A NewDawn {Ardenator + Xavier's gang}

[Iota]

{{okay, this is set after tornado of souls but before the meeting of the sith/dark jedi}}

The Dark Descent, Xaviers freighter ship boomed out of hyperspace hurtling towards the world of Subterrel. He had no patience for flying, he could never explain it, nor did he care too. He was drawn to this particular planet and wasn't entirely sure why, he could feel a pull to the rather depressing looking planet. A pull he could not ignore.

The ship landed just outside one of the main mining facilities. Xavier lowered the ramp before descending the it, he looked around the immediate area with a raised eyebrow before his search for this "pull" began.

He reached out with the forfce to Daren and Tesa "be on your gaurd..something powerful lurks nearby" Xavier continued his search of the area until he noticed a shadowy figure in the darkness. Xavier simply raised his head before placing his arms behind his back and stood in a regal fashion as he waited for the dark figure to emerge from the shadows.

[Daren & Donald Kail]

Korriban had a feel that Daren could quickly miss, but this planet had the same feeling...but with a sickening twist. It felt wrong...Korriban felt great a power burst perfect. This planet felt like a Korriban going to hell. Daren cleared his mind, he could feel this planet had something important on it and he wouldn't be afriad. He put his hood on and grabbed his lightsaber. He attached it on to his belt and he raised his hood. As his master told him to be on guard he kept his arms close to his blade. He met his master in the hallway and bowed,
"Master, do you know what we are facing...It's power is massive."
Daren didn't really know if he wanted to know what was out there. It was far too powerful for him to face. He felt Xavier could handle it but that didn't make Daren feel better.

[Ardenator]

Paxis fell into the force, expanding his consciousness to the stars... There he searched, tumbling along the White Current, looking for the one who would be next to ascend to the mantle of Dark Lord.

He allowed the Force to guide him, to choose the perfect one at the perfect time, just as the Baran Do had showed him. Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat, the current swelled, and he knew he had his man.

He opened himself up fully to the Force, allowing his power to radiate across the expanse, tugging at the edges of the man's consciousness, pulling him closer, to Subterrel.

The man seemed receptive enough. He wasted no time in heeding the call, though he didn't know what it was.

Paxis waited, merging with the Force. Hours passed by in weeks, days passed by in seconds. Images flashed back and forth, Paxis standing at the bridge of a great warship, a planet on fire, blood pooling across the ground...

He snapped out of his reverie. The man was in the system. And he had brought others.

He pulled darkness in and around himself, and suffused the area around him with what could only be identified as... scary. Anger, malice, sadness, fear; it was all there, and more.

The man stopped before him, standing erect, arms behind his back. Nearby stood another, likely his apprentice. He reached out to them, probing them over with what felt like a splash of frigid water... and he knew.

"Xavier... why do you come?" He went on, but was stopped by a fit of coughing. It was a bad one: he nearly gagged. Once he had recovered, he continued. "Y-you claim to teach this one with you, but it is you who should be learning from him."

He turned, looking at Daren. "Daren..." he hissed, "you are afraid..." He barked out in laughter, which quickly degenerated into another coughing fit. "T-that is good... You should be afraid, very afraid..."

He set his dark gaze on Xavier once more. "Take a lesson from your apprentice, little one. Power lies in your emotion, and especially your fear. Allow yourself to feel it, or you will always be weak..."

[Iota]

Xavier raised an eyebrow from under his helmet for a moment, he looked slowly to Daren before back to the mysterious fellow, he looked him up and down for a moment, his emotions resembling much of the Dark Lady Reneta he had met before, but this man was far more in control, Xavier spoke to the man through the force.

"Fear......It is life's only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary, how well I know. It has no decency, respects no law or convention, shows no mercy. It goes for your weakest spot, which it finds with unerring ease. It begins in your mind, always. One moment you are feeling calm, self-possessed, happy. Then fear, disguised in the garb of mild- mannered doubt, slips into your mind like a spy. Doubt meets disbelief and disbelief tries to push it out. But disbelief is a poorly armed foot soldier. Doubt does away with it with little trouble. You become anxious. Reason comes to do battle for you. You are reassured. Reason is fully equipped with the latest weapons technology. But, to your amazement, despite superior tactics and a number of undeniable victories, reason is laid low. You feel yourself weakening, wavering. Your anxiety becomes dread. Fear next turns fully to your body, which is already aware that something terribly wrong is going on. Already your lungs have flown away like a bird and your guts have slithered away like a snake. Now your tongue drops dead like an opossum, while your jaw begins to gallop on the spot. Your ears go deaf. Your muscles begin to shiver as if they had malaria and your knees to shake as though they were dancing. Your heart strains too hard, while your sphincter relaxes too much. And so with the rest of your body. Every part of you, in the manner most suited to it, falls apart. Only your eyes work well. They always pay proper attention to fear. Quickly you make rash decisions. You dismiss your last allies: hope and trust. There, you've defeated yourself. Fear, which is but an impression, has triumphed over you. The matter is difficult to put into words. For fear, real fear, such as shakes you to your foundation, such as you feel when you are brought face to face with your mortal end, nestles in your memory like a gangrene: it seeks to rot everything, even the words with which to speak of it. So you must fight hard to express it. You must fight hard to shine the light of words upon it. Because if you don't, if your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid, perhaps even manage to forget, you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you." Xavier paced for a moment as he often does when in contemplation.

"i have feared many things in my life and i have overcome them all... now i stand here having conquered fear.. for those who conquer fear, gain wisdom....Fear..Fear is my ally" Xavier remaing rather non-emotional and monotone as he gave his speech, hatred and anger in his soul, but rarely in his facial expressions or when he talks through the force. Fear, fear was something his old master taught him years ago to overcome, for one cannot be a true master until they conquer their fears.

[Daren & Donald Kail]

Daren watched the two masters in silence. He felt outclassed but safe with Xavier. He also could sense Paxis had no desire to kill them. This calmed Daren down. He cleared his mind and kept his emotions hidden. Xavier's speech was frightening and beautiful. It showed how full of himself he was...but that was neccessary. Daren quickly hid these things. No matter what truth maybe in them he respected his master. He would never speak such things which meant around Xavier he must not think them. He turned to Paxis and searched him for a response. Paxis was surely considering what Xavier had said but Daren doubted that would matter. Daren would hold his tongue though he had much to say to this Paxis. It could wait...

[Squee]

((Written in haste. Apologies))

As the door to Tesa’s quarters slid open, there was a light humming to be heard. It paused momentarily after she poked her head into the hallway and say Daren flash by. Then she resumed humming, a haunting in its own way as it seemed to escape airily from the confines of her throat and voice box.

She appeared perfectly at ease. As Tesa usually was at ease. She showed no signs of concern or worry, anything that she felt. This was just another trip to face another potentially strong Force user who would criticize them on their means and ways and uses of the Force. Just another day in paradise, she’d say.

Tesa sensed the planet, yes. She knew the planet was gloomy, and miles upon miles of rock would be beneath their boots. The darkened feel of the planet would work to her advantage. The power she sensed was not of the planet, but of the individual Master had sensed, the pull. His thoughts were slightly constricted. Tesa was finding it weird their minds linked easily with one another, both a good deal telepathic. It sent shivers across her spine and she pulled herself away, finally becoming conscious of yet another mind linkage.

She glanced crossways at Daren, who she was picking up a deal of fear. What was there to be fearful of? Tesa didn’t quite understand where it was originating from. To the individual? The planet itself? What was it too? He mentioned something about a massive power to Xavier. She was silent, and said nothing, but the slight uplift of her eyebrows marked that she had heard what had transpired just to Xavier.

Coming down off the ramp, they met this… individual. A man. With an awful bad cough. Tesa’s nose wrinkled and she stayed comfortably within the shadows at the top of the ramp, peering down at this man as he assessed Xavier and Daren. Her turn was up, she assumed, if this man mentioned her at all. His cough just reminded her of Cassandra and her unhealthy self. Thoughts of the girl made Tesa want to shake her head. The seer was powerful, yes, but Tesa couldn’t help but think of her as being silly. She kept still, listening to the speech on fear. It was all so true. Fear was the enemy until you changed it into your ally.

And Tesa usually wrestled fear into submission, using it to her advantage. It was a tool for her, as all emotions were, hers and others.

She lifted the hood of her oddly colored cloak and stepped onto the ramp to descend down beside Daren and Xavier, assess this man from a different angle. Tesa was awaiting his answer, just as Daren was. She wanted to know his response to something quite as unique as her master’s speech on fear. In fact, she was pleased about her master’s little babble on fear. Perhaps he had learned something of words from Korriban after all. Then again, they were speaking to a dark taint, not a persistent, wrongfully accusing Jedi who didn’t know what the hell he was speaking of.

And still… What are you afraid of, Daren? Tesa still saw nothing to be fearful of.

[Ardenator]

If they could have fully seen Paxis, they would of noticed the slight shake of the hooded head. He spoke out, his tones almost seeming... sad. "Quick to lecture, slow to listen... You feel nothing, and neither does your other apprentice... Tesa. You are worthless, invaluable to me. Be gone. You are not fit for the knowledge of the Dark ways. Come back when you are truly ready."

He didn't have time to argue with hopefuls. He allowed them to sense the burst of intense anger and malice that nearly overwhelmed him. Who was this one, who dared to speak up like that? Mettle was good, but a learner came to learn, not teach. This one refused the lesson Paxis had so plainly set out before him. He, like his apprentices, were not ready for the title of Dark Lord...

[Iota]

Xavier looked to his left then his right for as moment before looking back to paxis, who oozed the force and xavier could not deny anything from this mysterious man, it was like the heroin to a addicts addiction. he remained calm and rather emotionless.

"But fear, fear itself should be feared... if you are fear, then i fear you" he fell to one knee "i come seeking greater knowledge... you are a god amongst man and i cannot deny your pull Dark lord." he wasn't begging, Xavier had the uncanny ability to sound non emotional in what ever he said, self preservation mainly.

[Ardenator]

He nodded, reaching out to the man before him, cradling him in the force. "There is power in you... there is potential. The Force wants you, but not as you are. One of your students does not understand the lesson. This reflects on your teachings."

He sighed. A long, rattling breath. The Force continued to nudge him. "I suppose... Every Sith must complete a task before assuming the mantle of Dark Lord. I did for my master, and he did for his master before him. Go to Coruscant. I want you to disrupt the Republic's government. Find a high-ranking official and kill him, publicly. Find random people on the street and execute them, publicly. Do this and bring back proof, and you will be accepted into my school."

Paxis cut his presence off from their senses, signaling them to leave. "Go now, and remember: when you return, you and your apprentices must have learned my lesson."

[Iota]

Xavier nodded his head softly before speaking to paxis once again through the force "very well dark lord, i shall return soon." Xavier raised himself back up to a standing position before walking past daren and tesa towards the ship, he made no attempt to tell them he was leaving. it was down to them.

[Ardenator]

Again, Paxis nodded. "Good.... Good..."

He sat back, and fell into the Force again, darkly foreboding. It let it sweep him away, taking him to the far reaches of the universe...

Oh, he could wait.

He could wait forever...