Glancing between all the security monitors from the static time of Pause, Corvus determined that the auditorium had been filled with every clone and employee of the prison.
Un-Pausing, Corvue's thumb depressed the detonator.
The camera screens within the auditorium shook, and turned white as multiple fireballs erupted within the confined space.
[+442,300exp]
The number floated in his peripheral, and immediately advanced him past level 16/17, up to 18!
His exp bar now read 33,230/171,000 to lvl 19.
This was a major cause for celebration, however, the number was lower than the expected value!
Each clone so far granted 200exp, the regular employees granted 25, and the Warden had netted 150.
If the prison had a compliment of 2,500-barring the 4 clones he had killed thus far-than he should have gained close to 500,000 exp!
Meaning, by the numbers there were at least 300~ clone survivors within the auditorium!!!
And here he thought simple math wouldn't be so useful in his everyday life.
Glancing through the monitor of a security cam that wasn't broken, Corvus saw through the smoke that many of the survivors were wounded, and perhaps less than 150 of them were limber enough for a fight.
Realizing he had to take care of this, Corvus left the security room, and rushed to the auditorium.
Smoke filled the air, and a cancerous metallic tang scent was pervasive. Loose electrical wire, dark lighting, and the moans of the dying met Corvus's senses as soon as he arrived on the scene.
Posted up at the entrance, a squad of clones had their rifles pointing outward, and were ready for business.
Cloaked in invisibility-wearing his Revan mask for when he inevitably broke said invisibility-and juiced up on [Speed/Valor/Energy Resistance], Corvus jumped over this forward facing line, and ignited his twin lightsabers.
Spinning in a flourish, Corvus flashed the pair of blue bars at incredible speeds, and cut through the clones like a hot knife through butter.
12 troopers dropped dead within a handful of seconds.
Some other clones had witnessed this, and to their credit, began opening fire almost as soon as Corvus had arrived.
Yet the smoke was ever pervasive, and Corvus was able to dodge, deflect, or absorb their scattered shots.
Sheathing his lightsabers so that they could not see his glow, and anticipate his position, Corvus hopped onto a dangling wire, where the smoke was thickest, and swung himself to a section of seating that was unoccupied.
Reengaging his stealth, Corvus intended to farm the stealth kills portion of his Path of the Jedi quest, and got to work.
Over the next five minutes, Corvus popped out of cover, eliminated 5-10 clones, then disappeared into the smoke as if he were a phantom.
When the air began to clear, he would throw a flash bang, and a smoke grenade to add to the chaos.
'He's over there, blast him!' Corvus [Mind Tricked] a clone.
"He's over there, blast him!" The clone repeated, and directed a dozen clones to blindly shoot where Corvus had directed him.
"Auuurgh!" A clone wilhelm screamed as he was torn apart by blaster fire.
Due to Corvus's machinations, two groups of clones had killed one another due to friendly fire.
Leveling up, Corvus consulted his exp meter, and knew he had completed his task. Whilst he couldn't eliminate everyone via the explosive, this act served to further another one of his goals.
[Path of the Shadow:
311/1,000 Stealth Kills
1/100 Infiltrations
0/10 Purged
0/1 ???
Reward: ???, + 1 All Attributes]
By the time the smoke cleared, Corvus had long left the auditorium, and moved on to his next objective.
In his wake, hundreds of charred, sliced and diced corpses littered the auditorium.
After eliminating the clones, Corvus moved on to complete his true mission: rescuing VIPs.
Deciding to speak with Sev'rance Tann first due to the potential volatile nature of darksiders, Corvus made his way to her cell.
Along the way, Corvus noticed a familiar looking Nemoidian and Munn, it was the communications tech that helped him contact Mustafar! Small world!
Chuckling to himself, Corvus hoped the buggers could get off the planet once he released all the prisoners.
Shaking his head, Corvus moved past their cell, and came across Tann's.
Bound in heavy, thick, comically large restraints, Tann was gagged, and couldn't move a muscle from her position in the cell.
Her eyes however, were uncovered, and they narrowed in on him like a predator assessing its prey.
'This is a good sign, it shows her will is not broken.' Corvus internally nodded to himself.
Deactivating the forcefield-that acted in lieu of the iron bars found in a typical Earth jail cell-Corvus took a step closer.
"My name is Revan, and I'm here to make a deal with you." Corvus spoke with a modified voice.
After saying all that, he unclasped the gag covering her mouth, then took a step back.
"Interesting, I can't sense you. What kind of Jedi are you?"
"Very perceptive, good, this will make things easier."
"So you're here to free me then? I didn't think the Jedi had it in them?" She taunted.
Corvus raised an eyebrow. How precocious, to act with such bite after being offered an out, she must be a wiley one.
"You're fishing for information, there's no need. Surely you've felt what had transpired."
"As if a thousand suns had instantly vanished in screaming agony."
"Then why do you think I'm here? What kind of deal do you think a Jedi has to offer you?"
"To help overthrow my master's master. It won't work, you know, he's terrifyingly strong. You'd be better off freeing me, and the both of us pledging ourselves to his service."
"But does he know about your mission?"
"You've lost me, Jedi. Perception only goes so far." Tann dryly remarked.
"Yuuzhan Vong." Corvus spoke one short phrase.
The blue skinned alien seemed to freeze in place like a deer caught in the headlights.
"How do you know that name?" Tann whispered.
"I am a Jedi." Corvus bluntly responded.
Tann bit her lip, and for the first time, showed some real emotion. It only lasted the smallest of seconds, but Corvus was certain for what it was.
Fear.
"What do you want?"
Instead of responding with a request, Corvus made a factual statement.
"The Chiss Ascendancy sends exiles like you to the far reaches of space with the sole goal of gathering: data, advances in science, and allies. Dark Adept trained by Dooku you may be, but Sith you are not. You need me." Corvus paced back and forth in front of her cell, and outlined her true purpose for leaving her homeworld.
"What. Do. You. Want."
"The Confederacy has been found lacking reliable military commanders as of late, and is on the backfoot of the war. They need you."
"You're serious." Tann said incredulously.
"Deadly."
"You're mad. Why not do it yourself? What can I do that a Jedi cannot?"
"In due time. For now, my efforts are best spent elsewhere. In one hour, for example, a large proportion of the Imperial High Command shall find themselves less one head, and the security bureau shall discover their funds have been overdrafted with purchases of crazy straws, faux ice cubes, and toothpicks among other curios."
"You ARE serious. I never considered the Jedi were capable of such...such..."
"Evil? Yes, that's what Emperor Palpatine-your grandmaster-would have the galaxy believe."
"You are an enigmatic man, Revan." Tann said with caution, and a slight amount of respect.
"And you are a beautiful woman, yet neither of these things hold any weight upon the matter. Let us talk business."
"Aww, he thinks I'm pretty."
"Your reward shall be the full cooperation of the Republic. Once control of the galaxy trades hands, the Chiss and their interests shall become the interests of the Jedi."
"You sound so confident in your victory. What's stopping a blue girl down on her luck from turning you in to Darth Sidious, and gaining his favor for the Chiss instead?"
"The xenophobic, megalomaniac Sith who is notorious for betrayal? Come now, we both know you wouldn't have asked that question unless you intended to align with me."
"So uncuff me." Tann dared.
Corvus could feel the tension in the air.
Neither side had truly agreed to work with one another as of yet, and up to this point, everything said was just lip service.
"Would you take me for a gullible Jedi if I went along with such a demand without any guarantees?" Corvus playfully laughed.
"Hey, I don't want to die via lightning hands, testing my potential partner is par for the course."
Corvus nodded, pleased with how direct Tann had been. It seemed as if she were serious about this.
Entering the access codes, all of her heavy restraints snapped open with a hiss, and fell to the ground with loud, metallic thumps.
Tann fell to the ground, and for the briefest of seconds, when her long black hair covered her face, and Corvus saw the barest hint of her red eyes, he once again felt as if he were being watched by a predator.
'She really might try something here. She really is quite the audacious predator, even now, searching me out for weaknesses.'
In this moment, Corvus noticed a detail, and saw a great amount of chaff around her wrists.
"Lotion?" Corvus stuck his hand into his robe, covertly activated his inventory, and pulled a bottle out.
It wasn't anything he had crafted, but oddly enough, it was one of the items he had looted from the archives.
He supposed ALL of the Jedis' belongings were being piled up and boxed for later, and a few daily necessities had come along for the journey.
Tann arched an eyebrow, but did not refuse.
Standing to her full height in a stretch, she revealed a surprisingly well toned, gymnasts body.
Conducting a test of his own, Corvus tossed the bottle at her with some oomph.
Reaching out at speeds only a Force Adept could accomplish, Tann caught the bottle, and silently smirked at Corvus, acknowledging his little play.
"Mn, the moisture feels wonderful on my skin." Tann purred to herself, and arched her back as she rubbed herself down.
"It certainly does." Corvus nodded along, voicing his appreciation.
"You like what you see?" Tann jutted out her hips, and said flirtatiously.
"It isn't a credit, but what would you do for this?" Corvus said, then once more reached into his pocket to spawn something in.
Revealing the hilt of a lightsaber-one marked (Red)-Corvus tossed it in the air above her head.
Jumping up to catch it with a twirl and a bounce, Tann revealed how nimble and flexible she was, whilst everything jiggled in just the right way.
"I like where this is going. So, how are we going to get out of here? A patrol should be coming by in 2 minutes, shall I show you how I dance?" Tann grinned murderously as she ignited the crimson hued blade.
"You heard the announcement?"
"That was you? Brilliant, I always despised the Warden. With the clones caught up in the auditorium, sneaking out of this lockdown shall be as easy as flying a ship."
"You a pilot?"
"Why do I feel as if that isn't a rhetorical question?"
"Aren't you supposed to be perceptive?"
"You're a funny guy, Revan. You go through such great lengths to break lil'old me out of prison, and you don't have a get away pilot." Tann said with a mildly mischievous tone.
"On the bright side, all the clones are dead."
"A scary comedian, there, you happy?" Tann crossed her arms.
Somehow he felt her pouting through the Force.
"You could act a little impressed, but I think you're jealous. You're mad that you didn't get to stab something, am I right?"
"Locked away for 3 years, and almost never allowed to move more than a couple feet once a day. You think these muscles were easy to maintain in such an environment? OF COURSE I WANTED TO STAB SOMETHING!!!" Tann menacingly stepped up to Corvus, and a blast of cold darkside energy radiated from her pores.
'Okay, so maybe she's a little crazy, but I can still work with this.'
"Settle down, Tann. I still have work to do." Corvus subtly pulled on the darkness shrouded around her, and attempted to siphon just a bit off.
It seemed to calm her down, as Tann took a deep breath, then took a step back.
"Can I come along? It would go a long way in cementing our alliance." Tann said in a perfunctory manner, but to Corvus's eyes, she couldn't hide her eagerness.
"Sure, why not. The time for subterfuge is almost at an end." Corvus shrugged his shoulders.
Corvus figured he could [Mind Trick] his way past the guards, and pull a Episode IV, Chewbacca 'prisoner' reenactment.
"I've saved up plenty of hate for a day like this. A Jedi like you would never understand the pleasure of passionate release, but I thank you all the same for this opportunity. Cheers, to a fruitful alliance." Tann saluted with her lightsaber, and inclined her head.
"Not all Jedi are the same. A new era is upon us. Perhaps our shared passion will reach new heights. To our alliance." Corvus returned her gesture, and ignited his lightsaber, crashing it into hers.
"Tall, violent, mysterious. Keep that up, and you might just have a girl fall for you Revan, but we'll have to see if you have the skills to back it up." Tann responded flirtatiously.
"Yes, well, that time is soon. Before we depart, I have one other prisoner that I wish to speak with, then we shall crush the High Command during their executive meeting."
"You know how to damper a good time…" Tann pouted.
"Sit tight, or explore the prison for all I care, but the one I shall speak with next is a Republic Senator."
"I'm the bad guy. Got it." Tann rolled her eyes, and walked away.
Corvus smiled. He really did enjoy working with intelligent people.
However, even though he knew all about the Yuuzhan Vong, and the missions that exiled Chiss undertook, didn't mean he could completely trust her, as she was a darksider.
At the very least though, she hadn't told a single lie to him that he could tell.
During their entire conversation, the Jedi Shadow part of his prestige class was passively active, and his ability to detect falsehoods never once pinged.
Additionally, his Persuade was pretty high, and must have imperceptibly enhanced his charisma in ways that weren't quantifiable.
Shrugging his shoulders, Corvus was pleased with the development.
Next up, he had a meeting with Senator Fang Zar. Convincing him to side against Palpatine should be a cakewalk.
Then, it was back to the Inspectorate HQ. His lightsaber had a date with Armand Isard's neck, and he'd hate to be late.
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AN: Read up to chapter 38 at: https://www.patreon.com/c/KarpQQ
I update there Mon, Tu, Wed, Th
Publically on Fridays