In the Footsteps of the Fallen...(Snack)

[Silex Invictus]

Silex had returned to Coruscant since his journey to seek out and aquire the ancient Sith Lightsaber of Count Dooku, aka Darth Tyrannus. His quest had been both a failure and a success, fruitful and futile; he had found the saber, but lost it to the Dark Lord Darth Snack in a duel, which he lost. But he so impressed the Sith that the Dark-sider offered him a choice; serve him and become a Dark Lord as well or die.

It was an easy choice for the ambitious young aristocrat.



Mssr. Invictus,
Your presence is requested at my home on Cayss. Bring a change of clothes and nothing else. Tell no one of where you are going or what you are doing. Fly to these coordinates yourself.

Silex read the coordinates of the planet Cayss, he had never heard of it, which was strange given his extensive studies in stellar topography.

No one will even miss me m'lord... Silex smiled. His father paid no attention to where he was going or what he was doing, so long as it did without causing a scene or too much trouble.

He packed a change of clothes, it was his dueling attire into a small Lambada class shuttle, equipped for hyperspace.

He programed the jump to Cayss with it's coordinates and sat back in his chair and rested. It would be sometime before he reached his master's home.

[Nathanial K'cansce]

Hmmm... I'm gonna have to fix that.

*Snack said out loud, looking at a vandalized street sign located near his home. It was a shame, in all reality. The Lord of the planet leaves for a week, only to come home to find punks living on his grounds disrespecting his life like that. A public showing of humility of whoever had done this would more than likely keep uprisings down for another few months.

Cayss, though not very well known, was starting to get its share of visitors every now and then. A few of which bringing blasphemy and lies that their Lord Snack was indeed a very powerful Sith Lord. Bah! Uneducated fools. Most of the populous believed Snack to be a wealthy man with some importance in the galaxy. For all they knew, he was a senator representing their system. Except.. those of importance had no idea Cayss existed. Which in turn, made it very difficult for Snack to realize just how the hell people found out about this tiny self-sufficient planet in the first place.

What a paradox.*

Good for nothing kids.

*He shook his head and continued past the sign. His destination was his keep.

Today was the day, wasn't it? When Silex would make his debut in Cayssian history? Well, maybe not that, but he was expected tonight. The message had been sent a while ago with specific instruction to meet here on this night. Silex best not be late for his own well being.*

[Silex Invictus]

As the stars passed by the shuttle Silex looked at the chronometer. He had a good four hours left before he had to be at Lord Snack, his new master.

Master...

Such a funny term to the guilded youth. He'd spent his life with Senator's and moff's treating him with deferrence. As the sole heir of one of the largest fiscal empires in the galaxy, all wanted to have his ear. None did though. They were insignificant to him, he could buy their lives, have them killed or kill their enemies and no one could touch him. But that wasn't enough, he was tired of being powerful only on paper. He wanted something more concrete, he wanted something that would make his enemies cringe before him, for fear of his power's not the power of his money.

He wanted to change the galaxy, make it better, streamlined. Create it in his image, only the strong would survive. Might would make right. But he was but a boy and had no idea how to achieve these lofty dreams.

But Darth Snack would....

Now approaching Cayss Mssr. Invictus...

The voice of the shuttles auto-pilot wrested the man from his thoughts.

Silex opened his letter and read the exact coordinates of the location of Snack's manor. He took over the controls and manually began his descent into the atmosphere of Cayss.

As he piloted the ship a communication came through...

[Nathanial K'cansce]

Silex Invictus, follow your current course. You are to land outside of the city limits, and from there, make your way to Snack's manor. Further instructions will be given there.

*The message sent, Snack swiveled around in his comfy desk chair in the lower level of his home, and looked at the blank wall. Well, almost blank. Up and center, hung a bent saber hilt: the one he had won from the fight with Silex on Odik II.

Standing, Snack walked over to the wall, keeping his everlasting gaze on the working artifact. In due time, it would see battle once more. But not now. Not yet. Behind his keep, Snack would wait. Silex's training would begin there at approximately the time he steps foot onto the land.*

[Silex Invictus]

Silex listened to his instructions and the directions to Lord Snack's manor. As the shuttle began it's descent, the young aristocrat piloting reached back a grabbed a bag. In it was his training clothing and a small PPG (particle projection gun) and a thermal detonator.

He immediately changed from his white business suit to his black training garb. As he tied the black sash around his waist he placed the PPG in the folds of fabric behind his back, making sure the safety was off. He then placed the thermal detonator in his coat. He may have agreed to be the apprentice of the Sith Lord, but he did not trust him yet. If worse came to worse he would have to blast his way out of the Manor and he wanted to be ready.

Cautiously departing from his shuttle he took out his geographic locator and found his barings.

Snack's manor should be about a mile from here.

He began to hike, the terrain was hilly and the trees were thick. It was ideal for defense as many traps and pitfalls could be set up for unsuspecting tresspassers. But strangely there was nothing impedeing his path to the Dark Lord's abode.

As he topped the last hill he could see the Manor, it was magnificent, ancient in architechture. A true marvel of art and form. He began walking towards the manor, when something started bothering him. He felt a small buzz, much like the feeling he got when he was dueling, something was amiss, but he did not know what...

[Xenodoros Stormrider]

Xenodoros Stormrider had no permanent address. He was a wanderer. There really wasn't a way to communicate with Xenodoros. But somehow, he had gotten an invitation to a planet named Cayss from the Sith Lord Darth Snack. Darth Snack had his ways to have an invitation sent directly to the person. Xenodoros was surprised when he received it.

"Cayss? Where in blazes is that?" Xenodoros asked harshly.

He'd never heard of the planet. But the invitation had the coordinates so Xenodoros didn't worry.

A few hours later, Xenodoros lurked around where the cargo ships were parked. But none were going to Cayss. It was difficult to hop on a ride when it was not going where one wanted it to. Xenodoros was furious.

He looked around, nobody was near. Only a few droids repairing damaged cargo ships. Quietly, he sneaked into one of the cargo ships and turned it on, flying away as quick as he could. Xenodoros had experience in flying ships, so it was not difficult for him to lift it off.

Suddenly, alarms were heard near the sector. Security ships launched to go after the stolen cargo ship.

Xenodoros was prepared for this. He headed toward a meteor belt and let the cargo items out, causing the security ships to get distracted.

The ship was lighter, and started moving faster toward the meteor belt. Xenodoros flew to the right of a giant meteor, and then turned left on the following meteor. The huge chunks of rocks caused some security ships to crash.

There was one security ship left. It followed him through the maze of meteors. Xenodoros maneuvered his way from right to left but could not lose the security ship. Then, Xenodoros pulled up, causing him to go back and arrive behind the security ship. Xenodoros turned and was lost from the security's view.

As he hit outer space, Xenodoros set the ship on auto-pilot, relaxing from his escape. He set the coordinates on the ship and waited for an alert when he got there.

"That was a fun chase." Xenodoros smiled.

[Nathanial K'cansce]

*The twinge in the back of Silex's mind was not a warning of what was going to happen now, but what might have happened.

Snack could feel the presence of his disciple through the thick of the forest as he closed in on the Manor, and as such, the Dark Lord watched him closely with unseen eyes.

A snapping of a branch followed by loud rustling noise as it fell through the tiers of the forest behind the traveling Sithling warned of danger, but there was none.

Another snapping, followed by another, and then a snapping of a twig right beside Silex. The danger sense was alerting him still, even more than when he began his trek, though the man had no clue what the feeling in his head really was.

Everyone feared the unknown, even if the unknown was truly nothing at all.*

[Silex Invictus]

Silex reached for his blaster. Training it each time at the origin of the noise. Each time finding nothing at the end of his barrel but forest.

Mind games and why do you carry that blaster, he's already proven it useless the first time you met him...

He continued moving along, placing the blaster back in it's holster. Finally he exitted the forest and saw before him grand landscaped fields with gardens and fountains all around. On the horizon was a great manor, that reminded him of stories from times long passed.

[Xenodoros Stormrider]

Cayss 500 km

The computer on the dashboard of the ship responded quickly as it caught Cayss on its radar. Xenodoros didn't know where exactly to land. If he was forutunate enough he wouldn't have to walk too far...

Xenodoros navigated through and landed on the planet. As the ships doors opened, Xenodoros observed the planet. It didn't seem as nice as Xeno thought.

"Where to now?" Xenodoros asked himself.

The Force aided him, trying to find Darth Snack's aura. But at the moment, Xenodoros was distracted. He didn't know why, but his Force abilities were weaker than before.

[Nathanial K'cansce]

Welcome Silex...

*Snack's voice entered the young Sithling's mind as he drew nearer to the home of the Dark Lord. He stood in his backyard, hands clasped behind his back. He wore no cloak today, no robes either. His black pants, boots and shirt were all he neded for today.

Plus the belt around his waist.

His long black hair fluttered in the slight breeze as Silex came even nearer. The fear of the unknown....

Xeno had landed. And a great confusion settled into his mind, wondering why? What? How?

Neither of his new apprentices knew about one another. And Snack was sure, their meeting would be a memorable one.*

[Silex Invictus]

"Greeting's Lord Snack," Silex called out as he crested the grassy noll seperating him from his master. He looked at the medium sized man. His long black hair tossed by the wind. Strange this man had so much power and yet he appeared to be no more dangerous than a child.

The eye of the storm... He mused to himself about his master's appearance.

"Why have you called me here?"

[Xenodoros Stormrider]

The misery... it killed him. There had been too much happening to Xenodoros at the moment. Flashbacks, regrets, anger, hate... much more if one wanted to know the complete list. Xenodoros didn't feel too ready to do anything. It didn't matter; he knew he had to.

Xenodoros seemed to be getting old too fast. He'd seen too much and done so much yet not lived it. One of the most important things in life is to live life as redundant as it sounded. All his life he felt as if he were dragging a large boulder behind him... going nowhere. He was following a road with a dead end.

Unfortunately he'd landed further than he wanted to yet Xeno didn't know that. Xenodoros closed his eyes for two seconds. There was no sound. Odd, it seemed like a planet where there was nothing but sound. The Sith Apprentice opened his eyes.

"Where am I going?" he asked himself, unable to use the Force.

[Nathanial K'cansce]

I'm sure you already know why, Silex. To begin your journey down the longest path you'll ever take.

*Snack responded out in reply, as he began to move towards the man. His hands were still clasped behind his back.*

You have exceptional skills with a saber, but I feel that with a little bit of training in the Force, you could become invincible. That is why you are here.

*In the back of his mind, he could tell Xeno still struggling. If he were able to find the two behind Snack's humble abode without use of the Force, he would prove himself worthy.*

[Silex Invictus]

"Invincible... Silex half-thought to himself. half-muttered aloud. He scoffed slightly and visibly. He had been questioning whether this fellow was just a two-bit hustler that knew some handy Force-tricks.

He had studied the history of the Sith; well that which was available. They were not kindly souls who sought out those with the gift to train them in their ways. No they were actually more likely to cull a fledgling Force user than to train them; less competition that way. No they generally only took an apprentice to train them as a Hand or as a successor as they neared the end of their life span.

This man seemed to be no closer to death than Silex, nor did he seem to need a warrior to fight his battles for him.

Then why? Silex wondered silently to himself.

What's the catch?

Perhaps there was no catch, perhaps there was or perhaps Silex had just wandered into a little death trap set up for him. But for some reason, so inkling in the back of his head told him that this was legitimate.

"That is assuming I have the gift of the Force..."

[Xenodoros Stormrider]

He was alone. It was a horrible feeling to be alone and that was exactly how Xenodoros was. Ostracized from his family, alone in the world; he had no goals.

"Why am I here?"

There was a time where hapiness reigned Xenodoros' world but then the cloak of darkness covered his mind and led him to the path he is currently taking.

Darth Snack. Does he have an alias here? Is he known here? How can I find him?

It didn't matter. For some reason, Xenodoros knew that the Dark Lord Snack would guide him in training and much more than that. Near him was a forest. This forest attracted Xeno's attention. It seemed as if it were calling him. Xenodoros took a few steps forward wondering why it caught his attention. It's a regular forest like any other. Why did it call him?

[Nathanial K'cansce]

You wouldn't be here if I didn't think you did, Silex. And I would have killed you when at the end of our first meeting.

*There was an inner conflict in Silex's mind, Snack knew. The facial expressions of the slightly younger man gave it away. "Why?" he was probably asking himself. "What are Snack's motives?" Questions that were valid.*

I'll be blunt with you, I'm no Sith. Well, in the meaning you know of it. I'm a new breed of Sith. All my life, I've strived to be a better Sith, embrace the religion of the Sith culture, and the old ways.

But there are reasons they are no longer here, and the Sith now tend to fight amongst themselves. I know.

[Silex Invictus]

"You still haven't answered my question, why me? So I have the gift of the Force and I'm good with a Saber, but why choose me to fight alongside you. I am sure there are those more talented than myself or those more gifted in the Force, though I doubt many have my sword skills," He had been more humble than usual, with the exception of his boasting about his blade; but it was only bragging if you couldn't back it up.

"What is this New Sith, this religion, and what do I have to do with it?"

[Xenodoros Stormrider]

Flashes of headaches were felt in Xenodoros' head. He was having frequent headaches lately and it got worse as he tried to think about his life. Xenodoros shook his head roughly and headed toward the forest.

It was an odd forest. It was just there. To Xenodoros it seemed out of place. As he walked further there was a numberous amount of branches and leaves covering his sight of what was ahead. It was a lot like his miserable life. Xenodoros stopped. He tried looking at the sky but he was surrounded by trees, branches, leaves, and much more. Not having any patience with this confusing maze, Xenodoros, filled with hate and anger, unleashed his cobalt blue lightsaber, swinging it around to clear his path. As he swung his lightsaber wildly, birds seem to fly away afraid of the loud noise that the saber made when cutting the branches off.

After walking in the mysterious green forest, the young Sith noticed a castle-like residence. The peaceful site created an eerie look to its surroundings.