Rage was standing on the observation deck watching the fight from there. She had just run her eighth drill inspection over the last four hours and the stormtroopers were kneeling on the grass of the parade square, puking their lunches onto the lawn. Rage held her binoculars to her eyes and watched as Rehn, alone and obviously upset, began to play with the staff.
"How in the world do they get so fat off this stuff?" Reg asked in horror as he poked at the lunch that was brought to them by the garrison cooks. The food was native.
"Stormtroopers will eat anything that won't eat them first, and sometimes they hazard it anyway." She snatched up a slimy looking black thing off the mess tray and stuck it in her mouth, chewing slowly. Her attention locked on Gade in the practice quad.
"They teach you that at the academy?" Reg asked in absolute disgust as he watched her chew. He made a face and pushed this plate away, grabbing a field ration bar instead.
"Yep, along with how to cook ewok. They're fat but tasty little bastards." she replied, a quirked smile twisting her lips.
Reg snorted and stood up looking over her shoulder. Rehn was practicing with the staff, her body language making it clear her mind was elsewhere. "What's she doing?"
"Making it apparent that she's never fought with a staff before. Darth Maul is rolling over in his grave...or the vacuum of space.. or wherever he ended up." She mused. "Trash compactor probably."
Reg took the Binoculars from her and looked through them. "Poor, kid. She has no idea what kind of trouble she's in."
Rage turned and headed down the tower steps. "No. No she doesn't, and neither does Drakahn after he awakens her abilities completely. He's going to have his hands full."
Reg followed her. "Oh? And if this does happen, and she's too much for him to control, what will become of the Lady Gade?"
Rage looked over her shoulder as she started walking towards the practice yard's gate. "If she falls into place with the Empire she'll be Drakahn's mate and the Emperor's newest enforcer. If not? Well, I'm not here JUST to make the troopers sweat you know."
Reg nodded understanding should have figured as much. He'd thought it a little strange that the Emperor would allow two of his best enforcers to get tied up in one matter. Palpatine wanted a backup plan should Drakahn's mission blow up in his face. Rage was the backup. Rage killed Jedi. It's what she did - what she was good at it.
Rage hit the lock on the door rose with a hiss of pneumatics. Although the walls were stone the arena was a little more modern than it looked. Rage approached Rehn and the young Thalcein flattened her ears, regarding the Sith with a careful eye. Gade felt a little more confident out here, where she had more room to fight. She gripped the staff in her hand tightly, ready should Rage attack her. The woman gave a slight bow in the old style greeting from the Thalcein heritage. Rehn snorted, her ears cocked in a questioning manor. "I'm like an over paid protocol droid, with a few extra bells and whistles." Rage gestured to the wooden weapon Gade held "You wanna really learn to use that thing?"
Rehn lifts the staff and then looks back at Rage, her eyes narrow and ever suspicious. "And why would you show me?"
Rage looked back at her calmly. "I don't have anything better to do for the next hour." a wicked, conspiratorial smile sliped to her dark red lips "And I wouldn't mind seeing you kick Drakahn's ass the next time the two of you play."
Rage pulled out her light sabre and removed the end cap. She then reached into one of the many pockets on her commando pants and pulled out a facetted deep red jewel. She slipped it into the end of her sabre, then replaced the cap and hit the switch. The weapon ignited at both ends creating a staff. "Comes in handy when you have two attackers. I don't care for it all of the time because you have to lengthen the sabre to allow for a better grip and the bigger power influx. My flux is of normal range so I can't keep the staff for any length of time or it'll overheat."
Rehn watched at a distance, mildly interested but always keeping a careful eye on the woman. "And the grip?"
Rage smiled "I'm just really careful. I once nearly cut my hand off." She moved through a quick warm-up then started showing Rehn several attacks and slashes. Rehn watched and mimicked, picking up the moves quickly. Rage never moved to actually spar with her and after a time a man entered and gestured with his hands "Hmmm gotta go and work the troops over again."
She switched off her lightsabre. It had become quite hot to the touch but it didn't seem to bother her hands through her gloves. The air around Rehn had begun to stink like ozone. Rage nodded and turned and left.
-Kelly Black-