The Knights of Old, The Times Anew...(Open to all)

[Ket Van Derveld]

(OOC: please pardon my writing skills, but it has been a while since I have done this.)

There he stood, in the middle of the dusty crowded streets of Mos Espa, Tattooine.

Home.

Yes, it had been a long time, but he was back. Ket had gone through much. He remembered it all so well.

Years ago, he had stood on Corellia, in the middle of his training...trials to become a Sith Lord. But something happened that day, that he could not pinpoint. The next thing he knew, He was on Coruscant, wrapped in chains. Apparently, he was being charged with 17 counts of 1st degree murder, but he had no idea why.

He had no idea about anything...not even his own name.

Fortunatly for him, the stars smiled that day. He was given a 2 year prison sentence due to lack of hard evidence. They needed SOMEONE to do the time, and so he was it. But he knew his name...simply given as "Ket". For momths, he sat in the prison cell, brooding, trying to remember. On occasion, he would train himself, learning how defend himself. Try as he might, he could never quite get a grasp on anything of who he was.

Another prisoner suggested going to Tatooine, and starting there to learn of who he was. Unfortunatly, it would take another year of waiting before he could.

When the time came, Ket boarded a transport bound for the Outer Rim, more specificaly, Tattooine. It was there on Tattooine that he searched. He got himself a job as a technician, repairing transport ships. Along, he kept going at it, doing all he could. Then, one day, He stumbled across something familiar to him....a lightsaber. His boss had given it to him as half his payment for the week, due to his bosses lack of funds from betting too much. Something inside told him this was part of his past, this saber.

To the bars he went, looking for a Jedi, someone to help him. He had heard the Jedi were renowned at prying into the mind, knowing thoughts, bringing thing to the forefront of the mind. But alas, no such luck.

He got into his little speeder one night, and headed out into the vast unknown desert. It was the only thing that could calm him, for some reason. He picked up speed as the moons loomed overhead, the night sky dry and cold. And then, he just gave up. He let go the controls and close dhis eyes, letting himself be taken wherever fate would lead. And then, he was gone. Slammed into a boulder at 220 kph, He passed out after the crash, not beliveing he was still alive...and then, black took over.

He awoke the next day in the shack of some farmer who had found him out on his land. He was suprised that he was alive, but even more at the next....he knew his named...he knew who he was, and what he was. He was Ket Van Derveld, Sith Knight.


And this is what lead us to this point, this time. Ket made his way into a cantina nearby, black robes long and flowing, his hood covering his features. He sat at the bar, and looke dot the bartender from within shadow. He spoke with a low, gruff tone.

"Corellian Whiskey. Now."

[Selinica Miriya]

Two stools down, leaning on the bar counter, Miriya D'aen Cailis, Lone Sith Huntress, sat, nursing a glass of the same whiskey that Ket had ordered. Her long, dark coat hung down the back of the stool , covering most of the seat's support, and her boot-locked feet were anchored on a base ring that seemed meant for feet.

"Good choice there." She said, sounding as if there was a lack of care for anything in her life. "My personal favorite." Miriya lifted her glass of Corellian Whiskey to accentuate the fact, and brushed a strand of her recently cut golden blonde hair out of the icy blue orbs she had been blessed or cursed with for eyes.

[Ket Van Derveld]

Ket looked to the woman whom sat two stools from his own. As he did, a glass was placed in front of him, and without looking, picked it up. His own eyes of the same icy blue color seemed to lighten a bit. He could sense...the darkside in this one. Quite apparent, a kindred soul perhaps.

"Indeed. Salute."

He then sipped from his glass with a bit of restraint, as to savor the smell, the flavor, the texture of his drink.

[Selinica Miriya]

Miriya grinned quietly, and sipped gently at the darkish liquid.

This guy's on the darker path. I wonder...does he have any affilations...?

She kept her thoughts guarded and to herself. This huntress hated to have her questions answered before she asked them. Control, she liked. Miriya slipped off her stool and moved one over, sitting right next to Ket, and proffering one gloved hand...the one, obviously, in which the glass didn't sit.

"Name's Miriya."

[Ket Van Derveld]

Ket chuckled lightly. Unfortunatly for her, he was much beyond what he appeared to be.

"Control you may like...but over me you shall have none."

He winked lightly, trying to be as much a gentleman as he could with a sense of humor. He took that gloved hand, and kissed the top of it, smiling warmly.

"My name is Ket...Ket Van Derveld. A pleasure to meet you, Miriya."

[Selinica Miriya]

Miriya blinked. How he had read her preference for control over obedience when it wasn't a thought.. Well, it was boggling.

She smiled. "A pleasure to meet you Ket....Van Derveld, you say?"

An old friend of hers, Daiq, had the same surname. But it could be likely that it was pure coincidence. She lowered her hand, and laid that forearm on the counter, maintaining a kind smile all the while.

"Might I ask what business a Van Derveld has on this rock? Or do you live here?"

The same question, she should be asking herself. Maybe this hunt was getting crazy. But it takes crazy to know crazy. And often she questioned her sanity in all of this.

[Ket Van Derveld]

"I do appollogize, but sometimes I can sense certain feelings as well as thoughts...It's a double edged sword, I assure you."

Ket said this when seeing her facial response to his words. He then nodded lightly at her next statement.

"Yes, Van Derveld. Perhaps you have heard of my older brother, Vega. As far as my business on this rock...that's my business. I was born here, a very long time ago."

Ket then let his lips twist into that sinister grin he was so famous for, his next words echoing through her mind...

"The question is, what is your business here?"

[Selinica Miriya]

Miriya smirked.

"My business? That is my own. I'm out to kill a man."

Same thing she'd been up to for a little over fourteen years. On the way, she'd taken out some other fools, and that was only a small part of the journey. Also, it was the woman's job. She knew the time was but a few years off.. Vicious one, she was.

Miriya saw Ket quirk a brow, and she laughed. "Oh, I assure you, that man isn't you. I'm not a bounty hunter. Hate bounty hunters... always under foot."

The sunny-haired huntress took a quick gulp, smiling only half-heartedly.

[Ket Van Derveld]

Ket laughed lightly at that.

"Oh, I know it isn't me. If it was, you would have been dead already."

Ket winked and chuckled.

"Either way, I wonder, who is this man you seek?"

[Selinica Miriya]

Miriya paused a moment, and glanced at Ket.

"You wouldn't know him. I have my personal vendetta, and there are others who are after him also."

She frowned. The thoughts of what Stalis had done to her were far from pleasant. Miriya reached to the chain dangling from her neck, grasping the two rings there. "I will find him, I swear it. Then after that he will not live much longer."

[Ket Van Derveld]

"Well, here's to your conquest and to your vengence."

Ket raised his glass, and then drank of it slowly.

"I myself am on a quest...a quest that I have been on for over a decade..."

[Selinica Miriya]

"Indeed." Miriya drank a little more herself. "What is that quest if you don't mind my asking?"

[Ket Van Derveld]

"To finaly trancend myself and embrace my true natures."

Ket took the last of his drink down the hatch, letting out a satisfying 'ahhh...'.

"It is more complicated than you could imagine..."

[Selinica Miriya]

Miriya too, tipped her whiskey glass all the way back, letting the liquid wash down her throat, and licking the last drops off her lips. Then gently, she placed the now empty glass back on the counter.

"I can imagine quite a bit, Ket."

She ran her black leather gloved right hand through her hair, rubbed the back of her neck, then leaned on the counter, looking at Ket, turning to look at the exit, and squinting harshly when she did. "I honestly don't know how anybody puts up with all the light around here." Miriya muttered to herself, rubbing her eyes, and laughing shortly.

[Ket Van Derveld]

Ket chuckled lightly at that. He too was partial to the darkness, in every sense of the word. Sliding a hand into his robes, a few small laser blasts eminated from his form, and just as soon, the light content diminished 40%.

"I would tend to agree."

Ket smiled to her, as he brought his hand back from within his robes, flagging down the bartender.

[Selinica Miriya]

She smiled gratefully in response to Ket's smile, and followed the bartender with her wintery cold eyes as he came to their end of the bar. Before the bartender could say anything...

"Another...of the same. Please."

A lady raised for near half her life in the royal court, a princess denying her title now, it was not a surprise that she at least had manners. But her profession and demeanor took away from any clues that would say anything about her earlier past.

[Ket Van Derveld]

"Make that two..."

Ket looked over to Miriya, and studied her for a moment. A bounty hunter-type with a personal vendetta and manners? Hmm...not everything is as it appears to be.

"So tell me, where are you from originaly?"

[Selinica Miriya]

Where am I from, he asks...

"It's not registered on any maps...known or unknown. More or less, off the edge of the galaxy, almost tripping into another one. There's a few unknown systems there. Well, unknown to anyone who's never been there."

Of course, she didn't say which side of this galaxy it was off of. Not that it really mattered.

[Ket Van Derveld]

Ket could sense a witholding of information. But he could also sense it was a touchy subject for her, so he would leave it be at that.

"Well, the most interesting of people come from the outer part of the galaxy."

He smiled lightly, sipping his drink.

[Selinica Miriya]

"Indeed."

Miriya wondered what Vishalla was up to. The girl was sleeping when she left the ship, and she needed it. Miriya made another wondering, trying to think of how long Vishalla had been with her.

Six, maybe eight months?

"I certainly can't argue with that." The corners of her mouth curled upward.

[Ket Van Derveld]

Ket laughed lightly, finishing his drink.

"Unfortunatly, due to my very long 'absence', I haven't much idea what's been going on in certain circles..."

[Selinica Miriya]

Miriya shrugged.

"I guess I can't really help you there. I've only been out back on the hunt for less than a year due to ...circumstances...and everyone's been far too busy. I've been fortunate to even meet with just one of my old friends."

She took a massive gulp of her drink, leaving only a thick ring of residue at the bottom. "I keep myself amused easily enough, though."

[Ket Van Derveld]

Ket chuckled at that, ordering his third.

"Well, I can't argue there..."

[Selinica Miriya]

Miriya grinned, and winked at Ket.

"Another for me too."

[Ket Van Derveld]

Ket smiled lightly. She could hold her liquer. A good quality in a friend, these days.

"So tell me, what kind of work do you do exactly? A member of any organizations?"

[Selinica Miriya]

The drinks were placed in front of the two, and she took a small sip before dignifiying Ket's question with an answer.

"I work alone. A lone wolf, so to speak."

Well, that was for the most part. She did have the young girl whom it seems she had taken on as an apprentice.

"I'm a huntress. I work for myself...whenever it suits my purpose and goal."

[Je'gan Olra'en]

A young man stepped through the cantina door and ran his hand through his hair. He'd affected farmboy mannerisms and attire for this side trip. Too many people would kill a Darksider on sight.

Or try to kill a Sith Knight.

Examining the denizens with farmboyish unease, he walked through the tables to the bar, where there were seats empty on either side of a couple; an attractive woman and a large man. He sat down a few stools away from the man. With the mood he was in, he'd far rather deal with a bruiser than a woman.

He quietly ordered kefir. The bartender eyed him askance.

"Never mind," Je'gan said quickly. "Just get me some water. Yes, real water. And yes, I'll pay for that up front and in cash."

Mos Espa was not the most enlightened of cities.

As he waited for his water, the mentalic Sith probed around through the Force with his danger-sense. It wasn't unexpected to find that most of those present were dangerous. What was unexpected was that the woman was possibly the most dangerous one in the room.

And the slight twisting of things around her - and, now that he was looking for it, around the man as well - said very clearly that they were Darksiders. Each one more powerful than he himself.

He hid a smile in his newly arrived glass of water. Being around people like this was always interesting. Kasajian, Mortis, Capashen and so forth...nothing intrigued the Sith Knight more than seeing Masters in action. Not that those two were Masters, although he rather thought the man could have passed for one.

Je'gan Olra'en, Darth Shule, sat back on the stool and enjoyed his water.

[Ket Van Derveld]

Ket was not a Master....yet. He was well on his way to it though. After all, He had training from only the best. The Sith Lord known as Ogre, the Sith Master Rama Sha, and even the Sith Lordess known as Athena. Ket had met the likes to Satine Capashen once before, thouroughly kicking him across the quadrant. Ket was indeed one of those ones you tended to keep an eye, wether friend or foe. The Knight known as The World Warrior was not exactly what you'd call docile.

But back to the moment at hand. Ket looked over to Miriya, and nodded gently, taking the drink that was brought to him and taking a decent sip of it. Never could get tired of that taste...not by a long shot. Ket then spoke lowly.

"I was a member of TSO, but I'm not quite sure if my membership is good anymore."

Ket had to laugh a bit at that. If she knew who he meant, which she most likely had, she would see the humor in his words.

[Selinica Miriya]

A mention of the TSO brought an amused smirk to her young face. She had gulped down half a glass of her third whiskey in an instant, and it didn't affect her. Miriya seemed to be immune to the effects of alcohol. Of course, nobody had been able to out drink her to disprove that.

She felt a new pair of eyes on her, and the smirk turned to a smile. Turning her icy eyes from the glass back to Ket, she spoke, a relaxed strain in her voice, its volume a faint whisper.

"The TSO commands a great deal of power for the amount of time it has existed. I have had and still have my acquaintances there, and from time to time have toyed with entering its ranks. But if there ever was a time for me to do so, it has not arrived yet."

The huntress had doubt it ever would. But she never ignored possibility.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

He wasn't watching very obtrusively, but it seemed the woman had felt something anyways. Thus, Je'gan switched his attention back to the half-glass of water in his hand.

He'd heard the Order's acronym being batted about. So; the man was a member, or at least a former member. For his welcome to be in doubt, well...that had to be a long time ago. And if he wasn't very much mistaken, there was a little Van Derveld in the man's face, or maybe in the way he felt through the Force. A relative of Vega, perhaps. He'd certainly heard enough stories with the name Van Derveld attached that this fellow could be part of the clan.

What did that leave the woman, though? She was nobody he'd seen on Corellia, at any time, yet she seemed on good terms with the Order.

With a shrug, he glanced over to note the positions of their weapons, and completed his evaluation. Just in case. It never hurt to be cautious; his experiences with powerful Forcers made that blatant. Absently, he scratched at the Force Lightning contact points on his chest. They never stopped itching, and it only got worse every time he got hit with the stuff - more times than he surely deserved. Kasajian, Rivin, that Jedi on top of the skyscraper...it just didn't end. It almost made him wish he could turn in his mentalic expertise for some practical skill in energy manipulation.

[Ket Van Derveld]

"Well, I don't know how warm a welcome I'm going to get, but as long as they don't try to cut my head off."

Ket laughed out loud at that, sipping his drink quietly, eyes kept near locked on Miriya, although he kept tabs on this man who wandered into their small corner of the bar here in Mos Espa.

[Selinica Miriya]

She nodded, nipping away at her drink, almost playing with it. Miriya knew what he meant... on her own terms, of course. Her own eyes were tracked and trained for the most part on Ket.

"I'm sure you'll be welcomed after some grumbling."

At that she took what for water would be a thirst quenching gulp, and placed the glass on the table.

"I, however, am far less sure for myself. My only true friend in that Order has more or less disappeared from existance."

I wonder what happened to Athena.... She mused, running her finger around the rim of aforementioned glass.

[Ket Van Derveld]

Ket picked up on her thoughts, and smiled lightly. The force always whispered to him when thoughts of others he knew were about. It was a curse and blessing all in one. Athena was a close friend and former master. She was by far one of the few he trusted.

"Athena, you say?" he winked lightly.

"Athena is a close friend, and also a former master."

[Je'gan Olra'en]

He became aware that his danger-sense was pinging subtly, in a manner not inconsistent with someone dangerous paying attention to him. Sipping the last few droplets of water - Kun, but those two were drinking a lot - and returning the glass, he ordered a large milk. It interfered with his singing voice, but it tasted good. The bartended scowled, and he shrugged with what he hoped was an apologetic look on his face. In point of fact, he wasn't apologetic, he was irritated. Milk cost just as much as beer, and anyways he wasn't fond of alcohol. Nevertheless, the man went to get the drink, leaving Je'gan to his own devices.

In a word, eavesdropping. He had no qualms about his thoughts being discovered by the two nearby Sith; he'd never yet met a Forcewielder who could break or circumvent his mental shielding. Since they were more powerful than he was, though, he amped up his shields before he started listening again. It never hurt to be careful.

Athena...

That had to have been a long time ago. Je'gan had heard the name on occasion, but the Sith called Athena had only graced the Palace's halls once or twice since he had joined the Order.

The milk arrived, and he decided that some things were more worthwhile than others. Taking a massive gulp and feigning sudden fury, he slammed the glass down on the bar. Not hard, but everything had flaws and fissures, and having gotten a general sense of those in the glass, he'd hit it on the precise angle required to shatter the glass and send blood-tinged milk flying everywhere.

[Ket Van Derveld]

Ket could sense the glass breaking just as it began to shatter. He raised a hand upwards, the milk and shards coming at him and his guest for the evening. Ket didn''t feel like getting wet or annoyed, and using the Force, had just merely stopped them dead in their tracks. Then, he borught his hand down, and they all crashed to the floor, the sounds of glass pinging and milk splattering. He found it rather amusing, but of course, he payed it no mind. He looked to Miriya with a wink.

"You were saying?"

[Selinica Miriya]

Miriya took up the whiskey again, and polished off the last of that glass. Still not feeling even buzzed, and not phazed in the least bit by the sound of shattering glass, she shrugged to herself, then answered Ket, giving him a sly look.

"You caught that, I see.."

She placed the empty glass gently on the counter, beginning to think she really WAS immune to the effects of alcohol.

"Athena and I are longtime friends...we used to drink this exact whiskey all the time. In even earlier days, I remember the company of others along with Athena...who have also more or less vanished."

[Je'gan Olra'en]

Sputtering madly, Je'gan shifted back on the stool, wringing his bloody hand and trying to ignore the casual way in which the man had halted the few shards of glass that had come at him. Multiple-object telekinesis with fractions of a second in preparation...this guy was good for a Knight. Rivin might have been able to pull that off, and maybe Southstar, but not many others he knew.

The bartender growled something, and suddenly Je'gan didn't care anymore. Perhaps it was that the glass had gashed his palm and fingers with a bit more force than he'd intended. Miscalculations were part of the business. Still...this guy was getting on his nerves. And he'd never been known for patience, now had he?

He shoved the stool back, still wringing blood off his hand and beginning to curse in fluent Francais. Not many of the words got through the translation, but the tone was all that was necessary. The bartender's face began to purple. His eyes shifted to behind Je'gan's shoulder just as the Sith Knight's incredibly acute danger-sense shouted at him. He ducked; a fist whistled overhead. A prompt, spinning sweep took the bouncer out with both calves shattered.

Dusting off his hands - and wincing at the pain the involuntary action produced - the 'farmboy' turned to face the bartender again. That hadn't been bad for no physical enhancement. Not bad at all.

"What's the matter?" he asked the barkeep quietly as he leaned forward over the bar, as if to impart some great secret. "Never seen Teras Kasi before?"

Well, that was one way of getting attention, although in present company it might come across as a child throwing a tantrum.

Then again...that was a simple notion to disprove. Should it become necessary, of course.

[Ket Van Derveld]

Ket was a Knight, but in rank only. He posessed powers bordering on that of a Sith Master. One must keep in mind once you attain the training of a Knight, the rest can come simply from one's own effort. You only need to know where to look, and to know what your looking for. Ket had known both. But of course, the matter of rank would be brought up in the furutre when he arrived at The Sith Order.

One must always remember that rank is a word and nothing more. It does not add nor detract from your power and knowledge, and once more people realized that, the old ways would soon become obsolete. Of course, moving right along, Ket looked to Miriya and nodded lightly.

"I know them all. Dara Shadowtide, Dyne Darkforce, Phantom, Rama Sha, Ogre Mal Pannis, Lady Vader, Dyzm, Livewire, Dalethria....I even know Jedi, some long since past like Liam Jinn, and Stone. But one must always keep in mind that though one can have many friends and many aquaintences, it pales in comparrison to who you are in your own right, and how well you can come to terms with who...and what you are."

Ket nodded lightly at that, hopeing his pearl of wisdom would be absorbed, and heeded. Ket sipped his whiskey, not feeling much any of the effect. He enjoyed the taste, but a Lupine had very excellent control over the body. He then heard this man throw a tantrum, and thusly crack the calves of a bouncer in half. Ket still paid him no mind, as if this child wanted something, sooner or later....he would ask.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

Interesting names, those; he was decent enough at multitasking to pay at least some attention to the Sith while confronting the bouncer and barkeep, and now that he had peacefully resumed his seat - and ordered something stronger than milk - he was free to examine them at liesure. LV, Dyzm; Order mainstays. LW and Darth Phantom (now going by Belial); newly returned. Mal Pannis, anyone with a brain had heard of, and Liam Jinn...

A snort escaped him at that. Liam Jinn. One of the Jedi idiots who'd marched up to the Sith Palace and demanded it's unconditional surrender. He rather hoped Jinn carried scars from that; he knew Magus did.

Struck by a thought, he was a moment late in accepting the newly arrived drink and paying for both it and the milk glass. The barkeep didn't ask for the latter, didn't even imply it, but when you had to kill a man it cost nothing to be polite about it. And the barkeep would most certainly die.

But the thought, for the moment, was more interesting.

Subtle tendrils of thought, unobtrusive and difficult to sense, infiltrated the barkeep's mind. Je'gan hadn't looked up from his drink, and the touch was light enough that the barkeep didn't even notice.

Once they were in, of course, they were impossible to detect unless one was a very specialized Healer or mentalist. Je'gan could do pretty much anything he wanted with the barkeep. And nobody, save the aforementioned specialists, could tell that the man was under mind-control. There was such a thing as pride in doing things right.

The middle-aged bartender still wore a nervous expression as he approached the two. "I, ah...couldn't help but...that is...if you're Sith, could you pass a message on to an old friend of mine? I'd reimburse you, of course," he hurried on, "I just haven't seen Itala Marzullo in such a long time."

[Selinica Miriya]

Miriya said nothing, but simply narrowed her icy eyes and gave the bartender the 'once-over', then glanced to Ket, a small smirk briefly overcoming her, giving him a 'what do you want to do with this one' look.

Itala Marzullo. A name she hadn't heard in a long time... probably almost as long as he had been seen around these parts, or anywhere, for that matter. She had never payed him much heed, and he left her existance unacknowledged. Probably a good thing, too.