Private Survival of the Fittest

[Darth Tormenta]

Khamesi smiled to herself as some of her crew finally delivered to her something she’d been waiting several weeks for. With this shipment, with these beasts, her next step would be fairly easy. She directed them to take them down into the pits. While her crew and maids got things arranged, she took her personal shuttle to grab the final piece of the puzzle. A few Acolytes to test. Hopefully, she’d have her own apprentice by the time this night came to a close.

She stalked the halls, much as someone over seven feet tall could stalk, in search of a few Acolytes to try and test. She’d found a few, but she didn’t think they could survive her test, even if she stepped in in time. Right now they were too few to sacrifice even the poor candidates among them without gain, so she made the choice to focus on a few that could possibly survive this ordeal. After an hour of searching, she had five Acolytes she thought at least had a chance of passing her little test. Most were human, one was a Twi’lek, the last she wasn’t quite sure, but she at least had Echani blood in her.

She didn’t give them much chance to object, dragging the five with her down to the pit they’d be using. She turned to face them, observing them for a second before looking down into the pit where a Hssiss stalked angrily.

“This is simple. You will each face down a Hssiss, and the best performance among you shall have the honor of being my apprentice as I take you down the next step to knighthood.”

The Twi’lek scoffed and took a step back. Khamesi stopped him before he could say anything.

“Good, a volunteer. Be glad I’m in a nice mood, none of you shall die today.”

She grabbed the Twi’lek and threw him into the pit. The Hssiss rounded on him, licking it’s reptilian maw with clear hunger in it’s eyes. The Twi’lek barely had time to scramble to his feet before the Hssiss charged him. It was faster than it’s bulk indicated and while the Twi’lek rolled out of the way of it’s snapping maws, he was caught by it’s tail and sent flying into the wall. It charged again and while he dodged once more, this time avoiding it’s tail, he found no way to turn the tables. Maybe because he had dropped his lightsaber when he’d been thrown in. After about a minute of him running and doing nothing else Khamesi jumped down into the pit.

The Hssiss rounded onto the newcomer and charged her. Unlike the Twi’lek she braced for it, and grabbed by the maw, twisting and slamming it into the ground, using her raw strength to manhandle the thing. It’s tail tried to whip her but couldn’t quite connect. After a moment she threw it back and grabbed the Twi’lek, throwing him up and out of the pit before leaping up to join him.

“Failure. Be glad I’m in a good mood, or I’d have let him take a limb or two before I got you. Get out of my sight.”

The Twi’lek bolted, trying to get away from the clearly, in his mind, insane Cathar. One by one Khamesi put the rest of the Acolytes through the same test. A few managed to even score hits on the thing, which Khamesi healed before sending in the next. Her gaze finally fell on the Echani, maybe Echani mix.

“Three minutes is the time to beat, last longer without needing my intervention or do more damage than the others, and you stand at the top of this little competition. Now go before I throw you.”

Kaljak Rakham

 

[Kaljak Rakham]

TAG: Darth Tormenta

Oh, how the Dark Side was fickle and in constant motion. One day, she had been a student at the Academy on Korriban. Yet that all crumbled when the Empire was weakened with its internal strife. However, here she was. While the Empire had fallen, its connections between its order's members did not. Isabrai Scardos, the half-Echani, found herself in presence of a Sith looking to teach an apprentice. She watched in silence as the Twi'lek became the first, unwitting volunteer. The self-stylized "Sith Pirate" at least chose a worthy opponent for each of the hopefuls. A Hsiss, a monstrous reptile that once served the long-dead Sith as war beasts. Fiery-eyes looked up when the Cathar addressed her.

"Unlike some, I welcome this challenge." She smirked venomously, making a jab at the Twi'lek failure, "I will not disappoint."

She stepped forward before running to the edge of the platform and diving into the pit. As she made a free fall, she summoned her twins sabers to her hands with the Force before landing. Standing in a cloud of dust, she ignited the twin blades, bathing the arena in red illumination. She stood firm, keeping her eyes on the beast, her form in a strong stance of Jar'kai.

"C'mon, beast..." She growled, "Let's give them a good show."

The Hsiss snarled violently, lunging at her. Isabrai leapt out of its path, swinging her lightsaber. Good form, but only a glancing blow as a burning slash formed on one of the creature's forelimbs. Not enough to severely wound it. From there, Isabrai went on the defensive. She was already proving more capable than the first volunteer...

 

[Darth Tormenta]

The Hssiss retreated away from Kaljak Rakham upon being injured by her blade. It was a pack hunter without it's pack. Sure it was plenty deadly and dangerous on it's own, but it wasn't used to fighting solo. Usually it had at least two or three others to back it up. Instead it eyed down the Sith, tail thumping heavily into the ground as it's muscles tensed. It was wary now that it knew the large figure above them, Khamesi, could stop it at any time, but it was hungry and couldn't turn down a chance for a meal. As it's tail thumped into the ground, it charged, favoring it's uninjured leg over the one with the fresh cut. Instead of going straight for Isabrai, it twisted at the last moment, bringing it's armored side and tail into her reach and whipped around, trying to use it's powerful tail to slap the little prey about.

Khamesi watched silently from above, ready to step in to prevent the death of an acolyte if needed, but no more. The beast wasn't desperate and starving, yet, but she had insured it was hungry enough it wouldn't pass up a chance for food just by another predator being around. That was what she was to it after all, another predator, one that had proven it could steal it's meal four times already. It wasn't trying anything new, which had her narrow her eyes, it was treating the Sith all the same, more or less, but she knew it could do more than it was.