To be an Apprentice

[Serie Fond]

Serie stood on the sands of the Sith homeworld of Korriban alone for the moment. Although she wouldn't be for long. Two fledgling Sith knights would be joining her rather soon, and both of them were of interest to her.

On the one hand she had the Sith knight Xornoth, who she had sparred with pleasantly a few days ago. And on the other the Sith knight that attempted to challenge her for her mantle as a Sith master. After both realized how powerful she was in the force, both were vying to be her apprentice. Of course she would only pick the stronger of the two to be her apprentice, the loser would be sent to lick his wounds and attempt to become stronger so he could be eventually recognized by aother Sith master.

She pulled her cloak off her shoulders and let it fall in a heap behind her as she continued to wait for the pair to arrive. She was dressed a bit more like a Sith master today, long black, almost see through robes adorned her body, the fair silk blowing almost hypnotically in the wind. Adorning the black sash tied across her waist was her collection of lightsabers, clanging together lightly as she paced up and down the area she was in, awaiting the arrival of her Sith would be apprentices. Of course there were others she had had brief interactions with around the temple and elsewhere that might have caught wind of the tournament she was having and would come to test their mettle as well.

(OOC this is a death/Maim disabled thread)

 

[Raith]

Raith moved silently over the deep tan sand of Korroban. His white robe along with his albino features made him a stark contrast to the dull browns around him.
He had come to the planet for a reason... to gain power. A Sith had invited him to compete for the chance to become her apprentice. Such an invitation couldn’t be passed up...
He saw her from a distance standing alone overlooking an immense canyon, so he made his way toward her.
As he drew closer he whispered as usual. “Greetings. I am here per your request.” He gave a slight bow and waited for her to respond.

 

[Koedi_Se'Roc]

Koedi watched from the shadows as he saw Raith converse with the powerful sith master. He too was here for power and he was going to get it. Stepping out into the hot sun Koedi walked slowly up the steps toward the pair. Raith was sadistic and cold but this other felt darker. Koedi felt her cold gaze on him as he stood before her.

 

[Xornoth Sk'ar]

Xornoth followed the path set by the Sith Master Serie and came across her standing in the warm sands that littered the area around them. For his part, he had come out of honor and sought to claim her as his Master as he had pledged to do but was now being forced to deliberately and finally stake his body on the line for the opportunity.

Under his mask, he smiled as he saw her watch the would-be apprentices, each individually wanting it as much as the Kaleesh did no doubt. The Sith stood before them all in a light brown tunic that had seen him through several battles of recent and he saw no reason for this to change today. His fate would be decided in whichever way Sith Master saw fit as she alone made the final decision.

Learning from his earlier mistake, he kept several meters of distance from the others but still within Serie's field of view as he acknowledged her as a Sith Master and finally kneeled before her in silence.

 

[Serie Fond]

Serie watched as the three Sith knights approached. The first was the albino she had met on Nar Shadaa along with the Zabrak male that she had also encountered that day. The albino was still clearly the intelligent one as he bowed respectfully as soon as he was in her presence, while the Zabrak male merely stood there staring at her. He would feel little more than cold as she stared back at him, almost wondering if he knew the difference in their power. He, unlike the Kaleesh now arriving, hadn't seen her use her force abilities before and as such, didn't have the healthy respect for her like him.

She nodded approvingly at Xornoth as he knelt and she quickly waved her hand at him, gesturing for him to rise. Welcome, all of you. As you know I have had several Sith approach me to be my apprentice, and logically as a intelligent Sith master, I will only have the strongest possible as my apprentice. She told them, pacing around the three men as she spoke, circling them and examining them. That's why I've decided to hold this tournament today. One of you will have the honor of being my apprentice after this. The others will be sent away like the weaklings they are. Now then. She said as she stretched both her hands out and the air around her became heavy. She slowly began fluidly moving her fingers, snaking them about until the same started to happen to her writs and then elbows. The flowing black silk began moving on its own, as though it was like it was possessed. She continued to move like her arms like they were made of water until the area they were standing on rose up about a half a meter. The long black robes slowly stopped their dance and her arms returned to her sides.

That will be your arena. She said, pointing to the large area she had elevated slightly. It was in the shape of a square and was twenty meters by twenty meters. I prefer intimacy in battles. She said smiling coyly. She had made the arena a bit small on purpose as to force the three Sith knights into being much closer to each other already than perhaps they would have wanted to.

With that out of the way she sat on a small rock sticking out of the ground high enough that she Stoll had to jump slightly to get her butt fully on the flat stone surface. She leaned in closer to the stage she had set and then put one hand in the air. She looked at all three combatants and then dropped her hand back to her side. Begin.

 

[Raith]

Raith listened intently to Serie’s explanation and was impressed when she formed a type of arena around them. This one was someone who could teach him about true power.

The other two he wasn’t too worried about. He had trained Koedi and knew his abilities and limitations... He wouldn’t be too hard to take care of.
The other one he didn’t know, but no matter... he would find out soon enough.
He stood facing the others with his hands on the two lightsaber hung on his belt, waiting for them to make the first move.

 

[Koedi_Se'Roc]

Koedi pulled out his lightsaber and ignited it. The crimson hued blade sprung from the hilt. He held it vertically close to his body and adopted a defensive stance. As inexperienced as he was, if Koedi was going to win this fight he'd have to outlast the others. His young and strong physical condition would help with this. Raith was sure to put Koedi through vigorous physical training just a little bit of time ago.

The other Sith was a wild card. Koedi knew nothing about him, even fewer knowledge than he had of Raith. Koedi would have to stay on his toes if he were to succeed.

 

[Xornoth Sk'ar]

Xornoth felt the ground tremble as it gave way to accept the bidding of the powerful Sith, creating a rather small arena for the three of them. His two opponents immediately began looking at his direction as he ignited his own crimson blade and carefully watched both the human and Zabrak for any sudden movements, but they stood on the defensive.

Keeping several meters between them the Kaleesh warrior began to circle their little arena attempting to put the Zabrak between himself and the Human and give him time to react to their attacks if launched against him. The Human would then have to pass the other in order to attack him and them both staying defensive would allow the movement to complete unhindered. His lightsaber was drawn to his right side with both hands on the hilt, waiting for both trainees to respond to the new positioning.

The dark side of the force was so strong on Korriban that Xornoth could feed off it for strength and he concentrated ahead how best to defeat this prey. Master Serie would, of course, prefer that none of them would die this day which would make it a little less fun but she did not say anything about their preserving their sanity, as he smirked.

 

[Raith]

Raith stood there gathering the dark side around him like a shield. After watching the other two, he now had formulated a plan of action, so he began weaving his fingers in the air...

Korriban was rich with the dark side so it was easy to use it and bend it to his will when the time was right.
The albino was more calculating than rash... always thinking a few steps ahead of his opponents. It’s what kept him still alive. This will be no different he thought.

He observed the Kaleesh start circling to put Koedi in between them, good, Raith thought since he would have done the same.

He then reached for his lightsabers and ignited them. One blue and one green... both taken from Jedi that he had killed earlier in his life.

He slowly started moving the opposite direction that the Kaleesh was moving. Making sure to keep him and Koedi in front of him at all times...

 

[Koedi_Se'Roc]

Koedi was sure in a bad situation now. Surely his lack of experience was showing. This was not a great start by any means. The two older and more hardened Sith circled him in the arena. Koedi decided to walk himself into the nearest wall. Neither foe could get behind him if there was no room behind. Koedi focused hard on the two before him. He had to think of something fast. He would be disgraced if he failed so horribly in front of such an honorable Sith master. Koedi tried to 'go dark' but could not get himself to cloak. He needed to work on that ability surely.

Koedi stood his ground, his back against the wall. He waited for the next attack.

 

[Serie Fond]

Serie watched as the combatants began circling each other. She couldn't blame them for taking such a cautious approach. They all knew that the other posed just as much a threat as the next. In battles like this they could be decided in seconds or in hours, it merely depended on how they approached it.

So far, it appeared this fight was going to take hours. She hadn't lost interest yet though, she just sat on her little perch and intently studied the other combatants. The youngest one, the Zabrak, appeared to have quite the nervousness to him, retreating to the safety of the corner closest the wall of the arena she had set up for them. The human male produced two lightsabers that he hadn't bled yet, which she thought was rather curious since he was a Sith. If he couldn't properly bleed a crystal then he might need more training than she had originally realized. Her former sparring partner on the other hand was gathering the force within himself, preparing to unleash. Something also told her that he would try to use his latest force fear ability. She smiled a bit as his inexperience again showed. Against many in the galaxy it would be a tremendous asset, but against a Sith it might prove to be a double edged sword that could be used against him, doing nothing more than igniting the fury within the other Sith knights.

Regardless of what transpired, she was slowly getting more into her observation of the three way battle about to start in earnest, maybe they just needed one more little push.

If you all don't get moving soon I'm going to start zapping each of you till you feel like finally fighting. She told them not in a threatening way, but just more matter a factly, so they knew what would happen if some action didn't start soon. She wasn't known for her patience after all.

 

[Xornoth Sk'ar]

Xornoth snarled at the two knights in front, both refusing to make the first move. Paitance may have been a virtue for the Jedi but not for the Sith. With the Zabrak moving out of the way to his right, Xornoth immediately raised his saber in one hand outward defensively to mark the movements made by Zabrak. Using the strength that he had been raising, he initiated the duel by reaching out with his now empty left arm and began attempting to force choke the human into submission.

If the Human did not resist the choke, it was only a matter of time before he would collapse after losing consciousness. As he was duel wielding blades, it might prove difficult to strike back from the 10 meter gap that now existed between them.

 

[Koedi_Se'Roc]

Koedi watched as the third Sith attempted to choke Raith from a good distance away. He seemed to be focused solely on the pale Sith and making sure his hit landed.
Raith sure hadn't done Koedi any favors but he did give Koedi his shot.

While the other two were distracted, Koedi conjured a force push toward the attacking Sith. The shot would hopefully disrupt the choke. Koedi just hoped hid act wouldn't come back to hurt him. He was unsure of what the others would think.

 

[Raith]

Raith felt the slight squeeze initiated around his neck but the force shield he had made deflected the brunt of the attack.
With a flick of his wrist he sent the dark side at Koedi... Instead of knocking him off balance, the force powerfully pushed him across the ground and directly toward the Kaleesh.
They would have to fight each other...

Then Raith summoned the force again and sent it at the Kaleesh’s feet, securing them in place like they were stuck in mud, making it harder for him to move freely.

Once this happened, he readied himself for an attack...

 

[Xornoth Sk'ar]

Xornoth's force choke extended out from his being like tendrils and enveloped the human around his throat and began to squeeze with a vice-like grip with limited effect as his opponent had managed to defend himself successfully. The matter of fighting two opponents at once was certainly not unexpected although less than desirable for all involved.

Taking his opponent's full attention Xornoth found himself under attack at the same time with the Zabrak launching a force push that struck true and found its mark. Whether by luck or misfortune the Human had similar thoughts and pushed out with his mind to lash Xornoth to the ground which had the side effect of preventing the previously mentioned force push from affecting him as intended. It seemed that none of them were especially more powerful than the other in the force which meant that the duel would likely be decided by the blade itself.

At least partially, for Xornoth ended his attempt to choke the human. Instead, he switched to forcing free from the light bonds that were set around his ankles and he circled away from one, shifting closer to the human. With his back to the wall and with both sets of eyes upon him, Xornoth closed the distance between himself and the Human to five meters before unleashing Force Flash from his left palm to project an intense light which produced a flashbang effect upon both of his opponents if they were watching.

He would only need to flash for a short period of time before taking both hands to his crimson blade and stepping to the right of the now hopefully temporarily blind human and would strike powerfully right to left with his blade, stopping only if the strike would have normally hit and passing by him. The only way the Human could avoid being blinded that he could see would be to shut his eyes as his force shield wouldn't be able to protect his eyes from the intense light.

 

[Raith]

Raith saw the Kaleesh moving toward him and brought up his blades defensively. As his opponent drew closer he recieved a flash of bright light.
The light temporarily blinded him making him close his eyes briefly... it was then the Kaleesh struck.
Raith brought up his blade to deflect the attack, but having been blinded, his blade wasn’t exactly where it should be and he felt the sting of a lightsaber cut across his left wrist...luckily he still held onto his weapon, but he could feel the blood seeping out of the wound already. He had to do something quickly or he would lose this fight...

Planting his left foot and using it as a catapult, he jumped backwards to widen the gap between them. He wasn’t retreating as one would think, but clearing his vision. Once he landed he shook his head and refocused. His vision returned and he stepped back toward the Kaleesh.
The left blade held horizontally at chest level and the right held at the ready. Now it was time to advance...
The first swing was from the right aimed at the Kaleesh’s torso and then the left blade followed soon after...
Raith kept up the attack repeatedly trying to drive his opponent back to the center of the arena as well as weaken his defense.

 

[Koedi_Se'Roc]

Directly after Koedi's attempt at a force push succeeded he was blinded by an incredible light. Also at the same time it seemed Raith had pushed him over with a force push of his own. Koedi lied on the sandy ground for a bit struggling to come to.

It took a moment for Koedi to regain his senses. When he finally sat up he saw his two opponents fighting among themselves. The pale one, Raith, seemed to be leaving a small trail of blood behind him as he advanced angrily against his target. The two had, at least for the moment, forgotten about Koedi.

Koedi stood up and pulled his lightsaber out of the sand into his left hand. With his other hand he attempted to pull rocks from the wall behind the Kaleesh out of their place and throw them at the unsuspecting combatant. Surely he was too distracted with the onslaught of Raith to defend against the large rocks being hurled at him.

 

[Xornoth Sk'ar]

Xornoth's blade accidentally clipped the wrist of the Human as the dual wielder shifted in a blind futile defense. Had he been more aggressive, he may have taken the man down in the attack but alas the Human leaped backward, landing just in front of him. It seemed that finally, the Human was ready to go on the offensive as two strikes came hurling in with the first sweeping in on his right, Xornoth tilted his blade to the left slightly with both hands gripping and moved it upward to block the first hit.

The onslaught did require the Kaleesh to start slowly walking backward as the left blade now joined the fray, but by stepping back he freed his blade to rotate and slash downward on the attacking left blade to deflect it. If the Human planned to push him toward the center then it was working, as the Kaleesh watched every strike coming in, looking for openings to launch his own counterattacks.

The erratic movements of combat had now placed the Kaleesh between his two opponents which made the attempt by the Zabrak to throw ad-hoc rocks at him more risky, as he would be risking hitting the Human too. For any measure of success, Xornoth noticed the incoming attack just a moment too late to stop it as he turned, the first two rocks slammed into his ribs causing an audible crack to echo out. The third and last rock that would hit him had been aimed at his neck but with the turning movement now the projectile would collide with the bone mask squarely set on his face.

The mask did not shatter at first but a large fissure appeared across it initially before it finally collapsed onto the floor. The last object in his most favorite possession from the homeworld that he might never see again lay in waste at his feet. The crack in his ribs would heal, true the pain was extreme but he was stronger and would fight on despite it. Calmness gave way to anger as the reality of what had occurred began to set in for him.

Taking further steps back to try and keep both his opponents in his field of vision, he attempted to force push the Human by surprise and hopefully knock him down, Then would follow up by jumping force assisted within five meters of the Zabrak and rushing forward to make the best use of the adrenaline that came as a result of his most recent injury. He would make several powerful hatred fuelled slashing strikes, left, right, left on the Zabrak in an attempt to overpower him before the Human could retaliate.

 

[Serie Fond]

As things started to get more exciting in the tournament she has set up, Serie was eagerly sitting on the edge of her seat watching for what was going to happen next.

The threes combatants were all almost equal in strength, only their specific fighting styles and ways they approached the fight was what separates them. The human male seemed to prefer swordplay as opposed to his force abilities, something she would work on if he was the victor she thought to herself.

The Zabrak male seemed to continue to play things as safely as possible. She had considered for a moment interfering when he summoned the rocks and seizing them before he could anything, but she decided that she hasn't specified that they could only use things inside the arena therefore that was more her fault than his.

As her gaze shifted to the Kaleesh, she could tell he was having a hard time fighting the two at once, but this was merely a part of the tournament. Once they were inside the arena they all knew that there was no such thing as fairness, especially among the Sith. As his mask broke, Xornoth tried to bit the human male with a hard force push before leaping towards the Zabrak and finally engaging him in combat. Due to the boy already being in the corner, he would himself locked into combat with the rage fueled Kaleesh. She smiled widely and was literally sitting in the edge of her seat, trying to anticipate what would happen next.

 

[Raith]

Raith was in the middle of attacking the Kaleesh when he was suddenly pushed back. He managed to stay on his feet but he slammed up against the far wall knocking a bit of breath out of his lungs.
The Kaleesh was now going after Koedi, which gave him time to catch his breath and regroup.
As he stood there he was angry that this was taking so long... he had to do something, something that would make him stand out to the Sith who was hosting all this.

Since the other two were in close proximity with each other... maybe, just maybe he could take them both out at the same time. Then a plan formed in his mind...
He began gathering the dark side around him, putting all the contempt and hate he could into it, then he unleashed it upon them at the same time.
He would use the the force to lash them together like a rope, so they couldn’t move away. Then he would use the rocks on the ground from Koedi’s last attack, to pelt them at their heads and shoulders. Then after that he would force push them over and over again into the wall in hopes to break them...