[h2][center]~| The Jedi Temple on Coruscant |~
~| Day 1, 11th hour |~[/center][/h2]

Chaotic sounds filled the air as Daven Auter sat seated on the same transport as his master, Jewel. His eyes were downwards, boots spread as he silently awaited for the shuttle to touch down. He immersed himself in the echoes of combat outside the ship, imagining the impressive Imperial fleet raining hell down upon the Republic’s unprepared forces. The poor fools must have been completely caught off guard by the assault on Coruscant. As the ship touched down against the planet’s surface, young Daven rose to his feet. Stepping towards his master. A smirk came onto his face as he thought of the panicked Jedi in their temple. They must have believed they were safe tucked away in their ancient home, a cathedral to the weak light side of the Force. The Force was with the Sith now. 

As the shuttle’s door came open with a hiss, the Chev removed the long handle of his double bladed lightsaber from inside his robes. Daven looked up to see Lord Jewel awaiting him. His eyes briefly glanced all over the besieged temple as he paced up the steps. He felt his emotions on edge, his weapon practically shaking in his palm where it now rested, unlit. That would change soon. A bit of fear dwelled within him, more than usual. The Jedi were idiots stuck in their ancient ways, but some of them were dangerous combatants. They had been attacked on their home soil, shaken from their den like startled animals. But even a cornered animal would fight to its last breath to get away, and he predicted the Jedi would be utterly desperate to escape.

Two eye catching crimson red blades shot from his lightsaber, the distinct hum he had heard so many times emitting from the weapon. As he entered into the temple, a trio of guards came charging down a hallway towards him. Daven launched through the air as he bounded towards a group of hopelessly prepared guards. His weapon spun as he landed, deflecting each of the blaster bolts fired at him. He lashed out at the nearest guard, removing the man’s arm in one clean slice. Then with another flip he thrust one end into the guard’s chest, the adrenaline propelling him towards the next guard as he sliced cleaved a head from its body. The corpse dropping to the ground in one final flinch. One more defender of the temple tried to blindside the apprentice, for a brief moment the guard believed he had the perfect shot lined up. 

As he squeezed the trigger on his blaster, the Chev was gone from sight. Daven soared in the air above his opponent, a backwards flip he had practiced dozens of times in the past. A trail of bolts lagged behind the Sith, who practically floated through the air with the Force. Then he landed at the heels of the guard. As the deathbound man turned towards Daven, the apprentice showed no mercy. With three rapid slashes of his weapon. Three carved sections of the the sentry slumped downwards, each impacting against the floor with light ‘thumps’. 

Daven then approached his master, standing alongside her with his weapon still lit. His eyes fell upon an experienced looking Jedi, flanked by several children and another young Jedi.

Jewel mentally acknowledged the presence of her apprentice at her side, and observed the Jedi before them. It was clear that the one standing defiant before them was the leader of this group, the most powerful. Even in the overwhelming darkness that permeated the Force, Jewel could sense the beacon of harsh light emanating from the Jedi. As long as she remained standing, the others were filled with hope, even if they were already retreating.

She pointed at the Jedi, then made a harsh, dismissive horizontal gesture towards the ground before igniting her lightsaber and beginning to stride purposefully towards her.

Sela remained calm even when another sith appeared, younger and dressed in similar robes that distinguish him. Her face returned to stare at the pair before her while her ears caught Xid and the younglings beat a hasty retreat deeper into the temple. The moment Jewel moved, the Jedi ignited her curved lightsaber then instinctively did a Makashi salute crossing over in front of her body. Her right foot took the lead as she tilted herself with her armed hand lowered at her side, almost inviting or mocking depending on the individual’s assumption toward her stance. Her purpose was to buy both Xid and the younglings to escape and she intended to do just that.    

Daven’s fierce double-bladed lightsaber hummed as he walked to the side of the Jedi, for now keeping his distance. He stared at her deeply, sizing up the enemy. He could sense the light side of the Force within the Jedi, they were an older than him and likely much stronger. Still, he had his master with him, together they could easily bring down even this powerful Jedi. The Chev twirled his weapon around, spinning it from arm to arm in a rapid dazzling display. A show of his athletic prowess and devotion to training with his lightsaber. Seamless in movement, it was an impressive looking move. Then he launched himself forward, his whole body in motion as he leaped through the air. As he began a downward arc towards Sela, Daven powerfully swung one side of his weapon at the right side of his opponent.

Jewel held back as her apprentice rushed in. She was impressed by his aggressiveness, and wanted to see how well he did.

The Jedi Master held her ground. Her good eye traced the apprentice’s well practiced prance toward her like a fiery Nexu, eyeing his next meal. His display appeared to have no effect on intimidating or frighten her in the least after she had faced far worse opponents on the front lines. Sela’s blade whipped up and over her head, tilted to catch and lock the lightsaber’s end blade. Her other hand held steady at her hip while she stepped back to keep a required arm’s length away, retreating about two steps. 

Applying a needed amount of strength, she coiled about to pin the blade to the ground then lash out at the exposed arm. 

The elder Jedi did not flinch throughout Daven’s show, he watched as she swung her lightsaber upwards then to the side as she expertly blocked his attack. The Chev didn’t expect any less from a trained opponent, battles were very rarely won on the first strike. His eyes briefly caught the hilt of her weapon, noticing that it was curved. Those types of lightsabers were typically used by those that studied the Makashi form of lightsaber combat. It was antithesis to his own fighting style, slow and expertly precise in its ways. Still, Daven had the advantage of quickness in this fight. 

As his lightsaber smacked into his opponent’s, the young apprentice brought the other end upwards to block the Jedi’s swing at his arm. He managed to catch the blow at the last second, sparks kicking as their lightsabers connected once more. Then Daven felt the Force flow through him and launched directly upwards, his body going into a sort of flip. While in flight he swung rapidly with his lightsaber, spinning and slashing as he floated above. Trying to break through the Jedi’s defense with pure ferocity. 

Sela felt her attack blocked but her flourish of movement didn’t stop there. When it was batted aside, her foot work continued to thrive and again she stepped to retain the distance. Her lips curled into a wicked smile as her other hand raised from her hip to her chest height. Without his feet on the ground, he couldn’t prevent her next attack as she force push the apprentice hard enough to sent him flying into the nearest pillar. It happened when she deflected the first strike to her left side and likely a complete surprise when it hit him. 

Daven got annoyed as Sela quickly blocked each of his swings as they came at her, then his eyes went wide as a smile appeared upon her face and her hand shot upwards. Then the apprentice felt the strange sensation of flight once more, but not caused by himself, but by a Force push from the damned Jedi. He quickly tried to contort himself to see what he was hurdling towards, a thick pillar. Daven shot a hand upwards and pushed with the Force as he tried to minimise the impact. Still he hit it hard, but managed to bounce off of it with minor injuries, only a few aches and bruises. His lightsaber rolled along the ground as Daven knelt on the floor, with one quick glance towards the Jedi then his weapon he yanked it back towards himself. He flicked both blades on in an instant, then dashed back into combat, hoping to catch Sela off guard. 

Sela had learned a long time ago, the only way an opponent stays down is when they are dead. A hard fact on the battlefield when every moment counted for survival. So she was well aware of Daven’s figure gradually getting up from his impact with the pillar. When he launched, she didn’t waver from her position as her lightsaber blade once more fell into a low handed guard position.  

Daven continued the charge, his eyes set on the Jedi as he seeked to break through her defenses and land a hit on her. As he drew closer he lowered his body, then shot his legs downwards as he went into a slide along the hard floor. He kept his upper body upright, and spun both ends of his lightsaber at Sela aggressively, his weapon twirling in his hand as he tried to strike her from all angles at the lower position. His master had yet to step into the fight, perhaps she was waiting for the right moment or even more likely judging how he took on this far more experienced enemy. 

The Jedi master’s blade flipped up to the left then the right, deflecting the attacks quickly. Her right leg slid back as her facing left followed its lead, keeping them close together. She retreated one… two… then three. At the last deflect, her immediately jerked out to apply the force. At first it appeared that she was aiming at Daven to toss him back against the pillar again. However, her target had much less resistance: the very ceiling chunk that nearly crushed her young padawan. She had maneuvered Daven to have his back exposed to it when she retreated and now, she intended to use it to distract him. The chuck jerked up then shoot right at Daven’s unguarded side and at an angle that if she missed, she could side step from it.  

The Sith apprentice got angrier as Sela continued to deflect his blows, she was a Jedi master but even then he was a damn good swordsman. Daven slid by her, noticing her free hand raising back upwards. He braced to be thrown with the Force once again but instead saw a chunk of debris hurtling towards him. His eyes shot open as he used the Force to launch himself directly upwards, out of path of the debris. He landed on his feet, briefly knelt down as he regained his balance and shot a glare towards Sela. He was starting to break a light sweat, drawn out battles were not his speciality. He needed to end this or at least also tire out the Jedi, then his master could end it. He started to move towards her, feigning another dash at her. As Daven stepped forward he rose his freehand up and channeled the Force as he grabbed onto the same chunk of pillar she had tossed at him. He sent it rocketing in her direction, then he started to jog back towards her, preparing a follow up attack with his lightsaber.

Jewel had simply watched the entire affair, noting the movements of both participants, getting the measure of her enemy and evaluating her apprentices performance. But now, it was clear that it was only a matter of time until her Apprentice would be cut down by the Jedi, no doubt a master. Cleary specialising in Makashi and capable of integrating telekinesis into her sequences fairly easily, it would not be easy to win.

But Jewel had no doubt in her mind, that she would, indeed, win.

Whipping her free hand towards Sela, she gathered the dust and smaller pieces of debris - stone and metal alike - throwing them towards the Jedi in an effort to distract and annoy. Following that, in a smooth procession of movement, she leapt forwards and began to rain down light but swift blows from above.

Sela had been about to deal with Daven’s next attack when her force sense tugged at her attention. Her head jerked to see debris head toward her, metal and stone, as the Sith Lord finally interfering in the one on one match. Unlike the swish of the lightsaber, the large chunks of the fallen temple would be easily dodged without additional effort. The first chunk was met with the flourish of her weapon. Sparks flew as it severed the stone into two more manageable and smaller chunks. She twisted about to to avoid a check of metal beam from clashing into her blind spot, her foot kicked off the end then shot it over at Daven’s direction without warning. Each chunk was cut down to avoid hitting her. 

However, during her dodge the sith might actually note her reaction time was slower on her left side and she barely moved extremely to dodge, instead preferring to cut the debris down. There had a been a reason she preferred to remain stationary and rarely performed acrobatics, her spine damaged in a past encounter. It was only by Xid’s assistance in trying to improve her cybernetic that she could combat well enough to continue to serve on the front lines.       

Daven watched as Master Jewel joined in one the action, launching a stream of debris at the Jedi. Then leaped forward and started dealing light lightsaber blows at Sela. The apprentice saw a single chunk of metal launched at him, heading in his direction quickly. They had almost gotten to the Jedi. Not breaking strike, Daven spun his lightsaber in front of him rapidly. He managed to catch the debris, carving it away in the whirlwind of his lightsaber. Then he lunged at the master Jedi, striking from her left side. Daven was almost completely exhausted now, he had to expunge his energy in this attack.

When Jewel’s blade whipped down, Sela jerked her free arm up then force tossed the sith to the farthest wall. Her eye caught Daven’s glow from his weapon coming in at her left side, and whipped her blade about to deflect it. Too late. The end seared her shoulder on brief contact, her crucitorn activated, then was batted away to prevent further damage. She glared at the apprentice and feinted an attack at his other side while the attacking end of his blade had been shoved away. Her foot moved forward aggressively to catch him off guard and make him retreat.       

Jewel was unable to resist the direct telekinetic attack from the powerful Jedi, and found herself soaring backwards through the air. Fortunately, she had expected to be attacked like this after seeing the same done to her apprentice. She quickly regained control of her trajectory, twirling in the air and slowing her approach so that sd she reached the wall, she could push off it and regain some of her position. When her feet touched the ground again, she was halfway back towards Sela and began to sprint towards her foe - throwing her lightsaber telekinetically to slash at her foe as she did so.

Internally, she purposefully broke the dam that held back her rage, slipping into a controlled fury that focused her mind, sped up her body and strengthened her Force attacks. It also immediately clouded the Force with a point of all consuming darkness centered on her. This was Juyo perfected.

Daven took a few steps backwards as his hit landed, burning into her shoulder. It wasn't a killing blow but it was something, encouragement. He could practically imagine the Jedi being brought down by his master and him. He shot a glance towards Jewel, noticing how flawlessly she moved with the dark side flowing through her. The apprentice having rose up his free hand, fingers extended as he shot a stream of Force lightning towards Sela, his teeth gritting as he did it. All he needed to do was to distract her enough, then his master could land the killing blows.

Having been facing Daven first, his glance toward Jewel hadn’t gone unnoticed by the master. Sela’s attention quickly shifted to see Jewel coming in from the direction she had originally been toss and the dark energy wafted off her. The sensation disgusted the Jedi while she snapped her head at Daven’s upraised hand and lightning poured from it. Having limited time to react, her mind tactically chose the lesser of the two damaging evils: the Sith Lightning. 

Her free hand jerked up a fairly notable chunk of stone then tossed directly at Jewel’s side. If it hit, the Lord would be knocked closer to her apprentice’s direction. Just moments before the lightning struck her, her voice swelled and released a thunderous force bellow to try to hit both of them at once.  

Sensing the debris flying towards her side, Jewel leapt into the air, rolling to the side in the direction it had come from to pass over it. Her telekinetically thrown lightsaber had almost reached its mark when the bellow hit - knocking the weapon off its path and to the floor with a clatter, blade offline. Jewel herself, having dodged away, was caught only by the edge of the sonic blast, and though being in the air meant she was pushed back, she was spared the worst of the effects, with only the slightest ringing in her ears. She landed again and continued to move back towards Sela, telekinetically pulling her weapon to her hand as she did so.

Daven was pushed back by the bellow, he dropped his lightsaber and covered his ears. Shielding himself from it, having been right near the desperate Jedi when she let out the ear burning technique. He regained control of his sense and the ringing subsided as his lightsaber shot back up to his hand and he flicked the switch on it. As both seething red blades appeared the apprentice launched himself back towards Sela, sweat dripping from him. 

He slashed at her legs rapidly, switching the handle from hand to hand as he put as much energy behind each blow as he could. Daven tried his best to land another hit or at least keep her at bay long enough for Lord Jewel to end the stubborn fool.

Sela leaped right up to avoid the blade, letting it sweep under her while her arms held out for brief balance. She noticed his other hand went to flip his staff to the other causing her to react. She had the high ground for a few seconds during her leap and both he hands clasped her blade. She sliced at his head, aimed near the area where the neck and shoulder connected. 

Daven watched as the Jedi leaped upwards to avoid the swing. His eyes were on his enemy’s lightsaber as it came in his direction. He blocked it with one side of his lightsaber, one hand on the handle while his other one was free. The apprentice tried to take a page from the Jedi’s playbook and felt the Force flow through his free hand, he then pushed upwards at Sela with it. Aiming to surprise her with the action.

The Jedi master felt her body pushed. She fought her impulse to fight and instead let it happened, her blade missed the sith apprentice by inches. His surprise attack sent her backwards and into the wall. Her force managed to keep her upright, her feet planted on the wall then flipped off onto the ground. However the impact rattled through her spine causing a soft grunt to escape her throat at the pain seeping into her very bones. This battle had gone on too long and if she expected to survive, she knew there was only one way. 

Her eyes noted how close the Sith Lord was and mentally determined how much time she had left. Not long at all. Sela launched forward with a thrust at the apprentice’s right side, ready to pull back when needed. She followed up with a slice at the head in order to ensure he keep his distance where she wanted him. 

A smirk appeared on the apprentice’s face as his Force push connected and sent the Jedi flying. She must not have expected it judging from her reaction. Still, Sela was no easy foe to defeat. Daven had his weapon raised in a defensive position as his opponent launched back at him aggressively. He backpedaled in order to properly block the attack, his feet moving rapidly as he maneuvered his double bladed lightsaber around. 

Slightly to the right he rose it, then upwards to block another blow. Daven barred his teeth as their weapons connected, he still had the speed advantage in this matchup. He did not lash out with his lightsaber, keeping it raised as he kicked one of his legs out low, going for a sweep on the Jedi.

Having been repeatedly blasted away from the Jedi and then having the Jedi thrown away from her - Jewel was beginning to get extremely frustrated. As she reached engagement range, she took advantage of her opponents split focus and spun into a Juyo maneuver known as the ‘assured strike’ which sacrificed hitting power to guarantee a swift, glancing blow on the foe. 

In this particular instance, she executed the move as a feinted slash towards the legs followed by a spinning slash towards Sela’s cybernetic eye. With the dark Side surging through her, empowering her body to supernatural speed, there was no doubt that it would connect, even it would only be the very tip of the blade… Though the perfect offence would leave her open to a similar counter attack.

Sela had hoped to take out the apprentice before the Lord arrived, but her time had ran out far quicker than she originally calculated. Such a task had been often done better by her padawan than herself and now she regretted she had sent him off. With her arm extended as the slice attack was blocked, her eyes twisted and noticed the Lord close. The red blade seemed to attempt to slice her legs causing the older woman to hop up to avoid it. A mistake. It changed direction in a quick movement and went for her eye. Sela jerked her head back to avoid it but beyond that, her blade held and feet still caught in the air, she couldn’t defend herself beyond it. 

Searing pain ripped through her face when the light saber’s tip cut into the cybernetic eye. It went a few centimeters deep and the scent of burnt flesh and machine filled the air. Her free hand, in reaction, sent a force push at the direction the pain occurred while a brief yell emitted from her lips. 

Daven let out a smile as he watched his master land a direct blow on the Jedi, nailing her in her cybernetic eye. His own attack had missed but distracted Sela enough, he could feel the battle drawing to an end soon. He was thrown backwards by the Jedi’s Force filled reaction, Daven hitting the ground hard. It was a momentary setback as rose back to his feet with a deep breath. Then he leaped towards Sela, his lightsaber ignited and leveled at her. Once he got close enough he would lash out with a swing to her midsection.

Jewel’s grin as her weapon connected rapidly twisted into a snarl as she felt herself once again flying backwards through the air. The focus and level of Force augmentation that she had needed to execute the assured strike had, however, left her extremely exhausted. She was 

unable to perform the acrobatics she normally would in this situation, and instead of landing elegantly, she hit the ground hard and tumbled, laying still for a moment before pushing herself up.

Retrieving her lightsaber, she began to move towards Sela again, but stiffly this time.

The cybernetic eye sparked causing Sela’s vision on her right side to dim, then blacken into nothing. This was not good, she realized as her left jerked about to spot Daven coming in for a quick attack. Surprised, her feet kicked back to avoid the hit. Her lack of depth perception made the attack farther than it really was. The light saber’s tip sizzled through her robes and struck the top layer of skin underneath. She hissed in pain and held her arm at her middle, glaring at Daven in disapproval. This had to end quickly and she needed to buy Xid more time, her mind set on the goal and directed her actions. 

Her arm darted forward then made a slice at Daven’s shoulder, the closest one being the right, nearest the head. When he went to block, she then let it bounce back before she went low and struck to cut at his legs. 

Daven watched his master approaching from another angle, slowly. He wondered if she was hurt, she was one of that toughest Sith he had seen though. Unless she was missing a limb he was sure she'd keep fighting. As his lightsaber attacked made contact, but not as much as he would've liked. Sela’s weapon whizzed towards his shoulder, which he reacted with a raise of his lightsaber and a block. 

Then the Jedi’s weapon went downwards at his legs. The apprentice quickly brought his weapon to the ground, carving the floor as it one blade was lowered almost right to the ground. He nearly missed losing a leg in the process. With speed on his mind he quickly maneuvered the opposite blade around, jabbing out at Sela. One of the sleeves of his robe burnt slightly, a result of the the contorting the flexible Chev was doing.

Jewel strode purposefully back towards melee range, Lightsaber held by her side, free hand raised in a clawed shape - almost like she was going to unleash Force lightning. Only, instead of Force lightning, unseen tendrils reached out towards the Jedi as she assailed her with Dark Side telepathy. She bared her raging soul, letting the darkness in the Force flow over the Jedi to invoke artificial fear.

Sela’s brows raised in surprise when the Apprentice jabbed out his opposite end at her shoulder and head area. Her head jerked to the opposite side as her feet retreated two step, through too slowly. The lightsaber managed to penetrate into the top of her shoulder drawing another growl of pain and crippling her arm’s ability to lift higher than her shoulder. Immediately her arm flickered up to clip the sith’s exposed shoulder when Jewel’s Force Fear seeped into her emotions and tried to consume her senses. Her head, briefly, glanced at Jewel to silently speak of the source. 
Her arm continued to resume her movement to cripple the apprentice.   

Daven briefly glanced at his master as she used a Force technique to terrify the Jedi mentally. He couldn't imagine what she was seeing, it brought a smile to his face. Her final moments in such agony, her emotions flaring internally. Ironic that such a thing was happening to a Jedi. After a brief hesitation, he shifted his lightsaber and blocked the blow. Then followed it up with another jab, this time to the center of Sela’s body.

Jewel continued to walk towards the fight, maintaining and intensifying the mental assault. It was not the most effective weapon against a Jedi master, but as long as Sela’s focus was split, Daven stood a chance.

The delay was also providing a brief respite for Jewel, and the backwash of her power only fueled her emotions yet more.

Sela had tried to flip her blade to block the jab at her torso but misjudged the location. Her mind heavily assaulted by the sith lord and being attacked by the apprentice, too many focuses for her to be able to handle at once. The second jab nailed her torso side and buried deep. Again, sela fought against feeding the sadistic natural of the sith with a scream as she smiled strangely. With his figure closer than originally and the staff buried into her side, his side was open. She struck out with a thrust at his shoulder with all her might in order to cripple him. 

She knew she wouldn’t make it out alive, but she would make her mark known upon the unfortunate apprentice.   

Daven felt pain singe through his shoulder, he let out a gasp of agony as her lightsaber connected with him deeply. The nearly dead Jedi had landed a lucky strike and it burned worse than any previous injury he could recall, even back to his slave days and the many beatings he received. His arm felt as if it had gone numb, though he believed it was still attached. 

With the hand which still gripped his lightsaber embedded in Sela’s stomach, Daven aggressively swung it from side to side. He let out an angry yell as he did it, his emotions at a pitch. As he literally chopped his opponent into two pieces. That had to be it. 

Then he fell backwards, pain still surging through his shoulder. Flicking off his lightsaber. A solid chunk of flesh had been removed, the wound cauterized by the lightsaber but still deeply painful. He was breathing heavily now but tried to calm himself, it didn't appear too life threatening so long as he received medical attention.

Jewel watched her apprentice strike the Master down, at long last. Though their orders were to take Jedi alive, the orders had stated that Masters could be killed if they were too much trouble, and so rather than be angry at her apprentice, she was proud… And perhaps a little jealous.

“Well done Daven.” She stated haughtily. “An impressive kill. One to be remembered.” Of course, he couldn’t’ve done it without her, something she felt he would know without her having to inform him.

“Thank you, master. It is an honor to hear such high praise from someone like you.” Daven said as he slowly rose back to his feet, trying to take his mind off the pain in one of his shoulders. He instead filled it with pride over pulling off such a feat that was killing a Jedi master. He was still annoyed at the injury, but it was better than the death he would have surely received had he not had Lord Jewel to assist him in the fight.

“I will try my best to continue on with the mission even with my injury, master. It will make any more battles a bit more difficult but that only means I will have to fight harder.” Daven added as he sheathed his lightsaber, giving one more glance at his wound. It was nothing that cybernetics could not patch up. He’d use the pain to push him onwards. 

Jewel felt the pride wafting off her apprentice in the Force. He was right to be proud, but such an emotion did not drive one onwards unless it was injured, and so was, in her opinion, wasteful. “Remember as well, however, that you failed to stop her from injuring you. Focus on the pain, and remember she caused it. Be angry at her for that. Even a dead enemy can fuel your power.”

“Yes my lord, I can still feel the anger brimming through me over it. I will use it when I face other Jedi and defeat them.” Daven replied with a nod, he allowed the pain to surge through him as his master ordered. He could feel the adrenaline going through his veins, pushing him onwards. 

“Good.” She stated, in a tone that said she expected nothing less. “Now, capture a live Jedi for me. Then you can seek medical attention.” With that, she strode away back down the hall, leaving her Apprentice to manage on his own.