“Press the attack, young one,” bellowed Darth Raze. The younger Sith charged at the dark lord, catching his saber in a lock with hers in the process. “Very good” said Raze. “Now what will you do for your next move?” The younger Sith pulled her saber out of the lock with a hard thrust, and pressed an aggressive attack. Raze was able to match her strike for strike and with relative ease. Nevertheless, the speed with which the younger Sith struck with was amazing. Raze had never seen such quick movements before. Once again, their blades achieved a saber lock. “Excellent work” said Raze. “That is all for tonight.” They pulled their sabers away, saluted each other with a twirl, and switched them off. “I am very impressed with your progress, Jade. You strength of attack still needs some work, but your coordination and speed are superior. I am deeply impressed.” “Impressed enough to reward me tonight” asked Jade with a slight twinkle in her eye. “We shall see,” replied Raze, a slight smirk crossing his face. “Come along now…we are supposed to meet Master Scourge and the infidel soon.” “At once, my Lord” said Jade as she gave the dark lord a small kiss on the cheek. As they began to walk, Raze wondered if the time was yet right to begin preparing his apprentice for the events to come. She knew very little of the grand scheme of things, and he felt that he could trust Jade with the privileged knowledge. They continued to stroll along, side-by-side and silent, as Raze continued to ponder over this. “Jade” he stated. “I think that it is time to tell you of our plans for the upcoming takeover.” “My Lord, I am quite honored, but do you honestly feel that I am ready to handle such knowledge” asked Jade. Raze gave her an appreciative look. “You’ve been an excellent apprentice, Jade. I have grown to respect and trust you quite a bit. I do deem you ready to handle privileged information. It is even more appropriate now because you are my apprentice, and the communication between a master and his or her apprentice is absolute.” “Then if that is the case, I give you my humblest thanks, my Lord,” replied Jade. Raze nodded his head in agreement. “Now…as you know, we will soon unleash the Sith Army on the Republic. The venue has yet to be chosen, but I am confident that we will attack a star system of the core worlds.” “I would most personally like to see Chandrila pay for producing Zacom,” sneered Jade. “That is possible,” said Raze. “Like I said, Master Scourge hasn’t chosen the venue for attack yet. We will soon know, I assure you.” Jade nodded her understanding, and Raze continued on. “Mon Calamari has also served us well. Our slave labor camps there have produced many more warships for our cause against the New Republic. Our fleet will be massive and overwhelming for the Republic Navy, and we will crush them easily…” “…As was demonstrated at Calamari” Jade finished. “Precisely” said Raze. “Has Master Scourge set a timetable for the invasion of the capital?” asked Jade. “No. She insists that we subjugate the other core worlds first so that when the time comes they may not help Coruscant. I am pushing for an invasion within a few months, though.” “Excellent” replied Jade. “The sooner we eliminate the Jedi, the sooner we can rid ourselves of Zacom.” Raze turned and gazed at his apprentice. Slowly, a devilish smile crept across his face and he finally let out a low, menacing laugh. After a few more minutes of walking down the dark hallway, Raze suddenly stopped in stride and heightened his senses. Jade went up and asked him what was wrong. “Look into the darkness ahead and tell me what you see” he replied. Jade focused her eyes into the darkness of the hall that lie ahead, and saw nothing. Raze instructed her to look again, this time using the Force. She obediently did so again. This time she saw them. Jade gasped in surprise as she saw numerous sets of yellow eyes gaze upon she and Raze from the darkness. “What are they” asked Jade with an uneasy voice. “Reivers” replied Raze. “Reptilian beasts with a taste for Sith flesh. Nearly twenty Sith over the past couple of years have been killed and eaten by them.” “But how can a mere animal overpower a Force user” asked Jade. “Because they are undetectable in the Force,” replied Raze. “Like the Ysalamiri on Myrkr” said Jade. “Exactly” replied Raze. “The only difference is that these things don’t have a Force-negating field around themselves, so we can use that to our advantage.” Not more than a few seconds after Raze said that did a solitary Reiver come out of the darkness. It opened its mouth and hissed loudly, exposing a long purple tongue and razor sharp teeth. Jade and Raze both ignited their blades. The Reiver hissed again at them, this time much louder. The animal charged at them. With a quick movement, Raze threw his saber end over end towards the animal. The blade struck true and cut the animal bilaterally in half from head to tail. Both of the Reiver’s bloody halves dropped to the floor as Raze summoned the blade back into his right hand. Fifteen other Reivers came out of the darkness and charged the Sith. The animals were obviously hungry, as they stampeded with jaws wide open and frothing. The first one reached Jade, but she twirled her saber in defense and severed half of the creature’s jaw. The Reiver roared in pain and ran past Jade into the darkness behind her. Another one approached Raze, and he had to somersault over the animal to avoid its jaws. He landed directly behind it and quickly thrust his blade through its back, killing it instantly. He wheeled around like lightning and twirled his blade. He caught a leaping Reiver through the neck, decapitating it. Still another one pounced at Raze, but this time the dark lord’s reaction was too late. He landed on the floor hard, the Reiver directly on top of him. Raze’s forearm was the only thing keeping the animal’s jaws from sinking into his head. As the animal’s jaws snapped open and closed, Raze used his free arm to feel for his dropped saber. He finally found it and grabbed it. He ignited it to dagger length, and thrust it into the soft underbelly of the Reiver. The animal roared out in pain and keeled over dead. Raze quickly got back to his feet and saw that Jade was surrounded by the remaining Reivers. She was twirling her blade in all directions to keep them at bay. Raze set his blade to normal length and sprung into action. He landed on top of the Reiver that was directly in front of Jade. It bucked wildly, trying to knock the Sith Lord off its back. Raze struck low across its neck to sever its head. He leapt off the dead body and onto another live one. This drew the attention of a number of the other Reivers; Jade took the distracting opportunity to cut into the two that were still harassing her. She looked back just in time to see Lord Raze violently dispatch the remaining Reivers. The ground around both of them was littered with dead Reiver bodies and hacked pieces of Reiver flesh. Lord Raze shut down his blade, and let out a long sigh. “Although I did not anticipate that”, said Raze, “you did quite well. Just remember that if you are surrounded, a Kansai maneuver will easily dispatch them.” “Yes, my Lord” replied Jade. They both gathered themselves and hurried on their way towards Scourge’s chamber.
Darth Scourge's Chamber.
Darth Scourge, sitting in her chamber with Zacom by her side, was getting frustrated with Lord Raze’s lateness. “It is most unlike Lord Raze to be late,” said Scourge. “Perhaps they ran into some trouble on the way, my master” replied Zacom. “The Reivers have been out in force lately.” “Perhaps” said Scourge. Her frustration mounted with each passing second. Zacom watched Scourge’s expressions of disgust and slightly smirked. The Reiver ambush was her doing. She purposely created a hole into the part of the temple near Raze’s training hall, in hopes that Reivers would find their way inside and harm Raze and Jade. Zacom was not yet aware that her plan went through, though. Raze and Jade weren’t hurt. After a few more minutes, Raze and Jade finally arrived. “Excuse us foe being late,” exclaimed Raze as he entered the chamber. “We were attacked by a pack of Reivers on the way here.” “Very well” replied Scourge. “And how did that go” she asked. “We handily killed them all,” replied the dark lord. “Excellent” said Scourge. She waved her fingers in front of her, as if motioning for someone to come in. Raze turned around as a tall figure in a dark robe entered the chamber. The figure walked past Raze and Jade and stopped beside Scourge. “Lord Raze, I’d like you to meet Krath Master Darksun.” “Greetings” said the cloaked figure. “I am Master Darksun. It is an extreme honor to finally get to meet the legendary Lord Raze.” The feeling is mutual, I assure you,” replied Raze. “Welcome to our temple and training complex.” Raze and Jade both bowed in respect to the Krath. “This is my apprentice, Jade Firestorm.” “An honor to meet you as well, young one” said Darksun. “I’m sure that you must be an exceptional talent for Lord Raze to have chosen you for apprenticeship.” Zacom eyeballed Jade and sneered at the comment. “Something you want to say, infidel witch” asked Jade angrily. “No not at all, you weak minded fool. You are not worth my time and effort,” replied Zacom. “Is that so” said Jade as she stepped forward towards Zacom. “Step up and repeat that again if you dare.” “Sure thing” said Zacom, stepping forward briskly. “I expect you to back down like the coward of a Sith that you are. If it weren’t for both of our masters being present, I would kill you right now.” “DIE WITCH” yelled Jade as she ignited her blade and struck out at Zacom quickly. The chosen one leapt aside fast, barely dodging the hot blade. She quickly lit one of her blue blades and returned a strike. Both sabers met in a clash of reddish-pink and blue light. Zacom struck low at Jade. Jade leapt over the strike and brought her own blade down upon Zacom. The chosen one brought her blue blade up just in time to block the strike. She used her strength to force Jade’s blade away. Zacom then stepped back and ignited her second blue blade. Her face indicated that she was all about business now. Jade winced a bit. She had never fought against an opponent with two sabers before. “No time for doubts” she told herself. Zacom wasted no time. She came in hard at Jade, bringing both sabers around to the left end over end. Jade was ready for it. Raze had taught her all about Zacom’s style of swordplay. She parried each blade harmlessly away and offered a strong counterstrike. Zacom was unprepared for the strike, and it knocked her off balance. She fell hard to the ground. Jade could taste victory. She swung her blade in low, hoping to dissect the chosen one. But Zacom was fast, and she was able to back flip up off the ground and away from the strike. Jade was furious. Zacom pressed another attack on her, this time bringing both blades across from different sides. Jade was fast. She parried both strikes so quickly that Zacom was thrown off balance again. She recovered quicker this time, though, and reverted to straight on strikes. They met each other strike for strike, clasps of lightning filling the air. Each of them was being driven on by their hatred of one another. Jade gritted her teeth as she felt Zacom’s strength beginning to ebb. She brought a strike up and under Zacom’s left blade that knocked it from her hand. Stunned, Zacom swung hard at Jade’s blade. Jade utilized a counter parry and forced the other blade out of Zacom’s hand. She then extended her hand and Force pushed her to the ground. Zacom was now defenseless, and Jade’s eyes were afire with hatred for her. Jade raised her blade, ready to kill the chosen one. “Enough” yelled out Scourge. “Jade, sheath your blade. Zacom, get your sabers and come back here beside me.” Raze chuckled at his master’s frustration. “Do you both seek to dishonor me and Lord Raze by killing each other” she implored. “No, master” they both replied in unison. “Then from now on you two will treat each other with the amount of reverence that you both deserve” said Scourge. Out of nowhere came a clapping noise. Master Darksun was the one who was clapping. “Although they should not be fighting with each other”, said Darksun. “I applaud both of them. They both exhibit superior skills and will make fine warriors.” Lord Raze couldn’t help but smile a bit at this comment. Scourge didn’t look at all amused by the fighting. “Lord Raze, you and Jade are dismissed. We will see you in the morning” said Scourge. With that, Raze and his powerful apprentice left the chamber.
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