Retracing Steps

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"When do we strike?"

Teer gauged the distance she'd shrunk between her and the Dark Jedi, who had now taken up a spot in front of one particular warehouse. She was waiting for a precise moment now, one particular slip by the other Force user.

He made it. His back turned to face them both.

"Now," The Togruta Weapons Master muttered as she sprang from cover.

Like a bolt of orange lightning, she streaked across the ground using force speed, and by the time the Dark Jedi turned to look, it was too late. A sky blue lightsaber blade had sawed directly through his neck and severed his head. As it hit the floor, the blade flickered out of his existence, retracting back into the hilt with a sound.

Master Ka stood over the headless body and motioned for Sirius to join her. As she waited for him to come, she pulled her comm device off her belt and silently sent their coordinates to the other Jedi, requesting assistance. This might not be easy to do.

She closed her eyes and reached out with her senses, into the building, trying to sense the occupants. Finding an exact quantity from a sensory perception was exceedingly difficult, even with her experience, but over the course of a minute she felt increasingly sure there were nine presences in the building.

With any luck, one of them would be a Jedi Shadow held captive.

Half of them seemed clustered in the center of the building, with another two in the front, and two more in the rear. Assuming her senses were holding true. She'd have to stake her life on that assessment, the way she had so often before.

"Sirius," She began in a collected voice as if she hadn't just decapitated a man and been standing over his corpse. "The sides of the building seem clear. We'll use our lightsabers to cut in, then we take them on together. We'll start with the sentries in the rear of the building, then we work our way to the center. We'll be outnumbered there, but I'm not waiting for the other Jedi to arrive. They may notice their patroller is gone by then. Are you ready?"

[Ghostie]

Sirius sprung with Master Ka, running after her and drawing his saber has she drew hers and igniting his bronze blade the same moment he saw the blue blade come to life. Master Ka could handle herself alright, and she had caught the dark Jedi off guard and had not given him a moment to react. Sirius knew the dark Jedi was as good as dead. He was simply there to cover her, and make sure none of the dark force user's friends decided to come out of the warehouse at the wrong moment.

Sirius heard the dark Jedi's head hit the ground and he saw it tumble away. There was something to be said for the speed in which Master Ka acted. It was amazing to say the least.

“That was short...”

Was all Sirius muttered when he and Master Ka returned their sabers to their belts. Unfortunately, the rest of mission was not going to be so easy. Sirius joined Master Ka over the body of the dark Jedi, and she explained the plan. They would sneak in through the back, take out the other sentries, and then the real battle would begin. The other Jedi on the mission would be coming to back them up, but Sirius understood why Master Ka didn't want to wait. The dark Jedi would notice one of their sentries is already gone is already gone, and they might already know that the Jedi were planetside. They had to act now if they wanted the element of surprise.

“Are you ready?"

“As ready as I'll ever be, Master Ka.”

Was Sirius ready? He didn't know for sure. He had fought a dark Jedi with Master Kellar before, but Master Kellar had done most of the fighting. Sirius had trained for a long time in Djem So, and he was fairly good. Or at least he liked to believe so. He should be ready. But if he went with his gut, which was twisted in a knot from fear, he would say he wasn't ready, just because of nerves.

Sirius followed Master Ka through the alleyway towards the back of the warehouse, ready to begin when she said so.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"Good," Teer whispered as she nodded to Sirius approvingly. He was possibly her favorite Padawan, dutiful and talented. Obedient, respectful, and capable. She had a very high opinion of him indeed.

She turned and moved down the alley stopping about half the way down to the far side, then she pulled out her lightsaber and ignited one blade, plunging it into the wall and slowly craving out a person-sized shape to squeeze through. It took several long seconds, but it couldn't be helped. And she didn't feel bad about it since Sirius was watching her back. If she was alone she might have stormed the back entrance rather than expose herself to attack from the flanks while cutting through. There were some perks to fighting with allies. Particularly when numbers were involved.

She deactivated her saber and kicked in the wall, and it fell forward into the room. It was clear, and she ducked her head and walked inside, into the dimly lit room, looking around as she did so.

It appeared to be a storeroom, filled with food and supplies of every variety imaginable, all stacked onto shelves and packed in boxes. At the far end of the room was a single heavy door, which Teer advanced on slowly, listening as she reached out with her senses. Nine times out of ten if there was someone there she'd detect them, but if someone was using powers to conceal their presence in the Force, she'd rely on regular senses.

No one was there, and she pulled open the door and walked through, promptly making a left turn and heading to the back entrance and the two Dark Jedi who were there.

Her foot steps were rapid, but quiet, and she progressed down the hall with speed and confidence. Right up until she stopped behind two shadowy figures and drew her saber, activating both blades.

And it began.

[Ghostie]

Sirius walked through the hole in the wall Master Ka had made with her saber. It was just big enough that they could step though one at a time. Sirius made sure not to touch the edges as he did so, they were still glowing hot from her blade. This made him step though in a somewhat awkward sidestep, ducking his head as he did so.

They stepped through into a poorly lit storeroom. Foodstuff was stacked on shelves that lined the walls. Everything seemed very organized. And there was so much if it, it seemed as if the dark Jedi planned to stay for awhile. That didn't matter though. Sirius and Master Ka were here to stop the dark Jedi at any cost. Hopefully all those supplies would end up doing would be spoiling.

Sirius followed Master Ka out the door and down the hallway. The hallway was better lit than the storeroom was, and had other doors leading out to other parts of the warehouse, but Sirius stuck with Master Ka. They headed for the two figures at the end of the hall, their backs were turned towards the Jedi. Sirius tried to make his footsteps as quiet as possible.

Master Ka whipped out her silver lightsaber hilt, and ignited both blue ends. Sirius snatched his own hilt from his belt and ignited his bronze blade just as Master Ka did. The dark Jedi were alerted to the sound of the Jedi's sabers, and they turned around with their own. The battle begun.

Sirius quickly closed the distance between him and the dark Jedi he was facing, knowing better to cross in front of Master Ka. The dark Jedi were still in the process of drawing their own sabers and getting ready, but Sirius wouldn't allow that. He used the Force to put on a burst of speed to close the distance even faster, and he caught the dark Jedi off-guard with a two handed vertical attack. Sirius through as much strength behind it as he could muster.

The dark Jedi caught the bronze blade on his own red one, and Sirius and the dark Jedi went to battle.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Master Ka had a certain approach to lightsaber combat, one likely emulated by many other Jedi, but possibly not executed with the same eye. Nine times out of ten she sought to end the fight as fast as possible, finding weaknesses and failings in technique and exploiting them, with deadly results. Occasionally she would humor a foe, stringing them along almost casually, toying with them before making a final strike.

As the Dark Jedi across from her charged, his saber was high over his head, ready to execute the 'falling avalanche' as it was known, a powerful offensive move in Djem So designed to beat down defenses and gain momentum. However, it was also more effective against one blade than two. And this was poorly executed Djem So to begin with. Teer was a master of the form, and she could easily gauge skill levels with one glance. This before her was a neophyte or an acolyte rather than a serious foe, just a learner.

In another life he might have been a young Jedi she was instructing, or someone she could meet at the Temple on Coruscant. But none of that was anything more than academic. The facts were quite clear: he was a servant of the Dark Side, he had made his choice to fall, and he had made the choice to attack her. All of those sealed his fate.

And his poor skill guaranteed it would come faster.

As his saber began to crash down, Teer brought up the first blade of her saberstaff, raising it on high to catch the incoming blade. And then she let the kinetic impact spin around the base of her saber, with a little twitch of the wrist for guidance, the bottom blade streaked upwards and bisected the Dark Jedi's stomach. His own energy and power had been almost effortlessly redirected into his flesh, and he sank to the ground in pain, his lightsaber clattering to the floor.

The Togruta Weapons Master promptly stabbed him through the chest, and his moans were silenced as he fell limply to the floor. That was, in her mind, an act of mercy.

With her foe defeated in a matter of seconds, she turned to watch Sirius, lightsaber held at her side as she stood ready to intervene on his behalf, but only if he needed it. This was his fight, his battle to take part in. Not hers.

Plus, it was a chance to evaluate Sirius' performance and skills, possibly even to qualify for his Trial of Skill. If he was able to defeat his foe without help, that would be the sign in her mind that he was ready.

[Ghostie]

Sirius traded a few blows with the dark Jedi he was fighting. High and to the left mostly. They hadn't caused each other harm, but Sirius the upper hand from his strong opening attack, and he kept pressing, just as Master Ka had told him. The dark Jedi had to not have much more skill then Sirius in a saber duel, or he was just off his game today. Either, way Sirius didn't care, it worked in his favor.

Within seconds of the battle starting, Sirius left the life of the other dark Jedi drain out, and then blink out completely. Master Ka had already finished her opponent. Yet she didn't step in to help Sirius. He could hold his own, but it was unusual for her not to step in. That's how she did combat, fast and effective. Sirius needed to learn how to finish combat that quick.

The dark Jedi seemed to favor his right side the most. It was probably his strong side. Sirius would exploit this. He needed to get in closer, use some unarmed combat to stun him and then strike him down with his saber. Sirius closed the distance between them once again, the dark Jedi was backing up. Sirius kept up with him, the dark Jedi was almost against the wall now.
The dark Jedi went high and to Sirius's left again, and Sirius decided it was time to act. He caught the red blade with his own bronze one high in the air, and while they pushed against each other, Sirius brought his right foot up and kicked in the the dark Jedi's left knee in. Sirius disengaged as he did so, being sure to dodge the red blade as it went down with it's wielder.

The dark Jedi keeled on the ground in front of Sirius. He was still a threat though, and tried to get back up and raise his saber again. Sirius didn't hesitate. While the dark Jedi was midway through getting back up, he sunk his bronze blade through the dark Jedi's chest, killing off his opponent. He shut down his saber and turn towards Master Ka.

Sirius felt as if he was on fire, like he could do anything now. Sirius no longer felt the fear or nerves he had before the mission. But he decided to clamp down on those feelings after thinking about it, his overconfidence could get both him and Master Ka killed. He decided this might not be such a bad mission after all though.

“What now?”

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Teer watched the duel unfolding before her eyes with a careful scrutiny, and a precise eye, following every movement of her Padawan as sabers flashed back and forth.

Sirius was on the offensive, maintaining initiative, which was one of the crucial points she taught about saber combat. You had to control the fight, you had to be the dominant one. The more you pressed your opponent, the more likely they were to break. And more you were pressed, the more likely you were to break. Her Padawan had learned her lessons well, and she'd polished his skills. Honed him to a sharp edge.

He used a sharp kick, carefully doing so only when their blades were locked up high, which prevented him from losing that leg. It worked, and it brought the Dark Jedi tumbling down. And from there a stab through the heart finished him. Quick, clean, and well-executed. The Togruta Master nodded with approval as she deactivated both her sky blue blades.

At Sirius' question she nonverbally pointed with her head back the way they'd come, and beckoned him onward with one rust-skinned hand as she began her way silently down the corridor, listening intently and reaching out with her senses.

Now that she was inside, there'd been movement, and she could sense changes. The other two sentries were still at their station, with the two they'd dispatched lying behind. And now there were six remaining. Three in one room and three in another. If she'd learned anything about Dark Jedi, and if her senses were accurate, then of these groups, one would be a pair of them guarding their prisoner, and the other would be the master of the enclave flanked by his right and left hands. Those would be Knights. The guards, likely apprentices. Yes, they'd had the easiest portion already. Things were about to get hard.

Teer stopped in front of the door, sensing the occupants of the room with all of her focus. Two senses there were strongly read, and obviously dark, but the third was weak, and she had the gut instinct he was a Jedi.

"I lure out one guard, then you go in and eliminate the other," Teer commanded in a voice barely a whisper. Then she loudly knocked on the door.

Movement came from inside, and the heavy door slid open with a slight groan. Out stepped a man clad in black robes. Or more accurately a boy. He was young. Young enough to be Teer's grandson. But tragic as it was, he had to be eliminated. He looked the wrong direction first, which was a fatal mistake. The sound of a lightsaber igniting caused his head to spin in the direction of the sound, arriving just in time to see the blue blade penetrate into his face. He never had time to scream before the blade pierced his brain and ended his existence. He slumped lifelessly to the floor and Teer motioned for Sirius to charge in and take the next one.

One of the things she'd learned from her decades of experience was that there was no such thing as honor in combat. In a duel there were only two objectives. Survive, and win. Pyrrhic victories were defeats for the duelist, and honor was a foolish self-imposed restriction. You had to trip your opponent, trick him, manipulate him, deceive him. It was ideal if you never even gave him a chance. Stab him before he could stab you. That was her doctrine.

Alive with dirty tricks was better than dead with honorable intentions. And her conscience was clean over it.

[Ghostie]

Sirius followed Master Ka back the way they had come. Sneaking down the hallway, they stopped in front of another door. Sirius reached out and felt three people within. One felt weak, it might be the Jedi they were looking for. Sirius wasn't sure.

Master Ka took cover next to the door and Sirius was behind her. She knocked on the door, and out walked a dark Jedi. He was no older that Sirius was, maybe even younger. He didn't look at the pair of Jedi, and that was his fatal mistake, not using to Force to sense who it was or where they were.

Master Ka ignited her lightsaber through the boy's face. He was dead before he hit the ground, and must've had no idea what happened. Things suddenly became very real for Sirius once again, he came down of the adrenaline built up from the last fight very quickly. Had things been different, that could've been him that was just killed by Master Ka. What would've happened had Sirius traded places with that boy?

Sirius shook himself awake as Master Ka motioned for Sirius to go in and take out the other dark Jedi. Sirius ignited his saber and sprung through the door, using the Force to speed himself up, just like he had in the last battle. The other dark Jedi was just another boy. Sirius stopped charging the soonest he reached the dark Jedi and struck him with an overhead blow. The dark Jedi caught the blow with his own saber, but was knocked backward from the force of the blow. The speed that Sirius approached him what was obviously too much for him. Sirius only emphasized the boy's stumble by stretching out his arm and using the Force to throw him against the wall.

Sirius walked casually up to the boy. He had lost him saber, and was bleeding from his head where he and struck the wall. He tried to get up, but Sirius stabbed him through the chest, just like he had with the last dark Jedi. Except this time no adrenaline rush came. Just anger. Sirius couldn't help but think of himself or any other Jedi padawan he knew when he looked at these boys lying on the ground. The dark Jedi were responsible for these boy's deaths. Now they had to pay for it.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Teer had stepped in after Sirius, observing him closely. And she had to admit she was frowning. She could sense anger in him. To be true, anger was also a useful ally, and she harnessed it to aid her in lightsaber combat, but she knew there were limits, and she followed them. Yes, she edged the line, but she'd seen what happened when you crossed it. You became the very people you were committed to destroy. And eventually without rigorous control you'd end up serving the Dark instead of the light.

It was for that very reason she made a point of never learning any destruction techniques in the Force. It was just too tempting, and too dangerous.

Master Ka placed an orange hand onto Sirius' shoulder, not uttering a word. Hopefully the touch would be calming. She didn't need him angry and on edge going into the hardest duel of the night. Or the day. She'd lost track of what time it was on Umbara.

She released her hand and examined the room. It was fairly small, and one end was blocked by a force field. Behind it sat a bedraggled-looking man on the floor, one in Jedi robes. Or what Jedi robes would look like after a long period of neglect. His face was riddled with cuts and bruise, and his sleep was actively bleeding.

"About time you showed up," he managed weakly, rising to his feet.

Teer walked over and stood across from him, opening her mouth to speak. "Mansu Ryn I presume."

The captive Jedi shadow nodded as he held one arm in the other, limping a little closer. "Yes, now let's get out of here."

Smiling thinly, Teer motioned for Sirius to come over to her. Without waiting she instructed him, preparing to make use of his expertise.

"Find a way to lower this force field, there may be a code or an alarm."

Turning back to Ryn she spoke again. "There are only five of them left. I intend to lower that number to zero. When they are all gone, then we can go. But I'm going to finish what you started here."

[Ghostie]

Sirius nodded at Master Ka's order. A force field was something he could do. Or at least, he was pretty sure he could deal with one. He had studied diagrams and charts of force fields, but had never had any field experience with them. At least from the way the diagrams had looked, most force fields worked all the same.

As the two Jedi quieted down, Sirius stayed quiet and listened. After a few seconds a a couple of weird looks from Master Ka and Jedi Ryn, he found what he was listening for. A low humming that would be the force field's power supply. It was coming from the wall just left of the shield.

Approaching the wall, Sirius used the tip of his saber to cut a rectangular patch out of the surface. He used just enough of his saber to cut the wall panel off, but not enough to puncture anything inside the wall. He caught the panel that came off with the Force, and lowered it to the ground gently.

And sure enough, inside the wall was the power supply to the force field. It was a square, gray box with a long blue light at the top to show it had power. Two long cables ran from both the left and right sides of the power supply, one pair to the shield and one to wherever the warehouse was getting its power. Sirius deactivated his saber and returned it to his belt. Time to get to work.

There was in fact an alarm on the power supply, but it was more for in case the force field lost power, and not to prevent tampering. It was rather sloppy, at least Sirius thought it was, and was place right on top of the power supply. Sirius pried the case off the alarm and disabled it easily.

Next was the power supply. Sirius couldn't just cut the power supply off from the main power, the power supply would keep some energy in reserve to keep a shield up for a short time. He had to disconnect the power supply from the force field. Using a small tool from one of his belt pouches, he undid the bolts on the cables and let the cables fall away. The force field went down.

In Sirius's mind, there was nothing like working with tech to get his mind off of problems. That's just how he was, a one track mind kind of person. He threw himself into whatever task was at hand. But whenever Sirius was finished with his task, his problems always came back in some new form. Leaving the power supply, Sirius glanced at one of the bodies of the young dark Jedi they had killed. The anger was still there, but also sadness now.

“Now what, finish up with the dark Jedi or get Jedi Ryn back to the shuttle?”

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"Now," Teer said grimly, "We finish them."

---

It had been a simple matter to give Ryn one of the fallen Dark Jedi's lightsabers, and to place him at the exit they'd already cleared, to guard their escape. With that done, Teer had decided to take Sirius with her for the final confrontation. Three against one was a bit much, even for her skills and experience. She needed him there, another warm body by her side.

Speed was essential, and she couldn't afford to wait for the other Jedi to arrive. In the time it took to wait, they remaining five enemies could make an escape, and she wouldn't be able to cover two entrances by herself. It was now or risk losing them. She wouldn't let them go.

Saber in hand, the Weapons Master moved silently down the final corridor, her Padawan mere steps behind her. There was one door remaining to be overcome, and she pulled it aside with the Force, the large metal bulk of it sliding to the side, revealing what lay inside.

It was a massive room, obviously used for training. There were mats, there were sparring droids, and there were stacks of crates everywhere. In the dead center of the room were two Dark Jedi practicing force lightning against dummies, and another watching. As the door opened, their eyes turned to face the Togruta and the young human.

Master Ka stepped inside and activated both blades of her saber, their sky blue light casting a glow on her features. A slender nose, full lips, and a sharp chin. The blades were reflected in her black eyes, and she had a serious aura.

"Drop your weapons, surrender, and you won't be harmed. Fight, and you will die."

Her words were met with a trio of red lightsabers activating. She knew already this would be a fight. She had a strange sadness about her mixed with grim resolve at the prospect of further bloodshed. But it couldn't be helped, they had to be stopped.

"So be it then..." Teer whispered.

[Ghostie]

Sirius ignited his bronze-colored blade at the same time Master Ka did. All three blades ignited the area, bathing it in color. He didn't know what Master Ka was trying to do, by letting them surrender and all. In Sirius's experience, dark Jedi didn't ever back down. He wouldn't have given them the chance himself. If you sneaked up on the dark Jedi, got them with a surprise attack, you could guarantee at least one or two went down. But Master Ka was leading, and Sirius was there to learn.

It was obvious, without anyone saying a word, that the dark Jedi didn't want to surrender. Sirius stood in a basic Djem So stance, waiting for Master Ka or the dark Jedi to make the first move. They seemed to be whispering, but they kept all eyes on the pair of Jedi.

Sirius wasnt waiting long for combat to start. Two of the dark Jedi rushed Master Ka and one went right for him. Sirius ran at his opponent head on, and they met halfway across the room. Sparks flew as their sabers met, high and to the right.

Sirius and his opponent traded a few blows. His opponent seemed to be using Niman, a style that was okay in everything but good at nothing. Sirius grew confident his Djem So could beat through it. He parried the first attack, a lunge, and was able to push his opponents saber away. Sirius then pressed with an overhead attack of his own, but the dark Jedi was faster than the others he fought today, his saber was ready to meet the bronze blade in mid-air. The red and bronze blade collided again.

The dark Jedi must've seen that lightsaber battling was going to be a simple stalemate. The next thing Sirius knew, there was a training droid flying at him. The Padawan spun to the right, dodging the incoming droid just in time. But then came a crate. Sirius saw this one, and he cut the box in half as it flew at him. The contents of the box spilled all over the floor. It was mostly extra droid parts. Some where damaged by Sirius's saber.

Sirius had enough of things getting thrown at him. He moved a stack of crates with the force, throwing them on the ground as a barrier. The dark Jedi jumped backward, he was in the path of the cascading boxes. Sirius used this to his advantage. As soon as the boxes came down, he hoped onto of them and fought the dark Jedi from his vantage point. Because of this, most of Sirius's strikes were low to him but high to his opponent.

The dark Jedi hadn't expected Sirius to jump onto the boxes. Or at least, Sirius assumed he had not expected such a thing. The dark Jedi went back on the offensive, but Sirius still had the upper hand. The dark Jedi was slipping up. Sirius jumped off the crates at the dark Jedi with an overhead attack. The dark Jedi caught Sirius's blow yet again but because of the momentum of the jump and Sirius's own strength, Sirius forced both blades back at the dark Jedi. As Sirius landed on his opponent, he forced both sabers into the dark Jedi's right shoulder.

The dark Jedi staggered, and his right arm fell limp. Sirius swung his saber horizontally to the dark Jedi's right, and the dark Jedi couldn't get his own saber up in time. The bronze blade went right through the dark Jedi's chest, slicing him in half.

Sirius hadn't stopped to think or to give mercy. He knew that he would receive none. When fighting the darkside, you had to be ruthless. Just like Master Ka taught him. Sirius spun around and hopped over the mess of crates. Last he knew, she was fighting two dark Jedi herself. Sirius got ready for more combat.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Teer eyed the two enemies who approached her, enemies who were far more dangerous than most. She could tell because of their approach. Rather than boldly charge her, they approached cautiously, without any rush. They were exploratory in their approach, not overconfident and self-sure. That, in turn, dictated Teer's strategy. She would wait and see where openings were before striking, sound out vulnerabilities and strike at them with time.

One of the two, an Echani, raised his blade and brought it crashing down toward her shoulder. She caught it on her right blade and spun the left up just in time to catch the other, a Mirialan's, strike. She drove her boot into the Echani's stomach and sent him reeling backwards, freeing up her right blade for a probing strike to the Mirialan's side. He disengaged from her and stepped back, allowing her blade to pass safely by him.

Rather than be thrown off balance, Teer put more force behind the blow and spun in a tight circle, bringing around her right blade in a cut to drive the Echani back. He caught the brunt of the attack on his blade and staggered back.

The downside to fighting two people at once was the issue of angles. You had to respond to attacks from different directions at the same time, and in many respects that was nearly impossible for the average Jedi. One blade could only be in so many places at a time, and it was hard to anticipate every move needed. Luckily Teer had two advantages most Jedi did not. There was her saberstaff, providing her with twice the opportunities to strike and block, and there were her montrals. The hollow sensory organs on the top of her head gave her instant feedback on locations, on movements. She could feel every movement, and perfectly knew every place. No motion escaped her, and when combined with her senses it meant she saw the direction of the fight flowing split seconds before it actually came to be.

The Echani would launch a strike and she would already be moving to intercept. It looked for all the world like a dance, with three people in constant motion, and the crackle of lightsabers striking cutting through the air in rapid succession. Two red blades mingled with two blue, and they cast a strange glow.

As it went on, Teer noticed that the Mirialan used feints, trying to lure her into traps. He played with fire, because he had confidence. He was obviously the master here, and the Echani was just a knight. The white-haired man was also skilled, but he emphasized power over finesse. He had much to learn. Unfortunately for him, his actions had condemned him to death. It was over for him.

She'd make sure both of them were ended today.

A crashing sound signified Sirius was almost done, and with a dull thud he appeared, surging forward into combat. Unfortunately the Mirialan was closer to him and spun to face him. He held his saber in a low guard and behind him, leaving his front exposed for a lethal attack. Teer had observed him doing as much with her, enticing her to strike and moving out of the way with great agility before launching a counter attack. With Sirius' limited experience...

It could prove deadly.

Unfortunately a Djem So falling avalanche directed at the Togruta master forced her to focus in on the Echani, catching his strikes one at a time, meeting force with force. Her strength was enhanced, and each blow was a test of wills.

[Ghostie]

As Sirius approached the mess of combat in which Master Ka was entangled, things didn't look at their best. But Sirius had learned under Master Ka that combat wasn't fair, you had to tip the odds in your favor. And while he might be the least experienced combatant, that didn't deter Sirius any, at least it would be two verse two. And he wasn't going to sit back and let another master fight off dark Jedi all by their selves.

The Mirialan split of from combat as Sirius approached, and Master Ka couldn't stop the dark Jedi from doing so as the other attacked at that moment, distracting her. It was just Sirius and the Mirialan. The dark Jedi performed what looked like a salute, and then dropped into a weird stance Sirius had never really seen before, except in his studies. It was called Makashi. The most Sirius knew of it was that it involved a lot of footwork and precision.

The Mirialan had left most of his body open to attack in his Makashi stance. Sirius thought about it for a moment, and he changed his plan. The Mirialan probably expected Sirius to go for his torso, so he would go for the legs instead. Sirius surged forward and swung low, using both hands on his saber. He thought he had the Mirialan, the dark Jedi wasn't moving yet, things seemed to be in slow motion, but then they sped up very quickly.

The Mirialan swatted the bronze blade away, sending it the opposite direction it had come. Sirius was caught off guard, the Mirialan acted so fast and with immense precision. Sirius tried backing up, but it was too late. The dark Jedi struck. The Mirialan had followed Sirius's saber when he swatted it away, and Sirius paid for it.

The next thing Sirius knew was he was holding his saber with his left arm, and he had less control over it. His right hand wasn't holding onto the saber anymore and in fact, it wasn't there at all. The Mirialan had severed Sirius arm right below the elbow. Sirius fell over onto the ground, losing his balance. His lightsaber clattered away and turned off.

The Mirialan's red blade had cauterized the wound as it passed though. Losing his arm and seeing it not attached to his body anymore was enough of a shock for Sirius to almost faint, let alone the toll of the injury itself.

As he laid on his back, Sirius saw the Mirialan standing over top of him. He wasn't going to go without a fight. Sirius looked around and saw his silver saber hilt on the ground. He pulled it to him with the Force, and the last thing he saw was the saber hilt coming towards him before he fainted.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

The falling avalanche was one of the most powerful attacks for any wielder of a lightsaber, a concentrated hail of powerful blows designed to overwhelm an enemy with brute force. However, it was extremely linear, and Teer knew how to counter it. She began by spinning to the left and avoiding the sting of the red blade, delivering a quick swipe of her own in exchange. She was rewarded by a slight gasp, her opponent feeling where she'd tagged him.

In her experience, after the first blood was drawn, the advantage for the uninjured party greatly increased. Pain and injury caused desperation, and desperation caused panic. When they were panicked their strategies fell apart, and they got sloppy.

That was precisely what happened to the Echani man, and he gave her more openings. A slash to his arm was followed by stab to his stomach that ended him. And just barely in time.

Something screamed in the Force, and Teer could sense distress. Something was desperately wrong, and as she turned to face the remaining foe, she saw a horrifying sight.

Her Padawan was lying on the ground with his right arm severed, unconscious or dead, and the Mirialan Dark Jedi was poised to thrust his saber down into Sirius. With only a split second to act, Teer Ka sprang into action.

With a yell she called on Force Valor to aid her, and spring forward in a Force-enhanced leap, streaking across the room like a bolt of lightning. She brought her saber down from on high so fast the Dark Jedi didn't even have a chance to finish the turn he began. A sky blue lightsaber blade bisected his skull, and he fell to the ground lifelessly.

He hadn't even hit the ground before Teer deactivated her saber and returned it to her belt, rushing over to her fallen Padawan. Mercifully she could sense he was still alive, though her fingers told her his pulse was weak and fast. She let out a held breath as she cradled him in her arms.

"Sirius..." She whispered, intently scrutinizing him. She had to take action, but her own healing skills were so pathetic as to be useless. Maybe...

Ryn.

The Togruta master grabbed Sirius' lightsaber and slung the Padawan over her shoulder, calling on the Force to aid her strength and speed, and she took off down the corridor to where she'd left the captured Jedi Shadow. It took her mere seconds, and she laid down her Padawan gently, with Mansu Ryn looking over worriedly.

"You have to heal him," Teer began, the desperation in her voice practically tangible. Two failures and two dead Padawans, one success, and now... Another failure? If he died, her legacy as a failure was complete. She'd have lost three out of four of her apprentices, she'd have failed yet another one of them.

Before Ryn could object she shoved her comm unit into his hands. "Use the navigation module to return to our ship, and take care of Sirius. There's still work to be done here..."

Master Ka gave one last look at Sirius and decided to put her anger to use. There were still two more Dark Jedi.

[Ghostie]

Sirius's sight came into focus slowly, and it was blurry at first. The only thing he saw for a second was a bright light he was looking at. As it came into focus, it looked like a light fixture on a ceiling. In fact, it looked a lot like the ceiling in his quarters on the shuttle. He tried sitting up, but found he was connected to something by... wires? Small hoses maybe?

“Whoa, slow down buddy.”

Sirius felt a hand on his left shoulder. He looked over and saw Knight Ryn. Ryn still had a battered look about him, but he didn't seem to care. A look of worry was on his face when he looked at Sirius. He pushed Sirius gently down back into the bed.

“Wha... What happened? Where is Master Ka?”

“Ka brought you to me, and I brought you back to the shuttle. I'm not the best healer, but I do have some experience luckily.”

Sirius reached out instinctively for his glasses with his right hand. Nothing happened. He looekd down at his arm and the stump that it now was. It was painful. It felt like all his nerves were on fire in his right arm. The cauterization didn't help. He frowned and clenched his teeth in pain. The arm was hooked up to some medical equipment, which Ryn seemed to have set up.

Sirius grabbed his glasses on the beside table and put them on. Everything came into greater focus. The only thing on the end table, besides even more medical equipment, was his saber. He garbbed it after putting his glasses on. Arm or not, Master Ka wasn't around. She must've gone to finish off the other dark Jedi. She needed his help. Sirius sat up again.

“Where do you think you're going?”

“Master Ka needs help. I know she must've gone after the last of the dark Jedi.”

Ryn pushed Sirius back down onto the bed. He did so with more force this time. After Sirius was down, he took his saber from him. Ryn adjusted some of the medical equipment that had moved when Sirius had sat up. He didn't look at Sirius, and hung the Padawan's saber on his belt, next the one from the dark Jedi.

“Ka is a very experienced Weapons Master. She doesn't need your help and you’d just get yourself killed. Now stay put.”

Sirius laid back down. Ryn was right, he wouldn't do any good out there. But he was just worried about Master Ka. How long had he been out? Where was she? Was it time for her to be back yet? It would be his fault if something happened to Master Ka. He had screwed up in the duel, and left her to contend with two dark Jedi and the sentries that still remained. It was all on him. Sirius closed his eyes and laid on his back while Ryn worked the equipment and did what he could for his arm. To say it still hurt would be an understatement.

There was a noise, as if the landing ramp on the shuttle was lowering. Sirius reached out with the Force, and felt the familiar presence of Master Ka. But he didn't know if she was hurt or what she was feeling, he was too fatigued to tell.

“She's here.”

Ryn left Sirius in the room, supposedly to go meet Master Ka. Sirius wasn't sure if he wanted to see her just yet. He felt like a failure. He had screwed up after a year of training under her. He was the right age to become a Knight. It felt like he had just thrown all that out the window. He had fought and killed a dark Jedi before, what happened this time? Yes, he didn't want to see Master Ka right now. Embarrassment was an understatement.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Teer took a deep breath outside the door to the Jedi transport's small sickbay, preparing herself to face a grim reality she wasn't pleased with. Her Padawan was maimed, permanently disfigured, and she was helpless to do a thing about it.

She'd killed the man responsible, and she'd even proceeded to kill the last two Dark Jedi, bringing her total of the day to seven. But that felt petty in comparison, something of half-use only, limited, and paltry in comparison to what had been lost.

Yes, she was fully aware she was placing an arm above the lives of a dozen Dark Jedi, but those lives had been forfeit by resistance. Her Padawan, on the other hand, had just suffered a major blow to his future as a Knight, and was in pain. She had at least ensured all the enemies had died swiftly with a minimal amount of pain.

The Togruta Weapons Master keyed open the door and stepped inside, black eyes flitting between Ryn and Sirius. They came to a focus on the arm's stub, and on the medical machinery attached to it. It was a truly sickening sight, and her stomach churned in protest, a feeling of nausea bothering her. The last time she'd felt this sensation was over the lifeless bodies of her previous Padawans, seeing them dead in graphic ways. It was that rare occasion when the grim realities of life and death actually caught up with her before time healed those wounds and let her carry on with life.

She closed the distance between them and placed her orange hand over that of Sirius, applying a gentle pressure that she hoped was reassuring. However she remained silent, unsure of what words to say.

[Ghostie]

As Master Ka entered the room, Sirius looked away from the door, turning his head to face the wall next to him instead. Knight Ryn left the room at this point, giving the two some privacy.

What was he suppose to say? He was sorry for screwing up? He was sorry for his overconfidence? He didn't know what to say. There didn't seem to be anything he could say. Sirius felt like he was suppose to say something. But he really had hoped Master Ka would've left him to rest. He had nothing prepared, and he felt as if he should have.

“Hey...”

Was all Sirius could choke out. Master Ka and he just sat there in silence for a few moments. Perhaps nothing needed to be said after all. She just stood there, with here hand on his shoulder. He continued to look at the wall. Sirius couldn't look at Master Ka now. He had screwed up, and he had been wanting to prove himself to her by fighting those dark Jedi. Instead, he had made a fool of himself in front of his role model.

The mission was accomplished. Ryn was safe and the dark Jedi were wiped out. But Sirius still felt like it had ended in disaster. If it had been even worse, Sirius could've died. He had always thought that he was trained enough that he could handle anything that came his way, be it the normal thug or a dark Jedi.

Now he wasn't sure. He was doubting himself. What could he do really? What if he was just prolonging his own death? This mission had made death a very real possibility for Sirius, something that never happened before. Sure people around him had died before, but it never seemed like a possibility for him. Was this the future he was looking forward to as a Shadow?

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Master Ka stood like a rock, like some kind of statue carved from orange stone posed by an artist, with a carved hand that rested on the shoulder before her. She was frozen in that position as if she really was made of stone, rooted to her spot in the room and remaining abnormally still. Her thoughts were of the injured human boy. No. Man.

Today Sirius had proven one thing despite all this. He was no child, he was no mere youth. The young man was just that, a man. It must have troubled him to have failed, despite his strength. Teer somehow managed to see beyond that failure, and she could tell one simple truth. What the human man felt at that moment was everything she would have felt in his stead. It didn't take a telepath to sense what there was of him in this moment. She could see his concerns etched on him, and they were her own.

Failure stung. Failure burned. Failure hurt in a way that only grew deeper with the severity of the failure. Life was safe, but limb was not. That loss nagged at both their minds, and she could tell this was for Sirius what her scar had been for her.

She was taken back to that day so many years ago, and the fiery burn of a red blade slicing through her face. Her free hand reached up to trace the mark left behind, even as her mind ran through all the parallels. For both, this was the incident that cautioned of the severity of mistakes, and the importance of smart fighting. This was the warning that forestalled more serious injuries, or death.

The Togruta master closed her eyes and took a deep breath before speaking, hoping that her next words would prove to be a lesson, an inspiration, or a reassurance. She genuinely had no idea what would come.

"The battle may have cost us a high price, but the war isn't over yet. This may hurt, but you'll live. You'll survive, and you will become a great Jedi."

One final squeeze of the shoulder and Teer turned away from her Padawan and stared intently at the wall. This was her fault of course, her fault for bringing her Padawan all the way, dragging him too deep and too fast. She'd been overconfident and he'd suffered for it.

This wasn't over though. Once more unto the breach.