Ice sculpture

[Je'gan Olra'en]

Lairaas: Habitable planet in the Outer Rim, GCoords 936-862-23, cool climate, 0.9g. Republic member world. Population over 100,000,000.

The pressure was on.

Je'gan Olra'en had spent a few days orchestrating this little excursion, and it was all coming to a boil. An automated message would be sent by the droid crew of his ship, a TSO personal courier that sat sensor-stealthed in a cold, dry cavern. The message would bounce off three hypercomm stations and hit Corellia.

Three weeks had elapsed since he'd told Kes about the upcoming training mission, a week short of the month he'd given her as an estimate. Tough luck. If she had put off preparation until the last moment, she deserved to be in the mess that unreadiness would get her into.

To: Kes'La Bardo, Corellia
From: Je'gan Olra'en, *Location=scrambled*
Re: Lairaas

Time for a little exam, Kes. Attached is the data for the planet of Lairaas, as well as cartography for a town of ten thousand people near the equator. Your job is to cause as much destruction to that town as you can. Good luck, and may the Dark Side be with you.

In or near the City Hall, a few special challenges would be waiting. He rather hoped that she would assume the tracer-scrambling meant that he would be the enemy at the end of the mission. It would be so much more fun that way.

Because she'd be right.

More or less.

[Baracc Olra'en]

"You'd be a Sith, then?"

I was making no bones about my interest in the newcomer in the cloak. Je'gan had introduced him as 'Rivin', and that was it. As was only natural for a seventeen-year-old confronted with a definite superior, I was curious.

"One of those Corellians from 'The Order'?"

The fellow was, I had to say it, pretty terrifying. Impassive as heck, and far stronger than I in the Dark Side. Stronger than Jeeg, too, and mon frere is the strongest Forcer I've ever met.

Plus this fellow carried his lightsabers like he knew what to do with them. Me...I've got a staff across my knees, and a wand crammed into the sleeve of my robes. I'm capable with a blade...but not anywhere near this guy's level.

[Kes'La Bardo]

Kes'la Bardo learned to be ready at the drop of a hat, at a very young age. Her bag was packed and ready at her door when she received the message from her master.

She was on a transport immediately from Corellia. It would take a day or so until she arrived, but in that time she would rest and plan her attack.

Kes smiled and thought of just how much fun this destruction would be, it wasn't every day one got to tear up an entire town. It was at her disposal and she would not fail her master. Kes would do as she was told, this town would feel the wraith of the young Sith Apprentice. Indeed.

[Dark Lord Rivin]

Rivin was traveling with a man that Je'gan had asked him to work with. Rivin looked over the young man with a mild look of annoyance.

"Yes I am A Sith. and though I and from the Order on Corellia, I am not Corellian. Now I am still unsure of what my part in this is, your brother did not explane it fully to me. So I would subjest that you explane my reason of being here, Or I will be giving your brain ventalation with my sabers."

[Baracc Olra'en]

"You don't get along too well with Jeeg, I see. Ehh...as far as I understand it, he's running one of his better apprentices through some advanced training - something about leveling a town. You and I are supposed to be the icing on the cake, to keep her from getting too cocky."

I very carefully kept from showing my reaction to his threat, either by face, by voice, by body language or by Force signature. After all, this Sith and I were supposed to work together, or at least that's the way I'd heard it. I didn't want to antagonize him or let him feel that he was the superior one. I mean, he was, and very obviously at that, but I wasn't about to just go along with a servile role.

[Dark Lord Rivin]

Rivin nods...

"So I am to attack this student? How will I stop her from reconising me? I am rather reconesable."

[Baracc Olra'en]

"If ye say so."

I didn't really know. I suppose I had thought that most Sith looked like that - deadly. Cloak. Weapons. Jeeg sure did.

"To be honest, I-"

"I'll be handling that. Illusion is one of my strengths."

I stood up rather abruptly, feeling a momentary disorientation and a considerably more lasting terror.

"Dad?"

It looked like Dad, it sounded like Dad, but...Dad had been among the departed for three and a half years now. And thus, it had to be Je'gan. The new Je'gan. The Sith, playing cruel tricks and flaunting his powers. The Je'gan I wasn't entirely sure I liked.

"Fool." It was spoken with a certain warmth, but it still hurt a bit. The illusion dropped and I was staring at my brother. He didn't look at me, naturally. His eyes were locked with Rivin's. I gathered that these two hadn't always been on entirely the same side.

"Will working with my brother be a problem for you, Lord Rivin?"

[Dark Lord Rivin]

"I Do not see why I would have a problem with working with him. As long as he does not act like an anoying twerp that thinks he can defeat anything, like he was when I met him, then I have no problem."

[Je'gan Olra'en]

Two sets of black eyes met.

"Baracc...have you been showing off again?"

"Not to my knowledge. Besides, there's not a lot I could do to show off for this guy."

Said without bravado, and in a simple, realistic way that showed that the younger Olra'en was considerably more mature than he often let on. Je'gan felt a certain respect for his brother.

"Good. Keep things civil and all should go well.

"Here's the plan. Kes'La Bardo is going to destroy a town. You two find her once she's done and beat the heck out of her. Simple as that. She's better and stronger with the Force than you, though, Baracc, so keep your distance and watch out for mental attacks. There's not much I can do to help if it comes to that, and you'll just have to defend as best you can. I'll be more or less busy covering you two in illusion. Rivin...she's not very experienced, but she's powerful and quite skilled in mentalics. Even though you yourself have some expertise in that area, if you're not careful she might be able to do some damage. She's weak with a saber but a trained soldier, capable of using pretty much any sort of blade.

"That's that. She should be groundside within a few hours. Have fun."

Je'gan faded from sight, and his Force sense melded with that of others in the premesis; indistinguishable from a non-Forcer.

[Seren Irreantum]

Irreantum surveyed the landing sight below him carefully before turning his gaze towards the bright speck of the incoming ship's thrusters. Kes'La Bardo was on that transport; he could sense her from here. One hand toyed with the handle of a lightsaber.

It had been Cuulvaer's. Only two people living knew how the Barabel Dark Jedi had died. One wasn't present in this scene, and probably would never be. The other was: Irreantum himself.

He'd changed his mindset from Olra'en's to that of his alter ego purely to confuse Kes. While he was Irreantum, he was utterly unrecognizable save for his face. Maintaining an illusion required a certain focus, and that was likely to be spent by covering both Rivin and Baracc to make sure that they weren't recognized. For this purpose, to maintain anonymity without sacrificing precious concentration, Irreantum was wearing a set of winter wear that exposed only his eyes.

He blinked as the wind of the ship's landing blew past him, ruffling the fur of his parka. The ship itself entered his slightly restricted field of view a moment later, having braked above him. It settled down with a groan of stressed metal.

Kes'La was approaching. This intuition confirmed itself as the ramp creaked down and a recognizable figure approached. He became Irreantum to the fullest, a person who wouldn't recognize the Sith Apprentice at all.

"Hi," he said cheerfully, appraoching. "My name's Seren. Olra'en sent me to show you around town before you have to go to your business transaction." Meaning her destruction of the place, but as Irreantum, the loyal servant, he probably wouldn't know that.

[Kes'La Bardo]

Kes'la shivered slightly as she exited the ship. This new world seemed peaceful enough, she smiled in spite of herself.

The robes she wore were brough about her a little tighter as a breeze blew. With her hair up in a french braid and wild smile on her face, she was met by a young man.

Kes nodded a greeting in return. "Kes'la." She shook his hand and glanced around. "Yes, my master has sent me here for a very impressive business transaction. Very impressive indeed." She smiled cooly in the young man's direction.

"Shall we go, then?"

Lairaas will never know what hit them...

[Seren Irreantum]

"We shall." Irreantum's eyes - brown, not black, thanks to contacts - crinkled through the slit in his winter wear. "But first you get to meet your team."

He cocked his head curiously.

"Are you familiar with command, Miss Kes'La? Unit tactics, weapons specialists, that sort of thing? Or do you think you'll need them at all? The troops, that is." A hint of red appeared in the visible sliver of his cheeks. "I'm sorry; I'm prattling. Not used to being around pretty women who could kick my butt handily, I suppose."

He blinked, but didn't let any of his slight confusion through his shielding. Now where had that come from?

[Kes'La Bardo]

Kes'la raised an eyebrow in the young man's direction and decided not to bring any attention to the last of his comment. She paused before answering. "Yes, I know of command and troops. Though, I do not request them, I wish to go about this assignment on my own. Now, what can you tell me about this town, Mr. Seren?"

[Seren Irreantum]

"Olra'en did say that you might prefer to work alone." In truth, he hadn't actually procured any troops; Kes had always struck him as very much the loner.

"It's Mr. Irreantum if you want to get formal, although everyone from my Master on down calls me by Seren, my given name. Feel free to use either.

"Now...this town. Let's see." He rubbed gloved hands together. "You'll have to excuse me; I'm from a warm planet.

"It's cold, but not frigid. What you've got on now should work just fine, and will probably blend in. I confess that I haven't paid much attention to the people's habits...but that doesn't really matter, now does it?

"Gross domestic product..."

And he proceeded to bore the socks off her with business figures for close to a minute.

"That's that," he concluded. "Now, the town doesn't have many landmarks. You've got the town hall and the business district in that little valley over there, and residences spilling up the sides. There are two main roads, which meet in the centre of town. This here is one of them." He gestured at a road that curved twice as it entered the buildings of the town.

"Good luck." He winked and disappeared.

[Kes'La Bardo]

Seren was gone in an instant, which puzzled Kes a bit. She shrugged it off and continued her walk. A wicked smile crossed her face as she began a better gait down a sidewalk towards the buildings.

People were about shopping and laughing, basically having a good time.

The darksider pulled her hood up and crossed the paths of many, no one suspected a thing as she crossed the street.

Concentrating heavily on the cube of hatred in her mind, Kes began her hellish attack.

With a quick mindset and fling of her hand, a large glass window pane exploded in a nearby diner and then a store beside it.

People started screaming and yelling and running into the street as more and more windows exploded in every direction, shards of glass making their own killing blows.

With the swipe of a hidden daggar in the palm of her hand, she took several swipes with the blade, leaving many fallen behind her.

With a smirk, Kes aimed her power at a speeder nearby. It exploded into flames taking out a few bystanders with it.

Kes was on a roll as she found the gas line to the diner, take it out and the street would definitely go with it as she took cover in an alleyway by a building, watching all the terrified people running about.

Kes could hear security police coming, perfect. The security of this place couldn't be that heavy, this wasn't an overly large town.

Kes waited to make her next strike.

[Seren Irreantum]

Cloaked in illusion, Irreantum hurried out of Kes' line of sight. He made his way towards City Hall while dropping the illusion and hiding his Force presence. Sounds and sensations pelted him from behind. The Sith Apprentice was causing trouble. Perfect. Rivin and Baracc should be getting into position soon; he planned not to meet them there, but to wait for them to arrive and illusion-mask them from the shadows. All in all...things should get fun.

[Dark Lord Rivin]

Rivin makes his way to the Town hall, ready to attack when she gets that far. For This assigment Rivin is not using his normal red blades. He has with him the blue lightsaber that he took from Jedi Knight Wei, and the bronse/orange blade that He took from his first master's dead body. He is dressed in a brown Jedi outfit, with Gray Jedi robes.

Rivin is hoping that the student will mistake him as a Jedi, even if Je'gan's illusions don't hold through out the fight. But intead of waiting in the shadows, like what was the plan, Rivin is out in the open acting like he is trying to calm the panicing people, and trying to find out what the problem is as people start to run past the city hall.

Rivin thinks to himself... If I am to look like a Jedi here I guess I'll have to act like one.

[Baracc Olra'en]

I stuck close by Rivin, acting the part of Apprentice to his Jedi Knight. My face kept a mask of concern in place, which I dropped as soon as I felt Irreantum's - Jeeg's - illusions begin to weave their way around my face. Je'gan himself, though, was not in sight, nor could I find him to be anywhere near us through the Force.

I looked over at Rivin; his face had changed, enough that he wouldn't be recognized. A shop window provided an impromptu mirror for me to evaluate my own disguise.

"Not bad," I murmured, impressed with the work despite myself. Both of our new faces were picture perfect. Neither Rivin nor I would be recognized.

[Kes'La Bardo]

The explosion rocked the entire street as the diner went up in flames. Kes held a Force shield around herself as debris flew every which way. Not only had the diner exploded, but the security speeder and the ones inside it.

Kes' plan had worked, she aimed all her hatred into the diner and seeing it hit the main boiler...poof.

With a deadly smirk on her face, Kes continued her rampage towards the town hall.

There was nowhere these people could run. No where.

[Dark Lord Rivin]

Rivin looks down the street as as Kes comes with in sight of the city hall. Rivin reaches out with the force and pushes Kes away from one of the fleeing towns folk, with nothing more than a symple nod on his part. He calls over to her...

"The Jedi Request you to lay down your weapons and surender yourself the law for the crimes you are commiting! If you do not Surender We will be forced to take you by force."

Rivin almost felt sick hearing those words come out of his mouth, even if it was not his voice he was using, but it was part of the acting job, and rivin agreed to do this. Rivin thinks to himself.... Je'gan will owe me big time for this one...

[Kes'La Bardo]

Kes feels herself get pushed back by an invisible hand and sees...the Jedi.

The Apprentice feels anger and hatred begin to boil within her. This hadn't been part of the itinerary, but Kes felt she could handle herself in this situation.

Jedi were more than just enemies to the young woman, it went so much deeper than that. Much deeper.

Kes stood her ground. "It is a day of reckoning, Jedi! I will not stand down!"

[Baracc Olra'en]

"Is revenge the best choice?"

I kept my voice level and soothing, reinforcing my words with a mind trick. As a student of my brother's, she'd probably counter it pretty quick, but how would 'I' (the Jedi) know that?

[Dark Lord Rivin]

Rivin says while still looking at Kes...

"Then I will have to apprehend you. "

Rivin draws both of the lightsabers and actavates them, lighting the area with both a blue and bronzeish glow.

"I will however give you one last chance to surrender."

Rivin also puts his mind shields to full sthrength.

[Kes'La Bardo]

Kes' eyes narrowed as she heard the voice in her head. She blocked it out immediately using the teachings of her master. It is for me, Jedi! She shot back at him.

Kes gave the Jedi a smirk as he lit his sabre's. She showed no fear at all. She unclipped Kurai and lit the blade.

Snap-hiss. At the same time, Kes closed her eyes and sent a Force blast at the window panes behind the Jedi and exploded them, sending the shards towards her enemies.

"If you can."

[Baracc Olra'en]

The resonances of what she was about to do hit me a split second before the window actually blew up.

"Holy-"

BANG!

I was jumping by that point, as fast and high as I could, straight away from the window.

And, as I realized a moment later, towards psycho-Sithchick.

My hand stretched out with a lightsaber in it, a red blade igniting to ward away Kes' weapon. A hair later, my left hand came up, blasting away with the Force - focused through a small wooden wand cradled in my palm.

An instant after I let out the blast, I hit the dirt skidding on my elbows.

[Dark Lord Rivin]

Rivin spins around to face the on comming glass. Since Telekinesis is one of his strongest powers Rivin has little trouble using the force to stop the glass shards in mid air. He then uses the force to pull all the shards into a large glass ball, compressing it to the point of it being solid, and then just drops it on the ground harmlessly.

Rivin then turns to face Kes, putting his two sabers into a defencive position.

"You will need to do better than that."

[Kes'La Bardo]

As the younger Jedi came flying through the air, she used the Force to deflect his blast towards her, but wasn't quick enough and she was shoved backwards, nearly falling. Regaining her balance, she marveled at the older Jedi's telekinesis skill, but didn't show it. He was good.

The glass shards had proven useless. But, there were other ways to skin a Jedi. They were in the middle of a street with several speeders around and fissures in the pavement...

Kes gave the Jedi a wicked smile. They would pay for killing her family, they would pay right now.

The younger of the Jedi had gone skidding across the ground, Kes went for him. Her hatred seethed, this kill had to be done and done quickly.

If she could get the younger of the Jedi, the older would have no choice, but to give in.

[Baracc Olra'en]

I threw my legs out to the right, half-rolling so I was skidding lengthwise towards her on my left hip, shoulder and side. She slashed down, and I managed to twist my own saber enough to stop it.

I was in a precarious position, and just barely holding my own.

And Rivin had better do something soon.

[Dark Lord Rivin]

As Kes goes to attack Baracc a second time Rivin uses the force to grab Kes and throw her up into the air into a clean arc well over top of him, causing her to land rather hard on the street in front of the town hall.

[Kes'La Bardo]

Kes growled through clenched teeth as she was snagged by the older Jedi and thrown. The hit was hard and Kes lay panting for a few seconds. She centered herself back to her thoughts of hatred and anger, feeding off it to regain her strength.

Slowly, she picked herself up off the ground and placed a Force barrier around herself, the way Je'gan had taught her. Kes would not let her master down, she would die before that.

Kes took some deep breaths and focused on fissures in the pavement around the Jedi.

"You have not won yet, Jedi!" She seethed as the first of explosions began, Kes would not give in. Her hatred was growing, more and more as each moment passed.

I must stay in control... She moved forward as more fissures in the pavement exploded around the Jedi.

[Baracc Olra'en]

I pulled myself to my feet just as clouds of debris began to erupt around Rivin and I. I felt a grudging admiration, but if I were Jeeg, I'd tell her not to waste energy. It was showy, and it was distracting, but she could be putting that to better uses. Making weapons explode, for example. Or bones.

I stifled an involuntary shiver and put paid to my doubtful projections on being able to stop such an effort if she tried it. To cover my hesitance, I tried to circle around the advancing Sith, to pin her between myself and Rivin. I was by far the weaker target, but it remained to be seen just what sort of a fighter she was.

[Dark Lord Rivin]

As the ground starts to erupt around him Rivin is hit by a few smal pieces of debris, as he jumps into the air, solidifying a chunk of air under him to protect his under side and to keep him in the Air.

He them quickly moves the chunk of air with himself on it above Kes, and allowing himself to drop. One of his sabers is at the ready to block an attack as the other slashes downward towards Kes's left shoulder, with all of Rivin's weight behaing the falling attack.

[Kes'La Bardo]

The young Sith apprentice had barely enough time to breath as the attack came on hard.

Kes could do no more than swing towards his chest and jump back out of his way.

{i]Center, Kes. Show no mercy.[/i]

With a battle cry, she went at him again, swinging at full Force, letting her hatred lead her way.

[Dark Lord Rivin]

Rivin blocked the first attack, durring his fall, with the saber in his left hand, as he watches her jump back out of the way of his attack. But it is not long till she comes back at him with vengance.

Rivin sees the attack comming, and can sence that she in intending the plow through any attempt to block, But Rivin goes to block any way with the saber in his right hand, Re-enforcing the strength in his arm and the grip he has on his saber, so thaty her blow will not get past his saber.

At the same time Rivin Thrusts his left saber out towards Kes's charging torso, forcing her to ether Divert her course, causing her to loose momentum and power behind the attack, Abort the attack entirely, Which it doesn't look likely in her State of Mind, or impale herself on his saber. the choice was hers to make.

[Kes'La Bardo]

To die at the hand of a Jedi, would be to die with dishonor and Kes had no intentions of dying today.

As Kes carried out the attack. She struck Rivin's sabre and quickly twisted to the right, keeping herself away from his left sabre. This caused a standoff between the two, until one of them attacked again.

Kes breathed heavily as her eyes narrowed.

[Baracc Olra'en]

A standoff...yes. Such might have been the case.

Save for the fact that Baracc Olra'en was considerably less than amused, and as is the wont of weak Forcers everywhere, went for a cheap shot; a quick leap forward an instant after Kes completed her spin, and a focused Force-blast to the center of her back from less than two metres away.

[Dark Lord Rivin]

Rivin held the stand off for a short time, untill Baracc attacked. At that time Rivin pushes hard on his saber trying to force Kes back away from him and towards the force blast.

Then inorder to keep her attention on him, he quickly follows the push with a high slash with his left saber and alow slash with his right.

[Kes'La Bardo]

Ke's raised her sabre and was able to block the one attack but the lower attack, she held no defense for.

But, that wasn't the worst of it...she felt it....boy, did she feel it. It was as if a wrecking ball just plowed into her back, she screamed through grit teeth as she was flung like a rag doll. She didn't really land, she more of less tumbled and rolled until she stopped.

The pain was excruiating as she lay there panting, fighting unconsciousness.

The ultimate rage was coming...

No... She still wasn't in control of it enough, but the lava of hate in her mind was boiling out of the controlled box and she couldn't stop it.

It was the demon in her, the demon that would strike out relentlessly and have no mercy for anything.

It was errupting from the pain she had...she squeezed her eyes shut to attempt to stop it.

[Baracc Olra'en]

I finally got a good idea of what the Sith girl was doing. The grin slid off my face, and I raised the wand in my sleeve carefully. I was about to hit her again, but belatedly remembered that I was supposed to be acting the Jedi.

Something inside of me was gibbering.

[Dark Lord Rivin]

Rivin approches Kes. looking down at her he says.

"Miss I am placing you under arrest. If you continue to resist I will be forced to use excesive force in order to subdue you."

[Kes'La Bardo]

Kes didn't hear him, her own thoughts and everything going on around her had been snuffed out.

Parked speeders began to explode as her breathing became heavy, her eyes rolling up into her head.

Kurai was still in her hand and she gripped it. It wasn't even a second later after another speeder exploded that Kes was on her feet.

Her eyes closed for a split second and then opened with a look of pure hatred and evil, this was no longer Kes...it was the very hatred that she had bottled inside her for the past three years.

Kes attacked with a feriousness with no fear of dying, no fear of anything, the Jedi had drawn this out of her and she couldn't do anything to stop it.

She slashed and spun and kicked like never before. This was the demon within her, the demon that would fight to the finish and die if it must.

[Baracc Olra'en]

Oy...

I caught only the fringes of her attacks, but that was intense enough for me to hastily replace my wand and put both hands on my lightsaber. Again, I tried to circle around her, put her between me and Rivin. Not that I was afraid of getting in Rivin's way...or maybe I was. He was undoubtedly a master with those blades, but I was just a minor warlock with no loyalty to him or the Sith Order. He probably had no compunction about cutting me to bits to teach Bardo a lesson.

[Dark Lord Rivin]

Rivin just smiles as he watches Kes get consumed by her anger. Rivin blocked, dogged, and parried the furry, though some of them were tricky to avoid, he still mannaged it.

After a few moments of Kes's furry Rivin uses the force to throw Kes back into a wall of a near by building, just so he could get a slight break from the assualt.

[Kes'La Bardo]

Kes' feels the pain of being thrown into the wall, but it only feeds the energy that has consumed her and once again she's on her feet.

Dust and debris is everywhere, fires are broken out and through the fiery haze Kes reappears again, going for Rivin in a rage.

"You are mine, Jedi! For I'm not easily taken." Her voice rages as she grips Kurai and charges towards Rivin. Keeping a lookout for the younger Jedi, if he were to surprise her again.

Kes draws on the Force and puts a mental sheild in case someone wants to try and kill her with an atomic bomb to the back again. That still hurt, but she ignored it.

[Baracc Olra'en]

I hit her with a Force-blast in the centre of the back, throwing her towards Rivin. Inwardly, I was marvelling: the sheer power she was channelling was...impressive. Deeply so.

But she'd burn herself out soon at this rate. She had to. Or at least that was what I kept telling myself.

[Dark Lord Rivin]

Kes's attention is clearly on him, and the blast was comming from an akward angle for Kes to see. The blast will likely hit her, knocking her down towards his feet, posably hitting him if he stays where he is. So he steps of off to his right side, and swings his saber low, so that if she is hit the saber will skim her back, and if she avoids the blast the swing will be at her lower legs.

[Kes'La Bardo]

The pain was like lightning, ticking her off more as she tumbled forward towards the taller Jedi. He got out of the way before she had the chance to knock him over.

Through her agrivation and pain, she lifted her sabre to defend herself at the last possible moment. The sabre's clashed as she attempted to redirect her pain and use it to her advantage.

Kes' senses began to become her own now, the demon that had spontaniously appeared was wavering back into the darkness of her mind. Leaving her for the time being.

This was not good, as it left her so did much of her strength and energy. The dark apprentice's options were beginning to run slim and if she wasn't careful, the last of her reserved energy would be tapped out and she would collapse.

As the sabre's remained intact during that moment, Kes grabbed up a handful of dirt and threw it at the Jedi's face and eyes to give her a split second to get out of the position she was in.

[Baracc Olra'en]

I stayed back. Well back.

[Dark Lord Rivin]

Rivin Quickly uses the force to stop the dirt in mid air, and send it flying back at Kes, keeping the saber lock, and applying more force into pushing Kes's blade back down towards her.

[Kes'La Bardo]

The dirt didn't work and she closed her eyes as it came flying back for an instant.

More pressure was pushed down on her, Kes couldn't go anywhere, this Jedi was strong.

Beads of sweat began to form on her forehead as she was pushed past panic and settled into an almost trancelike state. Her mind relaxed for the first time, but her muscles kept it's firm grip on the sabre and the force that was being acted upon it.

The Force that drove her on, backed off for a mere moment as if it knew something she did not.

Her death flashed before her, brought down by this Jedi, If it were true, she would die with honor...the older Jedi's sabre inched closer...

[Seren Irreantum]

Enough!

The mental command ripped the illusions from both 'Jedi'. Telekinetic taps disengaged all lightsabers present. Irreantum appeared, his face rippling into an older version of the newly revealed Baracc.

"Looks like you weren't quite ready, Kes," Je'gan said sympathetically.

[Dark Lord Rivin]

Rivin steps back and puts his lightsaber away, as the fight is called to an end. Rivin smiles down at Kes.

"If it makes you feel any better, my saber would not have killed you. It was powered down so that it would only give 3rd degree burns."

[Kes'La Bardo]

Kes had no idea who she had just fought as she slowly stood. This was no Jedi, it had been a test from her Master. A test that she had failed miserably.

Had it been a non-Force user, they'd been dead, but Kes wasn't up to beat with Force users quite yet and deep down she knew that. It was irrelevant.

With a deep sigh, she placed Kuraiback onto her belt.

Now it was time for her to take her reprimand from her Master. Kes knelt down on one knee before him. "Forgive me, Master for I have failed you. I await my punishment."

Her muscles ached as she wondered just what kind of punishment she was about to receive. Slapped, beaten...abused.

That was how the Dark Angel teachers drew something to your attention, but A'jorrah had never laid a hand on her, but others had...

Kes closed her eyes and waited.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

Je'gan sighed, very softly, and put his hand on her shoulder. "Get up, Kes. Your own shame is punishment enough." Her thoughts, like those of pretty much everyone, betrayed her. While elements of her training had done their job properly, she was too submissive - at least, that was his point of view. He knew full well that others might jump at the chance for such an easily manipulated Apprentice, but he wasn't and - he hoped - had never been one of them. Except, sadly, where it came to Drake Shadowstalker.

[Kes'La Bardo]

Her Master didn't hit her or cause her more pain for failing. She had been ready for it as she opened her eyes and slowly stood.

Now, that her adreneline rush was going back down to normal, every muscle in her was beginning to ache. But, it was her back that hurt the worst from those two blasts that someone had given her.

Kes dared not groan, but kept completely silent.

There were many things she had learned and many things she needed to learn still more about that this exercise had brought about. But, those questions Kes would ask only when she was alone with her Master.

Right now, she just wanted to leave and go to bed, but doubted that that would be happening by a long shot.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

'As if' reading her thoughts, Je'gan smiled again.

"Home-time for you, Kes. Spend twenty-four hours recuperating, and then we'll get to work once more."

[Kes'La Bardo]

Recuperating, sounded pretty darn good to her as she heaved a sigh. Thank you, Master.

Kes knew on the trip back, she'd be sleeping and sometime during that twenty-four hours she'd be going to town and have a lower back massage. It was really hurting.

[Dark Lord Rivin]

Rivin looks up at Je'gan

"If I am no longer needed here. I have things I must get back to."

Rivin waits for Je'gan to reply,before he turns and leaves.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"Go ahead. Thank you for your help."

His gaze swung back to Kes. Watch out for Rivin, especially if you ever have a family. He likes torturing people that are physically smaller. To the best of my knowledge, he's only had the table turned on him once - but that was a doozy. Jedi Master specializing in Illusion: katana wounds through both lungs, throwing stars to the inside of the knees, and so forth. Why am I telling you this? He hesitated. Probably to emphasize the point that there's 'evil', like you and I, and then there's plain despicable. Always be on your guard.