After weeks in hyperspace and months on Dantooine, Exile had indeed found a Jedi. But not the one she wanted. She first encountered Vrook in the ruins of the Jedi Enclave, her old home, finding him in the archives room killing mercenaries. He pushed them out the room, shut the door and carved himself a new exit through the wall. And while in Exile's old home, she and Atton found a young man, who, though he refused to give his name, offered to aid them in their quest. They both chuckled, and then left him in the sublevels, using the Force to guide a pack of Lagriegs in his direction.
The second was after following a loose trail and discovering him in a cage in the Crystal Caves. Though this time, he did not have his lightsaber. But still, he stopped her, encasing her in stasis long enough to escape. When she departed, Exile was approached by the leader of the mercenary group, Azkul. And, like Valku, when he offered her a true chance to kill Vrook, she did not hesitate.
Exile lead Azkul, his second-in-command Dopak, and a small group of the closest thing to 'soldiers' down the back of Khoonda's administration building, all crawling as low as they could be, except of course for Exile, who always made her presence known. She stopped upon reaching a shut door, and, without paying heed to the controls, pulled her lightsaber from her belt and activated the scarlet blade, plunging it into the steel and slowly carving a large oval into it.
Once finished, she kicked it in, hearing it crash loudly on the other side. But before she could, Azkul ducked through the hole, being careful not to touch the glowing edges. Slowly, but surely, they all got inside, Dopak even letting Exile go ahead of him.
The halls were drowned in flashing red lights and siren's screaming in their ears. The doors were all shut tight, though they could blast through if needed. Azkul stood in the center of the hallway, arms raised like a god and taking it all in. But soon remembered where he was and stopped.
"It's ours for the taking, men." Azkul said, turning his head back to them. Then began to walk forward. "Now, we'll set up position here and here-" He was cut off by the scarlet blade that ignited through his chest, feeling the intense heat radiate within his gut, only to be replaced with tingling numbness. He let out a final gasp before collapsing.
Behind him, Exile reached her arm out and called her saber back, shutting down when it slapped into her palm.
"No, Azkul, it's mine for the taking." She said to the corpse. Exile turned and found more shocked expression then she thought, except one. Dopak's face gave nothing away, though Exile could feel the fear churning beneath the surface. She gave him the best smile she could. "Everyone has a destiny, Dopak. Azkul was just too blind from ambition to see his had come to a close."
He swallowed, and then nodded. She felt the fear subside somewhat.
Exile strode forward, using the Force to slide Azkul's body against the wall and out of the way of her men. Reaching the end, she turned and saw their goal within reach. It was a longer hallway then the one they entered from, and the lights seem to flash both brighter and more constant then anywhere else. The only doors were in the middle of it, knowing the one on the right was where the administrator was locked up.
She flicked her two fingers down the hallway in a silent order. Her men followed as she led. But after only getting a few steps, did a squad of Khoonda militia come barreling from the other end of the hallway, with Vrook in the front of them all.
The two squads stopped in unison with their leader. The two shot daggers across the hall with their eyes alone. Exile could see the unbridled anger in the older man's face, almost locked in a scowl. It only made her smile grow that much bigger.
Vrook ignited his emerald lightsaber and waved it forward like a flag. "Take them down!!" He ordered, and then charged.
Exile activated her own weapon. "Leave none alive!!" She hissed, and then went to meet her opponent.
She didn't have to wait long. The two collided in front of the thick reinforced door in the center of the hallway. Green plasma clashed against red as they traded blow for blow, neither giving ground. Blaster bolts zinged over their heads and around their body's in constant streams, invoking Exile to use more acrobatic and quicker hand-to-hand moves in conjunction with her lightsaber as she taught herself on Dxun. But it was for nothing. Vrook countered every one of them, throwing her off-balance and putting her in the path of the blaster bolts more then once. His style was angry and aggressive, much like his personality. When he could hit her physically, he would, hard. And just when the tides were beginning to turn in his favor, a voice called out to her.
Exile. . . Kreia's lingering voice said. You have not learned the lesson of Nar Shadaa. Again, you fight on their terms, not your own. She would have retorted, but had to duck a decapitating strike instead. Vrook employs the forth form, Ataru, designed for one-on-one battle.
"Then what are its weaknesses?" Exile asked aloud, just as her lightsaber was torn from her grip and thrown to the other end of the hallway. Then dropped her to the floor with well-timed kick.
Blaster bolts. Kreia simply stated, then was gone.
Vrook threw himself down at her, plunging his green blade into the spot Exile was not a heartbeat ago. After stopping from her desperate roll, Exile found the situation had only grown worse. She was weaponless, staring at her enemy just centimeters from her, and laying on her right arm. The Jedi Master was pulling his weapon free of the floor when Exile remembered her last-ditch technique.
She began to conjure small sparks of Force-Lightning in her hand, but stopped when a bolt a pure red energy shot into Vrook's neck. As he went down like a barrel of bricks, Exile looking up and seeing Dopak standing just past the door, his blasters raised and smoke still pouring out of one of the barrels. He met her gaze as she got to her feet, and Exile realized that the firefight had ended with a pile of militia bodies behind her. Words were not needed. She simply gave a short, approving nod. Which he returned.
At his side, a man wearing dark safety goggles and a hat pounded away at his datapad, connected to the controls of the main door via a few wires. And with a rather cheerful bleep from his device, not only did the door slide open but the sirens stopped and the lighting resumed its normal setting. Pocketing one of the blasters and keeping the other level, Dopak walked into the office. Exile heard two things: A discharged blaster shot, and a woman's dying shriek. And then returned her attention to Vrook.
He wasn't faring well. The elderly Jedi Master was on the floor, sprawling as he clutched the dark spot on his neck and gasped for air. She did a quick scan of the hallway and found no sign of her lightsaber. But instead, found Vrook's next to his legs.
Bending down, she picked up the weapon and looked him in the eye, just as she pushed the weapon's emitter against his chest. "Goodbye, Vrook." Exile said grimly. Then pushed the activator switch.
He didn't scream, though his eyes almost bulged out from their sockets. Vrook's teeth grinded so hard against each other that Exile thought they would turn to dust, but it was over in seconds. His body sprawled against the floor altogether, turning enough to get himself onto his back before he was gone.
Exile closed down the lightsaber as Dopak came through the doorway behind her, dragging the administrators' body behind him. When he threw her atop Vrook, Exile saw an almost serine calm on both their faces, seeing past the blast hole in her forehead. It was almost lover-like. Pathetic woman, Exile thought, Jedi cannot love. They can only hurt.
She took one last look at them, then turned and began to leave. But when she reached the entranceway to the main area, Exile saw a shadow at her feet, moving when she did and stopping in synch. She didn't need to reach out to know it was Dopak. Turning around, Exile found him standing almost right behind her, a few centimeters separating them. His left arm was shaking ever so slightly, and a large black blaster shot in his forearm. She could even see some blood. It isn't always cauterized. . .
"The day is ours." Exile stated, smiling. She knew, strangely enough, that Dantooine was a center point of this sector. There was no telling what was going to happen now. She glanced down at his arm, then turned and began to leave. "Get that arm checked out." She ordered, not turning back.
Everyone was in the Ebon Hawk's main hold, some sitting and some standing. All except the Miralukan assassin, Visas Marr. At first, Exile wanted her dead, but Atton convinced her to let her live, claiming she would be of greater use alive rather then dead. She caught them training together more then once, due to her refusal of teaching the two. But suspected that more was going on.
"Get comfortable, we're staying grounded until Kavar shows himself." Exile informed as she strode across the room toward her quarters.
"No." Kreia simply said, stopping Exile in her tracks. She turned and stared at the elderly woman sitting on the cold floor with her legs crossed, head stooped down.
"Why not?" Exile asked irritably.
"There are trials you must undergo before you're ready." She informed, saying it more to everyone then just Exile.
Perhaps it was the after-effects of combat, maybe it was the exhaustion of staying up into the earliest mornings for a week straight. But right now she just didn't care. "Fine." She conceded and walked down the hallway to her quarters, shutting the door after just getting inside. Leaving everyone by themselves in the main hold.
"Well," Atton groaned, pushing away from the wall. "Anyone mind telling the pilot where these trials are?"
The corners of Kreia's mouth lifted slightly. "Korriban."