Star Wars: Werrin at War

Ian looked up from his status board and queried Illus about its changes, "Teacher, what's the difference between capable and learnt?"

"Learnt means you have both the capability and understanding to use an ability intuitively. Whereas capable means you don't yet have the mastery, or experience needed to use it consistently, and correctly," Illus answered, taking her duties as a master seriously.

Ian was about to rattle off a few more questions but he was interrupted; once again, by the mournful growls of his stomach.

"Well, I really should start heading back," Ian said, exchanging an awkward smile with Illus. Ian then closed his eyes; allowing him greater focus, and spread out his consciousness; his force sense.

Ian soon caught the 'trace' he needed to find his way back and started moving.

Sensing his way back to the village; at least to Ian, felt something akin to what an ant felt following a pheromone trail. It was rather vague, but it gave him a general idea of the path he needed to tread.

Whilst sensing out this path Ian perceived something... Repugnant. From behind, tremendous waves of filth, carrion and corruption, buffeted him; impacting his conscious.

"Master Illus, I..." Ian was interrupted by the bellows of Illus shouting. "Run!"

Ian instantly started sprinting. He couldn't see anything, but he could sense the evil presence at his back, chasing him. Whatever it was, it was still far off, but fast and quickly gaining on Ian.

"Master Illus, what the hell is that?" Ian asked as he ran, and floating speedily next to him Illus replied, "A corrupt-being; a force-sensitive that has completely lost their mind to the dark."

"Sh*t! What do I do? Can I fight it?" Ian shouted back.

"Fight It? With what? You're not even a Padawan, and that thing chasing you was at least a Je'daii Ranger before its fall. Impossible."

"What am I supposed to do then? It's obviously gaining on me; I can't outrun it forever, and it's tracking me through the force, so it's not like I can hide." Ian asked, panicked.

"You can, as long as you can make it back to that underground-village you have a chance. It's buried deep enough that, in its current state, the abomination shouldn't be able to track you as long you're in it." Illus replied.

Ian simply ran faster in response; vaulting over, ducking under, and swinging through any debris that got in his way.

Eventually, he reached the tunnel; from which he had left, and jumped in, running a little, before stumbling, and sliding his way down the remaining inclined passage.

"NOooo!" Ian could hear the echos of a distant roar as he tumbled. The creature had lost its trace on him, and its anger shook the earth; raining down dislodged dirt on Ian.

Ian sat at the bottom of the passage, covered in soil, hunched over and gasping for air.

"Bloody hell, its one, -huph-, thing after another," Ian grumbled, panting, and Illus attempted to comfort him, "Well at least you're out of danger... For now."

"Yea, for now, ugh..." Ian said, pulling himself to his feet, "Hopefully I can get myself some grub, maybe even talk with the locals a little; the system has a translating function right?"

Ian got over the potential threat to his life rather quickly. It was something he was used to and he had learned that fretting over such things was a waste of both his time and energy.

"Umm... Yes, we didn't know exactly what species the Inheritor was going to be and what language they would use. So it was installed as a basic function of the system, otherwise, it would further complicate teaching, right? If we weren't able to communicate properly," Illus answered, a little astonished at how calm her little disciple was.

Ian walked out of the tunnel and into the village. He then headed towards one of the closest buildings. Where he remembered meeting one of the natives; the Doc'.

"Hello, is anyone here?" Ian called out, entering the Doc's infirmary. He received no reply, so he used his Force Sense to probe around the infirmary, but there wasn't anyone home. "Humm, maybe he popped out for something."

Ian then left and made his way to Jent's cabin. On his way through the village, he became quickly aware that something was wrong. The various passages were barren of life; the inhabitants had all up and vanished.

"The hell is going on?" Ian asked himself, and upon reaching Jent's cabin, he got an answer.

Standing on top of Jent's roof, Werrin was preaching to what seemed like the entire village. Each villager held a weapon in hand, a mixture of metal spears and bow-like bolt casters and their faces were both tense and teary, as they listened to Werrin's declaration of war.