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[Jinx]

Jinx shook her head, "No questions from me, except, what exactly do you want us to call you? Master.... or what." She glanced up at the knight. Looking over to her fellow apprentice, she shrugged.

[Apollo]

"When around other Jedi, Master Lotus. In a more lax situation you may call me just Lotus if you wish."

 

The young Jedi lifted his hand slightly and reached out through the force, untying the knot on top of the bag he had sat on the floor in front of him and opening it slowly. He completed the entire task with very little effort and a smile on his face, as it was one of the most base manipulations of the force he had just demonstrated. With another brief movement of his hand he levitated three small, metallic balls out of the bag.

 

"I want both of you to relax. Picture the marble in your mind and concentrate on it. The force will come to you, it will assist you. Picture yourself levitating the marble as I am and do not have any doubt in yourself."

 

Lotus allowed two of the marbles to drift down, one in front of each of his padawans as he awaited their first attempts to touch the force. He was interested to see how each of them perceived it.

[Jinx]

Jinx watched Lotus as he demonstrated what he wanted. Nodding, she attempted. Concentrating, she tried to lift the marble, but it just rolled away. Knitting her brows, she grabbed it and attempted again.

 

Looking up, she laughed at herself and gave a sheepish grin and concentrated again. She tried to be patient, but she felt foolish, but the feeling left after several times. The girl felt something around her. It sent shivers down her spine. Shuddering, she tried to pass it off as a result of being cold.

 

Glancing over at Korin, she shurgged and started again. Placing her hand in mid air, not far from her body, she focused on the marble. The feeling surrounded her again, and the marble started coming off the floor. Her eyes widened, and the marble dropped to the floor.

 

Jinx looked at Lotus, not sure what to do.

[Apollo]

Lotus chuckled a bit and smiled at her, his light blue eyes seeming to shimmer as the light caught them. He waved his hand and her marble rolled across the floor to its original position. The ship was extremely quiet, its only occupants sitting in this very room on the verge of either losing their selves in the force or touching it for the very first time.

 

"Very good, Jinx. I want you to practice a bit more until you are perfectly comfortable with your ability to reach out and touch the force."

 

Lotus closed his eyes slowly and allowed his mind to slip into itself, into the force that surrounded each of them. It was always relaxing and comforting to know the force was all around him, just like a guardian angel that would always be there to save him in his time of need.

[Korin Xion]

Korin really didn't know what to expect whenever Lotus had gave him the order to try and levitate the marble. He had never done anything of that sort with the force and was unsure if he was capable of doing so. Although since he was already quite accustomed to the force around him and was capable of connecting to it, Korin knew that if Jinx could do it then he could.

 

Alright”¦ let's see if I can do this. Thought the Miralukan as he brought his right arm in front of him, his palm was face up and fingers were all tight together. Korin allowed his mind to drift back into its peaceful state that he had been in for before Lotus began to instruct them.

 

Silence. It had been the first time in what felt like years that Korin had been able to find true peace inside of his mind. No longer did he worry himself with the mission of finding a master or the other problems that made his life a struggle. Reaching out through the force Korin could nearly ”œfeel”

[Korin Xion]

Oops... Ignore

[Apollo]

Both of them were excelling and Lotus was proud. He watched them carefully, subtly feeling out their connections to the force as they spiked and dropped. He stayed quiet for a bit, thinking over how best to address this little...problem that Korin was encountering. It didn't take long, of course, though and soon he spoke...breaking the silence the ship had.

 

"With practice, touching the force will become second nature and as such you will have more focus. I want each of you to practice until you can successfully levitate all three of the marbles at once. After that I will begin our next lesson."

 

Raziel waved his hand through the air and pulled another bag to him, pulling out three more marbles so each of them would have a total of three to use. He watched them patiently, knowing that they would get the hang of it shortly then they could begin the lessons on how to call the force to aid you in combat, because despite the fact that Jedi didn't particularly like to fight...they knew it was an all to real part of the job.

[Jinx]

Jinx's determination returned and she tried the exercise with two marbles. She would get them up abit, then one or both would drop. She closed out Lotus and Korin and concentrated on the marbles. Several tries later, she was able to get two up. Getting the third shouldn't be to much harder.... But my head's starting to hurt.... Sighing, she worked on it again, finally able to get them up in the air.

 

Jinx knew Lotus was watching them carefully, so she looked up after completing the task. She wanted to make sure there wasn't anything else he wanted them doing. She grinned and waited for more instructions.

[Notorious]

Ignore... again... Wrong Alias

Edited March 17, 2006 by Guest

[Korin Xion]

Korin sat patiently as Lotus brought forth the other balls from the bag. The boy hadn't expected the training to begin so quickly and was not sure if he was prepared for it. Deciding not to linger on his thoughts for to long Korin started to ”œwatch”

[Apollo]

Raziel nodded his approval towards each of his padawans in turn, they each had done an exceptional job and were excelling in already. He stood up and pulled all six of the marbles to him and dropped three into each bag before tossing them over to the counter near the edge of the room. Next they would learn something that would surely come into use with the current state of the galaxy.

 

"Next we I will teach about force enhancement."

 

The young Jedi knight gathered the force around him and allowed it to flow through his body, aiding his muscles and making him faster, stronger, and all around a more formidable opponent. With his new found speed he quickly moved from one side of the room to the other, it would be difficult for the untrained eye to follow. This, of course, is where Korin had the advantage as it was a lot easier to track someone through the force then with the naked eye. Jinx would learn that one soon enough though.

 

"Now, I want you to pull the force too you and let it flow freely through your body. Feel it empower your muscles and sensitivity of your nerve endings making you stronger, faster, and able to react a lot more quickly. Now that you know how to connect with the force, this task should be a little bit easier."

[Wroclaw W. Warwick]

Wroclaw glanced up at Yaj and nodded to show he understood but then his gaze drifted back to the floor. Wroclaw had lived a sheltered life in the Jedi temple and had not experienced racial prejudices he could not have imagined such cruelty or hatred until Kuat... Wroclaw decided to put it behind him for now and turn his mind on happier thoughts "Are we close to Helix station?" he asked in as happy a tone he could muster

[Onderin Starlisk]

The Alliance ships that were not already at Coruscant popped out of hyperspace only a short distance from the capital world.

[Korin Xion]

The Miraluka could sense his master the entire time as he leapt from side to side of the room using the force to amplify his physical form. Physical enhancement greatly interested Korin, who had always thought of himself as less that what he truly could be. After observing his master and getting instructions to try it, Korin nodded slightly and stood from his cross-legged position. Keeping his arms by his sides the Miraluka let himself slide back into his meditative state, in this state Korin found it much easier to concentrate.

 

Alright”¦ Feel in your being, let it flow through you. Thought Korin as he desperately tried to accomplish the task at hand.

 

Then it happened, slowly a tingle began to fill his body and then a slight pain but it wasn't anything serious. It was the first time that his muscles had expanded so rapidly; they now bulged from beneath the flesh and the veins nearly popping through the skin. Deciding against leaping around the room, Korin lifted his arms before him and began to throw a few punches and unique combinations. His hands moving at great speed, and he was able to see them as if they were still moving slow due to his force vision.

 

For the first time Korin lifted his head and faced his master, finally getting the hang of things he felt on top of the world.

 

”œMaster, I have done it. This is a truly powerful gift and didn't truly appreciate what your teachings were doing for us, until now. I underestimated the full extent of what the force was capable of. Thank you for giving me a chance.”

[Yaj Rekomreh]

"Yes we are actually." said Yaj comfortably.

 

And just as he said that sure enough the alarm to exit hyperspace came up.

 

"Ok very close" said Yaj again as he exited hyperspace and docked at helix station.

[Notorious]

Soaring through deep space Lord Maultros piloted his TIE Interceptor in hopes of taking part in the battle over Coruscant. He didn't want to be the only one not there, and the Sith and Empire needed his help. So he would give it to them.

[SithAcolyte]

As they left the system, Darla deftly manuevered her ship well away from the conflict that raged above Corusacnt. Under different circumstances she would have stayed and fought. But now she was responsible for someone else's well being. It felt strange being the gaurdian of someone else's apprentice. Darla wasn't even sure how old Nivana was, she might have even been older than Darla was. However she was still a padawan, not ready for battle. Although she had proved herself against Fynn Darla thought it was wrong for newly initiated padawans to be thrown into battles that had little to do with them. This was an opinion she had formed from her experience.

 

When they were safely in hyperspace Darla got up form the pilots chair and opened up some rations for them to eat.

 

"I'm afraid your going to have to get used to eating this stuff. I dont have a cooker onboard so we're gonna have to live on ration bars." Darla gave Nivana sheepish smile. " It's not that I dont think you could take care of yourself, I mean, that's not why we left. When I was a padawan, I'd barely been shown how to weild a lightsaber and I was thrown into a bloody war. It felt wrong, it felt like I was going against everything the Jedi code stood for. I tried to protest that war was not the answer and they basically told that I was either in or out. While the Jedi code is noble, the Jedi themselves are just people at the end of the day and more often than not the ideals of the code are not something that they can live up to. I stopped trying to follow the code a long time ago. I feel like every person has to find their own path. Being a Jedi is a noble calling, but too many Jedi live in self denial. The force is much more complex than most of the Jedi will have you believe."

 

"Ive explored many things, including the darkside. But it was during that battle, that war that I was forced into to prove that I was comitted to the Jedi, that I first felt the darkside come over me. I was too young and too inexperienced in the force to understand or control it and in all the chaos of the battle there was nobody to help me.I was wounded but luckily I survived. Many other young Jedi weren't so lucky. After that battle I turned my back on te order. Not all the Jedi are corrupt, but any order that makes young experienced men and women, that it should be teaching and protecting, die for it's name... That's not an order that I want to put any faith in. I'm a Jedi...But I like to think of myself as apart from the order. I want to help and do whats right, but according to my own personal beliefs. Not be a pawn in some game or even worse cannon fodder in the Jedi's ongoing war with the Sith."

 

Darla realised that she'd been talking for quite some time. While Fynn may not agree with her Darla felt that Nivana needed to know the truth. One day her training would be over and she would have to rely on herself. Darla just wanted to make sure she was fully prepared when that day came.

[Niv]

Because Fynn trusted Darla so solidly, Niv unquestioningly followed her. .Nivana's trust and faith in her was as complete, as if she'd known the other all her life. She thought again of Fynn as Coruscant fell farther behind. The previous battle had brought them together, the latest battle had severed them apart. 'Take care of yourself...' she thought towards Fynn while wondering where exactly he was.

 

Niv then accepted the ration bar. She didn't eat it but instead listened with undivided attention to Darla. Hers were words that shed an entirely new light on the Jedi. To be thrust, unprepared, into the death and disarray of battle was a fate that Nivana could not truly comprehend. But as she thought about it, Niv knew she would have rushed blindly to Coruscant's defence if the Jedi had told her to. Would she have stopped to question the appropriateness of them shoving her, a padawan, into war? Probably not.

 

"You're right. It's wrong to command a barely polished apprentice to battle. Especially to battle Sith." She smiled slightly. "For a while, as we were leaving, i felt as if I were abandoning the Jedi. Fleeing like a coward. But now I realize you're right. Just like you were right about me on Mon Calamari. Had I leapt without looking, my inexperience would most likely have resulted in even more misforutune. Maybe even death."

 

She smiled a bit more at Darla. There were plenty of questions bouncing about Niv's mind, especially with regards to the dark side, but she would ask later. "You know, you may have just shattered my entire perception of the Jedi...but I'm glad you did." She finally broke into her ration bar, "I had them set on an impossibly perfect pedestal. I should have known better. No one is perfect. Especially not in this galaxy." Niv bit into her ration, her face subtly betrayed her surprise at how horrendous it tasted. She ate it anyway. "These aren't so bad. They're practically gourmet meals compared to anything I've ever cooked."

 

Niv then tossed her meal up into the air and caught it again using the force. The ration bar levitated and spun slightly in mid air. She pulled it back down to land gently in her outstretched hand. "Just making sure I still got it..." she said with a demure grin.

[SithAcolyte]

" Impressive" Darla said, raising an eyebrow.

 

Watching Nirvana control the ration bar through the force. She obviously had telekenesis down to a fine art.

 

"I really didnt want to destroy your perceptions of the Jedi or give you a bad view of them. But from my experience that's the truth. I try to give everybody I meet a chance to prove themselves. Jedi, Sith, these things are just labels. Each person is different and seperate. I like to think of myself as being outside of these labels. The only reason I took the Jedi trials was so I'd be taken seriously and get a chance to do some good. Before that I was considered a Sith, while it was a title I had never chosen for myself. Ive had a lot of people control and manipulate me over the years, trying to shape me into what they wanted me to be."

 

"I was unsure of myself and weak enough to let them. But I got stronger and I learnt to take control of my own destiny. Fynn is probably gonna hate me for telling you all the things that I have. He's a Jedi to the last, he'll follow the code to the letter. There's much more to the force than just living your life by some ancient code."

 

"I want to give you the choice. The choice to learn all that you want, a chance to shape your own destiny without restrictions."

 

Darla paused for a moment and walked over to the control panels to check their journeys progress.

 

"We're heading to Ilum. There we can get the crystals you'll need to build your lightsaber. I think your ready for it." Darla hoped Nivana felt ready for her own lightsaber, she didnt want to push her into building one. "In the meantime, Id like to get to know you a bit better and most of all Id like to know what you want."

[Exodus]

The chains of detachment and the braces of endless imagination finally released its grip on the introspective warrior. A dying sigh escaped the mouth of Exodus as he rose from his ceaseless slumber. He was renewed and reborn on wings of obligation, knowing that what lay in the other room would introduce a whole new world to him. Truly, what was he to do? On the road of being one of those most venerated Sith in this time, all the while being burdened with a child of endowment. What possible options could he initiate? There were but a few.

 

As his mind ravaged countless notions, plans, and possible answers ”“ It all came to a complete halt. Not even looking in there general direction, Exodus' callous heart thumped at what entered his peripheral vision. A little girl, his little girl cuddled beside none other than Alora herself. His malicious demeanor stole the feeling from him immediately before he could comprehend ”˜affection' again.

 

He slowly strode into the bedroom, curious if they were both asleep or not, his robe slowly swirling about just as his mind was. He'd find himself positioned on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands questioning what he was to do.

 

”œAlora”¦ Where is her mother?”

[Alora]

Alora looked up from the child, feeling Exodus's approach. The child was now asleep, Alora having played with the child for a while, creating small illusions for the child to giggle at. Something Alora had been toying with, only having used illusions a few times in her past. She was thinking of delving more into them. She pointed to his daughter, her voice very soft.

 

"Shh... your daughter's asleep. Come sit down. I have news and I'm afraid it is not good."

 

Her voice was sympathetic. Having played with the child, and having lost her own parents, Alora shared a strange sympathy with the child. She spoke again, her eyes glazing over with an inner sorrow, words escaping that hadn't been spoken to him before.

 

"It's hard to lose a parent, even harder when it's both. She's lucky, she still has you. I had no one. No one until Master Raynuk took me in, even then, I had a death wish, it was only that he saw my potential that I was allowed live and become his apprentice. I was stranded on Coruscant, my parents were murdered and I had to identify them..."

 

Her voice trailed off for a while, in her public mind was the vision that would never leave her. The image of her parents beheaded, mutilated bodies. She shook her head, focusing again on the child,

 

"Her mother was a casualty of Slaanesh leaving this realm for wherever it was she was going. I'm unsure of the exact details, only that she lost her life in service of Slaanesh. This little one was left in the care of the others until I contacted them. I'm sorry she's gone Exodus. I truely am. I feel for this one losing her mother so young..."

[Jinx]

Chariti looked on as Korin accomplished the task. Her heart raced and she wasn't sure what the heck was going on. Shivers ran down her spine. This was totally new to her and she just couldn't wrap her mind around it. Korin was proud of his accomplish meant, and awed her. Looking at Lotus, she blinked and she knew he was expecting her to at least attempt.

 

His eyes watched her and she started to blush of embarrassment. She figured he could read her like a book. Looking down at her feet, she felt the room closing in on her. It often happened to her when she felt intimidated. Snapping her head up, she looked straight in to her Master's blue eyes with a determined look.

 

Jinx rid herself of her anxiousness and relaxed. She breathed deeply to slow her heart. Taking what she had already learned, she just applied it more so. Allowing the force to flow through her, she felt it. The invisible presence was everywhere. It filled her, the power running through her every fiber.

 

She had always wanted to be flexible and be able to move like the felines she had watched so often when she could when she traveled to Naboo with her father. Planting her feet, she bent her legs and completed a back flip. A surprised look appeared on her face when she landed on her feet and not her face. She flashed a smile the the males on board and then winked. Trying out a few more gymnastical moves, she was throughly impressed with herself and enjoyed being able to manipulate the force for improving her sense of balance and coordination.

 

Giving a slight cocky bow at the end of her showing off, her hazel eyes sparkled.

[Apollo]

Raziel gave the pair a grin, glad they were progressing so well. Though Jinx brought him right into one of the lessons he would have to teach them. He motioned each of them closer, waiting the few seconds for each of them to take a few steps forward. Hooking his hands behind his back he began to speak.

 

"Now, for the next lesson. A Jedi never shows off their power or abuses it. People should recognize you for what you are just by your actions, not by a lightsaber or use of the force.

Great pride leads to a great fall, always remember that."

 

Walking across the room, Raziel grabbed two sparring sticks and gave one to each of the two padawans before him. They would have to practice with these before they got training sabers, and they would have to learn how to let the force flow through them and guide their every movement in combat. After moving across the room and taking a seat he spoke up.

 

"I want each of you to practice with those. You must learn to let the force guide your every movement in combat, it will protect you and alert you to any danger. Once each of you are comfortable with letting the force guide you and with your skills with that sparring stick, you can practice with each other for a little while."

[Exodus]

Exodus fixed a glimpse into the unrestricted mind of his former Master. The horrors that were ensnared within was quite terrifying for one to witness as a child, Exodus knew this quite distinctly but the extent of his past was well masked. Still, his expression showed no form of affection and he remained flawlessly numb. Leaning over, he placed a gentle kiss on his child's babysitter, whispering;

 

”œNo”¦ I feel for you. It must've been terrible.”

[Alora]

Alora shifted from the lying position she had been in, moving off the bed so that she didn't wake the sleeping child. She'd heard his hint of sarcasm, and it hardened her heart once more. No, she'd fooled herself to think anything had changed since that battle. He still hated her, was just playing with her.

 

"Just tell me where you want to get dropped off, or do I just pick the nearest destination and stop there?"

 

Her voice while still low so it didn't wake the child, was harder now and without giving him time to answer, she headed out of the room. She was mentally ticking herself off over letting any of her past escape to one that wouldn't care an inch. She hadn't even told Tekkan that much. He knew some of her past but not all, knew her parents had been killed but not much about what happened after. Now she felt a fool in more ways than just one, a frustrated fool at that given the interlude in the bath. She would go and find a lover somewhere, anywhere, she would rid herself of the frustrations and would rid herself of this torment that only cared about his kid. Maybe that was the only thing that kept part of him human.

 

She stalked out of her room to the exercise chamber, leaving father and daughter alone. She was hurting, angry, at herself for letting her past slip, and for having thought that there had been a truce between them when obviously he had just used her to gain his child. The heiress hadn't even let the Dark Lord know her origins, though he'd probably seen that in her mind when retrieving her memories, would probably pick his time to use it against her as well. Raynuk had been the only one to care any and he was gone now, who knew where or if he would return. Not that he cared for her apart from the fact he'd trained her. And Tekkan. Did the Pirate actually care any for her? Alora had been fooled so many times. Sure she used her body, it was her only asset to get some of what she wanted. But it wasn't what mattered to her. What mattered to her she would never find.

 

She stripped to her pants and singlet top she'd had under her robes, now taking her anger out on the punching bag in the exercise room. No matter what she did, men always made her feel worse than she had before. It was a man that had murdered her parents, if she ever found him she'd make sure he died several times over and very painfully. Hot tears began to flow from her violet eyes, being hastily wiped away as she lashed out at the bag again and again, though the silent tears continued to flow. She'd blocked the hurt from her past, tried to think on it as someone else's pain, though the child losing her mother had brought back all that back to her.

[Master Prophet]

*Aboard a ship that travels through hyperspace from the icy planet of Ilum to the heart of the universe; Coruscant. The Imperial officers that pilot the ship are unaware of the beast that they carry in the rear of their ship. Hidden in shadows, draped in darkness, meditates a warrior that will soon be re-released on the galaxy. He focuses on his plan to escape the ship undetected while readying himself for a backup plan, in case he is seen. He focuses on the living force that speaks to him, his thoughts begin to drift into the near future giving him the advantage of a battle that is soon to come.*

 

"May my blade be quick and accurate. Force, give me the strength..." the man whispers softly to himself in the cargo area of the Imperial ship. He repeats himself over and over, chanting as if to call upon the force itself to fight his battle for him.

 

Those who stood in darkness would now stand against him for the champion of the force had returned.

[Exodus]

No, the smile still remained. It was almost twisted but admirable at the same time. He would've never guessed so little could take Alora so far, but it was apparent that she was definitely offended. He took this moment alone with his child in complete tranquility as something to be cherished. His left hand emerged and poked the tiny bubble of a cheek on Janus' face; he almost laughed as she made a bubbling gurgle.

 

”œKids”¦”

[Alora]

Hot tears continued to stream down her face, as she rested it against the punching bag. Her only friend had left the sith for her own path, was with the Jedi now as far as she was aware. Alora hadn't had anyone in which to confide in since she'd gone. All her life since she'd been with the sith had been a lie. She'd been killed, cloned, brainwashed, she'd been raped, beaten to a bloodied pulp and used as the sith bike then killed again. She hated what she'd become, though it was too late to do anything about it now. She had been turned into the sith's seductress.

 

She listened to him, heard him on both levels. Alora wiped her tearstained face with the back of her hand. She was still only 23, and this new reanimated body was untouched, though the memories of all the events remained this time. Last time she had died, she had lost all her memories. Only because of Slaanesh had she retained them this time, now Slaanesh was gone. If she ever had a next time, there would be no one to recall her memories to her. She whirled on him as he was walking out,

 

"You think I chose to be like this? That I like being what they've made me into? You think I would have done this had I not been killed, cloned, brainwashed and raped?"

 

She may have shared her body around, but she didn't have to like who she had slept with, only once had her emotions been involved and that had been with Tekkan coz she thought she loved him, but what was love anyway? She hadn't even gotten anything out of sleeping with the Emperor, Cineon. She hadn't, for all her scheming, slept with the Dark Lord, though he had given her her master's trials. The others... they'd just been there... her other apprentices as well as Barton, Slaanesh's other people as well.

 

"You think I enjoy sleeping with any of them? Do you?? Do you think I would continue if there was true love out there?"

 

That her emotions had not been involved with any of those she had slept with for power purposes was obvious. The only one she'd ever slept with for love had been Tekkan and who knew where he was now. She didn't know if she clung on to the fact that he had been her first lover, that the Bounty Hunter had been before her full corruption. It seemed that whenever she'd been killed he'd been no where to be found, though Exodus had been.

 

"Have you ever been killed? No you haven't."

 

She felt it before he could answer. There was something about someone who'd been killed and brought back to life. Each time, Alora felt she lost a little more of herself, even when she'd been beaten to a bloodied pulp, that she had been raped then as well, she had been on the verge of death. She turned back from him,

 

"You have no idea what it is like..."

[Exodus]

The silence between them crept up as both of them turned their backs on each other. One furious, one as calm as the prying space that surrounded them. How troublesome women were, it was clear she suffered on great lengths. Not that that was mentioned as a bad thing among Sith, it was actually regarded as a great strength. Nevertheless, she spoke as if Exodus had never been hurt or endured great trauma such like herself, No ”“ where was she then? Exodus made it his obligation to mend whatever it was Alora had quarreled with, he at least tried to be there for her, even when she had disappointed him or disregarded him in the presence of a man whom clearly treated him as nothing. No, she never noticed that, she didn't consider that even now, Exodus was here trying to fix what he started even if it wasn't the best method.

 

”œKilled? Hah ”“ I am death.”

[Alora]

Alora was almost tempted to tell him that if he was death why didn't he just end her life and be done with it so she wouldn't be brought back from it again. She'd not known anything much about her old apprentice, he'd never told her, even when she had asked him back then. He'd not wanted to talk about it so she'd just left it at that, not prying. Same for him with her, he'd not asked about her past before either. She didn't think the Dark Lord had crawled around inside his mind as he had hers. It was another thing that had happened to her, he'd been inside her mind, tainting her further when he'd freed her memories. He'd forged a bond of loyalty there that she found now was only just broken when he'd killed her. She didn't owe him anything any longer. He'd taken her life. What stood here now was the recreation that Slaanesh had brought forth.

 

She'd spat out hurtful words because she was hurting, even though she had realised that Exodus had been the only constant, the only one there when she'd been badly injured, not Tekkan and he'd not been her apprentice then either, but a Lord in his own right. There had been no sign of Tekkan when she'd been hanging on by a thread to her life after being beaten and raped by that dark warrior. Exodus had been the one to take her to Slaanesh. After this current battle, when Slaanesh had brought her back to life, Exodus had been there, be it buried so that Alora had to get him out of the rubble, but he'd not died as she had.

 

She was aware that he had gone out of the room, her mind went back over what he had said, As I once felt for you and would've wished to have you as mine instead of the galaxy passing you around”¦ No you were mine and yet never were... Alora took in a deep breath, breathing it out with regret of what wouldn't be... realising that there had been more emotion behind him than what he had exposed. Regret. A strange emotion Alora felt seldom these days. He had been one she'd not given her affections to, back then she had respected him enough not to use him. Just what had she become? Her life needed a new direction.

 

There was change coming to the sith, she could feel it. New power lines, something happening out there. Thinking on her past, Alora made her mind up regarding another matter. She was in a reanimated body, one that had not been touched, therefore virginal. She would keep it that way... born again virgin through reanimation. Alora might still tease and torment both sexes, but she would not take it any further than the tease. She would still use seduction, but she wouldn't follow through any longer. Why share herself around any longer when she didn't get anything in return? What had she gotten for converting Jedi's Revan and Ried? Nothing. The others she'd slept with hadn't given her anything either, nothing she could use. She could probably count on loyalty from her other old apprentices, though that couldn't be counted on either.

 

Her fist hit the bag again, letting the fury drain from her, letting herself become calm again.

 

"I'm sorry..."

 

Two words that a Sith was never supposed to say escaped her lips in a whisper...

 

There was no way he could take the child to the Academy, she wouldn't let him. He wouldn't be able to look after the child for one thing, even she knew that a child was a full time job. He would have to find someone to look after her when he was sent on missions and what not. The other Sith would see the young child killed soon as look at her. Being that she was only just One year old, the young Janus would have no chance at living her own life. Exodus hadn't picked her other suggestion from her mind, otherwise he'd have said something about it. If only he didn't use sarcasm or push her away again...

 

She headed back through the ship, standing in the doorway of her room silently watching father and daughter interacting. Eventually she spoke up, her voice soft, almost apologetic though still weary of how he would treat her. The Sith Master, while normally confident and self assured, was unsure of this man that had changed so much since he had been her Apprentice.

 

"I can't let you take her to the Academy. It's no place for a child of yours. You know yourself the rivalry of the Sith. Your child would become a pawn, someone to be killed or kidnapped to get at you. I can't let that happen, no matter how things are between us. They all currently don't know you have a child. It's not common knowledge and anyone that does know would think she was with her mother, not that her mother had been killed. I suspect you would like to keep your child a secret from the others. I know I would if I ever... anyway. I have an alternative... if you trust me enough. It would take alot of trust on my part too, as it is something I've not told anyone else. No, not even Tekkan."

 

When she said the Bounty Hunter's name, it was in such a manner that Exodus would realise that she had kept many secrets from the hunter. She didn't even know how she felt anymore about anyone. Death had changed her yet again. This time, it not only changed her looks, it had changed her inside as well.