Thanks to everyone reading this. I know it's kind of difficult sometimes with all the SW stuff out there.
Anywho, I just got Knights of the Old Republic...and I'm really looking forward to playing it!
Oh, and when he says "soft", he means instead of Adimantium, he's down to a diamond. shakes head Some people.
Only a tiny percentage of the systems and stars in the Universe have habitable planets without the help of some form of advanced technology.
This was not one of them.
The few hunks of rock orbiting the giant red star could barely be called planets (e to their size and/or shape—or lack thereof), and all of their paths could easily be classified uneven or unstable at best…which made this system the ideal hide-out. One quick scan of the system would scream "uninhabitable" rejecting all colonists, and its lack of extraordinary substances or anomalies would bore even the most interested scientists within a few standard hours.
Both the dying Star and the System undoubtedly had some sort of name and number, but few cared enough to know.
He was not one of them.
All mattered to the black-cloaked figure was that the system, and the tiny training center, served his purposes.
He'd had it built, and either erased the memories of those who had helped work on it…if they were lucky enough to survive at all. At this point, only two people existed who knew of the tiny dome's location.
He, of course, was the first. The second, he knew, would arrive any second.
He stood, staring out the large, darkened, transparesteel windows that graced the wall most often facing the Sun at this point in the giant asteroid's rotation. The large, deep red sun had begun to fill the horizon. Unlike on most planets, the sun would soon overpower the entire horizon.
He simply stood there as he had for the last hour, going over hundreds of scenarios in his mind, one of which would shortly unfold. He'd manipulated the events so that most ended in his favor. Still, a small percentage didn't.
He hated it when anything didn't turn 100 in his favor. Thus, he normally hated everything all of the time.
Suddenly, the blood color of the sun burst over the horizon, catching his attention momentarily as it raced through the black pit of space.
Red. The color of deception, lust and blood. The color of evil.
Black. The color of despair, deception and destruction. The color of death.
His colors.
He didn't' consider himself a thoughtful man. Intelligent? Yes. Meditative? No. Thinking slowed one's reactions, so he only allowed himself the luxury of true contemplation when he felt supremely safe. That rarely happened.
Still, this did not mean he didn't take in his surroundings. The moment he walked into a building, he could catch onto details that would boggle most beings minds, or at least stun them into a slight pause.
He would then use that hesitation to his own advantage.
But his lifestyle meant that self discipline had to be at its highest definition so distraction couldn't lure him into its trap.
Today, however, he allowed himself a moment's pause to watch the amazing scene unfold before him through the UV-ray protection coated building and force-field. Despite the fact that he knew himself to be in far more danger than "normal", he found himself pondering the unique sunrise.
What would the sun look like if he as a human didn't have to look through the diffused protection that would keep his eye from being burned in their sockets? The pure power and clarity even the tiniest view would command almost aroused jealousy within him.
That was the kind of power he longed for.
Pure, perfect, commanding power from anyone who laid eyes on him.
Suddenly he pulled his thoughts back to the present, berating himself for even allowing a moment of distraction to enter his mind.
Jedi did that.
Weaklings did that.
Not him.
Not Sith.
Again, he let his mind move back to the scenarios he'd gone over so many times already.
He would be ready.
He always was.
Only seconds later, another, familiar presence entered the complex, and then the enormous training room where the dark figure now stood.
The newcomer did nothing to mask his presence in the force, instead radiating a confidence that had always been and would always be his greatest weakness.
"I know you've been expecting me, ArPharazon," the second person spoke non-chalantly as he walked on cat-like feet into the room, despite his clumsy human physique.
"Of course," ArPharazon never even turned from the view, radiating his own confidence.
Darkness radiated from both figures, neither making more movement than a few casual steps, but both obviously wary of the danger the other posed.
"You are not worthy of the title of 'Sith Lord'," the second figure suddenly accused, hatred seeping his words.
ArPharazon remained un-phased.
"And who are you to make such an accusation, Jeff?"
"A member of the order," Jeff pulled off his black robe with a sneer, and throwing it behind him, revealing a young man in his mid-twenties, wearing a metallic brown/black material. His dark brown hair had been cut just below his ears, giving him an unkempt, dangerous look, and his clothing suggested one who prized personal safety over comfort and appearance. "You knew what kind of a threat I posed to you. That's why you tried to kill me when I left all those years ago, and ultimately failed…like you always have."
ArPharazon lowered his own hood, revealing a face not much older than his adversary's. His own hair had been cut close to his head and a well trimmed go-T that seemed to complete the regal air he commanded.
"I am the Bishop of Battle," Jeff reached to his side and withdrew a long, cylindrical object. "And you will not escape me this time, my old Master."
"Humph," ArPharazon snickered as his own robe dropped to the ground behind him, revealing a loose, black shirt, firm black pants, and almost knee-high, black boots, trimmed with a dark red. "I doubt I will need to."
With that said, the younger man jumped at ArPharazon, infighting the red-light saber he held. The latter turned and met the attack with his own blood-colored sword, and the battle ensued.
Block, parry, block parry, attack, attack, attack, block, attack. They jumped back and forth across the room in a breathtaking array of jumps and clashes, the only sound being the hums coming from the light sabers and the sound of their foot falls hitting the floor.
After several seconds, they separated, circling and eyeing each other with hateful glares.
"I shouldn't have lowered my standards to become your master," ArPharazon hissed.
"And I still became greater than you'll ever be," Bishop shot back. "You cannot win. I have reached if not surpassed your strength."
ArPharazon's smile grew onto his otherwise dangerous, glowering face. "A mere bishop, trying to overthrow a king? Perhaps one day you would have learned, that sometimes, you do not need to be successful to win."
With that, he threw out his hand, using the force to activate the trap he'd had in place for days, and disappeared through one of the many doors with a cackle.
"You will not beat me that easily," Bishop said to himself as he too rushed out of the room.
The entire structure imploded only seconds after ArPharazon's prepared shuttle left it, speeding away from the dead planet and the ruby star.
"He's not dead," the man growled to himself. He'd played through this scenario too. While less favorable, worst case: the boy escapes immediately and unharmed, but unable to find his old master.
Jeff would search for him, then, that he knew, and it might be advantageous to avoid all other Sith as well, until he could confirm or disconfirm what the good "Bishop" had said.
So, he needed a place to stay, where the others wouldn't find him for a while. Somewhere he could find a new apprentice who could wear down any enemies who he had to confront, despite the fact that he'd be able to hold his own against anyone, and beat most of them. He'd done it before, but he'd allowed himself to get soft in recent years.
He'd have to fix that.
And he knew exactly where his new base of operations would be.
With a grim face at this rather annoying turn of events, he set his coordinates for a single planet: Curst.