The Old Ends, The New Begins 2

<FierceOmen> Maxun stood by Okami's side. His fiery white eyes narrowing in on Ulterion's position. He rose from his defensive stance and twirled the blade in his hand multiple times before finally resting it at his side. His hood covered more of his features this time, only a slant of light to mark the slight smirk on his face. His graying hairs caught wind, and hung loosely out from the garments he wrought, but the look on his face showed the charismatic wisdom of the man who stood at his old Master's side.

"How sadly wrong you are..." The Jedi purred, his voice perusing with toyish sarcasm. "Your feverish lust for power may have granted you access to a domain of abilities, but in the end, all that matters is the man who is wise enough to wield them. Your skill does not reach beyond Okami's, until the day you perish, you will always remain equals. But fear not...

"For that is why I am here."

Maxun glanced back at Okami, nodding at him before stepping forward. "I think it's time you had learned what "new" mean's, Ulterion. Because the reality is that your nothing more than a memory, brought to life by some tremor in the force. You don't belong here, because you no longer exist...

"That part of Okami died a long time ago. Ulterion's lifespan never did measure up to Kage's. So I'd think a little harder the next time you ask yourself who is "new". Because in all reality, it was because of you that you allowed Okami to become who he is today."

"My instructor is correct when he says that the new would not exist without the old. So maybe you should be thanking yourself, for the situation you stand in front of now. Your power, no matter how grand you seem to think it is. Does not compare. Even with that little trinket there in your hand." Orion said, pointing a hand at the blade in his hand.

"I find it ironic how often you belittle the Jedi, when it was your choices that led you into a life with them. Ulterion, do you not see? You left the Sith, and gave birth to Okami. YOU did. Not the other way around. It was your choice back then. And you chose to fade into a memory. Only now, you seek to disrupt the choice you made in the past."

"And I won't let that happen..."

<Takanahara> Ulterion's blade seemed to slightly lower with Orion's words. His once fierce gaze of self-consecrated power through dominion slowly began to splinter, shifting to one of hate and destructive intent. The maniacal grin of insanity slowly turned around, into a snarl of disgust and loathing for the Jedi that spat out words of truth.

"You understand nothing, foolish young child…" words slithered out of the wraith's lips like shards of acidic distaste, "You know nothing of Kage's past that intertwines with mine. There are reasons why one life ended…and the other began…you know NOTHING!"

Slowly the relic in his hands made its way skywards as he spoke. The air began to tremor around his body as he began to pull on the Force. His gallant black attire flicked about him with the unnatural pick up of wind. Sparks of electricity began to erupt around him in an orbital fashion.

"You only comprehend what you see and hear…and your assumptions will be your downfall here and now…" were the last words that escaped his lips before a wave erupted from his core.

Okami's eyes widened in fear as he began to realize Ulterion's motives. He took a step forward, his hand thrusting forth to retaliate with a Repulse that met with Ulterion's first wave. The surface shook from the collision, the vibrations carrying through the trees.

Then down came the blade, pointed directly at Maxun's chest. Kage stepped forth even more, intruding in the path. Kage's saber deactivated, escaping into the recesses of his sleeve as both hands summoned forth the Force between them in a gallant, waving manner.  A small spark of an orb snapped to life between his palms, quickly growing into a swirling small storm. Ulterion's blade then erupted with light as it short forth a beam of light, a small metallic projectile barely visible within its shine. The beam of light collided with the storm, a powerful invisible explosion of the Force as the storm swallowed the beam of light and the projectile.

Little did Maxun probably know, but Ulterion's saber was the same saber that Acrer's brother/father had carried. The second generation to the one Val now had, which had actually been passed on to Acrer as a sign of trust and friendship. But this saber before the two Jedi now had several more sophisticated characteristics than its predecessor. The one being utilized here was the ability to sever the Force within a Force Sensitive by embedding a chip that injected the victim with an Ysalamiri-DNA concoction, which quickly would spread throughout the bloodstream and bring out ultimate demise.

But Kage knew of this ability, for he had seen it before. Which is why he had stepped forth, conjuring a Force Storm between his splayed fingers displaced in the air in front of him. He had then utilized the wormhole aspect of the Force Technique, swallowing the projectile and the beam of the extended saber's blade.

The Jedi Sage then thrust his palms forth, releasing the storm within his palms directly at the wraith. Ulterion raised his saber to defend, but was too slow. Kage had directed the retaliation calculatively, just the right way so that when Ulterion would defend with his blade, it'd impact with the hilt. The wraith's eyes widened in shock as his weapon was struck out of his grip, flying away to an unknown landing within the foliage of the forest.

The wraith, in turn, retaliated by summoning his affiliation with the Force. His body erupted and sent forth a large orb of Kinetite, which slammed into Kage and knocked him skywards. The Sage landed several yards away.

<FierceOmen> The Jedi resisted against the waves of pressure as Ulterion expanded them through the force. Watching without input as Okami once against risked himself for the sake of Orion's morality. It was an aspect of his old instructor that he found both appreciating, if not frustrating. For placing himself at the behest of his student often left him with the most grievous of scars. It seemed that this time however, Okami had managed the upper hand; and it was ultimately Ulterion to endure the sacrifice of its outcome. With an illustrious blade lost, and Kage sustaining a Kinetite attack shortly afterwards, the eyes of the aging Jedi Seer closed as he rose from the climax of this chaotic endeavor, the winds of the aftermath giving life to his heavy cloak.

"A blind man could see the truth, Ulterion. And a deaf man could hear it. My age and my wisdom need not compensate for the simple facts." Orion's voice boomed over the calamity, sparks of emerald light to scatter from the palms of his hands and wayward to the blades of his shoulders. "You fail to see beyond your demise, and so you bear the old habits of a fiendish man. Lusting for power and control, but beyond the comprehension of ever knowing how to contain it all."

The Jedi Master's godly eyes brightened as the mystic lightning encompassed his entire being. Forging from its presence two electric stalactites to which Orion held firmly in either hand.

"No Ulterion... the only man blinded and deafened is you. Your addiction clouds your vision, and your inevitable lack of reason ensures you deny all plausible claim that I bring before you through words."

Maxun braced himself. The two slender brands of energy stretching out of his hands like hell-risen blades. Crackling so brightly that they fluctuated in color.

"Stand tall, Ulterion...

"...For I will show you here and now, how much of a fool I really am!"

Like a pole tossing mythical god, Orion cast forth one of the stalactites, and it sharpened as it propelled itself through the air. Tendrils of lightning lashed out as it flew, striking the ground with reckless abandon as it stretched outward in an attempt to find a home in the dark wraith's chest. Orion let loose the second; aiming just to the right of the next in anticipation. It, too, contorted its energies upon the helpless ground of Dathomir, stabbing its forest-filled regions with lavish arms of light. Orion rose from his pitching throw, his entire body covered in lightning, to which slowly flickered and faded as the last bolt met its mark upon the wraith's precious light saber. Whether it hit or not remained to be seen... And so the Jedi looked on...

Re-kindling his blade and taking his calm and cautious steps forward, the eerie blankets of his attire to embellish the wind with its graceful sweeps of liveliness as he marched into battle with Okami's ancient demon.

<Takanahara> With a proud gaze of landing his retaliation, Ulterion looked at the result of his Kinetite based attack. There was nothing but a mere endless black pit within the surface of Dathomir. Tendrils of smoke slowly escaped from the lips of the human-sized cave. The younger Jedi's merely echoed with the recesses of his ears as he continued to stare with devilish content.

Orion's louder words finally broke his gaze. But it was almost too late for the wraith. His eyes widened with surprise, disgust, and fear as he suddenly realized the two poles of energy that were jettisoned in his direction. He didn't have enough time to concoct retaliation.

The wraith's palms came up in front of his diaphragm. The first pillar hit, massive and backed with such force that he staggered on the bent tree on which he stood. The second one hit with equal impact, causing him to stumble and slide back with his footing. The Force Shield he held within the limits of his hands crackled, screamed, and shook with defiance as he struggled to keep the two pillars at bay. A scream of dismay erupted from his mouth as the conflict in front of his palms erupted, throwing him off his feet and back into the tree. The tree cried out in defiance before shattering into splintered shards and the wraith found himself thrown into the dirt.

He struggled to bring himself to his feet, his eyes catching hold of Orion as he began to approach. His wispy robes flickered about his form with the gale that surged around the area of conflict between Dark and Light. For once, he had found himself several times confronted with a situation that wasn't entirely within his hands.

"You are arrogant…and ignorant…" he huffed, laughing with insanity before continuing, "No one has been able to kill me…not you…not Kage…no Jedi or Sith…no one knows how…you're all fools!"

Ulterion's main hand erupted with emblazoned red electricity. It screamed and crackled as he utilized the Force to keep it confined in a saber-like fashion.

<FierceOmen> Whatever uncanny red energy, did not confine itself within Ulterion's grasp stretched out to strike the ground next to Orion. But he did not waver as he continued his march. Dust and dirt blossomed at intervals at either side of him, but the robes were the only one to evade each impact. The closer the Jedi approached, the quicker his step became, until finally, the enchanted blade in his hand stretched out to connect with Ulterion's without fear.

The impact cast out a wave of force. Sweeping across the land and bringing up a spherical ring of dust as Orion's lightsaber, and Ulterion's self-invoked blade, measured each other's strength.

Orion leaned in closer, his eyes peering into Ulterion's. His face no longer hidden underneath his hood as the light from the two energies showed the neutrality of his current emotion. He did not smile, he did not frown, most of all, he gave no look of shock or surprise. The existence of fear and uncertainty was lost with him. No matter how sickly the thing before him was, only a sullen and taciturn expression lay upon his face.

"You've done enough already, Ulterion. The time has come for you to accept your fate!"

Orion's blade retreated back within its handle, and the red blade sheered through his flesh, splitting the Jedi cleanly in two. Orion felled in one swift slash... The portions of his body landed upon the surface of Dathomir, the stricken face believable... in the fear it clearly showed...

Time passed, enough for Ulterion to marvel at his achievement...

But it was short-lived...

"The only blind and deaf person here is you, Ulterion... Because you do not understand reason, and because your arrogance clouds your judgment." The voice indeed was Orion's, and almost as soon as it had spoke did the doppelganger clone on the floor finally fade into a haze of blue aura. The Jedi stood behind the Wraith. His blade held firmly in one hand, while the other grasped a familiar silver handle. Orion's eyes went from Ulterion to the blade once possessed by him.

"You are not responsible enough to wield such power..." he bellowed from across their arena. "A blade of such nature was not meant to fall into the hands of evil. But I digress, I am quite grateful this blade can be held by anyone.

"Your reign of terror ends with us, Ulterion. You cannot pull off a victory here."

<Takanahara> What fate he had bestowed upon his opponent truly struck glee within his core. His twisted, insane smile kept its demeanor as he stared at the two halves.

But his moment of seeming victory lasted so shortly as the Jedi's voice penetrated the air behind him. Slowly he turned, facing his opponent once again with his red Force Saber laxed at his side. Insanity had truly taken hold, his mind overrun by his lust for success, power, and prowess.

The gale ensued from the conflicting energies between the wraith and the Jedi. Both of their garments flickered about as a moment of verbal silence ensued. The dirt and debris, branches as well were roughly tossed about in a chaotic manner. His lips parted to show his pearly white, perfect teeth.

"You cannot predict this outcome, fool… I don't think you even have the heart to end my existence… if you ever figure out how…"

Ulterion elicited a loud, truly dark cackle that rang forth across the arena, shaking it slightly as the Force backed his voice, "I do not bleed. I do not breathe. I have no need for food. Sleep is but an option, as my body doesn't need it. I do not live, yet the Force has granted life upon me. My question to you is…how do you kill something that doesn't even live…? Something so…empty…"

The wraith's cackling ensued once again. His conjured saber rose to point at the Jedi from afar.

"My old student…will always do what he knows is right…whether or not it's something he wants to do…"

Okami's voice weakly spoke through the subtly screaming winds. Ulterion merely smiled, not even turning around to face his other opponent. The Jedi Sage had pulled himself out of the cave, and now stood semi-proudly on the opposite end of the arena. He had his fists balled tightly, so tight that his knuckles whitened from the lack of pushed away blood.

"He doesn't even know…does he?" Ulterion sneered, cocking his head to the side as he stared Orion down, "Or perhaps I should ask…does he even realize the result if he were to somehow kill me?"

<FierceOmen> Feverish winds swept up his attire, but the man who wore them stood firm ground. Max acknowledged his old Master's presence as he rose from the chaos with little injury. The aging Jedi took caution in the wraith's words. Old he was becoming, and wisdom poured through him as he contemplated Ulterion's threatening vices.

"You both leave me little room for credit..." Orion bolstered, eyeing his Master coherently, while a slight smile wedged upon his face. "I am no simpleton. And I've a mind to find a solution that works best for both parties..."

"Well... for Okami and I, that is."

The Jedi seer's eyes returned to Ulterion, and he tilted his head forward, shadows dawning on his face, placed there by the flickering hood held over his head. The silver strands of hair moved as enigmatically as the dark-textured garments. Flailing in their own tantalizing dance as the furious winds whisked about the forests of Dathomir.

"You are an apparition of the force, Ulterion. A sweltering bucket for the dark side to fill power with to its heart's content. I am not deluded by the concept of your existence. But your death and your fate, are two different things."

"You belittle my knowledge of the force too much." Orion said as he lifted the handle of the blade Ulterion once held. Utilizing his connection to raise it only slightly above his hand. The solidified handle floated into complicated pieces... revealing its interior design. Of the contents swarming above his palm. The crystals shined with renewed divinity.

"You are an apparition of the force, Ulterion... getting rid of you will be as easy as embedding the force with crystals... like so many Jedi and Sith have done in the past. And seeing as how the blade fell into your hands, and it just so happens to nullify the force on no more than a flick of a switch, a few modifications should be enough to seal you...

"For good."

Orion's eyes narrowed as he finished his sentence. Around the same time, the handle came together once more.

"You may fight, or you may run... but your powers, like all in this universe, are limited. Even if Kage and I fail, your tyranny will not go unwatched, and there are many beings in this universe... You cannot defeat them all.

"You cannot escape your inevitable fate..."

Orion raised his chin, his eyes glaring down upon Ulterion with a superior look. Even if he was meters away. "A shame that death is no longer an ally to you... it would've seemed more fleeting than spending an eternity sealed within a lightsaber..." Orion chuckled innocently...

"Perhaps I can make a Jedi out of you yet... in a manner of speaking..."

<Takanahara> The wraith kept his maniacal grin, even more so as he began to realize the hints that Maxun was throwing his way. The Force Saber extending from his hand slowly receded as a dark chuckle began to grow within the depths of his chest. His palms came out, fingers splayed as he directed the Force into the surface of Dathomir.

"Cages and confinements are meant for animals…and I'm no animal…" his words were thick, deep, and trembling along with the tremors that began to build beneath the arena, "Cages and confinements are built to be broken. You cannot hold me down, and none ever shall. Nothing can contain something that is constantly growing, constantly expanding with no forecast of stopping."

As the wraith continued to feed the Force into the surface below their feet, the Jedi Sage began to shift his footing lest he fall to his knees. Trees shook, boulders began to crack, and crevices began to emerge upon the planet's surface. What Ulterion was doing was unclear, but the Force began to swell around the planet as he so called upon it.

"Max…" Okami's words echoed into his old Padawan's mind. He began to pour his thoughts into the other's, creating a solid link. The Jedi Sage showed him how Ulterion was created, and out of nothingness was his life brought forth. How his own soul was ripped into two equal, exact opposite pieces, Light and Dark. That both he and Ulterion would be incomplete halves, forever conflicting one another and forever growing at an equal rate. The plans and realizations that the Jedi Sage had, suddenly washed over Maxun's mind. If containing Ulterion weren't to work, then by finishing off Ulterion for good would also mark Kage's own death. For Light cannot exist without the Dark, and if one were to pass on so would the other. That it wasn't within his own power to end himself or his counterpart.

"You cannot deny the inevitability of a power that constantly grows!" Ulterion's words sang forth, a ring and wave of the Force expelling from his body.

The planet then shook, groaning in defiance. The crevices on its surface broke forth and up in jagged pieces, embellished with streams of red light as magma spewed from the planet's core. Trees began to quake and topple over, wildlife crying out in fear and attempting to run away with no successful retreat. The wraith released his full potential, his true connection with the Force. A connection that was so vast, so Dark that as he fed it into the planet, it began to crack and break into pieces.

<FierceOmen> Orion's eyes lowered as the visions from Okami flashed before him. It was enough to consider his master's fate the moment Ulterion had reflected upon their connection. And the Jedi had weighed that possibility, carefully. He had understood how long Okami had thrived among the living in his physical form, through an elaborate Force Cloning technique that he had optimized in order to continue his research into the aspects of the Force.

Kage was perhaps the most powerful Jedi out of them all, perhaps even more so than the grandmaster... but at the nearing age of forty, Orion too had done nothing but study its mysteries. And in those forty years, he had more than exemplified how swiftly he had caught on to the knowledge of the Force, and the general idea of how it worked to maintain the balance within this universe. With every technique and philosophy learned, Orion studied it's consequences... taking each caution to heart.

Power, if held unchecked, could consume both Orion and Okami had they not taken on the responsibilities they had devoted themselves to... much like they did to Ulterion in the present situation.

But Orion had one drive that Kage had not perceived. A secret he had held all this time, shortly after his exile. It was this one thing that defined his resolve. A persevering value that allowed the Jedi to face the monstrosities before him without fear, shock, or surprise.

Ulterion and Kage knew little of the sacrifices he had made to keep the galaxy in order. The very sacrifices that ruled out a life he could have lived. A life that served a greater purpose, but could not have ever thrived so long as the tyranny of Ulterion and the Empire still thrived.

"Like you and your counterpart, I have studied the aspects of the Force to its core. Its purpose is to preserve order and life. Like this galaxy, every living thing is torn between the concept of positive and negative energies, it is these very things that influence us to make moral decisions. Culture defines that which is right and wrong. And to the Sith, power is the base line for all things to come. They seek to rule out the weak in order for the strong to thrive. But too often they realize that power is as much a curse as any... for in the end it is power that strikes the final blow."

"You would sooner lose this battle to your own mistakes, more so than the skills Kage and I possess. You have no reason, and without reason... you cannot win..."

"You cannot exist."

Orion's ground stood firm despite the smoldering hot magma and fleeting slabs of rock that threatened to consume him. What liquid-hot drops of heat fell toward him stopped short; falling helplessly off an invisible shield of energy. Orion's eyes grew hotter still, the bright white-lit eyes of his gaze burning into Ulterion's with some unrealized resolve.

"One way or another... your path of destruction ends here...

"For the sake of the galaxy...

"For the sake of its inhabitants...

"And for the sake of my SON!"

The glowing orbs exploded, enshrouding the arena with light as Orion's palms hovered over the cracking surface. The heightened forces of his affiliation cast itself over the barren surface like a bandage, fighting wavelength battles with Ulterion's subjective dark side energies. Dathomir slowed it's trembling, the divulged scars along it's surface closing as if healed by the touch of the Jedi's power.

But this was no flaunting of skill, it was nothing more than a cold epiphany of just what Ulterion was up against.

Orion had reached something close to the peak of his abilities. Kage had trained him more well then he could have ever imagined. Where Okami had failed to do so, he had only expanded in his own search for knowledge. The driving motivation behind such research was not out of addiction however. In the case of Orion, it was always nothing more than being prepared to face off against those who chose to abuse knowledge for the sake of gain.

Orion's life may have been one large tragedy-- Witnessing the death of so many friends, and on multiple occasions, seeing Kage mortally wounded; to experiencing the loss of his Padawan's cherished ones, and in standing through to the end all of the torments that came upon them-- but if there was a shining light in any of his past experiences, it was that he had, in his most troubled moments, found a saving grace.

Love.

The ten years of Orion's life were not focused on merely training, Acrer... and fighting his demons... in the last moments of his exile he married. And if it weren't for the threat of the Empire, and Ulterion himself, he would have never returned.

It was this passionate resolve to protect his family that drove Orion to great lengths to become a powerful Jedi, like his master before him. He knew the consequences of gain, and took all of its aspects to heart. Constantly remembering his responsibilities, and the wary care he had to take in possessing an expansive knowledge of the force. Orion passionately sought knowledge so that, in doing so, he could protect the weak against those who only sought it for personal gain...

He did it so that his son could live in a world not bound by the clutches of such fear. For that, Orion sacrificed a life with his son in order to secure his future.

"You underestimate what it is we fight for... what it is I fight for... Ulterion. Whether you can die or not does not matter to me... in the end, I will find a way to end you, here and now!"

Orion let out a bellowing cry, his eyes flashing as his downward palms directed themselves forward. His arms shook vigorously as the whitened beams of energy sent it's resplendent wave toward Ulterion.

"The only way darkness can thrive is if the light has lost its will to shine. In it's presence, darkness sleeks back and disappears in cowardice!"

<Takanahara> Chaos erupted the instant the Jedi's Force Light hit with such extreme force. The wraith had conjured up a wall of essence of his own, the blackened wispy barrier howling with defiance as it struggled with keeping the beams of Light at bay. The entire arena began to quake with such defiance. Energies collided with such altercation, and once again the entire surface of Dathomir began to quake, struggling to hold such power contained upon it.

"You…you cannot beat me alone…you…you have power…but you're not…strong enough…"

The wraith's words seeped from his clenched mouth. Like liquid dark smog, the words became nothing but of essence as he spoke, trailing from his lips to the quaking grounds below. Beneath his feet the ground began to shatter and indent, as if his mere weight was too much of a burden to uphold.

From the other end, behind Ulterion, Kage had crouched low and brought his palms to one side. Slowly his eyes closed as he, too, began to call upon his affiliation with the Force. The air picked up around his wizened form, whipping around his heavy cloth robes in an angelic fashion.

"No…but together…your end is now marked…" came the fierce words from the Jedi Sage.

Okami's palms came forth, directed at his counterpart's exposed back. The wraith turned just in time to throw up another barrier of his own essence as yet another beam of Force Light hailed upon him. It was truly awe striking to see the scene that had erupted forth. Darkness in the middle, quivering and shaking to uphold its defenses against the two beams of pure Light that trapped it.

Like tendrils of light, the beams began to crawl and snake around the orb-like shield that Ulterion struggled to uphold. In only a few mere seconds, his form had vanished within the orb of his own making. Nevertheless, the Jedis continued their assault. Anger and selfish hatred coursed through Kage's eyes, for it was his hell-bent wish to see his counterpart fall.

And as he stared at the fate that was to become of Ulterion, a realization had hit him…

A sudden implosion erupted; a massive ring of a shockwave ensuing that broke the two beams of Light. Okami was knocked to his knees as he struggled to keep his composure against the result of conflicting energies. And there, in the center of all things cowered the crumbling, melting form of his alter soul, his other half.

There was only one way to end this. Time had begun to slow as Okami once again closed his eyes, holding up just one splayed palm. The Sage was always known for obtaining knowledge of the Force that was not understood by many, for he was always striving to find ways to unlock its secrets, its mysteries. In his last waking hours of life, he had figured out to slow down time itself using the Force, even amidst his dire search for his counterpart. Time and environment continued to slow, until eventually everything had froze completely.

The Jedi Sage then created a link with his old and most beloved Padawan, Maxun Orion…

Okami's words then flowed through the other Jedi's mind, an echo of the past, present, and future.

"Maxun Izak Orion…

"I have seen many things in my lifetime. The death of many is but a mere trifle in my mind, to have seen those I have come to care and have love for perish before me numerous times in numerous forms.

"I have seen the fall of the Jedi when I first began my life as one. To see such a war that erupted, and the rise of Robert Skywalker as he became the Jedi Grandmaster. The destruction of numerous Jedi and Sith Temples alike. The fall of the Sith Archon, at the time, that called himself The One.

"I have seen the fall of Robert Skywalker, as his life took a horrible turn down the path of Darkness. When he, himself, became that which he swore to destroy. The rise of his son, to protect the lives that his own father threatened to demolish.

"I have seen the rise of the new Archon, and her gain to extreme power. And her fall of not too long ago…

"Maxun Izak Orion…I remember the first day I met you. You were but a mere youngling, striving to grow in the ways of the Jedi. A lost child seeking for knowledge, when the world around him refused to give it to him. Yet you still didn't give up, for I had found you in that training room so long ago. The moment I saw you, I knew what potential you had.

"Even that day, when you first witnessed my Dark counterpart attempt to push through. And even then, when you had barely known me, you shined through and didn't give up your pursuit to save me, from myself. I knew more so even then, what great and powerful of a man you were to become.

"My entire life, as chaotic as it was, then became the focus of helping you grow. I had entrusted some of my most valued secrets to you, ways of life and the Force that so many had died attempting to receive such knowledge. The moment my own Dark side pushed through, it had become my focus to prepare you for its return.

"I was selfish, and it isn't until now that I have realized that I always have been. My entire goal thenceforth was to shape you into a being to withstand me, of all things. I hadn't realized it then, or even long before that, that my own thirst of knowledge of the Force would ultimately become my own downfall. I had failed to realize that by continuing my own growth, I was unintentionally feeding my Dark counterpart at the same time…

"But even with my own selfish intents, you still grew in ways that even I couldn't imagine or predict. So heavily into the future of my own desires and plots was I that I didn't even once stop to think about how you were becoming your own individual. I had failed to realize that even I was becoming like unto my own greatest nemesis, Loreli Maronei. I had tried to shape you into my own image, my own desires. To make you become something better and stronger than me, without even the slightest care of your own destiny and agency.

"Yet you still pushed through, growing in your own unique ways. Even in ways that I couldn't teach you, you shined through. That day I had thought was my final death, at the hands of my own greatest nemesis; I saw the look on your very own eyes. I will never forget that look that even everything I had put you through you still cared about me.

"Even when I thought I had such close feelings and connection to you...I had failed to see how much of a son you had become to me. A son that had followed the teachings of his father, through thick and thin; even when his father's goals and passions were tainted in their own ways. To think that even you, one who wasn't even of my own flesh and blood, had become family to me.

"That even my own flesh and blood, my very own son, wasn't as close to me as you were then, and even now. So I stop and think…what have I done to keep you safe, to keep Valandil safe? What have I done to keep anyone safe, except for myself? So heavy into my own growth, my own thirst of knowledge of the Force, to learn how to cheat death in so many ways, that I had not once truly stopped and thought about the well being of those that truly cared about me.

"Life is but a big adventure. A continual process of learning and growing. I had feared death so much that I had escaped its clutches numerous times. But I have come to realize…that my journey is at an end, and has been for a very long time. There is no more room for growth, I have no purpose anymore. I have reached my goals, and done what I've always wanted to do…and now…it is time that I finally begin to set myself aside…and do something for everyone else…"

Time then came to a shattering reality as it moved once again, for Ulterion had broken the hold that the Jedi Sage had on it. He screamed in fury, turning upon his own counterpart of Light.

Kage's outstretched palm twisted to the side, and the relic of a saber that Orion had whisked to the skies above. The wraith cast forth his most devastating Force Lightning variation yet, an electrical blast so powerful that it ripped the surface of Dathomir to shreds as it headed for the wizened Jedi. Kage's other palm came forth, holding the attack at bay with what appeared to be so much ease he seemed to not even try at all.

The lightsaber high above then slowly began to piece apart. Its contents floated away from one another, the secrets revealed fully. The four crystals within then floated down, encompassing the cardinal directions around the wraith; north, south, east and west. The Ysalamiri DNA then trailed down, creating a connecting ring between each crystal. The wraith's attack was then cut off, his entire form trapped within a cage of nullification, to which he screamed in defiance.

Okami then dashed forth, tears beginning to streak down his wrinkled cheeks. His outstretched palm slowly lifted, as if hailing the gods of the skies. The apparatus he had created and the wraith then slowly began to lift. His own feet began to escape the broken surface as well. The trapped wraith began to soar to the stars at a rapid pace, his essence trailing behind like tails of smoke; Kage was mere feet behind, his own form beginning to glow with his affiliation.

Keeping one palm directed at the encased wraith, he used his other to create an ungodly Force Barrier around the planet of Dathomir. He knew fully well what he was doing, and what was to happen. He had to protect not only Orion, but the planet as well.

"It is time…for the Old Age to end…and give room for the New Age to grow…balance…must be brought back to this life…"

As the two continued to soar away from the planet, their physical forms became lost to their essence and affiliation. The apparatus fell apart, unable to withstand the intense crushing powers of the space that surrounded it. But Kage continued to soar along with the wraith, closing the distance between them and embedding his palm into Ulterion's chest.

Kage then cast forth his other hand, calling upon everything within his affiliation. A small orb erupted to life, growing in size until it enveloped both of their bodies. He called upon the Force's most deadliest and powerful ability, banishment. The orb finally stopped its devastating growth, seeming to pause for a mere moment. Then the implosion came, banishing both individuals to Outer Chaos. An eruption sang through the Force as both beings were banished, a wave that carried through every single galaxy to witness unto everything that the existence of them no longer is.

The Force Barrier around the planet of Dathomir then subsided, dissipating in quivering ripples until it was no more. Ulterion, along with Jedi Sage Kage Okami, was no more. No longer to be called upon by any Force user, to be brought back from the netherworld for help or guidance. To be banished to Outer Chaos was the ultimate death, the final end to anything living, dead, or spiritual, never to return or forced back into existence.

<FierceOmen> Of the three men that stood at the heart of Dathomir's Forest. Only one man had survived to witness the end of this climactic battle. One Jedi left to watch, as the resplendent energies in the sky dwindled to no more than a shimmering star.

Kage's final words echoed with divinity in Orion's mind, and once again... those pearlescent and godly white eyes of his were replaced with the onset of tear shed. Maxun was a tough hearted individual. And a tradition older than Okami lied in the simple fact that men didn't cry. But so overwhelming was his old master's sacrifice that such a law could be not but broken.

The raging fires that had erupted from Dathomir only moment's prior were now replaced with the silent chirpings and calls of the forest wildlife. What broken tremors and cleaved wounds were now sealed, only vivid scars to depict any idea of what transpired here. It only poured more salt on the hurt, as Orion ultimately realized that he was the only person out of the entire galaxy to witness the full extent of what happened.

Orion knelt down to one knee, the wariness in both soul and mind adding weight to his shoulders as he leaned over. A single hand to support his weight. His contemplations and emotional distraught had him hopelessly stretching his senses out as far as he could, looking for any sign of his aura... but the only thing to return his search was nothing. The Jedi's heart took another devastating wound. Hopelessly he replied to his master's final words, doing his best to hide the fact that they could never be heard. In this life or the next.

"Foolish old man..." he spoke through the force, the hand upon Dathomir's surface clenching to grasp a handful of dirt.

"If you were so selfish... you wouldn't have taken me in... Though your ways were strict, you showed nothing but passion in every lesson... You gave me this strength, even if it was only the soil upon which my wisdom and knowledge grew...

"A selfish man would've kept his secrets, a selfish man would have hidden away that knowledge...

"A selfish man wouldn't so effortlessly throw himself into the crossfire to save his student... countless times..."

Moments passed as the ground beneath him soaked in the sorrow of the old Jedi's pain. He mourned in silence, no more than tears to drain from his eyes as a diligent frown transpired his face. He picked up a tuft of dirt. Letting the particles of sand run through his fingers as his ominous robes flickered in the now peaceful winds.

"You deserve better than this fate... You deserve a peaceful, everlasting life among the force..."

As the sand shed it's blanket from the basket of his palm, a shimmering stone revealed itself. One crystal, which had fallen from the tragic resolution in the sky.

The Jedi seer took a sleeve across his face. Wiping away the liquidated orbs to focus upon its shine. It chimed innocently, as if dispelling words he couldn't ever possibly comprehend. Slowly, his digits cradled the gleaming shard. And Orion's head rose to view the temperate horizon before him.

"My journey does not end here..."

Slowly he rose back to his feet, his powerful robes becoming livelier as he stood tall. His hood dawned upon him haplessly, aided by the gusts, and his strands of gray hair flickered about his narrowing eyes. Becoming more sage-like, the more he thought about what lay ahead.

"Valandil and Acrer are nearly ready for their trials. And one last Sith stands in the way of peace... for the family I left behind, and for the people of this galaxy...

"I will NOT rest until the Empire withdraws this outrageous campaign...

"I will not rest... until I find a way to give you a peace you truly deserve...

"I promise!"

Orion's eyes peered upward toward the sky. A sudden determined look upon his face. A face that was all too familiar. Anyone who gazed upon him would know, just what that look meant.

If there was any one talent that Orion had, it was perseverance. And when he made a promise... the Jedi kept it. With the crystal left by the dazzling sword forged by the histories intertwined with his one true master. Orion took it as a symbol. The torch had been passed on to him. Until the time came when he found a way to access the barrier between reality and nonexistence, he would become the devoted teacher he was meant to be. To pass on Okami's knowledge to his son, and Acrer. Orion's hand receded into his garments, placing the crystal within a chest pocket, near his beating heart. He curled his hands around the crystal one more time. His eyes peering intensely into the burning shimmer of aftermath in the sky.

"... I promise..."

And thus began... The Chronicles of Orion...