Akain Karna: The White Ghost

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Mir
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Akain Karna: The White Ghost

Post by Mir »

Akain Karna: The White Ghost

There is no emotion; there is peace.
There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.
There is no passion; there is serenity.
There is no chaos; there is harmony.
There is no death; there is the Force.


The mantra pounded over and over in Akain’s head, each line of the code coinciding with each of his footsteps. He ran, dashing as quickly as possible as he moved through the city streets. He was on some backwater planet in the Unknown Regions. He didn’t remember the name. Adrenaline was pumping, cutting off his brain’s ability to channel his memories. It was channeling his instincts and his training however.

His fingers tightened on the two lightsaber hilts in his hands. He needed to get out of there and get out of here as fast as possible. Akain ducked here and there moving under awnings and past startled villagers. They regarded him with interest, but scattered as blaster bolts flew overhead. A man was chasing after the Nagai padawan.

Akain moved, jumping into the air. His destination was the spaceport. That was where his master’s ship was, and that was where he needed to go to get out of here. All he knew was that the bounty hunter chasing him was going to kill him. Better to get out of this guy Kamahl’s way as quickly as possible. He was one of the largest men that Akain had seen in his life.

He’d fought him, yes, but that was to survive. He’d never intentionally pick a fight with someone like this guy. Luckily for Akain, it wasn’t Kamahl that was chasing him. Kamahl had already headed back to his ship, pleased with the turn of events. That said, the guy chasing him wasn’t a pushover. More blaster bolts screamed over head. Akain slid into a close alley way, breathing heavily.

The bounty hunter ran past, not seeing that Akain had ducked into the alley. The Nagai breathed a sigh of relief. He had to move quickly now. Odds were that the bounty hunter would go to the spaceport to head to Akain’s Master’s ship. Juk’ves had piloted a CEC YT-2400, modified from the stock configuration. He wished that they had a remote control system for the ship, so that it would be warmed up and waiting for him.

He remembered one time during his mercenary days when that had saved his life. Well he didn’t have that here, so when he spied a speeder bike just sitting in the alley with no one to watch it, he grabbed it and turned it on. Shooting out of the alley, he was headed towards the spaceport as fast as the Akrayd Speeder bike would take him. Luckily there was no one else chasing him.

After all the person who had put the hit out had specified that only Juk’ves was supposed to die. But they hadn’t said anything about Akain because the person hadn’t known that Akain existed. The bounty hunter was taking his chances that the person would be pleased with Akain dying. By the time he reached the spaceport, the adrenaline had settled a bit, and he was able to think a bit more clearly, which was a bad thing actually for Akain in a combat situation.

He sped through the hallways, nobody giving him a thought as he was part of a lot of different speeder traffic that was passing through the spaceport on their business. Akain took a left turn into the docking bay where his transport was. The bounty hunter wasn’t there. He smiled to himself. Any hunter that was able to get a drop on a Jedi had to be good, so there was a good reason that the padawan missed the bounty hunter standing on top of the docking bay’s walls, watching and waiting.

Little did Akain know, but he’d spoken to the people who’d put out the contract and after getting his cut of the money had received a special contract for Akain. Ten thousand credits was nothing to laugh at. The bounty hunter allowed himself to smile though He wasn’t going to kill his enemy now. No, he was going to track him and capture him. Once he’d told the person the name of the padawan, the person had taken a mighty interest in making sure that the Nagai stayed alive.

Apparently Akain Karna was an important person. He watched as the boarding ramp lifted upwards. Shortly afterwards he felt the rumble of the reactor feeding the engines power, which in turned tapped into the power of the fuel that ran through the engines. Blue flame leapt out from the back of the ship and the transport slowly lifted up into the air. Akain was going to fast to do anything about it, but as he flew upwards, the bounty hunter stood up and he saw the man standing there.

But he was rising too fast to toggle the weapons on. Even then, that was not something that Akain would do. His fingers merely tightened on the controls of the YT-2400 as the ship rose upward through atmosphere and out into space. He did it not knowing that there was a tracking device attached to the hull of the ship.
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Post by Mir »

“Were you able to get him?”

“No, but I was able to put a tracker on his vessel. When he reverts from hyperspace, I’ll know where he is. It shouldn’t take too long.” The man on the other end of the video channel nodded.

“I just want you to know that I’ve put out other contracts, and other hunters will be joining the chase. I want Akain Karna alive, no matter what it takes, no matter the cost. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, sir.”

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Akain had jumped into hyperspace and was now in a system somewhere near Kamino. He had no way of getting in touch with the Order. He didn’t know any of the communication codes; Juk’ves had known all of them. He checked the communciatio node but didn’t get anything out of it. He was alone again. He could go back to the old mercenary pirate group he had been apart of, the Aeris Pirates.

He decided against that fairly quickly. Akain had wanted to leave that life behind. Now he stood in the cockpit of the freighter, thinking to himself. He could use the Force to call out to see if anyone would help, but eh figured no one would. He was just an unskilled padawan, not worthy of any real Jedi’s time as they tried to run from the Empire’s attack on Coruscant.

As Caitlyn DeVries would say a few years from now, and if she put what she’d said often mildly, Akain was an introvert with self worth issues. He’d had few friends during his time at the Temple on Coruscant, something that he couldn’t blame other people for. He was truly alone now. His eyes opened as he considered his options.

His fingers danced over astronavigation charts. His fingers moved over star’s names. Suddenly, his finger stopped, rooted at one place. Dathomir. There were Force sensitive and trained people there. It was possible to get in touch with the Order through them. He’d have to be careful.
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The small transport settled down on a grassy plain. He knew a little of Dathomir and what the people of the planet could do. He had no doubts that they already knew he was here. That was good. He’d be able to get in contact with them and through them get to the Order. He lowered the ramp and looked at what he’d done during the hyperspace journey. Akain had destroyed the two lightsabers that he’d had in his hands. They had been his master’s lightsabers, one of which he had been using. He didn’t feel worthy of carrying them anymore.

He knew he was looking for a way to get in touch with the Jedi Order, but a question that he had to ask himself was whether or not he was deserving of being an actual Jedi. It had been a question that had long plagued his mind, from the moment the Barabel had put the notion into his head until now. It had hung over his head, clouding his judgment and his thoughts, making him second guess himself.

He needed to know whether or not he could really be a Jedi and perhaps his time away from the order would help him discover his purpose in life. That was what he wanted to know. What was he here for? To be a Jedi or a mercenary, or what? He had changed from his Jedi robes. He had blue pants on with a white shirt over it. He hadn’t bothered to tuck it in, as he wasn’t trying to give the impression of being a Jedi, since he wasn’t a Jedi, just a padawan.

He grabbed the tan jacket with the blue highlights and put it on. He looked at the choices in front of him. He could go with a stun baton or with a DL-44. After a minute or two spent deliberating, he grabbed the DL-44. While he would only use the stun setting, there were fauna here on Dathomir that weren’t too friendly often. He headed down the ramp and waited for it to pull back up and for the ship to lock up, before starting out.

Akain had no map, no real way of knowing where he was going. But that didn’t matter. He figured that he’d use the Force and let it figure things out for him. He hadn’t chosen Dathomir anyway, the Force had. Hat meant that there was something here he was supposed to do or meet. Something that was supposed to happen. And he wouldn’t be able to leave until he had done just whatever it was the Force had set aside for him to do.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Dathomir. He was at Dathomir. The bounty hunter looked at his equipment confused. He’d expected Akain to go somewhere where there were actual people, not Dathomir. Why not just strand yourself on an abandoned asteroid and go outside without a self sealed suit? It didn’t make any sense. But then again, he wasn’t being paid to rationalize the decisions of his quarry.

He was being paid to find the person and bring him to his current employed. He tucked the datapad into his pocket. If Akain left, he’d be notified. He was currently on Bespin, waiting for this stupid meeting to get started. Hopefully he’d be able to get out of this without getting too bored.

He stepped through the doors and surveyed the table with the chairs. As he walked towards them, he counted. Seven chairs. Seven chairs meant at least six hunters. This Akain Karna guy was pretty popular. Either that or the credits were popular. Didn’t matter to him who this guy was. He was going to get a stun grenade shoved down his throat and cuffs on his hands and feet.
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Post by Mir »

Akain had been wandering for a while. He looked around at the forest that he’d gotten himself into. It was a nice looking forest, truth be told. Great big trees. Akain had been walking around for a few hours now, just exploring. He’d been using the time to think to himself and think about things. He’d seen a huge variety of fauna and flora. But no people. It hadn’t bothered him. It had give him more than enough time to think about whether or not he was worthy of being a Jedi.

He’d come to the conclusion, in the three or four hours that he’d been walking, that he wasn’t fit to be a Jedi, not really. He had the potential inside of him, perhaps. Juk’ves had spoke on how he held a great deal of power inside of himself. But he felt as though he lacked the qualities that a Jedi had to posses. Akain wasn’t cut out to be a diplomat or a peacemaker. Most of his life he’d fought as a mercenary, the need to feed put above all else. He’d taken the lives of others because otherwise, he took home no pay.

That’s what his parents had drilled into his head. In order to survive you had to make yourself useful to others so that they wanted to make sure you stuck around. Was that why he was becoming a Jedi? Just to make himself more useful? Was he really doing it for himself because he wanted to, because he felt that the ideals that the Jedi Order espoused were ideals that he himself held in esteem and wished to emulate? Or was it simply another way to make sure that he could survive?

He walked through the forest, thinking to himself. He still wasn’t fully convinced. But though he hadn’t convinced himself one way or the other, a thought in the back of his head was growing stronger and stronger roots. Perhaps he should leave the Order. Perhaps it wasn’t for him. His hand brushed the DL-44 on his thigh holster. In a way he was bringing discredit and dishonor to the name of the Jedi Order. Akain was a different kind of animal than Jedi like Erik Muir or Kalja Leidias or any of them.

He didn’t look for the good in people. He looked for the evil so he’d know who and what to avoid. He was the kind of person who shot first and asked questions later, provided he was able to convince himself that shooting first was the option to go with. He would deliberate for a while before making a decision, but once he had decided what he was going to do, someone would be hard pressed to convince him otherwise or stop his course of action. He knew of no one in the galaxy who would be able to, at least no one that he’d met so far.

Akain had been deep in thought and had never noticed the shadow that he’d picked up. While he walked on the ground below, the person who followed him took to the tree branches, launching themselves using the vines of the thick growth. He was attuned to the Force, but this person was masking their presence, as they had been taught by their elders. The woman looked down upon the young man walking through the forest and smiled to herself. He looked like a prime candidate.

The Dathomiri witch’s grip tightened on the long, long whip attached to her hip. She let it unfurl and drop down towards the ground. She judged where she was standing and figured that she’d be able to reach him easily. She had passed him and was waiting for him to walk into the path of her whip. Then she would take him down. Akain took a few more steps and then she acted.

The only thought that went through his mind for the entire two seconds that he was standing on the ground was that whatever was around his neck was extremely rough and was choking off his air supply. Then his head hit the ground and he went unconscious. Ar’i N’joo landed on the ground next to him and looked down at him. “A Nagai. A good looking one too.” She ran a hand down his chest, and then set about figuring out just how she was going to get him out of the forest and to her camp.
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“What the…who are you?”

“You’re awake.” Ar’i replied, a look of happiness on her face. Akain had finally come to and was looking at his surroundings. He realized that he was tied up. His legs were tied as were his hands and there was more rope going around him holding him to a tree. His next thought was that he was still on Dathomir. He could see the forest that he had been walking through far away to the distance. They were on a grassy plain now.

Whoever his captor was, she had started a fire and was cooking something that smelled pretty good. He looked around again and then saw that she’d set up a large tent. It was then that he noticed her. She wasn’t that tall, maybe somewhere around five foot five inches. She had brown hair with streaks of a rust color in there as well. Her eyes, which were concentrated on what she was making were a deep gold color.

She was beautiful and had an excellent body from years of living on Dathomir. Akain would have appreciated all of that, except for the fact that she’d knocked him unconscious and had tied him up. “Who are you?” He asked again.

“My name is Ar’i.”

“Okay, so why’d you tie me up?”

“Because I captured you. You are my slave now.”

“Um, really?”

“Yes.” She said, in a no nonsense tone and looked back down at the stew she was making. “Don’t think about using the Force. You’re not the only person trained in its ways.” He looked down at the bonds and sighed.

“Care to tell me what you’re going to do with me?”

“I might sell you.” She said. Ar’i had taken off some of his clothes while he’d been unconscious and had decided that he had a strong back and would be able to put in lots of hours of labor before tiring. He’d fetch a good amount of money on the market. Of course then, she remembered with a slight blush, she looked down there and all thoughts of selling him had left her mind. “Or, you might become my husband. The choice is not up to you.”

“What the-I’m not marrying you.” Akain said angrily.

“I said the choice isn’t up to you. You will do what I tell you to do, because you are my slave. I captured you and that is how things work on Dathomir.” She said. She reached a hand up, tucking some loose strands of hair behind her ears. Then she reached for two bowls and doled out portions of the stew. She looked at him. “You are strong in the Force, but you haven’t been trained that much. Plus, I think I can take you in a hand to hand fight.” She said. “I’m going to loosen the bonds on your hands to allow you to eat. Don’t make me regret my decision.”

He laughed to himself. He’d only been learning different martial arts from the tender age of six. It had been quite some time and he’d never stopped learning, despite his parent’s deaths. Odds were, he could take her. But he kept quiet as she came over to him. Up close, he was able to appreciate her beauty more and could smell her scent, which reminded him of the woods he’d been in before. Something about that stopped him from wrenching free and attempting to subdue her. She handed him the wooden bowl and spoon.

“What’s your name.”

“I already told you.”

“I mean your full name.”

“Ar’i N’joo. What is yours, unless you want me to call you ‘man’ or ‘slave’.”

“Akain. Akain Karna.”
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Akain woke to find the woman staring at him. Ar’i, he thought a moment later, trying the name out in his mind. He rolled it around for a little while until he realized what she was doing. “Excuse me?” He said, drawing her attention to his face. “Why are you staring at me?” She shrugged.

“I’ve never seen a Nagai before. Well, only in pictures.” She said, rising and coming over to him. She ran a finger down his cheek. “I never believed the skin was life this.” He knocked her hand away and glared at her. Her face shifted and she backhanded him. In response, he rose, slamming his head into her chest and knocking her back.

Real anger overtook her. “Slaves do not strike their masters, Akain.” She started to come at him but he was faster. She had a knife on her shapely hip and he called it to him out of the scabbard. He lifted his hands and it sliced through the bonds. Then he froze. The blade had turned, it was horizontal now and the tip dug slowly into his neck, not enough to pierce the skin though.

He looked up to see her muttering something under her breath. Was this then, the Dathomiri Witches’ spellcasting? Their way of connecting to the Force? Like Ar’i being curious about the Nagai species, he was curious about this. His anger dwindled. He understood why she’d done what she’d done. He still wished to escape, but he wasn’t angry about being poked at by her now.

Akain sighed. He was stuck with her for a while. It was best to make the best of it and that meant humoring her when it came to a few different things.

“On your knees, slave.” He complied, grudgingly. The knife went to her hand while her other formed a fist that hit him in the face. “Don’t you ever do that again.” He just nodded wordlessly and rose to his feet, to make her feel better about what had happened. Anything to get her off his case and leave him alone. He had to figure out how he was going to escape and get back to his ship. It was a good thing it was locked down, but then again, there was only so long the lock would hold out against a concerted effort. “Help me break camp. We’re returning to my clan.”

“Flowing River?” He asked. She turned. He indicated the tattoo she had on her arm. She nodded then, wondering just who it was she had captured. Either way, she was going to get something out of it and she wouldn’t be satisfied until what she got was what she wanted.

“On the way there, we’re going to work on your humility and your self-discipline, Akain Karna. If I have to, I’m going to bleed it from you.”

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

“Kamahl, glad you could make it.” Someone said.

“I am glad too. It isn’t everyday that someone gets a thirty thousand credit bounty put on their head, “came the low response. The huge man was leaning against a wall, not wanting to sit at the table, and the bounty hunter couldn’t blame him. He wouldn’t fit at the table. He wondered how Kamahl had already learned that the bounty had been increased.

The bounty hunter turned his gaze from Kamahl and looked at the man who had called this meeting.

Sevren Ziarek was a mildly influential crime lord. He had holdings and assets scattered throughout the galaxy. He peddled often in flesh for labor and pleasure. The bounty hunter had sampled the man’s stock more than once and had found them more than satisfactory.

“Yes. Thirty thousand for Akain Karna alive.” Sevren said.

“What about dead?” Someone asked.

“There’s no bounty if he’s dead.” There were nods around the table. There were qualifications, there were always qualifications.

“We could use knowing his last known location. Do we have that by chance?” Another hunter said, doubting that Sevren actually did. Ziarek nodded, however and looking out of the corner of his eye at the bounty hunter, and then pressed some buttons on a display control. A system appeared.

“Akain and his master were here. His master has been killed and-“

“He’s a Jedi?” Sevren nodded.

“A padawan. Nothing more.”
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Post by Mir »

Akain looked at the settlement and smiled. He liked it. Okay, so he didn't like his captor, but he liked where she was from. The river was huge over three hundred meters in width. The Flowing River Clan had brought down a lot of the trees and used them for building materials. THe largest part of the settlement, the main building was actually on the river, anchored at different points on the banks. It was shaped like a large dome with walkways wrapping around it.

"Beautiful place." He said.

"Yes, it is." She replied. They'd been "working" on his behavior the entire time that they'd been walking to the settlement. He had more than a few bruises on his back from where Ar'i had hit him when he hadn't done what she'd wanted him to. He'd had half a mind of snapping that twig of hers in half but he hadn't.

She lead the way towards the Clan's city. Akain saw a fenced in group of Rancors, which jogged his memory concerning the Witches of Dathomir. Odds were Ar'i knew how to ride. Immediately he was like a little kid again. Maybe he could convince her to let him ride one once, or maybe teach him how to ride. He didn't notice that he was smiling and almost missed it when Ar'i was halted by some guards carrying spears. He stopped just in front of the woman and when she glared at him, he realized that Ar'i wanted him to stand behind her, so he did.

"Ar'i." The lead woman said. "You have returned."

"Yes, Tapa." Ar'i replied. "I have captured this man and I claim him as my slave." Tapa looked over her shoulder at the Nagai.

"He's not from here."

"Yes." Tapa nodded.

"Very well. Your mother will wish to speak with you." Ar'i nodded and began to walk. Akain followed, beginning to get a little tired of everything. The Force had guided him here though, so he would be patient until it revealed to him why he had been brought here.
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It turned out that Ar’i’s mother was the Captain of the Guard for the Flowing River clan. Akain picked up on this due to small conversations that his new “master” had with people as they walked through the halls of the large dome on the river. She stepped into a large room and he followed her. A smile split Ar’i’s face as she saw her mother. She took a few steps forward and put her arms around her mother who hugged her back. Akain stayed a few steps back, being respect ful of the relationship that mother and daughter had.

“Ar’i.” Her mother said. “You’ve returned. We were beginning to fear that your quest would be in vain.” She shook her head.

“I have returned with a man.” She said, and turned indicating Akain. Her mother turned and appraised him with an appreciative eye.

“A Nagai?” She asked and her daughter rnodded. “Interesting. What is your name, slave?”

“Akain. Akain Karna.”

“Has he been disciplined yet?”

“I taught him his place after he tried to escape. Mother, he can cast spells without using words.”

“A Jedi?”

“Yes, I am a Jedi.” He said.

“We must see whether or not he is capable of defending himself.” She said. Ar’i lifted his blaster.

“He was not armed with a Jedi weapon, Mother.”

“Nonetheless, you say he can weave spells without speaking. He himself claims to be a Jedi. We will test his abilities.”
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Akain twirled the staff that he’d been given. It was made of wood and was solid. He tested the balance and smiled to himself. It was a good weapon in a normal person’s hands. In his hands it would be nothing short of destructive. Eskrima was the first thing that came to his mind, but he had a feeling that it wouldn’t work too well here. His opponent was probably fairly decent with the weapon as well. He figured a blend of the Jedi arts wouldn’t work either, mainly because he had never learned anything of Saberstaff combat. He would have to rely on his martial arts training.

It still doomed the person before him and was probably going to send the person to the ground faster. He twirled the staff once more and dropped into a ready stance. He beckoned the woman to come to him. Ar’i shrugged and charged, lowering the staff so that it was pointed at him. Her balance was good. He could tell that striking her in the front would be foolish. So he decided to make the women and men of the Flowing River Clan who were watching wait a little while longer for him to do something amazing.

He leapt over Ar’i which wasn’t hard considering her height. She turned as he was coming down and headed towards him. He moved the stick, blocking her first attack which was a stab. She retracted the blade and brought it around, but he blocked again. She attacked a third time and he blocked her attack yet again. Ar’i retreated a few steps and Akain dropped into a defensive position. He wasn’t going to attack her.

She took a few more steps back and his eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out what she was doing. He saw her mouth move and he realized that she was casting a spell or in his terms, using the Force. He charged, using the Force to enhance his speed as he moved towards her. She spun and pointed her stick straight at him. It was a physical targeting method for her and suddenly Akain felt the wave of energy coming at him. Knowing that it was too strong for him, but that he wasn’t going to be able to slow down in time, he lowered his shoulder and went into it.

The crowd cheered as he was lifted up into the air and tossed backwards. He slammed into the wall of the circular arena that they were in. He slowly rose to his feet, just as a funnel of water hit him square in the chest, brought into existence by Ar’i’s spellcasting. It stopped and he looked at her in surprise. He didn’t know that the Witches of Dathomir could do that. He saw that she was breathing heavily. Apparently doing it took a lot out of her.

He wouldn’t underestimate her skills again. He slowly began to advance towards her, his mind working out a plan.
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Post by Mir »

They had gone back and forth for a good while now. Akain was sure that she was toying with him. She knew that he would be unable to defend against her spells. Realistically, he couldn't stop her from casting them, and that meant that he had to block them. It was his only option. Akain jumped up into the air, a counter to Ar'i's own leap. The two attacked, but neither was successful and had merely traded places on the floor of the arena.

"What do you think of his skills?" One of the Witches asked Ar'i's mother.

"I have yet to see him cast a spell or do anything that would confirm his status as being a Jedi."

"You think he lied to us?"

"Perhaps."

"But Ar'i would be able to tell, would she not?" The woman nodded.

"Yes, she would. That is what is bothering me. Either she was mistaken, which has never happened before, or something it telling her to make that claim. It is obvious that she wants him as a husband. If she can best him, perhaps he is not good enough for her."

"Why would you want her to take a husband whom she could not defeat? If he ever decided to be insubordinate, he could fight back when she disciplined him."

"I have my reasons."
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Both combatants were sweating heavily. Cuts and scratches were visible on both of them. Neither was ready to give up and was determined to see the fight to the end, despite how tired and injured they were. Ar'i twirled her staff and lowered herself to the ground, balanced and ready. Akain was running towards her. He had kept his usage of the Force as low as possible. He knew that Ar'i's mother was waiting for him to do something with the Force. A lot fo the crowd were doing so as well.

At last, Akain decided to give in, and give the crowd what they were looking for. He knew that he had to do something to finish this fight, as Ar'i had surprised him with both her experience and her knowledge. He saw Ar'i's eyes widen as his speed increased dramatically. He rammed into her and she managed to keep her balance, barely. However, the effort that it took stopped her from being able to properly defend herself from Akain's attacks. His staff spun in the air. After the third attack, her own staff snapped in half, unable to keep blocking the strong blows that he was aiming at her.

He slammed one end into her stomach and then brought it up, wood connecting with the bottom of her jaw. Her head was snapped up and Akain spun low to the ground. His attack strcuk the side of her knee. He turned the staff and swept her off of her feet. Ar'i recovered, beginning to block his attacks as she scrambled backwards.

She did a backward roll and came up in a crouched position. She smiled at Akain. "Finally, slave, you prove your worth. Or at least try to."" Akain merely smiled in response as he moved forward. The two began to push each other harder, Akain opening himself up a little more to the Force. Noiw tat they knew the other could handle more powerful and rapid attacks, they began to employ them, working them into their strategy.

Up in the stands, sheltered from the sun by an awning, Ar'i's mother. She turned now to the Witch that she'd been speaking with before. "Now we shall she what he's really made of."
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Akain stood over his bested foe. Ar'i had been beaten. She looked up at him, anger and disbelief clear on her face. Akain fell to his knees. Both of them were heavily wounded. Other witches entered the arena bringing two stretchers. They got Ar'i on one of them. The leader of the group, which clearly looked like they were part of a medical organization turned to Akain. She took the staff from him and pointed at the stretcher. He shook his head, indicating that he didn't want any medical treatment from them and that he was fine. "I don't need help." He said, wanting to vocally clarify his intentions.

"Take it." The leader said. "We won't be offering it to you everyday. You will wish that you took it today."

"No." He said. The witch just nodded and drove the staff she carried into his stomach. He wheezed out air as he fell to his knees. Two more grabbed him and put him onto the stretcher.

"Obedience will be something that you will learn, slave." One of the witches said.

"I'm sure we'll have a good time learning together." Akain replied, one of the few times he employed sarcasm. She responded by knocking him out.

"Welcome to the Flowing River Clan."
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Post by Mir »

When he came to, Akain was in a room in one of the Flowing River Clan's buildings. He had been taken and deposited on a small bed, much too small for his large frame. His left arm hurt and he lifted it to his eyes. A strange design had been tattooed in a single line along his upper arm. "It means you're part of the Flowing River Clan and that you're a slave." He turned to see Ar'i sitting in a chair near his bed. Akain rose to a sitting position, he didn't like to be lying down when dealing with people like her.

"Yeah, thanks. How long was I out?" He asked cautiously.

"A little over a day."

"No way, I wasn't hurt that bad." She smiled at the subtle insult to her skills.

"We kept you unconscious for a bit longer. It was necessary. We conducted some general tests and the like." His eyes widened marginally and he began to check himself. There was nothing out of the ordinary scars that he sported from his old mercenary days.

"What did you do to me?"

"Nothing that we didn't need to. Just did general stuff so we know how to fix you in case you hurt yourself. I know your blood type now." Ar'i said with a slow smile.

"Alright then." He tried to get out of bed, but Ar'i shook her head. "Why not?"

"Once we deem you healthy, you're going to work. Mother decided that having a man who could weave spells and utilize Allyan magic will be good for the clan. You will be brutally treated and forced to survive harsh conditions. Save your strength, Akain." Ar'i said, coming to him. "You're going to be my husband and I want you to be healthy."

He nodded and continued to rise. Her hand hit his chest in a tactical place, knocking the wind out of him. He should have known but he didn't expect her to be that good. Ar'i did something else to stop him from getting up. His head hit the pillow and she caressed his face, kissing him slowly and a for a good long period of time. He had to admit, that though she was a bitch, she tasted good and could kiss. "Rest, Akain."
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Post by Mir »

Akain woke once more as water was thrown on him. His eyes darted around. It was dark, pitch black. It was morning he could tell. Some time in the early morning, maybe around two. He'd finally adjusted to the change in time coming to Dathomir, so he was better able to tell the time. "Get up," a voice said. He obeyed. "Your training begins today, slave. Odds are you will let us down and die. You are weak, it is expected."

"I beat Ar'i, didn't I?" He said. Before he could take another breath, a stick was coming at him. The Force alerted him and Akain acted. His hand came up and grabbed the stick before it could hit the side of his head. "I wouldn't suggest that." He said. Two more sticks came at him while one of the witches said something under her breath that Akain was barely able to hear.

Suddenly he felt sluggish and he knew tatht they were weaving some sort of spell over him. The sticks hit him and he was forced to his knees, also having to let go of the stick that he'd been holding onto. Two pairs of arms grabbed him roughly and dragged him from the room. Ar'i, Akain mused, had been right. It was going to be painful, and they weren't going to be nice. They were, however, going to try to break him. They would soon find that they wouldn't be successful, but they would try.

The rest of the day didn't go much better.

They'd given him a physical which he'd passed perfectly, almost surprised that they would do something like that. He'd done a series of other tests of his physical capabilities and then they'd taken him to the Clan Guard's training facility. There, he'd broken records on their obstacle course and he'd taken down one of the martial arts instructors, noting that Ar'i was better than the instructor was by far.

As a reward, he'd been forced to skip breakfast and lunch and had been constantly smoked. They'd done the water torture technique, sitting him in front of a basin of water and submerging his head for minutes at a time so that he couldn't breath. He'd heard talk of sleep deprivation, planned over a period of time. In the end, he knew that he'd stumped the Witches of the Flowing River Clan.

He was walking now, holding a log nearly as long as he was tall and helping with wood gathering. They'd assigned him to a variety of tasks around the Clan that he was to do daily. Ar'i had been nowhere to been seen during the course of the day and that hadn't bothered Akain. He had a bad feeling she was going to pop out of nowhere and attack him. Two witches had already done that.

"Akain." There was a voice behind him and he recognized it as Ar'i's voice. He slowed, but didn't turn. She caught up with him and then matched his pace. "How has your day been?" She asked him, a smirk on her face.

"Lots of work, no actual training." He replied and she laughed.

"Yes, I figured that." She said, her voice turning less sarcastic and more concerned and caring. "They want to make sure you're fit for training." He nodded as he set down the log. She placed a hand on his shoulder, a feat for her to do, considering. "I have a feeling you could have freed yourself when we met. You didn't though. Why?" He stopped, considering whether or not to tell her.

"The Force told me to come to Dathomir. There is soemthing I must do. I can't leave until I do, and I don't think it would have benefited either of us if I had broken free. It all happened for a reason. She nodded, noting his honesty in his answer.

"Perhaps it was to learn Allyan Magic?" She said after a few moments. He nodded, shrugging. "I won't be around until you get into the more advanced spells and that should take some time. We may see each other at meals though."

"Unless I'm forced to skip them." She smiled.

"That's true." She replied. Ar'i turned and saw a messenger coming towards them. "I have to go. Good luck, Akain."
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Post by Mir »

He didn't see the point of what they were trying to get him to do. He could just as easily split the wood using his own way. Why did he need to know a spell, an incantation? It made no sense. Still, he concentrated and slowly spoke the spell aloud. Apparently the better you go, the softer you could say it, until you were saying the words of the spell in your head. Akain was nowhere near that level of control over Allyan Magic and so he called it out in a loud voice. Nothing happened. There were two Y-shaped sticks in the ground and the log was balanced between them. He turned to his instructor, a Dathomiri witch clearly older than he was, easily triple his age.

"You must empty your mind. You are thinking of too many things." The woman said, her patience beginning to wear thin. he nodded, still unconvinced. He looked back at the wood and attempted to blank his mind. Meditation and the clearing of one's mind had never been one of Akain's strong points. He was at his best when he was fighting or sparring. Akain closed his eyes and concentrated as thoughts left him. He spoke the incantation, the spell's power wrapping around him. He was feeling it, after some eight hours of work. He finished the spell and was rewarded by feeling the spell shoot forward like an arrow.

He opened his eyes as the sound of wood splintering reached his ears. The long wasn't cut in half. It wasn't a deep cut either. Some of the bark had been scrapped off and what looked like a half an inch gash was in the log. Akain turned to his instructor who smiled. "You're learning." He nodded. "Faster than expected but not as fast as a Dathomiri woman would." She said, always wanting to remind Akain of his inadequacies, most of which were centered around the fact that he could father children and came from off planet.

"But Dathomiri women are better than all men." He replied. The instructure smiled.

"You're also learnign the truth of things." He smiled wryly. "Perhaps there is hope for you, Akain Karna."

"I am trying." He said with a larger wry smile.

"You're still getting only half portions at supper." She gestured to the log. "Again."
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Post by Mir »

His body hit the ground. Kamahl smiled at the dead man. He could be discreet when he needed to be. The bounty hunter had been the only one besides Kamahl himself who had survived the attack on Juk'ves Kesni and Akain Karna a month or so ago. It had been apparent to the rest of the group that Sevren Ziarek had assembled that the Hunter had information in his hands on Akain's whereabouts but wasn't going to be sharing it at all. Everyone else had gone to contacts, but not this hunter.

He'd had been seemingly arrogant in his words and actions. The group had been doing oddjobs while they waited for their information brokers to get back to them. In that regards, the hunter had been smart, but not immediately leaving. No information had come in. All of it had made Kamahl suspicious.

So, he'd acted.

He'd politely asked for the information. When he hadn't been able to get it, he'd become more and more forceful. Now, he'd broken into the hunter's apartment and after a rather brief struggle, killed the man. Kamahl had never been good with technology, but that was because of where he was from in the Sarmti Sector. The encryption that the hunter had on his datapad was going to prove annoying and trying to get past. Luckily, Kamahl had those around him who would be able to handle such problems. He headed over to the single desk in the room and grabbed the datapad.

He would get thi sto a friend of his. Kamahl turned and stopped, actually surprised. It was something hard to do to a man who was close to nine feet tall and built like a tank. Sevren stood in the doorway. "Interesting. I didn't say that you couldn't eliminate your competition." Kamahl slowly smiled. "Well, then." Ziarek said. "I have a job for you and you particularly." He added.

"Oh?" Kamahl asked and Ziarek nodded. The crime boss gestured and two guards came into deal with the hunter's body. It was the way of things.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

More than some time had passed. Akain had gotten better at the spell, able to split the log after the fifth time. He'd also begun work on some other spells, but they weren't progressing at the speed that Akain would have liked. He had a problem, it seemed, with concentrating and connecting with the spells on the personal level that the witches did. For them, the spells were an integral part of their lives, their culture. They used them in their daily lives, so it made sense that they ahd more importance to them.

Another instructor had been working with Akain on the hand to hand fighting style of the Dathomiri witches. It was like some of the styles Akain had learned, but had its own nuances, its own tactics that intrigued him. Akain was now standing in front of a training dummy outside of the room where he slept. His hands flew out at a high speed. Chops, punches, and more.

Some distance away, two Dathomiri witches stood and watched. Ar'i and another, Akain's overall instructor, the same woman who had taught Ar'i, actually. "How is he doing?" Ar'i asked. She had been away on a diplomatic mission of sorts to another tribe and had therefore been unable to keep up with how her future husband's training was progressing.

"It's going well. Much better than we thought, for a man." The instructor replied. "He's taken to sleeping less than the time we've alloted to him. He's supposed to get six hours, but he only uses four. I asked him about it. He only said something about his parents and how he trained before. You've made an interesting choice for a husband, Ar'i."

"Do you approve?"

"In a sense, yes. He is headstrong though and won't listen to you. I do not think that you will be able to contain his will." Ar'i licked her lips.

"Headstrong can be good in other ways."

"Well, ensure that he'll listen to you, somehow you need to do that." The instructor said. "Come. The sun will rise in a few hours and the day will begin. We have work to do." Ar'i nodded and gave the training form of Akain one last look.
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Post by Mir »

He was ready. Three weeks laters, Kamahl had returned, victorious as usual. Few could face him and live to fight another day. Kamahl usually went after them and congratulated them, before ending their lives for sure. Ziarek had sent him to fight a war, in a system called Deresnova. Kamahl had aided a man named Isvan assume the throne.

Kamahl entered his quarters. He was barely in there for a few minutes before a man came in. He was smiling. He handed him a datapad and then took a step back, waiting. "Yes, and?" Kamahl asked after giving the screen a once over. He didn't understand much of the sigils that were scrolling over the screen. He wasn't supposed to, that was why Cerko was part of his team of people.

"It's the tracking device. I broke the encryption on the datapad. There was further encryption on the communication setup with the tracker, just incase the datapad's first line of security was broken through, but I got past that as well. I reactivated the locator function." Kamahl indicated for the man to continue and he did, in the same hurried speed. "Dathomir. He's on Dathomir. The planet of the Force witches." The huge man nodded slowly. He moved and stretched out on the huge bed that he had in his quarters.

"Get the rest of the team ready. We move tomorrow." The man nodded. "Good work, my friend. Go now, I have a friend coming to visit." Cerko nodded and turned, heading out of the quarters.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Apparently there was going to be a huge clan wide celebration today. It had translated into more menial physical labor for Akain. More wood, more building, more everything. He just wanted to sleep, but apparently that wasn't supposed to be for a long time. He'd worked a good long bit on getting the tables out into the area designated for the party. Akain was now sitting on the ground, leaning against a building. He had been napping for about half an hour.

His eyes still closed, his hand came up and grabbed the stick. "You're not going to get me with that again."

"Good." His combat instructor said. "You've progressed well in these two months." Since he'd gotten control of the ability to cast spells, his skill with it hand gotten better and better. He had control over more than just a few spells now. However, Akain was unable to use the spells without saying the incantations. He doubted that he'd ever get to that level either.

"What do you require of me?" He asked, slowly rising.

"Nothing much. You must fight to the death." Akain's eyes snapped open and all thoughts of sleep left him.

"Wait, what?"
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Post by Mir »

Akain for the second time since he’d arrived on Dathomir was thrown into an arena. This one was smaller than the one that he’d fought in before, not that it would affect the way that he fought. There were fewer people, and the person he was fighting wasn’t even mildly attractive. At least to Akain as it was another man after all and he definitely didn’t swing that way. He was unsure though why exactly he was fighting the man. It didn’t make sense, though he was starting to understand the reason behind it. Apparently it had something to do with the fact that Ar’i wanted to marry him.

Now, Akain had no qualm with solving problems through force. It was a dog eat dog world. People died, it was the way of things and Akain wasn’t going to change it for anything. But this man was going to throw his life away and Akain didn’t even want what the man was trying to take. Well, he wanted his life, but Ar’i’s hand in marriage was definitely not that high on the list of things that he wanted. Akain had long ago been desensitized to violence, but he didn’t support senseless violence. That’s what would be happening here.

If the man wanted Ar’i that badly, and Akain couldn’t see why, then he could have her and that’s what he would tell the man. Thus he wouldn’t have to maim or kill the man, which was something that Akain wanted to avoid at all costs. At least, that had been his plan until the man’s fist had slammed into his jaw as Akain was trying to speak and pissed him off. Akain stumbled back and grimaced. “Listen, I don’t want to fight you. Really, I don’t. And I don’t want Ar’i either. You can have her. Seriously. I-“ He dodged another fist and wondered if the man was capable of higher brain functions. He liked Ar’i after all. “Why aren’t you listening to me?”

“Because it doesn’t matter what you want. Not in the Flowing River Clan. Not on Dathomir. Our wants as men are immaterial. It just so happens that I can challenge you due to the festival today.” Akain dodged another attack.

“You’re starting to piss me off.” He said. The man paid no attention and punched again. Akain caught his fist and only exerted a little pressure. Bones snapped and the man howled in pain. Akain winced, as the action hurt him as it hurt the man, just not in the same way. He didn’t want to do this.
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Post by Mir »

The fight had gone on long enough. The man had given Akain a split lip and in return had received a broken nose, hand, and left arm. The man was on the retreat, but still not listening to what Akain was saying. He rushed forward and Akain slammed his palm into the side of the man’s head, dazing him. He lurched to the side and took Akain’s fist to the stomach. He doubled over and Akain dropped his elbow onto the man’s back. It dropped him all the way to the ground.

The man got a hold of Akain’s left food. He slowly tried to rise, but Akain was faster. The Nagai brought his right foot into the man’s stomach. Then he lifted his left foot and took a step over the man, pulling him onto his back. He wrenched his foot free. Akain turned and lowered his booted foot onto his throat. He looked down at the man and spoke, finally assured of his foe’s attention. “Is she really worth it?” Akain asked. “Is she?”

“You don’t know her like I do.” Akain nodded.

“I am sorry.”

“Don’t be. You’ll be in love one day and you’ll understand why I’m doing this.” The man said as Akain lifted his foot up. It came down in a vicious stomp. It was over. For better or for worse, he had won Ar’i.

=-=-=-=-=-=

Night had fallen long before the fight had started. Now, as Akain was ushered around the clan’s city, he could hear strains of music and laughter. The festival had definitely started. Akain wasn’t a part of the festival. Instead they had sent him to a room in the stronghold. The insides were lavish, which surprised Akain to a degree, having been told that he wouldn’t be seeing accommodations like this ever. There was a large bed that dominated the room and there was also a strong roaring fire in the fireplace. Akain collapsed on the bed and decided that sleep in a comfortable setting was good and that he should take advantage of it.

He was about to do just that when the doors opened.

He turned. Two women came in, bearing platters. One had a selection of food from the festival. The other had a pitcher and two cups on it. They turned and left. Thoroughly confused, Akain waited. Ar’i entered a few moments later. Akain hadn’t lied. He didn’t want to marry Ar’i. That wasn’t to say that she wasn’t attractive though. She took a step forward and his eyes went down, slowly, and came back up, more slowly. “I-“

“Shh. Don’t say anything.” She said, pressing a finger to his lips. She forced him back onto the bed. His hands settled on her hips to steady her, the warmth of her skin coming through the thin silk. “You fought today,” she said, “for me. You showed your loyalty and for that, you should be rewarded.” She said and they kissed. “I’ll be right back.” She said. She rose and Akain watched her leave, now confused and scared.

She left, heading into an adjoining room which turned out to be a bathroom. As she walked away, Akain was reminded of his inexperience with women, something that was going to be brought to the forefront, if he was reading this situation properly. When he’d been a mercenary, they’d given him women as spoils of war, at one point before his body had developed to be able to do anything with them. That didn’t mean that he was overly experienced with women. Yeah, he knew what to do and in his mind was pretty good at it, but still.

Ar’i wouldn’t be his first, but she’d be on a very short list nonetheless. She returned, golden red hair like fire over her shoulders, contrasting with the black…thing that she wore. Akain would have tried to figure it out, but his mind kept blanking when he looked at it and how well it fit and…He shook his head slightly to clear it. She had a towel in her hand and it was wet with hot water. She climbed into his lap and cradled his head. Ar’i dabbed at the cut on his lip.

Once she was finished, she put the towel back in the bathroom. When she came back, she poured them both cups of wine. Akain saw that there was a dark red wine in the pitcher. “I think we’ll have to get to the food later. What do you think?” She asked as she drank the wine. Akain shrugged as he drank as well. He didn’t trust himself to speak right then. “Even my mother is beginning to reconsider.” She said. Akain gave her a confused look. “You are special. You’re more than just a man.” She said, explaining what she meant. “The man you killed was the best male warrior this tribe has ever seen. Yet the split lip he gave you is the only injury that you really sustained.”

As Akain stopped to think about that, Ar’i made her move. She pushed him so that he was flat on his back. She took his cup from him and set it on a table near the bed along with her own cup. The platters were moved there as well. She hummed something, using the Force and the curtains on the bed dropped, boxing them in. She guided his hands down to the hem of her nightdress. Her fingers grasped his wrists and pulled upwards.
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Post by Mir »

He woke, his eyes opening quickly. Akain looked around the room. He turned his head and looked down. Through the dark, he was able to make out the top of Ar’i’s head. She was snuggled against him under the thick covers. Her face was turned into his neck, one of her hands on his chest. He noted, with a sense of unease that it was on his heart. He tired to move his legs, but realized that there was something heavy that was trapping his legs. He identified it as her own legs a few moments later. One of his arms was around her and his other hand came up, sliding through his long, black hair.

His mind flashed through what had transpired between the two of them. He wasn’t going to lie, he had enjoyed it. Ar’i was skilled in many things, and this was one of them. He was a grown man, he didn’t see anything wrong in enjoying what had happened. Yes, he found a problem with the fact that he was technically her slave, but he knew he had the ability to rid himself of that situation very quickly. Whether or not she wanted him to and whether or not it broke the rules of the clan that had bound him to her in the first place.

The Nagai was about to try to dislodge himself when Ar’i woke herself, his movements having caused her to come out of her sleep. She lifted her hand and ran her free hand through her golden red curls before putting it back over the steady beating of his heart. She turned to him and smiled. “Good morning, Akain.” She said. She smiled again as she spoke. “Sleep well?” She asked, snuggling closer.

“Yeah.” He said in reply. She rose and moved so that both of her hands were on either side of his head. His hands went to her hips to steady her and despite himself, his eyes traveled downwards to her navel and then slowly, painstakingly back up. He swallowed, cursing himself. He pulled her down so that she was flat against him, not realizing until after the fact that the direct touching was going to do horrible things to his already jumbled system. Ari smiled down at him. She bent her head and kissed him, her hair cascading downwards, making their faces the only thing the other could see. She broke apart, slowly moving down his neck.

“Since the day after the festival is a clan holiday, you will have nothing required of you.” She said. Her kisses were on his chest now. “So you have nothing to do all day.” He smiled then. “What do you want to do?” She asked slyly, her mouth now on his lower stomach. His single word reply threw her for a curve though.

“Sleep.” She stopped and lifted her head.

What?

“I want to sleep.” Akain said. After everything they had subjected him to all this time, he was tired. Last night had given him a burst of energy, but he was going to use it to get Ar’i out of his room and then sleep. He barely trusted himself to be able to do that though, and Ar’i could tell. She looked down, a few inches away from where her mouth was and then looked back up at him and she smiled, her grin telling him that she knew he didn’t trust himself.

“I think you want to do something else.” She said and moved, taking him inside of her.

=-=-=-=-=-=

Kamahl’s ship lowered to the ground. His eyes snapped open. He had been awake since they had exited hyperspace, though he had remained in his quarters. If there had been a problem, his crew would have alerted him. They were quite good and he trusted them. Now that they were on the ground, it was time to get to work. He grabbed his axe and rose as the door to his quarters opened.

Cerko was at his door. The man nodded, already knowing that Kamahl was ready. Words weren't needed as the two men left to join the rest of the team and head out onto the surface of the planet.

It was hunting season on Dathomir.
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Post by Mir »

Nightsisters were not people that you tended to mess with. They were one of the nastier groups of Darksiders in the galaxy and though few ever got the change to interact with them, those who did were given a distinct impression that probably involved lightning generated by the Force. As it was, they didn’t know where Akain was. They knew that he was on Dathomir, but the tracker that the bounty hunter had used wasn’t too specific about where exactly. Which meant that Kamahl was going to need help.

Luckily he had help. He smiled broadly at the woman standing before him. Her name was immaterial, she was but a messenger. The woman who ruled the large structure built into the mountain behind the woman, she was much more important. Her name was Sila Va. She was a Nightsister. In fact, the woman before him was a Nightsister and so was every woman who lived in the area. While any normal person would have been scared, and rightly so, Kamahl knew that he had nothing to fear.

One swing from his axe and Force user or not, they would be sorely remorseful that they had chosen to test him. But he knew that it wouldn’t come to that. He had something in his belongings that would ensure that Sila Va not only heard him out but also helped him. While it hadn’t taken them long to get to the place from their ship, there had only been a few hours left of daylight when they had arrived. As it was, the dark cloak and hood that the woman wore hid much of her features, but was Kamahl could see was appealing.

The giant of a man waited patiently for the Nightsister before him to speak. He had to look up at her, but that was only because she sat atop a rancor. Had she been on the ground, she would have been forced to look up at him. It was obvious that she wasn’t intimidated by his height, rather it had made her curious. Had he the time, he would have pursued her, finding her an interesting creature and someone that could warm his bed for some time.

“What is your name and what are you doing here? Answer quickly before I decide to kill you.” She asked, her tone serious and grave. Her grip on her weapon, a pike, was tight and Kamahl had no doubt that she would use it should the safety of her people be threatened. He could respect that. The rancor moved slightly, and her other hand gripped the reins. The beast was at ease, but didn’t enjoy the presence of these people. She could sense it, she didn’t need to cast a spell to see how the animal was feeling. Perhaps it was merely mirroring her own feelings.

“My name is Kamahl. I search for a man, a Nagai named Akain Karna.” He said and her face didn’t change. He’d expected that. The name wouldn’t mean anything to her, nor would it help her understand why he was here. It wouldn’t mean anything and she would respond in a negative. It was the only thing that he could see her saying and he waited for her response.

“I know of no one who bears that name. Suffice to say he is not here amongst my people. Be gone before you bring down the wrath of the Sisters of the Dark Lake.” She replied and Kamahl smiled inwardly. It was the reaction that he had been expecting. His mouth mirrored his inner smile.

“You will grant me an audience with your leader, Nightsister.” He reached into his pocket as he spoke. She tensed, ready to strike should his intention prove lethal. It didn’t however. He merely retrieved a small ring from his pack and held it up. There was still daylight out enough that she was able to see the ring and discern its details. Her eyes widened only slightly. His respect for her, which had dropped a little when she had gone with the only response possible earlier, moved back up. They both knew what the ring was and what it entailed.

Yet she hadn’t given anything away.

She nodded wordlessly and gestured for him to follow. He turned to the rest of his group and beckoned them forward to follow him. He had his audience. The ring had proven itself and he mentally thanked the red skinned alien who had given it to him.
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Post by Mir »

Akain looked up from the plate of food in front of him. It was the day after the festival holiday and he was back to his routine. Only now, what he was learning was getting harder for him to master at a faster pace. He was trying the best he could, and the instructors were being more understanding. They had adapted, now, to how he learned and so he was better able to comprehend. They were translating things into combat situations and settings. For Akain, when they converted the teaching of Allyan Magic into teaching combat strategy, they worked wonders. He was able to manipulate things easier. However, the types of things that they were requiring of him to do was getting more challenging.

Before they had merely gotten him to cast a spell and create a whirlwind. Now, he had to cast a spell, create a whirlwind and use the whirlwind to move objects between two designated points. Too much power and he would overshoot. Too little and he would miss the target that he had to get them onto. He also had a set amount of time in which he could do it. What he was doing now was building upon what he had learned before, honing his skills and making him better able to use them.

The Nagai was getting to the point where he was quickly able to cast the simpler spells. It was the harder ones, and control over the simpler ones that gave him difficulty. His eyes settled on the woman who sat down in front of him at the makeshift table that he had made shortly before the festival. He raised an eyebrow. His combat instructor never sat down at the table and ate with him. He knew that she considered it declaring that whoever sat with her at the table was her equal. She looked at him, and he knew that the thought was going through her mind as well.

He swallowed and leaned back, knowing that she had something important that she wanted to tell him.

“How did you come to arrive on Dathomir?” She asked.

“I came in a ship, not far from where Ar’i originally found me.” He said in reply, taking another bite afterwards. He chewed and swallowed before continuing onwards. “My former master and I had been traveling throughout the galaxy when we were attacked by a group of bounty hunters. Unfortunately, he perished. The ship is his, I took it, and left. The Force guided my hand here, but I don’t know the reason why.” He said. “Why ask me about this now?” He wondered aloud.

“We monitor various Nightsister tribes.” She replied. “Sometime yesterday, a scout reported that offworlders had arrived and had been accepted into this tribe’s stronghold. It is not usual for Nightsisters’ to hear what others have to say. In the case of offworlders, they generally just kill them and take what they have.”

“You think this has something to do with me.” Akain said, nodding slowly.

“Yes, we do. While you have been here for some time now, it is not that long, considering. This many offworlders in such a short period of time is something that we can not take lightly. It is too much of a coincidence.”

“Perhaps, myself and some of your warriors should go inspect the Nightsister stronghold? See who these offworlders are, and whether or not I can identify them. If they have a connection to me, I should be able to uncover it.” He said.

“You can’t just use your Jedi powers to determine that?”

“I could, but if they have a trained force user amongst them, it would tip them off. I didn’t sense any force users arrive on the planet, but the planet is large and if there had been someone there, they could have been masking their presence.” Akain said in reply. A possible explanation could also have been that he wasn’t in the right mind frame as he had been distracted by the presence of the red and gold haired woman who had been in the bed chambers with him. Ar’i had left some time later, much later, and she hadn’t spoken to him since what had happened.

He had only learned a short while ago that she had been called away on a diplomatic meeting with another tribe by her mother.

“When we have decided on what to do, we will tell you.” The instructor said. She reached forward and took Akain’s plate from him. He noted, with a sense of dismay that the plate had still been over half full. His meal was over and it was back to training for him.
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Re: Akain Karna: The White Ghost

Post by Mir »

It was Kamahl.

He had seen the man and he knew who it was. Why was the man here? Was it for him? It could easily have been for someone or something else. He hadn’t pursued Akain after Juk’ves had gotten killed, no, that one Bounty hunter had done that. Akain knew not the reason why Kamahl was here, but he knew that if Kamahl found out that he was here, it would not bode well for him. He would understand if the Flowing River clan threw him out. It wasn’t their fight. His first thoughts had been to get to his ship, to make sure that it was alright. But he couldn’t. Not until he got back to the Flowing River Clan citadel and explained what was going on.

He knew that they had secured his ship, but they hadn’t posted armed guards or anything of the sort. It was merely hidden, not protected. If Kamahl had managed to track Juk’ves done, it made sense that he would be able to track the ship down. It was simply a manner of doing a planet wide search for technology that ranked above simple fire. It would take time, yes, but that wouldn’t matter, since in the end, Kamahl would know that he was here. Even if he wasn’t searching for Akain, the moment he saw that ship, he would know.

The Dathomiri witches had noted how silent Akain was on the way back to the citadel. He had been thinking, one of his favorite pastimes, now something that he needed to do to survive. Ar’i was still away on that diplomatic mission. His fate in the clan would be up to her mother. The witches had begrudgingly given him a level of respect that was uncommon for a man. It was mainly because he was better than almost any of their warriors. He had defeated Ar’i in single combat, after all. If she could lose, then it went almost without saying that nearly any one of them could lose.

Akain looked up as the citadel came into view.

An imposing structure, it was now more so considering what could happen when he went in there to explain what was going on.

=-=-=-=-=-=

“My daughter’s feelings for you aside, man, I want to know what is going on.”

“I understand. The leader of the group of offworlders is a man by the name of Kamahl.”

“You know him then?”

“Unfortunately, yes. He was one of the bounty hunters who killed my master.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed.

“Has he come back, then, to finish the job?”

“That I don’t know. I do know that the contract stipulated for only the death of my master. Once my master was slain, Kamahl backed off. Another bounty hunter chased after me, and I evaded him, leaving in my ship and eventually coming here. Why Kamahl is here, I do not know. I do know that he is incredibly dangerous.”

“More dangerous than you?”

“More dangerous than me.” Akain said, evenly.

Before further talk could be held, a Dathomiri warrior in full armor burst into the meeting chamber.

“What is the meaning of this?” Ar’i’s mother asked, irate. “I gave strict orders that there were to be no disturbances while I spoke to Ar’i’s mate.” She said.

“I am truly sorry, but warriors from the Sisters of the Dark Lake are here.” The woman said in reply.
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Re: Akain Karna: The White Ghost

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The Sisters of the Dark Lake had arrived.

Without fanfare, it wasn’t their style. Akain stepped out along with Ar’i’s mother to see five rancors in front of the gates to the citadel, along with their riders. Flowing River Clan members had surrounded them, but the nightsisters weren’t doing anything, just sitting there, waiting for something. Ar’i’s mother led the way as they walked down out of the citadel and out of the gate to the outside surrounding settlement that was the Flowing River Clan. He was tense, unsure of what was going to happen. He couldn’t see Kamahl. He wondered if that was a good thing or whether or not the bounty hunter had a sniper rifle trained on his head.

That was a bad train of thought to be following. He didn’t know much about nightsisters, but he figured they ascribed to the same tactics that Kamahl used, so he figured on keeping himself aware of things.

“What do you want?” Ar’i’s mother called out. “It is not everyday that nightsisters travel in such a way.”

“We wish to speak with a ranking member of the Flowing River Clan. We have things to discuss.”

“Such as?”

“Things better spoken of in the privacy of a meeting chamber.” The lead nightsister replied. “Things to do with the offworlder standing next to you, that man who can wield magic.” She added with a smile.

To her credit, Ar’i’s mother said nothing and gave away nothing. After a few moments, Ar’i’s mother nodded.

“Very well. Your mounts will be seen to.”

One of the warriors standing next to Akain turned to the woman and stared.

This was unheard of.
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Re: Akain Karna: The White Ghost

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“We want Akain Karna.” The envoy said.

They had been sitting at the table for less than ten minutes. Akain wasn’t sitting at the table, since only the women were allowed to do that. He was standing behind Ar’i’s mother. There were a few of the higher ranking members of the Flowing River Clan at the table. As it turned out, Ar’i’s mother was more important than just the captain of the guard. She was also on the council that governed the clan. She folded her arms over her chest and her face, generally neutral, nearly scowled.

“Unfortunately, you can’t have him. My daughter has chosen him as her husband.” She said in response. “As it is, he can’t be released to you.” She added, her expression remaining the same, close to scowling.

“You do realize that if I take this back to my clan, you do realize what will happen?” The Nightsister asked. “They’re not going to be very pleased.” She said. “This could get violent, and all over a man, an offworlder, nonetheless?” She added, raising an eyebrow as she did.

“You are welcome to issue a challenge. If you do, I can assure you that my daughter, Ar’i, will meet your chosen champion in one on one combat, as is honorable and should your champion win, then Akain will be yours.”

“No, I don’t think you realize what I meant.” The other replied. “The one who wants him is an offworlder as well. He does not abide by our rules and furthermore, we’re Nightsisters. We don’t abide by the rules anyway. We’re being polite here.”

“If you want a war, we’ll give you a war.”

“There doesn’t have to be a war.” Akain said.

The women turned to him.

“I will go with the Nightsisters. There doesn’t need to be any bloodshed.” He said. “Least of all, not over me.” He added. “Ar’i might have claimed me, but I know that she would hand me over to them in the name of keeping the peace.” He said. “I’ll go with her.” He repeated.

“I don’t think so, Akain.”

“We will destroy this place.” The Nightsister said. “He has weaponry, and more high tech equipment than you do.” She said. She rose. “We will await your decision outside.” She said before leaving the room.
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Re: Akain Karna: The White Ghost

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Ar’i’s mother watched as the Nightsisters began their journey back towards their own clan and their fortress. The discussions had been over rather quickly after Akain had stepped forward and made his offer. She sighed, thinking about what had happened. Ar’i would not be pleased at all. Her mother rubbed her arms slowly, to ward off the chilly wind that had picked up since the delegation from the Sisters of the Dark Lake had arrived. If she had been a paranoid person, she would have thought that the Nightsisters had done it on purpose. She wasn’t though and knew that it was just Dathomir being Dathomir. The woman turned and looked at the person behind her.

“Why did you do that?”

“It had to be done. We could not let them get what they wanted. They are Nightsisters and are of the Dark side.” She said in reply, anger in her voice at the age old betrayal of the Nightsisters. They had broken the bonds that had bound the Dathomiri Witches together when they had strayed from the rules of Allyan magic and had started using the Dark side. “I can not trust them and nor will I allow what they wanted to actually happen.” She added.

“Yes,” Akain said. “But with the Dark side behind them, they are powerful foes.” He said, folding his arms over his chest. He knew that voicing his displeasure with her course of action was going to get him nowhere quickly, but he still felt like it had to be done. He wasn’t part of this matriarchal society, even if Ar’i had chosen him as a husband and if he did marry her, she was going to learn quickly that he wasn’t going to bend over backwards to do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, however she wanted. He had a good feeling their relationship would end, as soon as she realized that.

“We can fight them.” She said in response.

“Of that, I have no doubt.” Akain said. “However, they are going to have back up in the form of one rather large, imposing, and juggernaut of a bounty hunter and his team. And they have very modernized weapons.” He said. “We’re not going to be able to fight them all.” He added, looking away for a moment before looking back.

“The problem is that you’re not thinking about the big picture.”

“Really?” Akain asked. “Why is that?”

“If the Nightsister’s make a move, they’ll have all of the clans coming down on them.” She said in reply and smiled, as though what she had said would solve the problem.

You’re talking about escalation. What about the other Nightsisters?” He asked.

“Not if we move fast enough.” She said in reply.

Akain was still unconvinced.
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Re: Akain Karna: The White Ghost

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"They're not going to turn him over." The envoy said. She had arrived back at the home of the Sisters of the Dark Lake. She was in the Nightsister's council room and she had just finished telling them everything that had transpired during her journey to where Akain was. She turned and looked at Kamahl as did a a few of the other people in the room. If they went to war, they would be doing it because it was what he wanted. He needed to give them something to make up for it, despite the fact that he had that ring. It only went so far to be honest. Kamahl knew this and he decided that he would wait for them to question him, before he tried to allay their fears. He didn't have to wait that long for the questions to come.

"Offworlder, while we have no problem going to war with the Flowing River Clan, we don't want to. There is nothing in it for us, outside of getting someone who you want. What is our reason for doing this then?" One of the women asked.

"You know the man whose ring this is. By helping me, you help him. He repays his debts a great deal." Kamahl said. "You can put your trust in that."

"Oh we trust him. But he has not been here in years. We will need something in a shorter span of time to make up for what we will have lost and also to help us fight against the other clans, should they rise up against us." Another of the council members said.

Kamahl nodded in response to this.

"You have a valid point. I know that credits will do you little good." He said. "Perhaps I can get in touch with people I know and they will bring equipment like mine that will allow you to fight the Dathomiri witches?"

"Perhaps?" She said in reply.

He smiled then. Once he had gotten his heading and he had known that it was Dathomir that he was supposed to be going to in order to get Akain Karna, he had spoken to the man whose signet ring he had used to get the help of the Sisters in the first place. The man had given him strict instructions on what to do. He had a plan of his own. Akain would be leaving this planet cold and unconscious, locked in a cage.
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Re: Akain Karna: The White Ghost

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Akain looked at what was in front of him. Various weapons of different types had been piled together for the upcoming fight against the Nightsisters. Everyone knew that it was coming; they knew that it was unavoidable. It was just a matter of time before the attack began. Akain had been working with the people in charge of the defense of the clan to make sure that everything that could be done was being done, so that they could be prepared for the attack. Messengers mounted on rancors had been sent to various clans to see what aid could be mustered. Furthermore, Ar’i had been gotten in touch with and was on her way back to the Flowing River stronghold.

The Nagai had also been working with the warriors that the Clan had when it came to their offense. They needed to devise tactics that would be able to effectively fight the modernized weaponry that Kamahl and the rest of his bounty hunter team had at their disposal. Akain had journeyed to his ship and had gotten what supplies he could, but the truth was that he didn’t have the equipment to properly fight back against Kamahl. Neither did the Flowing River Clan have it, this Akain knew. It was going to be a hard fight, everyone knew this.

Now, Akain was standing in the armory, viewing everything that they had. He sighed as Ar’i walked into the room. He turned and looked at her. “With this kind of arsenal, it would be better if we went to battle with sticks and stones.” He said. “We’re not going to be able to fight them and win this battle. It’s going to be a slaughter.” Akain added.

“We’ve been kept on this planet for years now by the Imperials, what did you expect, Akain?” She asked. She walked over to him and proceeded to smack him, without saying another word about the situation that they were currently in.

“What was that for?” Akain asked, not even bothering to rub his cheek. It was going to turn red; she had hit him rather hard. He had a feeling that she wasn’t going to explain her action or if she did, she wasn’t going to properly explain herself.

“For thinking of volunteering yourself like you did. You are…an idiot.” She said in reply.

Akain shrugged in response.

“I said what I said, because I thought it was the right thing to do.” He said. “We need to figure out what to do here.” He said. “Your people don’t have the firepower to fight someone like Kamahl. The Nightsisters, maybe. But if you Kamahl into the equation, then you’re going to have too many problems.” Akain said. “I don’t doubt your Force powers, your Allyan Magic, but I’ve been in more combat situations than I can count. The numbers don’t add up.”

“Everything isn’t numbers, Akain.”

“That may be true, but they give you a damn good look at what things are probably going to be.” Akain said. “We need something else.”
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Re: Akain Karna: The White Ghost

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The problem was, Ar’i mused, was that there was nothing else. They had to make do with what they had, and what they had wasn’t much. She knew this and so did Akain. The two of them looked at each other, knowing that they needed something to give their side that much of an edge when it came to the battle. Neither of them were sure what that edge was or what it could be. Akain had a few possibilities, but nothing that would really work within the time constraints that they had. For her part, the Dathomiri witch was unsure if the runners that they had sent to some of the other tribes would be able to make it back in time to bring aid.

They walked out of the armory and into the rest of the stronghold. People were moving here and there, preparing what they could, how they could. Akain watched as provisions were transferred to and fro in the stronghold. There were a large number of people moving through the hallways and Ar’i and Akain were moving against the grain of the traffic. There were calm expressions on the faces of the witches, but he could sense the undercurrent of urgency that flowed through all of their actions. He turned towards Ar’i but something caught his eye as he did and he turned towards it.

He looked out of the window and saw a cache of drums of fuel. They had been moved a bit away from everything else, as the few vehicles that the Clan had were being used had been moved out of the normal garages that they were in, and so the fuel had needed to be moved along with them. As he stood there and looked, Ar’i followed his gaze, but when she saw the fuel drums, she didn’t see the same thing that Akain did. He looked as though he was staring off blankly into space but he wasn’t, and she she was unsure what he was seeing. But there was no way that she could have seen the same things. She just hadn’t had the same experiences as Akain.

The Nagai was thinking about a particular mission where he had been working as a combat pilot as back up for part of the mercenary unit that he had been a part of at the time. It was before he had started doing special operations and black operations and so he had been more of a pilot. Despite what he could do, the people in charge of the mercenary unit had believed that as a child, Akain simply couldn’t do the same things that older soldiers would be able to do.

During one particular mission, he had been flying a combat airspeeder, rigged so that it could hold more passengers than normally. They had been forced to sacrifice some of the weaponry. He had dropped off the soldiers and had been headed back out of enemy fire when he had gotten a distress call from another group of soldiers within the unit. He had headed over there, to attempt to help as best as possible. When he had gotten there, he had seen that the soldiers on the ground were pinned down on all sides. Scattered through the landing area were fuel drums.

Akain had targeted the fuel drums with the single autoblaster that his craft had had left and had opened fire. Because of how the enemy forces had been concentrated, the drums’ explosions had taken out large number of the enemy force and had granted his comrades the time that they needed to continue on with their part of the overall mission.

Akain was reminded of this. He turned to Ar’i. “I think I may know what we can do.” he said and she looked at him for a few moments. She had learned over time and through their few fights, that Akain's mind worked quickly and efficiently. By now, he had already mapped out how this supposed strategy of his was going to work. Still, it didn't hurt to make sure that he was thinking of everything. If he always thought of everything she wouldn't have been able to catch him with her Allyan Magic every once in a while. She nodded slowly.

"What is it?"

"Come with me and I'll tell you."
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Re: Akain Karna: The White Ghost

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It took them a while to get there and along the way, Ar'i was able to figure out where they were going. She wasn't surprised when they reached where his ship was located. It made sense to take things to the air. She hadn't thought about something like the ship, mainly because the idea of the starship was only something that had been in her life for a very short time. Either no one had come across the ship since she had captured Akain or no one had bothered to do anything to it, because it was in the exact same place that they had left it, and nothing looked out of place. At least, nothing looked out of place to Ar'i. She didn't presume to know the inner workings of ships or how they functioned. She would leave this to Akain.

Ar'i knew when when to annoy Akain was fine and when to do that would prove disastrous. She could pretend to be standoffish about utilizing his ship and could furthermore question his knowledge of ships. She could even pretend to be a technology hater and refuse to get on board his ship. However, her people were in danger and Akain's plan could help them win the battle that was soon to be before them. That meant that all thoughts of annoying Akain or messing with him were pushed to side quickly and efficiently. As soon as he got the boarding ramp down, he was walking up it, and she followed closely behind him. "Doesn't this bounty hunter have a vessel of his own?" She asked.

"Yes." Akain said. "You're suggesting the question of how do we know that he won't be bringing his own ship against us. That's a good question and one that I don't know the answer to. But we can't base our strategy on what our enemy might or might not do. We have to be prepared for all options. Furthermore, if he does bring his ship, then my craft will be the only thing that we have that can effectively combat it, other than using Allyan magic." He said.

"That's another thing." Ar'i said, but before she could pose the question, Akain was already speaking once more.

"You're wondering what's going to stop the Nightsisters from using Allyan Magic against this ship." He said and Ar'i scowled then, unable to help it. She had known that she had chosen a strong and intelligent man to be her mate and he was proving that was the case right here. However, she didn't like being interrupted and furthermore, she didn't like it when the man seemingly appeared to have all the answers. Mainly because men didn't have all the answers and she didn't want Akain to continue to believe that folly. He turned to her then. "That's your question, yes?"

"Yes." She replied.

"You're going to stop them." He said.

"Me?" She asked.

"Yes. You'll be up here in the ship with me. If they attempt to use Allyan Magic, you can cast protection spells," He said, deciding that arguing about the philosophy of the Force and what to call using the Force was pointless right now especially if he was able to put things in terms that she could understand. "You can keep the ship safe and allow me to continue to fight them." He finished.

"You've thought this out well, Akain."

"I try." He said. "There's one other good reason of having you onboard the ship." He said.

"And what would that be?"

"Well, if there were no members of the Flowing River Clan up here, and I was by myself, what would stop me, at the end of the battle, assuming that we've won, or even if we've lost, from turning and leaving?" He said with a small wry grin on his face.

Ar'i reached out and smacked him, then, hard. Akain worked his jaw around and the smile grew a little, since he knew that he had driven his point across. "Alright then, let's get the ship fired up."
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Re: Akain Karna: The White Ghost

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It happened as soon as they got into the air. A wave of uncertainty struck Akain, as though something terrible had happened. He turned and looked at Ar'i, but she gave no outward sign that she had experienced the same thing or even anything similar. He chalked it up to the fact that the two of them accessed the Force through quite different ways and transferred more energy from the ship's reactor to the engines. He had a bad feeling that something was terribly wrong back at the Flowing River clan's stronghold. They had to get their and get their fast. He knew that Kamahl's forces would have blaster weaponry, and possibly some heavier weaponry. But he doubted that they would have anything that could properly affect a starship, even one as small as the transport that he was in. Akain transferred power from the shields to the weapons systems, bringing them a hundred percent online. What energy was left was in the shield's evened out.

This needed to be rectified, as Akain doubted that any attack would be coming from above him. Whatever was left was pushed into the ship's lower shields, so that even if Kamahl's forces had an E-web or something around that output level, his shields would be able to take it without too many problems. He was sure that they had one, if not something more devastating. Ar'i was in the cockpit with him. She stood behind his seat, leaning against the back, her head near his own. As they flew towards the stronghold, the sense of unease and uncertainty grew, until he knew he had to say something.

There was the distinct possibility that they were going to come across the stronghold already attacked, and the last thing he wanted was for Ar'i to lose her cool. He certainly doubted that it would happen, but he had served with women in military situations before. Unless they were properly trained and had seen many combat encounters, they did have a tendency to blow things out of proportion and let their emotions get the best of them. One needed to be cool and detached from the situation, much like he was, if one wanted to survive. He was about to open his mouth and he had half turned, when Ar'i spoke.

"By the gods."

He turned back and looked out of the cockpit. Kamahl and the Sisters of the Dark Lake had struck, the battle was on.

There weren't a great number of warriors in the fight, but those that were there were giving it their all. Already, there were dead and wounded on both sides. Akain was trained enough in Allyan Magic by now that he was able to recognize more than a few of the spells that were being cast on either side. Mainly the Dathomiri Witches, not the Nightsisters. The Nightsisters were using more offensive spells compared to the Dathomiri and he could sense the Dark side in their actions. He looked at Ar'i and he coudl see the shock on her face. "What? What is it?" He asked, wanting to pin down just what it was that she was feeling. He needed to figure out how best to motivate her, just in case.

"I knew it would be bad, but not this bad." She said. "There hasn't been a battle at the stronghold in years, since some time before I was born."

"Well, you've got one now." Akain said. He gestured. "There's the hatch that leads to the guns on the underbelly. I'll talk you through everything." He said.

She nodded and for once, listened to him, moving immediately. Akain was grateful for that. He couldn't control the guns from where he was, he needed her for that. He had access to the forward firing laser cannon, but he'd have to be pointed downwards, since the gun wasn't turreted. Ar'i was the one who would contribute the most between the two of them right then. Together, they'd be able to help the Flowing River clan turn the tide. He just hoped that she would be able to concentrate and possibly fire while using her Allyan Magic to stop any Nightsisters from attacking the ship directly.
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Re: Akain Karna: The White Ghost

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Akain brought his ship in for another pass. The fight had slowly shifted towards the Flowing River Clan. Akain's guns had forced the Nightsisters to seek cover. When he completed a pass, they had a brief window of time in which to attack the Flowing River Clan before he came back around again. They were taking advantage of that period of time and were still inflicting losses on the other side, as they utilized tactics and spells that were much more vicious and harmful than those that the Dathomiri witches had in their arsenal. The Dathomiri witch manning the guns on his ship wasn't the greatest gunner, but she was hitting them where it counted. She was going more for the ability of the powerful laser beams to force the enemy to scatter more than anything. But that wasn't Ar'i's main usefulness to Akain, even though the guns were his main contribution to the fight. He could find a way to use the one sole laser cannon that he had at his disposal, though it would drastically reduce his effectiveness at flying and make him rather ineffective at fighting. No, Ar'i's main usefulness to Akain was that she could cast spells against the enemy.

She wasn't able to cast the greatest spells that she could, because she was concentrating on other things, like making sure that she was on top of the guns and the technology that she had never used before in her life. However, what she was able to do helped a lot. The ship had been battered by a lot of debris so far, but it had held and there were no hull breaches, at least none that Akain was aware of. Ar'i was casting protective spells, and it if wasn't for those spells, the ship would have had a number of holes in it and it wouldn't be too keen on flying.

He maneuvered the ship around and brought it down for another pass. One of Akain's problems, one that even Ar'i couldn't solve, was Kamahl. The bounty hunter had brought normal weaponry. He had set up two E-webs along with their generators on carts drawn by rancors. The E-webs were targeting Akain's ship, something that he was grateful. He had a feeling that otherwise, they would be tearing members of the Flowing River clan apart. At least they were splashing the energy against his shields which could recharge, as opposed to ripping through Dathomiri witches. The ship that Akain was flying hadn't taken too much damage so far.

But he knew that it could happen. He was just lucky that Kamahl didn't have any heavier weaponry or anything of the sort like missile launchers. If that had been the case, Akain would have been out of luck completely. They would have been able to take his ship down with ease.

As the transport maneuvered through the air, Akain felt the ship vibrate as Ar'i activated the ship's guns and the laser cannons accessed energy from the reactor. Soon, there was a whine as the red beams of energy lanced out towards the ground. Akain could heard the thudding sound as the blasts hit the ground. He didn't bother to watch what the results were, mainly because he didn't have time to do anything like that. He had to keep the ship up and make sure that they didn't crash or that anything bad happened to the ship. He would have rather that he was done on the ground, helping the Flowing River clan in that way. Akain was an exceptional ground fighter. As a pilot, he was good, but he didn't have access to any real weaponry here.

If he was on the ground, he would have been able to help out a lot more. But he scratched that thought from his mind. Akain didn't use lightsabers anymore, so he would have been forced to use stun batons or swords from the Flowing River clan's arsenal. He didn't know why Kamahl was here, but he had good reason to believe that it had something to do with him. Those E-webs would be trained on him if he had been on the ground, and without a lightsaber, Akain would be hard pressed to stay alive. He had dodged his fair share of blaster bolts, but that didn't mean he wanted to test again whether or not he was agile enough to keep dodging them.

Akain's eyes widened as he looked out in the distance. Kamahl had an ace in the hole and he was getting ready to play it. Akain hadn't thought about Kamahl using that option, at least, not really. Well he had, but he had hoped that it would never happen. He saw another transport-class vessel moving towards them at a very fast rate. Unfortunately for Akain, he knew that this ship would be much more heavily modified than the one that he was currently piloting. Which meant that its weapons would be stronger and its shielding tougher. There was no way that he could win this battle in this ship. He needed something else. He closed his eyes for a quick moment, trying to think. Nothing came to him. No flash of inspiration, nothing.

What could he do, short of ramming his ship into Kamahl's that would take it out of the fight? That wasn't an option as he would kill himself probably in the process and rule number one of any engagement was to come out alive. Not necessarily whole, but at least alive.

"Ar'i we have a problem." Akain said.

"The bounty hunter brought his ship, didn't he?" She asked.

Well, at least now he knew how she felt when he took the words out of her mouth.
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