Zane Arclyte

OOC: More ridiculous duels courtesy of myself and Aryian! Enjoy! IC: "PREPARE TO MEAT YOUR DOOM!" Zane pointed grandiously at Aryian from about twenty feet away. He was grinning from ear to ear, his coat flapping behind him in the stiff wind atop the plateau Zane had chosen to fight on. "Don't you mean 'meet'?" the confused blond Knight said, tilting his head to one side. "...How could you even...Nevermind. Point is, I mean MEAT!" Suddenly, about half a ton of raw, relatively fresh ground Bantha meat dropped on top of the other Jedi. Zane laughed. "Enjoy your lunch! Come get me when you're ready for dessert!" He took off across the plataeu, laughing all the way.

OOC: Oh I understand, doesn't mean I have to suck up everything you do to me kiddo. Besides I'm rather having fun. That is the point of RP isn't it? To have fun? Anyway, now for something completely different. IC: Zane's eyes blinked open. Before him was a very odd, very enhanced field of vision. He felt pinned down once again, but at least the suit had a voice box. "*ppsssh fffft* Hey this is kinda cool... "Oh Emperor Yahn, how did you KNOW every Jedi's favorite color is pink?! I love it! *psshhh ffftt* Oooohh~ I feel pretty." Then, with what little sanity he had left, he did something that no one in a Darth Vader suit should ever do. Sing. "Sometimes it's hard to be a woman Giving all your *phsss fffft* love to just one man You'll have bad times, he'll have good times Doin' things that you *phsss ffftt* don't understand But if you love him, *phss fffft* you'll forgive him Even though he's hard to understand And *pffft hsss* if you love him, oh be proud of him 'Cause after all he's just a man. Stand by your man, *psssh hfft* give him two arms to cling to And something warm to come to When nights are *psshh ffftt* cold and lonely. Stand by your man, and show the world you love him Keep *hufff pss* giving all the love you can. Stand by your man. Stand by your man, *psssh ffff* and show the world you love him Keep giving all the love you can. Stand by your man.*psssh fff*"

An open beach on a brilliant sunny day, cloudless azure sky overhead. White sands beneath his feet on a planet otherwise covered in water. Dense xenofoliage tangled in a green wall far behind him as he stood, overlooking the vast ocean before him. Could an ocean this large be called an ocean, really? Was there a grander word for it? Zane didn't know. He didn't know where he was either. Such a place, if it did exist, was too sharp, too clean cut to be real. "Where am I?" he thought out loud, noticing his voice possessed an odd echo-y quality. "'M not that hard to forget am I sweetie?" Zane turned to see his wife standing several feet behind him in a white sundress, smiling impishly. He grinned at her. "I'll take that as a no." He sauntered up to him, and embraced him. She felt cold to the touch, even the cloth of her dress was cold, as if it had been in a freezer. "I'm really glad you picked me for this." "For...what?" "You'll know when you see it." She led him around, holding onto his arm and gently tugging him to face the watery expanse once again. "What is all this? This is the Force, the limitless potential of all the life in the Galaxy. Everything you've trained to tap into, everything that the Jedi wish to serve the will of and everything the Sith squander in order to possess more power. It's all right here before you." "So what's this beach doing in front of the Force?" Tia gave him a look. "It's just a dream sequence, sweetie, try and keep up." "Ah, right, symbolism. I knew that. So I'm in my Mindscape right now then?" "S'right. Pretty isn't it?" "Yeah, it's really great. I wouldn't mind sticking around awhile, 'specially since you're around." "Yeah me neither." Tia rested her head against Zane's arm as he looked out over the ocean of the Force. She looked up at his eyes after several quiet, distant, solid, seeing something she did not. "Whatcha thinking, as if I didn't know?" "I want to swim." "...What?" She didn't seem to know what he meant. Zane shook his head, then looked down to Tia, smiling. "If that's the Force, I know what it feels like, when I use it. I want to see what it feels like to swim in it." "You do know, Zane, that your Mindscape is just this beach?" "Uhm.." "I'll make it simple. That ocean is, to your mind, the Force. Your actual mind is this." She tapped her foot against the sand, kicking up a few grains with the lip of her sandal. "See the lapping waves, the line they make of wet sand? That's how much Force power you have tapped into, that's how much Force power your mind can handle at this moment. The rest of that is your mind's perception of the rest of the Force within the galaxy." "So what harm could it do if I jumped in? Will I die?" "No, but this beach of yours will become completely submerged in the water. You won't be able to turn back if you try and swim in the vast expanse of the Force." "Come on, real world terms here." "You might..." She was quiet for another moment, her eyes pleading. "Don't, Zane. Please, for me. You know how it'd kill me, if you died because you tried something you couldn't handle." She hugged his arm tighter. "Please." Zane was quiet for a much longer time. Why am I telling myself to hold back? Isn't the Force supposed to be what I'm striving for? What's holding me back from swimming? "What will happen if I swim?" "You don't know." Zane and Tia turned again to the right, and saw his master, Dhan-Jaroe Kenobi, two dozen feet away, facing them. He had the same dour expression as ever. "You don't know what happens, because no one ever taught you. No one could, not in the Jedi order at any rate." "Are you saying the line of thinking I'm taking now will make me a Sith?" "No, I'm saying you have to find out for yourself whether it will make you a Sith or not. Come on, haven't you been paying attention at all?" "'Suppose not..." He looked out over the ocean again. "Is it...bad that I want to learn to swim?" "You know what happens to those who try and drown. But then again, you know-" Zane finished. "-That those who trained me did not try. I know. "I'm beginning to understand what you wanted to teach me all along. Do, or do not, there is no try. If I try, I will fail. If I do, or do not, I will succeed. Master, you once said to me, that the surest way of winning was to not play. But do you truly win if you do nothing? "Here I am, possibly on the edge of the biggest discovery of my Jedi career, of anyones, and I shouldn't swim?" Zane went silent a moment. "No. "I will swim." He looked out to the vast ocean of the Force before him. "I will swim, just the same way as I have done everything else. I will swim just as I saved myself from the brink of death on Ilum. As surely as I will become a Jedi Master one day, I will swim in the Force, and never drown." "What if you come back and aren't yourself anymore?" Tia's eyes were watered down. "What if I never see you again?" "I promise. You will. And I never break my promises to you, you trust me?" "You have to trust yourself. Then others will trust you." "Then I will swim." Zane kissed his wife one last time, who, when he pulled away, looked happier, less concerned if a tad tearful. "You will never lose me." "I know." Zane grinned at her, and went up to the water's edge. He felt the frigidity of the water, yet felt somehow soothed by it. He did not hesitate, he did not let doubt or fear or hatred or anything enter his mind, only the Force. He dove in. --------------------------------------------- Even though the Imperial medical staff worked feverishly to resusitate Zane, the long drone of a flatline signal filled the cybernetic prosthesis bay. He was dead. They would later determine the cause was serious incompatabilities between his natural body chemistry and the myriad prosthetic parts he needed, something very confusing to the medical droids. OOC: See you Thursday night boyos! Edit for stray tag...stupid interface...

Zane did scream. He screamed until his lungs burned. He screamed until there was nothing to scream about, because the nerves in his body were shutting down. Then he laughed, after his lashes were done. He laughed weirdly, coughing, then laughing again. "Hah...hah hah hah hah..." His voice was gravely, full of disrespect for the two behind him. "Yeah, learn the ways of the dark side. *Koff koff* Go interesting places, meet interestin' people...kill them...*koff koff* Enjoy becoming *koff koff* a damned tool. "The harder you hit me...the stronger my resolve will become...until every time you strike me, you will only be hurting yourself...*koff koff* "Go ahead...Hit me harder...If you've got enough power to do that, Emperor...if you think you've got the guts..." Zane rolled his eyes into the back of his head, and emptied his mind, his body of Force energy. He felt everything go numb, and finally felt peace after the purgatory, the hell that Cineon put him through for fun.

The Emperor's thugs had no small amount of fun dragging the battered Zane into the Carbonite Freezing chamber, and when he was frozen, he made sure his last words were, "See you soon, boys. Next time you see me, our places will be switched." He grinned as he was frozen, and let his mind be overwhelmed in sleep. ----------------------------------- There he was, at his knighting ceremony, getting his padawan braid ritualistically cut and taking an oath to uphold the Jedi Code. He felt so immensely proud and happy, and he looked over and saw his wife, Tia, also there, also as proud of him as he could ever be. They embraced, both awash in love for one another. The voices were gone, only the lips moved; the colors were washed out, sketchy, but people were obviously recognizable. Everything in the scene seemed happy, but he could not help but feel antagonistic. He was the most content he had ever been, but something eluded him. The scene replayed in his mind, many many times, as if he was watching a recording for some specifc detail. He could see that this accomplishment would be far from his last. His master told him he would be very integral part of the Jedi Order one day, and he felt the usual routes would not be for him. "Become a master, train padawans, kill Sith," etc. etc. etc. There was something out there for him, something else. He would have to go on a journey soon, he felt, a "spiritual quest". It wasn't a quest just to gain more wisdom, more knowledge. This was a drive to transform into someone else. He coudn't see far enough ahead to see what he was to become, but he would transform. This was what he was sure of. The harder he dreamed, the harder his thoughts tried to discern the future, the fuzzier things became; the near future of becoming a knight, that kept pulsing through his brain, it took over his dreams. He would be dreaming for quite some time now. He enjoyed his dreams. But he didn't forget his premonition. He would never forget what his dreams told him, the dreams borne in ice.

Real Name: Glolorkash Nickname: "Kash", "That Wookie Bastard" Age: 170 Species: Wookie Height: 2.2 Meters Weight: 300~ Hair: Shaggy but well groomed, reddish brown Eyes: Dark green Sex: Male Homeworld: Kashyyyk Alignment: Neutral Clothing: Modified tactical vest made to fit his large frame and carry anything he needs (tools, ammo, etc) Weapon: Owns two bowcasters, one normal one (albeit upgraded) and one "X-Bow" caster, substantially longer than a normal one and has two bows set in an X formation; the X-Bowcaster is essentially the bastard son of a bowcaster and a sniper rifle, and the amount of damage it does is very much in line with its "parentage" Non-Force User Inventory: Some hacking equipment, tools for fixing/taking things apart, ammo Posessions: Heavily modified hover-bike, moderately modified Protocol droid named R-J4K (Ar-Jack) -Not so much morally bankrupt as "has a questionable sense of humor", Kash loves the thrill of the hunt a bit too much. He was originally a regular bounty hunter, but he seeks to join (Insert Name Of Police Faction Here) to give his hunts more purpose, more meaning than simple money or blood. He sees the galaxy as a place with too many people with not enough purpose, and is always looking for a new mission, as he hates stagnation.

"Oh the agony of de feet!" Zane fell forwards, rolling onto his knees and catching himself with his arms. His ankles bled, but the heat of the saber had more or less cauterized the wounds. He worked on sealing the gaping wounds with his Force powers, and also worked on a plan to defeat the other knight. He heard the snap of two lightsabers being connected at the base, and realized he had one, split-second chance. He took it, Force Pushing himself up and back, flipping over Aryian and grabbing his head along the way. He swung down on the opponent's front, placing one knee into the stomach of the other Jedi. He hit the ground hard, holding as much as he could of Aryian's head; he rolled back from the momentum and his opponent rolled with him. After two flips, Zane landed on top, sitting on Aryian's stomach, holding the double-bladed staff saber of his opponent against its possessor's chest. He grinned. "Dodge this." He didn't try to strike fancily; right before he had tried the flip, he had switched off his saber. Now, he held the emitter against the side of Aryian's head, and turned it on, scorching the Jedi's brains.

Zane gritted his teeth after getting hit in the crown jewels with a force uppercut and then slammed against the dueling room's cealing. Despite the injury, he landed on his feet, narrowly missing the two lightsabers in mid-air. Aryian commanded them to swing forward to trip him in the back of the legs, but he pike-flipped over them, bringing his legs straight up and over himself to land a few feet away from them. He quickly lashed out and cleaved the excess weaponry in mid air. "Tsk tsk. Don't you have enough sabers as it is? I'll show you that all you need is one." He smirked, moving his body forward and clashed his saber with each of his opponent's sabers alternatingly. They moved like two gears interlocking, performing elegant circles with each block, parry, attack, counter-attack, block, parry... Zane struck the insides of each blade, forcing the weapons apart and cutting a hole through the middle of the wall his opponent's style tried to create. He struck forward with two stabs, one scoring and burning a hole into the forward part of his opponent's left wrist, and the other scorching right in the sternum. He Force Pushed Aryian away, as he felt they were a tad too close, and shifted himself back as well.

Zane had awaited the opprotunity to duel the notorious Aryian Darkfire for a long time. He got the drop on the more experienced Jedi from above, with an overhanded jumping slash. They clashed sabers, each struggling to push the other away. Zane smirked, shifted his grip on his saber and used the new leverage to push down on his sabers' scissors formation to be vaulted over the Jedi's body. He skidded and stopped several feet away. He took up his stance, saber off to the side in one hand, and a cocky look on his face. "Glad you decided to come by; I may surprise you, I've learned much since the last time you saw me. I'm not the innocent Padawan you used to know." He cut twice diagnolly across Aryian's field of view with impossible speed, striking at the other Jedi with several elegant tight slashes that looked to anyone else to be one long spiral. He enjoyed the challenge of two blades versus his one, but as he once figured out, two blades were much harder to control. He used this to his advantage to strike one of Aryian's blades into the other, forcing an open spot at the shoulder while his torso was twisted from the unbalancing strikes. He took advantage by targeting this spot with a quick thrust.

The Sith Lightning, a name that no matter how fitting Zane found thoroughly unimaginative, pulled out of hyperspace and began to land. Zane, however, had other ideas. With the remaining strength that resided in his body, he stretched his energy out to the belly of the monstrocity. He felt the energy of the ship's core, felt the power of the thing traveling all around him. He found the weak spots of the core, and dug his mind into them, doing his damnedness to crush the conduits. The ship began blaring red alerts, stating there was a problem in the engine. He grinned rather maliciously, and tightened his mental grip on the conduits until they snapped. The engines failed and the computer that was running the monstrocity shut down. It was only a matter of time before the prize ship of the Emperor would crash in the side of the Sith Temple. Despite himself, despite the unimaginable pain it caused him, he laughed. "If...I had told him...the pain felt good...I wonder if he'da stopped... "Next time...Cineon...you're gonna have to kill me a little harder..." The devastation from the ship crashing into one of the wings of the Sith Base would be quite pricey to repair.

OOC: Retardation, ignore me.

Zane suffered through the idle bleeding as Sith Lightning transported him to the Sith Base. Once he heard the hyperdrive starting to dial down, he grinned. And now....for dessert...

Zane's body was in great pain from being slammed hard by the dark side immersed Sith. His lip was bloody and one eye black, and his skin and bones were covered in bruises. No matter how hard the Sith could hit him, Zane's spirit did not break. He fought back as well as he could despite overwhelming odds. He was slumped against the wall he was slammed against, bleeding idly when two seemingly powerful Jedi Masters came, sabers at the ready, with the intention of striking down the Dark Lord. Zane pulled himself up, using the wall to support his battered body. He spewed some blood off to the side, looking as cocky and determined as ever. "You can't stop us all, Dark Lord. Be reasonable and back down. Live another day to harass us, that's what you want, right?"

Zane felt the tightening of his windpipe, and began to choke as the Sith went on about how ill advised it was to attack him. The Sith Lord apparently decided there was more sport in dueling, and charged full tilt at Zane, lightsaber blazing. Zane regained his composure and smirked, remaining silent for the moment. He held still, waiting for the right moment, and then struck his opponent's weapon just above the emitter, knocking it off-center and ruining the clean shot the Sith Lord had. He then hopped back and Force Pushed his opponent, using this energy to also knock himself back several dozen feet away. He skidded to a stop, his lightsaber at the ready. "And I'll take great pleasure in foiling you." He sent out a mental message to the nearest living Jedi Master he knew about, asking for any assistance they could give him. He prepared himself to fight one-on-one, as he figured that would be the way of it.

The battle raged on between Jedi and Sith. There didn't seem to be a slowing down of the conflict, as everyone was enjoying themselves too much. He looked over to see that one of the new Padawans who showed up on Rafa V just before this battle, and he was in combat with someone decidedly Sith-esque. Zane decided to get a hand in on that fight. Jarl had been handling himself fairly well, but the Sith seemed to be about ready to kick it up a notch. His lightsaber ignited, Zane said to the Sith from a few dozen paces away, "Hey there. I see you had a sick time sampling the appetizer; how about you try the main course?" Edit: For the love of filth, can we decide what you two are doing to each other already??

Zane scoped out the planet below, noticing on his scanners several Light Side and Dark Side signatures on the surface. Most of them were in active combat, though something sent off a rather immense amount of Light Side energy in a dense area of forest. He landed somewhat close to the burst, and exited his ship, staying as inconspicuous as possible; he was sure with this many Force Users around, that he was going to be noticed eventually. Whatever he was planning on doing it fast and getting the hell off of the battle-ridden planet. He saw that a Sith Lord looked rather intent on sending a lightsaber into Kayla Mhin, who was not too far away, standing over a woman. He also saw Aryian Darkfire off to the other side, preparing for battle. ...I'll get to you later Kayla. Don' get yerself too banged up, y'hear? He ignited the long tight fencing beam of his lightsaber and joined sides with Aryian. "Don' suppose you'd appreciate an extra blade?" Zane smirked.

"Hey look, it's Borlieas," Zane said as he crested the planet, coming down through the atmosphere of the battle-ridden planet.

Zane finished up his food with Jarl and cleaned up everything in the back before exiting his ship to check on the new Jedi base. He still hadn't thought of any reason for such a sudden shift in scenery, but if his life as an apprentice had taught him anything, it was to roll with the punches. Things were pleasent if steamy, the droids were working tirelessly on fixing up the skeleton of the base, and the handful of padawans left were resting around. He didn't feel any threats, his senses feeling relaxed and focused. All's quiet... He decided to stop worrying so much. Nothing could be accomplished by doubt and worrying about things he couldn't do anything about. Come on, haven't I learned anything? Focus is good for you. He found a quiet clearing nearby his ship, and kneeled down in the middle of it. His back straight, his hands on his knees, he relaxed a few moments in that position. He calmly placed his lightsaber in front of him, and withdrew a blue blindfold from his pocket, placing it flat on the ground just above the lightsaber. He breathed in, and then out slowly. In, out. His mind was clear, his body felt one with the Force, the ebbs and flows of the life energy of the forest around him. Even with his eyes closed and covered with the blindfold, he could "see" all the bugs' fight patterns, the snakes and lizards scurrying around, even the life within the plants. He ceased to exist as a separate entity invading the land; he was now part of the cycle, the system of the forest. I feel...everything...I feel...alive...I feel the clouds being lifted from my eyes... This is what being a Jedi is all about. Don't think, know; don't try, do; don't fear, accept. Being one with the galaxy. Being one with the Force. Being one, and no one at the same time. He meditated in that spot for quite some time, stretching his feelings farther and farther out, sensing deeper outside himself, as well as inside, and learning to break the barrier between himself and his surroundings. EDIT: (Advancing storyline stuff as well) Once he was done meditating, he got up and re-equipped his lightsaber on his belt, almost forgetting to undo the blindfold around his eyes. He could see either way, given his sensitivity to the Force. He felt enough time had passed, and felt like finding out what Kayla "needed to find" in the middle of a war zone. He told the others that he was heading off to Borlieas, and to hang tight until he came back. He then took off for the Jedi Dojo in search of his dueling partner.

((Hah hah is fine. It'll be interesting to see what happens at least. *stops the OOCing*))

Zane grinned at Kayla's comments about chucking rocks at oncoming Sith. "Given the way I've seen a trained Jedi throw rocks, that's not a half bad idea." He then turned to face Jarlaxle, and heard Kayla's Force presence in his mind ask him if he had anything to eat on CW "Of course I do!" he said, glancing sideways at Kayla with a smirk. "Y'hang around extraordinary cooks for long enough, y'can turn rations into something actually edible in no time. I'll go scrounge. Feel free to come along." He entered his ship's galley and clanked around for awhile. When he was home last, he (or rather, Tia) had made sure he was well-prepared for the coming times with plenty of food. The food was still good, and with his skills at cooking he learned from his wife he made it nearly as good as it was when it was fresh out of the oven. While he was cooking, Kayla told him she felt the urge to leave. Because of the serious look on her face, he knew better than to quip, "Hey my cooking isn't THAT bad." Instead he said, "If it means that much to you, by all means. Y'come back in one piece though, all right?" He saw her go, and heard an engine roar outside. *sigh* Kids... When it was done, he happily served the Corellian fare to anyone who cared to join him. ((Blah storylines suck. AKA edit.))

((You have a suspiciously high number of spare lethal sabers then Regardless, even if the Sith aren't paying us n00bs a visit 'm still preparing just in case. Then after that, we'll do, I don't know, training and whatever, general RPing nonsense. Don't worry so much, Aryian, we're big kids, we'll handle things here ))

Once the ships were hidden well enough, Zane nodded at Jarlaxle's suggestion to find better weaponry. As far as Zane knew, he and Kayla were the only ones armed with live lightsabers; not only did the other Padawans have little to no training in handling such weapons, they didn't have much Force training either, he could tell. In case of an attack, Kayla and Zane would be the main line of defense. He steeled himself to this possiblity, taking the responsibility for the lives of the handful of padawans onto himself. He didn't know how capable he was, but he'd find out. Given how well Kayla had done in the duel he had with her, he could trust her with the responsibility as much as he could trust himself. He found her nearby a rusty, kudzu-draped YT-2400 light freighter. "Hey Kayla, I need yer help with the defense situation. We don't know if we're the next target after Borlieas but I'd like to be prepared if we are. Far as I know, we have a few training sabers, your leathal one, and mine. I'd like to hear your thoughts on things so we can set up at least some other defenses besides you and I."

Zane started to put in his opinion on the weird situation, but was interrupted again. "Y'know..." Aryian had to leave quick, so he couldn't say what he wished to say. I can't stand idly by while the rest of you go and risk your lives for me...I'm not a knight, but still... "There has to be something I can do..." he said partially to himself, mostly just to the empty air. He shook his head and looked at the other Padawans, seeing their faces just as confused as he was. "All right. If we're going to be stuck here while they have all the fun, first thing's first. We have to protect ourselves in case the deal on Borleias is a trap. We've got two ships, let's hide them as best as we can and see about fixing up that new Jedi base faster." Zane headed off to move the Crash Wildfire into the forest to cover it up.

((OOC: I'll assume somethin' quick just for the sake of argument, Kayla. If you don't like it I'll edit later.)) Crash Wildfire landed not too far from the ship of Aryian Darkfire, and both its occupants exited. Zane walked towards the under construction base, noticing the Jedi Knight was starting construction droids about the task of making a base for them. "Master Darkfire," Zane said scratching the back of his head, "dare I ask, but what's with the sudden change of scenery? I hope you know somethin' about this I don't..."

"Oh what the sponge now?" Zane wasn't entirely thrilled with this move as he could tell several others around him weren't either. "Whatever. Hey Kayla, need a ride? Crash Wildfire's big enough. Dun let the name scare you off." He chuckled. He replaced his lightsaber on his belt and headed towards the Skipray Blastboat, and after Kayla decided whether to join him or not, he bolted for Haruun Kal.