Arkania We Go

[Haytham Kaze]

[member="Jorren Charr"]

​

The Dark Lord of the Sith's Daisya Infiltrator was in orbit over the planet Ruusan. During the last weeks, Athyssius hassled, pestered, and likely angered [member="Jorren Charr"] with the intense lightsabre training. The training primarily consisted of using the Force to strengthen oneself and to increase their physical speed, which then extended in force sense. That was what they would be doing on the journey to Arkania for their field trip.

The ship circled the planet one last time before it jumped into Hyperspace.

Turning from the controls, his Apprentice should've been in the spacious cargo bay. Or as spacious as they were going to get on a ship of this size. They were much too early in their time together for him to even come close to the idea of her continuing on his legacy in the Dark Side. Whether she was still arrogant or not, it mattered not, he hardly paid any heed to that nonsense anymore. It had grown old in the first hour together. Was that how it was for Orcus?

"Apprentice."

He walked into the training room.

"The events of this day shall prove to me whether or not you are worthy of being named Sith."

 

[Adriana Fortemps]

[member="Haytham Kaze"]

Jorryn rose from her seated position as the Sith Lord entered the cargo bay, turning to face him with a small bow. "As you say, master."

The past few weeks had tested Jorryn more than she had ever been by Darth Uron, her new master not seeming to care for her well-being during training. It had paid off however, Jorryn had learned much in the ways of both the force as well as lightsaber combat. She was much faster than she had been before, being able to combine her force skills into rapid, fluid strikes.

This time it was different however. For her training she had spent most of the time on her master's home, Ruusan, this was the first time that they had ventured out. The facilities at Ruusan had been more than adequate for training an Acolyte such as herself, which only served to starve her curiosity of their destination.

"Master, may I ask where our destination is?" She said, folding her arms behind her back as she raised from the bow.

 

[Haytham Kaze]

Arkania.

That was the planet they were going to.

His informants had made him aware of a shipment of precious phrik being exported from the planet. But who was it being exported to? It made no matter. Athyssius didn't care who was meant to be receiving the expensive rock. They would steal it all the same. But Jorren, his Apprentice, didn't know that. Likely she knew of what phrik was and its specialties, but did she know what could be done when the Force was also involved within its manufacturing?

There was a hum from the Dark Lord of the Sith.

"Arkania, however, we will not be landing on the planet."

Suppose now she expected an explanation.

"We'll be hijacking a ship's cargo just before it jumps into hyperspace."

[member="Jorryn Fordyce"]

 

[Adriana Fortemps]

[member="Haytham Kaze"]

An expression of mild surprise crept on Jorryn's face when she heard of where they were. She had never been to Arkania before though it was a place that she had always wanted to visit due to the heavy amount of scholar's that the planet provided, an achievement that she had to acknowledge.

Her surprise turned into curiosity as her master told her what the objective was. "What is the cargo, master?" Surely it must be a very rare item, possibly an artefact, if Haytham did not already have it in collection.

Then again it could just be another test of his and the pot and the end of the rainbow would be a violent rancor being transferred off planet and her master would leave her to die. Still, she didn't question her master, that only ever ended poorly for her.

 

[Haytham Kaze]

It was true.

Darth Athyssius would abandon her on some planet with a rampaging rancor expecting her to die. But like a zit that just won't quiet, he figured she'd come back around to Ruusan. Even if it took a day to kill the rancor, or years to escape the planet, as any Sith she would come back stronger after having endured the trial.

Or she'd be dead and his life would continue as it had before she had entered it.

Hardly an adjustment in this situation. She was the one who was forced to change life styles most likely.

But she did have some freedoms. Like... What food she wanted to eat. There were servants in the Triumvirate, but they were paid. Fairly. Many of those in the Triumvirate had been former military or business owners. Therefore all were paid a fair stipend, something he hoped [member="Jorryn Fordyce"] would understand and come to appreciate. Perhaps one day he'd see her hotheadedness disappear and out come the maturity.

"Phrikite Ore. From the planet." The Daisya Infiltrator continued on through hyperspace.

At this point in time the ore was being loaded onto the ship as they drew ever nearer to the system.

 

[Adriana Fortemps]

[member="Haytham Kaze"]

Jorryn felt a combination of pleasure and surprise when she heard what the ship's cargo was. Phrik was a strong, lightsaber resistant, metal that could easily be worked into her armour to help in battle against both Jedi and other Sith hopefuls, giving her the edge that she needed to get ahead.

Her mind began to wonder how she would use the material when she obtained it, either working it into her current garb or making herself a set of armour for heavier conflicts. Maybe both.

Jorryn also felt relief in the fact that she would be doing a training mission that rewarded her with something physical, but as the ship drew closer to the planet she couldn't help but wonder one thing.

"Who will be escorting this Phrik?" The scholar planet was located in neutral territory, though they did have some history with other major galactic factions. Her worry was that they may have contracted Mandalorians or possibly someone of even more prestige, Phrik was a rare resource after all.

Jorryn reassured herself, she had plenty of training from her new master and was now significantly stronger than she had been when they first met.

 

[Haytham Kaze]

Who was it from?

Who wanted the Phrik Ore Athyssius?

"It doesn't matter." He answered, rolling his shoulders backwards as he threw off his cloak. Once done he began putting on his armour, stolen from the caches of the One Sith when he was still an Apprentice in their midst. More akin to barbarians than actual Sith. They had no need for a tool such as this.

"Come," he said. "Show me what you have learned." Currently, he only had the armoured legs on along with the boots, but he turned around all the same as he drew out his lightsabre. "Look into the Force. Watch my movements. Determine what my next move will be," he directed as he pulled the black lightsabre hilt off of his belt and ignited the sapphire beam. One of the last remnants of his past as a Jedi Padawan, he awaited the day that he was rid of it, but he couldn't do it himself.

[member="Jorryn Fordyce"]

 

[Adriana Fortemps]

[member="Haytham Kaze"]

"Dismissive as always." She thought to herself as a small frown appeared on her face, though she had grown used to his lack of explanations in the first few days of their training.

She readied her stance as the Sith Lord ignited his blue lightsaber, lifting her hands above her head and aiming the blade down. "I'm ready when you are master." Going on the offensive against him would be a surefire way to fail this test, not to mention make it harder for her to react to his attacks.

Her foot slid backwards as she readied for his first strike, waiting for him to use a familiar move. If it was a downward swipe chances are that he would use his power to force her down, to counter this she had to dodge. If he went for a quick swipe he would usually follow with a jab, she could counter this with a parry. She had memorized his moves as best she could and prepared herself to counter anything that the Sith Lord would throw at her.

 

[Haytham Kaze]

If she thought he was going to open with an overhead cut, she was mistaken.

Other attacks however?

His reach was much longer than hers, and even though she was smaller, he was most certainly faster. In addition, his stamina eclipsed hers.

There were still dozens of maneuvers she had yet to see him perform. Only a fool showed everything they could do.

He lunged at her. Longer reach allowed him to slash at her bod without her being in range to do the same to him. From left shoulder to right hip the blue lightsabre beam threatened to open the first few inches of flesh.

[member="Jorryn Fordyce"]

 

[Adriana Fortemps]

[member="Haytham Kaze"]

She had gotten used to the Sith Lord's speed by now, but he never used his reach as an advantage over here. He had definitely used his size to dominate her in fights before, but this was something new.

It naturally unnerved her, but she knew that letting him keep the distance and getting in her head would surely cause her to lose.

She blocked the attack by lifting her sword to meet his in the air, blocking it effectively. If he was going to try new tricks then perhaps she would use an old one.

She used both hands, along with force push, to throw her master's blade further in the air in an attempt to get the Sith to lose his balance. Using her Art of Movement, she swept her right foot around and delivered an elbow right into his ribs which the Dark Lord had forgot to cover with his armour.

 

[Haytham Kaze]

Well she had definitely used a new trick with shooting his arm up into the air.

But that was the only thing that moved without his control, with both feet grounded and with a blink his boots being magnetized to root him to the ground, his abdomen was open, but his lightsabre was descending upon her.

Instead of meeting uncovered ribs, she instead met armoured ribs. His entire body was covered in phrik, else why else would he even sport the armour if it didn't cover his centre mass?

Her elbow struck armour, and with her in his guard, all he had to do was extend his right fist out and into her gut with the crushgaunt. It strengthened the wearer's strength and it likely would've doubled her over, but he held back. If only enough so that it wouldn't cripple her entirely, just enough so that she knew she had made yet another mistake.

"Be faster. Use the Dark Side."

Brute force against an armoured being, let alone one that was much bigger than her would never work. She had yet to learn that.

[member="Jorryn Fordyce"]

 

[Adriana Fortemps]

[member="Haytham Kaze"] (Whoops misread that as not putting armour on )

Jorryn attempted to manoeuvre her arms to deflect the crushing blow from her master, only managing to bring her hands halfway up. This did little to lessen the damage of the blow as it still managed to knock some of the wind out of her and lift her off her feet temporarily.

As she was lifted into the air, Jorryn grabbed onto the Lord's arm desperately as she threw her lightsaber with her right hand spinning around to strike at his back. Her left hand used telekinesis on her master's lightsaber so as to slow or prevent him from using his hand to defend himself.

Her eyes began to spark and glow with the colours of Sith corruption as she let herself be consumed by her anger and frustration, strengthening her grip on the man's lightsaber, hoping that it would be enough.

 

[Haytham Kaze]

(my bad, meant to say he only had chest on. was writing posts while getting ready for class lol)

While she was on his fist and supposedly slashing at his back, he didn't need to physically block the attack. Instead, he took a step, the Force amplifying his speed as he spun suddenly and threw her away from him and into the nearest wall violently. She may have used telekinesis on his lightsabre arm to slow him, and naturally that did disrupt the tempo one had in combat and it unnerved him greatly.

Before he could actually lash out however, the ship reverted back to realspace and he deactivated his lightsabre within a moment and immediately returned to placing his armour back onto his person.

"This test ends."

"Your next test begins."

[member="Jorryn Fordyce"]

 

[Adriana Fortemps]

[member="Haytham Kaze"]

She gave a loud grunt as her body slammed against the wall, her lightsaber falling to the floor as she could no longer control it with the force. She fell to her knees, moving her hand and shutting her eyes in a desperate attempt to stop the next strike. But it never came.

She looked up as he walked away from her, preferring to give his attention to equipping his armour. She felt the all too familiar sting of being disregarded by her master as she raised to her feet, using the force to recall her lightsaber to her.

"How are we to board the ship master?" She must have missed the exit of hyperspace as she fought the Sith, but she still had very limited information about the enemy ship and they were running out of time for her to figure out.

 

[Haytham Kaze]

Her feelings of being disregarded were well founded in truth, but the Dark Lord of the Sith saw her more as a pass time for the moment. But he wouldn't kill her, not until she went against his lesson, which she hadn't yet.

Once he was finished putting on his armour that was when he answered, but even then, that had to come after he piloted the ship for the bulk freighter.

"Through the hangar," he said simply.

Their ship was cloaked, unseen on approach.

"Only kill those that get in your way of the cargo," he directed from his seat in the cockpit.

Once they drew close the cloak was deactivated and weapons fired on the closed hangar doors.

"There'll be few in our way," he lied. Likely plenty in there way depending on who wanted it, but with so many nations in close proximity it could be anyone. Let's say some Republic businessman with enough credits to buy himself a mercenary defense force. Likely wanting to keep it off the books, but not far enough away from the books that the Sith wouldn't sniff it out. Oh well.

"Are you ready, Apprentice?"

[member="Jorryn Fordyce"]

 

[Adriana Fortemps]

[member="Haytham Kaze"]

She followed her master to the cockpit of the vessel, and looked out the window to see their target. It was just an average looking ship, not one that would normally be used for the transportation of such a rare material if it was any of the major Galactic Factions.

"Probably some business official looking to upgrade his private army." She thought to herself as her eyes examined the enemies vessel.

She took her master's information with a grain of salt as he blew open the cargo bay doors, a couple unsuspecting guards flying out of the new hole in the vessel.

"Yes master."

She took a breath as she neared their ships hangar, readying herself to board the ship.

As she felt the ship touch the ground of the Hangar Bay, Jorryn ignited her crimson lightsaber and readied herself to sprint out of the open rampart.

 

[Haytham Kaze]

Shields came up to protect the rest of the ship from being vented due to the unstable atmosphere of the ship.

But they had already gotten inside.

The Daisya landed and Athyssius was leaping out from the ship before the ramp had even descended completely. Blue lightsabre igniting, he heard screaming

"One of 'em rogue Jedi!"

He landed and immediately started slashing. Quick kills, efficient. If Jorryn thought she had seen him fight before, she would be surprised to see how he moved now. Where as he would've been fluid and concentrated in his fighting style with her, he was much more aggressive, faster, using every tool he had at his disposal. Which was basically everything. The wrist blasters, the Force, his legs in addition to his lightsabre. He was releasing a part of the storm that was always pent up within him.

[member="Jorryn Fordyce"]

 

[Adriana Fortemps]

[member="Haytham Kaze"]

Jorryn was upset by the skill her master showed as he rained down on the mercenaries, seemingly undefeatable as he unleashed a flurry of blows. Not because he hadn't shown the moves to her, but because it meant that he had always been holding back against her. She wasn't surprised that he had gone easy on her, but this man in front of her seemed like a completely different fighter than the one she knew. The finesse of his moves made way for savage strikes, it was clear his intention was to destroy them.

Still, Jorryn wasn't one to stand back and be shown up, even if it was by a Sith master.

Some of the mercenaries attention diverted to Jorryn as she descended from the ramp of the ship, hoping that she would be an easier opponent than the man slaughtering them. They were right in that regard, but that didn't mean she didn't far outclass them.

"Get the other one, boys!" The mercenary's voice trembling with fear.

One of them aimed his blaster at Jorryn, but with a clenched fist a sharp pain hit the mercenary in the side. He dropped his weapon and help where it hurt, a desperate attempt to dull the pain.

While he collapsed, Jorryn ignited her blade and ran towards the mercenary who had made the order to kill her. Another one attempted to slow her charge but she threw a shard of the hangar door at him, piercing his abdomen. She reached the mercenary as his friend collapsed, a final look of fear before she severed him in half from shoulder to hip.

 

[Haytham Kaze]

On his part of the room many of the security mercenaries had fallen to the ground after having been slain by the Dark Lord of the Sith.

Turning to watch his Apprentice work, he hooked his lightsabre onto his belt as he force combusted one of the blaster rifles the men held. It was literally... Vaporized, and then he was thrown against a wall, jarringhis entire body as he slumped down along the wall and stopped moving.

When [member="Jorryn Fordyce"] was finished, he said, "Apprentice."

"Tell me what draws near to us." Likely more soldiers. But did she know that? "Use the Force to tell me. Search the halls, look for their individual presences. Feel their deaths, feel their emotions. Fear, anger, even as far as pain. Feel it all as you take their lives from them."

There was an exhalation from the Dark Lord of the Sith.

"Let them strengthen you."

 

[Adriana Fortemps]

[member="Haytham Kaze"]

Jorryn watched as with a quick surge of power, her master had managed to destroy the mercenaries weapon and thrown him to the wall.

Her crimson lightsaber turned off with a hiss as she slung it on her hip. "Yes master." She sat down cross-legged and reached out with force, searching through the halls of the cargo-ship.

She felt a few soldiers heading their way from the West though she couldn't tell exactly how many. The whole ship was bustling with panic, not helping the situation.

Jorryn noticed something strange, in all the activity of the ship there was one area where the soldiers hadn't moved.

She got up from the seated position as her eyes met the Dark Lord. "There is a small squad heading towards us. I also think I might have found where they are holding the phrik."