EVENT ★ OSKA BURNING

[futurologists]

The scene that greets you after the mist of world hopping fades isn’t a pretty one. You may remember Oska from your first, brief trip here — it was a stately, serene place, a grand castle usually wreathed in low lying clouds or gently sunny. Not so today. The damage done to Chantes by the demons and chimeras pales in comparison to what has been done to Oska. Only one tower of the formerly impressive castle stands upright, the others have been knocked down and torn to rubble, some of which is still smoldering or in flickering flames. Most of the castle has been flattened, entire rooms torn apart and laid to waste. No exterior wall is without gaping holes, as if some army and their immense battering ram had needed a whole collection of entrances to storm this castle. Nothing is untouched, and worst of all, the underground larder seems to have been completely buried in a fall of rocks from the kitchen’s exterior wall. Even if you were able to dig it up, it’s dubious much of the food is unspoiled or intact. If there is any up side to all of this destruction, it’s that no bodies can be found amid the mess, human or otherwise. Even the livestock are missing. Personal effects can be dug out of the ruins, and it seems very clear that this castle was populated until recently. There remains not one soul to tell what happened, though. Well, almost not one soul. The network that usually connects the jewelry is completely nonfunctional. Attempting to access it only brings up one static message, repeating for as long as you care to listen to it: Something [ SHHKT ] --rrible has happ-- [ The message cuts out frequently, replaced with static. ] The-- [ shhhhhhkt ] came, they destroyed everything and n-- [ The static fades slightly. ] We’re trapped. You’re on your own. But please, we ne-- [ shhkt ] your help. They’re still here. There’s worse to come. But when you [ SHKT ] --ind them, you can’t kill them. They need to be questioned. We mus-- [ shhhhkt ] know their motivations. Some of the new recruits… they’re in the dungeons. You need to he-- [ shkt ] them, please. They can still be saved. SURVIVAL The dungeons are, of course, the only part of the castle left intact enough to present a challenge to escape. Some newcomers will find themselves lost in a labyrinth of cell-lined corridors, able to wander for hours before stumbling across any hint of daylight. How that’s even possible with most of the castle destroyed is anyone’s guess. Other newcomers might even be locked into the cells, with keys left nearby but just out of reach — or not. Better hope some sort of escape artist happens across you, if you’re one of those unlucky arrivals. Food isn’t going to be easy to come across. You might try digging out the larder, but not much food can be salvaged from it. Are you going to put in the work to dig up a single shelf of intact loaves of bread, a cold roast chicken locked in a wood stove, and one barrel of apples? Maybe you try scavenging in the small, abandoned village outside the castle. This will uncover some food, but not much. Most of the food out there is either rotted through or missing entirely. You might find enough to last one person two days on your own, but who knows how long you’ll need it to last? Wherever you find your food, if you find your food, rationing is highly recommended. Water isn’t so simple to find, either. There is a lake not far outside the castle walls, but the water in it tastes rancid, a sign to any right-thinking person that it’s no good to drink. Anyone brave or stupid enough to push through the taste and drink it anyway will find there aren’t actually any adverse effects, but is it worth the risk? Water can otherwise be found in very small amounts, collected by rainfall in buckets, on indented stones, in mislaid pots. It won’t be much, but if you search diligently it’s enough to keep you going. Shelter will be a little easier to find… at least, at first. No one is using any of the beds in the village, they’re free to pick from as long as you don’t mind the eerie silence. If your character is particularly awful at scavenging, please see the end of this post. HELL WEEK Survival aside, that still leaves the question: just what did happen here? Characters are welcome to dig through the ruins for hints at what fate may have befallen Oska. We have provided a thread here to sign up to find belongings or other little signs of life, and try to piece together the picture. But what about that culprit, mentioned in the broadcast? Some characters will be able to stumble across very, very specific clues — riddles and puzzles, purposefully laid to guide the finders toward… something. Who knows what lies at the end of this oddly deliberate trail? You can sign up to find and solve the puzzles here. Day one in Oska is easy enough to survive, an almost peaceful acclimation to the dismal scene. Things get a little bit tougher from there, though. On day two the ground begins to shake. It’s just little tremors at first, easy to miss if you’re not standing still. But by mid morning they’re large quakes, enough to break some structures further. The quakes continue through the night and into day three, when they are large and severe enough to throw someone off their feet, tear apart a house, and even open wide chasms in the ground. They come with unpredictable frequency, anything between five minutes to three hours, but they definitely come more closely together as time passes. The village is safer at this point, without quite so many stones to shift and crush you, although those chasms are still a concern. Come the evening of day three, the quakes stop entirely. A soft rainfall begins to patter down instead — still thirsty? Now is your chance to find some battered coffee tin and gather your drink. The rainfall continues steadily overnight, and by the morning of the fourth day it is a torrential downpour. It never lets up, not even once, and soon the water is more than the ground can handle. Flooding begins at this point, just a few inches deep in some places, more formidable in others. This also lasts for two days, and by the end of the fifth day in Oska most of the village is washed out. You’ll have better luck among the sturdy stones of the castle. Remember that still-standing castle tower? It’s not exactly the most structurally sound thing, but it is definitely out of the water. The water stops very suddenly at sundown on the fifth day, affording a pretty peaceful, clear night. Come dawn of the sixth day, however, heavy clouds move to obscure the sunrise. They seem to flame around the edges in the light of it, and then in the middles. That’s clearly not sunlight lighting up those clouds by this point. The clouds flash from within as they build more and more heavily, but no lightning has ever been that flickering golden color. At midmorning the first drops begin to fall: not rain this time, but liquid fire. By noon the firestorm is at full strength. It swings between sheets of fire pelting down, and clearing up only to pelt down great fireballs. The rain-drenched village and castle can only fend off the rain for so long. Eventually the water evaporates and anything that can burn will burn. Time your ventures out into the weather very carefully, because the firefall never lets up for long, and that’s the kind of downpour you don’t want to be caught in. OOC INFO Is your character awful at survival? Can’t scavenge to save their life, completely out of food and water and about to expire? Wherever they fall asleep, they’ll wake up with a small, inexplicable wrapped bundle left next to their head. Within will be a half an apple, a single leg of chicken, and a very small canteen of water. This log will last for one week, and there will be new information available on the 17th. As per our informal poll, this log will last ICly for one week, and OOCly for two. There will be new information available on the 24th. What the setting will be from here will depend on characters' ability to work together to catch whoever is responsible for these events. You can sign up to find hints about the people who lived here and what may have happened to them here, and puzzles left by the perpetrator leading to the discovery of them on this post. Please direct any questions here.

Comments

day 3 (??? maybe 4. timelines)

[sololoquy]

[Ren has been following the feeling all day. Since arriving, there's been a haunting buzz at the front of his mind, a presence he feels as if he should recognize, but does not. Every now and then, he will pause to re-align itself. Its a hard thing to follow when there are so many other people in the area. But this one is different. Not only is it different, but with it -- comes a presence he recognizes.

FN-2187. The traitor that nearly undid everything the First Order had worked so hard for by releasing Poe Dameron and, in turn, liberating the piece of the map that he had clawed his way across the galaxy for. How bittersweet, to find him without Captain Phasma there to enjoy his victory. Regardless as to whether or not he's found a Jedi to cling to (its not the girl -- he'd recognize her anywhere), he'd cut them both down and put an end to the disgrace that clings to his cloak like a miasma.

He hears the sound of a lightsaber igniting somewhere down the corridor, and its like a beacon. The soft bath of blue light (Jedi) makes his veins sing with anticipation, and his own saber is pulled off of his belt in response. Ignited with a ripple of power that can be felt by Force sensitive for several yards around him. Stealth is not his concern -- if this Jedi is as powerful as Ren believes he may be (it must be a Jedi, even if the Dark Side feels stronger with him with each step he takes), then he already knows he is there.

He makes his way closer, careful not to walk himself straight onto the other man's saber. Too much offense was what had brought the Sith to their knees. He's not going to make the same mistake.]

I believe you have something of mine, Jedi.

[reconditioning]

[Red. He sees it (he's been watching for it ever since he woke up, too sure that the First Order's reach was too widespread, that the nightmare of his old life would never die no matter how hard he fought or how far he ran) and he doesn't need the Force to know what's ahead, left hand quick to grab Anakin's shoulder as a warning the Jedi probably doesn't need. It's a shaking hold, adrenaline running potent through his veins, fear stuck nauseous in the back of his throat like bile, but after everything he's been through-- just like the First Order-- it doesn't own him anymore.

That doesn't mean they're equipped for this fight, though, and that doesn't mean he's about to let a stranger die for a grudge match that never involved him in the first place (maybe a month ago, he would have-- not gladly, but out of desperation...) Finn's voice is low, the only warning he can think to let out in the moment where it might not catch Kylo Ren's attention:] You need to go.

[They both need to, just-- like this, wounded as he is, it's not happening. And he's not dragging Anakin down with him. Not again.]

[apoptotic]

[ the force creeps over the stones toward him before either the sound of the lightsaber or the masked and robed stranger do. straightening, anakin stares down the hallway. the hero without fear, the holonet likes to call him. in that moment, he might be. not fear, but anger kindles in his belly, particularly when the other speaks.

I believe you have something of mine..

congrats, kylo, on smashing one of the big red buttons on your first try.

the hand on his shoulder would not have registered but for the response of his body: a sudden tension born of hyperarousal. that he knows it to be finn limits his reaction to a slight cant of his head while he listens to the low warning. anakin glances at finn over his shoulder. his smile is a small upturn to the corners of his mouth. ] Wait here. You'll be safe.

[ fingers curling around finn's, anakin pushes his hand off and steps forward. he removes one arm from the voluminous sleeves of his robe, shifts the lightsaber from hand in order to remove the other. he lets the robe drape on the floor. the lightsaber is passed back to his dominant hand, the black-gloved one, the fingers curling solidly around the silver hilt.

there is neither hint of fear or nervousness when anakin faces forward. anticipation balloons in his belly, as it had in the lift, obi-wan beside him. but obi-wan isn't here. anakin is not protecting his teacher or seeking to free an old friend. only finn, an injured stranger who was somehow able to humiliate the sith once.

for the former alone, anakin would have protected him. the latter ensures he will thoroughly enjoy this fight. ]

It doesn't seem like he wants to go with you. I find it helps when you ask nicely by name.

[sololoquy]

He is a Stormtrooper. He does not have a--

[As Anakin comes into view, he abruptly stops speaking, and his prepared stance loses any semblance of offensive form. Ren's feet shift to defensive in slow motion, one hand coming up in preparation (is he shaking?). His intake of breath is short and surprised.

The lightsaber. Even at a distance, there was no mistaking that. The hum of the kyber calls to him as much as every singing bloodcell in his body does. His blood, he knows his blood like he knows the touch of his mother and father, no matter how hard he had tried to drown it all out. Everything else about the man in front of him is a mystery -- how could he know his Grandfather as but a young adult, younger than he even himself?]

No.

[His voice comes out as a strangled sort of hiss, halted and confused. The words of everyone he had met prior to this moment echo through the interior of his helmet. Guardians of time, that's what ALASTAIR was supposed to be. Was this some sort of cruel game? A test sent to him by the Dark Side?

Its too much for him.]

Who are you?

[He knows the answer to the question before he even asks. No matter how much he dares deny every screaming, warring voice in his head he already knows.

Somewhere in the cosmos, both the Light and the Dark are laughing at him from opposite sides.]

[reconditioning]

[Don't do this to me.

It's the only thought that comes to mind when Anakin's fingers curl around his own, effectively brushing away his grip. Brow knitted, expression drawn: it's like watching FN-2199 hammer into Slip's cracked helmet over and over again from the sidelines, like being on Jakku, blood streaked vivid over white.

Like standing stuck too high on a ledge, staring down across the catwalk and watching Han Solo take those first, tentative steps forward, knowing where it would end.

He hates it. More than he hates being afraid for himself, he hates watching people slip right out from under him. And same as any time before, he can't help it. Can't change it. Injured as he is there's no dragging Anakin out of harm's way (what Jedi was ever dissuaded from anything, if the vids he grew up on were right?) so all that's left for him is to shift the line of his stare up, glaring bitter, hateful daggers at the mask illuminated fiercely in the darkness ahead.

Only something changes then-- Ren's posture shifting away, like nothing he'd ever seen before. It stops Finn in turn, attention flicking in confusion back and forth between the two.

It wasn't Luke Skywalker in front of him, that much he knows - so is there someone else? Someone more powerful out there capable of buckling Kylo Ren?]

[apoptotic]

[ anakin studies the change in posture with interest. from imperious and threatening to unnerved. without the force, anakin could see the disbelief radiating off him in waves. kylo ren sensed a jedi; he thought he would be facing anyone else in the order.

good, he thinks with vicious satisfaction. if he can recognize him it must be from the holonet reports. kenobi and skywalker read the headlines. but it isn't kenobi, ever the negotiator, who stands between him and his target. it isn't kenobi who knows bone-deep what it is to have no choice at all. anakin draws to a stops, closer to kylo ren than to finn, keeping himself directly between the two. ]

I'm Anakin Skywalker.

[ the force eddies between them, light and dark. obi-wan isn't there to tell him to be patient, to think. but anakin doesn't need the reminder. his mind is focused. he knows his task. finn is behind him where he will stay. to get at finn, kylo ren will have to cut through him, which won't happen. he'll keep one safe and bring the other to heel.

( such a fine jedi knight. such an arrogant jedi knight. ) ]

You know this isn't a fight you can win.

[sololoquy]

Skywalker.

[The name is a whisper, an echo of a name he's long since cast aside and forgotten. Skywalker, Solo, Organa, so many names, so many years, so much history.

He can't dream of cutting past Anakin to get to Finn, no part of him will even conceive of the idea of cutting down Darth Vader, the man upon whom his entire Order had built itself upon. And yet, even as he stands there, frozen with indecision, a dark voice reminds him of what is at stake. Without Anakin, there is no Luke, no Leia. Without Leia, there is no Kylo Ren. Without Anakin, his world doesn't exist.

The Supreme Leader -- what would he do, if he could see him now? Would he march forward and finish the job, or would he follow his instinct and preserve the history upon which his entire legacy is shaped?

He can feel the Force war between them, tangled and confused just as Ren himself feels. His heart races with the possibilities, and the weight of the task set before him. Anakin still clings to the Light, ignorant of the destiny that the Force would set in motion for him. What sort of chaos would the galaxy (No, he reminds himself, all of the known universes) find itself in should he stray from the path?]

You know nothing of the scum you defend, Skywalker. The danger his defection brings upon the galaxy.

[There is no question as to why he was brought here now. He must show him. Its not about good or evil. Its about being right, and committing oneself to their beliefs. The Jedi were full of liars, men who fashioned themselves as emotionless cogs shaped into heroes when they were little more than thugs. Ren held no such illusions. He knew who he was, what he felt, and where it would take him.

The Dark swells in his heart. Everything would depend on Skywalker's survival, and his journey to embrace his fate. But first--there was the matter of FN-2187.]

He betrayed his men, and fled his rank into the arms of those who would see chaos reign. And he would do it again here, if given the chance. FN-2187 is a coward, and a traitor.

[reconditioning]

[Skywalker--

The name hits him like the slam of Nine's riot shield to his chest: Anakin Skywalker. He knew who it belonged to (everyone knew the stories) and he grew up on those vids, hearing about the rise of the Empire and the people responsible for it. Only it can't be right. Anakin-- this Anakin-- is his age, and when faced with that obvious truth there's only one logical conclusion left to draw.

Luke Skywalker had a son.

One that was exactly the kind of man Finn always thought of when he mulled over the old legends about Jedi, whatever the First Order let filter through their carefully controlled systems. One that survived Ren's attack, probably the entire reason Luke went into hiding in the first place.

And it means they have a chance, all of them. That their fight wasn't for nothing, no matter how it panned out. Anger and newfound determination boiling up in his chest when he steps forward to stand just over Anakin's shoulder, bristling like he wants to spit in the face of everything the First Order stands for.]

My name is Finn.

[He wounded Kylo Ren once, and bolstered as he is in the moment, he feels like he'd do it again which probably wouldn't work out so great given his injuries but whatever you can't stop him]

And you don't own me anymore.

[apoptotic]

[ anakin casts a sidelong glance finn's way. though he can empathize, settle back easy, finn. stay in your corner, and let the adults handle this. ]

Where I'm standing, I see only one coward — [ he addresses kylo ren again with a mild expression that borders on unconcerned…but the hardness of his eyes belies that impression — ] going after an injured man.

[ pick on somebody your own size, etc etc. anakin takes a step forward. he's not foolish. he can sense the brewing power in front of him, turbulent clouds collapsing under their own rotation. but it's raw. more momentum than control. an apprentice, finn had called him. the proof is visible in the force.

if he were more self-aware, anakin could reflect on the similarities. he's a building tornado, twisting tighter and tighter. he achieves clarity not by meditation but by strength. the will of the force was no match for his. the will of a sith lord fell under his. an apprentice will be no problem. no, anakin has no problem with what he must do. kylo ren made sure of that when he referred to a person as his possession. ]

Make this easy on yourself. Drop your weapon. [ anakin does not expect him to comply. anakin knows he won't comply. but that will give him the reason he needs to not hold back. ]

[sololoquy]

Enough. The Stormtrooper is an insignificant notation in comparison to the situation at hand.

[It burns him, to see Skywalker so convicted in his crusade against those who would paint themselves dark. It fuels his power, makes him strong as Supreme Leader had always said it did. His emotion was his greatest tool, no matter what his master of old has tried to tell him. Nothing was more powerful than hatred and grief.]

If I asked the same of you, you would not comply.

[There is a smarter way to approach this, than fighting the chosen one. Though he has overwhelming confidence in his abilities, he is not so arrogant to believe that he might take on Darth Vader without completing his training. The Jedi he once was reminds him that he need not always fight, no matter how his blood might sing otherwise. He does not stow his weapon -- to do so would be a fool's errand. If this was Anakin Skywalker truly, he could take no chances.

And he has no doubts about the man in front of him. If only he could make him see.]

There are other forces at play, Skywalker. You feel them, as I do. You, as well as I, have far greater purpose than to be squabbling over one man.

[Aside from straight up killing Finn, he has few options trapped as he is. Interrogation would be useless when there was no Luke to hunt. Hurting him to make himself feel better isn't worth compromising even the most meager alliance with Anakin.]

Send him away. I will not follow.

[reconditioning]

[His pulse is a high note in his veins: it makes him forget a lot of things (the exposed muscle lying just beneath bandages, the way his nerves are ready to scream for every step he takes the fact that he was supposed to stay back by at least a few feet) but it doesn't kill off his common sense:] No way.

[Ren can track him; Ren can track anyone - if he leaves, he'd be abandoning Anakin and leaving himself entirely exposed if something went wrong. They're scaring him.

He's trying to split them up. ]

I'm not leaving you with him just so he can pick us off the way he did Han.

[apoptotic]

[ light and dark clash and twist and braid together. in the air between them, and in kylo ren. lines of conflict spread spiderweb thin… but there they are. conflict speaking of purpose. the irony is a bitter taste.

most in the galaxy do not know their purpose. if they have one. anakin would envy them. he has known his since he was nine years old, on his feet shivering and nervous ( afraid ) in front of a council who acknowledged it, then told him he was too old. it had been a foretelling. as he would always prove to be too something, too negative, too reckless, too emotional, he would always be first the chosen one. an annoyance, more than a certainty. the way of the force is mysterious, but a thousand year old prophecy pushed his disbelief. it was a myth. it should have stayed one.

now an upstart chooses to lecture him on his purported purpose.

rather than snap, anakin's expression flattens until there isn't one. he studies the glare reflected on the black and chrome mask. for a moment, he thinks to agree. it'll be easier without finn refusing to stay back. then he catches finn out of the corner of his eye, and he knows it won't be an option. fighting with him to leave will only grant their enemy an opening. throw him back with the force, anakin risks injuring him further. his options were few, and become less. jaw tight, anakin's mouth presses into a thin line. ]

[sololoquy]

[Obviously, something Finn says catches his attention, for his attention shifts from Anakin to him for the first time since the Jedi had stepped into view. He stares for a long time, and under that mask his mouth hangs open slightly. Pick us off like he did Han cannot be misinterpreted many ways, especially with the knowledge he had and what he knew he would have to do.

A piece of him is relieved. He did it. When it came time to finish the job, he hadn't faltered and that alone is a great weight off his shoulders. Yet somehow, he feels robbed of the experience. Han Solo's death was meant to remove the conflict in his heart -- here, without that experience, he is bound to it.]

You answer our conundrum with your own words, FN-2187. Our conscriptors meddle and operate with time on their side. Though Han Solo's fate was inevitable, my hands are not yet stained with his blood. Just as Anakin Skywalker has yet to see the end of the Clone Wars.

[Now he looks back to Anakin.]

Unless you wish to correct me, Master Skywalker. I say again...send him away.

[reconditioning]

[You know if you just spoke plainly, asshole...

Finn doesn't know what to make of it-- any of it-- aside from the fact that all that poetic bullshit doesn't mean anything compared to their current situation. So for that, he ignores it. All of it. He knows what he saw, and he knows that they're at the edge of a fight that's bigger than the three of them, and he knows that Anakin's drawn thin enough to snap (he's seen that look before, different faces but it's all the same...) so for that, he snorts hotly, lip curling.

...and he steps back.

Better to give the Jedi space than to let Snoke's lapdog divide them.]

Not. Going. Anywhere.

[apoptotic]

[ anakin does not like the suggestion that he is ignorant to some important knowledge. as he does not appreciate being told what to do by anyone.

really should have said please. ]

I grow tired of this.

[ in the blink of an eye, lightsaber crosses lightsaber with a violent crackle. kylo ren had opted for defense the moment he recognized anakin. anakin will grant him the brief acknowledgement of one intelligent move in an otherwise foolish errand. not that it will protect him in the end.

the blue blade lifts to batter at the red from a different angle. anakin maintains a flurry of quick strikes, aiming to keep ren unbalanced and push him away from finn. the lights cast a shimmering effect over walls and ceiling and both combatants that is as beautiful as their source is deadly. anakin does not see them. he sees the masked man, the lightsabers, the task ahead of him. blood singing in expectation, anakin tears his weapon down in a brilliant blue arc. ]

[sololoquy]

[Being a dramatic tool comes too naturally, sorry.

Ren senses the shift before Anakin speaks, and is ready to meet his blows as soon as he moves in to strike him. Back he goes, forced into retreat by the sheer amount of attacks that are thrown at him until his frustration overrides his sense of clear thought.

Whatever fate thought of him, he wasn't about to let himself be seen as an amateur. So Anakin gets what he wants, and Ren moves to shift his footing with the intent of parrying one of his overhead strikes, catching the arc of blue in an even line with the crackle of red. Disarming Anakin will not be nearly as easy as disarming the other Jedi he has fought, but the advantage of his crossguard is not one he can afford to ignore.

A growl is coaxed from inside the helmet, a horrid sound as the blades stick to one another. Distantly, he gauges the distance between them and Finn. If there is one way to Force a jedi's surrender, it's to take a hostage. Luckily there is a very stubborn Stormtrooper very close to him.]

[reconditioning]

[There's something unnerving about the sound-- the smell of it, the snap of tense heat-- that feels wrong when the blade's not in his own hands. Aside from the distance he pulled to ease Anakin's nerves he's instinctively doubled it (he meant what he said about not leaving, but he doesn't have even the luxury of a blaster, and Finn is anything but suicidal: he knows when tactics don't suit him) though with turning and running off the table there's only so much he can do. Watch, grit his teeth too hard in nervous anticipation, wait for one or the other to land a hit and hope it's his team that does it.

Because if it's not, he'll be there, he tells himself like he means it. And he does.

Come on, buddy, come on.]

[apoptotic]

[ from finesse, the fight transmutes to a struggle of strength. anakin, feet braced against the ground, pushes the red blade, muscles tensed in his left hand, gears pressured in his right. no matter his opinion of his enemy or his blade, kylo ren proves a forceful sword fighter. not a fencer like count dooku. the apprentice trades cold efficiency for power.

then there is the matter of his lightsaber. unpolished, rough. not something a jedi — or sith — would carry. but it resists anakin’s blow with a shower of sparks. more than once, anakin has to shift his grip to keep away from the cross guard. he feels no pain in his sword arm — a benefit to never having equipped it with pain sensors — but the heat exuded from the side ports seem to arc up his arm, even as he knows it to be impossible.

anakin jerks his arm up, pushing both lightsabers up, and kicks at kylo ren with the force. his blade twirls once, his wrist twists smoothly, and anakin dives into the offensive again. ]

[sololoquy]

[The downside of Ren's blade is the lack of grip flexibility. The kick forces him back a few feet, but before Anakin can reach to lock blades again, he throws an arm out with the intent of halting his momentum with the Force.

His opponent is imbued with more energy than anything he's tried to manipulate before, but it's also his specialty. The intent isn't to keep Anakin still anyway -- it's just to slow him down, to frustrate him into giving into the power of the Dark he knows must be lurking in his heart even now. He holds him stiff for a few long seconds before sidestepping as he releases with the intent of trying to get behind the Jedi. If he keeps letting Anakin push him back, he will have no leverage to weigh with should be truly begin to lose the fight.

But he is not a sith apprentice who taunts his enemies. All of his focus is set to channeling his emotion straight into power. Even if he must fight until exhaustion. His saber shifts in his hand as he goes back on the offensive, bearing down on Anakin with wide and powerful arcs of his blade.]

[apoptotic]

[ anakin is distinctly annoyed.

not only is the fight not over as it should have already been, he allowed himself to be pinned. not exactly pinned: he hammered back against the force that would have trapped him in place but it made him slow. allowed for kylo ren to direct the next flow of attack.

at least obi-wan isn't here to see. he would never allow anakin to live this down.

with obi-wan's dry criticism in his ear, anakin deflects a thrust, spinning out of the way, and swinging at kylo ren's thigh. between the two, this fight would have been over quickly. another parry, another returning strike. the memory fills him with certainty as few other things do ( as only one other person can. ) the force inexorably grounds him; the force follows his returning strikes. if he is to fall, it would have been with obi-wan by his side to a foe much greater than a coward's apprentice. and he already killed the one who threatened his master…

an image of count dooku's terrified eyes almost makes him falter. ( echoes of shrieks and honks reach for him across the years, and are abruptly silenced. ) the rubble around them lifts and surges toward kylo ren with astonishing speed. at the same time, anakin feints another low strike — he cannot kill him, he needs him alive for questioning — and plunges the the tip of his blade at kylo ren's shoulder. ]

[sololoquy]

[A swing at the thigh deflected and a spin to block the low feint that never becomes a strike means the saber finds its mark. He howls through the mask, a unearthly sound that cracks with feedback through its amplifier and that is chased by heavy breathing. One landed blow would not stop him -- or rather, It would not have stopped him if the strike were not so true.

As it stands, movement means he loses an arm -- or that he comes very close to it. A downward strike would cut an artery and likely kill him. An upward swing would leave a deep wound that could be repaired with quick attention. Neither is ideal but one is definitely better than the other.

Pulling straight out would leave him with virtually no damage at all, but Ren is hardly naive enough to expect that. How could he have let Anakin strike him. so quickly? This was not how this fight had been supposed to go. Frustration swirls around him, braced against the light of the other man's weapon, and he shakes where he is pinned, poised with his saber at the other man's side. To finish the swing would bisect Anakin, but likely not before the Jedi finished the job.

No. No no no, this couldn't be happening this way. Not now, not like this, not with him panting like a wounded dog and struggling to stay standing through the pain of the saber slowly frying every nerve ending in his shoulder.]

You--cannot kill me.

[It sounds more like hushed disbelief through pain than a declaration of anything. He wouldn't kill his own blood, not when he couldn't kill his uncle. Maybe. Right?]

[apoptotic]

[ he did take uncle's arm off. is that really an acceptable risk. ]

I can. [ the whispers begin again or maybe they were always there and anakin can only hear them again now in the terrible, waiting quiet until the denouement. you can end the war today. finish him. he's too dangerous to let live, and they are the words the chancellor spoke to him, his friend comforting him when the risk was to him, but the tone… colder, crueler than palpatine could ever be.

i sense great fear in you, whispers a voice not unlike dooku's, and it's true now as it was then. the lightsaber threatening his side is a farce. their stunned witness is a footnote. anakin grips the force, his lightsaber and his control in a burning fist. his dread is not for him for what may happen to him — it is for what he may do.

he can kill him. the urging at the edges of his consciousness promises how much better, how much easier. for the second time in less than twenty-four hours he hears someone argue for their life over the sizzle and pop of his lightsaber. the smell of burnt flesh mingles with the smell of burnt ozone, and anakin's stomach turns. this isn't the jedi way. he needs him alive. he can't — ]

I'm choosing not to. [ a wave of his fingers finds the red lightsaber extinguished. anakin removes his to hold it over kylo ren's shoulder. ] Remember that.

[reconditioning]

[It's a mistake, letting Ren live. Finn feels it in his chest, hammering like the rabbit pulse of his own heart as he watches them (has to force his shoulders not to tense in shaking anticipation, not wanting to exacerbate the state of his burns) too certain Ren's going to find some way to twist-- tear into the Jedi without a second of hesitation just like he did to Han-- (please don't, please don't--)

But Anakin has him on the ropes, has him shaking behind that mask and Finn can hear it in that digital rasp. In the scent of scorched flesh and singed cloth that isn't his own, wounds mirrored from a distance.

It's not enough to make up for what he did to Rey-- to any of them-- but it's a start.]

[sololoquy]

It gains you nothing.

[Its practically spit in his direction. He's disgusted, angry that he let Anakin get such a key strike in during their duel, furious that he'd refrained from finishing him off or at the very least refrained from taking a limb. His shoulder might still be smoking and the air around them might be filled with the scent of burn flesh and wool, but the blood that stains the many layers he wears is hardly worth a blink in comparison to the insult he felt.

And in that moment, he reaches up with one hand to force his helmet open in order to rip it off of his head. He won't recognize most of his features (he takes after Solo far too much for that). Finn's relief at a distance only serves to make him angrier -- he shouldn't have been able to see this fight, everything was wrong, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Without the echo of the respirator, there's nothing to disguise the hatred in Ren's voice -- the pure contempt that he has for the mercy being shown to him. His hair is horribly tousled and his face is soaked from both a mixture of sweat and some tears thanks to the assault on his shoulder. His eyes, little more than wet pits of black that could be likened to that of a defensive animal.

Why is this happening? Why now, and why to him? He's so upset that he forgets to turn his lightsaber back on. What's the point, anyway? Killing Anakin now could erase him from the map of time forever, just as much as the Jedi delivering a fatal blow would.

Han Solo is dead, Leia Organa no doubt next on the list. He has nothing to lose except his own life.]

Why?

[There had to be a reason, and he's sure he won't like it.]

[apoptotic]

[ the face he finds is not what he expected. anakin tensed initially, not knowing what the other would do. but ren acts too quickly, and he has torn off the mask before anakin can tell him to stop.

a human face. young and distraught. pathetic, he thinks impassively. what mercy preserved kylo ren's life ends there. there is not a hint of mercy or sympathy or pity in anakin's blue eyes. rather, a clinical observation whose result is found wanting. ]

I should kill you now. [ the whispers have quieted, but the lure remains. the lure of the dark side. the promise of ease. of greatness. a flick of his wrist is all it would take. ] You'd prefer it.

[ anakin circles him slowly, and stops. his voice drops for only kylo ren to hear the rest. his smile belongs to a nexu. ]

That's why I don't.

[ more fitting that he knows anakin could strip his life from him were he so inclined. crueler to let him live knowing he owes the continuance of his miserable existence to a jedi. ]