"And?" Andrea asked as they walked away from the Chamber.
"I didn't push the limit," Steffan said as he pulled the cloak of his robes back on. "I went right to it, but I didn't push it. Maybe I should have for this one. Next time, I'll know." He looked over and saw Andrea grinning at him. "What?"
"I haven't seen you this...excited about something since we rebuilt Blue Talon," she said, letting a laugh out. "I think mom would agree with me on that."
"She probably would," he said, smiling as he thought about it. "Come on, we have a series of trials to get ready for."
Unbeknownst to all of the Jedi present, there was a figure outside of the Jedi Temple. He had witnessed the sparring match between the two masters and, like Andrea and the students, had a holocam with him. It couldn't zoom in as close as he would have liked, but it picked up enough for him to send on...
"Very interesting," Bane said as he looked over the recorded images. He could pick Steffan Karrde's lightsaber color out, but the new one had to belong to the stranger.
"His moves are as fast as Karrde's," Amrond said as he and I'tka also watched the spar.
"To see Karrde lose, even to another Jedi is...perfect," I'tka said with an evil grin. Taking on Steffan was something akin to a dream for him. He was looking forward to it.
"Have our people test him further," Bane said to Amrond, turning off the recording.
"You understand, my lord, that it is a suicide mission?" Amrond asked him.
Bane only nodded. Amrond was the more cautious of his warriors, and rightly so. This stranger was not a factor to take lightly. "Send the order, Amrond. If they die, they die. If they kill him, then he wasn't as great an obstruction as we thought."
"By your command."
Ainar ducked into the Temple's back entrance, ignoring the security droids as he hugged his side, covering up the bloody abdomen underneath his cloak. He glanced up at the security cameras and continued onwards, speeding down the hallway until he reached the service lift and collapsed against the back of the car. How the hell could this happen?
He replayed the events in his head as the lift zoomed upwards....there was an ambush, not directed at him but he was too focused on the three culprits that he didn't think to survey the upper levels. As soon as he disarmed the three opponents his danger sense basically screamed at him, he raised his blade at the sky just as a missile raced towards him, with a flicker of his wrist the projectile changed course at the last minute and slammed into the trash bins a few meters away...raining shrapnel over their heads...a piece of metal struck his abdomen, digging into his flesh but thankfully not severing any arteries or damaging his internal organs...
His ears rang as the concussion still vibrated through his bones, he opened his eyes and dug his way out of the shrapnel and rotten food, his hand still clutching his lightsaber, the beam emitter shattered, sparks shooting from the damaged weapon. He pulled himself to his feet and almost dropped back down as the pain almost overwhelmed him, he looked down at the piece of metal sticking out of him...blood dripping down his legs.
He tried to concentrate his midichlorians to gauge the damage, but he was not a healer, never had been...but it felt alright, so he bit down hard and grabbed the object tightly and pulled until it was clear, the pain dropped him to his knees and the scream echoed throughout the alley, sending the lone survivor running scared. Ainar tried to get to his feet to stop him, but his legs refused to move...it took him almost 20 minutes to get back to a lift to get him towards the upper limit and towards his speeder...
He almost fell out of the lift as it reached the medical center, and within moments a medical droid hovered towards him and grabbed his arm.
"Just close the wound and get me a bacta patch!"
"Master Jedi, you are suffering from a deep abdominal wound...I need to admit you and call a healer...please sit down and we will start cleaning the wound.."
He grabbed the droids metallic neck and pulled with the assistance of the Force, "Close it...patch it...NOW"
Cataan
"This planet is so pretty," Kara said as she and Dilan were walking down the woodland path from Edmonton to the Karrde's home. Dilan had lost count of how many times they had walked so many paths around his home. They talked back and forth as they walked, both sharing as they walked. "You had it so well here."
"It hasn't been all that fun and grand," Dilan told her as they walked. "My training took a lot of time...a serious commitment."
"A whole lot?" she asked.
"Well...I had some time before I started." he said, smiling. "I still had some healing to do after the attack on Tal."
"I'm sorry. I can't imagine what that must have been like."
"The Karrdes really helped me out there," he said as they kept on. "Made me one of them...helped me remember and honor their memory. Andrea was the one that first helped me notice that I had the ability to touch the Force. Went all downhill from there."
"Wouldn't you say 'uphill'?" she said with a smile. It was a warm one that Dilan was beginning to believe that she didn't show much...maybe just for him.
"I guess I would," he answered with a grin of his own. He could feel it in the Force, something that was right by their being here together...
...and then his danger sense started to flare.
"Get down!" he said, his hand reaching for his lightsaber. Kara got behind him as he spun around, his blue blade coming alive just a crimson red one crashed into it. The force of it pushed him back some and he directed Kara into the underbrush as he spun to block the next strike from his attacker. The speed was fast that he could see the hooded face clearly. He let his instincts, training, and the Force guide his moves. It there was one thing Master Karrde and his teachers at the Academy, it was to continually practice his lightsaber form...and he found a preference in the third form.
And at the moment he was fully immersed in it as he continually parried his attacker's blows. I can't keep this up, he thought as he kept blocking. To defeat him, I'd have to step it up. And I don't want to finish this in front of her.
He spun as he blocked a lunge and flipped over his attacker's back. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he summoned a Force hammer and sent the stranger flying into one of the trees. The impact knocked his hood back over his head and Dilan finally got a look at the tattooed face.
"Falk?" he asked as he looked in disbelief at his attacker...who had been his closest friend. "What are..."
With such speed, Falk threw a smoke pellet in front of him, creating enough of a cloud that blocked Dilan's vision. Fearing a counter, Dilan called a breeze in to clear it out...but Falk was gone.
What just happened?
"Dilan?" Kara asked as she stepped out from the brush. She saw him standing there, could still tell the tension in him as he still had his lightsaber ignited.
"Are you alright?" he asked as he finally shut it down and put it back on his belt.
"Are you?" she asked as she walked up to him, feeling his arms around her...and still feeling the tension there. "Are you?"
"No," he said as he looked to where his friend had stood. "Come on, we've got to get to the house. Father needs to be told."
Coruscant
"Ter-lon Dinn," Steffan Karrde said as Ter-lon stood in the center of the Council Chamber. Myk and Arie were standing next to Steffan's chair as Callista and Xan stayed near the windows of the Chamber. "You showed great improvisation in your test of skill by Master Myk Ron. You've shown good resolve and determination in your other tests. I myself have seen you overcome in the Cave on Dagobah."
"This is not an ending to your learning," Chris-tien Jinn said as she leaned forward in her seat. "It is a new beginning, just as it was for all of us here."
"I understand," Ter-lon said as he looked to the council members, the elders, as he thought of them.
"There is no rule book for these tests of yourself," Steffan admitted to him, as well as any of the others that may not have heard this from him. "It is these ordeals and many others that you will face in your life that test, shape, and define who you are as a Jedi. It involves making such life and death decisions like you faced in the cave. The words I'll impart to you," he said as he stood up and walked to the padawan. "Is that when those decisions come, you listen to the Force here."
He laid his finger to Ter-lon's temple...then moved it down to the center of his chest. "And here. When you have understanding of yourself, anything can be accomplished. Are you prepared for that challenge?"
Steffan had to hold a smile back as Ter-lon looked him straight in the eye as the youth nodded. "I am, Master."
"Councilors," he said, calling the others to step forward and encircle. "Ter-lon Dinn, son of Kevin Dinn, it is the determination and blessing of this Council that you are granted the title of Jedi Knight."
"Thank you," Ter-lon began to say as Andrea entered the Chamber. It was the look in her eyes that told her father that something was wrong. She walked forward and whispered something to him. The others didn't hear it, but Arie could tell that his mood changed completely from the news.
"Councilors, Ter-lon, can you clear the center?" Steffan asked as he walked to his chair. The other council members went to their chairs as Ter-lon went to stand with his grandparents.
"What is it, brother?" Arie asked Steffan as he got to his seat.
"Not good," he answered as he tapped a button on his chair. "Relay the transmission from Cataan to the Council Chamber."
Dilan's image appeared a moment later.
"What happened?" Steffan asked as he remained standing.
"Attacked on the northern path from Edmonton," Dilan told him. "Complete surprise and aggressive."
"Sith?"
"I believe so, from the way his face was tattooed," Dilan answered, drawing some hushed whispers from the others. "Father...it was Falk."
Steffan and Chris-tien shared a look. How did they turn and retrain him, he has not been missing that long.
"Everyone else is safe," Dilan said, knowing that would be Steffan's next question. "He disappeared as soon as I recognized him."
"Stay home, and keep an eye out," Steffan said, cutting the transmission. The sudden tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a vibroblade.
"We are adjourned," he said softly, members of the council parting. Arie hanging back a little as the rest of her group were leaving as well.
"Arie, I'll meet you with you to celebrate later," Steffan said. "Chris-tien, let us talk and see what we missed here."
Jedi Council chambers, Coruscant
The trials were interesting to watch but unfortunately, that was the farthest thing from his mind at the moment. After Steffan played the holo of the Sith attack on his own son, Xan had been carefully controlling his emotions. And the mention of a Falk, had him wondering. After most of the Council had left and it was just the gathered relations of Ter-lon remaining, Xan spoke up, "Ok, somebody care to clue me in here? Who is Falk and why Cataan?"
Chris-Tien raised an eyebrow at Steffan before the Cataani answered. "Falk was a student of mine... he's been missing... but not for very long, as Dilan said." He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled slightly. "Master Chris-Tien, this is Knight Callista Gseran, and Master Xan Qenadius. He works with Jedi Intelligence.." The other woman nodded. "A pleasure, both of you. I wish it were under better circumstances..."
Xan nodded "Likewise Master Chris-Tien." He looked at Steffan afterwords though and frowned. "A former student though. This is starting to get frightening." He shook his head. "But I think we'd better put all our cards on the table here." Speaking like a typical Mando, "No one here has a skifter I should think." He paused looking at the others. "So out with it, vod. What are we missing here?"
"Falk is not just a student of mine," Steffan said as he gestured for everyone to sit, taking his council seat himself while Chris-tien sat in hers next to him. "I took special attention to him for some time because of his brother, a good friend of mine from when I myself was first a student at the Jedi Academy. Callista, I have told you of him before when I first started training you in the lightsaber….Welt."
Callista was surprised by the name. When Master Karrde had first told her of Welt, he had shown her one of the lightsabers that Welt had used on their last duel on Dagobah. "I didn't know he had family," she said as she nodded at the memory.
"I'm afraid I still don't fully understand, Master," Xan said, determined.
"Welt left the Academy after he went through his Trial of Courage," Steffan started to tell them. "At the cave on Dagobah. I never learned what happened, but he attacked me when he left. Several years later, before mine and Jade's wedding, he resurfaced….as a Sith apprentice."
"A Sith," Xan observed. "Too much to be coincidence, Master Karrde."
"Aye, indeed," the Cataani said to him. "I had to duel and defeat him not just once, but twice. A medical scientist decided to try to be a deity and see about using a specially modified spaarti cylinder in an attempt to bring back the dead. The madman chose to try it by bringing Welt back from the dead. I had to face him again on Dagobah."
"We told Falk about what had happened to Welt," Chris-tien chimed in. "He had taken the news well, we thought, and passed his trials to become a Jedi Knight. His was to aide one of our watchmen when he disappeared several weeks ago."
"And you think Bane would use this to turn his brother?" Callista asked him.
"I can only guess at Bane's motives, but I will venture a theory," Steffan began to tell them in confidence. "Bane has had what seems to be a personal deal with me. He must have known that I took Falk under my wing after I faced Welt the first time. I cannot discount the idea that this is another personal message to me."
Xan shook his head with this new information. But before he could say more, Steffan raised his hand. "I know there are more questions," he told them. "But Master Jinn and I need to confer, please."
Once they'd finished their conference with Master Chris-Tien and Steffan, Xan and Callista slipped out of the Council chambers. It was late into the afternoon and the halls were somewhat deserted. As they made their way down the hall, Callista let out a breath. "I knew about Welt, but not Falk... that's news to me." she frowned slightly. "These are indeed troubling times."
Xan frowned, "All the more reason to get you trained and quickly. Two Mando'ade Jetii will be better able to fight off this threat then just one." She considered that. "Elek..." was her quiet reply as she steered them towards an empty training room, flipping the indicator to occupied as she passed. "Where did you want to start?" Xan grinned when Callista unconsciously used Mando'a to respond. "That depends on where you feel most comfortable working hand to hand. What room would best suit you?"
She smiled. "This one's fine. I use it a lot when I train with Master Karrde." As she spoke, she shrugged out of her robe and laid it aside before she began running through a few stretches to warm up her muscles. Xan nodded and slipped off his armor, revealing an athletic skin suit when he finally got his cover-all off. "Right, now the key is to not hold back at all. i will, in order that you can better adapt to the movements. but once you get the hang of it, all bets are off."
Callista swallowed and let out a breath as she pulled on her grappling gloves and rolled her neck and shoulders a few times. She had to admit, it had been quite some time since she'd gone hand to hand, and she wondered how she'd fare against him, even when he was holding back. After a moment, she settled herself into a ready stance. Xan stretched like a sand panther and settled into a relaxed stance. Then they began to circle each looking for openings. Xan saw plenty but didn't take them yet. "Come on Cal'ika we can dance; or you can show me what you do know so I can correct it." Callista smirked slightly at his words. In the next instant, she crossed the floor in two stepped her rigid left hand slicing towards his neck as she moved around him.
Xan blocked the knife hand strike with a routine inside block and moved counter to her rotation. He didn't smile though, carefully measuring her responses. Callista blinked, ducking to avoid his handtrap as she kicked him in the back of the knee, before dancing out of range to ready herself. Xan frowned not that the blow but the fact she moved away. "What are you doing?"
Callista shook her head, moving back in with a quick two punch combination followed by a knee to the groin, batting his hands out of the way as she did so. Xan fell to his knees but when she batted his hands away, he rolled at her legs bowling her over. "Good but not quite." Callista grunted, landing hard on her back before she rolled to her knees and straddled Xan, moving in to apply a choke.
Xan blinked and scrambled to knock her hands away but was unsuccessful. Something clicked suddenly, he felt it. Feeling him tense slightly, Callista applied a little bit more pressure before she backed off. Then she snagged his right leg, pressing down on the inside of the knee with her own as she forced it to the tile floor. Xan growled as she backed off of the choke, only to find that before he could regain his feet she had his knee trapped. He began fending off body blows and jabs to the head, but he couldn't get his leg free.
Slowly, Callista applied more pressure to his right knee, the nerve cluster there was quire sensitive. As she saw the look of pain on his face, she switched tactics, pushing his left leg down to mount again as she delivered several swift blows to his stomach with her elbows.
"Cetar! I give!" he said groaning. despite his pain, he was impressed, something took over in Callista's mind and it was instinctual, as though it just needed the right push. With a curt nod, she released her hold and stood up. "Growing up around Coronet was rather rough and tumble.." Xan got up slowly and shook out his right leg. "Rough and tumble. And exactly how a Mando fights. I didn't need to tell you a thing..." he said half in amazement. She blushed slightly. "It's been...years since I've had to use it. In all honesty, I kinda pushed it to the back of my mind."
"Dangerous that, Mandos keep on top of every skill they learn. That way it's easier to anticipate what your enemy is trying to do and counter it." She blushed again and stood, rocking back on her heels. "I know that now... As much as I try to hide it, it's always there..." Xan nodded and grinned. "I don't think I have anything to teach you in hand to hand. But how good are you with other weapons?"
She frowned. "Not so good with a blaster, but I do ok with knives..."
"Well then, now I know what we work on next." he said in a serious tone, retrieving two blasters from the holsters at his belt. For the next several hours he drilled her on the basics. It was late into the night when they finally finished. Her mind was spinning, but she did feel a lot more confident and sure of herself and her ability to fight.
Xan yawned just after the last session of range practice was over, and he smiled when Callista, confident more so then ever spun the dual blaster pistols she had in each hand after she finished the last target and then placed them back into their holsters. "I think you're ready for beskar'gam." he said grinning.
Already...?" she asked in surprise as she brushed her hair from her face, tucking the stray strands into her braid as she picked up her cloak. "You're a natural, Cal'ika. All I had to do was get you to put aside that lack of confidence you had and just focus and you did it. I didn't need to tell you or hold your hand either."
She grinned and crossed the floor in two steps before she leaned up to kiss him softly. "I just needed a good motivator..." she told him.
Xan kissed her back and smiled. "Glad to be of service." he winked at her after the kiss. "So first thing tomorrow, we get to work on your brand new beskar'gam."
She grinned and elbowed him lightly in the ribs before she rested her head on his shoulder. "It's been quite a day..."
Xan sighed. "That it has...and by tomorrow's end it should be complete. that is your journey down this road. Still need to pick up more of the words, but you've been using Mando'a unconsciously all day. So your armor and one other thing remains."
"The...riduurok..." she breathed, her eyes widening as she looked up at him. "Oh, Xan..." She trailed off and buried her face in his shoulder, just taking in his scent as she tried to comprehend the day's events.
"I've talked to the chamber master already, while you were working on the flamethrower and it's been arranged and I got the confirmation a minute ago. We've been reassigned quarters in the families section, Master level. And the staff has already set our things up in the quarters."
"But I just moved not to long ago..." she protested quietly. But she was smiling as she gathered the rest of her things and started towards the door and the corridor beyond, taking Xan's hand in hers.
"You may like it cyar'ika. so give it a chance...besides it's good for when we are here."
"Alright..." she relented, leaning up to kiss his cheek softly before the door opened, allowing them access to the corridor beyond. As they made their way to the lift, Callista held his hand in hers.
"I've got a feeling we'll be on the move soon anyway." Xan said holding her hand but frowning. It was nagging at him since the trials ended.
Nodding, Callista chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully for a moment. "Master Karrde's been saying something similar or a while now." She stepped into the lift and shook her head. "But for now, let us rest and think of happier things..."
Xan nodded and as they walked into the new quarters, Xan smiled mischievously. "Let's try to get some sleep, but I'm not guaranteeing we will."
Laughing softly, she squeezed his hand. "All I want right now is to be near you..." She smirked slightly. "Some might think that's being selfish, but I see it as taking care of yourself..."
"I agree wholeheartedly cyar'ika." he leaned in and kissed her softly again "And that's what we'll do...together."
As the council members slowly made their way through the ornate double doors of the high council chambers, Myk-Ron Dinn slipped silently to his wife's side. Gently, he took her hand in his as they too made their way out. The suns of Coruscant were just beginning to set, and the council chambers and hallways were cast in a lush amber glow.
"They really didn't scrimp when they re-built this place," The Rogue commented. "If I hadn't actually seen the original temple, I'd swear this was it."
"It was Luke's idea," Arie smiled at the memory. "Farmboy was so hooked on the past, on learning what he'd missed. Toward the end, I think he spent more time in the library than the librarians."
"Life like his," Myk sighed. "Suppose he deserved it."
"Yeah – damn!" Arie slapped at the datapad buzzing in her pocket. She glanced at the device and cast an apologetic look at her husband. "I'm sorry, Myk-Ron..."
"Duty calls," Myk finished. "Don't worry about it, Princess. I wanted to stretch my legs a bit anyway."
Arie arched an eyebrow at the Rogue. "Don't get into trouble, Rogue," She said. "I'm not losing you again. And, I believe command wants to see you sometime soon. The data crunchers are going ballistic over the procedural nightmare of bringing you back from the dead."
"I'll put it on my 'to do' list," The Rogue smirked. "And, I'll be fine. I'll see you at home."
"You'd better," Arie said, arms crossed as she entered the turbolift. "I love you."
"Love you too, Babe," Myk said as the lift doors closed. With a contented sigh, Myk headed to the east lift. He'd make a quick stop back home to change into something more comfortable, then he'd head out. A lot had changed in his city, he wanted to get his bearings back.
"Target sighted," The hooded figure whispered. "Southwest promenade, Imperial Palace. Heading south toward lower level ramps."
"Confirmed," the voice over the hidden ear-piece comm sounded distant and tiny. "Proceed as planned."
"Affirmative," The hooded figure silently vaulted over the edge of the balcony he'd been perched upon. Any sentient being with even the remotest concern for their own well being would have deemed the maneuver suicidal...but not for a Sith. The cloaked assassin deftly leapt from balcony to balcony, closing in on his target. Around the promenade, more and more hooded figures began doing the same. Not a sound was made, not a soul took notice. They moved with the shadows, mere whispers on the wind whipping through Coruscant's duracrete canyons.
As the Rogue wandered, so did his mind. Aimlessly, he made his way through the sea of denzient life. He drifted on the current of the Force, allowing his feet and its will to guide him. His mind was far away, and working furiously to solve the problem he could see coming a klick away. Arie was...old. Didn't make him love her any less, but she had a point. Yeah, things were okay now, but how were they to pick up where they left off when such a chasm separated their physical selves? What if they wanted to have a child? Could they?
Truth be told, the answer was blaringly simple. But Myk-Ron had no idea how one would even begin to go about it, or how deeply one would have to draw upon the Force. He didn't know the consequences. He didn't know if he was strong enough. There was so much he didn't know.
He hated not knowing. It drove him to distraction. So it was with little surprise that Myk-Ron Dinn soon found himself in a part of Coruscant he didn't recognize. As unimaginable as it seemed, the immediate area appeared devoid of life. He was deep, that much he was sure of. The architecture was ancient, and the sky was completely hidden behind a veritable ceiling of taller buildings.
"Lost, are we, Jedi?" The voice carried on the stale wind like a hiss, and Myk turned around to face it.
Blocking the rogue in the duracrete box he'd wandered into were fifteen dark-clad warriors – No, Myk corrected himself. Not warriors, assassins. "Not all who wander are lost," Myk-Ron shrugged.
"Ha!" The cloaked figure in the middle of the black-clad formation stood a good head taller than the rogue, and outweighed him by at least twenty kilos. His face was shrouded in shadow, and his laugh was more of a bark than anything really human. "You have spirit, Jedi. I'll give you that. But, believe me when I say, you are well and truly...lost." With a gesture of his hand, five of the assassins stepped forward and, in unison, ignited five crimson blades. Silently, they began to fan out around the Rogue.
Myk sighed and un-clipped his lightsaber from his belt. He set his feet about shoulder-width apart in an easy form three stance, and began to fall into the Force. It had been nearly fifty years since he'd last had to fight for his life. The warm-up with Steffan, the duel with the kid...they'd barely stoked the fire burning beneath the Rogue's skin. As the adrenaline mixed with the chaotic beauty of the Force as it swirled around him, Myk-Ron Dinn smiled. It was not the Jedi way to relish battle, to find joy in deadly combat. Lightning danced within his eyes as he looked up at his outspoken foe. "I am no Jedi," Myk said, and the air grew suddenly still in the depths of Coruscant's warrens.
The five assassins hesitated for the briefest of moments, and paid with their lives. In a flash of silver light, Myk-Ron Dinn was among them, beside them, behind them. Five seconds passed, and five Sith died, their bodies falling in slow-motion to the cold duracrete. The remaining ten Sith immediately fanned out around the Rogue, vying for flanking positions and trying to present this hostile target with as many offensive fronts as possible. Myk-Ron scanned the group as they ignited blades of their own. Each beam of light was unique to the individual wielding it. Behind the Rogue, in a rough semicircle, were Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Red. All of them with a single saber, and all in classic form three guards. In front stood a more varied group. One Sith wielded two deep red lightsabers, another held two blues with one blade in a reverse grip. The three remaining carried lightstaffs; purple, green, and yellow.
Myk took it all in, and allowed the Force to guide his feet and hands into an unnatural stance. His feet splayed a bit wider apart, he released his left hand from the grip of his lightsaber and presented the blade horizontal in front of him in his right. His left hand moved behind for balance as his body lowered into a kind of crouch. There was no rhyme or reason to this sudden change of form, the Rogue simply felt it was right. He'd experienced something akin to what he was feeling now before...on the bridge of that Vong warship. He surrendered more and more of himself to the Force, allowing it to flow through him as he melded with the utter chaos of it.
He sensed the Sith like rocks in the river of the Force; disrupting the stream, creating eddies and waves. They were easily identifiable, and their movements created huge ripples within the Rogue's awareness. He had already blocked five attacks before the Sith had even thrown them. Myk-Ron caught Orange in a high block and struck with his left hand at the Sith's throat. That assassin hands went limp as his eyes went wide, and he struggled in vain to find his breath through a crushed windpipe. Blocking low with his own blade, Myk whipped the newly acquired orange through the necks of Blue and Green.
Their bodies had not yet hit the ground when Myk released the orange blade and, with the slightest nudge from the Force, embedded it to the hilt in Yellow's chest. He batted Red's blade into the dual-weilding Blue, and lanced his own silver blade through Red's right eye. The block following sheared the top of the dead assassin's head as Myk whipped his lightsaber around to block a low attack from the Purple lightstaff. Myk-Ron's right foot leapt out in a Force-full round-house kick to Purple's left temple. The sickening crack of his neck snapping barely registered above the hum and clash of lightsabers. Mid-kick, Myk swept his silver blade behind him, parrying Blue's attack. As Purple tumbled to the ground, Myk continued his spin with a leap over the heads of Green and Yellow. Blue was on him as his feet found duracrete, throwing shot after shot in a wall of blue energy. Myk parried each blow as he backpedaled to the wall behind him. Before his back touched duracrete, the Rogue side-slipped Blue's barrage and used the Force to slam the off-balance Sith face-first into the wall. The old duracrete cracked with the impact, but did not give nearly as much as the Sith's skull. The Rogue had some distance between himself and the three remaining Sith. He took a breath to assess the situation.
The one with the green lightstaff radiated anger like a tidal wave in the Force. He was the one who'd spoken before, the leader. The yellow lightstaff was calmer, more focused, more deadly. The Sith with the dual red blades was more afraid than angry, and he used the fear to fuel his adrenaline and focus.
"What are you?" Green challenged.
Lightning cracked where Myk-Ron had been standing, and in the space between heartbeats he appeared behind Red. A smoking line formed across the Sith's chest, and a startled expression was etched on his face for eternity. His blades died as his body crumpled behind the Rogue.
Green charged, his question forgotten in the rage that consumed him. He twirled his staff above his head before bringing one end crashing down toward Myk's exposed right shoulder. Myk-Ron slipped to the left and let Green's own momentum carry him beyond the Rogue. His eyes on the Yellow-bladed Sith, Myk whipped his lightsaber into a reverse grip and stabbed behind him and through Green's spine. A loud thud echoed in the warren as Green's weight came crashing down to the cold duracrete.
"You don't have to die," Myk-Ron warned as he brought his blade forward.
Yellow gazed coolly across the expanse of slain Sith at the Rogue. "We'll have our dance, you and I," he said as he walked to the edge of the platform on which they stood. "Until then..." And he stepped over, falling into the blackness of Coruscant's underbelly.
Keyed as he was to the Force, Myk-Ron sensed the Sith's slow descent onto a waiting speeder. He could feel his enemy's mild disdain at having been bested, but more Myk-Ron sensed anticipation from his foe as the craft sailed away into the night. He would be back, he would be stronger, and he was eager for the challenge. Myk-Ron shook his head and gradually pulled himself to the surface, not quite leaving the river of the Force entirely but moving to calmer waters. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and he gave himself a once-over. There were no serious injuries. His shirt was a loss, though. Dozens of near-misses and light grazes had left the shirt cut in places, and stained in others with blood – some of it was his.
Arie wouldn't be too happy when she found that he had been in a fight, but it wasn't his fault this time. And, the Rogue smiled to himself, remembering the sensations he felt through the Force during the fight, he had found his answer. In hindsight, it was painfully obvious but the Rogue shrugged it off. Nothing could spoil the good mood he found himself in as he made his way back up into the light and noise of Coruscant's more populated levels. He had his answer. Now, he just needed to find a way to get Arie alone, completely alone, for more than a couple hours.
With a bounce in his step, Myk-Ron made his way back home. He shed his torn clothing and hopped into the ‚fresher. Arie was still at the office, by the looks of things. Finishing with his shower, the Rogue found a fresh set of clothes and tossed the ruined set into the garbage smasher. Arie would know, there was no hiding that, but there was no sense in keeping the bloody mess. Myk fetched a drink from the kitchen and settled down on the sofa in the living room. He kicked his feet up on the low table, and smiled. Yup, the Rogue thought to himself. Good day.
