"You want to learn from me Jasra?" He asked. His grey eyes were disconcerting, as he looked into her face ... the metal gauntelts slowly tapping at the metal surface of the table. He hadn't ntoticed the tiny little hole the tips had started to make in it.

"There are many things I could teach you. The jedi know little of the power of the force, all tied up in staying away from their emotions. The force is not good or evil, those that weild it are. I'm not evil, I use my emotions to fuel me, yes, but I am not here to rage through civilians, or kill people who don't deserve it." He looked around for a moment, the others still weren't looking. Good.

"The Jedi teach all that control, but you've lived int he real world. You know it's not all black and white. think about my words Jasra. I'm only after Revan, and he deserves what I am bringing him. He murdered my Lord, the Lord of all the Zedai on my planet ... for no reason on than the fact that we are not simply dead creatures playing with the force. We offered to teach Revan, to teach him to use his full potential. And not be have his mind clouded by that power either, like the so called 'sith' do." He frowned. "Go now, return to your table ... Feel free to tell them I am here, you nor them will find me if I don't want you too."

Unnoticed, Crystal slipped out after Kira. After listening to Kira's thoughts for a moment, Crystal approached her. "The shard has this control of you is because you give it freely. You want power; the shard offers it. It will have no control over you if you can truly refuse it."

Jasra suddenly realised her mouth was open. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. He didn’t want to kill her. He wanted to train her. Actually train her.

She cast a wary glance over her shoulder at the Ebon Hawk group. At Crystal. Then at Kira. Each of them had taught her some things, but somehow she always felt as if she wasn’t worthy enough in their presence, like they looked down on her.

Jasra eyed the Omwati. She wondered how old he was. Hard to tell. Certainly much older and wiser than she was anyways. And for him to be sent by his people all this way on his own meant that he was certainly capable. And she knew first hand how well he fought and how powerful he was. And he wanted to train her.

She cast her eyes back over her shoulder. “Thank you, I …,” she started to say to Brax. Kira looked suddenly upset, and she was leaving the cantina. Jasra felt compelled to follow her.

Jasra turned quickly back to Brax. “I… I’d like time to think about your offer,” she said hurriedly, rising to follow Kira. “But, right now, I have to go.”

She hurried after Kira, catching up to her only after Crystal had boarded the Ebon Hawk. She paused at the top of the ramp, listening to what Crystal was saying to Kira.

Brax watched her go. She would think it over, and he would know if she told anyone. He glanced down at a small screen attached to his wrist. A datapad, tapping at it with a clawed finger and watching Jasra for a moment. He looked up at the group again.

(Doc that thing we talked about can ahppen now)

Revan passed Kira and the Exile, unseen - he couldn't let them follow him should he be forced to enter battle. He steeped into the cantina. There it was. Sitting in a table in the corner. He could sense the feeble attempts to shield it's mind and thoughts more than anything.

Brax pulled his hood back, and locked his eyes with Revans. "Outside" He mouthed, and stood, heading straight for Revan. The others didn't see him pass a few tables away. Moving out after Revan and looking around. The area was fairly open, a few bystanders, but that was unavoidable. He twisted his neck slowly, a few pops coming from it.

"It's time to end this Revan, today one of us dies."

"You cannot defeat me, animal," said Revan, drawing his lightsaber. He fell into a defensive position. "Let's end this."

Brax, was not one for 'defensive positions' he launched himself, the force aiding in closing the distance between them, one of his claws swung for the lightsaber that revan held, the other swung for his shoulder, in a rake across his chest.

(Again feel free to control brax a bit for the fighting Doc.)

((Yay. Another fight scene!))

Revan barely held on to his lightsaber while trying to avoid losing an arm. He pushed back as hard as he could, once again marvelling at how strong the creature was. He managed to force the creature away, and made a strike to it's chest. It doged easily, rolling to the side, then slashing at his chest. He ducked, bringin his lightsaber around in an arch. He the flipped into the air, landing behind the creature. He lunged for it's back, but he wasn't fast enough. Brax brought his massive claws around, his fist hitting Revan square in the chest. Gasping for breath, he fell to the ground. His lightsaber went rolling to the side out of reach. He threw out his hand to retrieve it, but Brax stepped on his had, breaking the bones into pulp. He looked up into the creatures dark eyes, and saw a pure hatred staring back. Brax brought his sharp claws into the air.
"Goodbye, Revan."
He brought his claws down, penetrating Revan's chest. Crimson blood soaked his robes. He tried calling out for help, but he couldn't breath through the blood. The last thing he saw was Brax standing over him, a cruel but satisfied grin spreading across his face.

Brax's claws dug deep, ripping into the flesh, seeking something. And he found it, a heart. Revan's heart was torn from his chest, a fleshy red thing there in Brax's claws. His other ahnd dipped into his robes, removing a small box. He openedit and placed the heart carefully inside, then selaed it again and tucked it back into his robes. A crowd was gathering, he looked around at them. Smiled, and ran, hopping over the edge of the platform and into the water ...

"True your words may be," Kira growled, still obviously angry, "But I should be able to fight it. It shouldn't be so hard to ignore it. I was in the presence of Darth Nhilus, and I was able to fight his power. He couldn't take control of me like these Shards have."

~*~*~

((OOC: And since Atton and Disciple seemed to have totally been oblivious to the fight, I'll say they were in an alley discussing some things...))

IC:

"She needs our help, Atton." the blonde haired Jedi said, "These Shards...they're affecting her like nothing ever has before. The Doctor and I have talked, and we both fear that their power may be too much for her."
"We can't control her," Atton murmured, "She's too strong-willed. If we forced her into anything, we'd probably find a lightsaber in our face before we could even blink."
"We still need to watch her. We have to make sure that she doesn't slip completely under its influence."
"And if we can't?"
"Then I fear we're all doomed...without her..."

"Why should you be able to fight it?" Crystal pressed. "It's not like you've encountered these shards before... you have no prior experience with them, Kira. In such a situation, how can you expect yourself to resist? It touches you in a different way than anything else ever has before. You cannot resist because you don't know how it's triggering you."

“He arrived on the Ebon Hawk,” said one Selkath to the other as he examined Revan’s bloodied corpse on the outer causeway.

“I recognise him,” said the other Selkath. “Revan. He is a Jedi.”

“A Jedi?” Selkath number one was quiet. “If someone killed a Jedi, there’s no telling what they would do to escape! We must seal off Ahto City immediately and inform the Judges!”

“Agreed,” said Selkath number two. “Call for the removal of the body. I will round up the suspects.”

“What suspects?” Selkath one asked.

“Anyone in the area who is not a Selkath, of course,” said Selkath two.

~~~~~~~

A small detachment of six armed Selkath guards approached the Disciple and Atton in the alley.

“You are under arrest,” one of them said to the both of them. “You will come with us now, without delay.”

"What the hell!!" Atton shouted at the selkath, the Disciple standing peacfully next to him, looking at the Selkath with unreadable eyes, "What do you mean arrested??? On what charges??"

~*~*~

"Regardless." Kira said, "I had never felt a power such as the one at the Trayus Core. Did I submit then? No. Why should I--"
Kira collapsed against a wall as she was assulted by more pain and images. It was overwhelming.
"I-It's getting stronger," she was able to choke out, "It's p-power over m-me is getting stronger. It's calling me...from beneath the sea..."

"I know," Crystal answered quietly, grimacing slightly. "Not only is your mind overflowing, but the shard mocks me. It has had the opposite effect on me as it has on you. It calls to you, begs you to go and get it. It mocks me, jeers at me, telling me that I'm weak and couldn't handle its power."

She shuddered. "Will you let me help you?"

Defiantly, Kira stood straight again, using her arm as leverage against the steel. "No. If I'm going to beat this, I have to do this alone."

"If you need help, denying it will only speed your fall," Crystal warned. "But if you honestly think this is a struggle that is yours alone, take a look at me and remember what I used to look like. Then, see if you still feel that way and make your choice after that."

With that, she left Kira alone.

"Hmph." Kira murmured, proceeding into a dormitory.
I don't need any help. No one could help me, even if they tried. she thought, sitting on the floor, As it has been all my life.

"I'm going with you," Jasra said to Kira, stepping out from behind the bulkhead. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop. Well, didn't intend to anyway. But I'm still going with you. You can't do this alone."

Kira opened her mouth to say something, but Jasra cut her off.

"And arguing about it isn't going to dissuade me. I saw what that shard did to you. And Crystal. And what this new one's doing to you both of you now. And I'm going with you. End of story."

She cringed slightly, feeling a disturbance in the Force. "Something's wrong..." she began.

((OOC: Jasra's feeling Revan becoming one with the Force. D'oh! Every Jedi should have felt that!))


~~~~~

"The charge is murder," said the Selkath, leveling his Force Pike at Atton. "You will come with us now, or face even greater penalties."

Crystal flinched. "Revan is dead." She swore in her language. "It always hurts when a mind goes dead..."


((And Crystal is still planning to go after Kira and the shard, though she'll hold back slightly... just where she can see Kira, though she could get to the shard first if she wanted to. She wants to see how Kira reacts to it first. :) ))

"Jasra, you can't--"
Kira cringed as a wave of Force energy washed over her, and then was totally gone. "Oh no..." she murmured, "By the Force, no!!"
She stood, and ran out of the Hawk, headed back into the city. She blasted down the causways, darting around the bystanders, and back to the cantina where...
"No..." tears leaked from her eyes at the sight of her former commander and friend lay on the ground, blood leaking from his chest. "Revan..." she whispered. "I should never have left..."

~*~*~

"Murder?" Disciple asked, stepping in front of a raging Atton, "Who is dead?"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Crystal was kneeling next to Kira.

"Come on," she urged. "This bears a striking resemblance to my last trip to Manaan. At the death of somebody, anybody not in the Sith or Republic bases that was non-Selkath got arrested as a suspect. We have to go. Now!"

Kira stood resentfully. "It was that thing that did it." she said, to no one in particular, "That thing with the claws."

"I know," Crystal answered quietly. "We'll deal with him later."

"C'mon," Kira said, spotting a Selkath patrol creeping down the stree, "Let's get out of here."
As the two ran from the plaza, Kira thought I'll find that shard. I'll find it and use its power to destroy that bastard that killed Revan.

Jasra sunk to her knees, overwhelmed with the feeling of a Jedi's death. She hadn't felt this sensation since...

The name of her old Master choked in her throat. "Kelva," she whispered.

She knew it had been a powerful Jedi who had just died. Revan. Brax had killed him. Brax must be mighty indeed to have killed one such as Revan. And he could teach her to be just as powerful.

Powerful enough to help Kira and Crystal? Alone in the ship, (well, except for Bao-Dur in the engine room), she pondered on this for a moment. Brax had spoke of 'balance' before. Surely if she could achieve this, she wouldn't be consumed by the Dark Side? And then she could prevent Kira and Crystal from being consumed by the Gayat crystal.

It was tempting. Very tempting. But she couldn't leave Kira. Not now. And now that Brax had killed Revan, the others--especially Kira and Karda--would be after him for revenge. Would Brax be able to train her in secret? Without Kira and Karda's knowledge? It was a possibility. He was able to cloak himself somehow in the cantina. Could he keep himself cloaked enough to train her?

If he could, she would accept his offer. Accept it, and use her new skills to help Kira and Crystal.

Brax didn't care about Kira and Crystal, and the others ... now that Revan was dead he was back on his ship. In orbit around the planet. And considering simply leaving, sure togo had paid him to watch these people, to give reports. But what did he care, his duty was done. He had vanquished the enemy to all his people, his master had been avenged. He took the small box into his hands. His clawed guantlets had been removed, and under his blue hands were oddly pale, as he almost never took them off. He opened it slowly, and peered in at Revan's Heart. This was his proof, any could feel Revan in that heart. He touched it with his bare hand, and closed his eyes. Mediting for a short time. Then he sealed it back up, and locked it away in a hidden compartment of the ship.

He would stay, his people coudl wait a little longer to know he had done as he had been sent to do. If he could train Jasra in the ways of the Zedai, and save the galaxy by helping those shards get collected ... then his people would be even more happy upon his return.

Jasra will train under me, she knows what I offer her. And she knows that it will aid her alies. He smiled to himself, and instruced his ship to land again, he changed his transponder code chip first though, and registered in a different birth. He had arrived after the death, the authorities couldn't consider him a suspect.

The Selkath’s holding cells were getting full. So much so that they were using some of the floors in the hotel as cells as well, just until they could weed out the potential murder suspects. People were released, upon verification of their alibis. But not Atton or the Disciple. They were deemed prime suspects. And were brought in front of the panel of judges to be formally charged as such….

“You were on the same ship as the deceased Jedi, Revan,” Judge Naleshekan was saying to the pair who now stood in front of him. “You must have known him. And in our experience, ones who are close to the victim always have motives and opportunity.”

“You will be held over for trial,” said Judge Jhosa.

“You may choose an arbiter, or one can be appointed for you by the court,” said Judge Shelkar.

“Until your trial, you will be detained,” said Judge Kota.

“And when you are proved guilty, you will be sentenced,” added Judge Duula.

Atton and the Disciple were led away to the cells, without any chance of rebuttal.

~~~~~~~

Jasra left the Ebon Hawk and went to find Kira. And possibly Brax. But she didn’t want to find both of them at the same time.

"Every time." Atton said as he leaned against the metal rod from which the amber light of a Force Cage spewed, "Every single time something goes wrong, I'm automatically a suspect!"
"Calm yourself, Atton," Disciple said, sitting in a meditative position on the floor of his own, "We need to think less of where we are and more of how we're going to get out of here."
"Easy. We wait until the trial, find ourselves mediocre arbiter, and end up on the fishs' death row."
"I'm glad to see you're so optmistic."

((Holy crap. You guys were busy tonight!))

The Doctor wtood in a holding cell with Nyssa and Tegan, pacing the room. Revan was dead. The alien creature had dissapeared.
"Doctor, what's going to happen to us?"
*I don't know, Tegan. I'm sure we'll be released soon, and we can hunt down the creature that murdered Revan. I feel it has something to do with the Shard. It's nearby, I cann feel it.*
"But... Doctor...." began Nyssa. "You said that the three of us had no connection to the Force. How can you-"
*Intuition, Nyssa,* he responded. *I can feel it at the back of my mind. The Shard is nearby. Possibly beneath us, in the Harakat Rift. No, that's no right...* he scrathced his chin pensively. *Ah, yes, the Hrakert Rift.*
"Doctor," said Tegan, her eyes brimming with tears. "How much longer are we going to have to be here?"
*Brave heart, Tegan,* said the Doctor soothingly. *We'll get out of this. We always do,* he added, smiling.
Two Selkath walked into the cell, both of them armed.
"Which one of you would like to come first?"
*Well, I-*
"No, Doctor!" screamed Nyssa. "We should stay together."
*That's not possible, Nyssa,* he said.
"But then we could-"
*Selkath law is clear, Nyssa,* he said. *It's alright. You'll be fine.*
"Then come with us," said the second Selkath. The Doctor followed him out of the cell.

========================

Nyssa and Tegan stood in the cell, alone. The doors opened again, and two familiar faces entered.
"Atton!" called Tegan. "Disciple! Are you alright? What happened?"

Nylon swept a blonde lock from his face and looked over at Atton and the Diciple. Chuckling, he shook his head and sat cross legged on his cells floor. He let the Living force flow through his body and followed the circuit paths up and around to their source. It was nice having a former smuggler turned Jedi Sentinel as your Master.

"Or, I could pick the locks," Nylon spoke up to the duo. For some reason, the Force called out to these two and had placed them with Nylon. If the Force wanted him to help these two out, who was he to say no. "These forcefields may be shilded from...conventional means, but I'm by no way conventional."

"Hey, what about us?" asked Tegan, running up to the forcefield.

Karda felt Revan's death just as he was in the cantina. Hearing what Kira said about the creature with the claws, he agreed. But what if the beast came after them? He was nowhere close to Revan's power. Maybe if they all attacked it...

Following Kira, Jasra, and the rest back to the ship, he noticed that Jasra seemed to preoccupied with something else. Had she as well felt Revan's death through the Force? Sometime, when she is alone, there are quite a few things I would like to ask her. He thought.

Nylon smiled a dark smile, shook his head, the looked up. "Sure." They could use the distraction.

"Ready?" He inquired. "I hope ya'll know a way out of here." He closed his eyes, retracing his steps, following the flow...right....there!!! The fields sputtered and Klay tried to keep the alarms from triggering, the strain showing on his face. He tried to follow those too. "G..Go..."

The Doctor stepped into the court room, the five judges eyeing his clotheing, the celery in particular, with curiousity.
*Ah, Judge Shelkon!* he said hap[pily. *So nice to see you again!*
"Do you understand the severity of this trial, human?" asked Shelkon incredulously.
*Oh please, don't call me human, just Doctor will do nicely, thank you.*
Shelkon stared at him. "State your name for the record, doctor....?"
*Doctor.*
"Doctor who?" (( :xp: ))
*Just the Doctor.*
"The Doctor?"
*Hello!* he said, waving with two fingers.
"I ask you again, 'doctor': are you aware of the severity of the situation?"
*Well, considering Revan, the greatest Jedi of this era has just been murdered - which was not unexpected, mind you - I'd say that the situation is fairly dire, yes.*
"Where were you at the time of the murder?"
*The Cantina. I have witnesses who can verify that. And I also can varify a number of your suspects to be there wit me, as well. Namely Kira Starr, Jasra Lantill, Crystal Grey, Karda.... you know, his last name never-*
"We do not have these persons in custody!" called one of the judges. 'Where-"
*I assure you your honour, they had nothing to do with this.*
"They are further companions of Revan?"
*Well, yes, but for that matter, so am I, and-*
"You say there are those who can verify your alibi? Who?"
*Well, there are the two women you captured with me, Tegan Jovenka and Nyssa of Traken. There are also two men named Atton Rand and M- Disciple.*
"Disciple?"
*Yes, I'm afraid I don't know his true name,* he lied. *He's rather like myself in that respect, actually.*
"And you can verify where these people were, you say?"
*Well, Tegan and Nyssa were with me... but as for Atton and Disciple... they went off alone somewhere. But-* The judges began clicking away in their sub vocalized language.
*I assure you your honours, they had nothing to do with this!*
"You have no way of knowing that."
*They both respected and admired Revan. They would never murder him.*
"Then who did, 'doctor'?" asked one of the judges.
*I believe it was a native of the planet Omwat. He has been hunting Revan since I arrived in this ga- in his company.*
"And can anybody else verify the existance of this "Omwat" sentient?"
*Yes. My companions. All of them have seen it. Actually, Jasra as done battle with it. You would do well to question her first.*
"Very well," said Jhosa. "You will be eescorted back to your companions."

The forcefields seemed to falter, and Atton reached his hand out...to recieve a shock that caused him to fall back against the only solid wall of the cell. "Damn," he murmured, wincing as he moved his fingers.
"The shields are still up," Disciple cocked his head towards the door, "And the guards are coming."

*That Forcefield has mulitply redundant fail safes,* said the Doctor, who was being escorted by the approaching guards. *Just in case.* he added with a smile.

"Yeah, thanks for the heads up." Atton said sarcastically, still nursing his newly burned hand.
"Where is Kira?" Disciple asked the Doctor, "We have to find her. If anyone she'll be the one who could get us out of here."

*I'm not sure,* said the Doctor, examining Atton's hand. *The Selkath said they didn't have her in custody when I mentioned that she could confirm our alibis.*
"Doctor, how are we going to get out of this?" asked Tegan again.
*Brave heart, Tegan,* said the Doctor again. *As I said before, we'll be alright. We've been in worse situations - and worse prison cells.*

Just outside the ramp of the Ebon Hawk, Jasra could feel a flurry of tension emanating from within the city. She assumed that it might have something to do with Revan’s death. Either that or something to do with Kira and the shard. She bent down and checked that the lightsaber was still tucked in her boot. Good. Nice and secure, hidden, but ready to be used if needed.

She started to go to find Kira, then paused, and looked back up the ramp. Karda had followed her, Kira, and Crystal back to the ship, but had stayed behind when Kira had bolted out. She sighed. He made her feel unworthy, but, well, he was a Jedi. Perhaps he knew that Kira was coming back to the ship soon. Otherwise, he would have gone with her, right?

She looked to either side of docking bay. There was no one in sight. She knew Brax would contact her again, and when he did, she would agree to let him train her. In secret, though. He had already killed Revan. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch for him to kill anyone else if they threatened him. And she didn’t want any more Jedi deaths on her conscience.

After a moment of indecision, Jasra returned to the ship. She hoisted herself up to sit on the workbench, and waited with Karda for Kira to return.

"But she's free, right?" Atton asked.
"That's perfect!" Disciple said, "She can be our arbiter! She knows what happened, and she'd be able to find a way to prove it!"

~*~*~

Kira and Crystal arrived at the Hawk, and the Exile stormed up the loading ramp. "That thing is going to pay." she murmured, "Revan was my Master, General, and trusted friend. For that bastard to have killed him in such a dishonorable way...for that bastard to have slaughtered him like that..."

*Speaking of arbiters,* said the Doctor, turning to Tegan and Nyssa. *You two know nothing of Selkath law. I will act as your arbiter. If I cannot, then i will ask Kira to do it.*

"Revan had been in this situation twice before," Disciple said softly, "If only he were able to get us out of it."

"This being your ship, I think it'll be searched to find you," Crystal said calmly. "If we want to find the shard before we're found, we have to get around them somehow..."

She frowned thoughtfully for several seconds and then snapped her fingers and grinned.

"Know of any places that have submersibles?" she asked. "If you do, give me a map and I can get us in."

"There is one place that I know of...the Republic embassy, in the west side of Ahto. As far as I know, they still harbor subs for transport between Ahto and the seafloor research station. Here," the Exile pulled out her datapad, and accessed the data needed, then handed it to Crystal, "Will that do?"

Crystal nodded and turned to face Kira.

"Are you desparate enough that you won't object to stealing one?" she asked. "And then breaking your crew out of jail in the same way I intend to get us in there?"

"Please," Kira said cockily, "After all I've been through, I'm ready to do whatever it takes, and accept whatever comes of it."

"Then you'll have to accept the fact that I'm coming with you," Crystal said. "Otherwise, there's no way you can get past all the Selkath looking for us."

She stared at Kira and her next words came out sounding almost like a challenge. "Hold on to me."

Kira looked undecidedly at Crystal, sensing the challenge in her voice.
I can't go with her! This is my responsibility!
But if I don't, I won't be able to retrieve the Shard and my friends will rot in Selkath prision!
Forget the weaklings you call friends! They have done little to help you, and more to harm you! They've made you weaker by exposing your feelings, appealing to your weaknesses, and draging you into trouble. You cannot trust them, and what use are 'friends' that you cannot trust?
"I..."
Screw it.
"Let's go." Kira said, and put a hand on Crystal's shoulder.

Crystal closed her eyes in concentration. "This should work, she murmured."

The Ebon Hawk began to fade around them and was gradually replaced by the room in which the submersibles of the Republic embassy were kept. When the room was completely solid, Crystal took a deep breath and nodded to one of the submersibles.

"Let's go," she said. Then, there were shouts behind them. Republic soldiers had seen them. "In a hurry would be good."