"How…interesting," I hummed aloud as I panned A's camera lens around the cavern.
Oh, I knew exactly what he'd created in that cavern. I wasn't surprised at their existence, rather that Castor was capable of making so many at one time. Even among dedicated Sith Sorcerers, it wasn't a commonly used spell these days, if at all.
Invented by Dathka Graush nearly three thousand years ago, the Tsaiwinokka Hoyakut was a spell that combined Alchemy and Magic to reanimate corpses into tireless, nigh-unstoppable killers.
It sounded pretty straightforward, but the true insidiousness of the power was that it was self-perpetuating, as the undead could make more of themselves via bite.
You only needed to create one and set it loose in a populated area to potentially make a planet-wide epidemic.
On a scale of potential destructiveness, it's on par with the Rakghoul Plague, but inferior to the Technovirus. Despite this, it's rarely been used as an offensive power, but rather as a means to create undying, unsleeping guardians.
Rather than die out with Graush like one would expect from a unique power created by a Sith, it was preserved until Sorzus Syn got a chance to record the ritual in her journal, which was then passed down through the generations since the Exiles came to Korriban.
The spell was used so often by Sith Lords before Vitiate's time that there are still countless masterless zombies wandering Korriban or defending tombs.
At this point, there are so many of them that they're almost considered part of the wildlife.
Seriously, fuck Korriban. Being a desert hellhole apparently wasn't enough, so they had to throw Walking Dead into a world that was way too close to Mad Max for comfort.
And now, I had to deal with this. The big problems with fighting Korriban Zombies are their bite and the fact that they don't stop until you destroy their heads. Sure, I could just continually smash them with the Force, but they'd keep getting back up.
I wouldn't have the time for the kind of precision needed to kill the zombies permanently, but using massive blasts of telekinesis was inefficient.
However, I'd be fighting Castor as well and I still wasn't entire sure how he would fight. Was he a full-blown sorcerer or just a dabbler? Tsaiwinokka Hoyakut was a potential doomsday spell if used in the right place, and not something used lightly. It was entirely possible he only researched this single ritual for use in an emergency…or for a specific purpose.
There was obviously something going on that Iren had not told me about. But then, I suppose I couldn't deal with that until after Castor was taken care of. However, the issue remaining is how to get to my target. Before, it was just twisting tunnels between us. Now, there was a legion of dead in my way.
Retreat wasn't an option. A's camera showed another tunnel on the other side of the chamber. If I tried to hole up, Castor would send his zombies to chase me down, then escape to wherever that tunnel lead.
No. I had to face him here or else risk having to track him down to whatever bolt hole he managed to find later.
I needed an army of my own. And I knew just where to find one. The trick was not getting eaten by them before they got to Castor.
...
Using the Force to strengthen my lungs, I ran at a dead sprint down the corridor, screeches echoing down the passage behind me. Ahead, the opening leading to the cavern loomed. The rotting form of an Imperial soldier in full armor stood at the doorway, blocking my path.
I whipped one of my pistols out of its holster without stopping and fired three shots, "Out of my way!"
One missed, but the other two hit home, slamming into its chest. Neither was in the right place to take the creature down, but the force behind the projectiles caused it to stumble back enough for me to get by.
"Movemovemove!" I chanted under my breath as I sped past, slipping my weapon back into its holster.
Almost immediately after I passed the doorway, the room lit up as a plume of blue flame shot out from the dais. As chanting began echoing around the chamber, the flame arced towards the ceiling before swinging back down in my direction. Directly in front of me, hundreds of corpse warriors turned, their glowing red eyes swiveling towards me as they hefted their varied weapons.
If I wasn't in such ludicrous danger, I'd be laughing my ass off at what I was doing. But since I was, I channeled the resulting panic and adrenaline into the Force. Raising both hands, I pulled at the Force, forming it into a massive opaque angled barrier in front of me…and didn't stop running.
Because fuck subtle.
Zombies were flattened against the deceptively hard twelve-by-ten surface before either sliding off or crumbling to pieces. Like a snow plough, my wedge-shaped ram of raw telekinetic force sliced through the army, sending corpses crashing to the ground in my wake.
Blasters fired as some of them tried to shoot me in the back, but I was moving too quickly for them to get a good shot. Just because they could use weapons, didn't mean they were any good with them.
The ground shook beneath me as the pillar of flame struck the stone and the flash of light dyed the room blue. Rather than chase me like I expected, it guttered out and died, throwing the cavern back into darkness. Thankfully, I had a glowrod lit up and attached to my belt to light my way.
Suddenly, something dark and powerful slammed into my barrier, causing me to stagger. It wasn't strong enough to completely stop my progress, but it slowed me for a moment as the impact pushed back against me.
One was followed by two, and then three. Cracks started appearing in my barrier as more of the dark projectiles hit home. I knew it wasn't going to hold for much longer.
In that split second, I weighed my options. I wasn't too much farther from the dais and Castor, but I wouldn't have time to put up another barrier strong enough to take hits like those. In that case, durability would have to be traded for speed.
With a grunt, I shoved the barrier forward, bulldozing the zombies directly in its path. That done, I shunted as much power into my muscles as possible and jumped. Just as my feet left the ground, an orb of darkness slammed into the spot I had just left, sending stone chips flying as it gouged a small crater into the floor.
As I flew through the air, any fear that was left in me bled away into excitement. My heart pounded in my chest as a grin started spreading across my face. Black projectiles flew by, joined by blasterfire from dozens of zombies below. The explosions as the former hit the walls…the light of the plasma…they were all dulled by the sound of blood pumping through my veins.
All the while…I was not afraid. I was happy! I was excited! I needed more! More!
Laughter ripped itself from my throat as I descended. Gathering the Force in my hands, I shot a wave of kinetic force towards the mass of corpses below and laughed as bodies and limbs flew in opposite directions.
Any rage from before was thrown away as joy took its place.
Power flowed into me, energizing me like I'd never felt before!
I unleashed another Force Wave before jumping again, avoiding another bolt of darkness. When was the last time I was this happy?
I was enjoying this! I loved it!
Another crowd of zombies went flying before I landed.
How was it wrong to feel this? Fuck the Jedi, there was nothing wrong with joy!
Blood pounding in my ears, I hopped around the cavern like the galaxy's most destructive rabbit. My laughter drowned out Castor's chanting.
I was…
I faltered on the next blast, though it still cleared the area.
I was…
I was losing control.
Like a castle gate, I slammed down on my emotions, sealing the fortress. I built the dam high and strong, severing my connection to whatever was…Ragnos. No, Ragnos' tomb. The Force was strong here, and I'd been drawn in for a moment. The euphoria was a false one. A high brought about by a sudden influx of power.
Only now did I realize that I had reached and passed the dais by a fair margin.
I felt weaker, now that the tomb's power wasn't flowing through me. Considering how much power I was throwing around, I wasn't surprised.
I leaped one last time, arcing over the heads of the last of the crowd of zombies between me and my prey. By now, I felt sweat running down my body from exertion. I poured what I could spare into my muscles again to soothe and strengthen them. As my feet touched stone again, I drew my sword and pistol, raising the latter to point at my target.
Across from me, Castor's volcanic eyes stared at me impassively from his hood, though there was a hint of amusement under it.
Like me, sweat was dripping down his exposed skin from his own efforts to kill me.
From the entrance, the screech of k'lor'slugs echoed to our ears.
The rogue acolyte turned his head slightly to look and blinked owlishly. With a tone as dry as Korriban's sands, he commented, "You are completely mad, do you know that?"