They had returned once more to the academy, and to the Order. Darth Moor had given his Apprentice two of the crystals that they had recovered, instructing her to install them in her sabers. She hadn't done the meditation for years, but the focus came easily to her. Just performing the meditation and the act of installing the crystals brought both a rush of memories and a clarity of mind.
Her senses sharpened as she felt him, she had not seen him for years, yet there he was in her mind, clear as day. He flipped backwards away from someone, landing in a crouch, his lightsaber held ready. Then her vision shifted, and she saw him sealing the doors to the Council chamber. 'He's coming for me...but why now?'
Moor approached her, and spoke in a rather grizzly voice "I...sense a disturbance young one, do you?" She paused. "I'm not sure, Master.." She wasn't sure what to say, her connection to Jason was like that of a brother and sister.
His eyes focused intently, like claws. "Not sure...?" She tensed, and paled slightly at his tone. "I did feel something, Master."
"It is connected to you, no?" he said, trying his best to pry the information out with the skill of a master thief. She frowned. "I'm not certain when it will will happen..." She was doing her best not to reveal too much, Jason meant too much to her.
"Be as it may...intruders, will be told to be executed...on sight." He said with a sense of superiority. She clenched her jaw, holding her temper, even as she paled further. "Executed on sight, my master?"
"Unless..." he paused, "there is a reason their not be?" Callista was struggling to hold her emotions in check, but she failed utterly under his heavy gaze. Tears traced down her cheeks as she sought to bury her feelings for Jason.
Moor looked in disgust. "You believe yourself a Sith!" She cringed, but stared steadily back at him. "I am who I am, there is no changing that..."
"Rid yourself from my sight, you disappoint me, immensely." He said coldly. She stood frozen for a moment, and then turned and ran. She could sense him behind her, as his anger reached its peak. She drew her sabers as she ran, the purple blades springing into existence. They now had a silvery sheen about them.
Moor retired to his chambers, he was not worried about the situation at hand, he had an entire Academy at his command. Callista skidded to a halt, flattening herself against the wall, and dropping her Force presence to nothing as she sensed Sith warriors around the corner. She could feel Moor calling to the students through the Force.
'My apprentice is to be looked at with care, she is not fit to be Sith, watch her.' Her lip curled from the arrogance she sensed in him. She drew her hood up, and walked purposefully around the corner.
The warriors took notice of a student with their lightsaber lit and thus one spoke, "You there...what are doing?" She stopped and sneered at them. "It is no concern of yours..."
"Turn your blade away, walking with it armed is not allowed outside the practice area." They walked on. She doused her blades, hiding them in her cloak. Slipping down a side hallway, she slipped into an empty room, and dropped her force presence once more. 'That was too close,' she thought.
She slipped out of the room once more, her stride purposeful and confident. There was a comm alcove not far down the corridor. Slipping into the booth, she closed the door. After entering a scramble code he had given her all those years ago, she punched in rhe frequency. The pickup was so close to her mouth, that her lips were touching it.
Her heart pounding against
her ribs, she whispered breathlessly, "Baby Girl to Darkwing 1.
The tiger is loose." This was the prearranged signal if she
should ever find herself in enemy territory and be discovered. A
second later, two clicks came over the comm, and then it went dead.
She wiped the memory, and
left.
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The urgent beeping of
the encoded priority channel roused Jason from his meditations.
Thumbing it to life, he already knew who it was. There was only one
person who had this code. her voice came over the channel in a tense
whisper. "Baby Girl to Darkwing 1. The tiger is loose." He
tensed as the meaning of the words hit home. She was alive, and in
trouble. She had been compromised.
He double-clicked the the
send button, not wanted to endanger her further. Gathering himself,
he set out towards the large building, keeping to the shadows of the
night. his twin sabers a comforting weight at his
waist.
----------------------------------
Moor was meditating
in his chambers, he could feel the presence, and he was focusing
every drop of his energy, should he need it. He reached out and
telepathically reached his Master, 'My new apprentice is no longer
such, and will soon be retrieved by her jedi ally...your thoughts,
Master?' Where the Elder responded 'Scare them, but the death of
either Jedi is not advised currently, they are proving to
be...pestersome.'
Callista could sense Jason, even with her own diminished senses, until his presence became only a small pinprick in her mind. She carefully made her way towards the academy entrance. The shadows became her friends. Moor rose, having augmented his lightsaber, it now shone with intensity, such a dark red, nearly black, and noticeably wider than most lightsabers. He made his way toward the entrance.
Clampng down on her nervousness, she shoved it aside as she felt Moor approach from the opposite direction. She drew her sabers, hiding them in her sleeves as she approached, her hood still drawn up. Jason's senses flared as he felt the Dark Lord approach. 'Looks like we will have to fight our way out' he thought. He drew his own sabers, the grips held firmly as he approached the first guards and downed them without a sound. She felt Jason near, and it gave her courage. She straightened her shoulders, and walked steadily into the entry foyer.
Moor stood, with the
rest of Callista's former class mates, all with augmented
lightsabers, and when her presence was noticed, all lit in unison,
except Moor's. Who, cloaked walked and barred the door.
"What
are you doing, my young apprentice?"
She halted. Her classmates stared back at her, anger burning in their eyes. "I am leaving," she ground out. She tossed her dark cloak aside, freeing her to move. Much to her surprise the doors opened, but before that sigh of relief could set in, a tightening began, an immense chest pain as she was lifted in the air "You...have failed me, next time...you. will. die." He then violently cast her outside and the doors closed behind her.
Her throat constricted as she felt herself lifted into the air. She struggled against his Force grip, but it was no use as he forcefully cast her out. Hitting the ground hard, she struck it with sufficient force that her her forearm snapped. she rose shakily to her feet as she heard the huge doors grind shut behind her.
