Star Wars: The Old Republic

The Bladeborn: Birth of a Masterblade

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars: The Old Republic. That honor belongs to Bioware and LucasArts. However, I do own all the characters in this story. I will specify otherwise if I do not.

Chapter 2

Alarick and Natasha stood in the front row of the ranks of Sith initiates and apprentices that had gathered to welcome the members of the Bladeborn. Alarick was keen to see these legendary warriors with his own eyes and request that he be tested for inititation. Natasha had decided to join him in this endeavor. He didn't really care what she did but maybe it would nice to have some company through what was sure to be one hell of an ordeal.

The sound of a shuttle descending silenced the murmured conversations that had been going on through the ranks of trainees. Three hundred and seventy six pairs of eyes watched the Deathwind-class assault shuttle descend to settle on the landing pad in front of them. Of the Academy instructors, only Blademaster Darut was present, his bright red skin and facial protrusions clearly marking him as a Sith Pureblood, the black light combat armor and dual sabers hanging from his belt showing he was a warrior. His gold eyes watched the shuttle descend as well and he began walking forward as soon as the shuttle was on the ground.

The shuttles ramp slowly descended and five figures marched out, it was a colorful group, containing another Sith pureblood and two zabraks, one of the yellow skinned variety and the other the red skinned type, both with Sith Tattoos covering their faces. All three were male. The rest of the group was made up of humans, one male and female. The lead human was clearly Masterblade Zareth, judging from the Tremor Sword slung over his back, a middle-aged man with a fair skin tone and dark brown hair with streaks of silver in it, which made his golden eyes seem like they blazed with an inner fire. The only female member of the group was an interesting sight to say the least, she was roughly Natasha's height, around 5 foot 6 if Alarick had to guess and had golden hair and bright amber eyes. Alarick immediately saw she was second in command of this band of warriors, the number of battle scars on her armor and trophies adorning her belt made that perfectly clear. He could see Wookiee scalps and a Krayt Dragon fang to name a few. The warrior band marched out of their shuttle with an arrogance born of skill and earned respect, they approached the Blademaster and halted 20 paces back, Masterblade Zareth approached Darut alone.

Blademaster Darut waited for his fellow warrior to approach before offering the traditional Masterblade greeting, a firm arm clasp followed by a quick sparring session. The apprentices watched, amazed at the speed and skill of the combatants, only a few seconds had passed but already 20 blows had been exchanged, the dancing ruby lights of the Blademaster's lightsabers clashed with the gleaming silver blade of Zareth's Tremor Sword, which seemed to be everywhere at once. After a few minutes of blurred combat, the combatants stepped back, bowing. Apparently the greeting ritual was concluded and business got underway. The Masterblade turned to his followers and gave them their orders, Alarick and Natasha couldn't hear, as they were too far away, but as Darut and Zareth walked inside the academy they heard some heartening news.

Zareth looked angry as he spoke and they could hear the rage in the small snippet of the conversation that was audible.

"Dammit Darut, you do not understand! We are all that is left of the Bladeborn! I am the only remaining Masterblade and those four warriors are the only other members! We were almost utterly annihilated during the last offensive against the Republic, we were caught out in the open by a heavy artillery strike and are lucky to have that many remaining!" His voice was dangerous, like if he heard the wrong thing he would kill everyone there and damn the consequences. Zareth sighed before continuing, now somewhat subdued. "We are here to find new recruits."

Alarick and Natasha looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes; this was the chance they had been hoping for! Now all they had to do was not screw it up. As they silently communicated, they heard Daruth begin his reply.

"We have many fine young warriors here, but the decision to join is theirs. I cannot force them to join a sub-sect of the Sith."

All this time the four remaining members of the Bladeborn had been blatantly studying the assembled apprentices. Alarick had noticed that he and Natasha, along with one or two other students, had become the focus of attention. The Pureblood and blond haired woman in particular had taken special interest them. They had glanced to each other and nodded. Alarick hoped that was a good sign.

A short while later, Blademaster Darut approached the ordered ranks ofstudents and spoke.

"Apprentices! Pay attention! Our honored guests of the Bladeborn are here to seek new members for their order. Any present who wish to join step forward now. This is your only chance to join."

Alarick and Natasha didn't hesitate; they immediately stepped forwards out of the ranks. They were the only apprentices that seemed willing to take the chance and join; all the others suddenly found something very interesting to stare at in the distance. Zareth looked at the pair of them and nodded.

"We seem to have some recruits willing to be tested." Alaricks mind raced. Test? What test could they possibly have to pass this early? Zareth continued on: "We will need to see if you have the combat potential to become one of us. Kothe, Martek,test them."

The two zabraks nodded and drew their Sith Swords, walking slowly closer, the red skinned one headed for Alarick and the yellow one moved for Natasha. Alarick drew his saber and hit the activation stud, the scarlet blade popping into existence as he heard the dual sounds of Natasha doing the same with her doublesaber. The zabraks stopped a few feet away and circled, Alarick stopped paying attention to the other confrontation and focused on his opponent, from what he could easily see, the zabrak was a practitioner of Form II, Makashi, the dueling form. Alarick grinned, he knew he had the advantage since his brute strength and the power of Djem So would easily smash through the elegant precise strikes of his opponent. He stepped forward, launching an overhead smash down at his opponent as the zabrak brought his blade up into guard, stopping the blade with little trouble. Alarick felt a momentary flicker of nervousness; perhaps this wouldn't be as easy as he originally thought. Judging from the curse that came from beside him Natasha had reached the same conclusion.

Alarick decided that it was best to prove to Masterblade Zareth what he could do, he hammered blows against the zabrak's guard, pushing him back before the counterattack began, forcing him into a desperate retreat. He brought his saber up and parried a sweeping slash before crouching and slashing low to his opponent's legs. All he got for his trouble was a boot in the face and laughter from his opponent. Alarick could feel the rage and hate of this Bladeborn churning in his stomach. He stored it away, relishing the feel of it as he moved in again, landing a spin kick to his opponents jaw and sweeping his saber down in a left to right downward diagonal slash, his opponent jumped back and the blade merely carved a groove in his breastplate instead of bisecting him. He seemed surprised that a lowly apprentice could touch him and stopped toying with Alarick, launching a blisteringly fast stab with his sword for his chest. Alarick ducked and slammed a fist into the zabraks throat, causing him to stagger backwards before looking up and speaking.

"You may be able to land blows but a weakling fool like you will never defeat me, Kothe of the Bladeborn!"

With that Kothe abruptly switched to the chaotic Form VII, Juyo, known for its sheer ferocity and power. They hammered strikes and counter strikes towards each other, sparks flying when their blades met, silvered metal against ruby energy. Kothe continued his verbal and mental barrage against Alarick and it caused a new emotion to flicker into being; hate, hate for this fool who thought he was superior just because his opponent was an apprentice, hate towards that mocking smile he wore, hate towards the thought that if he lost, he would never be a Bladeborn!

As if Kothe could sense this new source of power he lunged in, sword poised for a killing blow, but Alarick wasn't there anymore, he had finally unleashed the pent-up rage and hatred and channeled it into his muscles, moving faster than the eye could see. Kothe staggered to a halt before his sword fell from nerveless fingers, he sank to his knees, eyes glassy before his head toppled off of his shoulders and his now headless body collapsed with a resounding crash. The head rolled behind the corpse where Alarick was standing after his lunging strike to Kothes neck. He picked the head up and looked at its features, slack in death before casually tossing it over his shoulder, where it rolled into the ranks of shocked apprentices. It was only then that Alarick thought of the consequences of this, he looked over at Zareth and was surprised to see not anger over the death of a Bladeborn, but approval. Alarick's other senses returned after his battle rage vanished and he noticed that Natasha and Martek were still fighting. Natasha's use of Soresu was wearing down her opponent, just like she had done to him whenever he couldn't end their sparring sessions early, the spinning dual blades were entrancing to watch as she put her defenses up again. Martek was visibly tiring, his strikes less crisp and precise than when the test had began and soon made a mistake. As he lunged and over extended, Natasha stepped in and brought the tip of one of the blades of her saber to his neck. Martek was surprised to say the least and was about to do something stupid before Zareth's voice rang out.

"Enough! That was an excellent display apprentices, but do not be too full of yourselves, those two are still novices in the ways of the Bladeborn. I am surprised that you were able to defeat them both." He turned to Alarick. "Or in your case kill your opponent." He smirked, "But in any case welcome to the Bladeborn! Your initiation will begin shortly but for now you need proper weapons. You, the male," He pointed at Alarick, "take the weapon of your opponent and use it well. As for you girl, we will find you a double-bladed sword in time."

Alarick and Natasha bowed their heads to their new leader and waited for orders. They were excited and pleased they had passed their first test but it was clear that they were in for a difficult ride. They had no idea how difficult it would actually be.