489. Manipulation of Emotion - Trychon

The two Sith walked out of the temple with their heads held high. They really had nothing to worry about from the meeting, though they weren't sure what they would have done had they actually been asked to hand over their beloved weapons.

In the end, that may have only escalated the situation more when the various groups had learned of it. Trychon half wished upon thinking about it that Monahan had requested the lightsabers. As much as anyone could want some time away, and even though they'd both learned a little extra trade work, both he and Raezyr were more than ready to move on.

The two of them sat down on a small bench just outside the temple. As much as they wanted to head back out and further discuss a course of action to move things along without waiting so much for Darth Vikon, they needed to stay as visible as possible until the monks realized that Saffron wasn't returning, or until they became worried about that possibility.

They sat there quietly, discussing random things around them. It was entirely mundane, and they wished they could even be doing their chores rather than this. They walked in circles around the general area, making sure that as many people saw them as possible.

As the day went on, they saw a few disturbed whisperings between monks they weren't that well acquainted with. Most of them didn't even notice Trychon and Raezyr. Both of the Sith could feel the tension rising in many of the inhabitants that passed them. Word must be getting around about Saffron's odd absenteeism.

Finally, the brothers were sitting on a similar bench as earlier as the sun began to crawl over the tops of the trees at the edge of the clearing when they saw Mannix talking animatedly in the distance to a group of varying age. Though they were too far to make out any facial expressions, the energetic movements they saw reinforced the sense in the Force that they were agitated.

Trychon saw Baldemar off to one side, watching the same group nearly as intently. Trychon got his attention and waved him over. Baldemar didn't look like he really wanted to talk to them, but he walked up to them anyway.

"What's the commotion around here? We've seen a bunch of people talking in hushed tones all afternoon." Trychon asked him innocently.

Baldemar was surprised. "You seriously have not heard?" After his comments were verified with a simple shaking of the head, he went on. "Saffron's been gone all day! She should have been back hours ago. Odilo is a wreck. She's probably ok, but people almost never go missing here, and with all the odd occurrences lately...." He let his sentence trail off, and his eyes shifted to the side, as he clearly was worried at how the Sith would take his comments. Many in the town, Baldemar likely among them, believed that the two visitors were somehow drawing these events to the monastery.

The irony that this line of thinking was completely accurate was not lost on Trychon, who suppressed his smile as he thought about it. He pointed at the group. "You'd think even Mannix, Force love him, would know better than to use a time like this to rile up everyone else."

Baldemar continued off to the side noncommitally as he muttered "Yeah." He picked up a small stone that was lying on the ground and began to fidget with it randomly. Then he gave the two brothers a somewhat dazed look and wandered off to the side again to continue observing Mannix and his friends.

Raezyr nudged Trychon hard. When Trychon looked at him, Raezyr mouthed obviously "What are you doing?!" He had felt Trychon concentrating on the stone that Baldemar had picked up.

Trychon spoke to him quietly, but louder than a whisper. "Relax. I'm fairly positive that the elders can't feel gentle nuances in the Force. They reacted when we had a strong practice session in the forrest, and that's pretty much it. Brother Varth may notice, but who cares really? I just had him pick up a rock. Let's see what happens."

Raezyr felt like slugging Trychon in the arm, but didn't want to bring them attention as they'd done so well to avoid it thus far. He hoped he'd remember later. In the mean time, he watched Baldemar and the growing group of monks alternately for a few moments. The group only seemed to become more agitated as the minutes flew by. Baldemar seemed to be steeling his nerves to react.

Eventually, Baldemar did begin walking towards the group. He approached slowly and weaved his way through the crowd. He continued on straight to Mannix and placed his empty hand on his brother's shoulder. Aparrently it hadn't crossed his mind to drop the rock. Trychon took gleeful note of this, assuming and hoping that it was simply too far in his subconscious. He consciously ignored his own subconscious thought that Baldemar may have actually simply picked up the stone of his own accord, as Trychon had never really used any kind of mind influence in this manner.

Trychon and Raezyr were still too far away to make out anything of note, but what they could see was that aparrently Baldemar had asked Mannix to quit, and the situation was escalating. Their voices, though the words were still indistinguishable, were become louder by the phrase. Trychon laughed when Mannix pointed angrily at the rock in Baldemar's hand. Baldemar placed it in his robe pocket. The crowd backed up slowly as the conversation unfolded.

The argument reached a peak, and Baldemar gave a dismisive hand gesture to Mannix and began to walk away to the side. Mannix's face was nearly frozen in a seething gaze, but he eventually tried to calm himself and face his friends again.

As Baldemar reached the edge of the gathering and some of his friends came up to inquire about what had happened, Raezyr turned to Trychon. "Well, it was a valiant effort."

Baldemar was explaining his issues to his buddies and turned to point at Mannix. Trychon looked at Raezyr. Then he turned his head in both directions as though he was about to jump through a busy hoverlane. He turned back to Raezyr, and winked as he lifted one hand subtly and made a flicking gesture.

Mannix let out a yelp and grabbed his shoulder as his weight was involuntarily shifted.

488. Flight of the Decoy - Raezyr

The Wasted Rancor circled in a holding pattern around Adascopolis, the capitol city of Arkania.

"What's taking them so long to give us landing clearance?" Anya pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It could be any number of things. This kind of wait time isn't all that out of the ordinary with a completely enclosed city like this," Tyrrazapon said hopefully. He didn't want to admit the wait was starting to bother him too. They had chosen Arkania as their next destination, thinking it would be far enough from Balmorra to not be actively looking for their ship, but he was beginning to think they should have chosen somewhere a bit farther.

Anya uncrossed her arms and leaned forward, looking out the cockpit windows to the frigid tundra below. She had grown immensely sick of the cold on Hoth, and was grateful that the cities here were completely enclosed, sheltering the inhabitants from the bitter cold weather.

Finally landing control contacted them with their approach vector, and as they drew near, they saw the force field in the landing opening flicker and go out. Tyrrazapon guided the ship into the city and set the ship down gently in the place they were instructed to land. Glancing back at the entrance he watched the force field flicker back into existence, and he hoped they wouldn't need such a fast get away this time, or things might get a bit hairy.

The two Sith exited the ship, paid their docking fees which included a refuel, before heading over to the private hagars. Tyrrazapon had an old smuggler friend who said he had a job for them.

They were met inside by a human male dressed in a black tunic and tan pants. The blaster he wore on his hip was slung low and tied down. "Hey Tyr, long time no see?" the man said, clapping Tyrrazapon on the shoulder. He turned and looked Anya up and down. "My, my, who do we have here?" he asked, grinning.

"Anya, this is Kal Van-Dohr... Kal, this is Anya," Tyr said, introducing the two.

Kal took Anya's hand and kissed it. "I tell you what you ought to do: ditch this nerf-herder and sign on with me... but that's alright, we'll take care that later," he chuckled.

Anya smiled back at him, then spoke to Tyr. "You never told me Kal was such a charmer." She gave Kal a coy look.

Tyr chuckled. "You better cool it Kal, you're way out of your league with this one, trust me."

"If that's true, then what's she doing with you?" the smuggler laughed out loud.

487. Manipulation of Emotion - Raezyr

Trychon and Raezyr took a long, round-about route back to the monastery, coming in from a completely different direction than they left. If anyone were to ask, they just took a long hike, only returning just before the noon meal.

As they entered the village they passed by the Healer's Hut, and Brother Odilo stepped out to meet them, having spotted them through the window.

"Ah, Raezyr... Trychon... did Saffron find you?" the old healer asked, looking behind them a bit as if expecting to see his apprentice trailing along a short distance back.

Trychon and Raezyr looked at each other in mock confusion, then back at the monk. "I'm sorry, but we haven't seen her since yesterday," Trychon said. "Why? Was she looking for us?"

"Oh, I thought it best to give you two a check up after your ordeals yesterday, just to make sure you were alright. I sent her out to fetch you a couple of hours ago, but no matter. She's be along once she realizes she's missed the noon meal. Come... come... step inside and let me take a look at you," the old monk said, ushering them in the door.

"Would you like us to go look for her when we're done here? Mathias and Violet gave us the day off, so we don't have to be anywhere in particular today," Raezyr offered. He hoped the healer wouldn't take them up on the offer, but thought it might look suspicious if he didn't at least volunteer.

"No, no... like I said, she'll be along eventually. Besides, I believe Father Monahan is looking for you both as well," he said, looking down his nose at them. They all knew what that was going to pertain to.

Their check up didn't take long, and Odilo proclaimed them the picture of health. He also offered to feed them lunch, which they took him up on. After the meal was over, they helped him clean up and politely took their leave.

They decided it would be prudent to head straight toward the temple, and take whatever Monahan was going to give them right away, and just get it over with. They soon found themselves outside of his office door, and gave a polite knock.

Father Monahan's voice replied from the other side, bidding them enter. Once they had done so, he indicated the two chairs sitting opposite his ancient desk.

"What am I supposed to do with you two?" the elderly monk began. "No one here seems to be able to come to a decision. Some want you cast out for your use of weapons, and you know that we are peaceful. The only person in the village allowed a weapon is the Constable, Brother Abbot. But his is a ceremonial position. I don't even think he knows what end of his ancient spear he is supposed to use.

"Others think we should ask you to hand over your weapons for as long as you live here, for the same reasons, yet what have you done but protect our people?

"Which brings up yet another point: What happens if yet another incident occurs, and you do NOT have your strange light blades? Besides, the majority of the community is ready to hand my office over to one or both of you, as it is.

"You see, I must take all their beliefs in to consideration, yet both sides are vehemently opposed. So what am I to do with you?" Monahan concluded, looking back and forth between the two problematic outsiders sitting before him.

"Father, the last thing we want to do is cause problems," Trychon began. "Neither my brother, nor I buy into this 'prophecy' thing. We're just two humans who happened to get stranded in a remote part of the galaxy. We'll abide by whatever you decide, won't we Raez?"

"Absolutely. We only want what's best for everyone," Raezyr added.

The old monk sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Very well. As before, please refrain from using your blades without permission from myself or a member of the High Council, unless in case of extreme emergency, as happened yesterday."

"Yes sir," both Sith students replied in unison, realizing that in reality nothing had changed, but was only said as a formality.

When the two young men had left the office, Monahan got up and went to his cabinet, and poured himself a small glass of wine. Something strange was going on with these two. He only hoped it was truly the prophecies being fulfilled, and not something else.

486. Manipulation of Emotion - Raezyr

The next day, both Violet and Mathias were called to the temple for a meeting. Raezyr and Trychon could only assume that it concerned yesterday's events and probably more so about their use of the lightsabers. Either way, their respective teachers told them to take the day off to rest more.

Violet had applied some salve to Raezyr's minor cuts and scratches the day before and they were already looking much better, although Raezyr had insisted it was unnecessary to treat them in the first place.

After the breakfast chores were finished and everyone had left the house, Trychon and Raezyr decided to head down to their spot at the river. The fights yesterday had whet their appetites to cross blades, and they wanted to discuss things further without fear of being overheard.

Once they arrived, they began their sparring, both finding themselves a bit sore from their exertions the day before. They sparred for a while in silence before Trychon finally spoke. "How much longer do you think we have to be here?" he asked as he blocked and incoming strike from Raezyr.

His younger brother spun back and beyond the reach of Trychon's return blow. "I don't know, but we're getting stale sitting here. We have training and studying that isn't being done while we play 'monks' here with these naive imbeciles."

They continued their match, which had started at half speed, but began getting quicker as it went on. They concentrated on anticipating each others moves, and on what else they were missing while the Galaxy continued to spin.

"We also really need to check on the Black Phoenix. They should have set up a new base of operations by now and we did promise to help them out if they needed anything," Trychon commented as he parried a strike.

"Yeah, right. You still have Haley on your mind, don't you?" Raezyr said, ribbing his half-sibling as he lunged for an opening in Trychon's defenses.

Trychon deftly blocked the attack and made one of his own. "You can't tell me you don't want to get back to Dianna."

"Touche, Trych. But my question is what do we do with Mannix? He seems to be progressing perfectly down the path of the Dark Side, guided by our 'innocent' nudges. Do we take him with us? Or let his fate be the same as the rest of the Taxl monks?" Raezyr pondered, back peddling a bit and regrouping for his next attack.

"I say we just wait and see how things pan out. If he survives everything here, then we'll decide what to do with him. Until then, we just continue what we've been doing, although he could be a powerful Sith, with the dark side of the Force as his servant," Trychon noted, narrowly evading one of Raezyr's attacks.

"No matter what happens, we just need to get these stupid amulets and get off this rock. I hope Vikon's plan doesn't take too much longer, I'm getting sick of this moon, although the ale is good enough it almost makes it worthwhile," Raezyr said. He was about to swing at an opening and hopefully end their match, when suddenly the nearby bushes rustled.

Both Sith students froze, listening and turning their attentions to where the noise had come from. At the same time they felt the presence, they heard footsteps running down a riverside path away from them.

Instantly both of the apprentices took off at a dead sprint, cursing themselves inwardly for being so caught up in their match and conversation they hadn't bothered to monitor their surroundings.

They rounded a corner in time to see a hooded monk running as fast as they could down the path which followed the river, heading back toward the village. It was a couple of kilometers back to the settlement, and the Sith both let the Dark Side sustain their energy, quickly gaining on their target, while their quarry slowly succumbed to fatigue.

Within a couple hundred meters, Raezyr had closed the distance and gave a shove, sending the small monk face first into the dirt. He stopped and grabbed the figure by the back of the robe and yanked back the hood to see who had been spying on them.

Trychon caught up at that moment and looked into the dirt covered, tear streaked face of Saffron. She was breathing heavily, and sobbing. "How much did you hear?" he asked, looking down at her.

"Enough."

"Let her go, Raez," Trychon said to his brother, who was still holding her by her hood. Raezyr cocked his head to the side as if to question Trychon, then shrugged and let go of her robe.

Trychon reached down and took her hands, helping her up. "I can't believe what I just heard," she said, sobbing. "You two are monsters. What about everything we've done for you? What about the prophecies?"

Trychon gently wiped the dirt and tears from her face with the cuff of his sleeve, then pulled her close. He hugged her and lightly kissed her forehead. Still sobbing, she buried her head into his chest as if maybe it was all a bad dream.

"It's okay. See, your Brother Varth is actually an accomplice of ours. He uses the Force to see the future, and then inserts the so called 'prophecies' into ancient, long unused texts, so really there are no prophecies," Trychon explained as if the words he were saying would somehow make things better.

Saffron pulled back from Trychon and stared into his face with a horrified expression. "How is that 'okay?'" she asked incredulously.

He gently placed his hands on the sides of her face. "There is so much you don't understand. The Galaxy is so much bigger than your sheltered, pathetic little community here."

"You're monsters," Saffron said.

"Yeah, you said that already," Trychon said as he smiled.

"You know I'm going to tell Father Monahan all about this. I'm going to tell everyone, and there's nothing you can do to stop me," she said, determination in her voice.

Trychon slid his hands down onto her shoulders, then spun her around and shoved her.

Raezyr caught her with one hand around her throat and began to lift. Between the fact that she was shorter and lighter than her already slightly built race, and Raezyr's recent increase in strength, he didn't need to use the Force to lift her off her feet. She grasped uselessly at his wrist and arm, struggling to breath, as Trychon stepped around next to Raezyr to face her.

"There's nothing we can do?" Trychon asked mockingly. "That's where you're wrong, dear Sister Saffron. Dead wrong."

485. Manipulation of Emotion - Raezyr

Raezyr switched off his blade, then dropped to one knee. He'd already had a long day, and was already tired before the Dark Side controlled tree began it's attack. During the fight, he had used the Force to sustain him, but now that he had let go of it, the weariness quickly took over.

It was far from the hardest battle he'd fought, but the sustained effort had still taken it's toll on his body.

Someone must have run for help, because once Raezyr had caught his breath and stood again, there were at least 40 monks around, some with axes and hatchets, others were attending the wounded, but most were just standing around, staring gape-jawed at the Sith. Quickly, he tucked the lightsaber into the inside of his robes.

He was glad both the insect event with Trychon, and now this had happened on the same day, before the High Council had had time to tell them their weapons were not to be used. Father Monahan might have trouble with that now, though, after two incidents. The thought made him chuckle to him self, but quietly.

Suddenly someone in the back of the crowd let out a cheer, and it was quickly taken up by the rest, as they swarmed around him, congratulating him, and asking more questions than he could answer all at the same time.

Suddenly the crowd parted, and the lumberjack whom he had saved from the cavern walked toward him. The crowd hushed to listen. "And the trees shall live and swallow them. He who is to come, shall bring his light to bear, and enter the gullet, retrieving the fallen," the man said, clearly reciting some obscure passage from a tome which Brother Varth had probably "uncovered" just recently.

The man threw his arms around Raezyr and hugged him tightly, as the crowd lifted up another cheer. Raezyr awkwardly hugged the man back. He couldn't ever recall being hugged by another man in thanks. In fact, he could barely ever remember being thanked by anyone so sincerely before, as the monk was in tears and still clearly shaken.

When the man stepped back, Raezyr decided to pull a page out of Trychon's book, and began to sway a bit unsteadily for a moment before regaining his balance, attempting to make it look like the fight took more out of him than it really did.

Several monks tried to reach for him, to help him, but he shook his head and resisted their attempts, assuring everyone that he was okay, but just needed to get home and rest for awhile.

Most of the crowd followed him home and loitered around the hut for a while after he arrived. Not until the feast began, did the last of Raezyr's "followers" finally drift away.

Using their respective fights as an excuse, both Trychon and Raezyr declined the invitation to attend the feast that evening. They sat at the table drinking a mug of ale, although they were supposed to be resting.

"So I hear you got to put your blade in action as well," Trychon commented, taking a swig from his tankard.

"Yeah, and as you can imagine, Mannix was almost as torqued at missing my display, even though I don't wield the 'blade of night,'" Raezyr chuckled.

Trychon was about to reply when the door suddenly opened to the hut. Trychon and Raezyr jumped to their feet and instinctively, their hands reached for the hilts hidden within their robes.

The figure entered and closed the door behind him, then turned and pulled back his hood. "You two have done well, so far," Vikon said. "Better than I could have hoped, really. Things are progressing faster than I ever though possible."

He stopped and tilted his head forward, looking from beneath his brow at the two Sith Apprentices, who still stood there, holding their unlit sabers. "Put those away, you fools, and sit down," Vikon admonished, taking a seat himself.

Reluctantly, the brothers did as he said. It's going to feel good to teach this doddering old fool a lesson in humility... when we no longer need him, Raezyr thought to himself, taking care to guard his feelings from the Sith Master.

Vikon stayed only briefly, just long enough to explain the state of affairs in the monk settlement. He said that those who sat on the fence became fewer and fewer each day, and that both sides of the debate were beginning to heat up. Even tension among Raezyr and Trychon's followers were beginning to be strained.

At first, they were all on the same side, convincing the others that the "One" had arrived, but now, as the number of potential converts dwindled, they were beginning to argue amongst themselves as to which of the newcomers the prophecies were actually referring to.

Darth Vikon got up and left abruptly, pausing at the door. "Remain alert. You still have more tasks to accomplish before we are through here."

Trychon looked over at Raezyr as the door closed. Quietly he whispered, "I'm beginning to hate that guy more and more." The look in Raezyr's eyes was all Trychon needed to know that his younger brother agreed whole heartedly.

484. Manipulation of Emotions - Trychon

Raezyr and Trychon headed back towards the Blacksmith hut so Raezyr could get back to work. They were followed at a small distance for quite a while by the small mob, and Trychon entertained them by using large hand gestures in reliving his recent battle.

When they arrived at Mathias' work hut, the crowd waited around as though waiting for Trychon to explode into some sort of embodiment of their 'one'. They began to thin out quickly when they realized they were making a scene not too far from the temple though. The last straggling monks walked off when Mathias came out and glared, just at Trychon was describing his final strike against the queen.

Moving inside the blacksmith's hut, they apologized to Mathias, who was quick to wave off the distraction. He ensured the two that he merely intervened because they'd mentioned how they were uncomfortable with the attention. They thanked him, and then excused themselves to the back work yard to finish their discussion.

When they heard Mathias hard at work again, Trychon quietly continued his explanation of the events. Rather than both of them trying to seemed concerned about the unusual occurrence, Raezyr laughed a bit at the dirt and grain stuck to Trychon because he felt the need to act as though he was being thrown. Trychon ultimately laughed with him, albeit quietly still.

As they were finishing their discussion of yet another one of the so called prophesies, and how it was odd that they weren't ready for what happened, they heard footsteps rapidly approaching. They halted their conversation as they watched Mannix skid around the corner, before stopping to try to catch his breath.

"Is it... Is it true, Trychon?" The young monk gasped for air. "Is it true that you wielded a black blade today? And I missed it?!"

Trychon smiled at him. "Yeah kid. Yes I did."

"Let me see." Mannix replied in a nearly demanding tone as he finally straightened up.

When Trychon refused, he thought for a moment that Mannix was actually going to try to take a swing at him, as ridiculous as it was to picture mentally. When they were able to explain their concerns about the Council watching their every move, and even fearing that they could see from afar with their amulets.

Mannix cursed and kicked at the dirt. "Man, even you guys treat me like a child. I know you have your reasons, but the council shouldn't be holding you back too! It all makes me so... troubled." He had wanted to say angry or mad or worse, but he was beginning to calm down and remember his teachings. He shouldn't have outbursts like that. Especially not if Trychon and Raezyr were right about the council spying.

After Trychon assured him that he would indeed get to see the 'Blade of Night' when the chance arose, Mannix half jogged back to his work. Undoubtedly he was off to finish hastily with high hopes for a glance at the weapon that very evening.

Trychon headed off shortly after Mannix had, unsure if he would go help Violet prepare more repellent. Instead he thought he would perhaps take the rest of the afternoon off to rest. He had after all defeated a HUGE frackin bug as he'd described the events earlier with the monks in earshot. He laughed again at the thought of his story telling for the audience. He decided he would go help Violet because that would look the best to monks, but he's probably head back to the hut a bit early as well.

As Trychon rounded the building to wave at Mathias another quick thank you and head off down the path, he caught Saffron peeking around the opposite corner of the hut. She saw Trychon almost immediately and walked past him, her cheeks carrying a slightly different hue from normal. He smiled as he walked off to gather herbs again, and as he did so, he was sure he felt her stop after only going a short way. He didn't turn back to confirm.

------------

After finishing up an afternoon's solid work of pounding metal, Raezyr and Mathias were both dripping with sweat, and ready to go home. Mathias was just finished giving Raezyr his normal thanks for the work, and was about to tell him he'd see him at home, when a few monks around Trychon's age showed up at the door.

"Mathias... the council asked that we go help the lumber gatherers bring in a bit extra for the feast tonight. Could you give us a hand?" The youngest in front asked Mathias, while staring unabashedly at Raezyr.

Right then, Raezyr heard a familiar presence creep in his mind as if to drop a little hint.

Mathias looked to Raezyr and then shook his head no to the latest intruders. "Sorry, gentlemen. We're both very tired from a long..."

Raezyr interrupted. "I'll go." He pushed off from the wall he was leaning on and stood straight to dust off the metal shavings from his clothes. opting to leave the work apparel on while he gathered wood for that evening.

Mathias tried to tell him he didn't have to go with them as he left with the excited whispers of the others, who were already on their way to the forrest. Raezyr shrugged him off and told him it was good to help.

After bringing in the second armful from several hundred meters deep into the forrest, Raezyr wished he wasn't stuck helping move the logs into town. While he was tired, he was certainly up to the task, bringing in more than anyone else who was working could hope to with their smaller statures. Raezyr allowed himself to marvel briefly at his improved strength and endurance these days, before thinking again about how kriffed off it would make him if Vikon was screwing with his head or trying to manipulate his emotions.

Just as he was about to tell the nearest worker that this would likely be his last load to haul in for the evening, everyone's ears perked at a somewhat distant yelping deeper in the forrest. Raezyr quickly dropped his armful and was dashing towards the origin of the noise while the others were still staring into the distance trying to discern what the noise itself was.

Raezyr found himself staring into a hole in the ground, at the base of what looked like an otherwise very sturdy old tree. There was another yelp from in the hole, and the Sith knew he had found the right place. He was about to call down into the black to find out if the monk had been hurt on his fall, even though the answer seemed obvious. Instead, he was shut up by the view of the old tree's roots moving back into place, muting the cries of pain below.

Raezyr was sure he had an odd look on his face when a few other monks caught up to him. "What's happened?" One of them exclaimed. Raezyr was about to answer as best he could, but when he turned to address the one who spoke, he just managed to catch the sight of a large branch whipping the man hard across his face.

My turn. Raezyr thought to himself as he grabbed his lightsaber and ignited it all in one motion, wondering what he'd need to do to save who ever had fallen beneath the tree. Maybe even a few more stragglers who were arriving just then as well, he thought as he watched another of the short men fall to the creaking of the mighty branches that were rapidly begining to fill the air with quick movement.

I'm not sure how it snuck up on me, but I can definitely feel the dark side energy tendrils controlling that tree now. MUST be Vikon, after all.

The fact that he could feel the control of the tree only increased his awareness of the battle that was beginning to take place in the area around him, even if that battle consisted mainly of the flailing limbs of a normally inanimate tree as well as those of a few diminutive monks.

He quickly rolled under the first large branch that swung his way, though he felt various twigs breaking off on his limbs as he passed underneath the attack. Without turning to look back, he turned and executed another roll, this time cutting the hefty branch in two as he slipped below it.

Rising to his feet, Raezyr sliced through a hefty branch that was mercilessly bludgeoning a man on the ground, who was clearly unconscious. Raezyr took another step and disarmed the two branches assailing another man who was in the middle of a failing attempt to fend off the tree while curled into a ball on the rough ground.

With those two avenues of attack taken away, the tree seemed to increase its concentration on Raezyr himself. The sith quickly found himself concentrating fully on sidestepping and blocking incoming assaults, rather than attacking the branches directly. At first, he was quick to wish that his longer bladed lightsaber was still functioning rather than this one, but he eventually found that the smaller blade made him more movement amongst the incoming attacks. He still wished to have both available though, and part of him could not wait to get off planet for that reason alone.

While he had switched to a defensive mode similar to swatting and dodging a barrage of blasterfire originally, Raezyr quickly enjoyed the difference in the two situations when the number of available 'weapons' near him dissipated. As the nearby attacks died down, Raezyr made fairly quick work of some of the other more dangerous branches in the surrounding area, circling the tree with his blade flying through endless quick movements.

With very little mishap outside a few unavoidable scratches, Raezyr found that he and his more battered companions were out of immediate danger from this tree. He looked around at the nearby trees, hoping that Vikon wouldn't simply take control of another, and continue the exercise. Fortunately, he still felt the dark presence only in the one area at the moment. Taking another look around, amidst the large groups of now dead branches, Raezyr counted at least half a dozen injured monks, though a few more could easily be hidden under the massive clumps of lumber.

As he was fairly certain that none of these monks were in any vital danger anymore, Raezyr turned back to the tree, which was still animatedly waving what branches it still could, though none had the reach to cause any harm. Raezyr thought about planting his saber deep into the base, hoping to kill the heart, but he knew better. Instead, he walked towards where the hole in the earth had opened earlier, trimming back further the branches he'd already sized down as he went.

It was tempting to him to attempt to duplicate Vikon's own trick and attempt to pull back the roots in place to see if he was able with the surrounding dirt already loosened, but he knew that any visible use of the Force would be greeted with unnecesary negativity. Instead, he knelt down at the base of the tree and cut a neat hole where he was sure the man had fallen. Again hearing the whimpers of pain from the underground, Raezyr dropped himself into the cavern below.

He was thankful for the glow of his lightsaber, as he looked around. It didn't seem like any natural cavern Raezyr had ever come across or even heard of. The soft soil makeup of both the walls and floor seemed to indicate that the cavern itself was probably a recent creation through some Force sorcery. The tangle of roots angling around in what seemed to be a natural order through the empty air supported his thoughts. Raezyr saw the whimpering monk in the furthest corner of the makeshift cavern. He was still very visibly rattled, and as Raezyr started to move in his direction, his eyes only got larger.

The roots around him came to life as though a reaction to his movements. That explains the cowering in the corner idea... Raezyr thought to himself as one pair of roots entangled his legs and another pushed backwards and downward on his chest. He fell hard to the floor and felt the roots continue to push hard on his chest while others began to push down on his arms.

He had dropped his lightsaber upon impact with the mess of dirt and roots on the cavern bottom. It was within inches of his fingers, but his upper arm was completely immobilized by the roots. Fairly positive that it was an action that the monk would miss even if there was light and not a frenzy of deadly tree limbs in between the saber and his eyes, he exerted just enough of a force pull to bring the lightsaber back into his hand. Raezyr felt the tree exert additional pressure on his chest, as though worried about the saber, or perhaps as Vikon warning him to keep his powers in check.

Raezyr smiled at the tree, and began slicing himself free, one aggressor at a time. He made rather short work of the issue, but then he began to feel the dirt above him begin to fall and impact on his head and shoulders. It was as though the tree intended to shake itself loose and crush down on them now that Raezyr had removed the support most directly below it.

That gave him an idea though. He quickly grabbed the reluctant monk and made his way back to the hole he'd made in the ground. Nobody appeared to help him, so he was forced to single handedly help the man up and out from the cavern, which was difficult with the entire area shaking around them and the man nervous to do almost anything at all. Finally, Raezyr was able to coax the man up to the ground again and pull himself after.

As soon as he was free from the hole, Raezyr ignited his weapon again and inserted it into the edge of the hole he'd made. He warned everyone who was conscious to back up as much as they were able as he began to slowly drag the blade through the ground and the roots directly around the trunk.

As he completed his circle, the tree dropped instantly down into its own cavern. With all of its root system severed, it gave shudder of sorts, and ceased moving unnaturally.

483. Manipulation of Emotion - Raezyr

Raezyr trotted along the trail, holding his lightsaber up his sleeve, ready to drop it into his grip and snap it on, should it be necessary. He could see the clearing just up a head through the trees, and a few of the monks standing around.

A short time before, he had felt someone using the Force, and from the feel, he was pretty sure it was Trychon. Raezyr had been in the middle of helping Mathias pound out some tools when he suddenly dropped the big hammer, and ran out the door, mumbling an apology. Mathias had called something after him, but Raezyr was already in a full sprint, and didn't hear what the blacksmith said.

He slowed to a walk as he neared the clearing. Trychon was still standing in the middle, next to some sort of unmoving giant beetle. Raezyr watched as the small crowd cheered for the other Sith.

Tucking his own hilt back inside of his robes, he walked forward and inspected the carnage all around. The smell of burnt insects still lingered as he looked over the giant bug and smaller ones laying around. Finally he turned to Trychon. "You couldn't have waited?" Raezyr said, obviously dismayed at missing out on the action.

"Actually, I could have used the help, but I don't think they were going to wait," Trychon retorted, chuckling a bit.

482. Manipulation of Emotion - Trychon

Trychon's mind raced with a hundred questions. Was this Vikon's doing? If not, was it really a part of the prophesy and due to chance? If it was Vikon. why weren't he and Raezyr given warning or instructions? Bugs? Really? Did that third line mean he couldn't use the force against this threat? Not that it mattered, he decided... he had to play by the rules of the elders as much as he despised it.

What was he supposed to do against a fleet of insects?

As they got further down the path, what originally appeared to be an unnatural cloud over the field began to shift and move in ways that assured Trychon that it was indeed unnatural. In smaller groups, black beetles began to fly by Trychon and Brother Ocker. Trychon threw his left hand out and snatched one out of the air, and examined it more closely. It was a black insect roughly twelve centimeters from tail to the tips of its horns. He'd seen these before, but not quite this size.

The beetle flapped its wings once and turned, almost as if to look at Trychon. Then for just a moment, all Trychon could see was a dark set of eyes burning into his mind. MAKE IT LOOK GOOD... APPRENTICE!

Trychon was pretty sure then that Vikon might have something to do with this occurance after all.

Trychon found himself opening his eyes to see his hand laying prone on the ground. The beetle took off and rejoined the cloud, which appeared to be closing in. It seemed that Trychon had fallen to one knee during Vikon's message to him. Ockler rushed to his side and inquired him if he was alright.

"I'm not sure what's going on here, but it's something powerful. I recommend that you give me some space. I will do what I can, but I'm not sure what that will be." Trychon told the monk. He considered telling him to go get more of the repellant, but he needed at least a little audience, and so far, the miner was it.

As Brother Ockler backed away, the cloud of beetles began to separate. A portion slightly smaller than half of the overall mass began to fly away from Trychon before changing directions to come around and head straight for him. Ocker began to run in the other direction, as fast as his smaller legs could move him.

Trychon reached into his tunic and pulled out his weapon's hilt. He had no clue whether it would do him any good at all in the situation he found himself, but it felt good to hold it for the first time in weeks anyway. He ignited the switch, and was rewarded with the familiar snap-hiss and hum of his blade extending. He admired the black blade for the last few seconds before the swarm reached him, and he was fairly sure he heard Brother Ocker turn around and gasp at the blade as well. He grinned briefly, hoping that weapon use wouldn't earn a council rebuke in a situation like this.

Trychon stared into the oncoming onslought of wings as he began to spin the blade in circles on both sides and to his front, merely hoping to deflect as much as he could. As his weapon began to intercept the creatures, the air around him was filled with not just the zapping noise of sliced insects, but overwhelming noise of the hard wings flapping around him.

In moments, Trychon felt not only the impact against his lightsaber of literally hundreds of the bugs, but also the impact of dozens of them at a time off his limbs and chest. They were using their own carapaces as projectile weapons against him with no regard for their own life. Trychon wondered as he was battered backward whether that was an lower lifeform intinct, or the influence of a Sith Master. The flight of his blade began to falter as his arm and hand took a battering from the sides, and more and more bodies slammed into his chest. As he neared the end of the first wave of the cloud's assault, he was forced to shut down his blade before he lost control of it entirely. The last handful of the beetles rammed him backwards and as he fell to his back, he felt sure that if the reckless abandon wasn't a sign of Vikon's hand, the seemed hive intelligence mindset was, though he doubted he would ever know for sure.

The remaining cloud coalesced once again and seemed to hesitate a few moments, as though waiting to see how the Sith would respond. Trychon coughed as he got to his feet and reached into his pouch. He hadn't brought much of the insect repellant, just enough to sprinkle here and there in Violet's garden to protect it while still allowing germination. He certainly didn't have enough to get rid of this many beetles, and he wasn't sure if it would have any effect at all. He pulled out a small handful and rubbed it quickly over his head, chest and limbs.

He grabbed most of what was left in the small pouch in his off hand while he ignited his saber again with the other. He had just moments before a second attack came from the swarm. Thankful that the wind was slightly at his back, he tossed the herbal mix into the oncoming cloud before beginning his defensive saber moves again with a few adjusted moves.

The swarm was visibly moved by the new tactic, with many of the beetles turning around outright, and most others taking a wider berth around his body. He was able to pick off a much higher percentage of his attackers, with more purposeful swings and less blind luck. Before the entire group had gotten to or around him, it began to head back to meet up with the main swarm. Trychon had only taken a few direct hits that time. He held his weapon at a ready position and observed the movements of the cloud.

When the first feelings of relief began to sink in as he watched what appeared to be a general retreat, he heard a new noise. Just beyond the hum of thousands of little wings, he began to hear a lower pitched and more steady noise. In the distance he watched as a few small specks from the center of the swarm began to get larger and larger as the low hum gained volume.

Ducking hastily, he watched as the first of half a dozen pairs of large wings flew over him. These beetles were nearly identical in shape to their smaller companions, but easily over a meter in length. He felt a sudden sense of danger and leapt backwards as he turned to the side. One last giant beetle was flying right through where the back of his head had been half a second prior. Without even having thought about it, Trychon brought down his weapon in an overhead strike directly to the midsection of the giant insect. The blade was met with resistance and only cut inches into the body before the downward momentum carried the bug's flight into the ground where it tumbled and rolled to a halt, stirring but unable to move.

Surprised, but undaunted, he changed tactics on the fly as the others came around for a second pass. He rolled under the attempt and raised his blade to slice at the underbellies of two of the insects. His weapon met nearly no resistance at all from the new angle, and he didn't even watch as the pair dropped unceremoniously to the ground behind him.

He found the larger targets made for a simpler match in the end, making easy work of the remaining aggressors, a few with clean strikes and the others with topside attacks that did just enough damage to remove them as threats.

His back now facing away from the general direction of the swarm, he noticed that he had attracted a small crowd. For some reason though, they still held looks of shock on their faces, a few even had looks of dread. One little girl covered her mouth to stifle a scream, though she managed just a whimper. Her arm extended straight at Trychon before she turned and grabbed onto her father.

Confused, Trychon came to the only conclusion he could, and turned to look at the swarm. It had nearly disappeared into the distant forest, but it only took a moment for him to see the cause of the crowd's reaction. Only a few paces away, there was the largest insect Trychon had ever seen. He could only guess that this was the queen of the hive, or whatever the bugs may have. The head and body looked similar, albeit the size difference and an apparent lack of wings. All in all, the queen looked to be about three meters in length, though the back half or so was still obscured in the grain field it was emerging from. It didn't appear to be overly mobile, likely due to the unnatural size, but if it had a voice, Trychon guessed from the movements of the pincers that she would be screaming at him.

Not sensing an immediate attack likely, Trychon's thought reverted back to the lines from the prophesy, and also the admonishing tone of the Sith Master Vikon, who told him to 'make it look good.'

He took two steps towards the behemoth queen, and then jumped with the aid of the Force, off to the side as far as he could at a low trajectory, and trying to sell the move as though he'd been thrown or swatted aside, rather than simply moving. He remembered the reaction of Monahan to Trychon's fight with Raezyr weeks earlier. With any luck, they'd still only be able to sense that something had happened, and not who or exactly what. Then, all they'd have to do was buy into the silly 'Force-beetle' prophesy.

Having allowed his body to land roughly in the field, he got back up and charged the insect, who still hadn't moved. Preparing to strike, he instead once again threw himself into the distance. He gathered himself and approached slowly, this time acting almost as though he was trudging through a giant wall of gelatin, or as he was hoping it looked... against some giant invisible force.

When he got close enough, he brought his lightsaber down, expecting to cut into it with some resistance from the shell again. He was unable to hide his surprise when the lightsaber instead rebounded off the bug as though it were no more than a blunt object.

Thinking as quickly as he could, he once again jumped backward, jerking at his shoulder as though he'd been pushed. He landed in the dirt path this time, and had no choice but to simply roll in the dust and accept the damage, though he did absorb some of it in the force, he would have preferred he could land gracefully.

Despite his new nicks and bruises, he got up once more and again feigned as though he was pushing against an invisible force to reach the queen. When he was nearly there, he jumped up into the air, and raised his lightsaber high. As he came down, he brought the backside of the hilt down with as much strength as he could muster, and augmented it with a force blow. He had to hope once again that the council would not be able to discern precisely what had happened, and only that the Force was being influenced.

There was a deafening crack, and Trychon felt the insides of the insect shift heavily due to the force of his attack. Her body was forced into the ground, and her underbelly caved under the impact. There was no visible damage to the top of her shell, but the sound indicated that there was perhaps a microfracture of the impossibly tough outer skin.

Trychon stood to the side of the monster and stared at it to ensure that it remained motionless. Then he turned and looked at the swarm of beetles in the distance, which was not just going the other direction, but dissipating as though their cause was over.

He turned and looked at the crowd, which had gained a few since he'd last looked. A cheer broke out in most of the group and he smiled at them. The small girl walked up to him and asked to see the blade of the prophesy. Trychon responded that he didn't know about the prophesy, but he reignited the weapon anyway, drawing another small cheer.

He held the black blade in front of him, staring at it. Out of nowhere, three beetles charged forward, as though entranced by the glow of the otherwise dark weapon. There was a sound of a snap, crackle and pop, and they all fell to the ground in turn.

Trychon was fairly sure that the beetles had returned to normal, though he still wondered how Vikon managed the appearance of such enormous versions of the insects. He doubted he would get an answer out of the grumpy Sith Master.

481. Manipulation of Emotion - Trychon

Trychon gently replaced the small weed into the ground, having removed two small tips off of the roots, and placing them into his sack. He only needed a few more choice samples and he'd be done with the analgesics, and he could move on to what he was looking forward to. He'd been learning all sorts of uses for the various indigenous plant life here, but his favorite application had been the time he'd spent learning how to make the ale that he and Raezyr couldn't get enough of. He wondered about the availability of the same ingredients on other planets.

Fully aware of the usefulness of the applications, he spent most of his time learning with Violet. He enjoyed his time picking her brain about the properties of various herbs, while trying to think of how he'd best be able to apply that knowledge when they were done on this planet. He didn't directly reference any of the more devious uses he could come up with for his new knowledge, and even bored himself at times asking about the dullest concoctions.

Finally finished, Trychon stood up and checked his bag again to make sure he hadn't missed any of the ingredients he needed for that day's work with Violet, who was back at the Healer's hut, checking on their stocks. Assured that he hadn't forgotten anything, he headed over to the area where most of the key ingredients were for the brewmaster's work. Brother Kurlite, or 'Kurz' as many of the men called him, had been very happy for the help with some of the gathering, as it allowed more time for him to provide quality control to his own work.

Many of the plants that Kurz preferred for his ales were more natural to the mountainous regions, but with the help of Violet he'd managed to make a small farm of the ingredients thrive here for convenience. Sometimes Kurz still would trek to the mountains to get the best ingredients naturally for his private selections still.

Bent over with his harvesting tools, he pretended not to feel the presence of one of the monks coming up from behind him. Waiting for a suitably audible crunch from the man's boots or anything of the sort, Trychon continued his work. When the time was right, he spun around, visibly startled.

"Oh, Brother Ocker! What a surprise! To what do I owe the pleasure?" Trychon asked as he freed his hands by attaching his tools back on his belt.

"Mr. Trychon, sir... I was on my way home, and I think we have a serious situation in the fields, and you were... the closest person I could think of to find that could maybe help." Ocker stammered slightly as he responded.

Trychon simply nodded as he finished gathering his things and gestured for Ocker to show him the way.

Trychon doubted the honesty as to why Ocker had come to him specifically, but it didn't really matter. Brother Ocker was one of the leaders of the Monastery, but more importantly he was the leader of the miners. According to Mannix, who had become a bit of a mascot for those who believed either Raezyr, Trychon, or both were the prophesied ones, Ocker was one of Trychon's most enthusiastic supporters. Mannix would know, as he was also nearly the president of the Trychon supporting group, if there had been any organization to the movement.

Trychon mused about how things had been developing with Mannix as he leisurely walked down the path to keep up with the quick, smaller steps of the monk leading him. Mannix had been reveling in the thoughts that he'd been right all along, and the fact that his popularity had been growing over the past few weeks with half of the Monestery. At the same time, the other half was not very happy with Mannix at all and it was painfully obvious to him. They avoided puplicly talking down about him, but Mannix wasn't stupid. Nor was he as polite about his feelings anymore when he felt he was being looked down at. Trychon and Raezyr were happy with his progress in this manner when they saw it, but they kept it to themselves. In fact, they promised Violet and Mathias to try and help the boy when they were approached about the increasing issues.

Trychon had even had a troubling dream the previous week that he wasn't sure whether it stemmed from the talk with Mannix's parents, or just remaining unease. He had seen the same dream before many times, when he blamed himself for Kord's death, but it was different this last time, as it was no longer Kord's, but Mannix's disappointed face that looked upon him in death.

He slipped out of his daydream when Brother Ocker spoke a few key words. Ocker had been talking about the mysterious damaging of the crops the past few weeks, Trychon had heard about that... then the monk went on to mention bug repellants, which Trychon had handy and had nodded absently. It was when Ocker mentioned something about a 'Key Prophesy' that Trychon's attention came to full.

"Wait, what was that part again?" Trychon stopped in his tracks, grabbing the older man in front of him by his shoulders.

Ocker looked at him nervously. "I wasn't sure I should say anything. It's just that some of the people have been talking about these crop issues, and if they match up with one of the foretold tasks."

He continued on to recite the words was referring to.

With our community resources facing inhuman danger
He will step forward and face an oncoming stranger
The Force will be his enemy and not his ally, throwing him through the field
With strength and courage, he will refuse to yield.

480. Manipulation of Emotion - Raezyr

It didn't take very long for Saffron's theory of "two halves of the same coin," to gain popularity, and to no one's surprise, Mannix was instantly one of it's biggest proponents.

All in all, it seemed there were two main schools of thought: Those who believed the One had arrived, and those that didn't, although there were subsets of each group.

Among those how believed the prophecies were being fulfilled, there were those that felt Trychon was the One, as well as those who thought only Raezyr was He. The biggest group, but by a slight margin only, was those who took up Saffron's theory. Together, though, they made up a slight majority of the Taxl monks.

Those that stood against them were unified in the belief that the Chosen One had not arrived, although for many different reasons. Some believed that the prophecies were literal, and that events and information was being twisted to fit the writings. Others believed that only one person could fulfill the descriptions, and pointed out that all the factors had not been fulfilled by just one person. Some pointed to the fact that Trychon and Raezyr were outsiders as justification for their stance. There were also a large number of this group that felt their use of the Force at the mines was a perversion of everything they believed, and the One would never do something like that. Some just simply felt that the prophecies were not prophecies at all, but fictional stories written by ancient monks.

Despite their differences, each and everyone of them were vehemently opposed to any idea of the prophecies coming true.

Regardless of anyone's stance, everyone still wanted to keep an eye on the newcomers and foot traffic around their shops and the home was still fairly heavy.

------------------

A week after the incident at the mines, and after meetings almost every night among the High Council and some of the prominent members of the community, Father Monahan finally asked Trychon and Raezyr to come to his office.

The two met up with each other after lunch, and headed for the temple. "What do you think he wants?" Raezyr asked quietly.

"I'm guessing we're about to find out the result of those meetings they've been having every night," Trychon guessed.

They stopped outside the head monk's office and rapped on the door. It was only a moment before they heard Monahan's voice call from within, bidding them enter.

It was a large room, made to hold private meetings, but looked like it would be crowded if more than a dozen or so people were here at once. It was sparsely furnished, as would be expected of a monk's office. The one extravagance was the large, ornately carved desk which Father Monahan was seated behind. The woodworking was intricately decorated with the symbols of the Taxl and looked to be ancient. It had probably served many Fathers since it had been created, or so the two Sith guessed.

Monahan gestured to two chairs on the opposite side of the desk, inviting them to sit. He began as they took their seats. "Thank you for coming, gentlemen. First of all, I want to extend our Order's gratitude to you both for the heroic thing you did at the mine. Without your efforts, those men would be dead right now, instead of resting peacefully under Brother Odilo and Sister Saffron's care."

The brothers sat quietly as the monk paused. They could hear the "but" in his voice.

"There is something else I need to discuss with you," the elder Taxl continued. "Many concerns were raised about how you used the Force. I know that you are both trained with Jedi techniques and training, but please remember that we believe, and as you have expressed yourselves, that their ways are flawed. In the future, please rely on the wisdom and experience of the High Council, and myself, for guidance in such use in the future. Do you have any questions?"

Trychon and Raezyr glanced at each other before Trychon spoke. "We understand, Father, and we apologize."

"No apology necessary," Monahan said raising a hand in dismissal. "Just come to us first, next time."

On the way back to work, Raezyr looked over at Trychon, "Well that was painless."

"Idiots," Trychon whispered, and they both chuckled.

479. Sith Hunt: Part 2 - Raezyr

"I don't give a mynock's ass who you are, I don't like it!" Captain Wash Moklam roared.

"Captain, Cae and I are only hear as liason's to your current mission. We're only here as your advisors, and to take charge of the prisoners once dey are captured," Jedi Nal Talla said to the middle aged human who as pacing furiously around his office.

"We all know why you're here, Jedi, and it's not to 'advise' me. I've dealt with both pirates and Sith before, and know exactly what to do with them when I find them. You're here to head up this mission. Don't try to argue, because I've been around the quasar a time or two, and I can read between the lines," Moklam ranted.

Caecilius folded his arms inside of his robes. His eyeless head, wrapped in simple bandages to hide his lack of sight organs followed the Captain's every move. "Captain, let me fill you in on some of the background of which you may not have been made aware.

"These Sith that we are after are just two of several Sith apprentices. We are hoping they can lead us to the others. Their Master has been cornered on Igollon by another Republic Warship and several Jedi Masters. He's quite dangerous. He and his apprentices are responsible for the death and destruction that took place in the Senate Building on Coruscant a few months ago.

"And we have a personal stake in this as well, Captain," Caecilius continued. "They were the ones who took Nal's leg, and killed one of our close friends in the attack."

Captain Moklam had stopped pacing while Caecilius spoke, but now his face turned red with anger. "Don't you self-righteous Jedi presume to tell me about how this is 'personal' for you," he hissed.

"One Jedi and a leg, and you're all up in arms? You think that's personal? Let me tell you what they took from me: 73 dead, 182 seriously wounded, many of whom are now living without their limbs. And the Republic doesn't pay for the wonderful toys you Jedi get," he snarled, indicating Nal's prosthetic. "Most had to raise the creds for their own limbs, or are still in hoverchairs. That's 255 men and women dead or injured. Men and women that I personally knew and was responsible for. I personally contacted many of their families. I did. Not one of my subordinates. And I'm not even going in to the millions of credits worth of damage inflicted on this ship, and months of lost time, when we could have been out there patrolling, and keeping the Galaxy safe. So don't tell me about 'personal.' You can't even begin to comprehend 'personal.'" Moklam plopped down in his chair across the desk from the two Jedi as if his rant had exhausted him.

"Captain. We are sorry for your loss, but we can assure you that our end goal is the exact same. Revenge for those that have fallen," Nal said. As a Jedi, she wasn't supposed to be worried about revenge, and she might catch slag for it later, but right now, she wanted nothing more than for those Sith, especially that 'Raezyr,' to pay for their crimes.

478. Manipulation of Emotion - Raezyr

Over the next few days, the number of people frequenting the blacksmith shop nearly tripled it's usual traffic. People brought in all sorts of things for repair, most of them old, rusty and probably had been for years. Raezyr found himself sharpening a lot of axes as well, many which didn't look like they needed it, but he ran them on the whet stone wheel just the same.

Both he and Mathias knew what they were here for, although no one said it. They were all coming by to get a closer look at one of the two newcomers. Many of the folks in the village hadn't paid them any more attention than they would have any newcomer, but now there was reason. Now the rumors of the prophecy's fulfillment had some weight to it, and people were starting to take notice.

Trychon and Violet were experiencing the same type of phenomena. Suddenly it seemed as if everyone in the entire monastery had run out of their medicinal teas, and ointments and needed some kind of botanical advice for the herbs and plants in their own private gardens.

All they could do was to keep filling the orders as best they could, although they began to run low after a while, and Violet began to ask those who had picked up orders in the last couple of weeks to come back at a later date, suspecting they probably hadn't run out in such a short amount of time anyway.

In the evenings, the foot traffic in front of their house had increased as well. People who lived on the other end of the village found some reason to walk by, and they all slowed down when passing the house. Anytime the front door was opened, the people would stop and stare into the house, unabashedly.

After a few more days, the traffic at their shops subsided a bit once the monks began to run out of excuses for herbs and blacksmith work, but the foot traffic by their shops and the house tapered off only slightly.

More immediately, though, they noticed a shift in attitudes. Some of the passersby gave them cold, harsh stares, while others had the look of an "holo-star-adoring teenage girl", as Raezyr so succinctly described it.

The change in attitude wasn't limited to just outside the house, though. Mannix was growing more elated, and confident. He felt his proclamations about the prophecies had been justified, yet somehow his mood was darker as well. He felt he wasn't being given his due recognition, and his contributions were being looked over.

His wasn't the only mood that was darker. Mannix' brother Baldemar's attitude had grown worse. He wasn't happy about things going his little brother's way, proving him and his friends wrong. He was constantly glaring at Mannix, and never looked at Trychon and Raezyr, let alone speak to them.

The two Sith could tell that the changes in Mannix and Baldemar were worrying Mathias and Violet, yet they were at a loss as to what to do about it. These dark attitudes were something the Taxl monks were not used to dealing with.

477. Flight of the Decoy - Raezyr

About two hours after the Wasted Rancor entered hyperspace and left the Nevoota System behind, the Nefarion Wraith slipped in quietly, and made it's way to a small moon on orbiting the outermost planet. It was little more than a glorified asteroid which had somehow been captured by the uninhabitable planet's gravity field.

Quickly they landed inside of a small crater and shut down all but the most necessary of systems, generating as small of an energy signature as they could. The two occupants gazed out of the cockpit windows toward Nevoota, the star around which all six planets of the system orbited. From where they sat, it was little more than a larger star, it's light barely illuminating the surface on which the ship sat.

"Now what?" Anya asked, gazing into the darkness surrounding the ship.

"Now we wait and see if Trych's program does what it's supposed to do," Tyr said, punching up a routine maintenance check on the ship's systems. It wouldn't do to be caught stranded here. Better to know about a problem now.

"How long is that going to take? I'm getting bored already after the fun we had on Balmorra," Anya said, crossing her arms across her chest, pouting.

Tyr gazed at her for a moment. The young female knew her affect on men, but he wondered if she knew that he wasn't immune to her charms either. They had spent a lot of time together since parting company from Trychon and Raezyr, and so far their relationship had remained strictly platonic, but it was getting harder for Tyr to be around her and resist her charms. He pulled his eyes away from her, deciding she no idea.

"It will take as long as it takes. First, Balmorra has to sent out "Be-on-the-look-out" notice, and depending on what kind of priority it's labeled, it may take a while for it to reach the correct people on the Unity. When it does, though, you can bet they'll come running. Her captain... what's his name? Moklam, is sure to want revenge after the kind of damage Raez and Trych inflicted on his people." Tyr glanced down at the readouts as the diagnostics tests finished. "Just be patient."

"What are we supposed to do until then?" Anya asked exasperated. "I've already read that stupid book twice since we left Hoth, and I'm getting sick of sparring. You kick my ass almost everytime."

"I can think of a few things," Tyr said, wincing at having aired his inner desires.

"What do you mean," Anya said warily, and glancing at her partner suspiciously from the corner of her eye.

Tyr recovered nicely. "Oh, like sabacc, or pazaak, and there's always space chess," he said still staring at the readouts, even though he had already read them.

"Yeah, like I'm going to play cards with you. I've seen what you can do with a deck," she laughed. They ended up playing space chess for several hours, before turning in for the night.

Early the next morning, while eating their breakfast, their patience was rewarded, as the alarm on the ship's computer began sounding. They quickly put their plates away and headed for the cockpit.

Looking down at the display, they saw the information they had been waiting for: a complete readout on the Unity. It told them exactly when and where the ship had entered the system, and even the last system it had been in, and what route it had taken to get there, and what speed. As a bonus, they noted, it also gave them a list of the Hammerhead's "problem" reports, indicating what was broken and needed to be fixed.

They grinned at each other, then started the ship's engines with out worry. The Unity had entered the system on the opposite end from where they were located.

Within minutes, they made their jump to hyperspace, and their next destination.