A Rivalry Reignited

The lead robed figure steps in front of the line, its arms outstretched as its voice rasps through some kind of respirator. He is nearly as tall as Kodo, though slightly less broad. After a few steps, the figure slowly lowers the hood of his robe, showing a Zabrak male of sorts. While the short horns are present, and its pale skin would indicate an Iridonian decent, its face is largely obscured by a massive respirator that heaves and puffs with every breath. The Zabrak looks up and down Kodo, appraising the work he had done to his old armor, before chuckling a raspy greeting. "Hello Kodo, I see you got my invitation."

"Mor'phan" Kodo gritts through his teeth, the noise even more muffled by his helmet. "So you sent the bounty, why bring me here?"

"Because Kodo, the order is being reformed, remade. And its benefactor wants you to be a part of it."

"That's not going to happen. I left that behind for a reason. I have no desire to go back to the Inquisitors."

Mor'phan's face twitches slightly in what could be construed as a smile, we're it not hidden under the respirator. "Well then, if you won't come with us willingly, then maybe whoever you have stashed in that ship will."

With a loud "NO", Kodo opens fire with his E-11, sending a burst of bolts streaking towards the line of robed figures as they all draw long serrated vibroswords. Only one bolt connects with one of the figures, dropping it to the ground and revealing a blank white mask underneath the robe. The other bolts hang harmlessly in the air, their energy slowly dissipating until they finally disappear in front of Mor'phan's outstretched hand.

"I've learned much in the years Ko." The nickname hissing forth in a mocking tone. "And I far surpass you now." With a twist of his fingers, Mor'phan raises Kodo up into the air, a sharp pressure building on his internal organs as his helmet is ripped from his head and thrown across the bay. "I could crush you with a thought Ko. But where's the fun in that? You had fun breaking my face, now I'll have fun breaking you before bringing you in." The mutilated Zabrak takes a deep breath, savoring Kodo's rising frustration and anger over his helplessness and the threat. "A Mirialan woman is hiding in there? Ko, I never expected you to settle down like that." Cocking his head towards his, apparent, acolytes, Mor'phan gives a sharp command "Find her."

With vibroswords raised, the acolytes quickly rush into the cabin of the puddle jumper. A few blaster shots can be heard, which Kodo immediately recognizes as from his holdout blaster, before Janus is forcibly pulled from the cabin and dragged across the bay. Twisting and bucking her body against the hands of, roughly, a dozen acolytes, she grunts out, "Get off me! Kodo, who are these guys?!" Seeing Kodo levitating in the air, her eyes grow wide as she's pulled through the blast door and out of the bay, "Kodo!"

Left alone with Mor'phan and another dozen acolytes, Kodo stares as Janus is pulled through the doors. He knows what they'd do to her, the same they did to him years ago; and they'd enjoy every second of it. Hate, anger, and frustration boiled inside of Kodo. He'd tried; he'd tried to live under the radar, to put this life behind him. He'd even started to think of Janus as family, now it was all about to be taken away from him, again. Flashes of his training, the pain he'd endured, and the spite that ruled over him for most of his life whirled around his mind as he felt Mor'phan's grip tightening on his organs. Suddenly, with a relaxing warmth, Kodo let go. The light icy blue of his eyes melted away as it was filled with a deep yellow, his veins blackened and pressed tightly against his face, making it reminiscent of broken glass. Only three thoughts resided in his mind now: save Janus, kill, maim, and crush.

Pulling his lips back into a snarl, a deep bestial roar rises from Kodo's stomach as a pulse of force rips through the bay, sending Mor'phan and his acolytes flying across the bay and into the wall next to the blast door. With a sharp flick of his wrist, the sound of wood splintering echoes from the puddle jumper cabin as the long silver and black hilt of Kodo's lightsaber flies into his hand, it's cool metal stinging his hand slightly. Igniting one side of the blade in a flash of crimson, Kodo locks eyes with Mor'phan and begins to barrel towards him.

Mor'phan's eyes widened as he saw the berserk Kodo rushing towards him. He remembered that look, that blind rage, that lack of hesitation; it was just like when Kodo had pulverized his face years ago. Kodo hadn't cut himself off from the Force, like he had been briefed, he had merely been repressing it, holding it back beneath the surface. But now it was awake, and coming straight for him. "Slow him down! We'll leave with the girl and blow this bay to ashes." Mor'phan directed to his acolytes, still stumbling to their feet.

Nearly a second after the first acolyte regained his footing, a red sliver erupted from his back as Kodo plunged his saber to the hilt and threw the body across the floor without breaking stride. Other acolytes quickly tried to pick up their vibroswords and face the threat, before quickly falling again as the second side of the blade ignited and bisected them. Now fully upright, the remaining nine acolytes attempts to rush the lone adept, only for Kodo to take a single step back, and with a swipe of his left arm, sent one of the crates careening into two more acolytes, sending them across the bay with the crunch of shattering bone. Now seven on one, the acolytes continued to try to press their advantage, trusting the phrik alloy in their swords would protect them from the saber wielding maniac in front of them. Moving like a man possessed, Kodo pivoted and weaved through the acolytes as he ignited and retracted each side of his saberstaff, constantly moving and changing direction as he blocked and cut through the acolytes like a farmer would his crop. The final acolyte standing raised his blade, trying for one last desperate overhead swing, before the ultrachrome encased fist of Kodo smashed into the mask, shattering it and dropping the acolyte to the floor. As Kodo walked passed the dazed acolyte, a swift stomp from his boot to the prone figures face quickly ended his struggling.

In all, the acolytes bought Mor'phan thirty seconds; just enough time to seal the blast doors and catch up with the acolytes dragging the, still struggling, Janus. "Quickly, that door won't hold him for long. Get her to the shuttle in the auxiliary bay and I'll report this to the Grand Inquisitor."

"Yes master." Was all the acolytes could reply before a wave of sound sent them to their knees. Breaking from their grip, Janus sprinted back down the hall where they had come, pulling the wads of foam from her ears. She knew Kodo would be pissed at her for cutting up his couch, but that was the least of her concerns right now. Mor'phan, seeing the Mirialan slip from his grasp, tried to reach out and grab her with the Force, but the noise constantly interfered with his focus, leaving his trembling with rage as Janus rounded the corner, and straight into Kodo.

Nearly running into her, Kodo reached out and grabbed Janus, pinning her to the wall, the blasted remnants of the blast door still smoking behind him. For just a moment, he felt his arm raise to thrust his saber into her midsection, until he saw the look of fear and worry in Janus's eyes, still trying to determine if it really was Kodo or not. It brought him back to reality just long enough for him to toss her towards the remnants of the blast door. "Start the ship!"

Janus turns back towards Kodo, staring at the ignited lightsaber in his hands and the twisted Visage of his face, "But..."

"NOW!" He screams as the white noise from the sonic detonator finally whines down. The first acolyte barely has time to stumble around the corner before he's bisected and thrown aside like garbage. Quickly behind, a pulse of force sends Kodo skidding back into the bay, somehow still staying on his feet. Mor'phan slowly strides out to meet Kodo, waving off his acolytes and igniting his own lightsaber, the twin blades extending from the circular hilt of a fully initiated Inquisitor.

"All that anger, wasted on a brute like you, Ko. You have no idea how long I have waited for a moment like this. Come, let me show you why you shouldn't fuck with your betters."

Without a word, Kodo feels the rage boil over inside him once more, his entire body feeling as if it were on fire. This thing dared to this itself better than him, after the beating he'd recieved before. And now it was threatening him and Janus, he'd rip the respirator from his face and ram it down his throat. With a massive leap, Kodo twists his body and brings his saber down with all his body weight behind it, crashing into Mor'phan's defense is a flash of light and sparks.

Janus had only.just reached the ramp of the Puddle Jumper when she heard the clashing of sabers. Unable to help herself, he turned to look at what was unfolding. The two darksiders crashed into each other again and again in a flurry of moving light, constantly feinting with one end only to strike with the other. There seemed to never be a break in the violence, its intensity only escalating as Kodo began to roar in challenge to his opponent's rasping grunts. Shaking her head, Janus couldn't believe that that was the same level headed, if a bit cold, man she'd been working with for years. He seemed more like an animal raging against a rival rather than a person. If he was hiding this from her, then what else had he been hiding?

In the briefest of pauses, Mor'phan and Kodo both pushed out with the Force, pressing against one another as one tried to overcome the other. The crates in the bay began to blow over and scatter across the bay as the contested forces built in pressure until, in a deafening crack, both were throw across the bay, Mor'phan flying through the blast door while Kodo slammed into the bottom of the ramp, his armor sparking as it scratched at the metal ramp. Quickly reaching out and trying her best to pull the much larger man up the ramp, "Come on, we have to go!"

"Where?" Kodo shakes his head as every instinct tells him to jump from the ship and crush his opponent.

"Anywhere but here!" Finally managing to get Kodo to come up the ramp, Janus quickly lifts the ship off, just barely feeling the resistance of some force pulling them back as she makes a random hyperspace jump.