Although Corvus had presented a confident front towards Jax and Keira, that didn't mean he was smug, or cocky given their current circumstances.
When he had fought against Maw, Corvus had hit the bastard Anzat with [Force Suppression] & [Slow]. Yet despite these two debuffs, that ancient life form had managed to come exceptionally close to murdering him.
Now there was an opponent on the same tier, but could not be sapped of his strength due to that cursed amulet he possessed.
The way Corvus saw it, there were three or four paths to victory against such a foe.
From within his Pause menu, Corvus went over his plan one more time.
1) Kill Darth Kern via conventional weapons such as explosives, blasters, poison, etc. This was the least likely method, but it was a possibility. It would be foolish to discount a well timed rocket, or poisoned dart.
2) Overwhelming numbers. However unlikely, the gorgodons may defeat the Lord & two Acolytes, then press on to attack Kern. Corvus held no illusions that these gorilla-like bipedal lizards could challenge the ashen Zabrak, however, they would certainly drain his energy. What's more, if they were joined by the razhak worms, as well as Jax/Keira, then maybe there was a chance that they could seize victory.
3) This was merely speculation, but Corvus hypothesized that it was possible to overwhelm the amulet with Force abilities, and cause it to explode. Many artifacts throughout fiction were not boundless wells that could be filled with limitless energy. There was a chance-however slim-that it could shatter. This was a risky prospect, but given their location, it was possible.
That was because Ilum was a Force Nexus. Particularly, one attuned to the Lightside. As a result, Light-attributed powers cost less to cast or maintain. He had noticed this when he used [Heal]. At the moment, he didn't know any offensive abilities, but he hadn't put any points in since he leveled from 19 to 24, and he currently had 7 floating Force Power points. Theoretically, he could place a point into [Stun] and then spam it from a distance.
Corvus didn't like this approach, but it was doable. Besides, Corvus speculated that [Stun] had the potential to evolve into [Force Judgement], like what Plo Koon was capable of. After all, [Shock] had turned into [Force Lightning]. While he generally liked to keep some floating FP points for emergencies, would it be worth the risk to pump 3 points into [Stun] to find out?
[Judgement] was cool, but it paled in comparison to the overwhelming ability of [Force Storm], the evolution of [Force Lightning]...although who was to say that [Judgement] couldn't evolve into a storm-like variant if pushed to the limit?
Mentally shaking his head, Corvus decided he would table this thought for later.
4) Lastly, was of course, assasination. This would be difficult to accomplish because of that amulet. Since he could be tracked, such a prospect seemed doomed to failure.
Considering these four aspects of his plan, any single one would be doomed if they stood alone. However, by combining them, Corvus figured he might just have a chance at eking out a win.
Un-Pausing, Corvus followed alongside Jax & Keira. They were running towards the sound of gorgodon roars, and the naked threat of the darkside. Along the way, he planted a few mines, and pointed out their locations to his companions.
Eventually they made it to a circular tunnel with a high ceiling. It was here that they caught sight of their enemies. Red lightsabers clashed with thick hides, and the darkside hungered for blood.
More than 18 of the large bipedal lizards were already dead, and the darksiders were hard at work fighting them off.
Corvus saw first hand that the gorgodon flesh was as tough as advertised, and took roughly two to three swings in the same spot to decapitate a limb. Meanwhile a full thrust typically took about 3 solid seconds to go deep enough and pierce a vital organ.
Working [Beast Trick] on these gorgodons had been the right call! Corvus once again was thankful that he wasn't a typical saber-monkey who only knew the direct approach.
However, for all this celebration, Corvus saw that it would only be a matter of time before the darksiders triumphed over their foes.
Additionally, Darth Kern was at the back with his arms crossed, and eyes narrowed. The big bad was conserving his energy!
"I shall be beside you for a time, but will not aid you in the fight against the Lord & Acolytes. My target is the ashen skinned Zabrak, Darth Kern." Corvus said to his two companions, and then cast [Aura/Barrier/Valor/Speed/Energy Resistance] on the group.
Thankfully, half those abilities were of the Lightside, and only half of Corvus's FP bar had been drained.
"May the Force be with you." Keira said, and then she began to set up a sniper rifle.
"Good luck, Master." Jax nodded, and he started to deploy the bipod of his heavy blaster.
Moments later, accurate blaster fire began to rain down onto the darksiders.
Caught off guard, one of the Acolytes took a hit to his armored chest plate, and was knocked to the ground.
A gorgodon capitalized on this action, and easily tore the dark cloaked man limb from limb. Stuffing bloody hot organs into its waiting maw, it roared its victory throughout the cavern.
Corvus found such a sight distasteful, but wouldn't let that deter him from his duty.
Cloaking himself in invisibility, Corvus stood behind both of them, and started to spam [Stun] towards Kern.
Since using Force powers from stealth didn't reveal him, all that any observer saw was a basketball sized blue orb headed towards the Zabrak.
The ashen skinned man stood still, and absorbed the ability with his amulet. He then held the artifact up, and shot it back at the Jedi.
Thankfully [Force Aura] was up, and it blocked the return fire.
Furrowing his brows, Corvus was concerned that he wouldn't be able to overwhelm that amulet. However, the rate of consumption from Lightside abilities was so negligible, he had to give it a try.
Corvus started to sling [Stun] out one hand at a time, taking no more than 1.5 seconds to cast the ability per hand.
In 15 seconds, he had unleashed a barrage of 10 attacks.
The green amulet, however, seemed to be able to contain this level of energy, and Kern responded with an enhanced Force Blast that burst Kiera & Jax's Force shields, and shook the cavern walls.
Smirking evilly at them, Kern ignited a double lightsaber, and then joined his allies.
The ashen skinned Zabrak was an absolute beast. He aimed at the fleshy weak spot behind the gorgodons' necks, and utilized his incredible agility to slice through dozens at a time!
At the rate Kern was moving, he would clear out the entire herd in less than three minutes! Additionally, the Lord & Acolyte would join the fray as well!
Corvus was beginning to feel the pressure mounting on him, as he realized that one of his paths to victory had all but been eliminated, and another one-overwhelming numbers-was beginning to become less and less likely every second!
Sucking in a deep breath, Corvus internally repeated the mantra of the Jedi Shadows to center himself.
He then pulled out the detonator to the poison mines, and depressed it without a second thought.
Seconds later, a fine green mist burst onto the scene, and started to clog the hallway. It was so thick, so pervasive within this underground tunnel, that the gas had virtually nowhere to go, and remained stagnant on top of the darksiders.
Twirling his double sided lightsaber, Kern [Force Pushed] the gas away, but it only bought him a moment of reprieve, as the gas lingered in the air.
The acolyte was doing better, as he was wearing a fully encased suit, meanwhile, the tan Zabrak was looking worse for wear.
As for the remaining gorgodons, most of them succumbed to the poison swiftly, as their four nostrils took in volumnois gulps of air, and were not resistant to this poison whatsoever.
Taking this weakened state of distraction for the opportunity that it was, Jax began to go full auto on the darksiders, forcing them to find cover behind the corpses of the gorgodons, and pinning them in place. Hundreds of blue bolts scorched the scene every second as the white haired teen laid down an immense amount of cover fire.
Meanwhile, Keira would deliver crack shots whenever the white haired teen had to reload.
Corvus for his part, had taken out a few concussive missiles-like the ones on the back of Boba Fett's jetpack-and began to [Force Push] them towards the enemy, destroying their cover. If he had been using a gun or launcher, then he would have broken invisibility. However, this was a cheesy workaround. All he was doing was emptying his inventory, and using the Force. By utilizing such a method, no physical contact occurred that would otherwise have revealed him to the world.
Kern tried to leverage his superior speed, and dash at them, however, the overwhelming firepower, kept him back.
Without something like cortosis, mandalorian armor, or a Force Barrier, it was incredibly difficult for even a powerful Sith or Jedi to rush down a chokepoint.
Eventually, the Lord had ripped the mask off the acolyte, and stabbed him in the chest so that he could find succour from the gas.
As for Kern, he evidently had had enough, and his rage had become palatable.
Signature practically glowing in the Force, the ashen Zabrak was like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
Twirling his lightsaber, Kern pushed the gas away once more, jumped over a rocket explosion, deflected Keira's sniper shot, and tossed his saber at Jax.
All this happened within a couple of seconds, and as he cleared the smoke, and drew close enough to be in range, he threw out his hands and unleashed an astronomical wave of Force Lightning at them. It was so bright, and pervasive, that it covered the entire width of the cave tunnel.
Death and the darkside sang in pleasure as pure HATRED gathered around the ashen Zabrak.
Corvus tossed up [Force Aura] only to have it almost instantly shatter. Acting quickly, he cast this ability twice, thrice…FIVE TIMES!
As the Sith ran at them, Corvus depressed the next detonator, this time for the sonic mines.
A loud wave chirped in this narrow hallway, and briefly discombobulated Kern, causing him to stumble.
During this encounter, the double sided lightsaber had broken through Jax's [Energy Resistance] barrier, but then shorted out when it made contact with his Cortosis-Weave armor. Thinking quickly, Jax had ignited his own saber, and cut into the crimson blade three times, making it worthless.
"Worms!" Kern roared when he saw this. He then held out his hand, telekinetically stole the dead Acolytes lightsaber, and dashed at them with incredible speed.
Following up behind Kern was Ror, the Lord.
The pair of Sith would be here in seconds, and it would be a lie to say Corvus was panicking, but he still wasn't out for the count yet.
He triggered his last detonator, and then the thermal detonators/explosive mines he had embedded in the walls went off, and caught Ror in a fireball. Barely surviving the blast, and having suffered from the gas, Ror was a pile of desperate, snarling rage.
As for Kern, he sped up, dodged the brunt of the attack, and only suffered some third degree burns on his arms. His cloak, however, had caught fire. Tossing it aside, Korn revealed a lithe, muscular tattooed form no less intimidating than that of Darth Maul from the Phantom Menace. The ashen Zabrak grinned at them with an expression that promised death and despair.
Besides the worms-who were still busy digging-and a few mines left behind them, Corvus had just about run out of tricks, and offensive Force powers weren't really an option since that amulet was still wrapped around Kern's neck.
What came next would be a true test of their skills.
Jax & Keira wordlessly ignited their lightsabers, and faced this Sith with their weapons drawn.
Keira emitted a sense of serenity within the Force akin to one who was determined. She was not afraid to die. On this day, should it be her time, she would end this Sith. Her twin blades were pointed towards Kern, inviting him.
Jax, meanwhile, deliberately did not look towards the 'empty' spot that Corvus occupied. However, he knew that Corvus was nearby, and this gave him confidence. The feats of his master gave him certainty. The Force was with them. Holding his single green lightsaber at the ready, Jax sized up the battered form of Lord Ror.
The battle for Ilum had well and truly begun.