Dark Age of the New Republic

[Black Knight of Keno]

Tepe grinned at Strider and stabbed both swords into the ground, taking a cloth from his belt and wrapping it to cover his eyes. Once his eyes wee covere, he took a step back, took a hold of his swords' hilts and got ready. Unfortunately for them, Tepe now knew of their bond and of the weaknesses it held. The chain is as strong as it's weakest member, as they say. Tepe concentrated and a rumbling came from inside the temple. You could see that rocks were starting to float around inside the temple like if there was no gravity, but that was not the case here. Like it would've been held back for millenias, an enormous blow of dark energy came from inside, showing fears, dreams, people and actions from their past, present and future, some even from as far as their childhood. It was quite disturbing to those who could not block it. The guards shivered but did not feel the true power because they sat on both sides of the entrance, no infront of it like the Sith and the Sith Hunters.

 

Tepe leeched on the emotions that the dark energy caused, hoping his apprentices were clever enought to follow his lead. The cape of the Dark Lord flapped violently as he held onto the hilts before he suddenly pulled the swords up into a heavily modified ready position of jar'kai with the basis of Ataru in it. The man stood ready, waiting and feeling the mood of each Hunter and his apprentices.

"Strider, it seems your bond is broken. How about you show me your unique skills now. Charna, Kaoin, keep the others back" he said and took another step back, leading himself away from the crowd to have a more private match.

'Someone of them is a traitor. Test them, lure them, do anything and everything to find out who it is and then win the person to our side. Pit the Darth Traya against her friends. Charna, you have a hold on both Riebe and Jahara. Make them suffer' he told to his apprentices throught the force while getting ready for Strider

[Flamehart]

A second hilt shot from the inside of Strider's sleeve and landed in his left hand, and ignited. It was a red blade, with a hilt nearly identical to Cylia's. He had taken it when he thought she had died four thousand years before. Cylia must have recrafted hers. A dark red aura surrounded Strider, and his teeth gritted. The memories caused by the building were shut out of his mind. He entered a state of total focus. He spun both blades around and held them ready in his own personal stance. Tepe would be the first Sith, in a long time, to face the true power behind his lightsaber style.

 

Finally, convinced that he was prepared for the duel, he growled at Tepe.

 

"Your move."

[Black Knight of Keno]

"I don't think you've met a sith wielding swords before. Too bad for you if you have, because I am nowadays a master in wielding them" he said and lunged at him, but stopped halfway and backed away. He made fast, sharp movements but only to drive the hunter from his true style that wouldn't come up just yet. He seemed brash and relying on his swiftness. This ended when he did an acrobatic flip throught the air and clashed his sword against the lightsaber blade, thrusting himself against Strider while at the same time swinging his other blade from the side and towards the chest of the Hunter, only to get blockedm which he knew would happen. Both were blindfolded, yet their moves seemed to be in total synch like they would have clear vision of each others. The Dark Lord pushed against the Sith Hunter strongly at start, but then started to back down, taking advantage only when it was necessary. He knew neither would tire that easily, so he would only keep the man back from stopping the finding of the traitor. Then he could unleash his full power

[Flamehart]

Strider merely smirked. "I wielded a sword myself, during my mercenary days, in place of my lightsaber." As they fought, he laughed and said, "I see you are very graceful with your swordplay, Lord Tepe..but I can still move faster with my much lighter Lightsaber. You may think the weight of the blade gives you strength, but strength is dependent on the wielder now isn't it?"

 

Strider then focused. His mind saw everything in slow motion. He dashed forward, as if in normal speed, moving much faster than the eye could follow. He struck at Tepe, who blocked, as expected. Another time lapse occurred, in a single swift, blurred movement, he was behind Tepe. He struck again. The Dark Lord once again blocked, as expected. Strider smirked and kept moving. Soon all the rest could see, if they turned to glance at the fight, was the Dark Lord standing amongst a red blur that dashed around him, with the occasional appearance of a blue and red blade, and a brief second glance at Strider. Strider picked up the pace, attacking all over faster and faster, knowing that Tepe would easily keep up, but felt that the Sith would like at least a sample of the speed and power that was contained within his fighting style. Finally, he flipped backwards and stood in front of Tepe, both blades held ready.

 

"Come now Tepe, can you move fast enough to keep up with me?" Strider taunted, a smirk on his lips. The Sith Lord could see the Sith Hunter was increasingly entertained with this fight. Although he did not feel, how to say, limited by his Hunter brothers and sisters, Tepe could see that the chance to stretch and bring his powers out was a chance that Strider was not going to pass up.

 

---------

 

Cylia and Katherine were, for the moment, distracted by Strider and Tepe's fighting. They were caught off guard by Kaoin, who turned to them and the other two males while Charna took Jahara and Riebe. Katherine raised her new sky blue blade and held it ready for Kaoin's attack - However, much to her surprise, she found she moved to block a different attack.

 

She twisted to the side instinctively and blocked a strike from her right. She blinked, and turned, looking to see Cylia's eyes.

 

"What is this?" Katherine demanded.

 

"I'm sorry, Katherine. But I have what I need now. You're all useless to me," replied Cylia. In her other hand, Katherine could see the hard drive Strider had pulled. He must have handed it to her, or she swiped it without him knowing.

 

Katherine gritted her teeth and moved onto the offensive. Cylia backed up, startled by her forceful strikes, and moved away, swinging her blade around and coming to a stance, familiar to Strider's single-blade stance. Katherine frowned and moved into her own stance, holding her blade forward at shoulder level, and one hand outward.

 

Cylia looked over at Kaoin and shouted, "Take the other two men. I've got this one!" It would surely catch him off guard to see that one had turned, but she knew he would not fail to jump on the surprise of the Hunters.

 

Katherine said to Cylia, "You think that you have the advantage don't you? You know Strider's style, so you must be infallable, huh?"

 

Cylia smirked, "You noticed? Yes, it's quite powerful. I don't think you have a chance."

 

Katherine dashed at her and made three quick strikes. The third one, Cylia barely got around to blocking.

 

"Oh really? You forget...Strider trained me just as you - however, he did not teach me his style, so instead of spending time studying his style, I spent my time studying it's weaknesses," Katherine remarked. Cylia glared at the young Hunter, and the two broke into a duel.

[Black Knight of Keno]

Tepe laughted at the taunt. His breath hadn't deepened at all even if he had tried to do something.

"You forget, I have been trained by Emukiel Al-Saefar, one of the swiftest and most dangerous sword wielders of all time. I'm even faster than you" he said and grinned. Not only did he now look like a blur even to Strider, the swishing of his swords made a noise quite unbearable a they sung a steady tone before clashing onto the lightsaber of the Sith Hunter.

 

"I know every trick in the book in handling a Sith Sword and in wielding a lightsaber. What do you know about the Sith Wars and the fighting of that time?" he asked, and sank the blade of his other sword back into the ground while holding the other still ready. He became a blur again, slashing at him violently and the sword easily ripping throught flesh if it would've hit Srider's body. Suddenly, as the Hunter ws occupied by the other sword, the sword in the ground vanished and as the blur stopped, the two were clashed in a difficult position. Both had blocked each other's attack and now were locked in a position where you could not get out of without deactivating the lightsabers.

 

"Come on, Strider. Let your guard down then" he said and grinned, leaning right infront of him and his eyes flashing pure white even throught the cloth.

'Keep an eye out for the new one. We need that hard drive if we are to keep this place a secret. Kill her if she tries to escape' he notified to the apprentices

[Flamehart]

Cylia managed to intervene in the thought message sent to the apprentices, and replied to Tepe.

 

'You would be wiser to keep me, and the hard drive, intact, Lord Tepe. The amount of information learned by the Sith during the tests is invaluable. You could learn everything about him, from his connection to the Force to his genetic makeup, to learn his biological flaws. What do you say to that?' Cylia offered, a blatant offer that she was willing to turn to them, however, she seemed to be leaving out her reason for it.

 

Strider could only grin back. Much to Tepe's surprise, he did indeed deactivate his blades. As Tepe's blades fell forward, Strider whirled out of the way to dodge, but not without the blade lightly cutting his left arm and cutting down his sleeve. Strider reached to the side and tore the remainder of it off.

 

He held his blue lightsaber ready, but deactivated the red one and hooked it onto his belt. He held the single blade ready, and said to Tepe with a grin, "The thing is Tepe, and I'll tell you now. You expect way too much from me. You don't expect me to be dumb enough to fall for certain tricks, but what you seem to be slow to notice is, I do dumb things. Smart people are predictable. You can always hear them thinking. It's the dumb ones - the ones who make things up as they go, that you have to worry about, Sith."

[Writer]

As Charna approached, Jahara whispered to Riebe, "I do not yet have my full strength back..."

 

"It will not make much of a difference," Riebe answered softly. "Charna has grown arrogant if she believes she can engage us both and escape unharmed."

 

"You alone would be too great a challenge for her," Jahara said quietly. At that moment, Charna interrupted their conversation, gesturing to Jahara.

 

"You are weakened after your... operation," she observed. Turning to Riebe, she said, "And you are also in a little less than perfect condition."

 

"Still more than capable of mopping the floor with you," Riebe answered. Charna laughed.

 

"Oh, I don't sense arrogance from the Hunter, do I?" she mocked.

 

"Not arrogance," Riebe answered patiently. "Only truth."

 

Charna scowled and turned to Jahara as she spoke again to Riebe. "Let the two old friends fight, won't you, Hunter?"

 

"I would be a fool to stand aside in my apprentice's weakness," Riebe answered, moving to position herself between Charna and Jahara. "If you want a stab at her, you have to fight us together."

 

At this, Jahara's loyalty to Riebe increased greatly, even enough to be felt by all the combatants. And Charna's confidence took a slight hit, but she was determined to do as her master had told her, so she ignited her dark red blade. In unison, Riebe and Jahara, master and apprentice, switched on their blades, Riebe's a dull orange and Jahara's a deep green.

 

"You're a lot further along than when I last saw you, Jahara," Charna observed, gesturing to the lightsaber. "Your alignment is much better on that saber than it was on your old one... what ever happened to that old hazy yellow thing anyway?"

 

"Are you trying to goad me into anger?" Jahara asked. Her old saber's alignment had been so poor that it had exploded during training, forcing her to consider a mechanical replacement. In the end, some serious bacta treatment enabled her to keep her original hand, but the loss of the saber and the near loss of her hand were hard lessons for Jahara.

 

Charna sighed. "It isn't working very well, is it?"

 

"Of course not," Jahara answered. "My ruined saber was my fault. The only reason I would be angry over something like that is if you fiddled with the alignment... and I know you didn't."

 

"My dear," Charna sighed, as if feeling pity for her 'uneducated' former friend, "you always were a little too naieve for your own good."

 

"And you've always been too arrogant for yours," Jahara answered. The two former friends clashed sabers, red against green in a flurry of attacks and blocks. Occasionally, Riebe's orange saber flicked in, deflecting a strike Jahara wouldn't quite have time to reach.

 

"What has he promised you, Danni?" Jahara asked her old friend. "Riches? Power? Greatness? How much can he truly deliver?"

 

"More than the Jedi," Charna answered. "More than the Sith Hunters." Then, growling in annoyance, she added, "And don't call me Danni."

 

"It only bothers you because you remember what it meant to be Danielle Bayers," Jahara pressed. Aggressively, Charna thrust her saber forward and upward, knocking Jahara's clear away. Seeing her apprentice in such danger, Riebe interfered much more than she'd originally intended to, blocking the 'death blow' and severing Charna's saber arm before she quite understood what was happening. Falling back, Charna gasped and turned her glare to Jahara.

 

"That name no longer means anything to me," she whispered. For a moment, she struggled as Riebe used the Force to block an artery in her head, but she quickly lost consciousness.

 

"You didn't kill her, did you?" Jahara whispered, alarmed. Riebe shook her head.

 

"No," she answered. "I would not kill one in whom I sense a flicker of light. Her loyalty to Tepe will be difficult to undo, but I now believe it can be done. Quickly, Jahara. Go back to the ship. Get it ready... I think we'll be leaving in a hurry..."

 

As Jahara hurried away, Riebe turned and leapt, joining Strider in the fight against Tepe.

 

"One, you may handle," she told him, "but the two eldest, the original Hunters... dare you challenge us both?"

[Black Knight of Keno]

Tepe backflipped to higher ground, onto of the Ragnarok. He smashed both swords down and throught the hull as deep as they went before taking the cloth from his eyes and giving out a sharp whistle. The guards were up and in straight lines in an instance and the Colonel looked up.

"Take Charna to the shuttle and prepare it for a rushed exit. Inform the Admirals to get ready for Rganrok's departure with all weapons ready" he said and glanced over to Kaoin's fight. He then added through the force:

'Have a couple of guards extend their force pikes and keep an eye out. If there are runners, stop them' he ordered and glanced over at Cylia as if to note to keep an eye out specifically for her and the hard drive.

 

It was still going pretty well over there, so he drew his swords from the hull of the ship with a sharp slash that cut some more damage to the ship. Easily repaired, but would throw Strider further towards the edge and mistakes. The Dark Lord jumped down again and seemed to prepare himelf for an attack, but before they had even noticed it, he rushed at them like a speeding train, unleashing hell upon them with stabs, slashes, thrusts and pokes. Not only was it nerve-wrecking how skillfully he swung the heavy swords, seeming to be even more able with them than lightsaber that he had already mostly mastered, but the the constant flow of dark energy feeding the Sith only made his attacks faster, more powerful and much more cunning. At the height of his attack, he matched the Hunters and would have maybe even beat them if he wouldn't have the brains to know that it would be foolish to exhaust himself in a desperate ayttempt to overpower them while he could.

 

'I will deal with you later. Don't go anywhere or you might have to fight off bounty hunters for quite some time' he noted throught the force to Cylia before unleashing another wave of attack at the Sith Hunters

[Flamehart]

The damage to the Ragnarok caused Strider to cringe a little, but he managed to block it out, convincing himself it would be more than repairable later. He had also discovered through Tepe's actions he was driving their anger from them, and then harvesting power from their emotions. He tried to become a blank slate, tried to force emotion from his body. He spoke to Riebe through her mind, telling her to do the same, as well as the rest of the Hunters. However, his strength would not hold for long.

 

Cylia heard Tepe's orders, but merely went along with her original plan. In the middle of a saber lock between her and Katherine, she thrust a foot forward, knocking Katherine to the ground. She whirled around and glared at Strider. His back was still to her, still facing Tepe. She dashed forward and swung at him.

 

Strider was caught off guard by surprise, but his hand moved to his belt and withdrew his second hilt fast enough to ignite and block the blow. He glanced at Cylia, confused and now lost, his center of focus gone. Frustration built up, emotions swelled as he looked at the traitrous eyes of his once best friend.

 

"Why?" Strider protested, pushing her back from him with the blade.

 

Katherine had regained her footing now and leapt at Cylia. The two returned to their duel, but her interference was enough to shake Strider, to knock his stability off and cause a growing frustration in her betrayal. He gripped the lightsaber hilts tightly, trying now to suppress the emotions now while he continued to defend Tepe's strong attacks, which had only ceased long enough for Cylia's intervention.

[Writer]

As Strider was caught off guard by Cylia's betrayal, Riebe smoothly slipped between her old friend and loyal follower and the Dark Lord. To compensate a little for his distraction, she ignited the second blade of her saber staff. When Strider's focus returned to Tepe, Riebe shut off one of her blades and moved to give Strider better footing against the Dark Lord.

[Black Knight of Keno]

"You block your emotions, Strider. Too bad for you. Don't you know that suppressed emotions explode due time. And when they do, I'll be right there to feed" he said and backflipped away from them. He swiftly stabbed the other sword into the ground and then raised his hand. It was a surprise what then happened, as unlike expected, lighnings did not come out of his hands. Instead, he was using combustion and throught intense concentration, the Dark Lord managed to make a small wiring bunch explode inside, setting a fire and disturbing the flow of information in the onboard computer. He grinned darkly before he directed the hand towards Strider, hoping he was confused enought rom all this not to see the chain lightning tat first hit Riebe's blade, as she was still quite concentrated, and then redirected to his chest.

 

The engines of the small Sith Dominion shuttle started to hum clearly while the Ragnarok's started to make quite an awful noise. Not because there was something wrong with them, it was just that the onboard computer had troubles directing fuel to the engines after it's wires being cut so abruptly. Suddenly, a rumbling noise came down upon them, then two high-pitched squeals and then they saw two red laser shots coming straight at the Dark Lord who jumped out of the way, grabbing his swords and hoping he had made enought damage with the force attack.

"Sire! Pirates!" a cry came from the colonel that opened fire on the fighter that was coming around for another try. The fighter crashed after the guards had opened fire upon it but more were probably on their way. In space, the brave pirates were taking on the Sith Dominion Flagships to buy time for the Ragnarok to get out. The cavalry had arrived but Tepe would not let the Sith Hunters go so easily. He charged one last time before they could manage and flee from the planet. He slashed, stabbed, sliced and diced at them, making sure he would leave nothing behind but two mutilated bodies. Meanwhile, the guards were forming again and again into defencive positions against any possible fighters that would come their way

[Flamehart]

Strider growled, and indeed, his emotions did explode, but in such an uncontrollable manner that it would not even be wise for Tepe to attempt to harvest it. He dropped the red lightsaber, which tattered to the floor and deactivated, and thrust his left hand forward in time to catch the chain lightning, and contained it within the palm of his hand. He then turned and thrust it at Cylia, catching her by surprise and shocking her badly, lifting her off her feet and knocking her across the ground. Katherine stopped in surprise, and stared at her Master in awe for a moment.

 

As Tepe dashed to attack the Hunters, Strider let out monstrous shout, his blue eyes turning red, and recalled the red lightsaber to his hand. He activated it and dashed, clashing now with Tepe directly, far more fiercely than the Dark Lord had expected, trying to block every blow towards the other Hunters, hoping to get them all out of there safely. He growled in a deep voice to Riebe, "Get them onboard," then shouted to the Ragnarok, "Force activation through backup lines, get those engines started!"

 

This was the power Tepe had been waiting to see. Strider glared at Tepe, his blood red eyes having, not so much a Sith look, but quite a different, inhuman appearance, something that resided within Strider's species, as it was never altogether sure whether he was entirely of human origin or not.

 

Cylia struggled to regain her footing, the hard drive still clutched in her hand, surprisingly unharmed from the lightning. She looked around now, as if trying to find a way to escape with Tepe's forces while the Hunters were distracted with their own escape.

[Writer]

"Strider," Riebe called as she hurried the other Hunters toward the ship. "The hard drive!"

 

Feeling certain he understood that she meant it could not remain in Cylia's hands to be turned over to Tepe, Riebe ushered the Hunters into the Ragnarok just as the ship complied with Strider's orders, successfully bypassing the damaged circuitry to bring power to the engines.

[Black Knight of Keno]

"Ha! Now I know why it didn't work with your body. They were changing human sides and the more they changed the human side, the more your other side took over the protection of your body. You became a sithspawn while in that machine without the Sith even knowing it" he said and laughted before parrying uite a few waves of attacks before making his push back. He made swift moves and counted on taking advantage when his guard was distracted.

 

The colonel heard Riebe's shout and arranged four guards to protect Cylia if the Hunters would attack her and at the same time make sure she wouldn't go anywhere. The colonel and two guards stayed behind by the shuttle, making sure it was secure to leave at any point when it was necessary to do so. A small corvette of the pirates entered the atmosphere, making the horizon and the skylook bright red as the burning wreck came tumbling down like Humpty Dumpty. The ship crashed a few miles from the duel and was followed by several Sith Dominion fighter-bombers that first blew the rest of the ship to pieces and then tried to shoot any survivors before hurrying off back to space to join the fight. The rest of the survivors wouldbe taken care of the sithspawns that had been around, multiplying in the woods for hundreds if not even thousands of years. From the death and fear of the crew, the Dark Lord leeched more power for himself. It was not much because the crew lacked good ties with the force, but it was still quite sufficent to feed the Sith and intensify his attacks.

 

((Note: The Sithspawn thing won't have to be true. Tepe is no scientist sohe just threw something to confuse Strider))

[Flamehart]

Strider growled and intensified his attack. He looked over at Cylia and outstreched his hand. The hard drive began to pull viciously from her grip, his connection with the Force far stronger than her grip on the hard drive. Before long, she was forced to give it up, the drive prying itself from her fingers. Strider pushed Tepe far enough away with a Force wave and grabbed the hard drive, tucking it into his robes.

 

"I am no Sithspawn. I am no monster created by the Sith. I would be more accurately a spawn of the Force itself," called the deep voice to Tepe. It did not even quite sound as if Strider was in complete control, almost as if it was a second conscious that had shared control. If it was anyone's guess, it was from this that was the source of Strider's abilities.

 

Strider turned and then made a dash for the Ragnarok. Katherine ran by him, and he tossed the hard drive to her. She caught it and ran up the loading ramp. Strider turned to block anything that might have been coming for him from behind. Finally, he seperated himself from the fight and dashed up the ramp. He turned and took one last look at the Sith, then at Cylia. As his eyes met hers, he reverted to his normal form. His penetrating blue eyes gazed right at her, piercing into her mind.

 

'i]It is a shame you were not killed 4000 years ago. I thought far better of you when you were dead.[/i]'

 

The ramp raised, and he turned and stepped into the ship at last, which lifted off and away from the Sith forces, its autoturrets turning threateningly at any of their retaliative offences, opening fire at anything that attempted to impede their departure.

[Black Knight of Keno]

Tepe stood where he ad been pushed, sheathing his swords and raising his hand to command the guards not to open fire. The guards lowered their blasters beforemarching towards the shuttle and getting ready to get onboard after the Sith had.

"The enemies of the Sith Hunters are increasing" Tepe said as he turned and looked at Cylia. He nodded at Kaoin to give him the okay to get back onboard the shuttle.

"Colonel, I hope you did what I told you to do" the Lord said as he walked tothe ramp of the shuttle.

"Yes, my lord. The homing beacon has been placed on the Ragnarok's hull and it is working like a charm. The Pirate vessels are also going throught the same procedure. When they gather again, we'll have them" the Colonel said and bowed as the Lord stepped on the ramp and turned.

 

"Good. Make preperations for ambushing the ships. Use the 2nd and 3rd fleets. Broadcast on Dominion News that all planets are going to have to fall under the same rules and regulations from this point onwards until the war ends. Tell the public that we will need all the troops we can get and re-institute drafting on the same places we use to on out first campaign. All vessels will be searched before departure and before landing or docking from or to a planet or Station. All ships will also be scanned after departure and after docking or landing. Arrange the amphitheater to be ready for opening once I arrive back on Tibrin and all the representatives of Dominion-controlled systems to be there for a meeting. I wish to speak with them about the new threats that have been put upon us with the Republic and Imperial Remants joining and the Jedi splitting. Oh, and that reminds me, invite representatives from the Jedi on Ossus. They are just as involved in this as the Dominion" the Dark Lord said and nodded before walking up the ramp and then looking back at Cylia.

 

"You are free to come with me if you so wish. I may even decide to teach you the ways of the Sith if you so wish. Whatever may your decision on that be, I still wish to speak with you about the reasons of your betrayal" he said and vanished inside the shuttle. He first walked to Charna and stood by her. The guards got ready for leaving and the ship only waited for Cylia to get onboard if she so wished. Tepe reached for Charna's hand and gripped it lightly after making sure she was uncontious. The medical droid checked on the flow of bacta and such while the Lord brushed somehair off the woman's face and leaning towards her. He whispered something in Sithese and kissed the woman's forehead before leaving. He entered a small room with a chair and a table where he sat down and started to read on reports he had passed when he left for the apprentices' tests. He also waited for Cylia to come about so he culd speak with her in private while the shuttle lifted off and flew off towards the Dungeon Ship. The Lord didn't even know if Cylia had decided to come onboard, but he knew not even a complete idiot would stay to wander around in the wilderness of the planet with all the sithspawns around

[Flamehart]

Cylia nodded at his invitation, and stood to look around for a moment. She muttered a curse under her breath as the Ragnarok left, then turned and boarded the shuttle behind Tepe, agreeing that it was only fair she explain to him the reasons for her betrayal. As she entered the room, she stood at the other end of the table, choosing not to sit, and merely bowed her head some as she walked in.

 

"You wished to speak with me about my betrayal? Then I shall tell you. I don't need or want your Sith teachings. I'm capable enough as it is. I'm competent, however my performance versus Strider is no applicable verification of my ability...Neither of your apprentices would be strong enough, either, to stand long against him," she said at first, then continued. "As for my betrayal," she started, "Strider originally thought me to be dead four thousand years ago. I had, in reality, been captured by the Sith Lord he sought to kill and converted. My master was eventually slain by my hand, and I voluntarily froze myself using a cryogenic machine for two thousand years. Strider was released from his sleep prior, and I was then left to track him for the next two thousand years, which was remarkably difficult. I finally did a few years later, and spent the next couple hundred monitoring him, taking notes on his developments..." she paused, and Tepe knew now this would get to the personal part, her true reason for betrayal. "He was a close friend of mine...However as a Sith, he was responsible for the death of many of my friends. During that time, there was great conflict between the Jedi and the Sith, and to see my best friend convert, to see the power he wielded when he faced off against me, it intrigued me. I could not help but succumb to the desire to learn it. His former Master used me as bait, he knew Strider was growing weak from his emotions, and sought to get rid of him. Now, four thousand years later, I'm doing what I can to complete my Master's dying wishes. Strider must die for the crimes he comitted against the Sith. He was a disgrace, and acted in treason to the Sith. I wished to hurt him, as badly as I could, to show him how deadly emotions could be. Hopefully, my own betrayal has done more than adequate damage to him by now," she finally finished. It was a cry for vengeance, it seemed. Though he was her friend, she had long been corrupted by power, and though she knew she would never achieve the power Strider held, it would satisfy her well to have that vast power removed from the Galaxy.

[Black Knight of Keno]

As Cylia had entered, the Lord had shut down the list of reports and leaned back in his chair. The man listened closely on every word and observed her body language at the same. Once she had finished, the man smiled and rose his feet onto the table. His white eyes stared at the woman for a while before Tepe said anything.

 

"I know someone who can teach you how to beat Strider. He has trained me well for the last two years in different battle styles. He is a believer in the Potentium,so he won't be trying to convert you or anything to the Dark Side. He is a veteran from the Hundred Year Darkness, so you'll share some stories. But now we are heading back to Tibrin where I need to speak with the leaders of the Dominion-controlled systems. If you wish, you can attend the meeting also even if there is nothing but politics disgussed there. Skywalker and some of his jedi will be there also as honored guests" he said and lowered his legs back, leaning towards her and standing up.

 

"I honor your cause, but the end won't prove to be what you expect. I can see far and wide in the Galaxy and have known Strider for some time. I wish you would have the ending to this story that you want, but I am quite certain that it won't be so" the Dark Lord said and nodded her to be excused before pressing a button and getting back to the reports.

 

------

 

A CR90 Corellian Corvette swiftly flew overthe Ragnarok once it had escaped the atmosphere and grabbed it with the tractor beams. After the Ragnarok was safe inside the hangar, the pirate fleet was given the signal to jump into hyperspace and so they did. The Sith Hunters were greeted by a familiar face. Danera stood in the hangar, leaning onto the wall. The pirate smiled at the Sith Hunters who came out of their ships and stood up straight.

 

"Sorry it took so long. We had to refuel and get ready for a confrontation" he said and laugted before shaking their hands.

"Nice to see that you all got out of there alive and well"

[Writer]

"Likewise," Riebe said. "And it's good you got there when you did... we'd have had a rough time of getting out if you hadn't..."

 

"Ol'val," Jahara said with a grin. Then, she blinked and shook her head slowly. "Riebe, what are the odds that whatever that machine did to me, it also brought me back to my roots?"

 

Riebe laughed. "Old Corellian, Jahara?"

 

"Anything wrong with it?" Jahara challenged. Riebe grinned.

 

"And now we see the woman... before the Jedi calmed her," she teased.

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

Charna slowly regained consciousness to the dull pain where her right forearm had been removed. Her arm was completely submerged in bacta and the forearm had been reattached, but the healing was still in progress. Knowing it was unwise to lift her arm out of the bacta just yet, she relaxed, calling on the Force to dull the pain.

[Black Knight of Keno]

The Pirate gave a chuckle and raised an eyebrow.

"Olys Corellisi? Doko prek anuda ten? Droyk!" he said and gave a chuckle. He had learned Corellian for business reasons in the system, so he understood much of it. He smiled at Jahara and winked before leaving for the hangar door. He then noted to the engineers to bring some spare parts so they could make the needed emergency repairs to the Ragnarok. They would eventully reapir it completely in the Shadowport.

 

"If you don't mind, Strider, I'm going to have to insist this time that you come with us the whole way to our base. There we can repair the Ragnarok completely with the latest parts we can get out hands on" he said and led them out of the hangar and towards a traditional conference room instead of the one they had seen before. So they had to draw the conclusion that the Corvette that had gone down was the flagship and he had managed to get out merely minutes before the hull was smashed open.

 

------

 

Tepe stood up after reviewing the final reports. By now the shuttle was safely in the hangar of the Dark Lord's flagship and the ships were in hyperspace, moving swiftly towards Tibrin. The Sith walked quietly out of the small room and looked at the colonel.

"It is time" he said and walked then towards the small medical station inside the shuttle. He sat down next to Charna as the guards departed. The Dark Lord took Charna's other hand in his and smiled at the woman while moving a small lock of hair from her eyes.

 

"You are still too weak to be transported to the medical bay in my ship, so I'll have to stay here to make sure the shuttle's medical supplies are sufficent" he said in a soft, fond tone of voice. The medical droid came to check the bodily functions of the Sith Apprentice and then continued on it's business.

 

((That will happen to your other character also if no post is made before wednesday. This goes also for the other inactive roleplayers in this thread. Now, I don't want to kill off Kin, so my advice is to just post something and slip back into the RP))

[Writer]

Charna's blue eyes revealed her immense frustration. "Had I been faced only by Jahara, I would have defeated her," she said slowly. "But Riebe has a vast knowledge of uses of the Force... she had me disarmed and unconscious before I could even try to fight her!"

 

In Charna's frustration, she unintentionally shook the room with the Force. Closing her eyes, she replayed the entire fight with Jahara and Riebe in her head. "Forgive me, Master. I have failed you."

[Black Knight of Keno]

"Nay. You have failed yourself. You succumbed to politics and emotions for that foolish Queen of Naboo and forgot your training. So I am now releasing you of your duties as a Governor and assuming control of your planets until I deem you to be fully recovered and re-trained. I will inform of this decision and the names of the new Lordprotectors of your and Kaoin's planets in the upcoming meeting at the Bogan Amphitheater. That is under the last finishing touches on Tibrin" he said and stood up straight next to her. He looked at the sterile-looking room and then leaned in to her ear.

 

"And to assure you of your abilities, even I can't win a fight with the Hunters. Not yet" he said and patted her arm. The door opened and the colonel walked in.

"Lord Tepe, it is done. We have sent word to all Kaoin's forces with the command to surrender to your command and pledge loyalty to the Lord of the Dominion" the colonel said and bowed.

"You did well. I appoint you the head of security for the next week when the leaders are on Tibrin. You have my full concent to acquire anything you find necessary to keep them safe" the Lord said and nodded at the Colonel who bowed deep and thanked before leaving.

 

Tepe turned back to Charna and smirked. He placed a hand on her forehead and showed her the fall of Kaoin, her rival.

"Betrayal is the way of the Sith, but only when it is necessary" he said and chuckled before leaving for the door.

"We will arrive by tomorrow morning standard time. Rest and collect you throughts. I want you calm and ready to meet the politicians"

[Flamehart]

Strider chuckled. "I don't mind coming along, but I do mind you fitting your parts on my ship. I've got the needed equipment for repairs in the cargo hold, just use that stuff. You have to understand, your latest equipment is not so often necessarily as "latest" as mine. If you insist, however, I will look over what you have and decide if I'll take up your offer on sticking that on my ship. Also, I'll even do you a favor and give you the contact information of the guy I get my stuff from. You won't be disappointed," Flamehart said with a grin, and followed him into the conference room.

[Writer]

"You may not be able to defeat the Hunters," Charna said softly, "but you'd have managed to hold them off far longer than I did." She closed her eyes. "I am angry with myself, Lord Tepe. You are right. I allowed my political games with Naboo and my other systems to overrule my training."

 

Then, as Tepe prepared to leave and gave her instructions to rest and collect herself, she nodded. "I will be ready, My Lord," she promised softly. Closing her eyes, she forced herself to relax and submit to the healing actions of the bacta.

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

Jahara grinned at Danera's use of Old Corellian, but said nothing further. She followed Riebe and Strider as they entered the conference room behind Danera.

 

"Well, my friend," Riebe said to him, "we owe you a little thanks. Had you not come by when you did, we'd have had a little more of a challenge getting out. You made it easy."

 

"Took you long enough, though," Jahara teased.

[Flamehart]

Strider took a moment to examine his left arm, which had suffered a light wound from Tepe's attacks. Through his cloak it was often a wonder where Strider's physical strength came from, but with the sleeve completely torn away, it was obvious now where. The cut ran down along the side of his upper arm and came down across the middle of his forearm. It had been bleeding, but this did not seem to phase the tall Hunter.

 

Katherine looked over, concern in her eyes, and said to him, "You know, you should get that treated before it gets infected."

 

Strider chuckled, "Your concern is noted," he said, looking back at her. "But in all my years I've never suffered an injury I couldn't handle," he said assuredly. "I'll wrap it up and apply pressure to stop the bleeding later, don't worry," he stated, before turning back to the rest of the group, changing topics.

 

"Tepe is powerful. I was not able to evoke all of my powers on him, I can sense the extents of his power, and though it has deep roots into the Force, he is not invulnerable. He can be beaten," Strider said confidently. "Though there is more to be learned. His apprentices have gotten far stronger, it is time to push the young Sith Hunter's training to the next level. The next battle will be fierce, I can guarantee it, on ground and in air. I know our friend," he paused, looking at Danera, "has enough men for aerial combat. We however lack the forces needed for a ground assault. I doubt we could convince the Republic for aid, but we must make an assault on a Dominion controlled planet, if there's ever going to be hope for the Republic to survive," Strider said, looking at the others.