Trial by Combat (Open to any Sith acolyte looking for a master.)

[Darth Abyss]

Korriban.
The Vally of the Dark Lords.
Dawn.

Darth Abyss eyes wandered from the seemingly endless desert to the olds stones and monuments that marked what was left of the graves of the ancient sith. Many had been buried here, and even after every tomb had been raided and any glimpse of their former glory was gone the ancient ruins still told their stories to those who would listen. For many the Valley had been the last part of their legacy, the last place that would be remembered if someone said their name.

Legacy. Almost any sith had one, a story that would live on either by the impact it made on history or because enough lived on to tell the tales. Enemies, allies but most of all their apprentices. Those chosen men and women that had been allowed to learn, grow and evolve under the strict eyes of a dark lord. It was not particularly rare for a sith do not waste any thoughts on their legacy until their death was close. It was even less rare for a sith to believe that one would live forever, blinded by the power they possessed. No one could live forever, not even those strong enough to overcome the death of their body. The way of the sith was one of conflict, and those who extended their lives far beyond their natural lifespan sooner or later had to face someone who was stronger, smarter and faster then them, someone who would strike them down.

Darth Abyss, recently dubbed knight of the one sith, had no illusion about his this. He had read far to much about the sith of ancient times to make the same mistakes they did. His legacy wouldn't end with his death, it would begin as his apprentice would live on to live what he had taught. But how to find someone worthy to carry on his legacy one day in the far future ...

From a small distance Darth Abyss could see the book that rested on the cold ruins in the middle of the valley. It was as much bate as it was a price. The first rough draft in many he had wrote in the months that passed since he joined the ranks of the sith. Every lesson he had, every fight he had been part of, every secret he had uncovered was documented inside. The sith knight had thought about this day for a long time, planning out a way to find the one sith acolyte who should be his. While many sith had forgotten about the past of the order, those who still remembered it would be drawn to korriban and to the vally of the dark lords, and he only had interest in those who still saw the value of their past. The book was another piece of his plan. Any sith could be pushed to fight over a holocron, or any other powerful sith artifact, but only those who valued knowledge would risk their life for a book.

So he stood and waited for those who would might come. Some would say that waiting for someone to seemingly travel to a planet at random was madness, but Darth Abyss had trust in the force above anything else. If fate had decided to bring him the one he was looking for than it would happen no matter the odds.

OOC

Spoiler

So yeah Abyss is now Darth Abyss, knight of the one sith and whatever. The main reason for this tbread is that I had a feeling that this sounds a lot more like a sith way of finding an apprentice than anything else I could think of. Idea is that the first one to join has to fight against Abyss until more join, from there it will be acolyte vs acolyte until only one still stands (or has not given uo rp due to the struggle that is real live lol) to determine who will had the right to become his apprentice. I mean obviously you don't have to but its kinda the idea behind all this lol.

 

[Zagara Vao]

"We meet again, [member="Darth Abyss"]."

Zagara walked out from the narrow crest in the canyon from the Sith Temple that poured out into the Valley of the Dark Lords, perhaps none the wiser but a lot more trained since their last encounter. The Twi'lek had a strut to her walk that oozed confidence, yet thanks to the Sith's criticism and quick pep talk last time, she was able to moderate and control her emotions now. She kept a stoical expression on her face, save for a smug toothless grin as she approached the now-familiar hooded figure.

"It's been a while, Abyss, but now I'm here to show you that I'm the only one you should ever consider as your apprentice." Her ragtag clothing was gone now - replaced by the same cloak as last time, but under it, one could clearly see light Mandalorian armor. The cape itself had been marked with the blood of some animal - made to decorate the otherwise unremarkable stretch of fabric with the Mythosaur skull that typified the Mandalorian Clans. Gone too was the pathetic Z6 riot control baton that Darth Abyss had so easily and effortlessly disarmed from Zagara's grip. Now she armed herself with a double-edged vibro - not quite a lightsaber, but far more adaptable than an electric club, to use Abyss' terminology.

"I knew I'd find you here. Did you always know the Force would bring me here too?", she snapped without looking back at him, turning around and sticking the vibro into the deathly ground as she turned to the valley's mouth to also see who'd turn up.

 

[Darth Abyss]

"Daughter of Ryloth."

As small smile appeared under the mask that obscured the upper part of his face, while the sith knight mockingly bowed in front of the woman who he had meet many days ago on the planet Ryloth, the homeworld of the twi'lek. He made a small step towards her, his cybernetic leg making no sound at all as it slowly descended on the ground.

"So you have come to claim the right to be my apprentice? Maybe my lesson about arrogance has not been ... As explicit as it should have been."

His right hand extend into the air, the hilt of his lightsaber being pulled into it from his belt by the power of the force. With his eyes he traveled over the appearance of her, noting the adjustments she had made since their last meeting. Since he came to the ancient home of the sith to set his plan in motion he had been sure that the woman would come, driven by the will of the force and her own hunger for power. Then his eyes meet the small armor plate under her robe and his expression turned dark. There were few he hated as much as the jedi, and the mandalorians were most certainly under them.

"You wear the symbol of the enemy, I hope they did not give to you voluntarily. And from now own it is Darth Abyss for anyone besides my master. Well you might will not live long enough to make those mistakes again."

From the hilt in his hand a glowing red blade took form, followed by the familiar buzzing and humming of a lightsaber. Like the last time Darth Abyss got into position, changing his stance to have his right foot slightly in front of his left, putting most of his weight on front of his feet to increase his movement speed. If she really wanted to become his apprentice she had to prove it.

[member="Zagara Vao"]

 

[Zagara Vao]

[member="Darth Abyss"]

"It is only a matter of time, Darth Abyss, before you accept that I am your destiny. I'm not going anywhere, so long as I feel you have something to teach me." Zagara began circling the Sith, her exotic double-edged vibrosword sparked from time to time - the power of a new energy cell surged through it, yet the blade itself looked aged; almost ceremonial in its intricacy.

"You were right, Lord Sith", she continued with a smirk. ".. You were right. Peace is a lie. Only passion is real. I understand that now, yet I know I understand only a speck of dust in a desert." She pointed one end of her vibro at him playfully as she kept slowly circling him - her footwork a lot better now. "You know, there's a lot you can learn from the Mandalorians. I was surprised just how well they seem to understand that life is a battle to be fought hard. Only the strong are awarded victory. Do you remember that night?"

She shook her head slightly, but still remained softly smiling at the harsh reprimand from her future master. "You disapprove of my methods, my lord", she said in jest as her eyes began to sharpen - her grip on her vibro tightening. "And yet, I did what was necessary." And at that moment, she stopped walking.

"I evolved."

And then, sudden silence, a smirk, and a hushed whisper.

"I grew. Stronger."

And before a mynock would have even had time to flutter its wings, she silently but with surprising speed dashed forward, her feet rapidly shuffling but perfectly spaced from each other as her vibro screamed through the burning air and first swung at him from her live side - outward right through the center to the left, and then back from the outward left to the right, and then Zagara pivoted against her lead food, letting the vibro move full circle in a mad, speed-frenzied flash as it twirled around and swung right back in from her left side again.

In time, venerable Sith, you will learn to love and accept me.

 

[Jaryn Starkiller]

Jaryn emerged from the shadows in the temple he had heard of the opportunity for an Acolyte was to be apprenticed to the lorekeeper known as Lord Abyss and Jaryn couldn't' pass up such an opportunity. Especially with his growing obsession with lord Vader he needed the knowledge.

He approached the pair and recognized the Twi'lek from so long ago and a grin grew on his face. He said to Abyss in haste of there confrontation. "I'm sorry I am late my lord and to interrupt you but I would like to challenge her over there to single combat to be your apprentice." He pointed an index finger at the Twi'lek and waited for what's next.

[member="Darth Abyss"] [member="Zagara Vao"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

Her movement most certainly evolved. The last the fought her attacks lacked any grace, any finesse or creativity, but by now she had learned ... A little. Still her words told him more than her actions, he could still see her weakness. So much pride for so little she had accomplished, a trait he would not allow in anyone who hoped to be taught by him. The only thing worse than her pride was the fact that for a second he actually thought that she had began to really understand the way of the sith. He almost believed her when she talked about passion, about strength and evolution, but something was of. She wasn't fighting to become stronger, she was fighting for his attention, his approval, his affection even. Darth Abyss almost emotionless expression showed a hint of anger.

Like it was the way of form 2 he used his lightsaber to deflect her first strike, watching as the blade cutted trough the air besides him. Bowing his body back, he evaded the second one, the blade almost touching his black robe. Finding his balance again, the sith knight took a step back, getting out of her reach as the weapon circled trough the air. Unfazed he stood in front of her, his lightsaber loosely hanging at his side, his face now openly showing disappointment.

"You have learned so much ... Yet you still know nothing."

His left pushed into the air, the sand around her following the movement. He watched as the sand and dusted danced in the air towards the ground for a split second, before swinging the glowing blade at the hilt of her weapon in fluid and precise movement.

Abyss had no eyes if his attack even meet her weapon as he could suddenly sense someone else. Another came to claim the position she wanted. Wordless the blade of his weapon disappeared, as the sith made a step back, giving the other man room to fight.

"Only the strongest shall live."

[member="Jaryn Starkiller"] [member="Zagara Vao"]

 

[Zagara Vao]

A quick and buzzer-beating adjustment in how she gripped her vibro saved it from being cut in two - any one of the two power cell woulds have immediately shorted and exploded in her face were it not for the split-second saving change in grip. After watching [member="Darth Abyss"] masterfully evade her opening tirade, and subsequently withdraw his lightsaber to make way for the additional combatant. She spun the vibrosword in her grip once before stepping back and looking away to see who else came - and lo and behold, it was the acolyte from Tatooine.

"Why am I not surprised?", she said smugly but devoid of any other expression as her cape blew in the desert wind - her double-bladed vibro singing in the arid air as she kept it armed and live while facing Jaryn from a distance. She walked away a little so that she could keep both Darth Abyss and the acolyte in view before continuing her trademark banter: "Well, no one ever said grabbing power was going to be easy." She then raised her vibro and swung it once to taunt. "Fortunately however, it remains straightforward. In this case, dead forward, and straight through you." She winked and assumed a combative stance again, her feet planted with the lead foot pointing straight at Jaryn, and the rear facing outward at a 45 degree angle - weight for the most part evenly distributed between both roots, and still as the valley itself as she braced.

[member="Jaryn Starkiller"]

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Perhaps he was early.

Phar'ra wasn't too sure as he stepped into an empty room. No one else was there, leaving him to wonder if he had even gotten the right directions. It was when the sound of fighting in the next room caught his ears he had learned how close, and wrong, he was. A sigh escaped the large being as he walked back out of the room he had so patiently waiting in. His stature made it impossible to miss him as he stepped into the room with the others. Silently he moved to the wall, letting the golden eyes behind his bone mask look right to who he assumed was the master of this arrangement. [member="Darth Abyss"] . He was silent, simply waiting for his challenge or order, and letting the other two fight in peace.

Though, peace was a lie, right?

 

[Darth Abyss]

As the battle between [member="Zagara Vao"] and [member="Jaryn Starkiller"] was commenced, Darth Abyss noticed yet another presence that found a way to his trial. His original plan had been to let any acolyte who would come fight against the others, but as the words of the other two suggested they had history together, and he was far to interested to see which of the would be victorious. The winner would fight this new contestant, but not before the sith knight would test his skills.

"Welcome."

Darth Abyss bowed mockingly once more, his eyes locked on the giant being that had just entered the room. From the outside he didn't seemed like the type of sith he would have chosen as his apprentice, but many sith had something hidden beyond the surface. It wouldn't be long until he would find out if this was the case for this one.

With a fluid motion the crimson red blade extend out of the hilt in Abyss hand, pointing at [member="TK-0743 Kage"]. It was a wordless challenge.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Challenge accepted.

Phar'ra offered a similar bow of his head to [member="Darth Abyss"] . Except, he didn't know it was to mock him. Honor was an important fact of life for a Kaleesh. A single, surprisingly thin vibrosword was pulled from the sheath on his hip. A simple fencing stance was taken, and the lithe blade was pointed for the Darth as a similar challenge. Then, and only then, he charged forward. With surprising speed born of the Force he would close the distance, aiming to skewer the Sith on the end of the vibrating blade.

 

[Jaryn Starkiller]

He pulled out both his lightsabers and activated them. The bloodshine blades sprang to life as he watched her closely,and grinned slowly drawing upon the power of the dark side and said to her "Well this is a surprise indeed. Isn't it the little Slave dancer from Tatooine. Unfortunately for you there can be only one Apprentice and that will be mine." He than charged at her assuming a style mixed with Jar'Kai and Djem So attempting to launch a series of strong powerful blows to her head and chest. Attempting to push her back in the sand. keeping the same sequence of attacks even changing it up at times to confuse her and even go for her weapon arms. Unfortunately for Jaryn Vibroblades were lightsaber resistant and the only way that he could disarm her was to either chop her hand off or destroy the hilt either way both appealed to him.

As he kept up his onslaught driving her back into a set of stony pillars which had Sith hieroglyphs on them. He said to her with blazing Sith eyes completely consuming the dark hazel orbs that inhabit them. "You know little dancer. If you yield i may spare you except minus a hand or a lekku here and there. What do you say,you cannot win nor fight forever." As there duel continued Jaryn could sense another Force Signature but ignored it as he was only concentrated on the battle that was currently going on.

[member="Zagara Vao"] [member="Darth Abyss"] [member="TK-0743 Kage"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

Darth Abyss made no attempt to block the incoming blade, instead stepping to his right to evade this first strike. This new contender for the right to become his apprentice was fast, but like the twi'lek woman his style lacked creativity. Lightsabers, vibroblades and taunts. They began to bore him with the simplicity of their way of combat. Not that there was anything wrong with a simple yet effective style, but he wished for his apprentice to be cunning, to surprise a superior enemy with attacks that couldn't be predicted so easily. Well potential and skill were to separate things, but under the right kind of pressure, anyone had to get at least a little creative.

His lightsaber hovering in the air in a defensive stance, Darth Abyss left hand moved to his back, grabbing the small silenced slughthrower hidden under his robe. In a quick movement he had drawn the weapon and fired a single shoot in close range. He wanted to see how the man would react to unforeseeable attack.

[member="Jaryn Starkiller"] [member="TK-0743 Kage"] [member="Zagara Vao"]

 

[Kahlil Noble]

As the blade passed by [member="Darth Abyss"] , the Kaleesh suddenly stopped still. An orange gaze followed the movements of the Darth, and with that solemn silence he studied. The first strike was just the beginning. Kaleesh weren't a warrior race for nothing! What he lacked in formal Sith training he made up for in his own self training. With that same surprising speed he dropped to his knees, under the shot the Sith would bring out, and lashed out for the burning red blade.

Which was just a distraction. The casual evade hinted at a form of arrogance. Mustering up what Phar'ra could in his free hand, he summoned the Force to blast out at Abyss's leg to upset his balance. Balance was key in any sword fight, and if someone lost it they very well could loose their head.

 

[Darth Abyss]

Darth Abyss stumbled for a second, before finding his balance again. For the first time today a real smile was seen on his face, as he reconnected the combination of attack, feint and evade he had just witnessed. This one was promising. The Sith Knight returned to his opening stance, the slugthrower returned into its holster on his back as his eyes looked directly into those of the man. He nodded slightly to show his approval before he began to move again.

The man had shown skill in both swordplay and the force, at least the level of skill that was remarkable for an untrained force user. Still Darth Abyss had more than few tricks up his sleeve and he had no problem using them to test what else the man was capable of. Like before when he fought the woman, his left hand extend into the air like was grabbing and invisible weight. Followed by it was a cloud of sand and dust that was raised around his potential apprentice, in an attempt to obscure his vision. Abyss made a quick, precise strike aimed at the stomach of the man, an attack that could be easily blocked if the man would be able to trust his instincts instead of his eyes.

[member="TK-0743 Kage"]

 

[Zagara Vao]

[member="Jaryn Starkiller"]

"What's a hand but a tool in the quest for power and a good fight?", Zagara replied as she quickly snapped into action, her vibrosword humming as it parried and deflected the incoming strikes to her temple and upper torso. A grin appeared on her face as well as the vibro spun and danced in pragmatic, defensive counter-strikes that never quite met the acolyte's lightsaber dead-on, but off-angle and allowed her the compromise of parrying without need for brute strength. No fancy acrobatics or flashy twirls on her part - everything was controlled, precise and calculating in its conditioning. Her feet never strayed as they kept pivoting, retreating and shuffling to support what the body above was doing, in almost perfect, calm and collected harmony. No more than a few seconds in and after giving ground a few paces, Zagara's tempo picked up, and in an instant all those hard Mandalore evenings of Teras Kasi and Jalekian training kicked in: her mind shut out, and her breathing steadied as she began to squeeze in ripostes in between her parries. Immediately following every other strike from the young Sith, the other end of the Twi'lek's vibro would dance right in from some off angle, usually to thrust at the torso, or slash at the waist, lower abdomen, knees or sweep him up from behind.

With one powerful forward motion, the Vibro thrust at Jaryn, only to immediately draw back as the Twi'lek spun - her cape coming up to temporarily spread out in the arid, sand-blased air of Korriban for a split second before the Mythosaur skull disappeared, and just as quickly as she disappeared, Zagara appeared from behind her own cape - smiling. "Boo."

With her free hand coming back up for another pass and her Vibro-armed arm still close to her in a tactical position, a lick of flame immediately burst forward from her unarmed hand, now outstretching at the young Sith. Her Mandalorian armor's boot thrusters then screamed to life as she took a leaping strafe to the side to create distance again, with the flamethrower in her forearm armor playing unit finally turning off. And then, from the same arm which she simply chambered by drawing her shoulder back and then pushing it forward, a grappling hook fired out, aimed straight at the Sith's lightsaber - a disarming attempt of her own as she simultaneously leaped back at him, her other hand now thrusting the Vibro straight into his shoulder as she kept her stance low but her head tucked in.

[member="Darth Abyss"] [member="TK-0743 Kage"]

 

[Jaryn Starkiller]

Jaryn was growing very angry and said anger was the to fuel to his power,and kept on feeding off of it as she narrowly avoided every strike or parried it in kind. He was intrigued by how far the little slave had come since there first encounter,and He was actually quite impressed with her. He was also enjoying the duel thus far despite maybe there lives being on the line. When the vibroblade hit his shoulder he screamed in both pain and anger.

Jaryn finally had enough. His cloak was burned from the flames,and when She tried to take one of his sabers with a grappling hook,but he quickly managed to counter it by slicing it off releasing it's grip on the hilt. He than figured out that a contest of brute strength will not win the battle alone. While she was in her stance he extended both his hands out open palmed,and concentrated turning the sparks of pain in anger into raging infernos of great power,and energy. He sent a powerful Force Push which sent her flying into a few old pillars,and as he examined closer they were old worn and obviously cracked which he decided to use to his advantage.

He concentrated again on the dark side to break several pillars and made them collapse on top of her. When the task was finished he reignited one of the blades with a hiss and proceeded to walk towards the pile of the crushed stone pillars.

[member="Zagara Vao"] [member="Darth Abyss"] [member="TK-0743 Kage"]

 

[Kahlil Noble]

The instincts of a warrior were well trained. Trust your eyes, trust your body. Trust your sword. He was faster than most of his species because of the Force, even knew a little blt on how to move things. But to trust the Force and it's warnings were severely under trained. So when dust filled his eyes Phar'ra stumbled back and away from [member="Darth Abyss"] . It was only because he could make out the red glow from out of his squinting eyes that he stepped to the side of the strike.

Pain burned through his chest, signaling then and there that while he avoided getting skewered, he didn't avoid an injury. A burning gash across his chest caused him to wince, but he did not falter. It would take more than that to bring the Kaleesh down.

[member="Sonorous Daemon"] [member="Jaryn Starkiller"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

Darth Abyss face only showed a hint of disappointment as his blade touched the skin of the Kaleesh. He was looking for a apprentice not a rival, and after he had already seen that the man was skilled in some aspects he was overall satisfied with him. Still this only had been a test, a lesson to exhaust the man to get any of the contesters similarly exhausted and injured before they would have to fight against each other. The red blade of his weapon disappeared once more, and both of his hands lifted into the air as he spoke.

"Enough."

His voice boomed trough the air, loud and clear for any of them to hear, followed by a telekinetic push, not strong enough to push them of their feet and only meant to take their focus away from the fight. They all had proven that they could hold their own in a duel, but not any fight was confined to two people. He wanted to see how they would handle the chaos if they all had to fight against each other at the same time. Darth Abyss expected from his future apprentice to not only be proficient with a weapon but also smart and manipulative. This test would show them how far this trait was pronounced in any of them.

"Now. The last one who still stands will earn the right to be my apprentice."

[member="TK-0743 Kage"] [member="Jaryn Starkiller"] [member="Sonorous Daemon"]

 

[Jaryn Starkiller]

Jaryn with his free hand concentrated and removed the rubble away. The Twi'lek looked battered and wounded but alive none the less. As he looked at her,he felt no emotion not even pity only felt satisfaction in his brief victory,but the fight wasn't over as one more contender remained. His saber still activated he pointed it at [member="TK-0743 Kage"],and said in a serious tone. "Looks like only two remain,and now i shall beat you and claim what is rightfully mine."

He knew he was being arrogant at this moment but couldn't help it. He was than pushed by Lord Abyss and felt like it was a punch to the stomach but after being stunned for a few minutes,He reactivated one of his blades and circled around his opponent and contemplated his next move. He studied the Kaleesh warrior slowly and wondered what he would do and than came with the idea to let him make the move for if he did not he would charge and engage him head on.


[member="Darth Abyss"] [member="Sonorous Daemon"]

 

[Kahlil Noble]

The Kaleesh remained still after [member="Darth Abyss"] gave him his next task. Defeat the others, earn the right. The right to be called Sith. His eyes traveled over to [member="Jaryn Starkiller"] , listening to the words he spoke. Were all Sith so talkative? So needful to voice their feelings? Perhaps it was because of the life he grew into that such ideals were viewed down upon. One hand gripped the hilt of his vibroblade as he stared, studying Starkiller with a simple thought.

Break him.

With a simple lunge forward the larger being rushed over, thrusting out his blade with all lethal intent he could muster. But his focus on the strike was lacking. Instead, in his free hand, he went to cripple his foe. With a simple pull he reached through the Force to grab the sensitive part on any mans body and crush them. It wasn't an honorable tactic, but to win one must be willing to give up everything to do so.

Including honor.

[member="Sonorous Daemon"]