Topic: Clandestine Mission

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-07 13:28 EST
The young woman made the barest whisper of sound as she approached the old wooden building. Whispers of what happened within this place, The Chainned Inn, had reached her ears the moment she set foot on the streets of this strange land. What shocked her most was that such goings-on were permitted, even tolerated by the locals. Youthful idealism soon became outrage. She paused before the forbidding door, the lack of light and warmth should've warned her off, should've had her calling for backup.

But then, Katerrina Hess never did do what she was supposed to do. Calling for help would make it look like she couldn't handle a simple problem, and she hated waiting for backup. Her teachers had long said she needed to learn patience, needed to be less prideful, less arrogant. But, Katerrina was confident in her abilities, both physical and mental. The people she passed in the street were all primitive. Surely, no one here would be a match for someone from the Order.

She was clad all in black, from the toes of her soft leather boots, to the hood of her well-worn traveling cloak. strands of red curly hair peeking from beneath it. Her tunic and breeches showed she was definitely all woman, all softness and curves under the dark woolen fabrics. A shiver ran through her spine as she touched the door's handle, instantly dismissed as being from the chill in the night air, and Katerrina pulled the door open, and stepped inside.

She should have known better.

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-07 22:06 EST
The inn was quiet for once. Very little going on, only a few girls walking around, cleaing up the tables. In the back corner, a private booth sits. A man in a black uniform is going over papers listening to the quiet bustling of the inn. The great hall is cold. However, it was not a temprature cold, but a chill of death and even worse.

He looked up at the young woman stepping into his private domain, auburn eyes looking to her directly, as if he knew she was coming before she did.

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-07 23:00 EST
One slender hand held her cloak about her. The chill she'd felt at the entrance didn't fade when she stepped into the Inn. In fact, Katerrina swore it was colder inside than outside.

She took a step away from the door, then another, stormy blue eyes noting the position of each girl, the way they tended their duties. Her fingers gripped the metal cylinder that hung on her belt, barely hidden in the folds of her cloak. Touching it helped her focus, helped her take more steps away from the door, into the Inn itself.

As she walked, she felt the heavy weight of eyes, tracking her movements. She sought the source, looking through red curls that tumbled in her eyes. Again, a shiver made her spine tingle. The hand holding her cloak moved to brush the curls aside, the better to see the man in the back, mulling over paperwork. A slow smile formed. This had to be the owner, for who else would suffer through boring papers in an Inn?

Resisting the urge to turn and run, Katerrina met the auburn stare of the man in black, her voice clear and musical.

"This is your place? I've heard some interesting stories about it, and I'd like to ask a few questions."

Courtesy was another subject she'd been told to improve.

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-07 23:06 EST
"Questions?" He leaned back, lacing his fingers on the desk. And what kind of questions are you going to ask me, my little...Jedi." He smirked slightly. "You can release your blade, you are in no danger. Well, perhaps I should say you are in no danger, yet."

He snapped his fingers, a girl moved quickly, falling to her knees next to him. One hand reached out, caressing her hair gently. "May I get you something? You've been on a long journey, I'm sure you'd care for something to eat or drink."

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-08 00:04 EST
He knew. Even in this backwater town as far from the Outer Rims as one could get, he knew what she was. Surprise registered on her face for a brief moment, then her discipline took control, and her features smoothed. Katerrina slowly moved her hand away from her blade, leaving them both in the man's sight. She felt sure she could grab it, should she need to.

The speed of the girl's response was not lost on her, nor her attitude and posture. The girl was obviously a slave, as were all of the others. she was sure. The injustice of it blurred Katerrina's vision. In her mind, this man had to be taken down. Her single-mindedness was both an asset, and a flaw.

The offering of food and drink made Katerrina's stomach growl. The man was right, she had traveled far, and she had not eaten since her departure. Taking a seat opposite him, she nodded slowly.

"Something to eat and drink would be welcomed." She paused a long moment. "Thank you."

Katerrina took a steadying breath, centering herself. Why was it still so cold in here, she wondered. She met his eyes without fear.

"The girls here, they're all your slaves? The trade was outlawed decades ago."

She was direct and blunt, and confident she was in the right.

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-08 00:19 EST
He tapped the girl kneeling next to him gently, "Get our guest something to eat, be sure that its fresh and get her some tea." The girl quickly stood moving from him three steps before moving towards the kitchen.

"As for the girls, yes, they are mine. And this world, as backwater as it is, is not part of the Republic, so the rules you want to apply to me do not." He smirked. "Please, take a seat, relaxe and enjoy yourself. You will come to no harm here. Not now anyway. Though, I should inform you, if I wanted you dead, you would be dead already." He motioned gently to the space across from him at his booth. "But I think you know that."

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-08 00:39 EST
Katerrina took the seat opposite him, but she didn't relax. She found she couldn't. The longer she was in this man's presence, the colder she felt. The tea would help, she thought.

She half-listened to his words, so sure she was in her rightness. "The trade of flesh is wrong, no matter what world you're on. So it's been said for centuries. You came here to skirt the rules."

A confident smile, one that bordered on arrogance, formed slowly. "Perhaps I'd be dead, or perhaps you would be."

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-08 00:45 EST
He chuckled, she was indeed brave. If not arrogant.

"My dear, do not come in here and dictate to me what is right and wrong. For life has dictated that only the strong shall survive." The girl instructed to bring food and drink returned, kneeling next to the newcomer, placing a tray of fine tasting food before her, a cup of tea poured and placed above the plate.

"I have done what I have done to survive. Along the way, I found that there were weaker ones that needed to be cared for, protected. Though, in those same cases, these poor ones," as he spoke the girl returned to his side, his hand returning to the top of her head, caressing her like a pet at his side. "These unfortunat ones, needed leadership and guidance. I have not enslaved them, but I have set them free. They need not worry about bills, or who to date, or where to go, or how they will remain fed." He looked down to the girl at his side for a moment before looking back to the girl across from him.

"I am their freedom, and they have but one thing to be concerned with - my will."

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-08 01:07 EST
Delicate fingers lowered the hood of her cloak, sending those red waves and curls spilling over her shoulders. She had to admit, the food before her looked delicious, and the aroma of the tea was divine. She cupped her hands around the cup, letting the warmth seep into her skin before taking a small sip. She was still so cold.

Her stormy eyes fell to the girl kneeling at the man's side. She didn't see any marks or other signs of mistreatment. But that meant little, she knew. She'd seen how others treated their, property. She'd helped break up a vicious ring of slavers, as a Learner. Now, as a Knight, she felt she could do it again. The one piece she'd forgotten, however, was that as a Learner, she hadn't been alone. Her righteous fury drove her.

"But what of their will? They're still people, with their own thoughts and ideas. How can taking their will help them?"

She took another sip of the tea, to try and banish the shivers that plagued her.

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-08 01:12 EST
"AH!" He said, smiling darkly. "Their will, hmm, perhaps we should ask my lovely lilia." There was little respect for her in his words as he spoke her name. "Tell me, my precious, what do you worry about anymore?" The tone in his voice was condicending at best.

The girl responded after a moment, and looked up to her Master, "I worry only if you are happy! For you if you are happy, then I am happy!" She said it with a sick, sweetening smile that could have rotted your teeth out in seconds.

"There, you see!" He looked back to the girl across from him. "She's happy because I am happy! And right now, I'm very content with my operations. I'm powerful, rich, and feared. And who benefits from my success, you ask?" He patted the girl gently on the head. "My girls do."

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-08 01:24 EST
His smile and tone had her blood boiling. She'd never encountered anything like him. Nothing in her training prepared her for the look of adoration she saw in the girl's, in lilia's, eyes. None of it made sense. In her world, being fought against being broken like this. What kind of world was this?

The tea cup had been set on the table. Katerrina's hand twitched towards the blade under her cloak. All she could think of was wiping that smile off the man's face. But was her reaction for the girl kneeling at his side, or for the chills she felt, the cold touch of fear? Fear was a Jedi's worst enemy.

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-08 01:27 EST
Before her hand had gone much farther towards her blade, his own had flown from its resting place behind his back, igniting with a snap hiss. The tip of the blade was easily but an uneasy motion near her nose. The orange white blade was steady in his hand, his arm holding sharply to its location, and the other hand had continued to pet the girl's head gently. "Your anger betrays your thoughts. Not something wise for a Jedi, don't you think, my dear?" He slowly shook his head back and forth, offering her only warning.

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-08 01:39 EST
The last thing Katerrina expected was to see another weapon like her own, the deadly blade humming millimeters from her face. Her fingers paused, just above the hilt of her own blade. The situation was assessed quickly. For the first time since setting foot in the Chainned Inn, Katerrina wished she'd asked for backup. This man was, to her dismay, her superior in skill, as demonstrated by the speed he'd armed himself. It was time to step back.

Slowly, Katerrina raised both her hands, showing she did not have her weapon. She took a breath, striving to find her calm center, before fear and anger choked her. Her voice held a hint of a quaver, though her eyes were clear and unafraid.

"I've taken enough of your time. I'll leave you to your.. girls."

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-08 01:41 EST
"Stay, and enjoy your meal." As he spoke, he leaned forward some, the blade still remianing in its position.

"I insist."

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-08 01:52 EST
"I'd enjoy my meal much more without the blade in my face."

Katerrina sat perfectly still, or as still as she could. considering she couldn't stop shivering. One hand moved slowly, reaching for her teacup. Her fingers had a barely perceptible tremor. And now, she couldn't convince herself it was from the cold.

Her other hand dropped, and came up with her blade, igniting purple, raised in a swift motion to try and force his aside. If this feint failed..

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-08 02:04 EST
The blade quickly reversed itself, vanishing as quickly as it came. The hilt however, was placed carefully upon his table. "Rhy'din is never a simple place. Weapons, battles, slaver raids. You just never know when you find you might need your weapon handy."

He sensed her fear, through the effect of his aura, he knew she was realizing that he was more than the rumors said he was. And now she had a very good idea what that was.

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-08 08:57 EST
Wicked fast, that's what he was. Her fingers tightened on the hilt of her blade, then with an effort, she also disengaged it, and set the hilt on the table next to her plate of half-eaten food. Katerrina drew a breath, which sent more shivers through her. There were only a handful of beings that had such power..

"I see, not everything is not as it appears here."

As he watched, she finished her meal, and her tea. Afterwards, she reached for her blade, making to stand as she did so.

"I've taken enough of your time. I'll leave you to your work."

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-08 23:03 EST
"Are you sure you want to go?" He asked with a smirk. "However, if you insist, I'll be happy to let you go." He leaned back in the booth, tapping the girl once gently on the head. She hopped up quickly to return to her duties.

"I hope that you have what you came for, my dear."

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-09 10:43 EST
His tone, that smug smirk, the way he sent his girl on her way, they combined to infuriate Katerrina. Years of strict training to control her anger dissolved. The Masters sensed her talent, and since their numbers were so small, they glossed over her temperment when she'd gone through her Trials. It was becoming clear, that wasn't the right decision.

Katerrina's purple blade was re-ignited, swept to hover at the pulse point of his neck. Her eyes were like electric stormclouds, all swirling blues and grays. She was dimly aware she was drawing on fear and anger, instead of calmness and certainty. She didn't care, for in her mind, he was an evil that had to be destroyed. Pity she was going about it all wrong.

"I'll go when I'm ready to go, not when you "let" me." She paused, her blade humming. "And I'm not your dear."

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-09 11:25 EST
He was not phased, was not bothered by her actions. Death didn't bother him, not anyone elses, and certianly not his. He remained smirking at her, the dark auburn eyes flashing something in the light as he locked on hers.

"Kill me, if you must, my dear." He shook his head slightly as he spoke. "I will point out, that in your anger, you touched upon a strength that was never before felt in your blood. For the spark of the flame ignited within you a passion. Through that passion, you were strong enough to kill a being far your superior."

He watched her, he sensed the rage growing with in her - it wasn't simply anger, but rage, and more than just at him.

And it was growing.

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-09 13:45 EST
The urge to remove that smirk with her blade nearly overwhelmed her. Katerrina's hands trembled from holding the blade on him, keeping it still. Her gaze stayed locked to his, as the anger boiled inside her. Why was she hesitating? He was evil, why couldn't she strike?

"I'm not driven by passion. I'm driven by righteousness."

Yet, the blade remained where it was, hot against his neck. She hadn't moved. It was like his words cast a spell over her.

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-09 16:22 EST
He chuckled again. "Is not hot righteousness the same as passion?" He shifted slightly, more towards the table, the blade still near his head. "You can feel the Force flow through like a raging river. It pulses through you, feeding on your anger, frustration..."

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-09 22:26 EST
Katerrina blinked. Her hand was cramping from holding the blade so still. She closed her eyes, and the purple light vanished as she deactivated her blade, lowering her hand to her side.

When she opened them again, her eyes appeared calm. Her body appeared calm. But the storm still raged within Katerrina. She took a slow step back, away from the booth.

"Righteousness and passion aren't the same." She took a breath. "They're not the same at all." Was she trying to convince him, or herself?

She shifted the blade hilt to her other hand, flexing her stiff fingers. The chill and cold still bothered her in this place.

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-09 22:43 EST
He shifted himself out of the booth, his arms folding behind him. "Is that what you were taught in the Order?" He watched her. "Are you sure that the lesson was taken correctly?" He moved towards her slowly, watching her. "All things are born of passion, from the embers a fire is born. Though water dispenses the fire, the embers still urn for more."

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-09 23:11 EST
He was bigger than she was, by nearly a foot. His presence as he stood almost had her moving back another step. Almost. Katerrina steeled herself, willing her feet not to move, refusing to give this man any ground. Her heart pounded in her ears, so loud she was sure he could hear it in the quiet.

The bite of her blade's hilt in her hand as she gripped it helped clear her mind a little. His words were seductive, making so much sense.. Katerrina shook her head slowly, still meeting his auburn, burning eyes.

"The Order teaches that passion, it leads straight to the Dark side. We're taught to focus our energies in other ways."

The fine tremble in her hands showed she'd had some issues with the lessons.

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-09 23:30 EST
"There is no passion, only serenity."

He chuckled. "Is that not the code of the Order?" He began to circle her, to inspect her. The chill of his aura pierced her robes, caressing her flesh longingly. "Doesn't the Order teach that anger is also the basis of the darkside? How can that be, when one becomes stronger through the fire, through the rage."

He stepped behind her, watching her from the back. "I would submit to you that when we expel our rage, our anger, it restores our balance, and we grow stronger. We protect those that are close to us." He walked around her again, standing less than half a meter infront of her, eye to eye.

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-10 00:05 EST
"Peace over anger, honor over hate, strength over fear. That's what the Masters taught, back on Ossus."

Her free hand came up to rub at her arm, trying to get warm. Katerrina shivered, from the cold, and from the way the man eyed her. She fought for calm, breathing slowly to calm her wild heartbeat.

"Anger doesn't restore balance. It tips it, to favor the darkness."

When he stood close to her, it was like being locked in a freezer, and the chill made her shiver to the point of trembling. She dug deep, and found the strength to meet those eyes. She refused to be intimidated.

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-10 00:24 EST
"Darkness..." He walked around her again. "The Darkside. These are all the Force. It doesn't matter how its drawn, it can be drawn." He stepped over to a table that had an empty glass, picking it up, placing one hand over the top of it.

"To master the Force, is to master yourself, and master the elements - Light and Dark." He pulled his hand slowly upwards from the water in the glass. It slowly began to take a crystaline shape - of her.

"To be a true Knight, should you not master all elements? To conqure all?" The shape, the model was taking on every mark, every detail - including the saber in her hand. Till all the water was gone. He handed the glass over to her.

"Your Order considers me to be a Dark Side user, or Sith. Tell me my dear, what do you believe me to be?" His arms fold behind him, as he watches her.

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-10 01:04 EST
She took the glass in her trembling left hand, her right one still clutching her saber. Such displays were frowned upon on Ossus, thought of as showy, frivilous. Katerrina marveled at how the man captured every strand of her red hair, the minute detail of her saber, like he'd memorized her very form.

"The Masters didn't speak of the Dark side, except to warn us to be mindful of our feelings, or we'd head down the Dark path."

His question drew her eyes from the glass, to meet his gaze. Her fingers tightened as he spoke. She'd heard of the Sith, of course, but she was told they were very rare, and that it was highly unlikely she'd ever meet one. Again, she took a breath to steady herself. The cold surrounding her make it hard to think straight.

"I believe you to be powerful, very powerful." Her stormy eyes had a stubborn glint. "And I'm not your dear."

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-10 01:13 EST
"Your teachers never taught you the truth of power, or what it is, or what it could be come." He stepped way from her. "Power is what you make of it, light and dark. Its how you use it. They would teach you that unless you use your strength to protect the weak, you are wrong. Who's to say that I have not protected the weak through my strength?"

He turned back to face her. "You've seen my girls. They are happy, well cared for. I have used my strength to care for them." He moved back towards her.

"Where does your strength lie?"

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-10 01:24 EST
"You say you take care of your girls, but they have no will, no voice except what you tell them to think and speak. How can that be right?"

His question, that unblinking stare, made Katerrina pause. Who was he to question her? Yet, she felt like she had to answer.

"We're to help those who can't help themselves. We're the voice for those without voice. That's what we were taught."

Her face showed a flicker of bitterness, like the reality was different than the schooling.

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-10 01:48 EST
"Watch the girls." He turned to watch his girls. "They move at their choice. They decide how they serve, and what they can do. They thank me every day for their food, for their sleep."

He looked back to her. "But they are alive. They are happy. It doesn't matter how. My strength provides for them, they worry for nothing. Can you say that? Have you done that for another?"

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-10 02:01 EST
Katerrina frowned as she looked around the Inn at the girls, shakng her head. "Food and sleep are necessities. You talk like they're privledges you allow them to have. That's not right."

His questions started to grate on her. How dare he interrogate her like this? She was a Jedi, a strong one at that, the strongest in her class. Katerrina gripped her saber so hard it made her hand sting, as she again battled an upsurge of anger.

"I've helped worlds find peace instead of strife and warfare. I've guided ambassadors to summits where treaties helped forge a new hope for a dozen systems. I don't take away people's free will!"

She clung to the fact he owned slaves, to ease her mind. His last question touched a nerve.

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-10 02:14 EST
He could feel the anger well up within her. Smirking once more, he chuckled. "Your anger, your fury is not strong enough to defeat me." He stepped away from her. "You lack true disapline, you lack the strength. Though you claim to have worked for the betterment, all you've done is allowed the weaker to continue to be weak. They will eventually fall to the stronger. To me, and those like me."

He stopped at the bar. "From within us, we garner will and strength, from experiance we garner knowledge." He turned back to her, his arms still folded behind him.

"Though you claim the title of Knight, though you have battle through the trials, you do not understand true power, nor would you understand its usage."

He paused for a moment.

"There fore, you cannot be a knight."

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-10 19:54 EST
The righteous indignation Katerrina felt was giving way into full-blown rage. She'd trained from the time she was a small child, back on Ossus. She was highly gifted in both combat and the Force, all the Masters had said so. She'd passed her Trials earlier than anyone in her class. How dare this man question her? How dare he question her motivation, her drive? She was in the right here, wasn't she?

"I'm a Knight, make no mistake on that."

She made her point with a shove through the Force towards the man, a grandstanding move, a posturing move to show she wasn't as weak next to him as she felt.

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-10 20:33 EST
The movement of the Force ripped tables and chairs that weren't bolted around him, throwing them against the wall, dishes and glasses shattered and splintered.

And barely a hair out of place in his military haircut. Not a wrinkle removed from his black uniform.

"Once again, you tap the darkness in the heart of all to bring forth your true power." He began his movements towards her once again. "The fire and passion in your blood grants you more possible strength then you've ever had control over."

He again stared her down. "But have you the will to control it?"

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-10 21:41 EST
The wave Katerrina generated was stronger than any she had ever done. Yet, this man stood untouched amid a pile of broken tables, chairs, and glasses. Again, she felt her heart pound in her ears, as he stalked towards her. She clutched her lightsaber hilt in both trembling hands, the blade unignited, her stormy eyes looking up at him, determined not to back down or show weakness. Not now.

"My will is strong, and my will is my own. No one tells me what to do."

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-10 21:52 EST
"My will is strong, and my will is my own. No one tells me what to do."

He outright laughed at her statement before turning back to her and becoming quiet. The chill in the air hung around her before he broke his silence once more.

"Then explain to me how the Order can tell you what to do?"

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-10 22:03 EST
His silence unnerved her more than his mocking laughter. The chill seemed to lodge in her bones, making Katerrina wonder if she'd ever truly be warm again. Again, his question had her battling anger and frustration. A gleam that bordered on defiance lit her eyes. She wasn't backing down, even though she felt backed into a corner.

"The Order doesn't tell me what to do.."

As the words left her lips, she tasted the lie of them.

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-10 22:34 EST
He caught her moment of "clarity". "So, you have indeed been a slave all your life after all, haven't you." He turned from her, walking towards the bar. As he reached it, a girl behind it quickly took a silver mug from under the bar, and reached back to fill it from a special tankard. The black fluid that filled it slowly filled the mug before she kissed the rim, placing it on the bar before him.

"Tell me my dear, have you always done what the Order has told you to do? Taken your assignments like a good little girl?"

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-10 23:14 EST
"No, no.. that's not how it is in the Order at all. We use our gifts to help others, and the Masters send each of us where our gifts do the most good."

Katerrina's hands twisted around her blade's hilt. A new emotion crept in to join the anger and the frustration. Doubt. She watched as the girl moved to get the man a mug of something that looked like oil. The expression on the girl's face bodered on reverence, and Katerrina had to turn away, studying the hilt in her hand. Was this man right? Had her life been nothing but a lie?

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-10 23:20 EST
"No! Of course the order doesn't provide instructions that you have to follow to the letter. You are free to pick and chose your assignements, and how you are to perform those assignments."

He took a drink from the mug before he walked back towards her. "Tell me, you are of course allowed to pick who you associate with, right? Who your friends are, and who you study with?"

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-10 23:29 EST
She nodded slowly, looking up as he approached her again. Her hands were stiff with the chill in the air, clinging to her blade's hilt like a lifeline. His questioning caught her off guard a moment, and the surprise flickered briefly before her discipline took over.

"Of course we are. We have friends everywhere, in all walks of life, teaching us in ways we may not expect."

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-10 23:32 EST
"And how were you taught to react when someone called you a slave to the Order?" The question was brutal, his delivery of it intensified by the dark glare of his eyes, the brows narrowed slightly.

"Tell me, girl, when did you last go someplace because you wanted to go there rather than being told to go to that place?"

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-10 23:47 EST
"No one speaks of the Order like that in the Core worlds. Not even the Outer Rim dares call us slaves!"

Her voice raised to match the tide of fury she fought to keep under control. His words drove doubt and fear into her centered, sheltered world. The electric storms brewed in her eyes as she glared up at him.

"We serve others, that's what we do. We're supposed to go places and help, and it's more effective if we're assigned, so we don't step on each other!" She took a breath. "That's not slavery, that's not what I see here!"

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-11 00:52 EST
"Not slavery?" He chuckled, taking a last drink of his ale. "Really. These girls, they have assignments so they can take care of things more efficiantly, so that they can help keep things in an orderly fashion. How are you different from them? How are you better than them? While you have 12 masters to serve, they serve one."

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-11 01:08 EST
Her eyes closed as she took a breath, resisting the urge to ignite her blade and hack the man into little tiny pieces. As it was, her knuckles whitened around the hilt as she fought for her calm center. But all she felt inside her was chaos, as he kept up his unrelenting barrage of questions. She glared at him with a look that made younglings flee.

"I serve the Force, not the Council. So if I have a Master, it's the Force." She continued in her musical voice, not a trace of the turmoil churning in her coming through. "I'm not better, perhaps I'm not even that different. But I'm free. What of them? They have no freedom, no life except what you decide to give them. How can that be better than freedom?"

She hid the turmoil, but a hint of the desperation she felt came through. Desperate to show he was wrong. And desperate, because deep within her, she wondered if he was right.

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-11 01:14 EST
"You are still a slave! No matter how you disguise it, no matter how you mask it! Be it the council or the Force - You. Are. A. Slave. I serve no one. I follow my path as destiny has laid it out. That means I have the power to do what must be done."

He pointed to the girls. "They chose to serve over a life of pain and doubt. What have you chosen?"

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-11 01:35 EST
Something inside Katerrina snapped. In the blink of an eye, her purple blade was ignited, and with a scream of frustrated rage, she raised the blade high, and brought it crashing down...

Upon the bar, the wood charring and splintering as she powered through all the way to the floor. Her breathing was shallow, her eyes fixed upon the humming lightsaber in her hand. She was motionless, finally speaking after a long, long moment, in a harsh whisper.

"I didn't choose this life. I was born, a Master came to my parents, and they took me to Ossus. They trained me, taught me about the Force. I was chosen as a Learner. She trained me further, helped me pass my Trials. Nothing I've done has ever been my choice."

Katerrina disengaged her blade, the effort showing on her face. Her world crumbled inside her, and nothing would be the same again.

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-11 01:39 EST
He watched her rage plow through his bar. He stepped forward to her after she realized that she was not what she wanted to be. "You have accepted that which has been hidden by others for eons. Now, you must admit to that which you want to be."

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-11 02:03 EST
She reached a shaking hand out to touch what was left of the section of bar, reacting like she was burned. So much power..

Katerrina didn't turn, she was still in shock over what she'd done. Her voice was still that harsh whisper.

"I felt strength like nothing I was taught. Power that the Masters had to know I had inside me, and they kept from me. They always rode me about my temper, being so quick to anger. Now I know why. They were all afraid of me."

She slowly turned to look at him. "I want to be what I'm meant to be, not what the Masters made me be."

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-11 11:51 EST
"I can make you what you want to be, I can show you the true nature of the Force." His eyes glowed a blood red. "I can give you order." He placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her away from the bar slowly.

"First things first, you need some better clothing." He pulled small pouch of coins from a utility belt pocket and handed it to her. "This should allow you to get an entire wardrobe. I suggest that you get a few things you can get dirty in. Your training will be harsh."

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-11 19:57 EST
His hand on her shoulder sent chills through her body. The promise, the lure of the kind of power he had was a temptation Katerrina found nearly impossible to resist. She was drawn back a step, then another.

She looked down as he pressed the coin purse in her hand. It felt like more money than she'd ever seen in her life. She shook her head slowly, still in shock.

"But I can't take your money." She was quiet for a moment. "I don't understand what clothes have to do with training anyway."

Katerrina lifted her eyes, the red glow in his making her shiver more. Her voice dropped to a murmur.

"I don't even know who you are."

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-12 10:55 EST
"You aren't taking my money, you are taking a loan, which you shall pay back. Clothing makes the warrior. Clothing should be tight, form fitting, allowing the smooth motions demanded of combat. Aside from that, Jedi robes are horribly ugly."

The question about who he was did not go ignored. He pulled his hand from her shoulder, resting it behind him once more.

"I am more than you can imagine, and worse than you fear. I have killed without regret. I have tortured without mercy. I have served the Empire, I have conqured planets and systems in the name of his Highness. I am a warrior of darkness, surrendered to its power and its rewards. I am your Master. I am Travanix."