The Old Republic

[Lexar Lerr]

The Sable touched down on the snowy wastelands of Hoth. The whiteness extended in every direction, a pure abyss. Lex took a moment in his ship, scanning the area outside. A large part of him had no idea why he was on this planet. The Arna were extinct. Every bit of his instinct told him that. They were a fable for little children, a curious sect who defied the extremes. Most probably believed they never existed. To Lex, they hadn’t existed for thirty years. Even before then, their role in his life was short-lived. Yet, that Human said what he said in that dingy cantina on Nal Hutta. He said the word “Arna.” Lex hadn’t misheard him, as though he had drunkenly slurred, “Arenn’I your frienn…?” No. Though he didn’t catch the full sentence, the meaning was clear. It was spoken in a half-whisper, both trying to be secretive and enticing to passersby. Lex did not talk to the man; he did not further eavesdrop on the conversation. He didn’t have to. The mere mention of the Gray Jedi had ignited a passion inside of him that Lex found inescapable.

He retrieved his lightsaber from his satchel. Lex hadn’t held it like this for over a decade. He hadn’t activated it since he left the Arna. For many, the blade probably would have begged to be used, but not this one. It waited patiently, perhaps knowing that it would be needed again and wanted to reserve its power for a later, more appropriate time. He dropped it back into the satchel and pressed a button for his cockpit window to pop open. Immediately, the blustering temperatures of the planet consumed the warmth around him. Even Lex’s dense coat of fur would have trouble keeping him alive in these conditions. The Defel climbed out of his ship.

Fortunately, Lex would not be outside for an extended period of time. Ever since that night in the cantina, Lex searched. Using all of his charm and many, many Force-assisted persuasions, he traced any information regarding the Arna back here to Hoth. The Arna Temple. Part of him did not know where his hunt would take him. Another old Arna member? A new base hidden away on another planet? But another part of him knew that all knowledge of the Arna led back to where it began for him. His training, his connection with the Force had all been established here.

His cockpit closed automatically, and Lex trudged indefinitely toward his goal. The frigid breeze tossed his fur around, desperate to nip at his skin. Nevertheless, satchel slung across his body, he walked. Even at this moment, Lex did not know what he planned on doing. The temple would surely be derelict and frozen over. Did he expect someone else to be hiding out here, waiting for the Arna to re-gather? If not, would he attempt to bring more recruits and past Arna into the fold? The whole experience seemed so surreal that any concrete intentions would be frivolous.

Then, as the temple came into view, his breath caught in his lungs. The temple looked ideal. Better than ideal. Lex stopped his wintry trek and stared. It had been destroyed. Hadn’t it? But as he stared at it, it looked better than ever, as though someone had reconstructed it and gave it a whole new life. This was improbable beyond belief. There were puzzle pieces that Lex didn’t possess, and he had to fill them in. He ran as stealthily as he could in black fur on an ice planet to the old Arna Temple. There were no guards, no buzz of activity, and so Lex slipped inside, sticking to the shadows of the interior. As though the heat of the building were not enough of an indication, Lex felt a presence. In spite of himself, he found his fingers seeking out his lightsaber. He couldn’t understand why he now held it, power off, at his side. It was not an act of aggression or even defense. It was almost as though the old temple called for it, to show that he belonged in this place.

Finding guile to be useless in a near empty place like this, Lex moved out into the open of the large, open room he was in. Surrounded by pillars and vaulted ceilings, Lex waited, making no attempt to mask his presence.

[Feerse]

The old temple walls had felt so cool, and yet so warm. It had been thirty years since the Arna had disbanded. Feerse was their leader, their creator. He led them from victory to victory, vanquishing their enemies and taking a pivotal role in the galaxy. And yet, it was Feerse's decision that caused the demise of the gray side. In striking Church Taren, his oldest friend, he instigated the destruction of the Dominion and the loss of two powerful factions.

Now, Feerse was older. Much older. When he was younger, Feerse was killed by his first true friend, Vynn Raith. Having produced a clone as a failsafe, Feerse stored his Force Spirit into the younger body. But after the War of Shadows, the sixty-four year old clone body with the ninety-two year old Force Spirit were a heavy weight.

Feerse watched from the old command tower as a ship landed in the distance. He felt the Force swirling inside of it, a familiar sting of someone he once knew. Feerse studied as a Defel exited, and began to infiltrate the facility. He did not feel threatened, as he recognized the signature in the force. "Lexar Lerr."

Feerse noted Lerr's release of his stealth powers as he walked to the center of the large central training area. Feerse did not wish to frighten Lerr, in case the years had caused him to forget the Nayr Enaek who had created the Arna. Feerse made himself visible, descending on the stone staircase into the training area. "Lexar Lerr, my old comrade. It has been so long, just over thirty years." He approached Lerr, extending his hand as a sign of friendship. As he lifted his arm, the severely chipped horn on the left side of his head sent a sting of pain down his spine, but Feerse tried not to show it. "What has brought you back to this cold and desolate place?".

[Lexar Lerr]

Lex was both shocked and relieved at who greeted him. Feerse, founder of the Arna, right here in front of him. Lex bowed his head and took Feerse’s hand. “Whispers, sir,” Lex replied. “I had thought…” Lex fell silent. It was too much to hope for. He released Feerse’s hand and walked past him, gazing around at the temple. Lex wondered how Feerse had been able to rebuild it, if there were others still following his command. “I’ve been gone for too long, and yet this all feels so familiar,” he said. “I have to tell you, sir—and I didn’t realize it until this very moment—but I have been so very lost since I left. Killing for credits is easy for me, and it got me by. Now that I’m here, though, it was all a distraction.”

He turned and faced the High-King of old. “I came here hoping that the Arna had not truly died out. I hoped that everything I was taught, by you, by every other member of this order, is true. I need this more than I’ve ever needed it.”

He unholstered his flechette gun, holding it in his right hand. In his left, he held his lightsaber. “A bounty hunter does not belong to anything,” Lex said, judging the weapons. “As part of the Arna, though,” He ignited his lightsaber. A beautiful golden blade shot out of the end. Lex couldn’t help but take a half-step back. He held it still, admiring all that it stood for. He replaced the FWG-5 in its holster. Giving the blade one last glance, he deactivated it as well. “I cannot do this on my own.”

This post has been edited by Lexar Lerr on Aug 16 2009, 02:13 PM

[Feerse]

Feerse watched Lerr closely. He noticed that the Defel had lost a part of his Force luster. The Arna was one of those factions that inspired its members to embrace their power, like the Sith, but it did not promote anything unjust. Under the Arna, members were encouraged to learn both light and dark side powers and beliefs, and they were encouraged to do what they felt was right in any given situation, as long as they had a just reason.

Right now, Feerse could tell Lerr was still following those beliefs, in one form or another. He was doing what he felt was right. Feerse knew there were Gray Jedi out there, once part of the Arna, now just another unaligned soldier. In truth, Lerr was not the first to visit Feerse's homeworld and ask about the Arna. There was Jnax Prettle, Mynock Nurali, Pharel Boh Jinn, and others.

However, something was special about Lerr. Feerse could sense something in Lexar Lerr's heart that he had not in any of the others who had visited the old temple. He sensed true spirit, determination...will. The others: They were just curious, wondering as passersby what may happen to the Arna name. Lerr came here, traveled to the frozen planet of Hoth, in search of the truth: Where are the Arna?

When the golden blade errupted from Lerr's lightsaber, Feerse's eyes glimmered a weird hue. The golden light gleamed into Feerse's irises, to be met with swirls of bright silver. A slight spark emerged in Feerse's spirit. A spark he would not dare let go, for he knew that for the first time in his eventful life...he could do nothing.

"Lexar, I believe you have the power and the dignity to be rightfully searching for the answers you seek. However, I am but an old, withering Gray Jedi. My days of fighting and dealing with galaxy wars and politics are long over. What can an old Zabrak with a few Force tricks do for the lost Arna? For the galaxy? For the Force?"

[Lexar Lerr]

Lex exhaled ever so slightly. This would not be a simple matter. Feerse had changed through the years. This was understandable. When his lightsaber reawakened, it had unlocked an old feeling inside of Lex and he thought, for a moment, he saw a flicker of change on Feerse’s face as well. Though a hermit for decades, Lex could not help but see the natural leader still inside the Zabrak. A purpose.

Lex laughed softly, ironically. “I am no young rancor myself, sir. In my youth, I had an insatiable rage in my soul, a monster that I kept caged. It still struggles to get out, but it has grown old too. The fight has become easier on the inside, for both of us,” Lex said. He lowered his body to the ground, sitting on the back of his legs in a meditative position. “That is where our true value lies. There are others like us in the galaxy, young ones with Force potential who fight their inner demons with no guides to serve them. You are right. Politics and wars have become unnecessary for our people. Let those of the Republic and Jedi and Sith be. In my humble opinion, we should focus on ourselves. We should gather those who may, under improper tutelage, fall to the extremes.”

Images of his past crept into his mind. The command deck of The Obsidian. Rath. Raoan Drawde. This temple. Before the Arna fell, Lex had so much left to learn. He had never quite reached his prime, and the last thirty years seemed a huge detour. Physically, he might not be as spry as he once was, but mentally, he still waited for his moment of worth. “The Force will steer us as it always has, my King. You ask me what an old Zabrak with a few Force tricks can do for the Arna?” Lexar Lerr bowed his head again in deference. “You can lead.”

[Feerse]

Feerse was slightly taken aback. Sir? My King? Such address he had not received in nearly three decades. Recently, he was used to hearing "Professor" and the like. A teacher he had become, a sort of leader. But it was nothing like leading an army. Like leading others and swaying their ideals and values. This was something he had given up. Was he really ready to take up the title again, with a spirit nearing a century's age?

Feerse slightly lowered his shoulders, indicating he wished to talk as equals rather than by rank. "Let me tell you something, Lex. I am sick of this galaxy's wars. I am sick of the miniscule problems that are erected to catastrophic events. Today, these factions that exist are so ruthless and clumsy. They have no order. No control. No real talent." Feerse walked away from Lerr, his robes slowly whirling around him. A gust of snow temporarily permeated the blast window.

"If you are serious about this, as I sense you are, then you must be smart. The Arna no longer belongs to the common traveler. The Arna should no longer open its doors to everyone. The Arna deserves intense training, and they belong in the shadows where they were created. The Arna should not fight wars, but orchestrate them. They shouldn't fight, but kill. They shouldn't boast about their own philosophy, but make others believe it."

Feerse didn't know whether to smile or frown at his idea. It was a change, radical enough to receive a negative response. But he had already said too much. Lerr's acceptance relied on the last word Feerse spoke. "Assassins."

[Lexar Lerr]

Feerse wanted to keep the Arna in the dark, and it played to Lex’s strengths. His whole life revolved around operating as a shadow. He was known as the Nethercloak for this reason. His Defel fur made him a silhouette to those who saw in the color spectrum. The few Force abilities he had mastered consisted of stealth and manipulation. So, by the time Feerse spoke his last word, Lex was already a devout member of this modified ideology. Not only did it suit him better, it allowed him to use his skills in a more useful way.

Lex rose, a malevolent grin on his face. “Feerse, you have won my spirit. The Arna will do what they always should’ve done. With the right training, we can make a single man or woman worth one hundred. By keeping our ranks tight and regimented, our bonds will be stronger than the Jedi without being bloated as their Order is. We will operate free from allegiances, save our own. You speak the truth when you say that we will be the orchestrators of wars, the assassins in the night.”

A peculiar feeling crept over Lex as he finished his sentence, as though the path ahead extended out, in a criss-cross branching of timelines and the people within it. He glanced at the back of Feerse’s robe and down at his own clawed hands. They were only two. As two, they could do much, but not enough.

“And yet, we are the trainers, the directors of the galaxy with no one to direct. No one to guide. As able as we are, we will need others. Not any ragtag group, as you say. We need the fastest and surest hands,” Lex said. He thought of Rath, of the other former Arna members. “Veterans, if we can find them. These veterans will have to know that we will not operate the same as before. They may prove invaluable, but only if they can quell their darker desires for immediate power.”

Lex remembered. He reached into his satchel and pulled out an old datapad. He searched through it and found what he was seeking. He stood by Feerse’s side and handed him the datapad. “Before Hoth fell and our temple was ruined, I transferred copies of the old chronicles to this. It has history, notes, and all the important pieces of our foundation,” Lex said. “I originally did it for myself so that I would have a remnant of the Arna with me, but you may find other useful bits in there as well.”

Lex laughed his soft, gruff laugh. “Even then, I wasn’t entirely sure why I did it. Yet again, the Force has shown that it works in enigmatic ways. Aside from that, our future is up to you.”

[Feerse]

Feerse listened to Lerr's words very closely. He could sense the urge and the will in the Defel's spirit. Feerse was satisfied with Lerr's response to his suggestion, though he did not quite know exactly how he would handle it himself.

Feerse looked toward Lerr, noting his every movement. At last, he replied. "Lex, you are right. We do need veterans, as well as the falling members around the galaxy. The Arna will most likely be nothing but a whisper for a while. I predict that eventually they will be known well enough to make a difference, but for now, with the few members we will recruit, we must keep ourselves in check. One wrong move too early, and there goes our hopes." Feerse reached out and accepted the datapad, nodding to Lerr in response.

Feerse then caught the last thing Lerr said. He looked the Defel right into his dark black eyes. "Listen to me, Lex. This venture is not for me to command. My time has come and gone. I have fought in countless wars, and changed the fate of the galaxy too many times to count. I am, and for the rest of my sentient existence I will continue to be, a teacher and a mentor. I will train these new Arna to be diligent, sneaky, to master the Force as I can, and to use methods the Jedi nor the Sith would dare teach them. However, these new Arna, these assassins, they will be yours to lead. You have a willpower of no one I've ever seen before, not even Vynncent Raith."

Feerse motioned for Lerr to kneel in front of him. Feerse's brilliant silver lightscimitar erupted from the handle, sending a vibrant glow through all the walls in the training center. He extended the blade to both of Lerr's shoulders. "I hereby declare you, Lexar Lerr, leader and High-King of the newfound Arna. Their code is yours to alter and their forms are yours to create, as you will. I, Nayr Kcirtap Enaek, will take my place at your side, as a trainer and a mentor for all the Arna you intend to lead."

The silver blade awaited Lerr's golden blade to connect in acceptance.

[Lexar Lerr]

Lex was struck dumb as Feerse’s words echoed in his ears. “…they will be yours to lead.” Lexar Lerr was a bounty hunter, an assassin-for-hire. He was not a leader. He had gotten close to and betrayed so many people for credits alone. He belonged away from the limelight, not in the middle of it. Forty years ago, he killed a Falleen with his bare claws, a true disgrace for a Defel. He stole and ran from responsibility. Every shred of morality told him he was not right for this task. He remembered the insurmountable rage bottled inside him, dangerous if it ever escaped his vigilant control.

Feerse motioned for him to kneel, and a silver blade appeared in front of him, a light of duty. The advent of Feerse’s lightweapon affected him. It melted his fears and his doubts, turned them to dust, to miniscule obstacles. If Feerse would not lead, then who? Who would pull the others from the darkness of their own lives and into the shadows of the Arna? He had commanded The Obsidian, thousands of men under his will. Never once had he failed a bounty, and when the Arna were all but nonexistent, Lexar Lerr had sought out their founder. His personal failings would allow the Arna to flourish. His mistakes could be rectified if only he could bring himself to accept what was before him.

He knelt.

“I hereby declare you, Lexar Lerr, leader and High-King of the newfound Arna. Their code is yours to alter and their forms are yours to create, as you will. I, Nayr Kcirtap Enaek, will take my place at your side, as a trainer and a mentor for all the Arna you intend to lead.”

The hum of Feerse’s lightscimitar reverberated as it passed over both of his shoulders. Then, the blade hung in the air above him. Lex lifted his head and instinctively activated his lightsaber. A golden energy surged forth, crackling against Feerse’s weapon. As it did, Lex felt a rush within the Force, as though abilities he never knew he had inside him had been awakened. He did not know if this newfound intensity came from Feerse himself or if the ceremony had stirred Lex’s potential in a way never before.

He stood.

The freshly anointed High-King nodded in appreciation to his mentor. “I accept,” Lex said. “We have much to discuss. But first, I’d like to meditate on all of this.” Lex deactivated his saber and bowed.

He left Feerse behind, seeking out one of the many empty rooms of the temple. He chose a small, confined space where he would focus best. When he began his meditation, he asked the Force to guide his thoughts, to bring order to his mind. He needed to know how best to lead the Arna. The words of the Jedi, Sith, and old Arna philosophies filled his head. These new Arna would need tenets to follow, concrete values to turn to in times of doubt. Both the Jedi and the Sith understood their end goals, but in denying themselves the strengths of the opposite faction, they denied themselves the weapons of their enemies. The Arna would utilize all of it so as to maximize the mass of their actions.

The beginning filtered in: Passion leads me to peace. No sentient being could reject the passion of life, of greatness, and still understand why it was worth the pursuit. The Jedi, in all their stoic capacity, forget that passion puts value on life. Only through letting our passion run its course can we find inner peace and appreciate its worth.

The second line followed shortly thereafter: Knowledge leads me to strength. All of the brute Force of the Sith acted like waves crashing on rocks without knowledge. Every application of power had to be done tactfully, intelligently. The Arna would not be a battering ram, a blunt instrument trying to knock down whatever it could. It was a vibroblade, severing the enemy’s vital tendons. Strategy.

These tenets could not be about only comparing the Arna to those that opposed them. Their own values had to be established as well, separate and meaningful. As Lex thought this, the third line entered came to him: Power comes from the shadows. He drew his inspiration from his past and from Feerse’s words. The Arna had to operate behind a veil, unseen. They could not hide at all times, but their greatest weapon was stealth. They could not flaunt their might, as the Jedi and Sith did. They would know their power amongst themselves, even if no outsider acknowledged it, and that would be sufficient.

The Arna had to establish themselves in the middle ground. They could not risk detachment like the Jedi or consummation by their emotions like the Sith. They had to act in balance with the Force, not bend it to fit radical philosophies. The fourth line flowed into him: Control denies the extremes.

Finally, Lex needed the Arna to feel a common bond, a universal statement that they could fall back on. Their brotherhood was as important as any maxim. They had to feel a connection to one another in the middle ground where they fought and thrived. With the Force as their ally, they could become more than the sum of their parts: Through the Force, I am Gray.

The new Arna Code put itself together, and Lex found himself speaking it.

Passion leads me to peace.
Knowledge leads me to strength.
Power comes from the shadows.
Control denies the extremes.
Through the Force, I am Gray.

The Force moved his thoughts along, showing him his past. When the Arna crumbled, Lex frantically had tried to help re-build. Hoth had been destroyed, and the Arna were all but homeless. He had unsuccessfully tried to establish a colony on Geonosis, in the Spire Ruins to be exact. A part of the Divide still laid claim there and a man named Church had driven them out. News from the Holo-Net over the years led Lex to believe this was no longer the case. In his mind he saw the hot sands surrounding the commercial place that the Spire had become. Hoth would always be their home, but Geonosis could be their first step in expanding their influence. It would not be hostile or noticed. It would require careful and precise plans, and, naturally, more followers of the Arna.

His meditation ended on a note of promise. If he could bring recruits into the fold and find the old Arna members, perhaps their power within the shadows could grow. He opened his eyes and breathed a relaxing breath. He stood up and exited the room, gradually finding his way back to the training center where he had left Feerse. He wished to share what the Force had shown him. Lex carefully outlined all that he had seen, explaining every last detail to his mentor. At the end of his account, he waited for Feerse’s response.

[Feerse]

Feerse watched as the golden blade erupted from Lerr's handle and connected with the silver emitting from his own. For a second, Feerse felt through the Force the slight hesitation within Lerr's motivation. But, as Feerse had predicted, Lerr came around and decided to take the mantle and lead the group.

Feerse then kept his eye on Lerr as he walked down a long corridor to a dormitory near the end. He watched as Lerr disappeared behind the door. Feerse took a second to look around the training facility, and down the many adjacent corridors.

Although most of the dormitories laid empty, they were not entirely dormant for the past three decades. Feerse would never turn down a traveler or just someone who needed a place to stay. There were a couple dorms in use by others, but they were locked off from certain parts of the temple, led to believe that it was only a free hotel.

Feerse walked to the door of Lerr's room. He felt an extreme amount of Force energy emulating from beyond the door. It seemed that the Force was meant to guide Lerr alone, and so Feerse could not pick up what it was telling the Defel, but he knew that Lerr's power was slowly growing. For a split second, the Force ran through Feerse, and he felt like he was thirty again. He felt agile, young, powerful...in control. Then, just as quickly as it came, the feeling left him, and he was again his old and aged body.

But with the weakening of one thing, comes the increasing strength of another.

Feerse returned to the training facility, soon accompanied by Lerr. Lerr explained his vision to Feerse, and Feerse's trust in Lerr was nearly complete. Feerse agreed with all of the aspects Lerr had explained. Feerse slowly began to pace, then a thought struck his mind. "Lex, I have given you my trust. I see you will be a great leader and you will reorganize the Arna to be as swift and trained as the greatest assassins of the galaxy." He took a few steps away. "However, do you understand what being a galactic assassin will be like? It's not like those petty bounty hunters. This will be refined work. This will be assassination of a quality higher than any sentient has ever seen before. Are you ready for that?"

Feerse took a couple more steps away. He stopped, then slowly whirled around. As he turned to face Lerr, his massive dark blue robes fell to the ground. Feerse stood there in his gray tunic, his body noticeably aged. But a new spirit seemed to envelop him. Feerse now understood. While his skills with a lightweapon were weak, his Force skills had significantly increased. His eyes were swirling with silver as he looked directly at Lerr. "What would you do, if your target was a highly qualified and highly powerful leader? The goal of the assassin is to leave no evidence, and do the job completely with no assumptions. Do you have that power?"

An aura of silver permeated his body, and the Force flew through him stronger than he had ever felt before. "The test: You defeat me, and I use the Force and my powers to aid you as you so request, and train whoever you bring here. You will be recorded as a High-King and you will have the honor of being one of the most dangerous sentients in the galaxy...There is no alternate. Defeat me in the most efficient and soundless way possible. Ready?". Feerse allowed a slight shimmer of silver to emerge from his hand. "Begin."


((Whenever you are ready, make a "Did I defeat Feerse?" post. I won't make any Did I's, so just do it whenever you feel you're ready.))

[Lexar Lerr]

Even as Feerse finished speaking, Lex had already receded into the shadows of the training room. He lightly discarded his satchel, his holster with his flechette gun, and even his lightsaber. Feerse would expect it, possibly even rely on his use of it to find him. That could not happen. A true master of the Force needed no weapon but the midi-chlorians in his or her body.

As the shadows masked his form, the Force masked his existence. Then, deftly, he leapt to one of the pillars, digging his claws in just enough to support him. He gazed down on the old Arna High-King, waiting with his silver blade. Lex studied him, studied his eyes and where they searched, studied the minute muscle twitches of preparation, and most of all, studied the way Feerse held his lightsaber. Lex dropped virtually soundless to the ground, still hidden. He crept, gaining different vantage points and letting that precious anticipation build up in Feerse’s mind.
He worked his way around the room, silent as the air. Lexar Lerr was not a fool. Feerse, at one time, may have been one of the most adept Force users in the galaxy, and along with that came his skills with his legendary lightscimitar. Lex’s attack had to be calculated to the most extreme detail. He did not let the High-King’s self-deprecating talk lull him into thinking Feerse was anything less than perfectly capable. Lex would have to be reactionary, responding to Feerse’s retaliations before he acted on them.

Minutes passed and Lex crouched, a feline predator in the tall grasses of Onderon. His muscles tensed and, in a flash, he was behind Feerse swiping at his leg. He dodged any preliminary lightsaber flourishes at his body, contorting and bending his form as the Force willed. He growled menacingly and flipped back into the shadows. Lex’s strategy would not be hard to guess at for Feerse, and Lex could not count on the Arna founder keeping his back turned in any one direction too long. Improvisation would be key.

He breathed, collecting his thoughts and tempering his brutal rage that arose in spite of himself. Not long after, he pounced again from a different direction. A split second before, he let the Force create a small distraction for him—a mimic of Lex’s growl from the opposite side of the training room. Whether the attempt at misdirection would be enough to deceive Feerse remained to be seen, but Lex took advantage of it nonetheless. This time, he focused on a string of attacks, slashing at Feerse’s wrists, constantly aware of the position of Feerse’s blade. He pitched his momentum backwards, challenging Feerse to evade his powerful legs as they followed his upper body into another flip. He jolted forward at Feerse’s legs, but only as a feint. At the last moment, Lex dove into the air above Feerse, extending his arms down. He imagined the points of his claws raking the top of Feerse’s head, not to injure him, but to prove that the Nethercloak could be anywhere. When he landed, he did not have time to register whether or not his imagination had turned into fact. Feerse was still there, still a danger, and still armed.

[Feerse]

As the words left Feerse's mouth, Lerr had disappeared. Feerse tracked his progress through the training facility using the Force. He could tell that Lerr was using the Force to mask his presence, but Feerse countered that defense by using the Force to enhance his heat sensitivity. Feerse followed the heat trails emitting from Lerr's body as he began to leap around the room. He felt, almost as if it was a part of himself, when Lerr dug his claws into one of the pillars. Feerse spoke aloud to him, "You have left marks of your presence here. Should you kill your target, the holes where you dug your claws can be used against you, or perhaps innoncents of your species."

Unfortunately, Feerse could not sense Lerr's reaction to that statement. Although Feerse's accusation was mild truth, he used it more as a jest to Lerr, attempting to get his emotions to take the best of him...the worst possible thing to happen within an assassin's mind.

Feerse's instinctual senses told him that Lerr was charging at his legs from behind. Already too late to move, he allowed the brunt force of Lerr's attack to send Feerse into a back flip. Simultaneously, he drove his lightscimitar into the ground beneath him. He saw the fur nearly escape as the lightweapon created a deep hole in the floor beneath him.

Then came the barrage. Feerse noted the fake howl at the other end of the facility, but his senses told him it was a trick. As Lerr charged in for the attack, he began slashing at Feerse's wrists. Feerse let go of his lightscimitar, bring his hands within his robes as a turtle. At the same time, he used the Force to keep the lightweapon active, and with his incredible Force mastery, he sent it into a wild spiral. Visually, it looked like a ball of silver light, as the lightweapon rotated in all directions at a speed almost invisible to the sentient perception.

Lerr attempted the attack the legs yet again, but Feerse noticed it to be a trick attack, as soon after, Lerr was in the air and heading straight down toward Feerse's head. Now it was time to test his values. Feerse allowed Lerr to collide with his head, and he used to Force to transport himself beneath the floor, hidden behind a Force mask. To Lerr, it would appear as though Feerse had disappeared, and the traces of his Force signature left in nothingness.

Then, Feerse's voice erupted throughout the facility. "While taking out your opponent is the primary objective, it must be done with no evidence of your presence. The room must appear as though it had not been touched. What do you do when your opponent goes mad?" Feerse used the Force to begin cracking the pillars in the facility. Around Lerr, the pillars began to crumble and fall around him. Feerse was creating turmoil. In the mean time, he used the Force to sketch the name "LERR" into all of the pillars that were falling. He then used the Force to lift himself up and on top of the last remaining unscathed pillar. The silver lightscimitar still whirled wildly about the facility.

[Lexar Lerr]

“You have left marks of your presence here. Should you kill your target, the holes where you dug your claws can be used against you, or perhaps innocents of your species.”

Lex clearly wasn’t hiding himself as well as he thought. Feerse had to be using some overriding Force power to sense him in the darkness and through Lex’s own mask. That worried him more than the claw marks. If the claw marks were found, it may take investigators weeks to find it. Even if they did, dozens of species had claws; Defel claws had no defining mark or attribute. Further, a good investigator would be hard-pressed to conclude the claw marks belonged to the murderer just because they were there. They could have been scratched in days or years before.

He landed from his aerial assault, whirling to anticipate Feerse’s reaction, but no reaction came. Feerse had disappeared. The spinning lightscimitar threatened to knick him fatally, so Lex receded into the shadows once more, senses alert for any sign of Feerse. He had disappeared—completely. Lex had seen Sith alchemy in action, allowing them to teleport from place to place. He hated that trick because it was a coward’s trick. He hoped that was not how Feerse had escaped.

Then, Feerse’s voice boomed. “While taking out your opponent is the primary objective, it must be done with no evidence of your presence. The room must appear as though it had not been touched. What do you do when your opponent goes mad?”

The pillars shook, then cracked. Lex had no time to form an opinion of the situation because he immediately had to mind the falling chunks of stone. He rolled away from one chunk that, when it crashed, broke and skittered around him. He leapt back as another dropped in front of him. The pillars were tumbling in fast succession, and Lex was obliged to call on the Force for assistance. He lifted his hand and diverted the course of one falling pillar so that in mid-drop, it lurched and fell toward the middle of the room. He noticed “LERR” slowly becoming etched into the pillars, and Lex thanked the stars that very few opponents would be able to implicate him in such a way. Feerse pulled out all the stops, and Lex knew it. This was a true test.

Then, as if out of nowhere, Feerse hovered and landed on top of an unravaged pillar. Even for a High-King, Lex figured these theatrics had to put some sort of a strain on Feerse. If not, then perhaps Lex would never be that strong in the Force. Lex could be dramatic as well, though he didn’t prefer it. Clean and simple were his methods, but this battle with Feerse had taken him out of his comfort zone. Therefore, he improvised. He focused deeply on his connection to the Force to hide himself even further from Feerse. As Feerse had made his voice grand, Lex made his small, a whisper, and let it seem as if it had been spoken right in Feerse’s ear. “Then you let their madness consume them…”

The etchings of the letters of his name gradually turned into nonsense symbols, and they became nothing more than the ravings of a madman. He ducked as the lightscimitar not-so-subtly approached and let it carry on its wild path harmlessly away from him.

If he had truly been successful at concealing himself from Feerse, as Feerse had done from him, this next piece would hopefully surprise him. Lex paced himself. He didn’t want to drain his energy. He reached out with the Force and brought his flechette pistol free from its holster. He had no intention of using it—the speed and magnitude of the flechette darts would be nigh impossible to stop completely, even for a master of the Force. Lex did not want to kill Feerse, or even injure him. They were allies, but a point had to be made. The FWG-5 rose out of sight. Little by little, the gun crept toward Feerse until it pressed against his back. Lex anticipated Feerse’s reaction and, from the shadows of the room and from the shadows of the Force, sent a massive Force wave at the old High-King. Feerse had a choice to make: deal with the flesh-mutilating potential of the gun, or the invisible danger threatening to throw him from his perch. Considering Feerse was already focusing on keeping his lightscimitar on its frantic arc, adding more onto his workload may prove too much for the old Zabrak.

[Feerse]

Feerse knew that Lerr could handle everything he was throwing at him. Lerr was a very skilled Force sensitive, and he could turn the tables just as easily as Feerse could. Feerse felt Lerr's thoughts countering his accusations of finding the claw holes. Feerse indeed knew that the holes left by Lerr's claws would, in the end, lead to nothing. Most of what Feerse had said to him was merely to cause Lerr to lose focus. Of course, destruction of an area could be just as useful as leaving an area unscathed, if it was destroyed correctly.

Eventually all of these theatrics brought a toll onto Feerse's aged body. He felt his muscles begin to weaken, and his Force powers start to lose intensity. Still, he would not let up. He needed to bring the best out of Lerr. Only a sentient who can defeat the best can become the best. And when it came to using the Force, Feerse was arguably the best. Albeit a bit less powerful, he could still maneuver the Force to his will in any situation. And at last, Lerr had caught onto this, and used Feerse's command against him. Although Lerr whispered, Feerse could hear it clear throughout the facility. "Then you let their madness consume them..."

Feerse saw as the attempts he made to make it evident that Lerr was the assassin were wiped away. Lerr used the Force equally as efficient to alter the writing into nothingness. Lerr then again caught Feerse in a bind. Lerr used the Force to push his flechette pistol into Feerse's back, and he simultaneously sent a Force wave in Feerse's direction. Feerse knew he had to take one of the hits, but he figured if he had to, then he would take it...big.

Feerse was tired focusing on the lightscimitar, so he allowed the Force wave to do the job for him. Feerse dropped onto his stomach as the Force wave blasted the flechette pistol away. Immediately after, Feerse was thrown violently off the pillar, slamming back-first into the wall. However, Feerse used the massive slam into the wall to cover up a trick he had hatched. Before the Force wave hit, Feerse used the last amount of Force power he could to carry the flailing lightscimitar behind the pillar and out of sight. In a hidden manner, after the Force wave hit, Feerse used Lerr's power and redirected it into the lightscimitar. As Feerse collided with the wall, the lightscimitar came into view. Powered by the kinetic energy of it spinning, the inertial force of the blast, and the added Force power whipping it along, the lightscimitar (which now looked more like a massive spiked bomb of light) sped unhindered at speeds almost unbelievable toward the waiting Lerr.

Meanwhile, Feerse fell limp to the ground. Perhaps out of fatigue, perhaps as yet another trick.

[Lexar Lerr]

Silence passed over the training facility. The pillars had completely collapsed, Feerse was out of sight, and Lex himself dared not breathe. He was fairly sure Feerse had been hit by the wave of Force energy, and so had his flechette weapon. It too was out of sight. Feerse had tried to avoid it by dropping low, but the wave had taken him and thrown him viciously. Had Lex truly injured him?

Lex had no time to check on his quarry because Feerse’s lightscimitar abruptly spun out of nowhere. It came at Lex impossibly fast. He had no time to think, only to react. The Force reached out to him and forced his muscles to respond. The blazing whirlwind of light was mere meters from him now. Lex dove. The Force guided him, pulling as much of his body out of the way as possible to avoid utter evisceration. Even using every midi-chlorian in his body to avoid the blade, it still wasn’t quite enough. The silver-bladed weapon seared his right triceps, taking a good chunk of fur and top skin with it. Lex howled as the pain registered. He dropped out the air. He snarled, scratching the floor.

He breathed. He breathed again. Lex didn’t risk touching the tender wound, the braised flesh of his upper arm. He rolled over and stood up. Lex braced himself on a sizable chunk of rubble. The lightscimitar had embedded itself into the wall behind Lex, humming but assuredly stuck for the time being. He couldn’t help but wonder if Feerse was actually trying to kill him. Tucking his right arm against his chest, he carefully maneuvered over to where his lightsaber set on the ground, thankfully unharmed.

Lex picked it up and pressed the activator button. The golden-hued saber shined comfortingly against the dimness of the facility. Feerse lay limply not far off. Lex could feel that he was still very alive. Much more of this, though, and the Arna would have no leader at all. This had been a real test, and despite Lex’s determination to see this out, totally draining each others’ resources would be imprudent in the long run. Lex approached Feerse’s form, lightsaber extended in front of him with his left hand. He let the blade hover over his mentor. “Come now, Feerse. The Arna wait for us.” He winced as the pain in his arm started to sink in.