Through The Dragons Eye

[Vega Van-Derveld]

"I cannot abide thrusting my hand down somethings gullet."

The tall, thick framed blonde man paced back and forth, sharply gesturing one hand out to the other present. He stopped in his tracks and turned sharply on the heel of his boots, offering his aqquaintance a piercing stair.

"The very thought of it disgusts me to the put of nausea!"

In a sweep, both hands crossed over his chest then shot out to the sides again before coming to a twitchy rest on his hips. He rocked back and forth on his heels and looked down to the side at the smartly dressed youngster to his left.

"You. How tough is the flesh?"

There was a short silence in which the boy tried to stammer out his words. Eventually he was slapped on the top of the head by the larger of the two men in the room, and spat out his words.

"Tender, Lord Van-Derveld."

Vega rubbed his hands together and ran his tongue over his dry lips. The Garou cracked his knuckles, then looked once more to his comrade. It was his apprentice, Xavier Sadow. He gave a nod and sly grin to the boy.

"Then we shall be able to cut through it with a blade?"

The helper responded promptly, "Aye, sir."

"Excellent ... tell the hangar bay to prep the Fenix for take off, We're going to Tatooine."

[Xavier Sadow]

Xavier watched as his Master "interrigated" the boy. He cracks his neck lightly then runs his hands back throuh his long blonde hair, tying it up in the back.

He smiles and stretched his arms out to the side, leaning back a little. A few loud pops are heard running from the base of the Sith Warrior's spine to the top of his back.

"This is going to be exciting..."

He smirks slightly and crosses his arms over his chest slowly after tossing back the sides of his trenchcoat slightly, the hilt of the double edged saber showing just for a moment.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

Vega gestured with a sharp flick of his hand as he began to walk out into the corridor, implying he wanted Xavier to follow. The two began headed out down the hallway - which the boy was currently streaking off down to try and reach the hangar before the Sith did.

"Yesss.. most exciting."

As he walked, he thought on the purpose of the quest. It would be beneficial not only for social ties, but for the furtherment of Xaviers skills. He would make an excellent Knight someday, and Vega didn't want to let his skills get at all rusty.

As the two were turning the corner into the docking bay, Vega spoke, glancing to the side.

"Have you ever encountered a krayt dragon before, my apprentice?"

[Xavier Sadow]

Xavier walks next to his Master, standing just a bit shorter than Vega. His arms hang loose at his sides as he walks, smirking at the boy charging down the hall. He looks to his Master as Vega asks him the question.

"No I have not, Master. But I have a heard a little bit about them.."

[Vega Van-Derveld]

The Sith Lord removes a small datapad from the pocket in his flight jacket, then handed it to his apprentice. It read as follows:

Krayt Dragon -
a large, fearsome beast native to Tatooine, the krayt dragon is a beast which continues to grow larger throughout its lifespan. The krayt dragon is yellowish-brown in color, a camouflage used to blend in with the desert's rocky caves and fissures. The head of the dragon is heavily armored, and five large horns grow from its crown. The dragon walks low to the ground on four heavy legs, and its tail is studded with long spikes. The Tusken Raiders on Tatooine have a maturity ritual in which young males are left in the desert to confront and kill a krayt dragon in order to prove their adulthood. The only sure way to kill the krayt is to penetrate their central sinus cavity and puncture the brain which lies behind it. The krayt, like many reptiles, has fearsome teeth which are used to capture its prey, but are ineffective for grinding and chewing. So, like many reptiles, the kray dragon ingests stones and boulders and holds them in a series of gizzards. The muscles of the gizzard chambers roll food around among the stones, crushing it into digestible pulp. The last gizzard chamber contains the smoothest stones, which are expelled in favor ot newer, rougher stones. These smooth stones are known throughout the galaxy as dragon pearls, and are extremely valuable. It has been reported that the krayt dragon has recently been domesticated. They are often raised for their milk and eggs. The Sandpeople and Jawas have said that the bones of the krayt dragon hold mystical powers. There are some scholars who believe that the krayt dragon is really the descendant of the wild offspring of a Duinuogwuin, although this has never been proven.

As the two walked, with Xavier browsing over the small piece of information, Vega sighed quietly. He had attempted this same mission before with his former apprentice Sieken Kasstra, yet it had failed. He had a good feeling about this attempt though, and was very confident in Xaviers abilities. The boy was level minded and had a strong will; infact Vega saw much of himself in his apprentice. Perhaps this was why he enjoyed training and such with him.

The two entered the shuttle bay and approached the TIE Phantom Praetor Fenix, a much wizened craft, at a quick pace. Both climbed up into the vessel, with Vega taking the control helm, Xavier sat beside him.

"Control, this is Lord Van-Derveld requesting permission to take off."

There was a few moments of static noise before a stout sounding voice responded.

"Aye, Lord Van-Derveld. You have clearance to depart through gate 5. God speed."

Vega imagined the cheery sounding officer saluting at this point, and chuckled to himself as he began to start up the ship. It was at this point, that he paused and turned to Xavier. He stood up and moved to one of the other seats to the left of the captains chair.

"You take the controls, my apprentice."

[Xavier Sadow]

Xavier slowly reads over the information on their new opponent. It seemed easy enough if they both took on the beast at the same time. He smiles to himself slightly and clears his throat before moving into the ship with his master.

The young Sith Warrior sits down in the chair next to Vega's then raises an eyebrow as his master tells him to fly. He nods.

"Yes, Master..."

He slides into the chair Vega was in and takes the controls. He flicks a few switches and the ship raises off of the floor of the ship. He turns the ship so it is pointing towards gate 5 and as he flicks another switch the ship screams through the docking bay and out of the gate. As soon as they are clear of anything really directly around them, Xavier sets the coordinates for Tatooine and the ship jumps into hyperspace.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

As the ship passes into hyperspace the flecks of stars around them merge to become white streaks, and the viewscreen shows a great celestial rush of colours.

"Very nicely done... we should be there in 20 minutes or so. In the mean time..."

Rising up from his chair, Vega sat the ship onto autopilot for the moment and gesture for Xavier to follow him. He lead his apprentice off out of the cockpit down the tight passageway into the cargo area. Within the hold were two swoop bikes, some high intensity weaponry and various other materials.

"We'll be riding these when we get there."

He gave a nod and looked up up towards the cockpit.

"... Xavier, how are you finding your time at the Empire?"

[Xavier Sadow]

Xavier follows his Master and smiles a little as he sees the swoop bikes. He slides his hand over one of them, it had been a long time since he'd ridden one of these. He looks to Vega as he asks the question. The young Sith Warrior smile slightly.

"Interesting.. only a few dull moments in the time I've been here."

[Vega Van-Derveld]

"I see that you are becoming well aqquainted with many of the other members, and that you even have a sibling-like bond with Daegal."

Vega turned and began climbing back up into the cockpit slowly, speaking as he did so.

"From what I remember, your family are sparce to you so it will be good to have Warrior Murdoch as a brother."

He paused and glanced down at his apprentice with a smile.

"Good luck with the young Sha girl too."

He winked then hopped up out of sight.

[Xavier Sadow]

Xavier climbs up towards the cockpit. He smiles at his Master's words.

"The bond between Daegal and I is not brother-like. It is a brotherly bond.. he is my half brother."

Xavier chuckles for a second then stops and just smiles.

"Thank you.."

He climbs into the cockpit and takes his seat next to his Master.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

"Ah, you are actually brothers! Pardon my ignorance, Xavier, only I've not spoken to Daegal in some time, aside from duelling with him."

Vega smiled as he watched his apprentice sit down. The clock on the dash stated that it would be two minutes before they hit the hyperspace barrier and came out at Tatooine.

"How is it that you came to realise you were related? or did you already know upon your entrance into the Empire?"

[Xavier Sadow]

Xavier shakes his head slowly and smiles. He cracks his neck lightly as he turns his head from right to left.

"No, my lord. An old message from his father stated that his mother was the same as mine.."

[Vega Van-Derveld]

"Ah. I found my brother also through the Empire ... if it were not for my joining, I would have never located Ket."

Vega smiled. The dash before him bleeped and squeaked, signifying that it was time for them to exit hyperspace and enter Tatooines atmosphere. A tremor ripped through the ship as it cut out of the pocket and back into 'normal' space, right on the belt surrounding the planet. With a quick tap of the controls, the ship angled downwards and began the descent towards the planet.

"The Empire brings a great many things ... friends, family, love," he sighed somewhat on speaking, yet contented himself with staring down at the familiar sight before him.

[Xavier Sadow]

Xavier nods slowly as he hears the last line of what his master has said.

"Aye it does.."

He leans back slightly in the chair, his arms crossing over his chest very slowly as he stares down at the desert planet infront of them.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

As the two fell silent, the ship began to jerk and shudder as it passed through the main belt of atmosphere. Within a few seconds it was skimming the surface of the jutland wasteland, bobbing up and down over the outcrops. In the far off distance, the ships computer picked up a small settlement - they could have fun with that later.

"Here we are..."

Grinning, Vega touched the ship down in the center of a rock formation that would encircle the craft and hide it from the view of any passersby. The door hissed aside and the Sith Lord jumped down out onto the boiling rocks. He made his way towards the back of the ship and unloaded the two swoops.