KMC Forums - Lord Burk

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It was indescribably dark in the cavern that we were in, especially in the crevice that I had concealed myself within. It was time for their test, so I was not to help them, only to watch. I had no issues with it; it is just how we know when training is complete, for our kind.

The six of them lined themselves up, side-by-side, in a row, opposite of the mouth of the cave. They stood at the ready, cylindrical hilts within their hands. I could sense their fear, their anger, their rage. It filled them, consumed them. In this aspect, they had done well to please their master; but I was not entirely impressed with their abilities. Their skills in common battle were decent, but their dueling abilities were pitifully far below my own. Pitiful indeed.

At that exact moment, she came, just as I had predicted. Stepping out of the sandstorm and into the relative safety of the cavern, she sensed the potential danger at once, and the rising hatred. My students failed me here, and had forgotten how to hide themselves through their powers. She immediately ignited her lightstaff, casting a purple glow upon the six acolytes. These Sith hopefuls in turn ignited their lightsabers, all simultaneously. And then, their final test commenced...

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Jedi Master Tyr Komus ignited her lightstaff as soon as she had sensed the danger. The immediate danger came from the row of six Sith, garbed differently but their faces hidden by skull-like masks, who ignited their lightsabers simultaneously, the red glowing giving the cave an eerie lighting, contrasting against her own calm purple light. She held up her weapon defensively.

I sense something...dark...yet elusive...he must be here... Tyr thought, extending her senses into the cave, but she did not have time to dwell upon it. The six were advancing.

�You will die, Jedi!� one of the shouted, apparently the leader of the group. �You are no match for the power of the Dark Side.�

�I beg to differ,� she countered, preparing for the first attack.

The first attack was delivered by an impulsive young Sith, garbed in black robes, who came in with a broad swing. It was a clumsy move, and Tyr swiftly sidestepped. She thrust one end of her lightstaff backwards and into his spine, out his sternum. He crumpled to the floor, dead.

�Next?� Tyr asked, tiredly.

The next attack came from another young Sith in an elaborate suit of blood red. Rather than make a maladroit strike on his opponent, he allowed her to make the first move. She pushed her right blade forwards into his, the two lightsabers held perpendicular to one another. Just as the energy foils flickered against one another, she spun about and struck his shoulder with the left side of her staff. The wound was deep, and he stumbled in shock, giving her enough time to spin her blade upwards and remove his head.

A third man swathed in emerald moved to intercept her, taking the same defensive tactic as the previous attacker. She assailed him with the same move, forcing her right blade forwards into his defensively held sword, then pirouetting past his defense with a strike to the shoulder with her left blade. However, he stretched up and angled the blade downwards behind him, blocking the attempt. He fell for it. The attack on his backside was a feint, and she effortlessly reversed her spin and cut him in half.

The remaining three Sith apprentices moved away from her in three different directions, calling the lightsabers of their fallen comrades to them so that they were each armed with two sanguine lightsabers. They spun them in their hands menacingly.

Tyr cautiously sought guidance from her instincts, and chose to dash for the Dark Jedi moving away from her, straight ahead. Tapping into the Force, she began to sprint at an incredibly high speed, before leaping into the air and dropping down behind the gray-robed Dark Jedi. This one, clothed in a black leather outfit, brought her two blades down upon Tyr�s two. In a test of strength, Tyr called upon the Force to give her the upper hand, forcing their lightsabers up and giving her ample room to plant her foot on his chest. The roundhouse kick, amplified by Tyr�s use of the Force, knocked him back, and further assailment from her Force throw sent him hurtling through a wall of rock. She sensed his life flicker out of the Force, removing a stain of the Dark Side.

�I could keep at this all day,� Tyr sighed.

The remaining two Dark Jedi kept their distance. Unlike the other four who had fallen to this Master, they did not conceal their identities. The first was a tall human male, with a clean-shaven head, but a slight goatee. He was muscular and wore a sleeveless leather outfit. His arms were cybernetic prosthetics, replacing flesh that had long since been removed by a Jedi. He bore numerous tattoos all over his body of creatures that the Sith had perverted to their will, breathing fire and dripping blood all across his skin. The second was so heavily robed in black with red linings that Tyr wondered if he could even see out of the hood, for she could not see his face. Gray armored pauldrons bulked his shoulders, and red ribbons flowed from beneath them.

�Well?� Tyr asked, holding back a nervous yawn.

Glancing at one another, the two disciples of the Dark moved in on Master Tyr. The hooded one held his lightsabers up in a cautious offensive stance while the other took advantage of his cybernetic limbs and began to spin his lightsabers rapidly without moving his fingers, letting the wrist gyros do the work. Timing her blow, Tyr took a step in his direction and stopped the spins with a single thrust, both blades getting caught on hers. She engaged the other and then handled both as they began to assault her viciously with blows of strength and precise yet careful thrusts. But they were for nothing. With a sudden unexpected attack, she forced the hooded one back and began to wail on the muscled man. Her staff was a blur as she whisked it around, her attacks becoming near misses as the man strafed and blocked desperately. But then he found his opening, and sliced the staff cleanly in half.

�Impressive,� Tyr said, keeping her backhand grip on both ends of the staff, now separate lightsabers. She held them vertically, parallel to her forearms, blocking a horizontal slice from the man before kicking him in the face and Force throwing him away from her. The hooded one returned with greater effort to strike her down, but it was of no use. After a series of fast-paced volleys between the two, two lightsabers had been dropped, forcing them to fight on with one each. This did not end well for the hooded one; Tyr forced his guard away from him and cleanly removed his sword arm at the shoulder before puncturing his blackened heart.

�No!!! Mosek!� the muscled man shouted horribly as he watched his cohort slide off her blade, spinning his blades again with his wrist gyros. �I�ll kill you, Jedi! It�ll be with my bare hands, after I lop off your arms and legs! Death upon you! Death!!!�

�It shall be you who faces death, my former Padawan,� Tyr sneered, facing him with hands firmly gripping her lightsaber, angling it towards him. �Oh how far you have fallen, Biltus...�

�You will not use that name! Biltus Aronum is dead! I am Darth Staab, a mighty enforcer of the will of the Sith!�

�You are no such thing.�

With a deranged look in his eye, his lightsabers becoming disks of loudly humming bloodshine light, he roared as he charged her down. His assault was astoundingly strong and her defense amazingly agile, his clumsy overpowered swings easily intercepted by her well-controlled flicks and sidesteps. He pirouetted viciously with full intent of cutting across her midsection or chest or throat, but she stayed just out of reach. Finally, the climax of the fight resulted in a lock of lightsabers and a clash of will. In the end, Lord Staab�s strength was superior, but Master Tyr�s wit subjugated his brawn. The three lightsabers unlocked as Staab forced her to the ground with a leg suddenly wrapped around hers and his lightsabers pushing her back. She rolled as he brought his lightsabers up to the finish the task...

Thump! Out from under her, Master Tyr had guided a sizeable stone to Staab�s forehead, hitting hard. As he stumbled back, she guided her lightsaber to the same target. His head split open, Staab was dead.

�I am glad that�s over,� Tyr sighed bitterly, retrieving her weapon. But her senses flared when she heard a cold sinister laugh. Turning, she only managed to scream just as the lightning struck her.

�Weak, pitiful Jedi...� the cold voice snarled. �Your pride has led to your undoing.�

As Master Tyr writhed, she was silenced by a suddenly incision to the throat with a lightsaber. Gurgling, she could not scream or breathe, but that was of no consequence. In a moment, there was another red flash, then another, and another, and she was cut in three.

A dark robed figure stood over her, a uniquely crafted lightsaber hilt in his hand, glimmering beneath the glow of its projected red plasma. Nothing could be discerned of him due to the robes, and he disappeared into the darkness as he shut off his lightsaber.