Welmin's Cantina

[Writer]

"Don't rule me out before the match is started," Andra laughed. In reply, Tritch stood and drew a sword from his belt. It was almost like a rapier in style, but the blade was a little longer and a little wider, making it suitable for combat against even broadswords.

 

"Take this," he offered to Andra. "Blade's a cortosis alloy. You ought to be able to hold your own against Jena with this."

 

Jena grinned. "We'll have to get Reibe to have one made for you, too," she told Andra. They followed Tepe to the sparring room.

 

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

 

Reibe casually unhooked her lightsaber from her belt and held the unusually long hilt out in front of her. Just as methodically, she ignited first one end, and then the other. Both blades glowed burnt-orange and she smiled faintly over the hilt at the young man.

 

"Come at me," she encouraged.

[Black Knight of Keno]

When they entered the second sparring room, the room was silent and unlit to the point that nothing past the ray of light from the doorway could be seen. When Tepe entered the room and switched the lights on, the droid went online and slowly one by one they shook and rose up from their slumped position with the assistance of their servomotors. Tepe looked around before pushing the other two back with a grin.

 

"Excuse me. I'd forgotten that I attached them to the light switch. They'll be hostile after they boot up" the Sith told them before walking to the center of the room. He took out his red lightsaber and ignited it, raising the blade in a ready stance by his side. The droids, varying in armor plating and size as well as weaponry due to the several rebuilds they'd gone through, started walking towards him, repeating their programming; 'Kill meatbag'

 

When the first droid came close enough, Tepe swung his lightsaber once beside him before attacking. He sliced the droid neatly into several large pieces before moving on to the next droid. At some point he eventually was surrounded and began to make broader attack that took many out at once. Finally Tepe shut off the lightsaber a mere minute and a half after he had ignited the blade. As he walked towards the two women, there were still two droids standing. The other attempted to move it's leg and it resorted with the leg falling off, causing a domino effect in which the whole droid fell into pieces one hitting the other droid that did the same.

 

"The room is all yours" he said before launching a rather massive fore wave behind himself, effectively cleaning the droids into a pile on the other side of the room. As the door hissed shut, the Sith looked at Andra and Jena going to take up their positions.

"Remember that the blade is no better than the person wielding it. Focus" he told Andra before taking up a meditative position beside the door, levitating himself to about two meters off the ground before clapping for them to start. He was interested in the outcome himself.

[Flamehart]

"Have at you, then," the boy responded. He was a blue blur as he went straight in with a flurry of attacks. Although Reibe was surely able to easily block or counter his attacks, she found herself having to admit, the boy was more than formidable with his blade. He knew what he was doing, and it was an exact carbon-copy of Strider's old technique. There was something lacking though from it. Personality, perhaps, the one weakness of Strider's technique, that was more of a bait into messing up than a true weakness. Something about the style was exactly the same though - Strider fought with astonishing agility, and so did the boy. He was a flurry of endless chains, never seeming to tire. Finally their blades locked and the limited glow of the blades managed to illuminate enough to allow their eyes to meet.

 

"What do you think?" he asked, a brief smirk crossing his lips.

[Writer]

Reibe held against his blade for a moment, nodding her head in approval. "Not bad," she said. Abruptly, she slid her right hand down the length of her hilt and dug a fingernail into a narrow groove at the hilt's center. The saber split in two and Reibe shoved the kid's lightsaber away from her own, smoothly lifting both halves of her saber and slashing at the kid diagonally. But even one of her youngest students could have seen that one coming once the staff had split in two. But now, she began to use her own form of saber combat, or rather two of them.

 

In all her years of fighting, Reibe had learned that it was better to take your opponent by surprise than to repeat the same movements until your opponent discovered a weakness. It was for this reason that her lightsaber was designed to come apart as it did. Now in her fighting, she alternated between the dual sabers and the saber staff, connecting and separating the two halves of the staff and switching fighting forms, graceful and effortless, in the blink of an eye.

 

"You seem to have captured all of Strider's form and none of his character," she observed. "The form is all cut and dried to you." She shook her head. "The only way you would be able to prevail with that bore is if someone slipped up and let you."

 

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

 

For a moment, neither woman moved. Then, Andra let out a yelp of surprise. "Don't use the Force on me!" she exclaimed. "If it is to be a fair fight, you have to fight on my level."

 

Jena grimaced. "I didn't do anything," she protested. Andra shot her a withering glare.

 

"You were going to," she shot back. Jena held up her hands in surrender.

 

"Alright!" she sighed. "No Force."

 

At that moment, she charged, lighting her saber as she swung it downward toward Andra's head. Casually, Andra deflected the blow with Tritch's sword. Then, she spun rapidly, bringing the sword around toward Jena's left side. Jena blocked the blow and began a rapid series of strikes which Andra dodged and blocked with what seemed like relative ease.

 

"Suppose it helps to know exactly where a blow's going to land before it gets there," Jena observed. "Tell me, Andra... how does it work?"

 

"I can't tell you how many times during this fight you've injured me," Andra answered. "Every strike, a hit. That's what I see, what I feel... what I prevent by taking action." She blocked another blow. "You lopped off my right arm there... but hearing this, you're loosing your nerve. Your blows aren't coming as hard. Singed my ribs there... ooh, gotcha!"

 

Jena was puzzled at this last comment until Andra brought the flat of her blade down hard on the Force adept's hands. With a startled yelp, Jena dropped her lightsaber and its ice-blue blade winked out. Andra grinned.

 

"You let yourself focus too much on who you were fighting," she told her old friend. "Shall we try again? Limited Force power this time. Don't want you flying blind against someone who can get under your skin like that." She winked. Jena nodded and her lightsaber flew up into her hand once more, ice-blue blade flickering on.

 

"Come at me!" she challenged. With a grin, Andra met her challenge.

[Flamehart]

The boy scoffed at her, glaring, "and that is where you are wrong!" The boy suddenly left, somersaulting overhead and swinging downward at her while passing overhead. He suddenly struck with a new ferocity, his blade following different patterns now. Strider's technique was still evident, however backed by what now seemed to be personal touches on the style. His own additions seemed rough and unrefined compared to Strider's graceful style, however it could be these rough edges that could possibly bait the enemy into taking advantage of a visible weakness.

[Writer]

For a time, Reibe went on the defensive, observing his 'personal touches' with the faintest trace of a smile on her lips as she connected the two halves of her saber once more. "See, the thing you don't know in your 'rough edges', you're actually genuinely leaving me room to move... there!"

 

She struck forward, only to be blocked, split her saber, thrust swiftly three times. Block, block, block. She laughed out loud. "My, my!" she said softly. "You're not bad, I'll give you that."

 

After a few moments of continued clashing, she asked a question which seemed to come out of the blue. "What's your name, kid?"

[Flamehart]

The boy moved in quickly after the blocks, pushing her lightsaber down and bringing his blade awfully close, before he recoiled at her request for his name.

 

"What does it matter? You can call me Eli. My full name is Elysium," He responded. He kept his blade in a ready position. She knew he would not sacrifice the fight, but she also knew, and he also knew, that he could not defeat her, but he could prove his skill. And that's what he wanted.

[Writer]

"Then tell me, Elysium," she said, deliberately using his full name to address him, "if you are so confident in your skills, what is it you seek from the Sith Hunters? Strider's whereabouts? Even I, one of his closest friends cannot give you that. Further training? By your own admission your views and beliefs differ from ours, so you will not find what you are looking for in that direction either."

 

She connected the halves of her saber for a swift, spinning attack, then disconnected the two immediately thereafter and hurling a flurry of at least eight strikes from seemingly random directions. But as time moved forward, it became evident that the strikes were not even remotely random. Instead, they were calculated to make Eli work his absolute hardest to keep up with her. This, he managed... almost. But after nearly a full minute of this strange, haphazard-like striking, Reibe caught his blade between both of hers. In a move that was almost too fast to see, she then brought her right leg up, her foot crashing into the boy's hand, and sending his lightsaber flying.

 

Attempting to recover his lost weapon, Eli thrust his hand out in its direction, but Reibe executed a flying leap, kicking the kid to the ground, connecting her saber back into one piece, shutting one blade off, sweeping Eli's saber out of the air. She came down on her feet, standing just inches from his head. One orange blade and one blue blade came down, criss-crossed at his neck.

 

"Yield," Reibe said softly. "And answer my question. What do you seek?"

[Flamehart]

"I seek my training to be completed. He told me I didn't have what it took to comprehend what I'd been taught. It took me months to escape that planet, but I did, using everything he taught me. I want to find him to prove that I'm ready to face what he dared to say I couldn't do. He called me too unfocused, too brash. I've proven i can focus on my tasks," Eli answered. With that, he yielded, knowing that the fight was over, but that he at least proved his ability.

[Writer]

Reibe nodded and shut off both lightsabers, extending a hand to help the boy to his feet. "I do not know where Strider is, but I will call for him. It may be that you have just passed one of the greatest tests you will ever encounter. On the other hand, you are still too unfocused. You allow emotion to get the better of you when you should get the better of it. Evidenced by your name calling and brash challenges."

 

She frowned thoughtfully. "You may have passed a test by your focus, but you still have much to learn, young one. Wait for me at the table. I will call for Strider and we shall see if he comes."

 

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

 

 

Andra and Jena were locked in rapid-fire exchange of thrusts and swings, each one carefully blocked at the very last second. Twice, Jena had tried to gain the advantage by gentle nudges through the Force, but Andra always seemed to counteract the nudge by leaning just slightly into it half a second before it hit, thus making Jena's balance ruining attempt a stabilization for Andra.

 

"You're good," Jena said, finally taking a step back. Andra grinned and tapped her forehead.

 

"Foreknowledge," she chuckled. "It's a wonderful thing." After a pause, she gestured to Jena to leave the sparring room and went on, "You still have the advantage, though. If our rules had allowed you full use of the Force, you would have easily defeated me. Trust me... in a possible future, I dared you to turn yourself all the way on..." She shuddered.

 

Jena blushed. "In the heat of a sparring session, I can only imagine..."

 

"I witnessed," Andra said. "Remind me to never get on your bad side."

 

Jena smiled faintly. "That's a promise."

[Flamehart]

"Trust me...that won't be necessary," said a bold voice from the doorway. A pair of dark blue, piercing eyes could be seen, dressed in familiar black robes with blood red designs and trim.

 

"Sure, kid, you can fight, you can prove that you can focus on the task at hand, and you can prove to me that you've at least mastered the skills and techniques I've taught you to survive, but you're still a foolish idiot," and with that, the man, obviously Strider, lifted his hand and the boy was hurled violently into the opposing wall.

 

"What are you talking about?" The boy grunted, wincing and standing to his feet. Strider crossed to the center of the room.

 

"Maybe Reibe beat some humility into you, I don't know, but for someone I invested the time I did teaching you everything I know, my last legacy, you have been surely disrespectful about how you handle it!" Strider shouted, thrusting another force wave at Eli.

 

Eli thrusted his own hand forward, emitting a counteracting Force wave. Suprisingly enough, it cancelled Strider's. Eli's blade was summoned from the floor to his grip, and the fight ensued. Eli's style against Strider was very different than how it was used against Reibe. It was very alive, very personable, however it seemed that Strider's challenging nature was what awakened the perfection that lay dormant in Eli. The fight was brief, however, lasting only a few minutes, when Strider finally disarmed Eli in what seemed a very simple, effortless manner, pushing his lightsaber down in a lock and kicking it from his hands and thrusting him back to the wall once again.

 

"You rely on inspiration and challenges to motivate yourself...That's wrong. Those inspirations will not be there forever. You need to become your own person, and stop relying on what you've been taught. You need to realize your own potential and act on it, not call upon it when forced to. Do I have to tell you everything?" Strider growled.

 

"With all do respect, Master," Eli scoffed, standing up. "I'm Nineteen. You're a whole five thousand years ahead of me or something like that."

 

"...You've got a lot of learning to do then," Strider said, glaring at him. "I suppose Reibe proved something today. You have a stronger handle on what you're doing. You know how to apply yourself, which I previously believed you could not. You're using the power i've given you for the wrong reasons. If you can open your eyes to that, then maybe i might be able to teach you something."

 

"Well then, teach me. After fighting Reibe...I think I can be more accepting of criticism," Eli offered, looking directly back at Strider.

 

Strider sighed and looked at Reibe. "There's one thing I hate about this kid..." he muttered. When she replied asking what, he shot an eye back at Eli and answered. "He reminds me too much of myself at his age..." and with that, he turned and walked out the door back into the Cantina, moving to his old table. Eli rose, and quietly left the dueling room after recovering his lightsaber.

[Black Knight of Keno]

Tepe slowly lowered himself towards the ground, placing a foot down when he was at the proper height and then added the second leg. It was a smooth movement he had done several times before and should be nothing special for any force user who knew how to levitate while meditating. Tepe had swiftly began to meditate after Andra had given the second challenge with the match having Force added to it. When the women decided to stop, the Sith also snapped out of the meditation. He had indeed felt Jena's capabilities and she hardly used them in the match, but for a good reason no doubt.

 

Tepe observed the two women and opened the door, waiting for them to go through first. Eventually once they moved towards the door, Tepe let Andra pass but took a hold of Jena from her shoulder.

"You let her win. You had no intention to take this seriously" he stated and stared into he eyes rather coldly.

"Doing something like that, albeit charitable, might lead her to a path of suffering. She is no fighter and her precognitive skills will aid her to only some extent. Her abilities might even cause her to be confused in the heat of battle. This should have been proved to her here and now, yet you chose to play into her self confidence" Tepe lectured before removing his hand and taking a step back while still staring at her. He required an answer of her motives, even though he already seemed to know them.

[Writer]

"She looked into the future of the fight and there challenged me to do my worst," Jena answered calmly. "In that future, I met her challenge. She knows my strength. In light of that, you must see she'll be far more reluctant to challenge a stronger opponent. And as to the seriousness with which I looked upon this match, I took into account that the woman I fought today is no different than the woman I knew all those years ago. The Jabos Team has changed. Our leader has not. Because of this, I know that she doesn't take defeat easily. She has to be eased into it, which is the other reason I did not overwhelm her as you know I so easily could."

 

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

 

 

Reibe watched the fight between Strider and Eli with a faint smile on her face. When Strider complained that Eli reminded him of himself at that age, she laughed and followed him out to his table.

 

"If that is the case, then you should know all the more how to better beat him into what you became, Brother," she told him. "You know what it took you, after all." She squeezed his shoulder as she sat down beside him. "I've missed you."

[Flamehart]

Although he seemed fine, there was something about the way he ruthlessly handled Eli, and even based on the features of his still-young face, there was something eating at Strider, something that was not quite right, though his attitude hid it well. He smiled back at Reibe, always fond of her company. "I've missed you too. I need to keep in better contact, or lord forbid you might assume I've died of old age," he said jokingly. He looked over at Eli, then at Reibe, and here she saw that perhaps something that was on his mind would come out.

 

"Who said I wanted to mold him like myself?" he asked, looking at her. He looked back at Eli, and said, speaking to the both of them, "I wanted to leave my legacy behind in someone, someone who was willing and focused enough to harness that kind of power. I am going to age for many many more millenia, but there will be a time where I get fed up with dealing with the galaxy's problems. Someone younger and more patient will have to observe what I observed for years." He paused and looked back at Reibe, making brief eye contact with her, "Our involvement is eternal, but for those times we do grow tired of being involved, we need others to fill our role. I don't want Eli to be me, despite how much he already is like me, but I want him to be his own person by applying what he learns from someone else's experiences into the ones he will face, not by trying to make himself into that person." He sighed, and a long sigh it was. Despite the fact he still looked no older than the age of twenty four, the several thousand of years had taken quite a toll on him, as it had on many of those who had been around as long as he.

[Writer]

Reibe nodded, understanding. "So he is too much like you. At least he is more willing to listen to criticism now." She paused thoughtfully. "Strider, if you ever need help... and I'm not just talking about with Eli... but if you ever need help, I should tell you I've taken to staying on the Watchtower these days." She smiled faintly. "There, now you know where to find me... when I'm not here."

[Flamehart]

Strider paused, looking over at Reibe. He nodded at Eli, who got the idea and stood away for the moment. Strider looked over at Reibe and put one of his hands on her shoulder in an assured manner.

 

"Ill be sure to come by more often then...are you okay? You seem more distressed than I am," he questioned.

[Writer]

Reibe hesitated. Then, she blushed slightly. "Would you mind... I have a small apartment on Coruscant that still needs to be packed out. I could use your help. If you don't mind..."

 

Feeling the need to explain further, she added, "It's just... I hate packing... well, all of the moving process, really..."

[Flamehart]

Strider nodded, not at all questioning her behavior, deciding he would wait until they were in more private quarters to do so. "Eli, We'll continue our training at another time..Until then, I need you to merely observe and reflect, learn what you can from those around you," he advised.

[Black Knight of Keno]

"When the truth hits, it hits like herd of spooked Ronto" Tepe noted before shaking his head.

"No good will come from your actions" the man continued before continuing past her and through the doorway. Swiftly he followed Andra and eventually sat back at the table only moments afterwards. As he had entered the common room, his senses were rather bewildered and he knew exactly who he sensed in the room. Strider had arrived. In any case, Strider and his cocky apprentice could wait.

 

As the Sith Lord sat down he took a deep breath in and as he let it our a low rumble came from deep within his throat. He felt it all. From the longing between Reibe and Strider to the joy in Andra that she had proved herself even as capable as she had.

 

"You" Darth Tepe started, addressing the group sitting at the table one Jena had joined them.

"You are all young, arrogant, brash ..." he told them before grinning slightly and continuing;

"ignorant of the Galaxy. Ignorant of yourselves. Ignorant of your potentials. All of you have been given powers that would otherwise be accomplished only by the Force. Yet you all seek nothing more but to serve" he said before finally raising an eyebrow.

 

"Why?"

[Writer]

"What would you have us do?" Kos Tritch asked after the long silence following Tepe's question. "You are not sitting with warriors or people trained to be warriors. Dannar, Ruya, and Jena were scientists and inventors. Brilliant minds, but not taught the ways of combat. Grayson and I were nothing more than simple security guards. And as for Andra... well, her knowledge is still of things long since past."

 

Andra cringed slightly at his words, but she had to admit that he was right. "What do you suggest?" she asked Tepe.

[Black Knight of Keno]

Darth Tepe chuckled quietly for a moment, digging within his cape for a moment before retrieving a holodisk which he placed into the holoprojector on the table. Pressing a button he smirked and the picture of a rather beautiful young woman came into view rotating slowly around.

 

"Her name is ... was Danielle Bayers" Tepe told the group before glancing over at Reibe in the other table across the room.

"She was a dedicated Jedi. A compassionate Jedi. A protective Jedi. On her way to becoming Reibe's follower as a Sith Hunter" he told them, waiting as if for the moment where Reibe came in to complaint of the matter. Nonetheless, Tepe continued soon thereafter, his eyes going from person to person within the group.

 

"Now she is a part of the greatest political interaction in the Galaxy. She requested me to provide more for herself, as the Jedi had abandoned her with the Sith Hunters. She got what she requested and now serves nobody. I rely on her to keep me in good relations with the Hutts, an important behind the scenes power in this Galaxy. " the Sith told them before his white eyes went to the hologram. He knew how they would react to his attempt to have them side with the Sith Dominion, yet he continued.

 

"If you join me, there will be no servitude. Only partnership. Then you can enhance your abilities and learn how to expand the variety of them as well" Tepe told them, trying to encourage them to join his efforts and to embrace his side of Galactic events and his access to power the like they had never seen before.

[Writer]

"She's a bit more than that," Jena pointed out with a grin. The rest of the Team nodded their agreement, except Andra. Jena glanced over and explained, "Danielle Bayers is now known as Charna... and she's his wife."

 

Dannar looked up at Tepe. "Suppose you've made your point, though," he said. "She certainly has made a name for herself since leaving the Jedi."

 

"As I recall hearing not that long ago," Ruya cut in, "she's still just as compassionate, dedicated, and protective now as she was in her days as a Jedi. So not that much has changed for her, has it?"

 

"Social status, galactic reputation, loved by many, hated by few..." Kos chuckled and added jokingly, "Nah, she's pretty much the same."

 

"The offer is intriguing," Andra said slowly.

 

"Andra, you have missed a great deal of history," Jena warned. "Perhaps we'd better let you get educated before you return to leadership of the team."

 

Andra stared at Jena for a moment, looking almost astonished that her old friend would suggest something like that. Finally, she nodded shortly. "Have you any suggestions as to which one of you would be suitable for temporary leadership? It has just occurred to me that I do not know any of you as well as you know me."

 

"Dannar," Jena answered immediately.

 

"Yeah, Dannar," Ruya agreed. Grayson nodded his approval as well and Kos grinned.

 

"Dannar from me as well," he said.

 

Dannar shrugged. "I'd just as soon have picked Kos..."

 

"Well it'd have been a little cheesy to vote for yourself, wouldn't it?" Jena teased.

 

"So what's the vote, captain?" Andra asked, staring hard at Dannar. The stare was not lost on Dannar... and neither were the borderline jealous thoughts milling about on the surface of Andra's mind. He frowned.

 

"Andra, I'm not replacing you," he was quick to inform her. "You'll be up to date relatively quickly." He turned to Tepe. "We'll wait on our decision until Andra is capable of making it herself."

 

Though still seeming a little uneasy, Andra seemed to settle down at this.

[Black Knight of Keno]

Tepe watched the scene unfold from the uncovering of Charna's status as his wife and the Queen of the Dominion into the usurpation of Andra's job as the squad leader. He didn't even struggle to sense the real emotions in the table at that moment. Jealousy, feel of betrayal, hunger for power, gladness, feel of power... It fed him and a smile appeared on the man's face. It wasn't exactly a smile, but more of a grin. A grin the Sith Hunters had seen but not this group except for maybe on Palpatine when he was plotting.

 

'Betrayal' a nearly inaudible voice rang within Andra's head.

'You know it as well as I that they had planned this through. They usurped your power intentionally after seeing how weak you were against Jena' the voice continued and fed Andra's emotions, attempting to lure her towards the Dark Side.

'They have no plans to reincorporate you into the group. They never had. They've been corrupted by Reibe into nothing but slaves of the Sith Hunters. They nor Reibe will allow you to take control and unleash the true powers within the group. Feel your anger and jealousy. Take the power you gain from these emotions. Unleash it upon your so called "friends" and show them who is the true power behind their success' Tepe continued to feed the voice inside her mind. If she succeeded in corrupting Andra, he gained an excellent military strategist into his service. And after that, he could continue with the corrupting of the rest of the group.

 

Tepe's eyes flashed a pale yellow for a split second before the grin intensified and the man's eyes rose up to stare at Jena.

[Writer]

But even the brief moment that Andra had to think the decision over before Tepe whispered to her mind was enough for her genius mind to think through what had just transpired. Rising to her feet, she glared at Tepe and growled, "Don't toy with me, meddler. Even after all these years, I know my own better than that."

 

Her cold manner toward Tepe caught all her friends by surprise. Jena ventured a cautious, "Andra?"

 

After staring long and hard at Tepe for another moment, Andra took her seat and smiled at her friend. "It is nothing," she said. Directing another icy look in Tepe's direction, she added, "Just establishing an understanding between us."

[Black Knight of Keno]

When Andra stood up, Tepe leaned back and raised his chin proudly. His white eyes had concentrated to the now standing woman. The grin on his face did not go away, but rather intensified. While she glared at her, their eyes met and the Sith Lord's eyes flashed yellow again. He'd caught her in his hook. Now it was just the job of reeling the catch in and hope it's not an old boot or a tin can.

 

Despite Jena's questioning of Andra's sudden burst, the two did not turn away from each others and continued the stare until Andra had sat down. When she explained the burst to her friends, Tepe continued to look at the rest of the group. By this time, the green-dressed man had also moved closer, prompted to do so by the sudden outburst given by Andra.

 

'I can sense the anger within you. Conquer that emotion and feel it's potential. Look into the future and see what you can accomplish with unleashing the fury of your emotions. Join me and take what is rightfully yours'