//------------------------------// // Chapter III - "A Knight and a Tempest // Story: Star Wars - Knight of Ren // by Chadbane //------------------------------// Kylo Ren led a small army of Storm Creatures through the forest. Although it had only been a single days since he agreed to an alliance with the creature called Strife in exchange for the holocron in his possession, he had already begun to grow familiar with the woods and the power that resided within them. The Dark Side of the Force was strong here—much stronger than he initially realized. And yet, as the violent, restless energy oozed into his veins with every step, he could sense another presence emanating from the marshlands beyond. To whom did it belong? Kylo Ren couldn't say he knew for sure. He had learned from Strife that the so called "rebels" possessed many powerful force-wielders, but the energy pulsating at the tip of his senses was more than just light or dark. It was something stronger. Something... more. Kylo Ren shook his head. It didn't matter. Whomever it belong to--force-wielder or not--he would learn their identity soon enough. The dark side had promised him victory. He meant to see it through. The dark knight led his new army to an opening in the woods which peered out into the distance where a small village rested atop a hill. Kylo Ren halted his army behind the treeline and studied the village from afar. It was sparsely populated--The lack of defenses suggested it was peaceful. Kylo Ren narrowed his eyes beneath his mask and gripped his blade. This was it. This was the place that would draw out his opponent. The destruction of this village would serve as the perfect lurer for his trap. Then the supposed leader of this "rebellion"—the unicorn called Tempest—would fall, and Kylo Ren would exchange her head for his prize so that he could continue onward to the place he had seen in his visions. Kylo Ren motioned his troops forward. The Storm Creatures obeyed his command. As he watched them march across the plains towards the small village in the distance, the last words he had spoken to them echoed though his mind. No survivors. Some hours later... Fizzlepop Berrytwist, otherwise known as the fearsome Commander Tempest, stood in the midst of the dying embers of a small village near the edge of the forest. Dead lay strewn about. The lack of enemy bodies suggested that the village had been peaceful. Commander Tempest stood silently among the ruins, her face displaying little emotion as her troops scoured the rubble for survivors. Tempest doubted that they would find any judging by the severity of the attack, but she let them continue their work without saying a word. In times like these, there needed to be hope—even if that hope was misguided and unrealistic. "Wow. Thumpting bad happened here, didn't it, Thempest?" said Grubber in a stunned voice as he scanned the charred surroundings. Tempest held a melancholy expression as her men continued to dig through the wreckage. "Yes, Grubber," she replied, calmly. "Something very bad." Tempest watched an Abissyinian unearth another two bodies in the rubble. They were children, and judging by the lack of burns on their bodies, she concluded that they must have suffocated beneath the debris when their house collapsed during the fire. She blinked once, then looked way. Her job as the leader of the Alliance required that she keep a strong, stoic appearance at all times—even if she wanted nothing more than to break down and cry. Emotion could so easily be mistaken for weakness, after all; and such a problem could undermine the rationality and sound decision-making required to be a commander of her stature. Fortunately, for a seasoned warrior like herself, such things came with little effort. Commander Tempest lifted her eyes to the forest beyond. It was most likely the place the monster who did this had fled. But why had it done this, she wondered? Strategically speaking, the village was way too small and insignificant to be considered a strategic asset in the war against the Storm King, so why destroy it? Strife was cold, but not that cold. No, the monster who carried out this massacre was much more callous—much more terrifying. But what did that entail, she wondered? She wagered she would find out soon enough. "Commander," one of the Abissyinian soldiers under her command saluted as he approached the unicorn with a sad look. "We just finished our final sweep. No survivors." Commander Tempest gave the warrior a nod and turned back to the forest beyond the village ruins. "Prepare the troops, Lieutenant." she ordered without bothering to look him in the eye. "We move out in an hour." The Abissyinian saluted again. "Yes, Commander." As the Lieutenant went do as he was told, Grubber stepped up beside Tempest and cracked his knuckles. "Thoh, we going to afther thith guy, or what?" Tempest suppressed a smile at her friends enthusiasm and gave a small nod. "Yes, Grubber. Soon." The hedgehog chuckled wickedly to himself and rubbed his hands together. "'Thweet!" Commander Tempest led her army through the dark forest, cautiously; wary of any scouts or patrols who might warn the Storm King of her presence. Even though this was her primary concern, another underlying fear gnawed at the back of her mind like a parasite. She knew there was more to worry about then just the Storm Kings forces hiding in these woods. 'The Dark Forest' as it was called was dangerous enough, even without a genocidal monster to track. Tales of the forests unnaturally hostile nature mirrored those of its equally-infamous sister—the Everfree Forest—from Equestria. Just like the Everfree Forest, the Dark Forest was an untamed and usual biome filled with strange and terrifying creatures. Creatures that were known to strike from the dark without warning. "Wow, thith playth thure is creepy." came Grubbers voice as Tempest continued to lead her troops through the forest. The commanding unicorn didn't take her eyes off the trees ahead. "Yes," she replied, keeping a steady pace. Grubber clutched his battle-axe close to his chest and did his best to keep up with his friend. Although the group was moving relatively slowly through the dark woods, the hedgehogs humble stature often required him to jog in order to keep up with the unicorn instead of walking. "You really think that Thrife and hith sthooges went thith way?" asked the hedgehog, worriedly. The unicorn did not immediately respond. At first the hedgehog thought his friend had failed to hear him amidst the clanking of armored troops following in her wake, but when he opened his mouth to asking the question again, he was a quickly cut off by a one of her hoofs holding him back. The hedgehog stopped in his tracks looked up at Tempest, quickly following her gaze to a sight beyond him on the woodland floor. There, just a few feet away, lie the form of an anthropomorphic animal stretched out on the ground with a noticeable gash on its chest. Grubber slapped his claws over his mouth to stop himself from screaming. The body clearly belonged to a sentient being of some type from the village beyond the forest. Tempest was sure of that. However, she was less certain of the wound across its chest. Narrowing her eyed, the stoic unicorn stepped forward to examine the body and the fatal wound that had taken its life. The gash was an unusual mark—It appeared to be imprinted by a blade, but the cauterized surface suggested that it had been caused by something much more volatile. Perhaps the weapon that had caused the injury had been enchanted? Tempest couldn't say for sure. What she could be sure about, however, was that her new enemy was close—possibly watching them, waiting for them at this very moment. The body was far too fresh to suggest otherwise. Tempest planted her hooves firmly on the ground and listened to her surroundings to see what she could pick up. For sometime, she stood there in silence, waiting and listening for something to happen. After what felt like an eternity of suspense, Tempest gave a small sigh and turned to Grubber. "Falth alarm?" asked the Hedgehog, hopefully. Tempest nodded. She was just about to lead her army further into the woods when all of a sudden she saw a long, pointy object darting through the air towards her in her peripheral. She quickly dodged the object with an impressive barrel-roll and turned to her soldiers, shouting, "Defensive formations, now!" Her troops burst into action as more projectiles were hurled their way, peppering the woodland floor. Tempest quickly identified the projectiles as Storm Creature spears and took cover behind a shield. When the initial wave of projectiles had ended, Tempests troops broke their defensive formation lined up to prepare for another attack. No sooner had they done this than a wave of Storm creatures emerged from the shadows beyond and began to charge their lines. "Crossbows, at the ready!" Tempest shouted. Almost immediately dozens of crossbows peeked out between the shields in her lines and aimed at the incoming attackers. "Loose!" shouted the Unicorn in a strong voice. A flurry of arrows struck into the wave of Storm Creatures a moment later, killing a few and injuring many. "Arms!" Shouted Tempest as the line drew closer. "Draw arms!" Her forces did as they were told. However, a few moments before the enemy was upon them, Tempest heard an Abissyinian in her ranks shout, "Above! Above!" Tempest glanced up to see what he was going on about, but it was too late. A large group of Storm Creatures had just dropped down from the trees above and landed in the midst of her lines, killing many of her much smaller troops with their weight alone. Tempest tried to shout an order for her troops to hold the line for the incoming wave of Storm Creatures, but the damage was already done. Her troops were in a panic. The chaos that followed could only be described as all-out war. Metal clashed with metal and many bones cracked as one. Tempest saw it all. The wave of Storm Creatures that had been charging them initially met the broken line and began to make short work of her weaker troops. The soldiers standing by her side were doing much better than her more isolated soldiers, but she could tell immediately the odds were not in her favor. Tempest gritted her teeth. It didn't matter. Army or not, she was going to free the people of the Alliance from the Storm King—even if she had to die to make it happen. With an angry cry, Tempest leaped into the fray with Grubber at her side and began to go to work. Steel and armored hoofs smashed into one another as flesh tore from skeleton. Tempests nimble aptitude and smaller profile made her ideal for fighting the stronger, but less agile forces of the Storm King. In almost no time at all, she had defeated over a dozen or more Storm creatures with no signs of slowing down. Grubber was making his mark, too, although he was more prone to injuring the Storm Creatures rather than killing them. His battle axe could only reach as high as the bottom of their chest armor, after all, so he mostly stuck with chopping at their legs and lower areas. Tempest watched as the loyal hedgehog finished off one of the Storm Creatures she had just taken down. To see her once cowardly companion fight with such vigor filled her with a sense of pride that she did not express very often due to her emotional reservations. However, when he was levitated off the ground by an invisible force and hurled into a nearby tree, she couldn't help but scream, "GRUBBER!" as the hedgehog fell to the ground, unconscious. The Unicorn quickly finished off the Storm Creature she was fighting and hurried over to her companion to see if he was alright. Unfortunately, before she could reach him, a slender creature in dark clothing stepped in her path and ignited a fiery red sword. "Commander Tempest," said the creature, it’s demonic voice amplified through some kind of speakers in its mask. "I've heard so much about you." Tempest stopped in her tracks and narrowed her eyes. "Who are you?" she demanded, gritting her teeth. "I'm afraid I've come here to kill you." the creature answered calmly. The unicorn scoffed and planted her hooves firmly on the ground. "No—you've come to try!” The creature gave a quick chuckle. "The spirit is willing. The body is weak. You are no match for the dark side." "Strange poetry for a corpse," the unicorn answered, dryly. "I will put you back in the ground where you belong!" The creature tilted its head, studying its opponent contemplatively. One look in the unicorns eye and it could tell that her spirit was willing indeed. "Yes... perhaps you will kill me,“ the creature replied, striking a combative pose. "Try!" Tempest growled and leaped towards her opponent, ducking beneath its sword as she landed at its feet. Like many of the taller creatures she had faced in her time, the creatures attacks fell short of her nimble stature. After ducking beneath her opponents flaming blade, the unicorn spun around and delivered a sharp kick to the creatures backside, forcing it to stumble forward in order to maintain its balance. After it found its footing, the creature wheeled around and squared off against its opponent once again. "Amusing," The creature said, sounding annoyed yet somewhat impressed. "But it will take more than a feeble kick to stop me." "Some kicks bruise deeper than others," the unicorn replied. The creature chuckled and spun its sword, ready for its next attack. "We'll see." The creature stepped forward and began a combination of brutal offensives. To the creatures growing frustration, however, each blow once again fell short of its opponent due to the unicorns humble stature. As the dark creature continued its deadly advance, the lack of successful strikes began to increasingly aggravate its already less-than-stellar temper. It didn't help either when it failed to decapitate its opponent after slicing its sword in a sideways fashion, earning a sharp kick to its leg as a result. "Argh!" cried the creature, stumbling backwards from the power of the impact. Tempest struck a post and watched as the creature fell to its knees. It was quick to pick itself up after the blow, but the injury proved her counterattacks were doing a lot more damage than the creature had expected. "Need a hoof?" the unicorn taunted. “Or perhaps a pack of ice? The creature growled and lurched forward, this time combining a twirl of its sword with a solid fist. Tempest dodged the sword with ease per her usual agility, but the unexpected use of a limb by the creature threw her off. The creature landed a direct blow to her face and sent her reeling back. "That'll do for your insolence!" it stated. Tempest eyed her opponent angrily and wiped a drop of blood from her lip. So the creature wanted a real fight, was that right? Very well, then. She would give one to it. Leaping forward, Tempest kicked a spear off the ground laying in front of her and launched it at her attacker with lightning precision. The creature twirled it’s sword and deflected the projectile, although it came within inches of its head. Tempest followed up the maneuver with a near identical attack, but this time she flipped a shield off the woodland floor instead and sent it hurling towards the creature with a surprise in its wake. CRAAASH! As the creature sliced through the shield with ease, a jar of flammable liquid exploded in the air behind it, sending a miniature firestorm its way. Had not the creature stretched out its hand and deflected the fire with an invisible force field, it would have been consumed by its flames. “What?!” shouted Tempest, unable to conceal her surprise. “How did you—?” “The dark side of the force is a pathway to many abilities,” The creature replied in a foreboding voice. “Some consider them to be unnatural. Observe,” the creature continued, stretching out the same hand. Tempest felt the air around her become hard: slamming into her like a brick wall and sending her flying backwards into another tree some yards away. As she stumbled to the ground from the force of the impact, another invisible alien sensation seized her body as her front legs snapped to their side and her body lifted off the ground by its own accord. The unicorn barely had a chance to hide the look of terror in her eyes as the creature approached her, appearing to suspend her in the air with an invisible force. “As I said,” the creature said, calmly. “You are no match for the dark side.” Tempest struggled against the invisible force holding her at bay, but quickly realized it did little good. “Coward!” she grunted. The unicorn suddenly felt her windpipes clench shut as the creature gathered its fingers into a fist and tightened its grasp. Tempest could do nothing but struggle against the invisible claw on her throat as it dangled her off the ground, helplessly. “And now, General Tempest—you die!” Just as it appeared the creatures prediction would indeed come true, the creature released its gasp. At first Tempest did not know what had caused the creature to seize strangling her, but after she had dropped to the floor and had a chance to catch her breath, she glanced up at the creature and found that a certain hedgehog had come up behind it and chomped on its leg. “Argh!” the creature cried out in pain, immediately shaking off the hedgehog and kicking it into a nearby rock. “You dare?!” Grubber groaned in pain from the impact of the kick and slumped to the floor, dazed. Tempest tried to call out his name through her own pain, but her throat was still dry after sucking in such large quantities of air. By the time she was able to find her voice, the villainous creature had strode over to Grubber and eyed the hedgehog, vengefully. "Irritant." the creature muttered. Then the creature raised its sword. Tempest saw what was about to happen. Her friend we moments away from losing his life. Unless she called out with all her strength one last time, he would perish beneath the sword of this villainous creature. And so cry out she did. In a fit of rage and desperation, Tempest reached out with her feelings and awoke the chaotic magic suppressed deep within herself, activating her broken horn. Before the creatures blade fell, a bolt of magical electricity fired from her horn and screamed towards the creature. With a second or less to spare, the creature glanced over its shoulder and moved its blade to deflect the arc, but instead it caught the energy and stumbled backwards from the impact. “Argh!” came the creatures muffled cry, as it struggled to find its footing and withstand the constant electric current. For what seemed like several minutes, the two faced off against each other in a stalemate, one pouring their rage into a near-endless current of electricity and the other fighting with all their strength just to hold on to their blade. When at last the current ended, the creature caught the tail-end of the electrical stream with its sword and tossed it to the side, exploding a tree a small distance away with a fantastic potency that sent shockwaves through the forest. When the deed was done, the creature gazed in what could only be described as surprise at the broken unicorn and stood, frozen. “It’s you,” said the creature, breathlessly. Tempest continued to scowl as she caught her breath. With little energy left in her after exhausting it all during the fight, the unicorn fought to stay on her hoofs as the creature began to approach her, slowly. “I’ll… kill you!” Tempest murmured, sinking to her knees. “I… won’t… let you win!” The creature tilted its head ever so slightly. “I already have.” came its answer, matter-of-factly. As the creature watched Tempest slump to the floor, quickly losing consciousness, one of Kylo Ren’s Storm Creatures who had fought along side him in the battle came up from behind and said something in its language to get the dark knights attention. “No, let him go.” the creature answered, sensing the Storm Creatures question. “But this one…” the creature deactivated its flaming sword and crouched down beside Tempest as her eyes slowly fell shut. “Take this one with us.”