Finals Week [Flashback]

[Steel Wraith]

The early morning sun entered the canopy of leaves that made up the makeshift hut that he constructed. He groaned and shielded his eyes from the sun coming in from his walls. He felt like a powder keg that was about to explode. "Who turned on the light?" He muttered silently as he arose from the mat of leaves and straw. His tall and skinny figure emerged from his hut and he stretched. His sleeping garb was drenched in sweat from the heat.

He looked around and sighed deeply. "Another day in the jungle." He said, and dawned his armor and robes. He got his equipment into the spots in his belt and started to practice with his lightsaber. He didn't mind the heat when he was in his armor, as it helped him concentrate. His dark red lightsaber cut like a knife through butter on most objects, so he used a rock to help his train, apart from people, of course. He wondered if anyone would come to visit him.

 

[DudeTheManatee]

With a deep breath Soran watched the man finally awaken. What was he doing? Ugh, killing a rock...This must be a test. Why else would they send him along to Felucia to get some toy for Skaut?
Oh well time to get to work, "Once the rock is eliminated can we please get on with this? Why did you insist on staying in the wilderness, there are some towns here." Saran did not mind camping but what a waste of a night of sleep, he calmly walked down to where the man was.

 

[Steel Wraith]

"Nature helps me concentrate, Soran." He said, delivering one final blow, and sliced clean through the rock. He turned around and faced Soran. "You wouldn't want me mindlessly killing anyone, would you? Especially on my test." He said in a playful/sarcastic tone. "Besides, isn't it nice to get out of the city for a while?" He deactivated his lightsaber and set it on his belt.

 

[DudeTheManatee]

Soran rolled his eyes, "Skaut, this wasn't even called a test, just a task. Cities are much nicer, more people to mindlessly kill if the mood arises." He looked at the landscape, there were only a few small cities here the rest was farmland. "I have read extensively about this world there are no temples here. But there are many caves and hidden tunnels, do you have a plan?" Soran knew he could not provide a significant difference on the trip, he was there to observe, to see if Skaut could even be considered for acceptance.

Soran closed his eyes feeling the force in the area around him, even thought it was morning the creatures in this area did not like their presence. He could feel the malice in their thoughts, this would be a good start to the trip. Soran stepped away and the beasts moved in surrounding Skaut, from what seemed like everywhere "Good luck." An almost maniacal laugh followed, the first beast lunged at Skaut.
@Steel Wraith

 

[Steel Wraith]

He chuckled with a sinister grin. "I hate you sometimes, Soran." He grabbed the saber from his belt and equipped it in his right hand...and his blaster in his left? "Came up with a new trick." He dodged the first beast's attack, only suffering a cut on the cheek. He ran towards it, and shot it in the head with his saber, stunning it. He then jammed the lightsaber into the beasts head, spinning it as to make sure it was dead.

He looked up with blood on his face with an insane grin on his face. "Dirty tree-huggers." He said and leaped at another one, putting the saber back onto his belt and binging the saber down into the beast's throat, cutting it clean off. What was this feeling he felt?...joy? Why did he enjoy killing things? No matter. He lunged at the third.

 

[DudeTheManatee]

Watching from a tree just meters away, "Hmm, that was rather wasteful. Wonder if he remembered the others?", Soran muttered to himself while having a drink. The next two beast attacked from opposite directions, he could feel their hate. Not as sweet as the hate of an intelligent creature but still a good treat from the Dark on this otherwise boring world. "Hope he doesn't die that would be a shame, such a long trip just to head back alone."

Taking another sip Soran waited on the battle to unfold further, Skaut had to make a choice he could not block both attacks. One high, one low, his new trick would cost him but had potential with some practice. Hungry jaws seeking a home, only one pair found their mark.

 

[Steel Wraith]

He saw and vanished with a flash of smoke, and a hologram of him appeared, only doing half of the damage he could do. The hologram fought bravely, but in one or two swiped, it was dead. He appeared again, slicing cleanly through the two beasts attacking the hologram. He arose, slicing the last beasts face, killing it. He arose, bleeding from his arm. "Neat, huh?"

He deactivated his lightsaber and faced Soran, putting it on his belt. "So, what do you think?"

 

[DudeTheManatee]

"Sloppy, you are bleeding all over the jungle", brute force meant nothing, any fool could bash a wild animal over the head. "You are given an amazing chance to take your first steps toward becoming better. Becoming one with Darkness and you throw away these lives full of passion and hatred?", as he questions Skaut he waves his hand to the tree he sat in, from behind it one last beast appears. It calmly walks over and sits beside Soran, glaring at Skaut with the same disappointment.

With a deep breath, "You have a long way to go, much to learn, and many tasks in front of you." In a flash Soran cut down the creature and stowed his saber, no wasted motion, no hatred, just a cruel smile across his face. "Let's be on our way."

 

[Steel Wraith]

"You're such a stickler, Soran. Take some joy in your work." He straightened up and walked to where Soran was. Sloppy? There's always room for improvement...but sloppy? His work hadn't been called sloppy before. Oh well. Life goes on. "Where to, then?" He asked. He knew he had a long way ahead of him. It was going to be a really, really long road.

 

[DudeTheManatee]

"Not my mission.", Soran felt the same frustration from the first night they met, good. He would need that emotion to pass any Sith tests, "Babysitting is not my work, I am a historian. What do you know of the item you were told to retrieve?" There was some humor in Soran's voice but he was bored, he either wanted to be doing his research or something exciting on a planet with a canteen...even better a canteen with those lovely backrooms full of spice.

As Soran waited for an answer he had another drink.

 

[Steel Wraith]

"It's some crystal. Apparently it was really valuable and now the Sith want it." He said, noting the boredom in Soran's voice and smirked. "When I got the mission, I had a couple contacts reach out. Turns out someone else has it. Some bureaucrat named Haren Jindeklon. He's filthy rich, apperantly." He said, looking over at Soran. "He hangs out at a really snoddy bar in the big city." He said and saw the glint in Soran's eyes. "So dress nice."

 

[DudeTheManatee]

"If it is in a big city why are we here?", Soran's boredom turned to a scowl. "What kind of bureaucrat? Who does he work for? Who are we going to make mad? How filthy rich?" He was annoyed not stupid, if he worked for one of the larger corporations there was a chance he would have Jedi as guards. If it was a small group, that was another story. Simple bodyguards only carry blaster pistols and sometimes vibroblades, given the chance they would never need to fire a shot.

 

[Steel Wraith]

"We're here because his transport lands in this area in about an hour or so." He said, chuckling. "And don't worry about Jedi. He's spent the majority of his money on women, booze, and drugs. He's almost bankrupt and so is his company. They fund most of the independent factions, mainly Mandalorians. He's also a big spender, so he might have artifacts we can recover."

 

[DudeTheManatee]

Soran stopped walking, he turned around, "What planet are we traveling to?" For the first time since they had met Skaut had met the real Soran, even untrained he could feel the Darkness around this man...no this thing. Soran's eyes darkened, but his outward demeanor did not change, nor did his tone. This was not a moment to cross him, this was a moment for the truth.

"I need to know every detail about this mission, not one thing left out.", Soran spoke in a low voice, making Skaut lean in to hear his words. He let the Darkness that surrounded him penetrate the other man, searching for the information he wanted. He needed an answer...now.

 

[Steel Wraith]

"Alright, jeez. Haren Jindeklon is a bureaucrat with deep pockets. Lately, his pockets became really empty after his wife died. He spent the money he inherited from his father on booze, women, and drugs. Although, some say he's still living the high life. He has a penthouse on this planet, in the big city. I had a feeler scout the penthouse. Other than a standard home security system, he's got no protection. He also funds ops for the Mandalorians and other independent factions. He's a really big spender and the Jedi don't want anything to do with him. He's made a fair share of enemies, including the Sith, mainly because he holds some pretty important Sith artifacts in a vault below the penthouse. The vault is guarded with droids, so there should be no problem there. This crystal...is not ordinary crystal. It's a Kun's Blood crystal. It's a lightsaber crystal...and the Sith want it back. They also asked me to recover any artifacts I can find and...kill Haren. The funds need to stop going to the Dominion. Also, he's a bit of a jerk."

"That's all I know."

 

[DudeTheManatee]

Soran had never had this much control of the Dark Side, he searched through Skaut's feelings. He was telling the truth, "I would like to make this quick...a pressing matter just came up." Soran needed to learn more about this new found ability, he followed his charge to the landing pad. The transport was waiting on them, just a moment later they were off the ground and on their way.

In what only felt like minutes the out of place building appeared, it was not a large building compared to many Soran had seen on smuggling trips but with the low lying jungle at its feet this looked like a giant. "Time to get to work."

 

[Steel Wraith]

Skaut looked at the building and saw a landing pad. "Landing pad on the roof of the building. Land or jump down?" He asked and looked at Soran, his hood flipped up to hide his face. He put on a mask to hide everything but his ice blue eyes. "Oh, what the heck. Let's jump to the landing pad once we get close enough."

 

[DudeTheManatee]

Soran assessed the situation, the building was about five levels, two of those levels housed the penthouse and the target. If Skaut was sent to retrieve this artifact there could be no witnesses. "Yes we can jump, remember what we spoke of in the jungle. Anyone can bash an animal over the head.", as he spoke Soran dropped out of the transport.

He calmly landed on the roof, no guards...well that was nice. He reached out again with the Darkness, the building was mostly empty but it still could not stay. There it was, the target Skaut was looking for, now he would test the young man's abilities. Soran quickly moved undetected through the building, he would check back in a few moments, there was work to be done.

Soran had a choice to make should he go door to door or line them up?

 

[Steel Wraith]

Skaut flipped up the hood and face mask. He went towards the targets apartment, moving ever so silently. He arrived at the apartment door and opened it, sneaking inside. He closed the door behind him. He felt a little nervous. This was his task. Soran...the observer. He wondered why he wasn't observing. Eh. It didn't matter.

He looked around the dark apartment and went to the targets bedroom, hoping to find his and the crystal there. He opened the door ever so silently. The target was fast asleep in bed, snoring loudly. "I always hated snorers." He said and activated his lightsaber. The low hum seemed 10x louder here. He cut off Haren's head. It rolled onto the floor with a thud. He chuckled and snuck out. "Now for the crystal." He said and started looking around the apartment.

@DudeTheManatee

 

[DudeTheManatee]

Sharp pain flew through his chest, a life snuffed out. Soran knew the task of the council was done, now was his turn...well he was in the middle of his turn. He walked from apartment to apartment cutting down victims as he moved. He had decided to start at the bottom and work his way up, Soran made good time only being slowed down by one of the larger dwellings. "He tried to fight back...", laughing to himself, thinking of the child that watched his father die and thought he could stop the Darkness.

"Now for a moment of fun.", Soran knew there were only guards left in the building, he made his way to the nearest emergency alarm and pulled. The noise erupted from every room on every floor, if some noble soul would have done that five minutes ago there would be fewer bodies. "Hope he doesn't try any new tricks." Soran had one last task to finish off this test, the maintenance room for the building was easy to access an even easier to rig to burn the building. He called down the transport and waited outside for Skaut.
@Steel Wraith