightsaber up off the ground to his hand and placing it back on his belt, "Thank you for coming after me. I owe you one." Kyo started to walk back to his X-wing, a pronounced limp in his step. The pain made Kyo wonder why Ryuu had not simply killed him. He certainly could have if he had wanted to. The more pressing question though was what would he tell Moonfire when he got back?

[MikDaTv]

"Don't worry about it Kid." Jor said. He patted Kyo on the back before splitting off to go to his Dragoon. This time he took the time to inspect the vehicle. Jor had landed it pretty hard. The landing gear was bent out of shape from his rather hasty take off and again on the thud of a landing he had performed.

"Rita is going to kill me." he said to himself as he finished inspecting the damage. He climbed into the shuttle which he had apparently left running and took off. The Hyperion had moved into a low orbit and Jor docked with it. Before getting out he opened a comm channel with Kyo. "Remember Kid, don't do anything alone. As Jedi we may have to spend lives for the greater good but spending lives is different than wasting them."

[Cain]

"I will, Jor," Kyo answered, putting on a smile, "Though I didn't exactly come here expecting to have to take on a Sith. I thought I was coming on a rescue mission... I'll be more careful in the future," Kyo gave Jor a bow and then headed back to his X-wing and hopped into cockpit. The ship eased up off the surface of Korriban and took off into space. He noticed the Hyperion there waiting in orbit.

"This is Kyo to the Hyperion," Kyo said into his communicator, "I'll rendezvous with you guys back on Ilum. I think I need to take a bit of down time for a while," With that Kyo entered the coordinates for Ilum. When everything was ready his ship made the jump to light speed.

[MikDaTv]

Jor headed up to the bridge on the Hyperion and sat down in his chair. The Captain came up and sat in his command chair next to Jor. "Whats the word?"

Jor rubbed his nose a little and sighed. "Back to Ilum Captain."

He smiled and waved a hand over to Lieutenant Ven to comply with the Jedi's orders. The ship started moving out to an exit vector that would take them back to Ilum. Rita's voice came over the bridge intercom again. "Jor, Captain, i have something you may want to see."

The holoprojecter over the command chair turned on and a hologram shot down in front of the captain and jor. It was a holonet page detailing a call for assistance from Mon Calamari. Jor skimmed the message while Dustil sped read it. Captain Onasi turned to Jor and raised an eyebrow. "you want to go."

Jor shook his head. "Ilum first, we'll send assistance from there."

The captain nodded and turned back towards the bridge. "Helm, Engage."

The ship jumped to hyperspace going back to ilum... again.