Chapter 3
Tsukune's Trial
Over the next few days Lord Fenix and Lady Lilith observed the two acolytes it seemed most of what they did was train, when it wasn't training in the force or lightsaber training Moka was teaching Tsukune her own unarmed combat fighting style. "Don't these two ever have a break?" asked Fenix as the two along with Mepre watched them from a window overlooking the compound's training grounds
"they take the weekends off." Replied Mepre as he sipped a cup of tea
"What do they do? Train some more?" asked Lilith sarcastically
"not on the training grounds, I made them take the weekends off because they learn and master at such a pace that if they didn't have weekends off I would run out of stuff to teach them." Explained Mepre "they are banned from the training grounds on weekends, sometimes they go visit and train with the Mandalorians. And they have learned well from them. Moka has been able to expand her unarmed combat fighting style with some techniques she learned from them, and Tsukune has been able to grain in how to not only deflect blaster fire more effectively but how to use the skill to deflect it back at opponents more accurately." He added
"Do they do anything besides train?" asked Fenix wanting to know if these two were all work and no play
"Well sometimes they go hunting with the Mandalorians. Have a look at this" Mepre continued activating a holo terminal and showed a recording given to Mepre by Calo Bendak, a mandalorian friend of Tsukune's he usually goes hunting with, it showed footage of Tsukune in a fight with a gundark who then punched Tsukune in the gut sending him flying, his lightsaber landing in a bush as the gundark leaped onto him Tsukune grabbed the creature by the ears and pulled and pulled so hard after a bit of grappling that he ripped the ears right off the gundark's head then called his lightsaber into his hand with the force and impaled it killing the creature
Lilith and Fenix were jaw dropped at the recording "I thought that was just a saying to show how tough someone was, I didn't think it was actually possible to do so." Said Lilith
"Well, looks like myth confirmed." Said Fenix
"Indeed." Said Mepre "The boy is a talented hunter, his room is decorated top to bottom with his hunting trophies." It was then that a transmission came up on the console nearby. Excuse me for a moment." He said and went up to receive the transmission "This is Darth Mepre, respond." Stated the Sith Weapons Master. A hologram of a man of about 40 with a bushy mustache appeared on screen
"My lord, this is Sergeant Relmash of imperial intelligence, I have Darth Silphare on the line for you." He said at attention like a good officer should
Mepre sighed "Very well I will see him." He said the officer nodded and the image changed from the officer to a pale skinned man in Red and Purple robes with sunken eyes and incredibly white hair
"Hello, Lord Mepre, I hope I am not interrupting." He said in a kind voice that really didn't match his appearance
"You usually are, Lord Silphare and when you do it is something about business, so what is this about?" he asked
"Oh I am sure you will be interested in this, do you remember a renegade acolyte by the name of Thuruld?" asked the hologram
"How can I forget?" replied Mepre, remembering the cunning son of a nerf
"Well, He has Re-emerged, and from what intel says he has managed to get into the archives of the dark temple and jack a certain relic, that Specific Holocron, you know the one I speak of." Stated the Sith
Mepre Groaned at this, he should've Killed that Rakghoul Shit stain when he had the chance and now look what the asshole did, stole a Holocron he promised his friend he would keep safe, "I'll get my peo—" began Mepre but as he began to say that Fenix force pushed him out of the way and came into the holocom
"Actually I have a person that will be more than up to the task," stated Fenix
"Oh really? What makes you think I can trust you with your questionable reputation rather than Mepre's Spotless record for getting the job done?" asked the sith
"that Holocron that was stolen was mine that I inherited from my master and the masters before him, so I am taking responsibility and going to send someone to take care of it."
"he has a point, Lord Shilphare, the Holocron was his and should have the right to take care of this matter." Said Mepre scrambling back into the view of the holocam
"Oh very well, I'll have a shuttle sent to your compound to pick up the person you have selected for the job." Said the sith lord and cut the transmission seeming rather annoyed
"So who are you thinking of sending?" asked Mepre, brushing dirt off his tunic
Fenix glanced over at his friend "Oh you know who it is." He said with a knowing smile
"You aren't possibly thinking…" began Mepre but Fenix nodded slowly
"Indeed I am, if he can kick this much ass I am quite confident he can pull that off." Stated Fenix
Mepre was gob smacked he looked over at Lilith non vocally asking for backup on this "I am sorry, Mepre but I am going to have to side with Fenix on this one, let him have this kind of mission, let him prove himself." Said Lilith
"…" Mepre was silent for a few minutes but then nodded in defeat
IN THE TRAINING GROUNDS…
Tsukune and Moka were panting after a long and intense training session in the form of unarmed combat Vampires are known for "Well Tsukune, you have done well in learning my fight style so much that from here on out I can begin to get serious with you." She said with a wink but in all honesty she wanted him to dominate her, to hold her body down on a bed and make love to her. The moment she realized what she was thinking she pushed those thoughts out of her mind, those thoughts had no place in training. As if on Cue, the Servant assigned by Mepre to look after Tsukune, a man by the name of Nollux got off his comlink and hurried up "Begging your pardon, My Lord but Lord Mepre has sent for you, he is in the lounge with Darth Fenix and Darth Lilith." He stated with a bow
"Tell them I am on my way." Said Tsukune as he grabbed a towel off the bench near his side of the training grounds to wipe off the rain and sweat off his face and went into the building to meet with the three Sith. Upon entering the room he saw there looked like there was a bit of a struggle because some furniture was knocked over, probably Mepre and Fenix had a wrestling match again but the three sith stood there waiting for him Remembering his manners Tsukune Bowed before the three, he would've knelt but Darth Fenix apparently really hated it when people kneeled before him he accepted a bow but would refuse it if Tsukune knelt before him. You called For me, My lords and lady?" he asked of the three
"yes indeed." Said Mepre, "More specifically Lord Fenix called for you so I will turn this over to him." he said and Darth Fenix stepped foreword "Sithkune, please sit down." He said gesturing to a chair, doing as he was told the older Sith also sat down "do you know why I have called you here?"
"You wish to take me as your apprentice?" asked Tsukune
Fenix chuckled at this "bound and determined to become sith eh? Good determination is a good thing to have, however no, that is not why I called you here, at least not yet, I have a task for you to do before I do that." He replied
"What is it you ask of me?" asked Tsukune, feeling his chance to become Sith within his grasp
"Recently a Holocron that I had entrusted my Friend Mepre here with keeping safe was stolen from the Dark Temple archives, the culprit is this man." He said pulling out a holopad and brought up a hologram of Thuruld "His name is Thuruld a renegade Acolyte who was rejected and he ran off seeking his own destiny, he has now re-emerged and has stolen my Holocron, your mission, destroy him, and return the Holocron to me." He said
"is there any more I should know?" asked Tsukune
"Not from me, there is a sith at the imperial citadel who will provide more details on how to track him down." He replied as he said that they heard a shuttle land on the platform outside "In fact that is your ride to him now." Said Fenix getting up
"I will bring back that Holocron." Said Tsukune also getting up and going to gather his gear and heading to the platform.
A SHORT SHUTTLE RIDE LATER…
Tsukune stepped off the shuttle onto the citadel landing platform however he wasn't dressed in a Black tunic, he was in his combat gear consisting of a helmet made of durasteel that the face resembled a skull and the eyes on the exterior of it were pitch black, his top consisted of a steel colored breastplate as well as a blast dampened hooded trench coat that was charcoal gray with a blood red trim on the lower edge, along the hood and on the sleeves, his Bracers were blood red and the left one had a holo interface on it for communications and other features, his gauntlets as well were blood red and the fingers looked as though they had claws on them, a very terrifying image to see Tsukune was. Tsukune adjusted his utility belt with his lightsaber, the hilt was a gift from Darth Mepre a short time before Fenix and Lilith arrived, it was a black and charcoal gray hilt with a slight curve where the handgrip was and four small spikes around the emitter, it currently had the generic red blade the sith were known for.
Waiting on the platform was a young man in the uniform of imperial intelligence was waiting for him "Are you the one Lord Fenix sent to carry out the mission with the rogue acolyte?" he asked
"Yes." Said Tsukune, his voice changed to sounding like it was going through a radio because of the helmet
"Not surprised he'd send a boy, the sith is completely nut—" said the officer but was cut off as Tsukune raised his hand and began crushing the officer's windpipe with the force
"Be careful who you are speaking of and who is around you, he may be different but he is still sith, as well as the one who might take me as an apprentice, and I will not tolerate anyone badmouthing my possible master, am I understood?" replied Tsukune
"Y-yes m'lord." Gasped the imperial intelligence officer trying to get precious air
"Good." Said Tsukune and let go of the officer's neck the officer fell to his knees gasping for the life giving gas that was air "Now are you going to show me to my meeting?" asked Tsukune
"yes my lord, please follow me." Said the officer and led Tsukune into the sith sanctum and into a passageway that led to an office where Darth Silphare was waiting with a woman of about 20 also in uniform of imperial intelligence
"My Lord Silphare, the operative lord Fenix has sent has arrived." Said the young officer
"Good, Leave us and you may return to your duties." Said Darth Silphare
the officer bowed and left the chamber not wanting to be in Tsukune's presence any more then needed, once he left Silphare looked Tsukune up and down "Hmm… So Fenix Sends me a boy, I don't know what he is playing at but even with his questionable record I think you will do." Said Silphare "Did he brief you on the mission?"
"He told me a rogue Acolyte named Thuruld has stolen a Holocron he asked Mepre to keep safe, and he asked me to destroy the said acolyte and retrieve the Holocron, my lord." Replied Tsukune
Darth Silphare nodded approvingly "At least Fenix didn't send an ignorant snot nosed child to handle this mission." He said once more looking Tsukune up and down Tsukune's blood boiled at that statement but Moka's training in when it was appropriate to kill someone, and this was not appropriate, this man held the key to the mission that would make him a sith, he would tolerate this obnoxious nerf herder long enough to get the information he needed then get out of there. "We have been going over his movements and it seems he has several surveillance devices planted throughout Kaas City and the surrounding jungles if we can ID them we can hack into them and triangulate his location so you could handle it." Explained Lord Silphare
"How am I supposed to ID them?" asked Tsukune
"My friend here from imperial intelligence will provide you with the means." Said the sith lord inclining his head to the woman "Vanice if you will explain the rest?"
"Will do, My lord." She said stepping foreword "We have wrestled from one of Thuruld's agents a pair of state of the art Macro Binoculars, they have data and audio communications, top of the line scanning that can alert you of anomalies in the field of view and also scan while not in use and can alert you of said anomalies, in this case the surveillance devices to triangulate his position, they can be used in conjunction with seeker droids so they can be used at a safer distance, biological analysis and Identification, among other features, I'll transmit you a guide document later." She explained handing the binoculars over to Tsukune
"You'll transmit me a guide? Does this mean they're mine?" he asked with interest
"Yes, we can't really figure out a means of reverse engineering them, the parts seemed to have been made by multiple companies and put together by Thuruld himself, the man was a genius when it came to technology because it seems there are explosive charges in the frame of the device so if we were to take it apart to examine it, it would blow up in our faces." Explained Vanice
"I see." Replied Tsukune not liking the fact that he was carrying around a bomb but he'll live with it. "Anything else?" he asked
"I'll keep in contact with you via the binoculars and once we triangulate his position I'll let you know." Stated Vanice
Tsukune nodded and took his leave and headed out but the moment he set foot outside the sith sanctum the Macrobinoculars went off stating that one of the surveillance devices was nearby, taking out the binoculars, Tsukune scanned the Kaas City skyline until there was a blip on the viewscreen, zooming in he saw what looked like a small satellite dish spinning around atop something with flashing lights and Vanice's voice came over his comlink "That is one of his devices all right, hacking now , we need at least two more before we can confidently say we located him."
Tsukune caught a speeder to the gates of Kaas city and started meandering the jungles keeping an eye out for stuff it was then that he had an idea and made his way through the jungle to the Mandalorian camp it was there that he met his friend and hunting buddy Calo Bendak where he found him doing some repairs to his gun "Hello Tsukune, I was wondering when ya'd visit!" said the mandalorian in greeting
"I was wondering if you had seen any weird devices around the jungle." Asked Tsukune
Calo thought for a moment "Come to think of it, some of the hunters have been talking about devices in odd places in the jungle," he replied after thinking "Why?" he asked
"Imperial intelligence needs to hack them so we can locate a renegade Sith that has stolen an artifact from my future master." Said Tsukune
"Future master eh?" replied Calo with a grin "Good to see you are moving up the chain of command, I am not one for helping imperial intelligence but if it will help you up your rank, I am glad to help, besides I owe ya for covering my back to the head honcho that one time so just let me get my gear." Added the mandalorian and after getting his armor and weapons out of his tent they set off into the jungle a few hours of trekking through the storm drenched jungle led them to a monolithic statue of some long forgotten dark lord "I dunno if it is the thing you are looking for, but check out on the left arm of that statue, I see the device but let's see if it is the one you're looking for." He said pointing in the direction he was talking about
Tsukune pulled out the macro binoculars and ran a scan of the area his friend told him, sure enough, the device was there running the scan, Vanice's voice filtered into the com "That is two devices down, we just need a third and we can get his position."
"A third device you say?" asked Calo, "I was told about this device by one of the other hunters but I have seen another one out by the wall, c'mon." he said and they started off, sadly it was going to be a day's hike by foot to the wall and the skies were turning a dark shade of purple indicating the fall of night so they found their way to a dry cave nearby and Calo pulled out some survival blankets for the night
THE NEXT DAY AT MEPRE'S COMPOUND…
Moka awoke the next morning hoping to see Tsukune's return but sadly he wasn't home, Moka after a search of the compound confirmed that he wasn't back, Moka went out to the balcony overlooking a part of the jungle and just sat there thinking, and somewhat worrying about Tsukune's safety, Moka then heard footsteps and looked around to see Darth Lilith standing there "May I join you?" she asked and Moka nodded, the elder sith came over and sat down beside Moka "Worrying about Tsukune?" she asked
Moka Nodded "I thought he would be back by now, I was awake late last night worrying about him."
"you cannot predict how long a sith's trial can take, the job my master sent me on took me a month." Replied Lilith
"I know he is alive, I can feel it through our bond, I just want him to return to me." Said moka looking out at the jungle
"You love him, don't you?" asked Lilith
"Is it bad for a sith to love?" asked Moka
"It is not discouraged, bit it is risky." Replied Lilith
"How so?" asked Moka
"Love can be amazing, like the galaxy is your bantha steak, but one wrong move and it can come crashing down upon you, we sith thrive on emotion and love is one such emotion, I too was in love once, and married, my lover was so wonderful, he truly cared for me, and I for him, however he was framed for conspiring to usurp a dark council member and was killed before the dark council forcing me to watch." She said tears going down her face
"I'm sorry." Said Moka horrified at the tale
"Don't be, you didn't know." Said Lilith with a smile "If you were my apprentice I would encourage you to love, especially if the Aono boy has taken your heart go for him, I can see a fair ways into the future and I…" she said pausing for a moment "Can see you making a great life together, I cannot see how long it will last, but it wouldn't be something you'd want to miss out on." she stated with a knowing smile
at these words moka's vampiric desires kindles wanting the boy even more and it re-kindled her hope that the boy would succeed
AT THE WALL…
Tsukune and Calo had just arrived at the wall, it was a large fortification against the wilds of unexplored Dromund Kaas and where the Sith had set up base. Tsukune took out the Macrobinoculars and ran his scans and found the device "Bingo." Stated Vanice as she hacked into the third device "Triangulating his position now…" she said and after a short pause "Found him, he is in the sith ruins a short walk south of the wall, you will need clearance to make your way past the troops, sending you the orders to your datapad now." She said.
Tsukune heard a ding on his datapad stating that she had sent him the documentation necessary for going beyond the wall "I can show you the ruins but out of respect I cannot go in them, you'll be on your own once you enter." Said Calo as he followed Tsukune to the gates
"Do you have the documentation permitting you to go beyond the wall?" asked a trooper stationed there Tsukune showed him his datapad with the proper documents "Very well, everything seems to be in order, what about you?" he asked the young mandalorian
"I'm his guide, I am only guiding him to the exterior of the ruins south of here then leaving
"Very well, good luck." Said the soldier allowing them to pass
About an hour's walk south of the wall Tsukune and Calo found the ruins "This is as far as I go, hope you get that artifact." Said Calo
Tsukune bid him farewell and entered the ruins. Tsukune always liked entering sith ruins, the mystic quality that emanated power from the walls sent exciting chills up his spine, he walked through the ruins keeping his guard up for ambushes, but surprisingly none came, in fact he didn't meet ANYONE until he came to a large chamber and saw a 35 year old man matching the hologram he was shown in his briefing only his face looked thinner, more sickly, he didn't attack or make any motion that seemed aggressive he just looked up calmly at Tsukune "So you are the one they sent to retake this Holocron?" asked thuruld reaching into a pocket and pulling out a cube that fit in his palm clearly using the force the device levitated off thuruld's palm and floated toward's Tsukune until it floated within taking distance "Go ahead, take it." He said calmly
"Why are you giving it back?" asked Tsukune not understanding
"It didn't have what I thought it would have, and plus much of the information on it is encrypted and I didn't have the time needed to work at it." Replied Thuruld
"What do you mean?" asked Tsukune
Thuruld sighed "my friend, I am dying, I came down with a rare, terminal illness while I was on the run, I had heard that Lord Fenix's Holocron contained information on rare and unorthodox force powers and I thought maybe I could contain something that could help heal me, I was going to give it back if I found what I needed, but it is too late, my disease is entering the terminal phase, I will be in a lot of pain until I die a month later, If I give this back, will you do me a favor and kill me? Put me out of my misery?" Tsukune thought for a moment the nodded "Very well." He said drawing his lightsaber
"Just please Make it quick." Asked Thuruld and adhering to the acolyte's wishes he decapitated him
Tsukune looked down upon the Holocron as he left the ruins, he now had what would bring him his place among the sith.
there we go chapter 3 is dealt with! please send comments as to what you think of the newer version, there is one more before I have to go back to writing more but you will have more,