It was a crisp morning when the black uniformed figure stepped into the market place. Two of his girls were standing behind him, who would be acting as pack mules (they were slaves afterall!). He folded his arms as was the fashion with him, and began moving through the market. Several merchents who knew who he was - without even being in the slaver market, took notice of him. They began to try and sell things to him, or to the girls. He walked on, stopping rarely when someone actually had something he wanted to purchase from them.

It would be a while before Romax or Katerrina would join him in the markets. There was no pressing business that was active or coming as far as he was aware. His usual contacts had been quiet in recent days. Either something big was coming up with them, or they were simply content with what they had.

It was plesant enough in the day, watching the regular commotion. Many of the folks however avoided him, strangely enough. The auburn eyes scanning the commoners as they moved pasted him or went out of their way to avoid him completely.

He stopped by the bookstore, picking up a couple of journals and books to read during his off time, at the tailor, he ordered two new tunics and some pants. The hardware store held his attention the longest as a large supply of chains, metal rods and wood was ordered, set up for delivery at the Inn. He continued to stroll through the open air market place.

With Katerrina in line, and the pets close in tow, he continued to move through the booths of the marketplace. A few more purchases were made that interested him or that were needed. He came across the cove entrance to the slaver's market, and stood in the entrance way watching quietly. There was another auction going on. Two sisters, one blond, one brunette. He had to admit, it was interesting to watch. He was in no need at this time for girls, but the bidding was fierce.

He had imagined what it would be like of he had put the Twins up for acution, but he couldn't do it now. They were to close to perfection for him. They were the only slave girls he trusted to run one of his most important facilities. He smirked, watching a few of his associates bid on the girls.

He stopped watching the auction, looking downwards a moment before turning his head to the side, looking over his shoulder back into the market proper. He narrowed his eyes slightly, and frowned heavily. "My dear Katerrina. I believe we are about to have a very unwelcomed guest joining us."

He turned fully, his body facing back into the market, the slavers market behind him now as he took a few steps. "Can you sense it, my dear" Can you sense the power?" He took another step, his arms still folded behind him.

This was not right, the power he sensed, it shouldn't be alive anymore. It should be gone. He began to scan the crowd with auburn eyes. "There is no way...He should not be alive."

It didn't take him long, tracing the chill of the air, the darkness that corrupted the life so easily along its path. The cloak stopped, wrapping itself around him as white eyes peered out from under the shadows of the hood. He watched the two, the girl he had known, as did the man in black. "I believe he is refering to me, Knight Hess." He said, a vibrant and metallic echo accompanied his words. Though, it seemed cold, the words were warm and alive.

He could feel the snarl that crossed the features of the man in black. "Tell me, Travanix, have you taken to capturing and enslaving Jedi know as well?"

There were a few steps taken, as he began to move through the group of shoppers. The hood dropping to his shoulders revealing the long jet black hair pulled into a braid. The white eyes remained, the dark purple flame rising up from them with no hindrence. His arms remained at his side, watching the two carefully, his own senses extended, ready for any and all.

Katerrina didn't follow the girls into the Slave Market. She took a position behind Master Travanix to his left. The movement was instinctive, an apprentice prepared to defend her Master.

She bristled when she was called "knight". It wasn't a title she associated with herself anymore. She was free of the Jedi chains at last. Her stormcloud eyes focused on the man, the legend. He had been honored in the Archives on Ossus. His name was always spoken with reverence by the Masters there. Her sneer showed her contempt.

She looked to her Master, feeling his rage build. He always kept himself tightly controlled at all times. She never knew his thoughts or his feelings unless he chose to share them, which was as rare as his touch. Her hands were loose at her sides, ready to strike if the order came.

The snap-hiss of his lightsaber was all the order Katerrina needed. Her own was in her hand, the purple blade humming in time with the orange one of her Master's.

As Master Travanix leaped into the air, she dropped down and charged the Elder Jedi with her lightsaber held parallel to the ground in an agressive stance. She felt rage boil in her chest. The Jedi held her back for so long. It was time to pay them back.

A voice rumbled inside Vargus's ears. "The battle has been joined, my friend. You are not alone." Before the voice faded from the ears of his friend a figure appeared in the air, directly in the path of Travanix. "Surprise!! Did you honestly think I'd not be watching?" and then the figure in the black suit, with eyes of sapphire flame, was gone just before Travanix would be able to strike out at him. He wasn't gone for long, however, as he reappeared on the ground next to the ancient Jedi Master. "Well, Vargus, it looks like it's up to us to take out the trash this time."

The appearance of the godling then the robe coming up at him at the same time only caused his blade to slash violently before him, cutting the robe to bits before he dropped to his feet, his saber hand reaching back to strike at the old man. The smell of burnt ozone told him that his blade was blocked. He spun definatly upon his heal to face his opponant whose eyes he met.

He shifted his weight, bringing one leg forwards, he withdrew the blade to only come down again in another form. No doubt the blade would be blocked once more. In that event, he would continue to attack, bringing low and high, side and back. Twisting and moving around him. There was no effort, yet. The battle was not yet begun. The gaze from the white eyes didn't shift.

The charge was not ignored, the blade still holding against Travanix's orange beam of light. Vargus swung the two blades down, his other hand catching the wrist of one of Travanix's saber weilding hands. His own blade shutdown, as he began to pull Travanix towards him, as he did, he lowered himself, creating an arch to throw Travanix off his back. Using the Force, he increased the speed of the throw, tossing the killer through the air, heading straight for Katerrina. He turned his head looking towards Romax.

Though it had been some time since he had "seen" him, he could still feel the darkness cloud the man's mind. He looked back at Travanix and Katerrina. His arms dropped to his side, the saber still in the gloved hand, resting at the side. His pure white eyes focused on the two as the deep purple flame continued to rise, the light breeze shifting it around.

Katerrina felt the Force shift. She knew what the Elder planned a fraction before she saw his shoulder drop. but t was too late to change directions. Master Travanix was thrown into her upper body, and Katerrina was forced to roll to the sidelines to avoid being crushed. Her lightsaber de-activated on the impact.

She quickly got to one knee, her lightsaber dropping to the ground beside her. She watched her Master shift into hand-to-hand combat against the Elder, feeling his rage boil. Her eyes burned red as she amplified his rage with her own frustration. The Dark side swelled with the added power as Katerrina leaped for the Elder Jedi with a vicious snarl. If she couldn't take him out with her blade, she'd rip him apart with her bare hands.

Vargus fully engaged in hand-to-hand combat with Travanix. His brow lowered slightly as the killer flipped backwards, kicking his feet up towards him. His free hand shot up from his torso, smacking the rising legs of the attacker to the side, and stepping to the opposite side. He quickly did a back flip, landing a good meter away from the fallen one. He turned his white eyes to Katerrina, sensing the rage in her building.

"Young Knight, do not allow yourself to fall completely to the teachings of this man." He gestured with the hand which retained the saber hilt. "All you need to do is step away from this conflict, allow the true nature of the Force to heal your wounds." His voice was warm, pleading in its tones though even the metalic echo.

He sighed slightly as his free hand reached out, collecting the dark lightning into the palm of his hand. He looked back over at Travanix who was probably getting up, then angled his hand back towards the killer. This allowed the lightning to reflect off his hand, and hammer against the black form.

He turned his eyes back to Katerrina. "You are still a Jedi! You can give up this, and return to the light!" He was not going to give up on her, but he couldn't get distracted by his efforts to save her, either. Travanix had to be stopped, and he had to do it.

Katerrina snarled as she watched her attack redirect straight into her Master. The Elder was every bit as good as the Archives said he was. And he was adding fuel to the rage inside her.

The lightning burned out with a sizzle. Her eyes still glowed blood-red as she stalked towards the Elder. "You assume he captured me, that he's enslaved me! You assume I want to return to the Light!" The air crackled around her. "I'm with him because I WANT to be, I WANT that power!"

She reached out her hand and grabbed for his saber arm. Her fingers were glowing blue with lightning. Arcs jumped from finger to finger as she screamed at the Elder. "I AM NOT JEDI, NOT ANYMORE!"

Before she could close her fingers around the Elder's arm, Katerrina felt the rush of air change direction. She stopped the lightning surge, but it was too late. Her own energy hit her, throwing her back about 6 meters into a stall. It was crushed on impact.

Katerrina groaned, forcing herself up to her hands and knees. She ran a hand through her curls and came away with blood. She slowly got to her feet, using the remains of the stall as a brace. The Masters on Ossus hadn't exaggerated the Elder's power. They underestimated it.

The sun glinted off her lightsaber where it had fallen. Katerrina stared at it, and it slowly moved along the ground towards her, jumping into her outstretched hand. She clutched it as she watched the Elder turn towards her Master. She felt his rage and amplified it with her own frustration, giving her Master what remained of her strength. All she could do now was watch.

(Thanks, Travanix!)

Vargus slowly approached, both hilts still in his hand. He squeezed both, before placing one into the sheath. He looked down at the form, he could feel the life force draining from him. "I know you can hear me, Travanix. Put an end to your ways. I've returned, and you will not be allowed to continue your rampage as you have all this time." Vargus shot a warning glance towards Katerrina briefly.

He turned the second blade being returned to his side. There was nothing left to say. He knew what would be coming. Pyriathin would no doubt have dealt aptly with Romax.

(This post was created by the collaborative efforts of me and the player of Romax Pol, oh..and Vargus helped a little too. We hope you enjoy it, we certainly did.)

Indeed they had started towards one another at the same time and Pyriathin couldn't help but smile a bit at the look on the face of his enemy. Sapphire flames flickered unblinkingly as he regarded the lightsabers in the hands of Romax, and then the first "punch' of this battle was thrown. He lifted his right hand, flicked out his index finger, and a ball of crackling blue energy flew straight and true towards the Sith Lord.

After only a few steps were taken Romax was brought up short as he watched the ball of energy rapidly approach him. He laughed harshly as he swung his sabers up into position to block the electric blue ball and braced himself to take the hit, preparing to absorb what energy the two sabers could not dissipate on their own. His violet gaze slowly began to glaze over as the madness began to take hold but he quickly shook it away just in time to watch the energy ball slam into the blades of his lightsabers. As the energy began to wash around the blades, and him, he crowed triumphantly to Arrowny, "Is that the best you have for me, you ancient piece of?" He trailed off as something strange began to happen, the blades of his lightsabers were suddenly flashing and flickering as the last of the energy died away. A moment later they simply fizzled out, the power cells drained completely. "Slag!!"

Pyriathin continued on as if he knew exactly what was going to happen to those two lightsabers, now sitting uselessly in Romax's hands. He had heard Romax call out and couldn't help but laugh, especially when he realized what had just happened to his weapons. "You were saying something, Romax" I'm sorry' I didn't quite catch it, my hearing not being what it used to and all." He was still moving his way closer to his enemy, but there was a hint of caution in the deliberate way he moved. This battle wasn't over yet.

The scream that ripped from the throat of Romax was full of rage and hate, his eyes full of murder as he threw the now useless lightsabers to either side of him. He still had the dark side of the Force at his command and he knew how to use it well. He began to move towards Arrowny once again and after he had taken a few steps he threw his arms out to either side and then thrust them forward. Through the Force he had latched on to a vendor's cart to either side of him and, at his movement, they shivered and flew towards his opponent with increasing speed. He started to snicker and through his amusement he muttered, "Eat wood, you bastard."

He laughed as Romax's scream echoed through the marketplace but he had been waiting for some sort of retaliation and wasn't surprised to see the two heavy, wooden carts come flying at him. Raising his hand again, palm up in a 'stop" motion, waves of force blanketed out from his hand just in time to shatter the two wooden carts to splinters that flew harmlessly past him to collide with the little debris that Vargus had missed with his lightsaber after Travanix had thrown it at him. What did surprise him was the bolt of Force Lightning that took him directly in the chest and knocked him off of his feet a moment later. Flipping back up into a standing position after a moment, Pyriathin looked down at his chest and brushed at the smoking hole in his shirt, what was left of his burning tie falling to the ground. He could hear Romax's snickering from fifteen feet away and smirked, "Laugh this one off clown?" Again he flung his hand towards Romax however this time, there wasn't a single ball of energy or a wall of force but a continuous bright silvery line of energy as thick as his index finger that slammed into Romax.

Romax staggered back two paces and groaned before he could stop himself. That silver bolt was still connected to him and he could feel the energy burn through his clothes, the Cortosis armor that would stop even a lightsaber blade, and finally the beginnings of his skin before he was able to start absorbing the energy. With that beam still in contact with his skin it was taking every ounce of strength just to keep from being flung backwards as he absorbed the immense amount of power that was being pumped into him. His eyes glared at Arrowny in triumph for the briefest of moments as he believed that he was going to be able to continue absorbing the energy, but he hadn't taking into account the fracturing of his mind and the fact that whoever else was in there with him was going to take this opportunity to seize control. His eyes quickly glazed over and his body began to shake visibly, almost as if he was having a seizure. Long dark purple cracks began to appear in what skin was exposed and Romax screamed in utter pain and anguish. "I'll be ba?? And his body disintegrated as wave after wave of dark side energy burst from his body in every direction. Carts were knocked over or pushed back away from the expanding ball of energy, the air around Pyriathin became like a severe windstorm for a moment until it finally blew by him. There was nothing left of Romax Pol but a crater where the explosion of energy had met the ground.

Pyriathin took a deep breath as the bolt of energy cut off and the dark force essence blew out around him. The Sith Lord was gone and his job was done. He turned away from the large crater in the ground to check on Vargus. Travanix was dead on the ground some forty feet away and Katerrina was on her knees, screaming, some few feet beyond that. People were fleeing as some of the stalls nearest to Travanix and Katerrina exploded at her rage. He smiled, tight lipped, and looked around for Vargus. When he spotted him he simply vanished from his place and blinked back into existence next to the walking Jedi Master. Placing a hand on his shoulder he looked at his friend, over his shoulder at the carnage they had all created, and then back to the path before them and the two friends simply vanished.