Star Wars: Return of the Sith

[Arc da Rat]

Kerra Shiran

Tholin's show of power, kicked her defenses in. "For someone Sith trained you have no sense of gray & too serious to boot. Everything seems to be in black & white?" Kerra pulls her knives from her jacket & puts them back in her boots, as she speaks. "I ask for a match, a sparing match, not a duel. I do value my skin. How am I not to learn if not to see you in action?"

She continues. "There are only two fighters on this ship, that me & you. Didn't you train with others when you where an apprentice? Sparing with other of the same level or even with your teacher? Or where all these duels to the death?" Kerra waits for his responce. Tholin is the only trained force-user she has met. She wasn't going let him off the hook so easily.

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Tholin Mod, Sith Warrior

" My training was.. unconventional. I mostly trained in the lightsaber against remotes & droids in the early times. And as for the grey side of the force, there is none. You are either a Light-side user, or a Dark. " I take a few steps & chuckle. "You know nothing of the Sith, in that I am unconventional also. Sith crave power, & revenge against the Jedi. I crave neither, just mastery over myself. had I been a ancient Sith, no one on board would have a free mind. Come, little one, & I will show you how to hold that saber, so at least you do not damage yourself." I turn & start my way back to the hold, lost in memories along the way.

 

[poohlive]

Viser

Viser looked at the crystal around his neck. Dark circles swirled around inside it. Black pools of anger and hatred. Everything contained that makes a Sith himself. He placed it under his cloak, looking out at the crowded area.
People ran across his vision, going from place to place. There seemed like an endless sea of people. It was a plent that was heavy on bartering. Something he hadn't seen in a long while.
Carefully, he began probing through the crowd. He asked certain people, those that looked like they had travelled often in space.
No one had seen any force users. No jedi. Some people just scoffed, saying they didn't exist anymore.
Simply a fairy tale.
Viser shook his head, moving in through the crowd. There were buildings coming up ahead. They looked like some sort of gathering coming up.
Perhaps something was over there.

 

[SpectralDragoon]

Grunting as he shoves his weight against his wrench, Orin tries loosening a bastard of a bolt. He stands back and gives the handle a swift kick, finally getting it to turn. After several turns the bolt is off and he is able to remove the pesky part from the hyperdrive. He tosses it to mogo for him to examine. "Toasted."

Orin takes a look at the parts strewn around on the floor panels trying to tally up the amount of money they might need to replace them.

"What do you think it'll cost to fix all this? The most important things will be the powercells and the hyperdrive coolant. Yanno, if we got some Tibanna gas from Bespin, it wouldn't overheat so much. I've heard spacers say its the best coolant out there, it can't be beat."

He rests a greasy hand against a bulkhead, leaning toward Mogo as he looks over the part.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Mogo

"We will get what we can get...sometimes, especially in situations like ours, we can only get what works, not what works best," I tell him. "Besides, if everything worked properly, we'd have no use for you, you see what I'm saying?"
I don't let him answer, I'm busy tabulating out loud the sosts and figures of the parts.
"Lets see...coolant, that's...huh, not bad," I mutter. "But powercells...eeggghhh...that's...but three....and two...plus..."
I sit for a moment, my mind swimming with numbers, then look at him, confused.
"Got a calculator?"

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Marius

"I've been better," i returned. "but then again, I've been worse..."
In sat next to Daelon, taking in a deep breath and noting the difference between this air and that of the swamps I'd just left.
"Training is getting tough, but not so bad I guess. I'm just getting impatient. How's Kelson treating you? Beating up on you a lot?"

 

[SpectralDragoon]

Looking down at himself thinking, "Do I look like a royal treasurer?" Almost saying it, opening his mouth to... but biting his tongue.

Orin bends to rummage through his tool case, coming up with a small pad of paper and a rough pencil, something like today's squarish carpenter pencil, sharpened by shaving it with a blade. He hands the pencil and pad to Mogo and turns back to the drive to remove some more damaged parts.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Raine

"You are dismissed for now, Marius, but when I need you..." I say.
Marius bows to me, then heads off after Daelon.
I turn to Kelson.
"He is still too arrogant, much too prideful, but his training is coming along so quickly. If I could tame his ego, he'd be nearly ready for the trials, save a few difficulties like that which he exhibited with the lightsaber trick he just attempted. Concentration is part of it, but he should have felt where the saber was." I shook my head, frustrated with my own efforts. "Regardless, there has been some disturbance...at least...I don't know. It feels as though something has changed, but I'm not sure what. You've felt it too?"

 

[Kelson]

Kelson watches his apprentice passing through the woods to his private area, considering his next words carefully.

"Yes, I have felt the difference in the force you speak of...however, it isn't one disturbance though, it is many in one place."

Kelson turns to look at Raine, wondering how quickly she will figure out what he means. With a tempered sigh, Kelson turns back to looking after where his apprentice had gone.

"They are gathering and their powers are great, before the gathering it was a very faint pulling at the very edges of my conciousness...only divinable during intense meditation, and even then much obscured. It is much, much stronger now that they are together...so much power so close together. There are enough and they are powerful enough to do what they have wanted for a long time, my friend. A time of challenge is swiftly approaching, which is why I press Daelon to learn so quickly and so exhaustively. The strain on his body and spirit has yet to show significantly and, it seems, his worst weakness is fear of showing the weakness that I will force him to show some day. Counsel me, I have known you a long time and you have been naught but a wise ally, Raine."

Finishing his plea, Kelson's eyes glaze just slightly as he extends tendrils of force around him.

 

[Dark Warrior]

Daelon

"Well..." Daelon paused a moment, not sure whether he should be talking about it or not, before continuing, "He sure has been pushing me a lot lately. I shouldn't complain though, I'm starting to get better... finally..." he finished, his voice trailing off.
"Hey, you managed to beat me... that was pretty good." Marius replied.
"Yeah, I guess. Normally you beat me in all those sorts of things." he said, getting a bit more cheerful. "Hey, you never know, we might both be Knights soon."

 

[poohlive]

Ronag

The sun was finally setting on the small planet. Ronag wiped the sweat from his brow, leaving a dirty stained swipe on his forehead.
He looked at the ship above him. The thing was nowhere near ready to fly, much less simplyhover above ground. He sighed, looking at the man, who stood now with his hands crossed over his shoulders.
"Just got it," he said, smiling. Standing up, he grabbed his supplies, and threw them through the open doorway. After that, he walked up to the man.
Behind him, the ship hovered up just above the fenceline around the man's property.
He looked at it, amazed.
"We'll be going now, thank you for all your trouble."
The man grabbed Ronag's cloak sleeve, pulling him back. Ronag looked at the man, with a cool cautiousness.
"You're not going anywhere."
Ronag shook the grip off of him, not bothering to answer. He simply walked away.
"I was talking to you," the angered man picked up a metal pipe, and threw it. Just before it hit Ronag, it fell to the floor. As if it had hit an imaginary wall and then dropped on the floor.
He took out a blaster.
"Stop right there, or I'll shoot."
The buzzing sound was noticed by the few patrons who had stopped to watch the fight. Ronag turned, the weapon in his hand.
"I'm just taking my property."
"Jedi. I should have known," the man shot. Ronag reflected it. It would have taken the average man a thousand and one chances to reflect that piece right back to it's source, and slice the blaster in half.
Ronag did it with his eyes closed.
The man cursed, looking at his blackened hand. It would be sore for a couple of days, but no serious damage. Maybe a little cautious about selling things next time.
Ronag deactivated the saber, nodding to the man.
"Good day," he walked out of town. The small Corellian fighter followed him.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Marius

"Maybe," i returned. "But it seems like the closer I get to achieving that dream...the further Raine feels I am to achieving anything...I think I'm ready."
I looked down at the water, thinking, yeah, we're both about ready. I almost hated to admit it, but while I'd managed to get a few up on Daelon, I'd seen him nipping at my heels in those areas, and hurrying past me in others, regardless of his slightly lesser age.
"You are proceeding very well, Daelon," i said, lower than normal. "Sometimes I wonder if we will complete training at all, but when i believe we will, I think you will do so first."
I look to him, wondering if he was smiling cockily at this admittance. he just looked back, calmly, as a Jedi would. Does he know he looks that way, that he has himself under such wraps? I wonder.
"Anyway, I fought a rather large beast today, a Biiegnh, and it nearly killed me..."

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Raine

"The Sith...?" I mutter, looking away at nothing. Could it be?
He continues to speak, telling meof Daelon's training and the pressures he has put on the student. The words register on another level as I think over what he has told me.
"Perhaps we should speak with others," i suggest, as the words he'd spoken of Daelon finally found thier mark. "And I donot believe that you are pushing Daelon harder than he can handle. He is learning fast, too fast I'm afraid for his maturity to keep up. As is Marius. Such power, that of a Jedi, is dangerous for those so young to possess. But both are nearing the time when thier true tests should begin. When he is overcome, you will know. You've alway sbeen good with character."

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Mogo

As he went back to work, I started to scribble down probable prices...
"This is getting expensive," I mutter. "The boss isn't gonna be happy..."

 

[SpectralDragoon]

"What does make her happy, anyway?"

 

[Kelson]

Kelson nods slowly, mulling it over.

"I think it would be better if we prepared the young ones better for the challenges coming in the future now, rather then speak to the other Jedi. We both know the kind of damage it would do to their training...to mingle while training at this intensity with others."

Inhaling serenly, Kelson smiled...the force flowing as a cool mountain brook over his soul, carrying with it the pair of apprentices' lightsabers into the air to circle him idly.

"I wonder though, which foe will greater challenge them. The sith or themselves...I know how to defeat the one, but to teach that binding to the discipline of the light takes time."

Kelson turns to Raine with a sudden idea.

"When was the last time we dueled?"

 

[Arc da Rat]

Kerra Shiran

Kerra grabs the saber siting inside her jacket then walks after Tholin. "Hey force-wielder, I was not talk about the force just now. You see things in black & white, right & wrong. There is no inbetween, no shades of gray for you." As she watches him walk infront of her. "And from the looks of it you have been keeping a tight rein on yourself for a long while now."

She reaches out gently with the force & pats his behind. "Yep very tight rein." She smiled & just couldn't help but tease him. It was a habit with her. When she took a liking to a person. Kerra either bossy, sarcatic or a tease. *I can't put my finger on it but I like this Sith. Maybe, as a return the favor I might & get him to relax a bit in his demeanour.* She ponder as they get to the hold doors.

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Tholin Mod, Sith Warrior

I stop walking when she uses the force to try & tease me. I do see things in black and white, to a degree. "Yes, I do see things that way, but not all things. & I do have a name child, you should learn to use it." I continue walking to the hold. Once there I walk to the middle of the hold, then turn tward her & ignite my saber.
"Now, try & hit me."

 

[Dark Warrior]

Daelon

Daelon wondered how much Marius actually believed what he just said, about their progress. Both of them knew that Marius was the better of the two... didn't they?
Finally he piped up. "A Biiegnh? Wow, that's really great. I don't get much practice with living targets lately, except Kelson of course. He just keeps drilling in all these mental exercises. It annoys me a fair bit, but I know that it's what I need." Daelon picked up a rock and threw it across the water, watching it skip two or three times before sinking into the pond. "I often wonder whether Kelson has any faith in me. He acts like he does, but I'm not really sure... I know if I was in his situation, I would find me a bit of a test on patience, that's for sure." he said with a grin.

 

[Arc da Rat]

Kerra Shiran

She activates her blade & takes the defensive as Tholin walks toward her. Kerra retorts to him. "If you would stop calling me child. Maybe I will." Then she comes at him, taking a fake swing high but then going goes low. He blocks her first attack.

Searching for an opening with each successive swing, Kerra gets into a rhythm with the force like a dance. It seems so natural how the way her attacks & movements go about Tholin. He keeps blocking each attack that is made, not countering at all. Her saber becomes an extention of herself, just like her knives when she got in the arena.

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Tholin Mod, Sith Warrior

At first she is swinging her blade like a stick, moving slowly & clumsily, then she relaxes, & uses the Force to guide her hands. Her strikes come more surely, requiring me to use a little skill to block her blows. Soon we are moving in the dance of the Jedi, her blade whirring faster & faster, & mine blocking each blow. she starts to try & get a little fancy, so I decide it is time to show her how a trained Jedi moves. I finally go offensive, moving faster than she can see I deflect her blade to the side & use a strike to her arm, causing it to go numb & her blade to drop to the deck, hitting the floor & rolling a few feet. She falls back & lands on her butt, legs spread & looking up at me, a little angry. I can sense the dark side begging on her call.

"Enough, control your emotions. When you are calm pick up your saber & try again, ony use the force to pick it up, not your hands."
I move back to the center of the hold & wait for her.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Raine

Kelson's words made sense. Too much distraction now would possibly derail some of thier training, or worse still, lure them toward the dark side.
I nodded at his suggestion to continue here, knowing full well that if the Sith were coming in full force, both of us, and possibly the apprentices, would be called upon to help fight off the threat.
I thought of Marius' arrogance, knowing full well that insecurity lie beneath the surface, prodding it on, and Daelon's concern over his learning speed and decided that perhaps they were their own worst enemies now.
"Dueled?" I asked. "It's been some time, quite some time. Are you challenging me?"

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Marius

I had to laugh at that.
I looked at Daelon, smiling in full understanding.
"Yeah," I said. "I can actually feel Raine's aggravation when I suggest certain things...like when i suggested we race to get here, after my poor testing in the X-Wing simulator. It was like she was biting her tongue."
I laugh for a second, knowing I couldn't laugh at these things with anyone except for Daelon.
It was odd. When it was just Raine and I, I felt overcome with her abilities, taken by how much she had to teach me, eventhough i knew I was coming along well. How well was still a question I needed answered. And whatever it was that was bothering Raine might be the answer, I'd decided.
"Has Kelson seemed...different to you?" I asked. "It seems like Raine's mind is elsewhere at times, like something bothering her. And nothing bothers her."

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Mogo

"If I find it kid, I'm using that info to the best of my ability," I mutter in return. "Boss," I start, speaking into the intercom again. "Bbbooossss"

 

[Arc da Rat]

Kerra Shiran

Landing hard on the metal floor, with her arm still numb, she glared at Tholin. Kerra really hated it, when someone threw off her dance rhythm. She senses thru the force the power of the darkside calling to her. He breaks thru her thoughts. "Enough, control your emotions. When you are calm pick up your saber & try again, only use the force to pick it up, not your hands."

Kerra sits there legs spread out on the hold's floor, doing a meditative exercise. Closing her eyes, she let her frustration flow out of her & into the ground. Still meditating, she hold her hands out & for the saber. It skittles across the floor to her. When it gets within body length it shoots up into her good hand. "That hurt Dark-one." This is said without any malace, almost with reverence.

She shakes out the still numb appendage & winches as feeling comes back to it. Kerra gets up from the floor without using her still recovering arm. "Why are you teaching Jedi ways & not those of the Sith? Are you looking for a student or do you find teaching me amuses you at this time."

She continplates her next moves, as the intercom in the hold sparks to life. "Boss. Bbbbooossss." Going over to the com she flips the switch. "What is it Mogo? Tholin is showing me how Jedi fight. Can it wait or not?" She waits for his reply.