SithLore

Orbit of nameless random planet, Outer Rim territories
Galidraan system, Thanium sector

The YT-2000 Scintillance encircled the abandoned Imperial space outpost, a station orbiting the vastly lifeless, desert planet below him. Decades ago when the Galidraan system was still largely under Imperial occupation, the satellite served as a connecting outpost between the old Imperial occupation on Rhen Var and the planet Yavin. Present day Yavin was, of course, under Sith control, but Rhen Var, Felucia and the Galidraan system in general was under Alliance control.

Control that was rather difficult to maintain, considering this was one of the Alliance-Empire frontiers, plus the Sith sat rotting in their endless emo hatred cycle only a stone skip away.

Normally, Jedi Knight Annan Annikin Rainwalker wouldn't even be anywhere near here. Yet, he had come to visit Ossus, which too was not far, and because of his proximity to the location, he had been assigned to investigate this particular satellite station.

"Why did you agree to come here again?" the Jedi's right-hand droid, Bigweld 2.0, otherwise known as SEP-K7JP-beta, vocabulated from behind him as both of them descended the ramp of his YT-2000, having docked it in a functioning bay within the small space station. How small it was you ask? It was designed to decently accommodate a maximum of fifty personnel. Any more than that and things got crowdy.

So what again was the Jedi Knight's mission here?

Basically, good ol' Zechs Merquise, Admiral of None, had forwarded a request to the Jedi Council on Naboo and had sent him here to play detective. The abandoned station had sent out a signal two days ago, an unexpected one considering the entire region was abandoned. Now, that could be one of many things: a systems malfunction, someone having snuck aboard, or an Imperial or Sith spy trying to invade Alliance territory while using this place as a hide out or a fancy space motel.

"Investigating a signal transmission, Bigweld. And hoping it was just a malfunction," Jedi Rainwalker mumbled to himself as he unscrewed a wall panel, hot-wiring the controls before the entire satellite station blinked alive, all lights coming on and the door sliding open to allow him access. Taking a deep breath and attuning himself to the Force, Rainwalker patted the lightsaber hilt at his side and promptly walked into the corridors.

Reaching out with the Force, he attempted to detect any life signs. He expanded his senses as far as they would go, immersing himself deeper and deeper into the endless ocean, the boundless sea, that the Force seemed to be, longingly awaiting for the Ashla to answer, to direct, to whisper to him and disclose whatever unfathomable mysteries and unavoidable dangers lay in wait of the mighty Jedi Knig--

"I have a bad feeling about this."

Ani just glanced at the droid, a deadpan expression on his face.

It had been far too long he had let this go. The scent he trailed behind forever, but only far enough to see and not touch. Things were not what they seemed today, however, and that scent he had gone far and wide to find lay only just against the canvas of vacuum before him.

The last memory he had of Emre was the last he had been gifted before his recent passing, and with it came the pain of loss. Blood had invested time, energy, words and bonding into Emre, only to be lost to the clutches of someone Raphael managed to describe as "unnaturally beautiful in the most murderous of ways". Blood had been disappointed the woman had not been slain, but he was just as equally relieved that his Son had not been next on the hellion's murder-spree. He considered how much better off Raphael would have been if he would have went with Warvanus perhaps, a man who craved slaughtering much more than his own mortal necessities. Would Emre would have lasted another day? Or would he have lost Warvanus just as Emre had perished?

Blood stood staring through the excess of space, the dark realm highlighted only by the glistening glitter that the stars provided many light-years away. Emre would have loved to be here today, considering Blood had managed to not only catch, but as prior mentioned, trail this decadent flavor across the stars. All the way until he saw it looming before him.
A Yt-2000, much like the one Dastan commanded, but much less ominous.

The Sith Lord halted the pursuit as he watched the YT lower to the planet, most likely docking off. The cloaked Infiltrator stopped it's gait, simply existing in the gravitational pull of this station. There wasn't a rush for this hunt; they were by themselves. Minutes passed as Blood just took in his own surroundings, his mental nares feeling this Jedi take in his own whereabouts.

It was then Blood and he made contact, both auras such a startling contrast against each other. The wretched and vile taint of his undying garnet, an unbridled and barely tamed inferno that ravenously bashed against that seeking blue-green smooth hue of calm simplicity that went hand in hand with good intentions and a pure heart. They clashed with a tremendous and almost nightmare-inducing 'boop'.

Blood then commanded Valkyr to lower the altitude almost as dangerous levels of slope, a swan dive of his Infiltrator light fuming through the reflective pannels of the sleek craft.
He was coming to show just how much he missed this particular Jedi. And it was going to be a reunion neither of them would forget.

Breaking through the atmostphere, Blood and Valkyr both spotted the docked ship, growing in size and they neared the ground at alarming speeds. Seconds. Only seconds.
Seconds to go.

Jedi Rainwalker felt it.

The blood lust, the killing intent, the utter lack of sanity, and such a powerful disturbance, filled with hatred, rage, a wild fire in space. A trail of sweat rolled down his blow as their Force Senses clashed with one another, his Serene Light, pulsating like a neutron star barely managing to put up a fight against the Sith Lord's all-consuming Darkness, as if it were a black hole from which no light could escape. Not even his own.

Yet, for the life of him, Jedi Rainwalker could not recall where he had past felt this dark Force Presence. He knew he had encountered it before, though.

"B-Bigweld, we have company," the Jedi Knight warned his droid, his voice shaking somewhat. Then he realised that he was going the wrong way there, and sighing, shook his head. "Bigweld, override code 24391-beta, execute. Get away from here and take the ship, now."

Upon processing the verbal command, the SEP-unit with the head of a KX-unit blinked his white photoreceptors. That code overruled whatever artificially intelligent choicemaking circuits he had: under this verbal directive, he had to do exactly as his familiar commanded. Annan had pulled a fast one on him, that much the Droid now; he could never have abandoned the Jedi Knight were it not for this directive programmed in him.

Now he had to obey the Jedi to the letter, he did not have a choice in the matter. <"Ani, don't do this,"> the Droid almost pleaded.

"Go," the Jedi commanded with emphasis, and soon enough, the Security Droid made a beeline straight back into the docking bay and boarded the YT-2000 light freighter. Moments later, the stellar vehicle disengaged from the docking port, before Bigweld 2.0 pointed the laser turrets in the direction of the incoming Infiltrator.

And he open fired.

Ani commanded him to go; he didn't command him to not engage the enemy. Thus, the YT-2000 Scintillance began engaging an aerial battle against the opposing Interceptor.

Meanwhile, back in the Outpost, the Jedi Knight sat on the plastisteel-tiled floor, cross-legged, his chest rising as he took in a deep breath before he released the air, and with that, began meditating upon the Force, feeling the Light that penetrated his very being and surrounded him. He let it caress him, and he brought his innermost fears - the fear of death, the fear of the incoming Sith Lord, the fear of the Darkness - to the surface, releasing it all into the Force with successive, rhythmical deep breaths. Tendrils of Light from the Force embraced him, before he heard the soothing whispers of the Ashla, the voice coming from somewhere luminous within him.

"I sense much fear in you... In the end, cowards are those who follow the dark side..." he heard the whispers of the Force, the voice croaking and geriatric, before it changed to one young, strong and masculine, "... there is something stronger than fear, far stronger...", and then the whispers assumed the voice of an old, but not geriatric, man, "... the Force!... what gives a Jedi his power..." and then the voice of a young woman, "The time to fight is now!"

Jedi Rainwalker, still sitting cross-legged on the floor inside the Imperial Outpost, stilled at that. His fear? Molten, released into the Force, replaced by Light bringing hope, power, and the sense of higher purpose. The Force whispered one last message to him, utterly destroying his fear of dying in this place by reminding him how insignificant he was in the grand scheme of things, "... to say if the Jedi die the light dies is vanity, don't you see that?"

Of course. The Jedi were insignificant, he was insignificant. All that mattered was the Light; he was merely here to play his part. He would fight, the Force empowering him, and if his part in all this was to end today, then it would be a worthwhile end. Lord Blood would enter the Outpost, whensoever he would do so, to find a cross-legged Jedi Knight, in white Temple Guard robes and a gold-rimmed white helmet, his lightsaber collapsed and resting on his lap as he sat waiting, eyes closed. No matter how monstrous the gargantuan behemoth of Darkness in front of him may be, he would find this one Jedi Knight void of fear.

And full of light.

As he divebombed down, the invisibility paneling shed from he ship as he allowed Valkyr to turn it off for speed increase. The dark teardrop fell into existence as it flew falling from the heights directly to this landed point of interest. But what he hadn't expected was there to be anyone or anything active, let alone alive in this ship to give it headsway into a response. Turning impressively matched in a vertical meet, the YT slid up and aimed a flurry of blasts at the Infiltrator, which was a complete surprise to Blood, and something to mainly be aware of to Valkyr. She twisted and turned into a few different angles, but the defense was too good. Gauging against success versus hit, she found more success from pulling away from the fire, and coming from a different angle, lowering the speed and resheathing the ship in reflective paneling farther off.

Frustrated, Blood threw his fist against the plastic bowl of fruit chunks, knocking the decadence across and onto the floor of the ship. Sweets perfume slipped through the air as the Infiltrator slid a safe distance away from the firing vessel.

"Valkyr, open the hatch, and lower me close enough!"

Complying, the Cathar warborg pushed the nose low, stirring debris around the hiding vessel.
As it swooped low, Blood saw he was a nice mile and maybe a half if not slightly more from the location. This only irritated him more. As the ground neared, armored and ready, her tumbled from the ramp's opening, landing in the grass. Slipping on the helm, and insuring his sabers were clipped, he commed into Valkyr.

"Stay near, but stay hidden. And keep track of my location."

After her agreement, he began footing it from memory, and memory alone.

Jedi Rainwalker merely waited, patiently, closing his eyes, his chest rising up and down as he did so. He could sense Slade, sense the cesspool of darkness, of anger and aggression. If the Jedi Knight was the embodiment of light at this moment, then, certainly, the Sith Lord was palpable darkness. Light and Darkness, unseen by all those blind the Force, yet blinding to all to all those visible - the Light by its intensity, the Darkness by its very nature.

[Begin Foresight/Visions Training: Goal 800 words]

Jedi Rainwalker closed his eyes and decided to do something he had not attempted to do so willingly before until now: peer into the Force. Meaningful visions were what had originally led him to abandon his Imperial homeworld on Lah`mu and eventually led to his becoming a Jedi. The Force was strong with the insight of the Jedi Knight; it always had been, yet Jedi Rainwalker had never voluntarily tried to access it in this manner before. Through his closed eyes, Jedi Rainwalker saw Slade Xandir in the Force, yet he focused away from the herald of darkness, and directed his internal gaze into the ethereal light that binded the Galaxy together.

As always, the raven-haired Knight saw the Force as a seemingly infinite ocean of light, of various colours, each colour pregnant with its own signature emotions, feelings and states. With each breath, the Jedi Knight immersed himself deeper and deeper into that ocean, letting those colours envelop and caress him in soothing coolness. Jedi Rainwalker then attempted to mentally peel back the curtain, to let the Force show his heart whatever he was meant to learn. Through eyes cinched shut, he saw red, crimson the shade of blood, and witnessed it morphing into a large, winged creature with a long serpentine tail, resembling one of the fire breathers of the frozen wastes of Arkania - independent, fierce, determined. He did not even need to interpret the vision; the darkness, rage and hatred emanated by the Arkanian dragon was undeniably the signature of the Sith Lord stalking him at this very moment.

Jedi Rainwalker focused more on that image, now realizing that he was meant to know something about his current predator; perhaps something that could get him out of confrontation with him. Perhaps he could see, through the Force, how to escape, and so, Annan desperately began probing into the Ocean of Light to show him more about the Arkanian Dragon. He willed it to show him the means of escape, or the means to live, and yet, he instantaneously felt the Force refuse - the Ocean of Light was resisting him. Thus, all he saw before the onset of the headache was the red fire-breathing creature leap onto him and snap its jaw around his neck. He felt the pain course through his entire body, jerking awake as if from the dream, eyes snapping open mid-meditation and his heart filled with sorrow and fright.

[Interrupt Foresight/Visions Training: Goal 406/800 words]

Jedi Rainwalker found himself on his butt, his cloak spread out behind him as his chest rose and fell in deep pants, his face drenched in sweat and his heart thundering against his chest.

"W-W-What just...?" Ani mumbled, placing a cybernetic hand on his face as he attempted to make sense of the whole situation. The Force had resisted when he had tried to see what he wanted to see, why--

Of course.

He was not supposed to see what he wanted to see.

"I... I let my desire, my fear, cloud my insight..."

A rookie mistake, but a catastrophic one.

Sensing Slade stalking nearer, and knowing full well there was no escape from the Sith Lord, Annan Anakin Rainwalker, with struggle and effort, pulled himself together after that terrifying ordeal and assumed a cross-legged position on the ground.

[Continue Foresight/Visions Training: Goal 406/800 words]

Background Theme (and featured lyrics from): The Voice

He closed his eyes, and once again saw the Ocean of Colourful Lights, submerging himself into it with breath after breath. Once he found his calm centre in the Force again, he expanded his senses outwards, letting the colours of the Force envelop him and the voices of the Force advise him, “You will know when you are calm, at peace. Passive...” he could hear the aged voice in the Force, and he knew then his mistake. He had to be passive: instead of probing into the Force, instead of peeling back the curtain, he had to let the Force flow freely, to take him and disclose to him what he needed to know, not what he wanted.

With one more breath, as deep as it was possible for him to inhale and exhale, he sighed out all his anxiety and energy into the Force, just letting it all go.

He felt the colours enveloping him begin to surge, and drive his heart to where they wanted to take him, like a freshwater river guiding a rudderless canoe. The voices and chants, that were until now only sparingly sensible, began morphing into coherent sentences, into a symphony void of music yet enchanting and melodious, a song:

“I am the voice in the fields when the summer's gone,
Ne'er do I sleep thoughout all the cold winter long,
“Through the Force, things you will see...
... the past... I am the voice of the past that will always be
... the future... I am the voice of the future, Careful you must be...”

Eyes closed, the Jedi Knight offered no resistance, becoming completely flaccid in the Force and letting the Ashla do as it was meant to do. Within moments he perceived the ocean of light around him, letting the colours caressing him take form on their own. As he saw them transform into images, he calmed himself with slow, deep breaths, forcing his own suspense and anxiety to tame itself. He fought a constant war against himself to not let his desires interfere this time, to be merely a spectator before an artist at work.

“... other places, I am the voice in the wind and the pouring rain,
The dance of the leaves when the autumn winds blow,
I am the Force that in springtime will grow.”

Once again the Red of Blood changed into strong-legged, winged serpent of Arkania, breathing out a black, searing flame, before it leapt onto the Green of the Forest, which turned into small, nimble yet elegant Cattail deer of Lowick. The Deer of Lowick, radiating light and comfort, paled in size before the Dragon of Arkania. Yet even as the Dragon lunged to finish him off, the Deer gracefully stood his ground as the Dragon snapped its fangs around his neck. On reflex, Jedi Rainwalker attempted to interfere again - yet, remembering what he had to do, he clenched his teeth and with further deep breaths, quickly forced himself to passive stillness, letting the Force continue to show him the vision as it was meant to be seen.

“... old friends long gone... I am the voice of your history,
The future, difficult to see...
Be not afraid, come follow me,
Answer my call, and I'll set you free.”

He saw the Arkanian dragon's jaws snap shut around the neck of the Cattail deer, only for the Deer to fade into a green cloud at the last moment, forever beyond of the dragon's grasp, yet beginning to shower rain down on the Dragon, putting out whatever obsidian flame the blood-red dragon tried to breathe out.

[End Foresight/Visions Training: 488 + 406 = 894/800 Words (Song Excluded)]

Jedi Rainwalker opened his eyes, the vision fading from his view yet forever ingrained in his soul. Unlike his failed first attempt, this time the vision left behind neither fear nor pain. Glistening blue orbs, serene and dispassionate, stared in the direction that Jedi Rainwalker knew Lord Blood would come from, as his mind reeled attempting to interpret the vision.

The Arkanian dragon was obviously the Sith Lord. The dragon tried to slay the deer, yet the deer had turned into rain... Rainwalker... obviously, Ani understood that he was the Cattail deer. But did the vision could be interpreted either ways; did it foretell his becoming one with the Force, or did it foretell his escape?

That remained to be seen.

At peace, Jedi Rainwalker closed his eyes again, resuming his meditation upon the Light as he passively awaited the arrival of the Sith Lord.

Post Summary
-Ani is waiting for Blood
-Foresight/Vision Force App (can be skipped by all those who are not reviewing it)
-Ani's Vision: a black flame-breathing Arkanian Dragon tries to slay a Lowickian Cattail deer, but a moment before its demise the Cattail deer transforms into rain that showers down upon the Arkanian Dragon and puts out its flames
-Ani is still waiting for Blood

Tramping through the forest, Blood continued from memory to track down this Jedi. Every hundred steps or such, the Sith Lord rose his mental nares and sniffed again for that stifling serene scent that indicated where the Jedi was. The general sense of direction was claimed, and much sooner than he expected he had made it through the vegetation and into the clearing where the sitting scum awaited him like some sort of at-home monk.

This nearly tickled the inside of the Sithian, but more than anything, his plans were to give meaning to this day.

"Other than trying to shoot me out of the sky," he began, baritones snaking silkily from through the helm's crevices. "How fares your day, Jidai?"

As he spoke, the Sith Lord flicked his wrists forward, and the two dragonbone hilt sabers detached and slid into his waiting gauntlet's palms. Yet they remained inactive. Blood tilted his head, awaiting an answer. He would atleast hear anything this Jedi had to say. Final words before the Jedi was snatched up and inhaled by the fury that was within the Sith Lord. Who knew whether he was there to talk or there to kill him? Blood could flit between wrath and merciful within seconds. Or could atleast appear to seem so. Could be a gentleman in the act of murder.

"Mine would be a bit more pleasant if my ship stays in one piece."

As he spoke to the meditating Jedi, another pair of eyes watched the pair from extreme distances away. Felt the interaction, watching it as a bat would a meal before it. Pulses of energy illustrated the images of the two men, and she was curious slightly how the interaction would pan out, but ultimately the Miralukan hybrid was going to keep her distance.
For now.

As soon as Blood entered within the range of his immediate senses, Annan calmly opened his deep blue eyes and exited his meditation. Grabbing his white and gold helmet which he had, earlier, placed beside himself as he meditated upon his vision, he put it on, before bringing the hood of his white robe on top of it.

The White Jedi, as his fellow Jedi had dubbed him the first time he had assumed this get-up, a modified Temple Guard uniform, stood up straight, unclipping his lightsaber from his belt and holding it in his hand.

"Other than trying to shoot me out of the sky," the Sith Lord began. "How fares your day, Jidai? Mine would be a bit more pleasant if my ship stays in one piece."

Knight Rainwalker refused to let the Demon Sith feed off his fear - he breathed it into the Force as soon as rose within his heart, the air pumps within his mask releasing it in the form of a pressurized hiss. It was a miracle how far a helmet and a Force connection could go when one wished to hide one's anxiety.

“Confronting fear is the destiny of a jedi,” he heard the masculine voice in the Force whisper, with resolve. “Your destiny.”

His nerves placated, the White Jedi finally spoke.

<“I assure you, I had no foreknowledge of your presence here, Sith,”> Annan's voice came out amplified with depth, bass and a timbre, the vocoder of his helmet modulating his voice to impart it with an imposing quality. <“As for the onslaught on your vessel, that was also not my doing. Not that I'm apologizing for either. Humor me. Why is it that you come here, Dark One, and who are you? I feel that our paths have crossed before...”>

Technology folded across the face of the knight before him, scandalous and bewitching to those who’d care more for its tech allure. Blood himself was a natural sort of fellow, and the mechanical sounds and stirrings of autovocal transfer stirred disgust in him. As a Father would call to a Son, he wanted to mentally pull Annan’s innermost desire to be free of the shell he wore, to lay bare his body, his soul, his mind, for the Sithian to drag his most foul and stained grasp across. The urges surged in Blood-
To knock the entire head free, simple and put.

But twas the way of the Sith, and twas the reaction of the relationship the Sith has with the Jedi; not even the most intelligent of Dark Sider could excuse themselves of that.

The pale bearer replied, his words a carving of machine that ruined any mood a gentleman could have, if there were one around. But humor him, Blood did.

“I’ve seemed to sniff you out from the stars, as you shine brighter than even they. And upon landing, to inquire as to your churlish intent to ruin my ride.” the heat of his words was such a contrast to the cool and expressionless draft the mechanon humanoid before him bestowed. “I’ve only just rested from murdering a few of your most savvy of sabersmen, but I wouldn’t be stirred from adding you to their list, should that had been you with destructive intent.”

Golden irises searched the face of the masked monolith though cavernous eyehole carvings, craving the eye contact he used to cower his prey into nothingness, but even the Jedi denied him that pleasure.

“Forgive my own lack of apology.”

His own influence strode out, confident and well practiced behind slithers of inquisitive predation, searching already for seams to leak through, huffing and puffing to blow this Jedi down.

With an incline of his head, Annan felt for the starships through the Force. Bigweld and O.M.5 seemed to be handling Valkyr just fine. Quickly returning his focus to the Sith monster in front of him, Annan twirled his lightsaber hilt in his cybernetic hand.

“I’ve seemed to sniff you out from the stars, as you shine brighter than even they. And upon landing, to inquire as to your churlish intent to ruin my ride,” the beast - and he truly resembled one, there wasn't a better adjective, even if he had the vocabulary of an Imperial - drawled, and Annan couldn't help but smirk mirthlessly behind his helmet.

<"Should I take that as a compliment? Also, I had no intent to ruin your ride. That would be a malfunction in the logic circuits of my droid. I still see no significant harm done to either starship, so both of us could ignore this exchange ever happened, if you so desire,"> the Knight supplied.

“I’ve only just rested from murdering a few of your most savvy of sabersmen, but I wouldn’t be stirred from adding you to their list, should that had been you with destructive intent.”

At that, Knight Rainwalker fell silent. Still twirling his lightsaber in his mechanical fingers, Annan quietly released his grief and rage at the loss of his brethren into the Force.

Enough banter.

<"Leave now, and we shall have no reason to fight,"> the White Jedi spoke, the voice modulator getting the ultimatum through rather impressively. The Sith Lord's animalistic urges clashed against the Jedi Knight's angelic serenity. With the press of a button and a snap-hiss, the White Jedi ignited his green blade, and held it in the balanced, two-handed Ataru guard, holding the green lightsaber vertically with both palms on the right side of the body.

<"Whether you choose battle or retreat, the Light is the victor and those that aid it. The Darkness is nought, save perpetual loss.">

It almost was put in a way that would have cleared the Jedi of any blame. Of course he seemed innocent, and completely uninvolved with the situation of attempting to blast the Sith out of the skies. Of course it couldn't have been little ole' Jedi.
The draconian narrowed his gaze even more severely within his own hellish helmet-
A liar knew they were being lied to. Especially a well practiced master of the art.
And he hated it.

His mind trailed up the the ships that zoomed about beyond them, the Infiltrator ferociously beckoning a game of cat and mouse, tactfully playing with the deceitful cloaking mechanics against the barbaric speed and wide range firings of the YT that both pursued and dodged. No headway was made, but certainly no regression was, either. Equality seemed to exist on that front, and droids never tired. Machines knew machines, so he had little fear Valkyr would miscalculate anything.

A nostril rose at the Jedi.
A sneer. The dragonbone armored Sithian had touched a nerve, had he? Surely there was some kind of anger that had to pool in the gut of the man before him. The silence tasted different at mention of the deaths of the Jidai's companions...and Blood drifted to wonder what would his Master make of him in such situation? Vocally dragging this pillar of light through hot and sharp coals and thorns until the flesh was rendered weak, until the soft mind was pliable. All he had to do was make a crack. Golden gems watched as the verde saber was brought to life, and a 'hmph' marked his note of the Ataru fighter before him. Wordlessly, he bent into a slightly primed crouch, dominant leg bracing with his right arm angled and held defensively before him, while his left was held up, abroad, and as hungrily reactive as a hooded cobra. Simultaneously, burgundy blades tore through the silence, and his aggressive Jar 'Kai was crisply introduced to the enemy.

Not a second more passed before the Sith Lord skated distance in the blink of milliseconds, and kicking off with startling grace, a flourishing swirl of plasmaswords aimed to bisect Annan where he stood in one mastered swoop.