SWRPF Archive Unholy Battleground

Time: Several years after Guardians of the Force: The Tainted Blade.

Plot: The Imperial Remnant has decided to try the Shadow Trooper project again, and they are relying heavily on the hope that the damage caused by its previous use was enough to weaken the Republic's defenses. However, they also have the help of what is behind the mask...

Holowan Laboratories used to have a very good reputation as an Imperial science ouptost. Then there was IG-88, and the reputation was forever tarnished. Recently, however, the Remnant took control of the base, and relocated all of the equipment to a secret outpost in the Outer Rim. A new creation was engineered in Holowan, and the Remnant has big plans for him.

As for the Shadow Troopers, they are under the command of this obscenity. With the power of an unstoppable madman behind the controls of the new Shadow Trooper project, the Republic will need a lot of help in surviving the newest Imperial plot. The Republic will be up against the living dead.

Character Format:

Name:
Codename, if desired:
Age:
Gender:
Species:
Home:
Appearance stats:
Personality:
Allegiance:
Rank:
Commission:
Force-sensitivity:
Force powers, if any:
Weapons:
Ship, if any:
Bio, if desired:

My character:

Name: Tiberius Nemetorius
Codename: Nemesis
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Home: Holowan Laboratories
Appearance stats: Blue eyes, brown hair, 6'6", 200 lbs, has a pair of Imperial dog tags.
Personality: Unable to experience any happy emotions, and usually hateful.
Allegiance: Imperial Remnant
Rank: Colonel
Commission: Paranormal Division
Force-sensitivity: None
Force powers, if any: None
Weapons: Cortosis-steel sword, The Emperor's Hand (robotic limb with electro-shock cannon), modified E-11 (added TD launcher).
Ship, if any: SSD Phantom Stranger
Bio, if desired: Withheld by Remnant...

OOC: Please, if possible, post at least once of twice a week. Also, I'd like all Republic characters to start at either Yavin IV or Coruscant.

PoT edit: locked at Knighthawk's request.

 

Hey, I thought you vanished for the summer? Ah well, I'll definitely be onboard, give me a day or so to post my character.

 

I'll likely take part in this as well. It just won't be today. Hope that's alright.

 

OOC:

I hope the both of you join. As for the opponents you'll be facing, I should probably be specific.

The Undead Shadow Troopers have a special catch to them: much like the new commander of the project, they cannot be sensed through the Force due to a tampering of their genetic code. Thanks to the use of "black magic", they are alive, much like you and I. They fight, live, and die much like normal people. However, their tolerance for pain is far greater than that of anything ever seen before. To put it mildly, you'll be a long while before you actually see one of these die in combat.

To answer Kai's question about my disappearance, I have limited access every so often at the local library, for roughly 30 minutes each time. They only allow one access period per day, so my access over the summer is horribly reduced. Also, I have racing trips that I will be on every other week, so I will be out of state very often, and therefore unable to log on.

To continue to the topic of when this can start... I need two more Imperials and three Rebels, at the least. Again, all Rebels are asked to start on either Coruscant or Yavin IV. All Imperials are asked to start in the Outer Rim or some other random location. All characters may also start out on their ships, if they so choose. Rebel soldiers, however, are urged not to start in the Outer Rim, since there is a strong likelihood that an Imperial vessel would notice and initiate an attack run, attempting to obliterate the enemy.

How the project will be run: I will have some clues left in some bases in the Remnant's control, and Republic operatives are urged to head to these sites and check them out. I will allow one Republic soldier to start at Kejim, where the Shadow Trooper project had some of its origins. The first clue can be found there. (Why do I have a feeling that out buddy A-Wings will want that spot?)

The clues will be video-hologram sequences, with the content of the sequence revealing a clue to what the Shadow Trooper suits are covering, or where they are being manufactured. Some clues will be easy, and some will be difficult. (I hope I can make some tough ones! )

All standard rules apply: God-moding is strictly forbidden in all aspects. So is responding for another person.

Most importantly, have some fun, y'all.

 

Hope this is okay. I have tied in Kai's chronological age with the events of Gaurdians of the Force:The Tainted Blade having been over four years ago.

Just as a side note, the entire plot to GOTF:TTB is possibly going to be split over three separate RPG's but I'll detail that later in my own game.

If this is not okay, I will alter them. Also, as I'm renowed for, can I invoke an NPC apprentice?

Name: Kai Halicon
Codename, if desired: None, but goes under the alias Kain Halo sometimes on missions.
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Home: Born of Tyrol, resides on Yavin IV and Corruscant.
Appearance stats: Tall, athletically built, olive complexion, attractive exotic features Shaggy collar-length brown/black hair with white streaks in fringe. Scars around right eye, which glows red. Cultural tattoos running across back, shoulders and upper arms. Commonly wears black garments. Dresses very Matrix/Cyberpunk - long trenchcoat and protective armour, uncommon garb for a Jedi Master when on filed assignments but wears traditional Jedi robes now, hued in charcoal and black.
Personality: Quick-thinking, intelligent and compassionate, he has a jaded past but is innately good. Has let go of many of his darker inhibitions and is a much more relaxed person. Has become highly philosophical.
Allegiance: Jedi Order of NR.
Rank: Jedi Master/Instructor
Commission: Academy Instructor/Headmaster/Special Jedi Ops.
Force-sensitivity: Yes, high level.
Force powers, if any: Able to access both light and dark sides of Force to almost any aspect but most power is placed on psionic powers, enhanced physical attributes and heightened senses.
Weapons: Emerald coloured single-bladed lightsaber (family heirloom), Mokari battle-staff converted to dual bladed lightsaber w/ silver blades.
Ship, if any: Reconditioned YT-1300a Corellian freighter, the Rogue Knight. Kai was also given a refitted X-Wing, the Knight Hunter to replaced his destroyed former ship, the Knight Shadow by the NR.
Bio, if desired: After the events that ended the saga of the Tainted Blade several years ago, Kai Halicon retired to his homeworld of Tyrol to recuperate after injuries he gained over the duration of the quest, spending almost a year in retirement from the Jedi.

However, Kai felt his skills would be best passed on to the next generation of Jedi and he accepted a poistion to teach at the Jedi Academy on Yavin IV, quickly become one of the head instructors and heamaster in the absence of Luke Skywalker. He teaches everything from lightsaber fighting and psionic power use to mechanical skills and fighter pilot training and is well respected by his students.

Kai has been happily teaching the next generation of Jedi, including some of the children of Jedi Knights he served with and is content with his place but part of his heart yearns for things the wise Master Yoda was quoted as saying a Jedi craves not - action and adventure. Since the seeming abolishement of the Sith, Kai has been lacking purpose as he vowed his life to defeating them and has tried to fill the void by acting as an instructor.

With the graduation of his own apprentices some time ago, Kai is once again pondering taking on an apprentice but at the same time, he has found himself somewhat disturbed by the thought of growing older by himself and has decided to try and keep his ties close to friends from the past, completely unaware of the fact that he still has family out there in the cosmos....

Hopefully some of you other players will retain your previous characters for better interaction.... *hint hint*

 

OOC: ...Hmm, could I toss Terow in? If this is a straight military/Jedi operation I suppose I can't.

 

I don't see why you couldn't toss Terow in...I mean, the New Republic people are looking for clues, or maybe someone hired Terow for some job that ties him into this situation...

Since we've more or less established that this is about 4 or more years after Tainted Blade, anything could have happened in that time to Terow that gets him back...

Or maybe he's working for the Imperials, for one reason or another...

who knows

 

Name: Terow Gradz
Age: 23
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Home: Lavisar
Appearance stats: 5 foot 9 in, 125 lbs, black hair, blue eyes
Personality: generally quiet and unobtrusive, a deep thinker
Allegiance: whoever will pay him that he approves of
Force-sensitivity: none
Weapons: 3 vibroblades, a handful of shuriken (think ninja throwing stars)
Ship, if any: none
Bio, if desired: Since Gaurdians of the Force, Terow has drifted back into his previous professions of bounty hunting and bodyguard, but still tries to keep up with where his companions are.

OOC: I don't think Kaylen will be in this. I'm not sure he's going to survive.

 

Count me in knighthawk. I'll post my bio tomorow though. restaints on time tonight. Plus in trying to think of something extra to add to a specific character

 

OOC: I was actually playing around with the idea of killing off Serin in Tainted Blade at some point, but I've since changed my mind, so without further adeu...

Name: Serin Kore

Age: 28

Gender: Female

Species: Human

Home: Born on Corellia, tends to stay nomadic, but with longer stays with the Jedi than she would have a few years prior.

Appearance stats: Dark hair (burgundy/black) hair below her shoulders with dirty blonde roots, braided in several places and tied back out of her clear grey/green eyes. Pale skin contrasts her hair colour. Has a scar running up along her back from a careless move in battle years ago. She continues to mix her fashions between current ones, and the look of the Jedi of old, in darker colours than most Jedi, mostly in dark earth tones, with the occasional burgundy or black shade to be seen.

Personality: Forthright, brutally honest, but still with a sense of humour. Has somewhat come into her own, being much more confident than she used to be.

Allegiance: Jedi/New Republic

Rank: Jedi Master

Commission: Part time academy instructor/Jedi scout and special ops

Force-sensitivity: High

Force powers: Telekinesis, healing and physical powers (agility, endurance, etc.) Her telepathy has improved greatly from when she was younger, but it's still not as powerful as many Jedi.

Weapons: 2 single bladed lightsabers, one red bladed the other blue.

Ship: A freighter/fighter hybrid called the Rogue Star

Bio: After the events of the Tainted Blade saga, Serin continued her pilgrimage around the galaxy. She followed the will of the Force, wherever it led her.

Approximately a year later she encountered a young (by ?her? species? standards) force sensitive humanoid named Asha Foscari I?Due. Asha was a Shi?ido, an extremely long living species of shapeshifters, and Serin took Asha on as her first apprentice, both to teach and to learn about Asha?s species (of which most people know little to nothing about).

After a few months of intense training, Serin brought Asha to the Jedi academy after learning that her good friend Kai Halicon had taken on the duties of headmaster. He convinced her to help instruct younger students, which she agreed to do part of the time. She also in turn confided in Kai about Asha species (Shi?ido, being a secretive species, don?t confide in many, usually only letting them see one form).

She continued to travel, for months on end, sometimes with Asha, sometimes without. She would also return to the academy and stay, teaching for a few months at a time. When she was 27, she was finally given the title of Jedi Master.

She has recently returned to the academy after a 4 month long trip to the outer rim.

 

OOC ? I might as well put it up now. Just found out I won?t have time tomorrow.

Name: Kalai Nadair
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Species: Human
Home: Born on Naboo, Lives on Yavin IV/Coruscant
Appearance stats: Dark blonde hair, quite long (in one long braid). Blue eyes. Quite small for her age (5ft 4) Wears basic Jedi garb although since been assigned to assist in the new republic military, she is sometimes seen in new republic military uniform/Flightsuit
Personality: Determined, friendly and quick thinking although very protective of her friends and people that she loves
Allegiance: New republic Jedi Order/NR Military
Rank: Knight (Also considered an officer in the military)
Commission: Special Op?s (Jedi and military)
Force-sensitivity: Yes. Normal level
Force powers, if any: Most lightside powers. Although her most strong use is in agility and sharpened senses/reflexes.
Weapons: Lightsaber (Blue), Fallback blaster (only used if really needed)
Ship, if any: NR X wing (But it isn?t my own!)

Bio:

Since being knighted, Kalai?s life has been through a lot of twists and turns. At 18, she was caught in the conflict of a siege on the Yavin 4 temple. The events of this caused the connection with Jedi master Kai Halicon, Serin Korr Kai?s apprentices and the dark Jedi Lance McCallister. This also fronted the decision for Kalai to take on her first padawan learner. A girl called Raya who survived the initial strikes by the shadow troopers and reborn dark jedi. The group went their separate ways afterwards and Kalai always hoped she would see them again.

Over the years, She continued the task of training Raya, During this time she spent a lot of time helping to rebuild the shattered temple which had been devastated during the a war, By engaging in more domestic tasks such as gathering lost information for the archives and system re-building. While Kai and Serin were off to help Camden Rycoth get rid of a lightsaber tainted with the darkside, the republic called up Kalai and Raya, to work alongside the republic military, to further investigate remaining imperial remnants and factions. This caused her to pick up a lot of essential skills. After knighting her now 18 year old apprentice, Raya was sent on her own missions and tasks, Leaving Kalai with a blank space to fill. Soon the NR got in touch with her and offered her a commission into the new republic Military as part of the special Operations team, Seeing how well her skills aided them in the last missions. After a lot of thought, and the permission off the council, she accepted. Even though she works with the military, she still holds the jedi close to her heart and prefers to spend time at the Yavin temple, than in the claustrophobic bases on coruscant. And is given special permission from her Commanding Officer to go and assist the Jedi whenever she is needed.

OOC ? I hope that was ok. Since Kalai has been absent for a long time between the end of old and the new/tainted blade and this RPG. I thought I?d give her something to do and develop the character But if your not happy, then I will gladly change

 

OOC: I can't speak for anyone else, but I think it's great to see Kalai back!

I think it's especially interesting having her gone the different route of the more military work than say Kai or Serin, even with an apprentice. Can't wait to see the interactions we all get into...

 

Yeah, it's pretty cool that our 'old-gang' of gamers seems to be returning to their primary characters. Whilst there's always something to be said for creating new players (which I was tempted to do for this RPG), I had to go with what I knew as well.

 

And I will give myself a Republic character, as of now...

Name: Joseph H. McCallister
Codename, if desired: Hack
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Home: Corellia
Appearance stats: 5'6", 170 lbs., black hair, black eyes, one tattoo (seal of the New Republic on left shoulder)
Personality: Friendly, yet very militant.
Allegiance: New Republic
Rank: Commander
Commission: Jedi Order, Yavin IV Branch
Force-sensitivity: Very high, tainted slightly by darkness.
Force powers, if any: Destruction, Grip, Lightning, Healing, Ability Enhancements, Object Manipulations, Mind Trick.
Weapons: Two lightsabers (black blades) and an M16A2 (modified).
Ship, if any: Incom T-65 X-Wing, codename of Dark Wing.
Bio, if desired: Withheld by personal request.

OOC: The family continues. (Evil laughter.)

OOC, to Kai: On your earlier question about Padawans, the answer is yes. However, I must ask you one thing: How many novel-sized posts can I expect from you?

 

OOC, to KnightHawk: You can pretty much guarentee the usual Kai. In other words, pretty much every other post is novel sized.

As for the apprentice, we already have one. I did up a character sheet for Asha (Serin's padawan), who's more or less apprenticed to both Kai and Serin.

Name: Asha Foscari I?Due

Age: 86 (young for a Shi?ido)

Gender: Ambiguous

Species: Shi?ido (shapeshifter)

Description: Appears to be a young humanoid with long white hair, pale skin and ice blue eyes. Identifies as male or female, depending on the situation (most from the Jedi academy think of ?her? as female). Is 5?7? and waif-like thin, giving the visual to people of an androgynous female in her early 20?s, or a younger male of around 15. Likes to wear styles reminiscent of the Jedi of the Old Republic, with variations for the modern age, in shades of reds and burgundy?s that contrast against her general paleness, and ties into her master?s colour scheme.

Rank: Apprentice

Top Skills (force and otherwise): Stealth/infiltration and acrobatics. High level telepath (not quite Kai Halicon?s level, but higher than many).

Saber: A single bladed green saber given by Serin Kore.

Other weapons: A small fallback blaster pistol.

Bio: Asha Foscari I?Due is a member of the Shi?ido, a shapechanging species that many people have heard of, but almost no one knows much about. They are friendly and curious about the galaxy around them, but individuals keep details about their race secret, for safety?s sake, and Asha is no exception.

While Asha is in truth much older than anyone at the Jedi academy, or even her masters, Asha?s actually an adolescent by her species standards. The Shi?ido mature much slower than most species, and as such, aren?t allowed to leave and explore the galaxy on their own until they are in their mid 70?s.

Asha showed affinity to the Force from a young age, and has been taught her species Force traditions which, while not as in depth as proper Jedi training, gave her a grounding to work from when Serin met and took Asha on as her apprentice.

Asha has been at the Jedi academy for nearly 3 years now. Sometimes she accompanies Serin on missions, other times remains at the academy. Asha feels closest to Serin and Kai Halicon, the only 2 at the academy who are aware of her species. While she?s friendly to others, and has friends at the academy, most just think of her as a female near-human, which she neither acknowledges nor denies.

She's developed a connection with Kai as he's been her main instructor on her telepathic abilities (both her and Kai's psionic skills are much higher than Serin's).

On missions, she will sometimes assume the forms of other species for infultration purposes, but is careful what she changes into. Being young, changing into a species very complicated or different from her normal one can overwhelm her, and put her body into shock, forcing her to stay in that form until she recovers.

 

OOC: Thanks for the guarantee. And also thanks for throwing in the Padawan. I guess I forgot to mention that my second character is a Knight. Oops.

EDIT: I have to tweak my character again... (Grumble, grumble, grumble...)

Age: 22
Jedi Rank: Recently promoted to knight (see intro post).
Personal items: Two very old lightsabersw, similar in design to his own.

If I have to edit this again, I will just write the post over again.

(Curses system.)

 

Looks pretty cool. Anyone mind a newbie?


Name: Liz Fan'nar
Age: 19
Gender: female
Species: Twi'lek
Home: Born on Ryloth, formally resided on Yavin IV, recently moved to Courscant
Appearance stats: Tall green skined young woman with deep blue eyes. Tends to wear black tank tops and whatever pair of pants she can find. Will wear formal attire when necesasry
Personality: Just made a Knight, Liz wants to do well and is generally sociable with others. Can be reserved at times and used to pull practical jokes durning her training days
Allegiance: New Republic/Jedi Order
Rank: Jedi Knight
Force-sensitivity: yep
Force powers, if any: mind trick and force trick
Weapons: one lightsaber (navy), one blaster
Ship, if any: One fighter she was given as a knighting present from her brother.
Bio, if desired: Liz came from a loving family who supported her training as soon as it was offered.

Liz spent six years training until she was knighted last month. This crisis is her first 'mission'.

 

Welcome aboard... (Grins an evil, sadistic smile.) I hope you don't mind the undead... (Palpatine-style laugh.)

 

Oh I'm sure this will be an amusing first mission for Liz lol

 

How many novel-sized posts can I expect from you?

Oh ha-bloody-ha.



I can't seriously recall posting anything recently that was less than three paragraphs. I am the god of epic details and random banter.

 

I asked for the sake of knowing beforehand. You shocked me last time.

Did you notice the family resemblance in my Republic character?

 

Nice to have you Arwen-Jade_Kenobi. I like the family resemblance thing your talking about Knighthawk. Could lead to some interesting situations

 

Six Republic Operatives, One Imperial Soldier, and One Mercenary...

Number-wise, we can begin. I will be holding out for more Imperial soldiers. And so it begins...

IC1:

The Imperial Super Star Destroyer Phantom Stranger floated in the Outer Rim, hovering above the atmosphere of Holowan's new home. This dark knife of a vessel cut throughn the stars like a razor blade, leaving very little in its wake if it ever got into a fight. Presently, though, there was no fighting. There was only victory on the commander's mind. Swift, decisive victory, brought about by the undead.

Tiberius seemed very proud of his accomplishments, and so did the rest of the ship. The Shadow Troopers had ben reborn, albeit without the Force crystals, and their strange condition granted to them a greater tolerance for pain and injury than that of most living beings. Everyone was feeling a little jovial nowadays on the Phantom Stranger, and Tiberius himself had given everyone a free shore leave that they could take at their leisure. The Remnant was confident that the galaxy would be theirs to own very soon...

IC2:

The courtyard at Yavin IV looked lovely, especially during times when the Padawans graduated to Knighthood.

Joseph H. McCallister was fidgeting where he stood as he awaited the Council's decision. He felt that he had performed adequately in his tests, and was nervously hoping that he would become a Jedi Knight this time around. He almost fainted when he heard his name called by the Council. Yes! he thought triumphantly to himself. He looked up at the sky a little, knowing that there were at least two people up there watching over him, and let a warm smile cross his face as he went forward to the chief members of the Council.

After the ceremonies were completed, he and the other Knights (who had just a while ago been Padawans) were in the main training room jubilantly celebrating, when one of the Masters walked in. Joseph noticed him immediately, asked pardon from his friends, and walked over. He had something for this Master. When he had walked over to the Jedi, he bowed slightly, and began to speak. "Sir, an old friend of yours wanted me to give you something next time I had a chance to speak with you." He then procured from his robes a pair of lightsabers that looked like they had seen their fair share of use, and then some. The blades snapped to life for a few seconds, and then died. Both of them were strangely colored, black and blood-red. The young man handed the weapons to the old Master.

TAG: Kai, all others.

OOC: Kai, that Jedi Master at the end of my intro post is supposed to be you. Hope you don't mind, and I hope you understand the cameo appearance I intended.

Arwen, if you'd like, you can make that your graduation scene. If not, we could have that be a little earlier. Doesn't bother me at all.

 

OOC - Here I go...

IC

?I?m so glad that?s over with. Courier runs aren?t exactly my favourite things to do?

Kalai said to herself as she piloted the X wing towards Yavin IV

B3-C2, Kalai?s astromech droid beeped a question and the translation came up on the screen

Yes BeeThree we are going back to Yavin IV

The droid gave an excited flurry of beeps and whistles

?Oh yeah. When we get there please stay outta trouble. I don?t want to spend another 3 hours fixing up yet another droid or system that you managed to mess up.

The B3 squealed at her through the headset and translation monitor

Don?t give me that! I know that you aggravate the force out of a lot of people when they are trying to work on their ships and speeders!?

The droid gave a rude series of beeps back

?No wonder any of the other pilots in the military didn?t choose you as their droid?

She muttered to herself as the X wing made it through atmosphere. Looking at the nav computer, the Yavin temple came into view. Given permission by temple control, She landed her X wing in the hanger. B3 was already out of the ship and wheeling around. She grabbed her bag and looked about. The place was quieter than it usually was. Usually there were a lot more students working in here.

?Oh yeah. There?s a knighting going on today!?

She thought to herself as she made her way into the main temple building. Feeling slightly weird wandering in wearing the routine orange flight suit that the new republic issued to its members. Making her way past the main training room, she stopped and looked through the transparisteel door to see the knighting party in full swing, and someone who she hadn?t seen for a long time. Jedi Master Kai Halicon. He was interacting with a young jedi who looked like he had just been knighted. Not wanting to intrude, she stood there and watched the festivities from where she was?

Tag - Anyone

 

OOC: 'Tis a fine placement, 'Hawk. One makes use of what he is given.

Here comes a partial novel!

IC: From the western courtyard of the Jedi Academy on Yavin IV, the onset of autumn could clearly be felt as the green leaves faded to beige and fell to the floor of the forrest that surrounded the academy.

It was a clear, warm day, early in the afternoon; a perfect day for a Graduation/Knighting ceremony for all apprentices in their final year. For so many of them, the eight-year cirriculum was finally at an end and the dawning of a new era was upon them.

Jedi Master Kai Halicon grinned to nobody in particular as we leaned on the railing of the courtyard balcony that captured the view of the forest. He was pleased that so many students he'd helped train were now able to venture forth as Jedi. Kai was glad he was able to be a part of their journey, content in the knowledge he was helping to cultivate the next generation of Jedi Knights.

He got up from the balcony and stretched somewhat. Despite having reached his thirtieth year of life, he maintained a look of youthfulness about him that often pegged him for looking much younger. However, his eyes looked like they'd seen years more than his looks would indicate and sometimes the Jedi felt like he was an old man with all the adventures he'd had. As such, his jawline seemed firmer, his features more defined and his once-long brown hair had been cut into a shorter, jagged cut that came to his collar, the white streaks still more predominant than the brown. He still sported short sideburns but other than that remained clean shaven. Kai was amused by the fact that many of the students could scarely believe he was the age he stated he was.

Kai wore traditional Jedi robes, something he'd only adopted again after years of avoiding them. Despite their humble intentions they were hued in dark shades of black and charcoal as opposed to neurtral colours like white and brown and they were mostly formed of leather and synthetic material rather than basic fabric. It merely showed that Kai was still a man who marched to the beat of his own drum despite his conforming to the Jedi code. If anyone was bothered, no one here said anything.

Kai had been teaching here for nearly three years on and off, having come out of early retirement to teach the students of the future at the ageing Master Skywalker's request. Although happy with his position of senior Master on the campus, Kai had lately been irked by desires to journey the cosmos again.

The Jedi put it down to his feelings of isolation: many of his fellow Jedi Knights the same age as him were marrying and having families, something that was once shunned by the Old Code but now embraced as an act of normality. Since Liana's graduation years ago and the events that surrounded Camden's.....departure..... he'd not taken another student. In truth, Kai felt lonely and the only things that made him feel comforted were the occassional visits from old friends, like Serin, Kalai and Ilyx. All of them had their own lives now and Kai was well aware of the fact their paths would not always cross, but he kept their memories close to his heart. In some ways, they were the closest thing to a family he had, his only living relatives, his mother and uncle living light years away on Tyrol.

Kai shelved his feelings. Now was not the time for selfish brooding. At the end of the day, he was at least partially happy and that was better than not being happy at all. Taking leave of his position on the railing, he pulled his black robe further over himself and made his way into the main training room where he found the reception for the celebrations being held amidst jubilant student and faculty.

His telepathy alerted to the approaching presence of a someone. As he'd aged, his psionic skill had grown no less formidable but his control of it had greatly increased. By the age of twenty, he was already a telepath of the highest order but controlling his powers and keeping them from o