Limit Break

[Jeseth Cloak]

Jeseth stood at the center of a small clearing, just East of the town of Aurilia. Its misty walls could be seen clearly from where he stood, and enveloped everything beyond them in a sea of white fog. He wore his usual attire: an archaic Jedi robe, scuffed and covered in spots of blood and ash. Glancing about, he noticed that the morning dew was beginning to burn away.

They're late. he thought privately, listening to the distant cawing of a raven. The Dark Jedi had asked that Matier and her brood gather before him: the ones who now aspired to empower themselves as Sith; he had also demanded the attendance of his apprentices: those who would be trained in the ways of his religion. Gathered around him were several small stones. He had spent part of the morning moving them by way of the Force, arranging them in a manner that suited his needs. Atop the stones sat several lifeless lightsabers.

He had constructed the weapons over the course of several weeks, using various crystals he had acquired during his exile on Ilum. Every last one of them had been forged by his hand, and imbued with his power - all save one: the lightsaber that sat at the center of the circle. That particular weapon had been forged with the same crystal once used by Anakin Skywalker.

[Asherah]

Asherah could feel the swarm of adepts amassing at her backside, advancing toward the location that the Nightsister skirted restlessly. Was it anxiety that held their number at bay? Perhaps they were just looking to make what the high class called a 'fashionably late' arrival. She knew that Matier would take her precious time disembarking from the village centered within the mist, as it was not in her nature to take orders or advice to heart. It was just the sort of thing she would use to anger him.

Asherah took in his force aura from her bearings several, several yards from the ordered meeting place. No doubt he could feel her too, now. The sheer magnitude of his power washed over her like an intangible tidal wave pulsing with an aspect of the Force she had not yet begun to graze. He was so much different than Matier that it was daunting. How had the two ever come together?

Rolling her back in an unmistakably cat-like manner, she bunched her slight weight into her shoulders and then pushed her legs forward. Launching herself into a crouched position on the branch she had been laying back against, she sank her fingers deeply into the sodden wood and poised there thoughtfully. There could be no harm in arriving before the others.

Pushing forward using the corded muscles of her pale arms, which were encased within black gloves stitched to an equally black top beneath her armor, she tore through the dense forest silently.

Upon reaching the treeline enclosing the clearing Jeseth Cloak stood in, she paused yet again. Then, digging the claws of gauntlets into the bark of the timber, she slid down it's length effortlessly. The stock let out a cry into the force as it's toughened layers were shredded but judging from her unfeeling expression, she couldn't care less.

"The others should be here shortly.." She said in that quiet voice she always tried to maintain. The intensity of their crimson gazes locking was all consuming for that brief moment in time.

[Yuri Thrice]

Yuri found himself walking aimlessly through the mists of Dathomir. If there was one thing he didn't particularly like about Aurilia, it was this damned mist! It was everywhere, and in everything! It messed with most of the equipment, caused things to prematurely rust and become useless. But such was the way of this place. Yuri would simply have to be more mindful of what gear he had in his possession.

With a sickening screech and a crunch, Yuri's booted foot landed on another creature within the fog. Great, more dead gunk to dig out of his boots later. With a sigh of discontent, Yuri continued trudging along the wooded stretch. If only this planet had buildings and more technology, Yuri would be right at home. But here, despite it's breathtaking landscapes, Dathomir was a jewel in the rough. And why? Oh, because of the RANCOR that roamed the countryside, tied to the strange Nightsisters. Yuri couldn't ever see himself riding such a creature. Maybe befriending one? Sure. A big friend was a good thing. But riding one as a mount, symbiotically? There was no way in hell.

Yuri wasn't actually on his way to the training area; he had been out at the time, and had missed the message to go there. He was merely walking in the mist, getting something of a bearing for his surroundings. It was a trait that was ingrained in him from what martial training he had undertaken. But that martial training didn't cover lightsaber combat, which he was completely new to. Yet somehow, during his time on Naboo with an unusual woman, Yuri found himself building some strange contraption that ended up becoming....his lightsaber. Why he built it, he knew not. Why he even thought to build such a thing, he knew not, for he hadn't even done that. He just found himself routing the long way around Naboo, and found himself in some kind of trance in his workstation aboard his YT-1500, building a device that he had no idea how to build. He had no blueprints before him. No plans or even knowledge of how to construct a weapon of such....complication and finesse. Yet somehow, he not only managed to create a single lightsaber, but one double-bladed lightsaber instead, with a few neat tricks that it was capable of. He had discovered one of these tricks during the flight, while he was fiddling with it. Whatever possessed him to build the blue-bladed double-lightsaber was completely in charge, and it created a beautiful specimen, a deadly weapon that he would wield. It already seemed to work very well with him, though he was no master with such a weapon. He would have to work with it...

Lost in his own musings, Yuri tripped, and went headlong to the ground. Were it not for his incredible reflexes, he would've hit face-first into the ground. But instead, his hands shot forward, and the falling momentum was spent as he rolled twice, and landed standing on his feet. As he looked to what tripped him, he saw the lightsaber laying atop it. But that wasn't what he saw first.

What he saw first was Master Jeseth, standing in the center of the stones, next to what appeared to be a circle of stones with respective lightsabers sitting atop them. He saw the center one, and felt a strange presence, a ripple within himself. He saw another person standing next to Jeseth. This one was clad in black, powered armor, with a visage of cold and death. It was none other that Darth Vader himself.... Upon shaking his head, Yuri saw that it was only Jeseth. What the hell was that? And then it hit him....the lightsaber next to Jeseth. It had....Vader's aura. Yuri spoke, looking at Jeseth.

"Vader's saber? Or the components? Strange. I coulda swore he was standing next to you....So, what did I miss, Master Jeseth?"

[Cade Mercer]

"Nothing... yet..."

Cade stood over the fallen man, her dark eyes stareing down at him. From his position, she towered over him. In truth, though, she is actually a rather small in frame individual. She narrows her eyes slightly, almost scoffing at the ungraceful movement he had taken to enter the circle.


* * *
An Hour Earlier


Cade had heard the message. She knew her previous master was serious about those of their order coming and participating in this exorcise. But she also knew what this was about. For hours, she had been sitting in her living quarters, meditating, focusing. She reached back into memories she had forgotten long ago. Missions she and Jeseth had gone on when she was still a child. She focused and replayed his fights over and over in her head. She watched his every movement in those fights. For hours, she had studied within herself his battle techniques.

When the time had come, her trance broke, the visions from the force faded from her mind. She stood and walked over to a durosteel chest on the ground beside her bed. Her room was meagerly decorated, not because she didn't have much money, but because she didn't have much want of clutter. Living in the monestary had taught her that simple was better for focusing.

Quietly, and in motions making it almost seem ritualistic, she opened the chest, removed a small pile of clothing and her lightsaber, laying them on the bed beside each other. Slowly, she undressed, folding her previous atire and placing it at the foot of her bed for cleaning later, and began to redress in clothing uncharacteristic of a jedi of any sort. A black, strapless top and black, disconnected sleaves were pulled over a fitted white shirt. Black fitted pants were pulled up and a short white skirt pulled over them. The last things she pulled on was a hooded jacket and her boots before she picked up the lightsaber and held it infront of her for a moment, focusing on it.

Finally, she clipped the lightsaber to her belt and walked out the door towards the meeting place of Jeseth's command.


* * *

At the Stone Circle


Cade stood over the fallen man for a moment before offering her hand to him. Her hood was pulled over her head, but her dark blue eyes could clearly be seen benieth it. Once she helped him to his feet, she turned and, without another word, walked slowly over to Jeseth. She only nodded to him before bringing her eyes up to meet his. The look she gave him told him everything she wanted him to know that moment, so no words were passed.

There, she remained while the rest filed in slowly. By his side, her eyes unfocused, stareing at the mists, her mind, as always, seeming to be elsewhere.

[Jeseth Cloak]

Jeseth had been staring at Asherah when Yuri stumbled into the misty clearing; her beauty was haunting, and seemed to rival even that of her mother, Matier. In so many ways, she was truly her father's daughter - Jeseth's daughter.

Yuri asked him about the lightsaber that lay at the center of the clearing, and Jeseth waited for Cade to settle in beside him before answering the aspiring Sith's questions. "Yes, the crystal within that lightsaber once belonged to Anakin Skywalker, the destroyer of my order. I went to great lengths to retrieve it, Thrice... Do you know why?"

Jeseth spat out the answer to his own question angrily before the Human had a chance to respond. "Because everything he worked to destroy, I will restore - and everything he lived to create I will watch fall, at the hands of my daughter..." Jeseth turned to Asherah. His crimson Ventisian eyes were shimmering with a distant, numbed hatred. The pain behind them had long ago burned away any sense of reason within the fallen Jedi.

"Asherah, take it." he said, then turned his head up towards the sky to take a deep breath and calm his nerves.

Glancing back to Yuri, his lips pulled into a thin smile. "Either way, Cade's right. You haven't missed anything yet. Matier and the others are straggling behind - I've no doubt she's hoping to provoke me. Even the simplest of my requests, she perverts or denies." he said with a sigh.

[Yuri Thrice]

Yuri thanked the young woman who pulled him up. She said nothing, and he didn't persue any conversation. On the other hand, when Jeseth answered him, and with fervor, Yuri spoke.

"Um, wow. Didn't peg you as the "daddy dearest" type, Master Jeseth. But for the record, you make quite beautiful children..."

The Corellian flashed his award-winning smile.

"Hmm, that leads to my next question. Why are members of the Sith here? I mean, if they want to truly be Sith, then why not be a part of the pre-established order? Does this mean they are the diet-drink of the Sith, or what?"

[Asherah]

...and everything he lived to create I will watch fall, at the hands of my daughter...

Asherah Ziiv'arel stiffened as she was mentioned and peeled her eyes away from her father, allowing the crimson orbs to linger upon the man and woman who had joined them. There hadn't been much time to discuss the various circumstances they'd be operating under but the situation wasn't so uniquely fathomless that she couldn't speculate correctly. It was all well and good with one group carrying out their business in the area but Asherah couldn't help but ponder how the Nightsisters, in all their virulent wickedness, would handle the Dark Jedi.

After all, their differences were many. That much could be deducted when comparing her mother and father. The only thing keeping the fallen Jedi and the Sith Mistress from being total opposites was their mutual understanding of how this daunting world worked.

A gloved hand lifted and smoothed down the silken strands of straight, black hair growing with a specific fineness from her alabaster skin. She almost rolled her eyes upon noticing that it was a habit in which Matier often indulged.

Asherah, take it...

She moved forward with a surprisingly graceful stride despite the collection of armor adorning her frame, pausing at once directly beside her father. She extended her arm then, her fingers stretching toward the saber at rest. The ghost of her true self, the underlying signature that seemed to be amplified by those gathering, fanned across the alloy encasing the precious crystal within.

I mean, if they want to truly be Sith, then why not be a part of the pre-established order? Does this mean they are the diet-drink of the Sith, or what?

"I realize you weren't talking to me, colnbluth, but in my opinion the answer you seek should be presented by the Sith you ask about." She spoke up, the accented tone seemingly composed of a rich texture, like some sweet but enslaving spice.

"While others may observe our particular practice as primitive and lacking in control, they are blinded to the fact that we are the raw and authentic form of the philosophy. We are not directed by a Dark Lord or manipulated by principles passed down over the years simply because we are the progenitors."

She turned her eyes, which had somehow taken on a fiery consistency, upon this amusing fellow who had inquired after the Sith. The hint of a smile tugged at her pale lips but it was most difficult to see. Her hand closed over the saber and an imposing beam of red dyed her pale skin the hue of blood.

"Do not be so swift as to denounce our assembly, sir."

[Yuri Thrice]

Yuri shook his head. As he began to explain, he spoke more with his hands, and loud, drastic hand motions. This was common to some Corellians, and to him, it was a habit that he would most likely be unable to break.

"No, you got it wrong, lady. I'm not denouncing anything.....and speaking to me negatively doesn't get us anywhere, now does it? I meant no offense. I was merely trying to figure out what self-proclaimed Sith were doing within a group that doesn't necessarily play to all of the Sith's strengths. Is it because of internal warring and strife, such as the ones thousands of years ago that thinned out the Sith ranks and allowed the Jedi to grow more numerous, or is it merely that the teachings followed by other Sith factions are not to your liking? I'm curious as to what exactly it is that makes you guys want to join with others who don't necessarily share your views or philosophies..."

Yuri countinued, taking a few steps back and forth, pacing as he spoke.

"....now myself, I'm not big on philosophies. It complicates things, makes others become lost in who or what they are dealing with. People do stupid things in the name and sake of philosophy. Myself, I'm here for one reason: to figure out just what the Force is, and what I can do with it. Period. No war against the Jedi, no complete overhaul of the Empire, no squashing the Rebel Alliance, no purging the galaxy of the Sith. That's not me. Now, what is me is learning more about the Force, and what I can do with it. And the Dark Jedi, they seem more for me. They offer power, and control, something that neither the Jedi, nor the Sith, seem to offer in the same package. And they don't seem to create major restrictions, nor do they seem steeped in tradition. Perhaps if my perception is incorrect, then I wouldn't mind being taught the error of my ways. Furthermore, if the Sith can offer some small tidbits and morsels of information and techniques that I can definitely benefit from, then I will most gladly take what I can from it. Now, are we on the same page?"

Yuri ended it with his hands and arms out, palms up in the air in question. His reflexes were fast enough that, if the black clad, lovely, lightsaber-wielding woman attempted to attack, Yuri could react with a parry of his own. He merely smiled, prepared.

[Cade Mercer]

Bickering voices... They tainted her visions as she stood there beside Jeseth. The knight's eyes had been unfocused, but now they began to refocus and unfocus again with these plagueing voices. A growl escapes her throat and her eyes finally focus. Her head snaps in the twos direction, her eyes narrowed. They watched the red blade slip out of the lightsaber which only angered her more.

Cade stepped between the two and looked them both over. Both were Saber happy, untrained and violent. Chaotic power. She shakes her head in dismay at this show of barbaric tendency. Her eyes turned to Jeseth, once again telling him all without a word. Angered disappointment. Her hand reached up to her belt where her lightsaber was hanging and she unclips it.

Slowly she raises it befor her, her eyes shifting back and forth between the two. Her thumb flicks over the activation and the silver beam slips gracefully out of the hilt. The smell of burning o-zone and the gentle hum of her blade peirced the air. She turns her blade, flipping it on the side that Yuri is close to then to the other side where Asheran is near. She brings it infront of her again and smirks.

Suddenly, she just drops the saber. As soon as it leaves her hand, the blade disappears within the hilt. The cold metal hilt hits the ground with a soft Thud. It left her unarmed and apparently unprepared. Her mind dodged back in forth from the present to the past. The small groups silence was almost too loud.

Her right food quickly moved and kicked two rocks into the air. She swung her arm out and hit one with the palm of her hand, knocking it spinning directly in Yuri's direction towards his chest. The other rock, she it with her other foot, aimed at Asheran's stomach.

"Do Not Rely On Your Weapons...."

She didn't care weather the rocks actually hit them or not. She mearly stood, her feet apart in a stance that was prepared for anything.

"Do Not Rely On The Force...."

Her eyes raised and turned to look at both of them.

"This was the Jedi's downfall. They were unprepared. They trained only in the ways of the force and lightsaber. You take their weapons away, and a jedi is as defenseless as a child. You want power? You wish to control the force? Then learn to control your own body first..."

She knelt and picked up her lightsaber, clipping it back onto her belt. She said nothing more and walked away from them, outside of the circle of stones. Her form disappeared into the mists surrounding them.

[Yuri Thrice]

As the rock sailed from its resting point on the ground, to chest level, Yuri was a blur. His hands easily caught the rock, right as it came within less than six inches from his chest. He almost laughed. He had expected something to come from the other woman. Instead, the short fry kicked a rock at him. A rock. He sighed, tossing it behind him, listening to it thud to the ground.

"Master our bodies? Please. I may not know Teras Kasi, but I do know how to use my body to defend myself, or to hurt others. And who said anything about not being prepared?"

Yuri's cold, blue eyes were trained, taking in everything they could see. And what they couldn't, instinct, or perhaps the Force, was taking care of the rest. Yuri didn't know if the Force was directly involved, and honestly, he could care less. He was more aware here, and now, than he had been in a long time. After all, here he was, on a foreign planet, full of monsters and creatures of all sorts, and now the base of Dark Siders. Of course he was prepared.

[Denarr Sepphist]

Long fingers played idly along the netting of her arms, inspecting the various ladders that grew wider every day, not that she honestly minded. Denarr had become rather fond of the nightsister garb, their unusual display of mesh and scrap fabric surprisingly suiting the girl; who’s thin frame and impossibly long limbs did well to accentuate the garments. She wore a shirt of black cloth, it’s open cuts sealed with crude thong, a detail that matched the loose black trousers hanging off her hips...

She had been summoned, along with the handful of apprentices who had found themself on this planet; most of which she could plainly see through the trees - bickering and throwing rocks like children... Denarr, however, felt no real sense of connection with the others; and so her entrance was made with much less flare; her booted feet skipping over the last, moss-laden log that separated her from the clearing. There was a power in the air, resonating from the cruel, unreadable man she knew as Jeseth Cloak; the tendrils of energy that whipped about his form - like some ancient creature of the deep - was anything if not frightening...

Over her eyes sat a mask of black leather (devoid of eye holes) with silver beads dangling from strings; the Miralukan having developed a most eccentric outer nature since landing on this marshy world. With both hands clasped behind her back, Denarr advanced on the troop with a smile that bled true charm; those talented lips curling coyly as she positioned herself aside one of the still-stationary stones. The instrument that sat upon it was cause for much consideration.

A lightsaber.
An extension of the one whom wields it.
The archaic, destructive tool of the Jedi...

Bending at the waist, the girl brought her face closer to the weapon; her legs remaining straight throughout the rather flexible procedure. She sniffed it, for no other reason than curiosity, then turned her head aside, provoking a cascade of dark hair to slap gingerly against her cheeks.

“I wonder who this one’s for...”

[Jeseth Cloak]

OOC: Please watch the posting order. Only myself or Matier should be posting out of synch from time to time, in order to advance the plot.

[Yurza Magus]

He had spent only a few days on Dathomir so far, but already the Sith Knight was begging to tire of it. The rest of the planet was nice and he would have loved to spend more time out in the open, but this city of Aurilla was were the Darksiders had chosen to make their home.

He had gotten a call from Jeseth, the same one that had invited him here to join his little band of darksiders. While he would have rather preferred a group made of just Sith, these "Jedi" as they chose to call themselves did appeal to Yurza in a certain manner. They were more ruthless and seemed to be more willing to do what needed to be done than what he had thought a traditional Jedi would do.

He entered the small clearing and saw them standing near some stones. He made his way over and immediately his muscles tensed as he saw one figure attempt to attack two of the others with rocks. He had almost reached out with the Force to stop both of them, but it seemed that one of the members had little trouble dispatching his projectile. He smiled and reached out for the other rock, stopping it before it hit the other figure, a female from what Yurza could see. He let it drop to the floor as he finished his walk to the group.

"Jeseth," he said as he nodded to Jedi Master as he came forward. "You called?"