The Lost Apprentice, I DEMANDS ATTENTION REAAADDDZ!

[Darth Futuza]

The Lost Apprentice


Prelude


"Youngling come with me. Kyria!" called the Jedi Master nearly shouting.

"What? Oh! Master Antiri, sorry" apologized a young girl of about 10.

"Master Yaron was right, you need to pay attention to your surroundings more", scolded Master Antiri.

"Yes, Master", muttered Kyria, head bowed meekly.

"...Still there's a reason why I'm the Master and you the learner", Master Antiri said to herself.

The younglings eyes lit up at the comment, but she said nothing patiently waiting, unwillingly to accidentally upset the Master. She had begun
to push the allowed age of the younglings, and needed to be accepted by a Jedi Master before she grew to old. This was the second master to
single her out, probably for examination. It was custom for a Master to select a padawan to train during a visit to the Jedi Temple. They
would frequently pull aside prospective younglings: interviewing, talking, watching, and examining. Then, as if out of the blue, the Master
would choose one, leave and the youngling would become a padawan to complete their training under the Master.

Beyond the older Master and Kyria, in a cluster of decorative shrubbery, a figure in dark robes crouched listening to the conversation. The
yellow eyes beneath the hood studied the girl imploringly, behind the safety of ferns.

"Kyria, tell me, while we walk the gardens, why do you suppose you haven't yet been taken on as a padawan? You are strong in the force,
surprisingly so, I know several masters who would be happy to take on one such as you", said Master Antiri, brushing one of her twilek
tentacles out of the way.

"I-I'm not sure Master Antiri, I suppose they already have apprentices or don't have time for a padawan yet. Maybe I've just had bad luck-"
"Bad luck?" asked Antiri raising an eyebrow, "There is no luck, young one. Just the will of the force."
"Yes, Master, of course", said Kyria cringing inwardly at her mistake.

The two arrived at a large water fountain which was currently shut off, but full of clear water. The twilek master sat at the base of the
fountain and beckoned for Kyria to sit. Kyria realized that she sat very close to the panel of controls for the fountain, and was careful
not to touch the panel on the side of the fountains bowl. If she accidentally set it off it would soak both herself and Master Antiri from
where they now sat.

Nearly two feet away in the plants the hooded figure smiled, noting the special care the girl took not to touch the panel. The
figure reached a gloved hand just barely out, before halting hesitantly. Master Antiri was right about the girl, she was strong
with the force. He hadn't come here for this though...but he might as well take advantage of the situation. Reviewing his plan, he
rechecked himself, before stretching out his palm. A small tremor of the force pushed the switch on the panel next to Kyria, just as she
relaxed next to the master. The small trickle of force would be near imperceptible and untraceable here in the Temple where the force was
consistently being used. The gloved hand withdrew back to the safety of the shadowy ferns. With a sudden lurch, water ricocheted from the
fountain, trapped air bubbles forcefully putting water out of the way. Water erupted into the air and began to drench the two. Kyria could
do nothing, but frantically scramble to shut it off and openly grimace at her misfortunate clumsiness.

"Perhaps in your case there is bad fortune", grumbled Master Antiri as water dripped down her face, she stood up then muttered, "Or
just a touch of clumsiness..."

Kyria sat stunned, she may have been able to recover after the slight mistake earlier and make a good impression, but now after accidentally
brushing the switch, despite her attempt not to, there was no way Master Antiri would choose her as a padawan. Was she destined not to be a
Jedi? Forced to turn away from the Jedi way by her lacking ability to become a Master Jedi's padawan?

"Well..." began Master Antiri sensing the child's disappointment, "...I need to confer with Master Yaron and have a look at your combat
training holograms and now that we're both wet, we might as well take a break. These robes do take a while to dry out, after all.
I'll call for you in an hour, Kyria."

With that the dripping slick Master Antiri plodded off out of the fountain room. I want to see how she faces disappointmentAntiri
thought as she made one glance back at the youngling, before exiting the gardens.

No! thought Kyria clenching her fist and striking the base of the fountain once the master was gone. The robed figure behind her
smiled at her frustration, happy with the result of his sabotage. The figure quickly stepped out of the decorative foliage inches behind
Kyria.

"Huh?" gasped Kyria starting to turn around, however a gloved hand and a thick scent of perfume stench covered her face. "Sleep easy,
Padawan. Your safe now", Kyria heard a rapidly fading voice say. Padawan? Me a padawa... then Kyria passed out.

"Yes, sleep easy, my new apprentice", said the black robed figure as he picked up the youngling, her eyes closed peacefully. The figure
withdrew a round ball from his robes tossing it over his shoulder near the fountain, and began walking towards the opposite exit where Antiri
had gone. Once he was gone, the thermal detonator on the fountains edge exploded.

When Master Antiri returned, she saw the smoke and hurriedly rushed to a blackened crater of a fountain. The youngling she had planned on
making her padawan was dead! "No! She must have..." whispered a horrified Master Antiri, hands desperately grasping at the obvious
detonator crater.

This post has been edited by Darth Futuza on Apr 23 2009, 03:39 PM

[Darth Futuza]

So what do you guys think?

Shall I continue entertaining (or tormenting) you?

[GuNgAnFaN3090]

Yes, continue entertaining. :P But really, it was pretty good!

[Darth Futuza]

CHAPTER I - A Nightmare
8 Years Later


A large war gallery ship floated silently through space, disturbing nothing but micro patches of cosmic dust. A gleaming name, Ploymotheus shone on the side of the large hull of the ship as it approached a massive green planet, one teeming with jungle life. Unlike most planets with life, this one did not have major oceans or seas, instead massive swamps, often heavily flooded covered the surface, from which many species originated. Within minutes it would be in an orbital position. The planet ready to receive those who controlled the Ploymotheus.

She ran through a dark tunnel, stumbling along as roots and crevices in the chipped stone floor snagged at her, like reaching arms. She had been running for what seemed like hours, but was probably mere minutes, her strength near exhausted, and she was on the verge of collapse. Only a terrible fear of that which chased her managed to spur her on. Suddenly the tunnel turned into a brightly lit room, and she found her self facing a fountain, which seemed to exhibit an otherworldly sharpness and detail. A blurry unfocused figure on the far side of the fountain, was sitting at its base, face turned away. As she approached, gasping for air, the figure turned noticing her advance and walked forward, her face came into focus, but nothing else. It was a vaguely familiar twilek's face, all the while she was aware of the thing behind her that seemed to suddenly catch up, it rounded up behind her and she could smell the stench of vivid perfume wafting from behind her stifling her and clouding her senses. She turned around to face her attacker afraid to look-

An alarm blared and the pretty eighteen year old young woman on the bed flicked her eyes open, her chest panting rapidly up and down, freed from a nightmare of stifling perfume, fountains, and a forgotten twilek's face. She breathed in freshly cycled air from the air scrubbers deeply, forcing herself to hold it in before breathing it out in a controlled relaxed manner. With the calming breath the vivid fear from the nightmare faded, and her breathing came easier.

Then quite suddenly she blinked and rolled out of the bed landing on her palms and feet. She began to rapidly complete sets of push ups, pushing herself up and down until sweat began soaking her shift, coppery-skin arms trembling and glistening.

Half an hour later an elevator opened admitting a black robed woman, hood drawn, but femine features still visible. Taking a deep breath the robed woman walked across a ships bridge to kneel just short of a tall black hooded man. All around busy engineers and workers monitored and ran the ship, preparing for their next bidding. Blue screens and transparent dials glowed, lighting the somewhat dim bridge with an eerie blue glow. An occasional black robed figure prowled the deck, keeping away from the center of the bridge. "Master..." intoned the woman.

After a moment the robed figure stirred pulling back his black hood to reveal a semi-human face. Once a handsome man, the man's image now appeared to be partly of that of a horned beast or demon, yet still retained some attractiveness despite the yellow eyes. Up close it was also apparent of how tall and large the man was, however he wasn't bulky...stretched was a closer word.

"You are ready to begin?" said the man at last without glancing at the young woman, staring beyond.

"Yes, Master", replied the woman eyes turned to the robed man's boots.

"Good, because the unprepared perish and the weak have no place among us. The holocron..."
The woman looked up at this, holding out two hands cupped together. The man placed a scarlet crystal pyramid in her hands, and she slowly pressed it against her breast, as if it were a precious child.

"We will begin your trial today, and you will at last show yourself to be among those strong enough to seek power, or among those to serve and crave it", the man finished breaking away, "Admiral, make sure our shuttle is ready in ten minutes."

"Yes, my Lord Maw", said a smartly dressed man saluting the robed man.

The dark robed figure paused turning once more to the young woman, "You've lived a pleasant dream so far, soon to morph into a nightmare. There, in shackles of fear, you will find freedom and the strength to do what is necessary, or else perish."

This post has been edited by Darth Futuza on Apr 22 2009, 03:42 PM

[Darth Futuza]

CHAPTER 2 - The Pit




A sleek interceptor starship hovered precariously over a thick dark pit, in which vines on the side twirled out wrapping themselves up against the side. The light of the nearby star barely penetrated the first hundred feet of the stinking pit, and from then on its fathomable depths continued mysteriously onward, to deeper dark places.

"You have made it thus far, but this is easy enough any fool Jedi could complete. The true trial will begin. Pass the trial. Face your fears. Fuel your passions. Release your anger, and finally master it!" said the black robed man, standing at the top of the ramp of the interceptor shuttle, speaking to the hooded girl below. All she had was a crystal pyramid with a sickly red glow, accompanied with a strong feeling of nausea and her clothing.

"I will not fail, my Master", said the young woman, eyes flashing determinedly.

"The force is with you", said Maw, "Go and do not disappoint."

With that the woman leaped off of the edge of the interceptor's ramp and into the pit below, grabbing hold of one of the many vines. She began to climb deep into the darkness as the interceptor flew into the fading sunlight.

She looked up one last time at the glinting ship, some strange emotion welling in her eyes, "Goodbye Master..."

After about an hour of relentless sliding and slow climbing she reached a thick ledge of the pit, far above her a small circle of light shone, its rays now a faded memory of the strength that had lit up the top of the pit. However, below the ledge a deeper darkness called, something where no light would penetrate. A secret fear of the darkness below hung on the edges of her heart, but she refused to allow herself to think about it refusing to have the fear. She had to climb to the very dark end of the gapping pit; there she would begin her Trial. Gathering herself, she once again clambered onto another thick vine, and continued her scramble downward.

Several hours later, when the light from above was no longer visible and she had entered darkness so complete that her eyes lost themselves imagining unexisting images. An utter cave dark had covered all sight, blinding her completely. She made her way by feel, and sound, so when the silent thick vine came to a sudden end in the wall of the pit where it had rooted from, she nearly lost her grip and fell. Instead she managed to hang on, adrenaline pumping heart racing at the near death. It was utterly embarrassing being smitten by the darkness! Swiftly she searched for further vines to climb, and soon found one, transferring her path to the new one. However this one soon came to an end and eventually, no vines could be reached in order to continue her descent. She reached out with one hand, the other arm tightly wrapped around the edge of the vine. She could still feel hollow emptiness below her, and the plant life she sensed from the force was barely visible just above her head. The vines were all gone.

She knew what came next, somewhere a jutting of uneven rock stuck out, providing a treacherous, but possible climb downward, in its cracks and crags. She soon found it, and more slowly than before continued her descent sweaty and tired from the long climb and short rest. However she knew she must continue, as she would fail the Trial if she did not arrive in the allotted time.

She nearly fell three times, as a jutting of seemingly solid rock crumbled beneath her grip, leaving her hanging onto a small crack, terrified in the darkness. The knocked off pit wall fell far below, so far that they barely heard the splash of water when it hit the bottom. Forcing herself to continue, she dropped down using the force to guide her to the next hand hold, and trusting to luck that it would not break. Again, the second and third time happened similarly the old pit decaying, she nearly falling.

Finally at long last, she reached a ledge just above a bridge she knew existed. Long ago it had been built by the Lords of the age, but had then fallen into ruin, the pit serving to protect and hide it. But this bridge was what she had come all this way for. The Forge of the Manassi. She leapt off the ledge and landed in the center of the bridge rolling to break her long drop. Then she sat there, panting tiredly, body drenched with sweat, her brows stinging with the saltiness of it. She had near the beginning tucked the dark cloak into her belt, folded into a tight ball, and she knew that she would not need it here either in the dark, hot and sweaty as she was.

However what she did need now was clutched in her palm, tight against her heart as she rested, its nauseating influence strengthening the darker emotional side of the force. When she had recovered she uncovered it, and felt out with the force, willing it to reveal. The blood colored holocron suddenly lit up, a piercing red illuminating the utter darkness, blinding her for a moment. When her sight returned, a cowled figure, seemingly chiseled of stone stood calmly examining, given life by a force aura and projection from the holocron. "Child, you are weak, you dare summon me? The great Marko Ragnos?” asked the transparent red figure, "I can sense your fear, child. You know deep within you cannot go where you must, you cannot ask me the question. Too much of a coward. A weakling. Worse than the Jedi even! A disgrace."

"I will be shown wh-" said the woman calmly ignoring the mocking comments of the memory of Ragnos.

"Weak! Coward! You cannot control me! I will destroy you!" commanded Ragnos, cutting through her cry.

"Show me!" demanded the young woman, though still with a sense of control.

Then the Sith Lord smiled, a knowing, awful smile, "...Do you really think, that one without a name. Without history! Without existence, could demand to learn from me? You fear the dark! The very tools you must use to control others, you fear your own anger, and hold yourself back like a foolish Jedi! You are a Jedi are you not? A weakling..."

This comment startled the woman and caused her to tremble with the force and perhaps truth of his words. Was she weak? She feared this darkness, was frightened, this place. But no! This was a mere memory! A relic of this Sith Lord, he would not control her! Anger replaced the doubt and fear, humiliation fueling it, fanning it into a great bonfire of rage.

"Silence! One dead like yourself, does not deserve to converse with me! A weakling who could not obtain the greatest treasure! You will teach only, your very unwanted, but necessary presence disgusts me!" shouted the woman infuriated, and she blindly reached out with the force to put Ragnos into a crushing grip, only to find he was merely an illusion, something she seemed to have forgotten.

The outburst of rage seemed to please the ancient Sith and he smiled, "Perhaps I can yet teach you. What is the knowledge you seek?"

Surprised the woman took a moment to answer, "Show me the construction of the Sith lightsaber crystal, the use of The Forge of the Manassi."

The figure disappeared and the holocron grew dim before reigniting, this time a vivid picture displayed. It was an image of the Forge in its glory days, its red hot glow filling the darkness, for which lights were never needed. The image soon faded into a new one, the picture of a scarlet crystal, and then a set of instructions in the ancient dialect of the Sith. Marko Ragnos voice came back, powerfully calling the words of instruction out loud.

[Darth Futuza]

Is anyone reading this, or should I go stick it in an abandoned recycle bin?

[Allera]

Don't do that. I want to read it, I've just been swamped with finishing up final projects and then studying for final exams.

[Darth Futuza]

Okay fine, sure thing.

[GuNgAnFaN3090]

I'm a busy man! I'm working on it. If you delete it I'll be mad.

[Darth Futuza]

Chapter 3 - Sith Politics

"Lord Maw", said a black robed Sith apprentice as he rushed into the room, coming to kneel on his knees.

"What is it?"

"Lord Desolous desires a report, my Lord", said the Sith uncertain of how the news would be taken.

Darth Maw was silent for a long moment, long enough for the apprentice to begin squirming uncertainly, and let fear began to shake him.

"Molon, the Sith do not fear. Out of my sight", said Darth Maw, as he walked toward the transmission room, stepping on the kneeling apprentice's fingers. The Sith underling, sucked in a breadth of pain, and forced himself not to cry out and then scrambled off of the bridge, eager to escape.

--

Darth Maw, entered the transmission room, his presence sending the remaining engineers scrambling out of the room, well aware of what should happen, were his transmission not to remain private.

Turning to a holo-projector, he knelt, tugging his black hood off, to reveal his twisted human features. Once a charming handsome, human, the dark side had begun to corrupt his features as it did nearly all who used it. But he hadn't stopped there, no, Maw had delved into the ancient uncertain art of Sith Alchemy. The manipulation of life, and genes themselves. He had transformed himself into an aberration, modifying his bodies to more easily access the dark side of the force, transforming his very midi-chlorians.

Assuming a position of respect he lowered his uncovered head, yellow eyes turned downward. Above him a hologram of a Pau'an, dressed in Sith battle armor, a crown of cruel black steel rested on his head. The crown was a declaration to the Jedi and rival Sith Lords, that he was the monarch, the Master of the Force, the Dark Lord of the Sith. It was also a sign, of Darth Desolous' arrogance, the crown had never been a tradition for the ruler of the Sith to wear, Maw also thought that it was perhaps a sign of the paranoid that Desolous felt towards his Sith rivals.

"Master", said Maw.

"My apprentice, Lord Maw. How goes the operation in the inner core?" asked the armored figure, looking down at him.

"Everything is going as planned, my Master. And in the Unknown regions?" asked Maw.

"Excellent, we have uncovered another planet, that is not on the Republics records. We have already begun to move our operations there, the natives put up a stubborn, but futile resistance. However, we have coerced them into surrender", Darth Desolous replied.

"Very good, my Lord."

"Lord Maw, ensure that the fools at Corrusant are unprepared, when we begin the attack. It will no doubt be impossible to sway the Galactic Senate, to our designs, so we must manipulate them in alternative methods, that the Jedi will not suspect until it is far to late."

"Of course, Master. I have already begun preparations, for it. I assume you have not found anything on Outer Rim systems, yet? Shall I search the Temple once again?"

"No, I have not. Going through the Jedi's refuge, once was risky enough, you will alert them to our presence if you were to go a second time."

"What if I were to send another?"

Desolous was silent for a moment considering, "Who?"

"My apprentice", replied Maw with a sneer.

"Found one at long last, I was beginning to think you were afraid to take on someone who might one day overthrow you", taunted Desolous at the new information, "Perhaps the apprentice can..."

"She will succeed, I am confident in her abilities."

"She?" asked Desolous a little taken back, "There hasn't been a Dark Lady of the Sith for a near 500 hundred years..."

"She is strong in the force, and quick to learn", replied Maw, with an almost snappish tone.

"Very well. I have sent a few members from the Sith Council to assist you in your operations, little an hour ago. They will arrive shortly."

Darth Maw, kept in a groan of disgust, the Council always got in the way, always one or all of them trying to prove they should be apprentice to Darth Desolous, all the while knowing they could not defeat Maw without each other.

"Their presence will not be necessary my Lord", said Maw looking up at the Sith Lords face, in hope that he could sway Desolous decision.

"They have already left, my apprentice. It is too late to change that. They will assist you", said the Dark Lord of the Sith, waving his hand in the air.

"As you wish, Master", said Maw turning his eyes downward, there was no help for it now. Not if his Master wanted to attempt using force impression on him, that was a threat in itself of going to far, even if it didn't succeed.

The hologram flickered out and Darth Maw rose to his feet, "Fool."


Darth Maw waited on the bridge of the ship as the Sith frighter and its two Sith fighter escorts emmerged from hyperspace near the planet's far side. "The Sith Council members are arriving, prepare the landing platform. And prepare my shuttle", said Maw, after a moment. A murmur of surprise went around the bridge, some of the black robed figures that stood over the engineers eying one another doubtfully. However, Maw soon silenced the unease, "They will be here in a few minutes, you know how they hate tardiness." Soon the bridge was filled with commotion, men giving orders and frantic hurrying, while Darth Maw viewed their discomfort with pleasure.

Within moments the hurrying frantics had ceased and the frieghter prepared to dock at the Ploymotheus. A few seconds of nervous tension went by, before a voice came over the intercom, "They're docking."

Darth Maw let out a weary sigh, "Drika, Vrak, and Dilisiant come with me." Leading the way, he stepped into the elevator, the three Sith following him into the shaft. Darth Maw soon prowled across the docking bay towards the shuttle as its supports hissed into place, the three minor Sith followed nervously, while Maw made his way with a obvious scowl. Around them, Sith soldiers, a minor garrison, assembled in a tight formation.

Two black robed figures made their way from the small ship, a third, female, wearing a unique design of Sith armor. "Niva", hissed Darth Maw to himself, when he noticed the armored Sith. "Welcome, my Lords..." said Maw intentionally, "...and Lady". He added the last as if it were an after thought, the forgotten unimportant fine print.

"Maw", said the woman, "How pleasant to see you. Lord Desolous mentioned someone competent running things around here? Tell me, who was he talking about?"

"I can assure you that I have plenty of things in mind that I would be rather doing with you than speaking to you", said Maw coming out bluntly.

"The things you dare suggest-!"

"I suggested nothing, Darth Niva. You know that I am uncannily honest, I prefer to put reality above politeness", replied Maw cutting her off, with a mad gleam to his unblinking stare.

"You go to far!" shouted Niva putting a hand to her saber. Behind her, the other two Council members plunged hands to their belts as well.

"Speaking of going. I have an appointment, Vrak here will show you around to your quarters and bring you up to speed on the Sith operations here. When I return, I will go into further detail and put you to work. Please, let's not make Lord Desolous disappointed. I wouldn't want to have to give you unsatisfactororial reports, it would be most unfortunate if someone were to...fall prey to an...accident", said Maw waving his hand in dismissive gesture, ignoring Niva's hostility.

Niva scowled and muttered, "I will restrain myself this once, in the future I will not be so forgiving."

"You're starting to sound like a Jedi, sweetheart. Well, then, Vrak?" said Darth Maw with a sarcastic teasing tone. With that the Sith Lord turned to his readied shuttle, closing the ramp behind him.

"That over pompous, Sith Lord's favorite has bloated his ego too far. He's going to find himself in an...accident sometime", muttered Niva to the Council member beside her as Vrak began leading the group towards the elevator.

--

As Maw approached the surface of the planet below, he stared at the piloting droid willing it to go faster. He could fly it himself, yes, but it was something he hated doing and something he was bound to kill himself eventually. Flying was pilots and droids, not a Sith Lord. As he began studying the increasingly detailed terrain below him, he felt a surge in the force. Hatred, satisfaction. He leapt up, and pushed the controls of the surprised droid to the far right. However, he had been too slow. A hail of deadly laser fire slammed into the right side of the ship, causing an explosion of the small unprotected shuttle to go off. The small spacecraft was sent into a dangerous spiral towards the planet's surface. Maw looked out the view port towards the source of the blast. It was his ship! The Ploymotheus, was firing at him! "Neva!" shouted Maw, hatred of his old rival blazing into a ressurected inferno.

"Stabilize us!" shouted Maw, before rethinking his order as another surge in the force alerted him to more laser fire, "Forget that! Keep banking hard to the right!"

"More sir?" asked the droid as it began to turn the controls from struggled control.

"Yes you idiot!" spat Maw, tempted to slam the droid into the wall with the force. Maw's order came just in time, as well as heavy turbo laser fires barely streaked past the out of control ship.

"They're trying to kill us, make it look like we've already been hit to hard. We're going to have to crash land, and self destruct the moment we do", said Maw, adjusting his belted saber and robes.

"What about you my Lord?" asked the droid before reporting, "We've lost the entire left wing, and part of the engines, it'll be impossible to steer this. Collision with planet surface in about 49 seconds."

"Keep dodging the laser fire. I'm going to bail out, right before we crash, you will stay with the ship and ensure that it is destroyed completely", ordered Maw.

"Yes, sir", said the droid, consigned to its doom.

Meanwhile all around them laser fire filled the sides of the ship, barely missing, and somehow not taking more of it with the blasts. Darth Maw turned to the emergency hatch and carefully waited, feeling out with the force. Behind him the doomed droid began counting down towards impact with the planet's surface.

"5...4...3...2..."

Darth Maw opened the emergency hatch and launched himself into the air using the force to propel himself.

This post has been edited by Darth Futuza on May 3 2009, 11:26 PM

[Darth Futuza]

Chapter 3 - Forging Fire


She was ready. The Sith holocron had given her the necessary information, and here she had learned, in this pit, were the materials to create objects so powerful that they could make a turbo laser seem an insignificant force. She had had difficulty stopping, though. She had become entranced by Marko Ragnos' words, as they weaved the ancient art, revealing its secrets. Her thirst for knowledge was like a bitter famined land, starving for want of more water. And here this holocron had everything she could ever want to know about the Forge. However, she knew the dangers, like any other Sith holocron this one would attempt to teach you things you were never ready for, secrets so shattering they could make one go mad. There was no cap on the knowledge contained within, unlike the Jedi's holocrons. So she stopped after the lesson had begun to turn to the Forging of that other than the artificial lightsaber crystals, the heart of a Sith lightsaber. Now she knew the secret of the lightsaber, the mystery of the Sith crystals.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed a strand of hair out of her face and faced the forge. Created by a long forgotten people, it had been discovered by the Sith and turned to their uses and was one of the fastest ways to create fine material, especially those devices which were infused with the dark side of the force. It was somewhat of a replication of the ancient and dreaded Star Forge, a remnant of Rakatan technology, but turned even darker than its previous state by the Sith Lords who had warmed its fires.

An hour later a deep orange glow had begun to illuminate the cave darkness of the terrible pit, making eerie shadows move across the wall against the heat of the glow, as she moved. The woman withdrew the special tongs drawing out a diamond-like cut-out of scarlet crystal, the heat of the forge threatening it to melting point its shiny surface alive with energy. Here, this was the most important part, the part that made it a Sith's tool. Reaching out with her influence in the force, the girl wrapped tight constructors of the force around the lightsaber crystal. She weaved her emotions into, those of rage, anger, malice, and spite. Emotions which made her stronger, gave her focus and in turn likewise made the crystal stronger, more focused; ancient Sith symbolism. These she fed the dark side of the force, even as she bound it into the very molecules of the lightsaber crystal.


At last it was almost done, her final project before she became who she was born to be. Her lightsaber was almost complete, and merely required the careful setting of the crystal and the sealing of the hilt. Carefully, ever so carefully, the woman nudged the balancing crystal, ensuring it would fit into the groove designed for it. With a satisfying click the crystal settled and she smile, and began closing the lightsaber back up. She had designed the hilt long ago, as well as the insides and battery, but until now she had not been taught the secret of the artificial Sith lightsaber crystal. Now her knowledge was complete however, and she would finish the trials!

With one last turn of a screw driver, and a resealing of the magnetic strip, she picked up the saber hilt. Then as if in a dream her finger slowly itched forward towards the ignition button, and then finaly gently pressed in and realead. There was a hiss and a blade of bloodied light leaped from the handle imprisoning it. There was a cackling hum of the electric saber, and she could feel the slight heat of the blade of energy when she placed her hand close to it. "At last! The weapon of a Sith!" she exclaimed holding the blade above her head, giving it a test swing. The blade hummed whizzing through the air as she flourished it faster and faster, flowing easily into the forms practiced for years with her master. She whirled it one last time, threw it into the air and used the force to switch it off and guide it to her belt.

Now only the trial remained.

[Darth Futuza]

Chapter 4 - Trial

It was nearly a day later that the woman made her way to the absolute bottom of the pit, nearly a mile below the forge. However, instead of meeting cave darkness her way was actually lit by, glowing translucent mushrooms that covered the slick floor of the pit, they lead into a cave going north, and she followed their illuminating trail. All around her dripped the steady water of slowly downward trickling half-slime half-water liquid. The cave was filled the stench of mildew and rotting hidden things, like that of a mutilated body buried beneath gagging half decomposed leaves. Her master would no doubt expect her to exit the pit from the top, so she had turned around and decided to leave it by the bottom.

The cave, was like a long tunnel carved out by some long since extinct flow of water, that which remained dripping along the walls and stalactites. After a few minutes of walking, the glowing mushrooms came to an abrupt end. Wary, the woman ignited her new saber, its red glow igniting the dark emptiness. Below her stretched yet another hole, plummeting even deeper into the earth. The light of her saber had also, however, brought to light a strange cave drawing on the cave wall. It appeared to be an ancient pictogram created by a forgotten race. It showed a crudely done drawing of a terrible figure in spiky armor commanding several bent over figures holding picks. The people were digging a great hole into the earth, above them in the sky a strange symbol that looked somewhat like a circle crossed with a simple house. "Old..." muttered the woman to herself, "Perhaps there is no end to this pit. I wonder what it means?"

Then without another moment of hesitation, emboldened by the success of her new lightsaber and her quick mastery of the holocron which was now in her pocket, she climbed down into the new hole. There she found to her delight that instead of vines, a great ladder had been placed long ago, its metal rungs rusted and now an orange color. Switching her saber off, she clipped it back on to her belt and continued down the ladder. As she made her way farther down, a rotting stench different from the rest of the tunnel grew, until it was near unbearable.

After some more climbing the ladder came to an abrupt end, however she was able to tell, by dropping a piece of the rocky side to the ground, that she was a mere 5 or ten feet above the ground. Trusting the sound, she dropped, and landed in a muddy almost liquid pool of water, that went up to her waist. Ignoring the cold slimy liquid she pressed through, despite the terrible smell. Suddenly she realized that she could feel the presence of other beings here in the water, not force-sensitive, but large enough to possibly be sentient. With that, she felt something move, something long and slick slide past her waist. Startled she turned on her saber, the light momentarily blinding her as she searched for the mysterious being that lurked in the murk.

"What are you?" whispered the girl, waving the saber about, trying to make something out through the thick barely transparent liquid, that was nearly mud. Behind her a great monolith rose slowly out of the murk, its slimy wormlike body raising above the woman's head. She suddenly noticed a strange clicking, and sucking sound behind her and she whirled around, splashing.

What she saw by the light of the saber, was a terrible monstrosity. Great lidless, blind, milky white eyes searched blindly on the side of its great tube-like body. At its end, a quivering mouth of many teeth and stroking wriggling tentacles, seeking for prey, its belly starved for want of long absent meal. Pinky fleshy, slime covered skin made up the tip of the great worm, that had drawn out of a hard black shell that covered the rest of its body, caked with mud. From the starved carnivorous worm, the stench of neglected flesh and living rotting flesh emanated in nauseous waves.

The girl cried out in shock, as the thing turned towards her shout, guided by the shriek. It let out a hissing, clattering, smloosh of noise as it moved towards her, its ringed teeth and tentacles grouping for its prey. The girl shuddered stepping backwards, trying to escape, only to run into the hard mud encrusted body of the thing. At her touch it twitched and began to rapidly twist and curl, enclosing her tightly into a suffocating grasp. "No!" she screamed, and struck out with her saber. The blade slowly slid through the shell of the creature reaching the sensitive pinky flesh beneath. At the burning touch the blind monolithic worm, recoiled throwing the woman beneath the muddy water, just as its head struck for its prey.

Below the water the woman swam rapidly for the surface spitting out the fetid taste of the rotten liquid. At her emergence the worm struck out towards her again, sightless eyes looking for prey it couldn't see. Her lightsaber had shorted out, from the liquids touch and would now be useless until she managed to clean it out. Frantically, she tried to move out of the way of the great worm, heading towards the ladder. However, the worm anticipated such a move, its now stinging tail coming to slam into the girl. She was thrown into the far wall by the worm the breath knocked out of her. Gasping she tried to clear her vision, to prepare for the worm's advance. However, hunger had made the worm to quick and it struck out with its abhorrent mouth, foul breath blanching from it's innards.

Terrible thoughts flashed through her mind, of death and lost power. Humiliation by this worm. Lost in a great forgotten pit of the universe. One of these however, was anger. She couldn't die! Not now! Battle fury built up, but she had no weapon with which to unleash it upon the great monstrosity. Uncertain she turned palms toward the gaping mouth as it closed the distance. She struck out with the energy of the dark side of the force, an invisible force slamming into the worm's head, throwing it against the rock wall. While it let out a squelching groan of pain, instinctively pulling its foul head back into the safety of its black shell. Taking her chance, she dashed for the ladder, wadding as fast as she could through the water, while the body of the worm thrashed angerly around her, somehow missing her entirely, though smashing several sides of the circular walls causing dirt and stones to fall into the swampy pool. By either will of the force, or sheer luck she managed to make it to the ladder, and began to rapidly ascend, eye turned to the nearly recovered worm.

As she climbed she noticed another hole, some kind of ventilation to the pit running near the side of the ladder. A way out? she thought, Yes! I can feel distant wind. She turned and jumped grasping the side of the rectangular hole, clambering inside just as the worm rushed towards her previous place on the ladder, furious. Crawling quickly she made it up into the beginning of the shaft just as she felt the worm noticing her hiding place. Then with horror she realized it was also attempting to squeeze itself into the shaft to follow her, too late she realized it would probably manage to do just that and it had probably done so before. With reinvigorated energy, she clambered quickly up the sideways twisting shaft towards what she hoped was a near surface. Behind her the worm thrashed violently, squeezing itself upwards. She could hear the squelching flesh of the great beast, as it was squeezed into the small place by the walls, moving ever closer...

[Allera]

Ooh, yay! I have a lot to read once finals week is over! =D

[Darth Futuza]

Lol, I'm doing those all next week.

[Allera]

Oh that sucks. Good luck, man. I'll read up on these once this storm passes by us. It's been storming all week, and it's going to last for another week. -_-