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Cody would love nothing more than to punch the kiff out of this asshole, but sadly, had to restrain himself, because this asshole was holding a blaster to his General’s head.
The separatist was smiling with way too many teeth as they gestured with a mocking bow to the small curved blade laying on the blood soaked altar.
“Well then, Commander?” they purred.
“Don’t do it Cody, that’s an order!” General Kenobi barked out before one of the droids holding him smacked him.
“Quiet Jedi.”
Ordinally, General Kenobi would have already escaped his force-surprising bonds somehow and be fighting, but the asshole had taken hostages of the local civvies, and the 212th had been forced to surrender.
Grinding his teeth, Cody turned to the altar, picking up the small knife. The golden blade was smaller than the handle, which fit almost perfectly in the palm of his hand, “What am I supposed to do with this?” He forced out, staring at the blade.
“Cody-”
Crack!
Cody held back a flinch as his General was hit again. The separatist’s smile widened, “Do you see those words carved into the altar?” They purred from over Cody’s shoulder. He wasn’t sure when they had gotten so close, but they didn’t move. Even if the asshole wasn’t pointing a blaster at his General, the dozen other droids in this tomb certainly were, “That a call to arms of a powerful warrior, who gains power and life force with each thing they kill. A warrior who was an unrelenting force, wielding magic beyond anything your mind could comprehend. The legends call them an Unspeaking Blade. Though if that’s a name or a title, is up to debate.”
Cody’s fist tightened around the blade. Maybe if he moved quick enough, drove the blade into the asshole’s throat, maybe the General could break away… no. Too risky.
“Is there a point to this tale,” he forced out, still staring at the golden- no, tarnished blade.
The separatist chuckled, “Well, you see Commander. The legends say that you could summon this warrior with a sign just like the one we have here. But, it needs to be activated, and to activate it…” the separatist stepped back, walking away from Cody who silently cursed at the lost chance.
“You need a sacrifice,” Cody finished, looking over his shoulder to meet the separatist’s eyes.
“Don’t you dare Cody!” General Kenobi yelled, struggling against the cuffs and hands holding him in place.
Cody didn’t look at him. Couldn’t look at him.
The asshole waved a hand dismissively, “Just a small one.”
Cody stared at him, a familiar, cold anger rising in him. A small sacrifice. Just a clone. Expendable.
“What do you want?” He spit out between clenched teeth. Stall. Keep the asshole talking. Buy time.
“Well, I want to see this legendary warrior for myself,” Their smile widened, eyes growing manic, “In legends, they kill beings capable of holding back the stars themselves, beings that could control great beasts of fire and flight, beings that controlled disease itself. Imagine the power this being holds, what they could do.”
Great. The Asshole was insane. Ordinally, Cody wouldn’t believe a word this idiot was saying, but when he and the General were dragged here, General Kenobi had started panicking in that silent way of his. With a smile too forced to be real and his hands tensing to grab a lightsaber that wasn’t there. When they had entered, General Kenobi had almost collapsed, and even Cody, who was about as force sensitive as a rock, could feel something wasn’t right about this place.
“And you want me to die to see it,” He spat out, clutching the knife so tight he could feel his glove creak from the effort.
“Oh, no, no! Nothing like that. That blade there, it’s called a Finger Severer. It’s made for that one purpose. Now, Commander, I believe you can guess what it’s for from the name, yes?”
Cody looked back down at the blade, “Yes.”
“Yes…?”
Cody grit his teeth, took a breath and spat out, “Yes, Sir.”
The Asshole smiled again, (Cody was getting really tired of that smug face), “Then we can begin,” They purred, “Stand over the altar, Commander, and cut off your pointer finger. Either hand would do.”
Cody turned back to the table, ignoring the sounds of his General’s protests.
A pointer finger. A trigger finger. Without one, he would be at a disadvantage in a fire fight. He wouldn’t be able to shoot with both hands.
But really, he didn’t expect to survive this after whatever happened next.
Sprawling his left hand over the faded words carved into the altar, he held the Finger Severer over his first finger of his left hand (he used his right hand more often. He could use both hands, but he preferred his right. If he got out of this, his right hand would be more useful for adjustment). Raising the knife, he took a deep breath.
“Cody as High General I command you stop-”
“Sorry sir,” He replied and he slammed the knife down with one quick motion.
Shruck!
Cody hissed, yanking his hand away and clutching the stub where his finger was missing. The knife clattered to the floor.
“Oh, oh! It’s working!”
Cody prided his eyes open, looking down at the before faded words. They were glowing gold, and Cody could make out the once faded inscription.
Arise now, ye Tarnished.
Ye dead, who yet live.
Answer this summons, Tarnished Unrelenting. Slayer of Godrick the Grafted, Bester of Rannela of the Full Moon, champion of the festival of Starscourge Radahn, extinguisher of the unwanted twins, Morgott, the Omen King, and Mohg, Lord of Blood, killer of Melenia, Blade of Miquella and Goddess of Rot, executioner of Godfrey, the First Elden Lord. Heretic of the Golden Order, Releaser of Destined Death, burner of the Eru Tree, the Silent Blade of no Lord. Unspeaking and unending. The Elden Lord Eternal. Arise!
Arise I say! For thou aid you are called.
Be thy summoner’s sword and shield. Serve until thy task is complete, and thy enemies lay at thou feet, or return to thy grave, disgraced.
Kiff.
This was some Sith shit wasn’t it?
From the gold glow, a form rose. Their head was covered in a gold embellished black hood that tucked into a black and red robe that fell to just above their ankles with puffy sleeves ending at the elbow that oddly reminded him of the outfits the chancellor wore. Under the robe Cody could see embellished black scale armour with gold accents, the tips of the gauntlets extending and curling to make golden claws that loosely held twin ornate metal blades glowing red. As the figure raised their head, dirty, white hair spilled out from under their hood, and behind the shadows of their bangs, burned golden yellow eyes surrounded by scorched, burnt skin.
The Sith (because what else could they be?) slowly examined the room, blinking slowly as the golden glow faded from their form.
“Oh, great warrior of old!”
The figure looked over at The Asshole, who had their arms thrown open in greeting, smiling wide, “I believed you would come. No, I knew it! It was only a matter of time. It is such an honour to finally meet you.”
The Sith looked between The Asshole, Cody, the droids, and General Kenobi held down by said droids, and simply raised an eyebrow.
“Together, with my mind and your strength, we can free this world from the scum that stains it. We can rid this galaxy of torment and build it anew. I can bring you to new heights, to true glory, great warrior.” The Asshole purred, stretching out a hand to them.
The Tarnished stared at the outstretched hand, and slowly sheathed their blades into the sheaths tucked behind the robe. They stepped down from the bloody altar, glancing at Cody’s bloody finger still on the altar, then at his hand, and then at The Asshole.
Slowly, ignoring the hand in front of them, they stepped back, left leg extended and right hand resting just above their heart, left hand extended out and behind them.
“Oh, wonderful, wonderful! We’ll make an excellent team-”
And then the Sith swung their left hand forward, twisting in one smooth motion as a large spear erupted out from behind them, slamming right through The Asshole’s exposed neck before erupting into flames.
He didn’t even have the time to look surprised before his flesh began to melt away.
The Asshole’s burning body hadn’t even begun to fall before they swung the spear around again and through the 2 closest droid’s necks, leaving the smell of burning metal and wires in its wake.
Before the clankers could even raise their blasters, The Tarnished was moving at a speed Cody had only ever associated with the Jedi, spear gone and twin blades drawn. Their blades were singing with each movement, slicing through droids like a lightsaber, but no burn was left in its wake. When the few remaining droids started shooting, Cody sprinted forward, yanking his General behind the altar, grabbing a blaster from the still smoldering droid nearby.
Blaster in his healthy hand, he leaned around the side of the altar and stared as the Sith ducked and rolled out of the way of blaster bolts with grace even in their robe. Sometimes they didn’t even bother to dodge, taking the hits to cut down another droid before whirling away.
“Oh my…” General Kenobi murmured as Cody began working on his cuffs, hissing as it aggravated what remained of his finger.
“The Separatist had the key didn’t he?” General Kenobi pointed out.
“And your lightsabre” Cody hissed, yanking at the cuffs. Not an effective strategy, sure, but right now they had an unknown Sith carving through droids with metal blades that appeared out of nowhere. Forgive him for not thinking clearly.
General Kenobi sighed, “Wrap your finger at least my dear.”
Then the clanking and blaster fire stopped abruptly. They both went quiet, exchanging a look as the strangely muffled clank of metal footsteps moved towards their cover.
Cody tensed, shuffling in front of his General (who was trying to get in front of him, but Cody pushed him back behind him.) as the Sith stepped around the altar, their swords resting in their scabbards once more as they looked down at them. Cody glared back, raising slowly to his feet, blaster at the ready. The Sith just tilted their head at them, then held out a hand.
Cody glanced down at their hand, blinking. There, pinched between two clawed fingers, was the small keycard for the General’s cuffs.
“Ah. thank you,”
Cody tensed, looking over his shoulder and mentally sighing. Kenobi had stood up and was smiling at the unknown and likely hostile Sith, reaching forward and plucking the keycard out of their grip.
With a tap of the card, the cuff released with a click, falling to the ground.
Kenobi rubbed at his wrists, sighing as the force returned to him, “Much better, now, I am Jedi Master and High General Obi-Wan Kenobi. He/They. This is Marshal Commander Cody, my second in command, He/him” He introduced, smiling brightly, “And you are?” He asked, reaching out and pulling his lightsabre to him from the belt of The Asshole with a flick of their wrist.
The Sith blinked at the display, remained silent before they pointed at the fading writing, then tapped their own chest.
Kenobi glanced at the writing, reading it over, eyebrows raising in surprise, “Your… name is Elden Lord Eternal?” He asked.
The Tarnished shook their head.
General Kenobi gave them a curious look, “A Title then?”
The Sith shrugged, but nodded. Then they turned to the wreckage of the droids, kicking through the metal and wires curiously.
Cody and Kenobi stared at them as they picked up a droid head, looking it over before shrugging and throwing it over their shoulder.
“Well then, may I ask what you intend to do now?” General Kenobi asked, stepping forward. Which Cody begrudgingly allowed. Best to let the force users deal with the force shit.
The Sith looked back over at them, yellow eyes glowing in the shadows as they blinked slowly. They reached towards the altar once more, tapping the last sentence.
General Kenobi leaned forward as well, scanning the lines quickly once more before gesturing towards the charred remains of The Asshole, “Well, I’m sorry to say your summoner is dead. So, I’m not sure what you mean.”
The Sith stared at them for a long moment.
Sighing deeply, They pointed at Cody’s severed finger, then at Cody, tapped the word ‘Summoner’ insistently, before finally giving them a hard look. As if to say ‘get it now?’
Cody stared at the armoured Sith.
No. No kiffing way. This was such force bullsh-
General Kenobi suddenly spoke up, “You serve Cody?”.
The Sith nodded.
…
“Kark.”