Group Training I

[Jorshal Vuntana]

Gravel crumbled and grinded beneath his boots as Jorshal Vuntana walked outside of the Palace. He glanced up at the brightening orange sky and then back at the Palace. Group training was to begin today, but not for another hour or so. Jorshal sat down on a fairly large rock and closed his eyes and tilting his head. Pride begat anger, anger begat hatred. Jorshal found himself with a full Sith trance searching for the teachings and advice of his long dead master. Jorshal had never been consistant enough to actually take an apprentice of his own on, so many obligations called him away. But he had faith in his own abilities and that the Force was with him as his septer. He could teach the new apprentices and he could lead the Sith Order to glory and greatness.

It was with the apprentices that the ways of the Sith would live on, however, the legacy of the Sith would crush weak shoulders. As much as this was training, it was a competition. The weak would perish at the hands of their brothers, beneath the boot of their father.

His eyes snapped open to the orange sky and dark stone of the Palace. His mind and body was enraged and drenched with the power of revelation. Had any doubt lingered in his mind regarding the future of the Sith Order, it was erased now. To train these apprentices was just and right. The Sith Endure.

[Saveeradeevaravaravee]

The anticipation in the air was almost palpable as Saveer walked toward the palace, eager to begin his training in this mysterious Force. The man named Jorshul Vantana had invited the sith recruits to take part in a large group training session, held mostly out of lack of masters. Saveer was ready for the training.

As he approached, he noticed that Jorshul had already taken his seat, and appearantly had been there for some time. There was still a good twenty standard minutes before the session officially started, so Saveer took a seat opposite him, nodding once to his instructor, almost a half-bow.

"I am ready to begin my training - shall I call you - Master?"

[Ambrose Braeden]

A sickening thud was heard as a body fell lifelessly to the floor. Ambrose stood over the limp corpse, marveling at his latest kill, for that was the way of the Vampire. In order to live, a Vampire must kill and drink the blood of its victim. The Sith stepped over the body, not taking a backward glance, leaving the body to the scavengers that lingered about, waiting to feed on the corpse. As he walked he could feel a tingle in the force, for what reason he did not know, but he would soon find out. Sticks cracked and dirt grinded underneath his feet, his night black robe rustle around his feet as he made his way to the Palace. It seemed as if the shadows invited the Vampire in, accepted his presence, they clung to him like a child clings to a dire mother. Blood dripped from his mouth, but he made no gesture to remove it. His pale marble colored skin gleaming in the moonlight now. He finally reached the edge of the forest and could now see the Palace.

Ambrose reached the place where Jorshal and Saveer were meditating. The Vampire was certain that Jorshal was already aware of his presence, so there was no need in stating it. A slight breeze started to pick up, and his robes started to flutter around him. He walked over to the stairs leading inside and stopped. He removed his robe gently and laid it upon one of the statues that guarded the Palace. Ambrose fell to his knees, his lightsaber lightly tapping the ground as he did so. The Vampire closed his eyes and reached outward, looking to find the Darkside of the Force. There it was, always it was there, within reach, waiting to be found by its master. Ambrose could feel the darkside flow throughout his veins and take its course through his body. The Darkside was now with the Sith, and it was intoxicating. The anger and emotion filled his mind, and the Darkside his body.

Ambrose spoke in hushed tones... "Hello Jorshal and Saveer."

[Tarsis]

Today was the day. The day Tarsis and two others were to begin their training under Jorshal Vuntana, apprentice to the late SouthStar. It was a day that couldn't have come any sooner. Tarsis had begun to believe that he would never begin his training, seeing how his former Master Zereth, had disappeared soon after Tarsis had been accepted as his apprentice. Although this Jorshal was not Zereth, Tarsis would take what he could from him just the same. He would learn the ways of the Darkside and progress through the ranks of the Sith just as any other soldier would. With that in mind, Tarsis made his way out of the Palace and down towards the training grounds.

As he made his way towards the three people standing in the training grounds, Tarsis saw what appeared to be a violet furry human standing before him and two men, one whom he could only assume was Vuntana. Hearing the gravel below his feet crush and stir under the weight of this powersuit as he walked past the other two with nothing more than glance over his shoulder. Standing in front of Vuntana, metallic grinding could be heard as the servos and actuators clanked into position to allow Tarsis to bow, showing his respects. "My name is Tarsis, former apprentice to Zereth Lancer.” He said as he stood back up. “Forgive me if I am late.” he added as the wind blew his hair into his face. Tarsis was never one with the pleasantries, so what he had said or did would have to do.

[Baralai Lotus]

Baralai's black hair swayed gently in the wind as he walked up to find the others standing outside the order. His face was terribly scarred beyond belief, and his mouth was frayed open, his lips barely pressed together. The patch over his eye bore the mark of what he wanted to become, Ouroboros. His left eye scanned over the crowd, viewing the purple cat and the two men standing in front of the building.

He knew who it was standing in the corner, Jorshal Vantana. He smirked softly, and let his mind wander to what this training would be like. What exactly would be going on in this group training? It had been so long since he had seen Sasha, but he did his best to put it from his mind. The darkside was concentrated in this area, and the gathering of these apprentices was truly a momentous occassion. The Order was not yet dead, and Baralai would not let it collapse, if he had to be the last to stand by it.

[Jorshal Vuntana]

Jorshal answered Saveer's question once everyone had arrived. "Yes, you may refer to me as master." He pushed himself off the rock and onto the sangria gravel.

"All of you, welcome to our first training session. Let me begin by briefing you on the Force my view of the Force. The Sith stand for the individual and the elevation of him. Power, glory and passion are the hands of which we grip the Force and bend it to our will to meet our wants and needs. The Force is not a god, it is a tool subservant to its user. With this tool in our grasp we shall conquor those before us."

"Some of us here have already accessed the Force and can manipulate it to a small degree. Some of us have yet to do so. The first thing is to keep in mind that the Force is your tool, not your master. Never give yourself over to it. Despite your level aquaintance with it, you all have sensed it like a hunter senses wild beast. Your first exercise is to find that beast and tame it." As the apprentices did so, some with more struggle than others, he quietly watched using his own power over the Force.

"Once you have achieved that, agitate our beast, direct it and release it's fury upon these boulders before us." Jorshal studied a series of boulders, one of which he had just sat on, and waited for his apprentices to do as instructed.

[Ambrose Braeden]

Ambrose stood as Jorshal, his new mentor in the force began to speak. Everything that he was saying was nothing new. Ambrose had learned how to tame the force a long time ago, but maybe he had lost that ability. Now was the time to once again retain that power that he had once held within his grasp. After Jorshal finished speaking, he bowed to his mentor and walked down the steps. Now was the time to complete the task that was put before him.

Ambrose half extended a hand at waist height, his palm was facing the night sky. Ambrose concentrated on his emotion and anger wich was what the Darkside thrived upon. He closed his eyes for a moment to concentrate upon the bolder and now he had found what he was looking for. The boulder began to lift in the air as if it were as light as a feather. The Vampire's breathing remained the same as he let the force flow throughout his body. The boulder floated higher and higher off of the ground until Ambrose was satisfied.

With swift movements, Ambrose flung his arm towards an adjacent wall. The boulder took off at amazing speed headed towards the wall. With a loud crash, the boulder hit the wall and smashed into tiny pieces, but there was no sign on the wall that anything had happened. Ambrose looked at Jorshal and bowed once more.

[Saveeradeevaravaravee]

Following the more experienced Sith's lead, Saveer rose, heading toward the line of boulders. Ambrose had shown quite an impressive display - before his introduction to the Force, Saveer would have thought destroying such a huge boulder to be nearly impossible, though he now knew that not to be the case. Nothing was impossible through the Dark Side.

Saveer walked down the steps after Ambrose, adjusting his body to face directly toward the boulders. Remembering the first lesson he had learned from Ambrose the day before in the Training Vault, he focused on his anger, his aggression. His anger was again directed at Ambrose - the vampire had been quite arrogant with his display, and it was enfuriationg to Saveer - but only because he allowed it to be. Concentrating on this, he followed Ambroses example and lifted one hand into the air. This time, not one, but two of the (smaller) boulders lifted (rather shakily) into the air.

They flew through the atmosphere, rising 10... 20... 30 feet into the air, increasing the space between them as they rose in a wavering zig-zag. The speed was much slower than Ambroses had been, but Saveer used the momentum of the boulders to generate more velocity with every second. Finally, when they had reached sufficiant altitude, the boulders slowed to a hault.

By now, the boulders were at least 100 feet apart, lingering in the air and vibrating slightly like an overused repulsorlift. A few moments later, Saveer rose his other hand, moving his hands together as if to clap but stopping slightly short. Once again, the boulders began a shaky zig-zag path toward each other, picking up speed with each foot that was closed between them. After a moment, the two boulders collided, each one breaking into several smaller pieces, though none as small as Ambrose had been able to produce. As they fell, Saveer used the Force to boost the effects of gravity, drilling each jagged piece into the ground, where they haulted motion, leaving only a few inches of the rock pieces above ground.

While it hadn't been what Saveer had hoped for - he was going for more of a fireworks disply with bits of shattered boulder flying in every imaginable direction - he was still satisfied with what he had done. The paths of the boulders had been anything but straight, and the entire display had taken nearly 15 minutes to perform, but, for someone of Saveer's rank and status, he felt he had done well.

Laboring over heaving breaths, drenched with sweat, Saveer drug himself back up the stairs, resuming his position on the ground and wiping the sweat from his eyes.

[Tarsis]

Walking down the stairs just as the others before him, Tarsis just shook his head. The Force. It was everything to these people. Their will, their drive, their motivation, and even their muse. Tarsis was never one to fully believe in the Force and its possibilities, he had his father to thank for that. Always talking down upon those who used it in his stories, but after seeing what Zereth had shown him back in the training halls of the Citadel made his view points on the Force change drastically. Zereth had used the Force to increase his speed among other little things, but the thought that Tarsis found most intriguing was that if Zereth could use the Force to increase his speed, what else could the Force increase for him? These were things that Tarsis would have to find out later, but for now they would have to wait. Now came what Vuntana had asked them to do, give themselves to the Force…

Tarsis approached the rocks casually, picking out one of the medium sized ones. He wasn’t looking to show off in an area that he had never treaded before. This was all new for him and he didn’t want any screw ups. If he was going to master this thing called the Force, then he was going to do it right. Sliding both hands out from beneath his cloak, his powersuit coming to life as he did, closed his eyes. Tarsis was giving himself to the Force, calling on it for assistance, wanting its presence to be known to him. Soon after he had closed his eyes, Tarsis felt something. A tingle, if you could call it that, a vibration, a since that something had changed. Opening his eyes, Tarsis focused on the rock in front of him, lifting his hands before it. Placing all his concentration on the rock, Tarsis slowly began to lift his hands. It was working! The rock was slowly lifting itself from the ground.

A rush that Tarsis had never felt before in his lift swept over his body. It was intoxicating, breath taking even! The rock was now 15 or so feet off the ground and Tarsis decided that that was high enough. He didn’t want to exhaust himself so early on in the training. Relaxing and brining his hands back into his cloak as Tarsis took a much needed breath, the rock fell from where it was back to the spot it had been before. Wiping a few beads of sweat from his forehead and rubbing his temples to try and ease the headache he had now, Tarsis walked back up to where the others were. He had done it and in doing so, realized what a great asset the Force could be to one. He would indulge himself in training later, but for now they had to wait on the other one before they could progress any further.

[Dakler Terrcin]

Dakler knew he was late, but knew that would just make for a better entrance. He used the force to do one of the only things he knew how, make himself stealthy. He noislessly crept behind the others as they watched Tarsis. Dakler had never seen any such use of the force before, and it became clear to him that he would have to be very careful amongst these new peers. Jorshal had not been lying to him, his power would have to grow quickly in the time to come.

Dakler released his force concealment and prepared himself for his first test.

[Baralai Lotus]

Baralai watched the displays of the several apprentices from the top of the stairs. They were trying hard, but they were exhausting themselves. The force was their tool to use, not to be controlled by. They had to learn not to give into the after effects it caused. Baralai stepped forward and threw his hand from his trench coat. His fingers clenched, feeding off the pain he had experienced not too long ago. Remembering it, the hatred he held for those who caused it. His fingers clenched tighter within the leather gloves. Then he felt that familiar gust he felt before, the gust of the force.

The wind swept forward from his fingers and crashed forward into one of the large boulders. The boulder moved slightly and it's surface bore the impression of Baralai's hand. He raised his hand into the air, the boulder rising with it. Slowly, he took the boulder and cast it far into the distance, crashing it farther away. He unclenched his hand. He was glad to be back as a silent smile crossed his lips.

[Dakler Terrcin]

Dakler watched Baralai make the acolytes efforts seem absolutely meaningless. he should not flaunt his great power so openly Dakler thought. Dakler concentrated on his jealousy of Barali's power as he approached the rocks. The others all had, it seemed, some way to approach levitation, but Dakler had no idea where to start. This frustrated him, and he concentrated that frustration into anger.
Once he got to the boulders, Dakler seized the force, turned it into a hammer in his mind.
Dakler fed his body with the Force. His hands became the Hammer he had already created, as hard and strong as a ships hull. He brought his hands above his head, stealed himself, and slammed them down at the stone, his movement amplified with the force.
Perhaps it was not as impressive as flying boulders, but a crack formed down the center of the rock. Dakler hit it again, angry that it was not already dust. He pounded the rock over and over again until it broke cleanly in two.
breathing hard, but not fealing entirely inadequite, Dakler went to join the others.

[Jorshal Vuntana]

OOC: First, My apologies for slowing this thread down. I had a huge Art History test today (Wed.) and spent my night studying.

IC: He stood between the apprentices and the boulders, arms folded and keepinga watchful eye on how each aprpentice fared. Baralai and Ambrose had telekinesis down easy. This was not an exercise for them and Jorshal had not expected it to be that way. The two were practically full fledged knights within the Order, they were meant to lead by example.

"Tarsis!" He called after the apprentice had finshed. "Are you Jedi or Sith?" He asked rhetorically as he approached the apprentice, stopping within inches of him. "We don't give ourselves to the Force. We don't ask for its assistance; we demand it!"

Jorshal peered into Tarsis' mind and resumed the harsh lecture in a slightly quieter, but not soft, tone.

"I don't care if you find telekinesis relevant to your personal goals, these are simple Force accessing powers. Start paying attention, start proving your training not to be waste of my time."

Jorshal shot Saveer a sharp glance but vocalized nothing.

"Pay attention to Ambrose and Baralai, use the Force, not your eyes, to see what they do that makes their access to the Force so effective."

"Our next lesson is the technique of the psychic scream. It's a mentally disabling attack based in telepathy. Like our telekinetic exercise, experience in telepathy is not required. A psychic scream is similar to forcing a migraine upon another mind. For our exercise, we will be using these." Jorshal entranced an exotic, doe eyed creature and forced them to line up before the everyone.

As the apprentices began to go about their task Jorshal continued speaking. "Remember, It's about making the Force kneel to our will. Bait the Force into yourself, demand the action, enforce your will upon the Force; the path of the darkside."

He paused and walked between the knights. "You're free to show them, through your own choice of methods, as to how its done properly." He smiled wickedly. "I'm going to deal with the late one."

"Stealthily entering, if you call your lame display stealth, only makes you later than you actually are. You've missed what you have missed and your personal achievement shall suffer because of it. However, your own supervised training will extend," Jorshal looked at the early morning sun. "until dusk." He turned around to face the working apprentices. "Along with Tarsis should he fail to meet the standard of this session."

[Tarsis]

Tarsis was not one to be told what to do. He hated it more than anything as it provoked frustrated nostalgia of his father and all the endless yelling and fighting that they had been through. If Jorshal had not been a ranking member of the Order, Tarsis would have laid him out then and there. Even so, the thought didn't leave Tarsis' head. He was only learning! The whole concept was new to him, the Force, learning how to use it, to 'demand' its assistance, not ask. Thought after thought ran through Tarsis' mind. He had not a clue as to how he should react to the situation. Tarsis was furious and the fact that he did not know how he should react just made Tarsis more furious than he already was. You want to see what I can do Jorshal? I'll show you!! Tarsis thought to himself as Jorshal walked off, finishing his little speech.

Tarsis walked up in front of the others, facing the entranced animals, picking his target. Tarsis knew that the Darkside of the Force played off of emotions; anger, hate, passion, etc. and Tarsis had plenty of that stored up. Recalling all the thoughts he had of his father, his mother crying as she watched his father leave again and again, his siblings taunting him, his father beating his mother to death, and now Jorshal, Tarsis focused in on the Force, making it do as he saw fit. It might not seem like it but Tarsis could be a fast learner and he was not about to make the same mistake twice.

Using all the hatred Tarsis could gather, he concentrated on the doe. Jorshal said it was comparative to, "forcing a migraine upon another’s mind", Tarsis thought to himself as he continued to focus. Finally, once he had all the anger and hate he could, Tarsis let it all go, making the Force drive into the head of the doe's mind, commanding the Darkside to do as he said. Memories and images of things Tarsis had seen, things he had done, his father, mother, all were pouring into and demolishing the mind of the animal before him. The doe, who now appeared to be convulsing, had saliva foaming at its mouth, its eyes twitching, blinking viciously. Tarsis now, with his armored hand out stretched, was smirking. If only he could wish his father was still alive and that he had not killed him so early. This would have been much more fun to do than just grant him such a quick release.

Releasing his grasp of the Darkside and lowering his hand back into his cloak, Tarsis smiled as he watched the lifeless corpse of the doe hit the ground. Its tongue was now dangling from its mouth, motionless on the gravel floor of the training grounds. Looking over at Jorshal, still smiling, Tarsis raised his hand and extended a metal middle finger.

[Ambrose Braeden]

After watching Tarsis take his turn in completing the task at hand, he knew Tarsis truly belonged witht he Darkside of the Force. There was something about him, his lust for power, his hatred towards anything that will allow him to advance within the Darkside of the force. Ambrose knew that someday, the man called Tarsis would be a force to be reckoned with.

He turned back to face the creatures once again. Ambrose lifted his head so that he was starring into the night sky. The stars sparkled as he thought of the anger and hate that he had kept within him all of this time. He thought of Ailla, his former lover, and how she was murdered. A feeling started in the pit of his stomach that he knew all to well. It began to force its way up his spin and then flowed into his entire being. It was the Darkside. He could feel it with him once again, and now it was time to bend it to his will, time to become its master once again.

Lowering his head back down to face the creatures that Jorshal had broght forth for the exercise at hand. He opened his eyes, and they burned with a hatred for all beings in the galaxy. Ambrose concentrated his eyes upon one of the beings that were just a few meters from him. Ambrose broght his arms up to chest height, concentrated onto the Darkside, let it flow through him and thrust his arms outward towards the being that he was staring straight at with his fierce eyes. He could feel the effect of the power start to take its course upon the creature. A wicked smile etched its way upon Ambrose's face, his stark white fangs now showing themselves.

The creature started to lower its head in pain, then it fell to the floor with a sickening thud. The Vampire could see that he had succeded in causing pain to this creature, and it felt good. The doe eyed creature rose to its feet and started to run at incredible speed into the woods. The creature slamed its head into one of the trees with a thud that reverbiated throughout the forest. The creature fell to the floor, dead. Ambrose stood there for a few seconds after the occurence and then turned to face Jorshal. He nodded his head in acknowlegement and then returned to the place that he had been before the exercise started.

[Saveeradeevaravaravee]

Saveer was new to this thing called "The Force." He had heard about it, but had not experienced it until only the day before, and so he let the other Sith go first. Now, information hungry as he was, he watched every single action the others made, absorbing their actions, successes, and failures like a sponge.

As he watched Tarsis make the first move, he thought back to what Jorshal had said moments earlier...

Start paying attention, start proving your training not to be waste of my time."

He had given Saveer a sharp glare at that point... Was he also wasting Jorshal's time? Saveer couldn't tell. If that were the case, then Saveer would only have to prove his worth to the Sith Order. Regardless of the case, there was obviously no room for error or weakness in this regime.

Turning his thoughts once again to the task at hand, he watched as the first of the doe-like creatures writhed in agony, foaming at the mouth until it collapsed, unconscious or, more likely, dead. As Tarsis returned to his spot on the upper level of the training area, Ambrose descended the steps to take his place.

Ambrose's display, while a bit less cruel than that of Tarsis, was nonetheless just as effective. Saveer watched with extreme intensity, picking up on every move, every sensation that he himself felt as the Dark Side flowed through the others - the anger and hatred he could sense, almost touch, flowing out of them, the sense that both of the other members were in complete control of the force, demanding it to do their will, enslaving it to use only by their hands.

As Saveer continued to watch, Ambrose's doe suddenly became frantic, crazed, overcome by panic. With no purpose other than getting away from where it was, the doe rushed into the nearby forest - and straight into a tree.

When the doe collapsed on the ground, blood flowing from the open wound in its head, along with what may have been brain matter, Ambrose returned to the upper level. When Ambrose finally reached the top of the steps and stood again with the other apprentices, Saveer decided it was his turn.

Calmly, Saveer began his path down the steps, stopping a few feet from the line of entranced creatures that still stood there - there were three of them now. Reaching out a hand, Saveer commanded the Dark Side into his body. Now, with this new approach, the energy filled his body even more easily than before. The wind picked up around him, sweeping his fur across his body. Whether this was a result of the Force, Saveer didn't know.

Casually, Saveer raised his hand slightly higher, commanding the Dark Side to bend to his will, entering the doe's head and contorting it, warping its thoughts and attacking the very physical substance of its brain. With a sudden intensity, the doe's eyes snapped wide open, the torture and anguish the doe was feeling obvious in its paralyzed gaze. Frantically, it began scraping its front hooves on the ground, no longer capable of enough brain function to know to run from the source of its anguish. As the intensity of the pain rose, the franticness with which the doe stamped the ground continued to intensify. Finally, the pain rose to such an unbearable level that the doe ceased movement altogether, frosen in torment until its heart finally failed, causing it to collapse on the ground, just as lifeless as the first two.

When Saveer finished, he turned back toward the main group, his breathing still perfectly calm, his face absolutely expressionless. Where the others had found pleasure in the torment of the creatures, Saveer found only apathy. He found the killing neither enjoyable nor regrettable; he simply didn't care about these creatures enough to give their pain second thought. The only thing that mattered to Saveer was his money, and now, the Force.

It was a terrible and frightening thing - such mindless killings, by someone who just didn't care.

Hands in his pockets, he walked calmly up the stairs, the wind beginning to die down as he finally released his grip on the Dark Side. He glanced at the two remaining apprentices. "Your turn."

[Baralai Lotus]

Baralai grimaced at the display of Saveer. He had been arrogant, acting as though he had done nothing. Baralai stepped down, his hair swaying calmly in the wind. He had seen their displays and chuckled silently to himself. They were all too showy, there was no reason to have the doe run into the woods. Never give your victim a chance to escape, kill it on the spot.

Baralai walked forward and stood, facing the creature before him. It looked back at him, innocent eyes, confused, bewildered. He gave it a look before cocking his head to the side and sickly smirking. He pushed outward with the force, connecting with the creatures mind and random thoughts. He flooded his own thoughts into the creature, his memories of pain, of the Inquisitoriate, of his sense of failure, and the thoughts ran rampant among the thoughts of the doe.

Then, just as quickly as Baralai had flooded them, so also did he stop them. With a quick motion and a pull on the force, the doe's thoughts altogether stopped. Jamming its senses and causing it to fall over. Loss of equilibrium and even the medulla had stopped functioning. It's thoughts, conscious and unconscious, were stopped. It wasn't being told to breathe, told to have a heartbeat, and it struggled, convulsing on the ground, but with time, the nerve endings stopped firing. The creature stopped moving altogether, and when Baralai released his grip on it, it still didn't move. It was dead. He turned, his coat moving with his form, still not having said a word to anyone. He looked the others over and then to Jorshal, his eye flashing at him.

[Dakler Terrcin]

Dakler watched the others make short work of the doe-eyed creatures. He was already lagging behind, and his anger at Jorshal, who had come to him offering opportunity, not abuse, was growing. Still, he knew that and outburst would be stupid, so he stored up his anger instead of letting it build to a raging inferno. He was beginning to see how his anger gave him power with the Force, but he knew from experience that letting it run out of control could be dangerous.
Dakler was determined to catch up, and that meant following Jorshal's instructions to the letter. He had been able to sense, at least approximately, what the others had done, and when it was his turn, he knew what he wanted to do. He began slowly, just nudging the edge of the creatures mind. He dipped into the anger he had been storing up and began to increase his preasure on the creature's mind. It was visibly distraught now, but it had no idea what the source of it's discomfort was. Dakler continued squeezing the creatures mind into a smaller and smaller psychic space as the creature began to rub it's head violently on the nearbly rocks. Eventually, Dakler felt he was at the edge: any more preassure and the creature would pass out. Dakler did this; the creatures senses began to overlap, fear and pain becoming one. It was too much for it, and it quit thrashing.
"I believe that would constitute a migraine, Jorshal. Should I continue?"

[Jorshal Vuntana]

He turned to face Tarsis. "Let's be a little more mature." He commented dryly as he scanned the corpse of the animal. Another fell to the ground, one ran away, another dead and one apparently at the point of mental retardation. The Corellian zoo was going to be on the recieving end of a fat check at the end of the week.

"Let's talk about overkill." He said replying to Dekler and as a general statement to all. "It's almost fine in this case. But remember not to commit so much energy to a small task. Ambrose and Baralai both have a little more experince with the Force, killing by way of mental pressure won't exhaust them. Not that I'm implying you're all ready to quit, but be mindful of your limits. Sometimes completely wiping out an enemy in battle isn't worth the price. Ration yourselves."

"Next up is physical amplification." He glanced at Tarsis. "Like the wheel lessens the trouble of moving a heavy load, the Force can be used to lessen the strain of a physical activity. It has been my experience that in applying the Force towards muscles or an organ for the purpose of increasing power is similar to feeling the effects of a drug. Your judgement on physical tasks becomes distorted. The acute sense of how to work your muscles like needlework goes out the door. But with practice and careful measurement physical enhancement becomes less hazardous. Eventually one can reach the point of strict precision. I've seen a Sith literally throw pocket watch gears into perfect placement from ten feet away. If anyone is familiar with pocket watches."

"Physical amplification can be directed to any imaginable part of the body to enhance a number of activities. You can run faster or you can lift heavy things. You can jump higher or hit things harder. Nearly any form of grunt work can become miniscule in difficulty. Now for the actual exercise. The choice of what you wish to amplify is yours as is the choice of what you do with it. Be creative, be impressive, it's up to you. You can do quite a lot here without expending too much energy, but don't forget my advice: ration. Your last exercise is going to be quite difficult."

[Saveeradeevaravaravee]

EDIT: Didn't like that post, changing it.

Saveer stepped forward, the Dark Side once again becoming slave to his will. With ease, he bent the Dark Side, sending it whirling through his body like a hurricane of exhilirance. Stepping forward, he sent that hurricane into the muscles of his legs. Thigh, calf, quadracep... they all glowed with unseen brilliance as the raw power entered them, inflating the muscle mass within.

He took one step forward, and disappeared in a blur of fur, flying through the training area at more than double his normal speed - which was already quite fast. In a matter of a second, he had reached the wall on which Ambrose's boulder had collapsed. With a quick jump, his image became clear once more as he momentarily clung to the wall, then leaped again from his position.

Flying through the air, he landed on the top of a nearby tree, jumping from there to another, then another. Finally, with one more jump, he returned to the landing on which the others still stood, wobbling a bit before finally taking a seat on a small rock as he released his grip on the Dark Side and allowed his mind to regain its grasp on reality.

[Ambrose Braeden]

Ambrose watched the performance that Saveer was giving. He could fell the Darkside flow through the violet furred humanoid. After Saveer finished his task given to the group of apprentices, the Vampire stepped forward once more. He turned on his heels so that he was facing Jorshal, and bowed to his mentor in a formal manner. Standing to his full height once again, he walked a few meters past where Jorshal stood and lowerd his head. Closing his eyes he thought of how much he would like to feed and kill, and thought of the thrill of the hunt. Thought of how it would feel to take the life of another human being, and he didn't care about it. He reached outward to once again attain the Darkside, and again it embraced him and began to flow thoughout his body like it had done on so many occasions.

Ambrose focused on the Darkside and proceded to force it into his arms, his biceps and triceps, forarms and wrists. He could feel his muscles grow stronger as he focused on the hate and emotion that filled his entire being. He once again raised his head and opened his white fierce eyes. He walked over to one of the boulders that had been left over from one of the previous exercises. He gripped the humongous rock with both hands and with particular ease, lifted the massive object over his head. With a large amount of energy, he thrust his arms towards the forest and the boulder leaped from his arms. The massive boulder flew through the air, only to come crashing down on some of the trees, and proceded to roll a few meters from where it landed, crashing all of the trees that lay within its path.

Ambrose turned on his heel and walked back to where the other apprentaces stood, awaiting their turn. As he walked past Jorshal he simply nodded his head.

[Dakler Terrcin]

Dakler steped foreward, brandishing a short vibroblade. He already had experience with making himself stronger and faster. He did it almost instinctively. Instead, he tried something new.
Seizeing the force, he began to concentrate on his skin. Normally weak and insubstantial, Dakler began to reinforce it with the Force, making it harder, stronger. He kept letting the force flow into his body; If he did this wrong it would be very unplesant.
Suddenly, Dakler plunged the vibroblade straight at his heart, with all the speed he could muster, but when it contacted his skin, it harmlessly glanced off. He drew the blade across his neck, and still his skin remained unharmed.
Satisfied that he was advancing as rapidly as he could, Dakler returned to the others.

[Jorshal Vuntana]

"Good, good." Jorshal nodded as he observed the happenings around him. Most of the apprentices had a good idea of how to reach the Force and what to do from there. They each followed instructions well while they each could apply some individuality to the exercise. However, each seemed to be involved in their own task and more concerned with their personal achievment, rather than simply meeting criteria. Almost nobody was open to actually learning much from the man next to him or even working together. But that was only what he had picked up himself.

"Let's discuss our next task." He said and faced them. "Our last lesson for the day regards teamwork and combonation attacks. I do not doubt that you have all figured out a way to use the Force for aggressive acts. But what I ask is can you combine your power to form one aggression?" He glanced at each member knowing that there was already tension between some. "Use your aggression against me, one reward will be given. Should you defeat me as a group the reward will be split. If an individual can do it himself, he shall take the reward alone. Defeat will be defined as a man falling with his back to the ground."

[Saveeradeevaravaravee]

Saveer was not particularly well versed in combat, but he knew enough. More importantly, he had a lot of weapons - none of which he had left behind today. He knew that he himself could not defeat a trained Sith Lord alone, but he could very well chip in. Of course, the object was not to kill the Sith - he was the only one who could offer them training at this point! But weapons were not always deadly.

Calling upon the Dark Side again, he leaped into the air in a great back flip. As he flew toward the palace walls, he produced two shining objects from his arsenal. The first, a glop grenade, he launched at Jorshal in mid-air. The timer on the grenade was set for only 3 seconds - long enough to reach Jorshal, but not long enough to last for a trip back to the palace walls. If it went off anywhere near Jorshal, the explosion would trap him in a glob of goo, holding him steadfast to the ground until Saveer employed the special solvent to release him. If it missed, or was thrown back at Saveer, it would simply explode harmlessly away from the entire group, doing no damage.

When he reached the palace wall, a good 15 feet high, he bent to one knee on top of it, carefully aiming for an attack with his Prax Arms Velocity-7 Dart Launcher - the same dart gun once employed by the infamous Jango Fett. This time, the dart was loaded with a paralytic toxin that would render the target helpless and vulnerable. With careful aim, he launched the dart at Jorshal. If either attack was successful, the others would have no difficulty in finishing the job. If not...

He placed the dart gun back in it's wrist-borne holster, replacing it with a much more deadly charric. Keeping his eyes on Jorshal, he carefully adjusted the settings on the charric - a direct hit would be very painful, but not fatal; he still needed someone to train under, after all. Reaching up with his free hand, he gripped the hilt of his Sith sword, ready to react to any action Jorshal might take.

[Ambrose Braeden]

With a leap backwards, Ambrose tucked his legs in and proceded to do two backflips before he extends his legs once more and comes to land about fourty meters away from Jorshal. Ambrose extended his hand and with a flick of his wrist, his lightsaber uncliped itself and lunged forward, coming to rest in its master's palm. Feeling the familiar cold metal once again within his grasp, the Vampire pressed a button and with a loud hiss, a green blade emerged forth from the hilt. The smell of burnt ozone filled the air around the Sith.

Ambrose stood in a defensive stance, waiting for Jorshal to take action.

[Tarsis]

OOC: Sorry for the delay, real life things getting in the way. This is a back post so dont worry about replying to it.

IC:Tarsis watched as the others displayed their use of the force in this exercise; Ambrose with his strength, Saveer with his jumping, and Dakler with his… skin. It was amazing to see what could actually be amplified by the force. It was apparent what Jorshal had said was true, “Physical amplification can be directed to any imaginable part of the body to enhance a number of activities.” So much was possible it seemed. Being able to lift heavy objects, jump to amazing heights, and even harden your skin to withstand a vibrodaggers to the chest. Walking past Dakler as he finished his performance, if you could call it that, Tarsis stepped up. It was his turn now.

Recalling the first time Tarsis and Zereth had met and the spar that proceeded to take place afterwards, Tarsis remembered how Zereth had just moved aside, dodging his attack, with unnatural speed. Ever since that day, Tarsis had wanted that speed. To able to move like that, to be able to have the ability to dodge an opponent’s attack like that would be a great advantage in battle. Chuckling to himself as he recalled the events of that fight, Tarsis focused back on the task at hand: achieving that speed.

Closing his eyes, Tarsis brought back all the hated he had gathered only minutes ago. His father, his mother, Jorshal’s comment, it was all coming back to him again: feelings of anger, of hate, malice, they were all there. And as Tarsis grabbed a hold of it, he called upon the force, he demanded it to do as he ordered, to bend to his will. Focusing the power of the force into his legs, his muscles, and into joints, Tarsis could feel it doing as he wanted. Opening his eyes again, Tarsis took a step forward and with the sound of his powersuit coming to life being the last thing heard, he was gone.

Tarsis could only smile. He was running at speeds that most men could only imagine. Coming to a stop where Ambrose’s rock had landed, he picked a piece of it up and then started running back towards the others. Tarsis didn’t want to waste his energy, a short display would have to prove good enough. For right now, Tarsis would head Jorshal’s warning about their next task. Walking pass Baralai as he came to a stop, Tarsis looked at him and tossed him the piece of the rock he had picked up. “Your turn…”

[Tarsis]

Jorshal was right about one thing, they would need their energy for this task and suddenly Tarsis was glad he didn’t over due it with his last feat. Watching as Saveer leapt into action, unleashing a surprising amount of arsenal towards Jorshal, Tarsis took a few steps back, his cloak and hair swaying in the wind as he did. Whatever type of grenade that was heading towards Jorshal, Tarsis didn’t want any part of it. Watching as Saveer continued to unleash his arsenal on Jorshal, Tarsis just shook his head. If Saveer was expecting to defeat Jorshal by himself, and by using gadgets like those that he was using, he had another thing coming. Jorshal was too much of an experienced Knight.

It didn’t even seem like five seconds had passed when Ambrose had jumped into action as well. Leaping into the air and performing pointless acrobatics before unsheathing your lightsabre is nothing more than a waste of energy, Tarsis thought to himself as he watched on.. They were missing the point Jorshal was trying to make, this was a team exercise, not an individual effort. Looking behind him, Tarsis saw Baralai to his right and Dakler to his left, still standing there, watching the festivities as they unfolded as well. Dakler didn’t seem to know what he was doing, just suicidal one would gather from his last display of using the force, but Baralai, he seemed calm and collected, knowing a great deal of the force.

Continuing to watch as things progressed, Tarsis, unsheathing his Vibrosword, brought it out from beneath his cloak and sunk it in the gravel to his right. Glancing towards Baralai, Tarsis spoke, “It'd be easier if we did this by working together, wouldn't you agree Baralai?”

[Baralai Lotus]

Baralai looked over watched the others do their tasks in the force, amplfying speed, strength, skin and other parts of the body. Baralai felt there was no need to show off in such a way, instead, he merely sat back and watched, commenting to himself on the others. Tarsis display of speed was incredible, but Ambrose strength, anyone could do such a task, with the right racial modifications. As for Dakleer, he was simply. . .odd. His performance showed no real greatness or power, for all the audience knew, it was a dull vibroblade. Saveer had shown off quite well though, but it was going to his head.

As Jorshal announced the next task, to defeat him, Baralai could not help but smirk. He watched as Ambrose and Saveer jumped directly into action. They were foolish, never charge your enemy until you know all thier tricks. These two were showing off, Ambrose with his acrobatic display and Saveer with his. They didn't know what they were doing, they were like children.

Baralai's head turned when Tarsis spoke, and he nodded. It was something that would have to be done as a team. Baralai reached into his coat and pulled his whip from within. He held the chain tightly, and while the chain was wound in a neat circle, he placed his hand on the handle. He was waiting, biding his time for when Jorshal would make the move he needed.

Baralai smirked and walked slowly down the steps, his trenchcoat swaying. He focused his thoughts on Jorshal, and a sick twisted smirk crossed his face. He was remembering all the experiments he had done, the pain he had caused a girl. Cutting her open as she writhed on the table, screaming, blood surfacing at the corners of her lips. The pain he caused her, and the pleasure he got from it. He was focusing every last thought on Jorshal, focusing on showing him these thoughts, on clogging his mind. . .the psychic scream.

With those thoughts came also the thoughts of his torture. The pain he felt when his tongue was ripped from his jaw, his eye torn from its socket. The nerves screaming, every last nerve on fire, the pain so immense that all he wanted to do was scream. . .and he couldn't. The tearing of sinew and tissue, of flesh and the smell of blood that filled the air. All of it flowed back freely, and with as much hate and anger as he had then, he shot it forward. The thoughts flowing like bullets through the force at Jorshal. The same pain now beginning its way through his body.

Baralai struggled to keep his grasp on the Force, its power almost seeming too much for him to control. Every other step, he would stumble slightly forward, his body shaking from its power. Beads of sweat ran there way down his face, the Force occasionally wracking his body. He had to use it, not let it use him. It was his tool, but a difficult tool to wield none the less. Baralai struggle yes, but for every wracking pain his body felt, he grasped the hilt of his whip tighter, his knuckles white around its silver shape.

Baralai still held his whip tight, and he was waiting for Jorshal to make the one move he needed. The thoughts flowed through the force, Baralai controlled it, using it, letting it be an extension of his power. And then, as the thoughts of pain wracked Jorshal's mind, the burning sensation of agony, there was a voice, two voices, singing. It was Baralai and Hera, singing the song she had sung, together, in harmony, like a twisted opera as the fire burned his nerves. And yet, Baralai couldn't help but smile as he waited to see Jorshal squirm, signaling back to Tarsis for him to go.

[Dakler Terrcin]

Dakler wasn't surprized when no-one jumped in to ask for his help. He hadn't been particularly impressive in the tests, but that wasn't his concern. If his enemies underestimated him, that was the biggest advantage he could ever have, and after that was the element of surprise, which he definetly wouldn't get this time.

Dakler immediatly drew the force into himself. He watched as things started to happen all at once. Saveer resorting to ranged attacks, Ambrose jumping about like a hyperactive kid on drugs. At least Barali and Tarsis were putting their heads together and working as a team. When he saw Saveer throw his grenade, Dakler backpeadled, keeping his eyes on Jorshal, but using the force to quickly retreat outside the effective radius of almost any grenade.

[Jorshal Vuntana]

Saveer was the first to react to the instruction as he leapt up to the top of the wall launching an array of projectiles as he moved. He pulled his lightsaber to his hand and pointed it at the goo grenade, something he hadn't seen in quite a long time. It exploded, releasing its goo to encase Jorshal's arm and lightsaber but remaining contained to that specific region due to telekinetic control. The goo shield easily stopped the dart that followed seconds after.

While carefully holding his arm of goo up from the ground, he noticed Baralai's attack next after hearing Tarsis' voiced intentions. A fairly powerful psychic scream, his face cringed at the mentally rattling effect it had, though his mental shields absorbed most of it. Despite the distraction of the psychic scream, he still had just enough time to see the follow up attack by Tarsis coming. Mindful of Dakler and Baralai, both apparently waiting for the proper time for a physical attack, Jorshal ignited his lightsaber. The heat of the blade melted through the goo and a rotation of the wrist gave him all the movement he would need. He side stepped and swung towards Ambrose with a downward arc that nearly touched the ground and swept into Ambrose's ribcage.

[Ambrose Braeden]

Ambrose took two steps back, feeling the singing pain from the blow that had just been delivered from Jorshal. Ambrose reached outwards and found the force within his grasp, as it always was. He concentrated upon his torso and the skin started to rebuild itself. Within a few seconds, the skin was back to normal, save for the little scar showing where the tip of Jorshal's lightsaber had sliced through his skin.

The Vampire advanced forward, gripping his lightsaber in both hands he pivoted his body so that he was in a stance that when he took any action, he would be able to deliver a good amount of damage to the recipiant. He swung his lightsaber downward in a crushing motion towards Jorshal's righ side. The edge of his lightsaber sank down inward about a half an inch. With the pain searing through the Sith's body, Ambrose knew that this was time to take action.

He stepped foward, letting his right hand loose of his lightsaber. With a swift, but powerful motion, the Sith Vampire thrust the palm of his hand into the Jorshal's chest. His mentor was thrust backward a few meters before landing on the ground. Ambrose stepped backwards, bringing his lightsaber up in a defensive motion.

[Saveeradeevaravaravee]

Saveer was quick. The glop grenade had missed the mark only by a bit, but had been used to fend off the toxic dart in a surprising manner. Placing both hands on the charric, he began firing at Jorshal. Of course, he didn't expect to hit Jorshal alone, but he was no expert at melee combat, and so had little chance of matching his mentor blade to blade. What he did with the charric would not amount to much by itself; however, with Jorshal's attention diverted to blocking the blasts to fend off the intense pain that would ensue from a direct hit, it would be more difficult for him to fend off the attacks of the others.

With his free hand, Saveer reached to his back and pulled a rail detonator from it's holster. Carefully aiming so as not to incurr friendly fire, he pulled the trigger, launching an explosive charge from the barrel. The charge raced through the air toward Jorshal - and right past him, exploding on the ground mere feet from him, throwing up debris and creating shock waves that pounded at Jorshal body, threatening to throw him off balance. The blast didn't extend far enough to affect the others - his aim had been true. Returning the rail detonator to its holster, he returned his hand to the charric, never letting its rhythmic assault waver.

He knew, of course, that these attacks alone would be futile against a trained Sith Lord. However, these attacks were not alone - Jorshal was already locking sabers with Ambrose and Tarsis, and wincing with pain - Baralai seemed to be concentrating, it must have been his doing. Baralai and Dakler were still watching to the side, waiting for just the right moment to attack. Perhaps Saveer could create that moment for them... Still, combat wasn't his thing. He could only do so much.

[Baralai Lotus]

Baralai watched as the goo shield dissapated and when he heard the satisfying click of Jorshal's saber, he smirked. It was time. He focused through the force, taking a step, using it to enhance his speed and advanced on Jorshal, moving around the debris. The dust and cloud cover, along with his rate of speed gave him all the cover he needed. He was sweating heavier, still trying to keep a hold on the force.

He threw out his whip, igniting it, the red blade coarsed its way along the chain with a satisfying hiss and hit its mark. The blade of the whip wrapped tightly around Jorshals lightsaber blade, and in one quick motion Baralai yanked it from his hands. Bringing it back to him. The handle clicked on his gloved hand and Baralai deactivated it, snapping it to his belt. He stood now, his whip in hand and Jorshal weaponless.

He smirked, looking on at the others. Baralai had done what he could do. He heaved over slightly, catching his breath. The force was beginning to be too much for him to take. He was struggling now, but he refused to be knocked on his back. He would pass this exercise.

[Tarsis]

"Good job Baralai!" Tarsis yelled over the sound of Saveer's latest attack. Jorshal was weapon less, dazed, and on the defensive. The team was pulling together without even knowing it. This could be used to our advantage..., Tarsis thought to himself as he pulled his vibrosword out of the ground. If they could keep Jorshal as he was now, this fight wouldn't last much longer. Giving Jorshal the credit that he is a Sith Knight, but even they to have their limits.

Activating his vibrosword, Tarsis turned his head to the left, towards Dakler and yelled, " No one can take Jorshal by themselves, so we must do this as a team. I take it your decent hand to hand? Well you had better be if this is going to work. You go in from the right and I'll come in from the left while Ambrose takes him from the front." Tarsis took a minute to survey the area. Baralai was feeling the side effects of overexerting himself. That could be a problem, but that could be over looked. Turning back to Dakler, Tarsis continued." We can't count on Baralai to do everything, he's exhausted. If we're going to do this, we must do it now! You know what to do, so do it."

Feeling confident that Dakler knew what to do, Tarsis turned his attention towards Saveer, "Keep at it Saveer! Keep him occupied while we do the rest!" Now was the time to act. The group may have lost the element of surprise by Tarsis yelling his orders to the others, but they would have to deal with it. Adaptation, the unchanging rule of war. You take what is dealt to you and you work with it.

Concentrating on all of his anger and malice, Tarsis forced it all into his legs again, feeling that unmistakable rush of the force sweep over his body. Taking off with the unnatural speed that was only achieved through the force, Tarsis charged in towards Jorshal's left side. Ambrose was smart and Tarsis was sure he’d pick up on what was happening, if not, oh well. It’s not like he’d back out of the fight anyways.

Tarsis was now in striking ranged. This was a test, so his blow would be a non leather one, but it would be a blow to cause the damage he so desired. Reeling his vibrosword back with both hands clasped around the hilt, Tarsis let out a loud yell as he drove the tip of his sword towards Jorshal’s left arm. Now if things went according to plan, this fight would soon be over, but if not, well then, they would just have to adapt…

[Dakler Terrcin]

"Tarsis was right," thought Dakler, the only way they would have a chance was by teaming up. Eying Saveer, Dakler hoped the fuzzball would have enough sense not to put hit him with the charric. He rushed in against Jorshal, confident now that he wouldn't be sliced in half. Still, he knew he would need every ounce of speed he could muster in this exercise.

It was now or never, so Dakler closed the short distance to Jorshal and immedeatly began his attack with a flying kick aimed directly at Jorshal's chest....

[Jorshal Vuntana]

Jorshal's attack against Ambrose had barely struck true, only breaking skin. He stepped back and deflected Ambrose's retaliation, allowing the opposite blade to graze the cloth on Jorshal's side. "I've studied Force combat for 25 years. Don't expect to upstage me here." He said and smiled as vibrations shook the ground, forcing two two lightsaber combatants apart. It was time for Saveer to go.

The wall that Saveer stood on was about one and a half feet thick. A firm Force push should eliminate Saveer from the trial as well as strand him on the other side. Any good defensive wall had nothing to aid an attacker in breaching it. If Saveer wanted to rejoin the group, he'd have to go around to the front gate. In the corner of his eye he saw Saveer fall, in his direct vision Tarsis charged at an amplified speed.

Almost simultaniously, Baralai's whip wrapped around the hilt of his lightsaber and yanked it away. With his mind not occupied with other tasks, Jorshal focused and altered the path of the flying lightsaber to prevent Dakler's jumping attack from striking true.

The solution to the juggernaut Tarsis was simple. The midpoint of the body, the center between the two ball-and-socket hip joints, could act as a pivot point in nearly any charging humanoid enemy. The upper body was obviously heavier than the lower, Jorshal crouched down and thrust forward and up with a Force amplified fortitude into the gut of Tarsis, causing him to tumble forward. Jorshal flexed his shoulder and trapezius, something felt broke.

[Saveeradeevaravaravee]

Saveer fell - the wall underneath him was broken. As he tumbled to the ground, several stones flew into his body, creating several large bruises on his body. Acting quickly, he thrust his hands out in front of him, dropping the charric somewhere in the rubble below. As he caught himself, he heard a loud crack, emphasized by a sharp pain in his left elbow. Rising to his feet, he examined the injury - the elbow seemed to be swelling rapidly, and was entirely unusable. Fortunately, though, it was only a minor fracture - albeit quite painful.

Shrugging off the pain, he began to search for the lost charric in the rubble. Of course, it wouldn't be very much use from this vantage point, but it was a valuable weapon nonetheless.

He quickly spotted the charric, its barrel crushed by a large piece of rubble - it definitely wouldn't be usable without serious repair, and he had no time to retrieve a dead weapon. Besides, it was quickly apparent that such simple tactics wouldn't work on Jorshal. Safe behind the wall of rubble, he paused momentarily to consider his next course of action.

With little time to spare - he could not leave his allies hanging - Saveer decided to go on instinct, acting out the first thought that came to his mind. Going into motion again, he began moving - though not in the direction Jorshal had no doubt been expecting.

Calling upon the Dark Side again, he thought back to their third exercise. Again, he forced the power to fill his legs, nearly doubling his speed of movement. At the same time, he thought back to a book he had read while studying in the Sith library - one can hide his presence in the force by simply calling on and suppressing its energy within his body. It was a trait he would be unlikely to master on the first try, if success could even be achieved so quickly. Still, it was possible that, with the many distractions Jorshal was facing, he would be able to go by unnoticed.

As he continued moving away from the main gate, he surveyed the land, hoping desperately that the one item he was depending on could be found. After a few moments, he saw it - an alternate exit to the castle grounds.

It was small, no more than a vent to allow exit to a now dry stream, but Sqibs were among the smallest species in the galaxy, and squeezing through would be no problem for Saveer. Jumping into the dry riverbed, he slipped effortlessly through the opening, making his way into the forest.

Keeping his former pace consistent, he wove between trees and shrubberies, making his way back toward the main group. He couldn't see them through the dense foliage, but he could sense them through the Dark Side - their flaring hatred gave them away quite easily. Following this sense, as well as his basic instinct, he continued on until he found himself opposite Jorshal's opponents, with Jorshal facing directly away from him. Stealthily unsheathing his Sith Sword, he leaped from the forest, using his enhanced leg muscles, along with an added burst of power from the Dark Side, he propelled himself upward.

As he jumped, he rose the sword above his head, charging toward Jorshal with a great aerial assault. With the rustling of the trees immediately giving away his presence, he dropped his force masking, if it was even working at all, and redirected the energy into the muscles of his one working arm. As his legs would not be needed very much for this attack, he let the energy fade from them as well, building his arm muscles with all the energy he could muster. Jorshal, meanwhile, was fending off the attacks of three people from the other side without the use of a weapon - while Saveer's attack could be his downfall if he ignored it, turning to face it could similarly leave him open to the others around him.

With all the power he could muster, he brought the sword to bear on Jorshal's backside, carefully aiming to avoid any vital organs with a clean blow to the shoulder. While he flew through the air, he had another idea...

While still keeping as much energy devoted to his active arm as possible, he channeled just enough force energy into his other arm to give it movement. Subtly, he reached down with his disabled arm, careful not to give away his intentions. As the sword came to bear on Jorshal, he stealthily brought his Relby-K23 Blaster Pistol out of its holster, leaving his arm hanging limply at his side until just before contact with Jorshal.

It brought much pain to Saveer to raise his left arm into the air - he used this to further fuel the Dark Side energy flowing through him, adding that much more force to the blow just before it landed. Raising the pistol in the air, he brought it to bear on Jorshal's head, ready to fire at point-blank range. Luckily, the blaster was still set for stun from an earlier mission - there was no real danger in the blaster at all. But Jorshal didn't know that. If his blade missed, he still had another option. Unfortunately, that was the last option available to him - his body would give out within moments now. If this attack failed, it would be up to the other three to stop Jorshal.

As the blade approached its target, he fired...

[Baralai Lotus]

Baralai watched Saveer's outlandish display, still breathing heavily. His chest was heaving. He straightened out his form, his body burning and attempted to control what was left of himself. He couldn't use the Force for a little while, but he could still act. In a silent gesture, he looked to Tarsis.

He shot a finger over to the side, telling Tarsis to clear the way. Baralai had an idea, wait for Saveer to fire and then sweep Jorshals legs from underneath him. All they had to do was get him on his back. He pulled out his whip and uncoiled it, still breathing heavily. The whip felt forty pounds heavier and he didn't know if this was going to work, but he would try. When Baralai saw Saveer approach, he knew that he was going to fail. Baralai was already counting him as out.

He took his whip and stepped forward, trying to take a better footing for what he was doing. With as much strength as he could muster, he threw the whips chain forward, wrapping it from Jorshals ankles down. It was tight, but Baralai's grip was weak. He was feeling the effects of over-usage in the force. He grasped the hilt with his other hand and pulled it back as hard as he could, swiping Jorshal's feet from directly under him. Hopefully, the battle was done. Otherwise, with his whip wrapped around Jorshal, Baralai had no way of fighting back in his weakened state.

[Tarsis]

Tarsis fell to his knees and skidded across the gravel floor of the training grounds as the wind was knocked out of him by Jorshal's punch. His eyes wide open and gasping for air, Tarsis couldn't believe how hard this was proving to be. It was five on one and the five were getting tossed around like loose change. Taking in deep breaths as Tarsis ran his hand across the area of his power suit that Jorshal had dented in, Tarsis just shook his head. If it wasn't for his power suit taking the brunt of that attack, then Tarsis would more then likely be out of the game now.

Slowly gaining the ability to breath again without wanting to throw up, Tarsis raised his arm, sword in hand, and dug it into the ground to use as support. Finally standing back up, Tarsis, fighting off the dizzy spells that followed, shook his head. He was back in the game, a little on the winded side still, but back in the game nonetheless.

Gripping his sword again with both hands, Tarsis yanked it out of the ground and activated it again, its soft hiss cleaning it of any dirt and debris. Smiling, Tarsis turned around, but when Tarsis turned around, he didn’t expect to see what he saw. What was Saveer doing? Over using the force like that would not lead him to a sound victory, it would lead him to a shallow grave. Taking his attention off Saveer for a moment as he saw Baralai signaling him to move and with a quick nod, Tarsis did as Baralai instructed. Stepping to the side as Baralai wrapped his lightsaber whip around Jorshal’s ankles, Tarsis watched as Baralai put, what seemed like, all his energy into pulling Jorshal’s feet from under him. Jorshal hit the ground with a solid thud and just in time to dodge Saveer’s blaster shot as well.

It was time to get back into the game. Running to Jorshal’s side, Tarsis’ power suit coming to life as the servos and gears clanked into position, increasing his speed, swung his vibrosword from behind him and planted its tip at the base of Jorshal’s neck. Jorshal could feel it’s vibrations barely scratching his skin as Tarsis left no room for error. Tarsis knew Jorshal might try something if given any opportunity, hence why the blade was so close to the skin.

Looking down at Jorshal through long black hair, “ It’s over Jorshal, we’ve won!” Tarsis said as he shifted his feet around in the gravel, making sure he had a proper footing, Tarsis, gripping his sword tighter, pressed down just a little bit more, just enough to let Jorshal know that he wasn’t joking. Hearing the others moving in, Tarsis waited to see what would happen next…

[Jorshal Vuntana]

By now, he was starting to get irritated. The rule of thumb was that when fighting a group, either bring them to a choke point where one could destroy the possibility of being overwhelmed or run. For all purposes of this exercise he needed the group to work together and work together they had.

Is that Saveer?

He spun around to find the little creature soaring through the air and ready to attack with all the might he could muster. The gleam on the blaster's barrel shined in the light as Jorshal quickly became aware that he had lost his edge. Everyone on the team was in a position to attack, despite how skilled he may be, Jorshal was in trouble. Saveer posed the biggest threat with his blaster, it was in Jorshal's best interest to stop his attack over all. It was too late to make preventitive procedures and Jorshal sprung up a telekinetic shield blocking both a the blaster shot and the sword strike. The only downside to using a telekinetic shield was that Jorshal had never been exceptional with telkinesis and it diverted most of his attention as well his energy.

Saveer was stopped but Baralai's whip wrapped itself around his ankles and yanked him off his feet. The warm vibrations of Tarsis' vibrosword broke the skin of his neck, shedding a little blood. If Jorshal had the energy he would create a telekinetic shockwave, disabling everyone for a minute... but he did not.

"It's over Jorshal, we've won." Tarsis said as the blade dug deeper into the base of his neck. It pained him to accept he had been bested, by five people none the less, but he had been bested regardless.

"Point taken, Tarsis." He said through gritted teeth. "Now remove that blade before I have your head." Silently he scolded himself over his pride. Perhaps a better teacher would have accepted that the lesson had been taught, but he was hardly a teacher. It was alomst as if he had been forced into the reorganizing and training of the Order. He shunned his thoughts and stood up.

"Very well, all of you have worked as a team to overwhelm me. But our training as a team has only begun. What you've all accomplished is the ability to work together to overwhelm an enemy. What we need to strive for is how to form an attack of precision. Our training is far from over. However, that will begin another day." He said and met the eyes of everyone. "Tomorrow we shall train again and we shall train the next day until we can act like as well oiled machine. You are dismissed."

Jorshal walked over to his fallen lightsaber hilt and picked it up, clipping it to his belt. He rolled his neck to push out some of the tension from the fall and Tarsis' vibroblade. Silently he reminded himself that he was not a sith Master and that these were his not his complete subjects, it was just that he had been defeated in attempting to fight them all. Just as it was should any one of them attempt to take on the group as a whole. Training went well today, should his deceased master, Southstar, seen it he would have approved. Despite the trials and tribulations, the Sith endure.

[Baralai Lotus]

Baralai strode up to the side of Jorshal, panting slightly. He was doing well. Pulling a soft scrap of paper from his jacket, he handed it to Jorshal, instructing him to open it. He had made a discovery and he wanted Jorshal to know what he had done. He had made an amazing discovery in the field of Sith Alchemy.

The note was written legibly, almost like a proposal. It was a record of what he had discovered in his first study of Sith Alchemy. Hopefully, Jorshal would find it interesting.

Jorshal, I have made a discovery that may be of interest to you. While experimenting in the field of Sith Alchemy, an ancient art that has not been practiced for sometime, I have made an astonishing discovery. It seems, that after the creature has been altered and changed to what I wish, it's connection to the force is cut off. Almost as if the medichlorians in the body die, making it less of a living creature and something more of a monster that simply has bloodflow.

The reason I bring this up is too ask for more equipment to research this phenomenan. What I ask, is for a Sith Alchemy lab. With this lab, I can research deeper into the field of Sith Alchemy. I am doing all I can with the books at my disposal, but I need more. Surely you understand this, this thirst for knowledge. Help me Jorshal, and I will make it worth your while. The Sith Wars were fought with the creatures of Alchemy, and if I am allowed to further my research then the Sith will rise again. Imagine our order thriving with life. This can be something more than a dream Jorshal. I am currently writing a book, a journal if you will, of my findings in Sith Alchemy. With this knowledge I can teach the art to others and expand our order even more. We will be restored to our former glory. Imagine what we could do Jorshal. Imagine the creatures of the Sith Wars walking again, helping us to tear down every last Jedi. The possibilities are limitless!

Baralai watched as Jorshal read the letter, secretly hoping that this power would be allowed to him. Hoping that they could get what they wanted.

[Jorshal Vuntana]

He was handed a note by the one who pulled his feet from out beneath him. He quickly read the note and pondered whether or not he should grant Baralai the money needed for building the lab. He'd have to review the expenses for the Order as a whole. Perhaps some money could be taken from research and development.

He couldn't give Baralai another 'we'll see', he had been mentioning the lab to Jorshal for weeks now. "You'll be granted some credits out of research and development, but the only stipulation is you have to make all purchases out of Corellia only." He handed the note back to Baralai. "See me later and we'll discuss the details."