Private Baseline

[Taeli Raaf]

Alina Tremiru

Arkania, Izunia Genetics, Testing Grounds deep within the facility

With the return of Alina fully to the fold, Darth Arcanix was curious how the younger woman had developed since departing the Sith Empire and beginning her wanderings. The last time she had been tested as such, she had still been a mere apprentice. Now, the younger woman was a full Knight and had grown into her Sangnir biology far more. Taeli had guided her apprentice, once Alisteri had departed, deeper into the facility to what could be described only as a fighting ring. It generally was used to pit subjects in the transmutation projects against each other, but the design would be very familiar to Alina.

Like many Sith facilities, it was modelled off those of the Sith academies and temples of their various Empires. Lights flickered on as the Sith Master and Knight entered the training ground, the hum of some sort of energy field coming to life.

"And now we must establish a new baseline for you, my dear," she said once they came to the center. A shrug and her cloak fell away, leaving Taeli in her long blue and black dress robes and the visible lightsaber hanging on her belt. The familiar blade Alina knew could form into a saberpike if she remembered their last sparring/testing session. That had also been when Taeli had caught the blade of her apprentice's lightsaber and demonstrated how Tutaminis could work.

A roll of the shoulders and the rotating of her neck to loosen... and the unclipping of the lightsaber from her belt.

"Let's begin." and the crimson blade would ignite and fall into a guard position.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

It was an odd feeling, being back here. Well, somewhere close to here. 'Here', being a Sith Academy. The familiar walls and styles. Arcanix had a facility so close to the Jedi and yet hadn't been found. How many like this were scattered throughout the galaxy?

Not that there was long to wonder. The center of a combat arena was it's own familiar sight. When was the last time she'd fought in a place like this? Nostalgia flooded her mind, just for a moment.

The snap hiss of her master's lightsaber caught her attention. She smirked, flashing her fangs. A fight. She always loved a fight. And a chance to show off. Alina unclipped the large black blade she carried with her, hoisting it in a single handed grip.

"So, no holding back, right?" She leveled her weapon. The thing was too big to be called a sword. Too big, too thick, too heavy, and too rough, it was more like a large hunk of Sithsteel. She weilded it with far too much ease, her inhuman might clear as day.

Then she took off. Springing forward to close the distance. Go on the offensive. Both hands gripped the hilt of her blade as she swung it down, aiming to crush her Master under the sheer weight and her own strength from the get go.

Taeli Raaf

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Alina Tremiru

The fangs appeared along with the smirk. She knew her apprentice loved a good fight, to show her prowess in battle. It was one reason, she was certain, that the younger woman had thrown herself so boldly onto the battlefields of the Third Imperial Civil War and subsequent conflicts. Purples eyes took in the large black blade as it was unsheathed with little effort.

"Within reason," she replied as Alina leveled the weapon. The dark side swirled around the blade in her mind's eye, indicating a Sith Sword of some variety. Knowing her apprentice, and knowing how she had once treated her lightsaber, the blade likely carried an enchantment to cut through the Force or some sort. She couldn't exactly see the runes on the sword from this distance to know the exact enchantment, but that quickly changed.

Alina sprang forward to close the distance, a two-handed power strike coming down to just barrel right through any defense her lightsaber might provide.

"Idnatsa Iwa, zatza" she intoned, her voice laced with power and the fingers of her free hand sparking with violet energy. Several feet behind Alina a flickering shadowy image of Arcanix would appear as the first part of the spell... and then the second part took effect as the flickering image and Arcanix switched places. The power attack struck right through the echo, dispersing it in a cloud of violet smoke.

"As the Jedi love to say, the future is always in motion," she remarked from her new position, waiting for Alina to turn back around. "My daughter has been studying time in her spare time, and she realized that Sith sorcery could possibly harness that flexibility and conjure echoes of unrealized timelines before they disperse into the great flow of the Force. You see the result of one such spell experiment. Idnatsa iwa."

She fell back into her guard position and patiently waited, and five feet from her, another flickering echo of Arcanix would materialize.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina's blade stopped just shy of the floor. For all the strength she'd put into the strike, she still had control. And ruining her master's arena after just coming back was probably not the best idea. Even if it was built for it. Asides, what better way to show just how strong Alina had gotten than to fight without injuring her surroundings with such a usually unwieldy weapon?

"Time magic?"

The Knight raised a brow. Even in the realm of sorcery, that had always seemed a fantasy. Her gaze shifted back to the echo she'd cut down, though. It felt real. Interesting.

Then no more thoughts were spared on it. She spun, darting forward towards her Master and the echo. Bringing her blade across in a wide arc for both. No, just for Arcanix herself. Just as she closed the distance an aura emerged. Her aura. Snuffing out the Force, growing in size in an instant as she tried to catch the Sith Lord by surprise with it.

It's power was strong, but it's use in a prolonged fight was quickly diminished if it was figured out.

Taeli Raaf

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Alina Tremiru

It was good to see such precise control as Alina stopped her blade from impacting against the floor after her attack had cleaved through the echo. It spoke to her development as a fighter since the last time master and student had sparred in such a discovery bout.

"Beginning theories and spells on it, yes," she remarked, watching as her apprentice contemplated what she had just seen. It was her daughter's pet project to manipulate time and space, between her normal studies and her duties within the Senate as her aide. Further thought shifted to the battle at hand as Alina turned and rushed forward, her blade poised for an arcing slash to cut both Arcanix and her echo.

As she neared, she felt the aura flare from Alina to fill the space, attempting to cloud her connection to the Force, to deprive her of it. She had known it was coming, it was her apprentice's gift much the same as it had been one of Darth Cognus's, and she was pleased to see it had strengthened. It was still a wild thing, meant to more brute force her connection than to quietly smother it. She could feel it trying to settle on her connection, but there was a reason Arcanix was still the Master and Alina the Apprentice. Alina altered her arcing blow slightly so it would only strike at her, ignoring the echo.

Lightsaber met sword in a downward block purple eyes clouding to yellow as a smirk grew. The yellow eyes would be Alina's clue that her Master was shrugging her way through the unfocused aura of Suppression and her defense reinforced by the Force to bolster her strength and speed.

"Your aura has grown stronger, but an aura has some issues for a one-on-one combat, especially against a Master," she critiqued, then added, "well one and half against one."

From the Sith Lady's echo, pieces of jagged ice infused with dark energy would appear and launch themselves at Alina. The cryokinetic power used up the echo's connection to the present, the echo fading away into the current of the Force, but it had served its purpose.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Chit.

Alina's gaze narrowed as her blade was caught. Taeli was still strong. Fast. The aura wasn't working? No, that's right. The Sangnir inwardly scolded herself for forgetting. It wasn't a catch all zone. Those stronger of will could just shrug it off. Like Nito. She didn't waste a second longer, pulling her blade back away from her master's and spinning. Fleeing as the barrage of ice cut home.

Mostly. She wasn't torn to shreds, she was fast enough to avoid that much. But lines of red now littered her black dress. Pain, with them. The aura faded shortly after, and what lines remained swiftly closed.

Cuts were the easiest thing for Sangnir to heal.

"I don't know, when it works it levels the playing field drastically. Unless a Jedi pulls a gun." She flashed a grin. That happened once or twice, for sure. The black of her blade slammed point first into the ground, imbedded a third of the way down. No holding back was the request, right? There was only a brief moment of focus before pale flesh ripped off of the Sangnir. Her outward body simply exploded in a shower of gore.

Alina, in her warform, rose up. What remained of the blood caused by the violent change was already being absorbed back into her body. Her lips pulled back, revealing a maw full of sharp teeth. A clawed hand reached down, gripping the hilt of her blade as she lowered to an almost animalistic posture. Fitting for the form she was in. She took off then, springing forward to bring her blade around again for her master. Faster, stronger. Everything a Warform should be.

Taeli Raaf

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Alina Tremiru

Arcanix gave her apprentice the room to disengage, not following through as she spun away with her sword. The ice shards nicked her, but the wounds were superficial at best, and the Sangnir biology showed itself all too well as the cuts healed almost immediately. Her blade came back up into her guard position as Alina made her remark, a grin forming to be matched by one on Taeli's face.

"Concentration increases potency," she said simply, waiting for the next move from her apprentice. The blade went into the floor of their arena, embedding itself a third in. She felt it before the shift occurred, a wildness that spoke of the ancient hunger of a species personified. As the skin split, her grin only grew wider.

The body of her apprentice erupted into blood and viscera, a casual application of the Force allowing Taeli to avoid being covered in it before Alina's Warform absorbed back into herself. Amber eyes were filled with the glee of discovery as she appraised her apprentice's powerful new form as she grasped her sword anew. Truly a Sangnir Highblood, in all its bestial glory. Yes, her apprentice had certainly grown in power in the intervening time.

As Alina rushed forward animalistically, faster and no doubt stronger, with sword in hand, Arcanix would vanish in a whirl of black smoke to reappear on the far side of the arena.

"Wohmniyizi ri anmudzuna naniti zûtazihri, mirji anim ir tnitsiyia diâ hadzuska. Udai ri Jin', jinja tu'iyia Kirs. Tadti' uynsutu, Irsia iw Hadzuska, diâ nasosûtoi ri Nimyi Zûtaikima!"

Not many knew that, on Arkania, there once had been an ancient Sith library that the Jedi had razed in their crusade to wipe out the dark side. Many Sith had fallen, but their spirits had lingered in the place of their destruction, lingered on the world of Arkania just waiting for the day they could have some part in the Grand Plan again. As her spell wove itself, those spirits answered her summons. Blue flames of dark side energy formed around her, shadows twisting through it and giving it a corporeal form as the spell wove the construct around the Lady of Secrets.

Cradled within the chest of the fiery energy construct, Arcanix commanded it to arms. A beast to answer a beast, glaring with baleful cold eyes as an entropic whip and sword appeared in its hands of writhing cerulean fire. Batlike wings of smoke and shadow rose from its back like a cloak and within, the Sith Lady smiled. The first test of the Warform.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina's spin came to an abrupt stop as her claws bit into the floor. Her master was already gone in a puff of smoke. Short range teleportation? She stood slowly, one hand still gripping her blade as she watched. Listened. Waited. Charging in to interrupt a spell only worked if you knew when it would end, and it wasn't any kind of spell the Sangnir knew from her families library.

Prepare. That's the best course of action. The wild look in Alina's golden eyes narrowed in focus as she picked apart every word chanted.

Then narrowed even further once she understood. Her gaze lifted, watching the creature come to life before her. She couldn't feel it, but it wasn't hard to guess how much it exuded the dark. Something primal in her hated it. Loved it. Was it made of Anima? She could smell that much, but it wasn't right. Twisted by the dark. Inedible. Fine, she couldn't eat it. Could she cut it?

It made weapons out of it's energies, and Alina doubted they were for show. The red edge of her sword came to life once more, the lightsaber within humming to life to form it's edge. Did her master know what her newest blade could do? Arcanix surely knew, right? Or at least, her original ones. Her grip tightened further on her blade as she crouched. Let her claws dig in deeper into the ground.

There wasn't even half a second between the creature being summoned and Alina acting. Her Sangnir mind was just as enhanced as the rest of her, nearing the processing power of droids without any of the cybernetics. It was how she survived so long. She never sensed threats and avoided them like a normal Jedi or Sith might with a blaster bolt. She saw each and every one, and acted accordingly on her own power.

She launched, undaunted by the creature manifesting around her master and swung. And where her blade cut, spirits fled. The edge was death. Not the death of just body, as they had already experienced. But total, final death. A severance from the Force to bring true death.

Taeli Raaf

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Alina Tremiru

Alina's blade found purchase in the shoulder of the construct around Arcanix, the spirits it touched screaming as they were sent spiraling away into oblivion. They wanted to immediately pull away from the blade that had just ended others, but their Master's will was like adamantine and would not allow them to flee. Taeli was not surprised by the blade's ability as it both fit Alina's theme and her prior lightsabers had carried similar properties, but it was always nice to have a hypothesis confirmed.

With a roar, the construct around her swung its flaming sword in a quick flurry of blows towards her apprentice with a speed that its size would not suggest it could pull off. Even as the construct struck out and shifted its position with a flap of its wings to circle around the warform Sangnir, within the creature's chest and viewing the battle through its eyes, the Lady of Secrets could still weave her powers.

From the creature's mouth, Alina would hear a strange distortion of her voice, as though a chorus of others were speaking beneath it, "Krizutata." The shadows around the battlefield would seem to surge forth and wrap themselves around Alina's form, the intent being to inhibit her enhanced speed and turn that asset into a disadvantage.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

It didn't scatter.

Alina grinned wider, bringing around her blade to cut at the flame like sword. Every cut split the blade apart, severing what wasn't held to the main part of the blade. That was her strength. Her power. She leapt back, moving. Readying her next strike. Only to realize she was slower. Much too slow. Her eyes narrowed as she only now realized what her Master had muttered.

A strike hit home. Flesh singed as she did her best to defend herself, the flat of her blade acting as a shield. She grinned regardless, though. This was fun. Intense, painful, but fun. Her blade pressed back. She still had her strength, at least. No, not just her strength. Her aura flashed outwards again. Suppressing the Force, cutting the bonds around her as she skittered farther away from the creature.

"Everyone's got their pets."

Alina's zone faded. From the singed flesh, blood bubbled. Grew. The vague form of a demon took shape just beside her in all it's red glory. ".. Truly?"

"Shut up. Just cover the spells for me."

The Sangnir just grinned wider as she brought up her blade and immediately rushed back in. "I'll handle the big one."

Taeli Raaf

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Alina Tremiru

Within the construct, the Sith Lady smiled grimly to herself as the flaming sword, what was left of it, struck home and Alina retreated some distance. She knew her apprentice's aura pulsed as her connection to her hex on the girl was completely severed, and a small backlash caused the creature to roar. Even still, from within, her eyes were observing her apprentice and the new addition as the blood gathered into a form.

Her apprentice still carried the Sangnir weakness to fire as she could clearly see the wound was not healing as easily as the ones from previously. That could be addressed, but she was delighted to see that her apprentice could summon one of their fabled Blood Oracles. Varella had demonstrated the talent to her, and she had questioned the spirit at length to ascertain its nature.

Her fiery construct, as Alina's bestial form rushed forward, would flick out its flaming whip to lash around her, the flames of the whip flaring brighter and hotter as part of the creature channeled its dark energy through the whip to feed its intensity. Alina or her companion would likely notice the flames of the body dim slightly.

From within the creature, Arcanix started to weave her next attack, holding the power internally as she waited to see what the Oracle would do.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

The Oracle remained where it had been summoned. Free flowing Anima circled around it, raw power clear in whatever it was channeling. In truth, it channeled nothing except for energy. Letting it's power and focus grow as it weaved the energy at it's fingertips in preparation. In waiting. It's orders were to cover Alina's back from the sorcery the Sangnir's master could use.

It's only goal now was to counter whatever Taeli sent next.

Trusting her creation, Alina dove in with sheer recklessness towards the burning summon of her master. Her eyes didn't miss a thing that she could see. The power shifted, visibly. The weapon glowed brighter. The creature dimmer. What it meant she wasn't sure of, not exactly. Was it a feint to draw her attention? Or was the whip truly empowered? Her grip on the large steel blade shifted as she closed in and leapt.

Her body twisted violently in the air, sending her into a spin with the black blade carving out for the creature itself. But even in the spin her other hand took hold of the lightsaber she carried. Igniting the admittedly comically small blade in her hand. The size difference between her warform and her usual state was too drastic to look anything less. But it still had an edge.

And she threw it. The odd nature of the blade could cut the Force, and she aimed to use that to cut apart the whip while she struck.

Taeli Raaf

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Alina Tremiru

Within her construct, even as the whip raced out, she was observing the behavior of the Oracle, seeing what it might unleash. In the moments that passed and it just continued to hold its power in reserve, she concluded that Alina had ordered the summoned demon to protect her instead of attacking. Smart, in most circumstances.

The lightsaber of her apprentice ignited again and was thrown to cleave through the whip, as the warformed Sangnir leapt and struck with her sword. The fiery energy of the whip was severed halfway down as the blade struck true with its thrown trajectory.

At this point, as the construct roared in fear and pain as Alina's sword struck it, scattering parts of its essence into oblivion, it was merely serving as temporary armor for Taeli. The dark side sparked to her command again, but it would not be Alina who would be targeted with her magic. As an accomplished Sith sorceress, Darth Arcanix knew all about summoning spirits... and it also meant she knew how to deal with them as well.

Blue energy would swirl up from the blood that the Oracle had been harnessing, for as any good Sith knows, blood is an important conduit for their magic as well. The energy would surround Alina's demon, and then would constrict and forcefully banishing it back to the Netherworld unless it had enough power to resist the Lady of Secrets and her magic.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

The energy the demon had been collecting erupted. Raw energy. Not to target anything, but to threaten the power around it. Counter the same spell that Taeli was now using to banish it. It ultimately didn't work. As strong as a Blood Demon was, it's strength was limited by the very summoner that brought it from Chaos. But it wasn't there to outmuscle her Master's skill in magic. But pull her attention? It wasn't how Alina expected it to go down, but it'd work.

Alina's Warform surged forward. Through the still dissipating summon of her own Master as he brought her blade around. Trying to catch the woman as she banished the demon.

Taeli Raaf

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Alina Tremiru

The smile that graced her face as her spell banished the conjured demon back to the Netherworld didn't leave her face as Alina struck down towards her, the last vestiges of her construct flickering blue flames and wisps of spirits that veiled and silhouetted her for a moment. Her blade swung at her... and stopped a mere inch from touching Arcanix's form.

Amber eyes stared unblinkingly up into the face of her apprentice's Warform, no doubt straining for the blade to travel the remaining distance to sink into her flesh and feeling frustration as it was held there by her power. Her hands were clasped behind her as she said, "Good, but surely you can do better."

Her head tilted and the smile turned with a sly smirk. The only warning Alina would have been the smell of burnt ozone in the air as bolts of indigo and lilac lightning erupted from above and around Arcanix in a storm of Force Lightning that would keep sparking bolts down to strike at her from above.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina could only scoff out a laugh as her blade stopped mid strike. All of her strength, momentum, halted in a moment. She didn't even bother to try and wrench the weapon free. The smell of ozone brought with it panic and desperation. Somewhat. The warform melted away as the Knight moved. Not away from the bolts or her blade. But underneath it. The Sith Steel was plenty enough to act as a lightning rod to take the storm from above.

Panic. Desperation. Alina clamped down on those feelings as she dived forward. Pulled free her saber to instead cut for her Master. Changing into the Warform though seemed to drain a lot of the Sith. While still fast, she was no where near where she was prior to it. Anima was running low in the Maw that was her Sangnir heart. She needed to make every second count.

Taeli Raaf

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Alina Tremiru

A creative response to the storm of Force Lightning that had been summoned by her dark will. Alina knew Sith swords could absorb and conduct the energy of Force Lightning, as it was a standard enchantment in their forging. Dropping out of her Warform and ducking under the sword saved her from the power of the storm. Excellent use of her knowledge and the battlefield conditions. She heard the snap-hiss of a lightsaber igniting and the low swing came in for her.

Amber eyes observed in the milliseconds of combat that the blow wasn't nearly as fast as it was previously, and her apprentice was bleeding small bursts of panic and desperation into the Force but was doing an admirable job keeping them contained. It was still enough to know that her Warform had drained her to dangerous levels of stamina and supplies. Something to be worked on then.

Alina would hear the snap-hiss of a second lightsaber as a concealed shoto of purple energy erupted from its hiding place on her back, the blade controlled with the same telekinetic grip as her sword was still held by. Taeli had not revealed previously that she could use the style of telekinetic lightsaber dueling pioneered by Darth Traya, but now as purple met red, Alina would know that the saber she normally wielded was not her only weapon.

And she still did not move from where she stood.

"Getting tired already?" she prompted.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Heh. Well shit."

Alina pressed back against the blade as hard as she could, but it wasn't moving. And the second blade. She took a breath as she instead focused on the area around them, and recreated the void from before. But rather than try to consume her Master in it and numb her from the Force, she focused instead on the air around them. Creating a sphere where the Force couldn't be manipulated. Or at least hinder it enough for her strength to rip her blade blade free and catch the second blade against it.

"I don't get tired, Master. Just hungry."

Taeli Raaf