Day 2 The Test

Several hours later the meeting was finally drawing to a close. Outside the hall, Alex and a few other Padawan waited in silence. It was late and most had returned from a long journey not having slept in days. Most were too tired to meditate, so they stood chatting among-est themselves. Alex spent his time meditating manipulating the force energy becoming more accustomed to it. There were four in the hall not including Alex himself. Tan Yuster, Anakin Skywalker, Asajj Ventress, and Bultar Swan.

Asajj and Bultar were in another argument about different ideals. Since Asajj and her master Jedi Ky Narec were rescued by Naes years ago she finally received full training. Narec sensed her potential and trained her in the ways of the Force supplemented by Naes training she excelled. It was quite an undertaking considering her own views were shaped by real life. But Naes was able to use the knowledge given to him helping ease the burden and gaps that popped from her own anger issues The trio made an attack ending warlord Osika Kirske reign in the sector. Much to Asajj pleading, her master Ky Narec did not want to stay to clean up the area. This has created a long-standing problem between master and apprentice.

She bumped heads with most padawans and masters due to collective naive approach, but was quite impressed by Anakin, Christian, and Naes himself. There was even a rumor that she and Naes were intimate. Asajj never commented just left it alone to others imaginations. No matter what she was doing or if she was just relaxing, Bultar would find her during downtime. Explaining the traditions of Jedi.

Bultar was a Jedi through and through. Known for not killing a single enemy. She lived and breathe the ideals of the Jedi. At times she came off strong but meant well. Tan followed most of her ideals but was still finding himself. Then there was Anakin, proud and strong friend to many still. Alex could only feel a few inklings of the dark side in him right now. Hopefully, that could still be prevented.

Alex thought of a few minutes to get closer to Anakin but it was dismissed. He smiled at all of them and went back to meditating. A few notifications went off in his head alerting of an improved friendship increase with all of them. He had no idea why but didn't question it too much. He was thinking of the quest that popped up.

( Head to Serenno. Talk to the ruling family and uncover the secrets within. Rewards: Apprentice, ????, ????, Forbidden Holocron.)

Alex was so lost racking his brain about the quest, he did not realize the door had opened. The Council had finished their meeting and his Master was the first one out slightly aggravated. The moment she stepped past him, he fell into step as if it had occurred thousands of times before.

Coming back to focus, Alex waved goodbye to the others. "Later everyone, safe travels."

Obi-Wan stepped over to Anakin. "How was it waiting out here? Did you get bored or did you play nice for once?" Obi-Wan expressions was humorous. He barely tried to contain himself.

"Master you wound me. It sounds if you think I am an attack hound incapable of making friends."

Obi-wan thought of all the time's he had to pull him out of a fire. It made sense for him to be wary of his Padawan. "Right you are most certainly not an attack hound." He said slightly sarcastic. "Come, we need to get ready to head to Naboo."

"Whatever for?" Anakin asked in wonder walking away. "Is it trouble again? thought we were going to stay here on Coruscant? Haven't the Separatists started stronger actions against the natives there?"

"Senator Amidala has gone to Naboo for a moment. She will do her best to return to vote on a motion to create an army to assist us in taking back her home planet. There has already been an assassination attempt on her life. We are going to help protect her and ensure she can get help.." Obi-wan caught the smile Anakin tried to hide on his face.

A bounty hunter, before she can reveal his identity. The Jedi Council instructs Obi-Wan to find the bounty hunter, while Anakin is tasked to protect Padmé and escort her back to Naboo, where he expresses his romantic feelings for her.

(Mission has upgraded. Complete trials on its first run through. Reward: You will be sent to Coruscant to aid in the Senator's protection no matter the location you are at the time. Chance to recruit Zam Wesell shape-shifting bounty hunter.)

"I am afraid so. But not to worry we will do what we can to mitigate any trouble." Obi-wan continues to talk to Anakin as the lift closes taking them to the ground floor.

As they walk, XoXann noticed her apprentice silence. She also felt the stress rolling off of him. 'What happened to him during the hours we were in session?'

"What is it my Padawan? You know it is not good to dwell on things. Tell me what's wrong." Master XoXann slowed to an even pace down the hallway. They were now both shoulder to shoulder in there walking.

"It is.. nothing of much. Master... do you think I am a failure? Have I been a good Padawan?" Alex had time for his memories to settle. He heard the whispers of other padawan and masters. Even though disciplined, the were still human. Gossip will always happen. Comments can be said and interpreted in various ways. "Do you regret keeping me?"

"Of course not. You are a terrible Padawan. But that is only because you have been sick so much. We will fix that. Besides," XoXann leaned closer as they walk, "you have been trained as my Apprentice more than as a Padawan. For good reason to. You have finished your meditation while I met with the Council. Didn't think it would run so long. If I leave this place would you come with me?"

"Of course Master. I will go where you need me to. But... do you not think I should build my light-saber?" Alex answered without any trouble. He knew she was just asking but was not really planning to leave any time soon.

"Bah, you are not ready for it just yet. However... I have convinced the Council to allow you to take an ancient trial. They couldn't believe in the trial itself, with how old and dangerous it is. But It will be best for you. Complete it and you can have your light-saber... you may build it from whatever parts you have on hand. You also will be given the rank of Jedi Guardian, pft." XoXann said the last few words as if they did not matter. She preferred he received the title of Consular but his experience was not vast enough for the council.

"Is something wrong Master?" Alex did not like saying the word so much. It was irritating. Especially since she as a woman. What a stupid thing to do. Why not just say Teacher like everyone else.

"Nothing to talk about in the open. It is already the next day. Let us return to quarters. You need to rest for the morrow. You will not fail do you understand me? Also, hand me that map you have in your waist pocket. Odds are, you received from that pretender." XoXann hand stopped right at his chest. If he did not hand it over she would not press for it. She hoped he would hand it to her with no problems.

"Here you go. I am gonna want that back Master." Alex said smiling. His master always wanted to look at maps for some reason. He figured she was looking for something specific. A special astral chart or maybe a secret cache of sorts. Alex pressed the button for the turbo-lift heading to the common area. He and XoXann separated as he headed to the dorms.

A few hours later Alex had made up his mind. He accessed his inventory taking Midi-chlorian Booster III x1. The effects were immediate as he felt his connection to the force deepen a little. His stats went up a little. Taking more would be a bad idea. As well he shouldn't. The feeling that it was not meant for him kind of left him upset. The items were meant for others. A lot of the items his system would give would be used to elevate others in his circle. It was not all bad. If he was betrayed the boosts would wax and wane until they stopped altogether. Taking the next few minutes to adjust himself, he harmonized with the vibrosword and stood up. His master had contacted him the moment he made it to his room. He needed to report to the under-levels of the city for his trial.

Three hours later Alex made it to mid-level thanks to the expert flying of the pilot... Around the area, several Masters, apprentices, and republic officials stood about. Reaching in the back seat he grabbed a re-breather as well as an extra canister. In the corner of his eye, he saw a holdout blaster. Stashing it away into his inventory as well, he headed to greet his Master.

"Greetings Master," Alex said with a slight nod of his head. He then looks towards the council, " morning Council Masters." looking at the republic shoulders he was slightly stumped about what to say to them. So he went with a basic greeting "hiya... Hehe, fine morning we have here.."

A few of the Republic soldiers laughed as well as some of the officers. The Council just looked on stoically in silence. Master XoXann stepped forward checking out the clothing on his body as well as the rebreather and extra canister.

"Good you are not overly dressed. The task will be quite dangerous so listen up. Reports have come in from the lower areas. As you know most of the lower levels went dark long ago. Your job is to go down to investigate and held as much as you can with repairs. If it is beyond repairable you are to leave." XoXann stared to make sure her apprentice understood. Seeing him nod she stepped back.

A man with dark colored skin and a bald head stepped forward. This was Jedi Master Mace Windu. His gaze was as sharp and strong as a hawk while he looked Alex over. "The Council has an additional task for you. There are a few Jedi masters who have gone down below that have lost confidence in themselves. If you can find any of them… please do what you can to convince them to return to the surface."

Alex thought he saw a sadness in the man's eyes for a second but thought nothing of it for the time being. With a nod, he agreed. Walking over to the edge he placed his rebreather secured and jumped over the edge. 'Ok Jedi training do not fail me now.' As Alex raced to the bottom he was astounded by how dirty it became. At one point he breached a literal smog barrier. Using the force to shield his body he landed on solid ground.

The soil was caked with soot from factory exhaust as well as smog. With each step, he took the ground gave in leaving indentations. "Great walking through snow without snowshoes. But then again this is soot and dirt. So regular boots should work." Pulling his cowl a little tighter Alex lamented he didn't bring a pair of goggles.

As he traveled throughout the underbelly of the city he only came across corpses. Some freshly mutilated, others dried out caked with soot. Stepping over one of the bodies he looked it over. Seeing the large bite marks that went straight through bone. 'Whatever made these bites had strong serrated teeth.' Placing the remaining flesh down he looked around quickly before jumping away.

Gripping his hand on the vibrosword Alex proceed slowly. He started to rely on the stealth techniques his master had taught him. Now stealthy moving from place to place he came across a few people. Ducking behind a building he focused his senses to listen in.

Only bits and pieces had been understood. The people spoke in a very strange dialect. From what he could understand it sounding like the Coruscanti would have there time in the sun.

'Tch, this is getting me nowhere. Should I use the language pack to understand them? No that would be foolish. My task is to find things out. So far I know there is some kind of "thing" killing people and that the Coruscanti will have there time in the sun. Whatever that is. Let's see what else I can find. That language is native but the other feels old. Even with the older language samples master has read to me over the years I cannot understand them.' Alex then slipped behind some buildings and moved amongst the alleyway shadows.

Arriving at what looked to be an old playground he stopped. Straining his eyes as best he could he saw in the center a beast of sorts with something clutched in its mouth. A Rakghoul, a mutated beast created by a crazed Sith alchemist long ago.

He was able to recognize the monsters from anywhere. But this beast was vastly different. It resembled a modified Rakghoul. Armor plating aligned its belly the fingers looked double jointed capable of lifting and maneuvering better. But that was not the most concern. The Rakghoul feelers on its back twitched a little. It started to sniff the air as it moved its head about trying to locate the source. Across from it was a Rakata.

'Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me?! Why those psychotic muthafuckers?' Alex started to back away slowly in the alley.' I was stupid not to use this earlier. Memo to self use the shit I can as soon as I get it.' Activating the saber arts (Saber Arts x1) nothing happened.

Reaching towards the body that was dropped the Rakata did not notice its pets movement. Or it just didn't care. The Rakata were known for a lot of things. One of the most prominent was the lack of concern for its minions or even its own kin. It spoke a few unintelligible words that Alex could not understand.

'Screw it. Using the language pack.' With that thought Alex accessed his inventory selecting the language back and choosing the Rakata as the language. A flush of information poured into his cortex giving him an understanding of its dialects and different subspecies of the race. 'Ok now, what the hell is that thing saying.'

"Easy to use. Susceptible to training and conditioning. Yes, will work perfectly. Younger samples work better."

The Rakghoul shook in anger as it ran across the playground to another area. Smashing into a pile of metal parts, it swung the debris to the side. "Tssh," the sound of a lightsaber igniting in the pile. Out popped a Mirialan female. Alex had no idea who she was but the Rakata knew.

"Stupid Jedi Master Cyslin Myr, why you interfere? I will bring this world to glory!" The Rakata spewed angrily.

Master Cyslin gripped her lightsaber tightly and prepared for battle. "I am sorry but I cannot allow this. You have corrupted this very planet. Infected its citizens to revive your dead race. You are evil and you must be purged." As she took her form, Alex form finally imposed on his mind. Form VII called Juyo, also called "The Way of the Vornskr". Master Cyslin looked to his location and shook her head in dismay. She did not want Alex to interfere wanting him to escape.

"Kill her my pet! Her body will make me stronger again." The Rakata grabbed the body of the child that was dropped and ran to escape.

Alex jumped down from the building right in front of him. Swinging his vibrosword he cleaved the Rakata head right from its body. Not waiting for the body to fall he charged at the Rakghoul.

"Do not give into the dark side young one!" Master Cyslin yelled.

"Lady who the hell is giving in to the dark side. I just wanted to kill this sick bastard as fast as I could. You should see to that child. I need to battle this thing." Alex said as he intercepted a blow from the creature. Its physical strength pushed him back in the dirt a few steps. Pulling the force back into his body to reinforce himself, he swung towards the creature arms. Each blow fierce than the last.

Master Cyslin couldn't believe her eyes. The anger and ferocity of the dark side were there but she could feel the light gathered around him. 'Such a pure form, how can that be?' After thinking to herself she remembered the child and rushed over to him. Seeing he was breathing she sighed in relief. "Ah, good. You are not infected what a relief." Looking back she watched in rapture at the fight. The Rakghoul had power and defense, but Alex had speed, flexibility, and ferocity that couldn't be matched. "The force is building in him..."

"Arrooo," the sound of other Rakghoul could be heard throughout the area. They were getting closer and closer as time passed by.

"We have to go. Now, do you hear me?" Master Cylin yelled.

"Go ahead without me! I will hold them off." Not bothering to look back, Alex kept his assault on the beast unrelenting. He could feel her hesitation turned to a defiant resonance. "Will you risk that child's life over an argument? I will not go do you understand? Get him out of here!"

Master Cylin sped off with the child clutched in her arms. She didn't dare to look back. Back by Alex three more Rakghoul's had come around the area.

"Oh hoh. This is so nice. Come you big beasties give me a proper death! Force Apex!" The power of the force gathered all across the alleyways. Around Alex's body, black strands of force energy moved about. Around his eyes and his left arm, white force energy gathered.