The Past, Present and Future

[WolfMortum]

Commenor​

[member="Lady Kay"] | [member="Darlyn Excron"] | [member="Samka Derith"]​

​

The Corvette of the First Order lingered upon the orbit of Commener, thrusters closed off to allow the vessel to drift as Brennan sat hunched back within a slouch of the pilots chair, his eyes narrowed and staring out from beneath the cover of his black hood, a strewn look of envy written across his expression, that of disgust and longing, hatred and hurt all in the same glare that he threw against the smaller trade world for all it represented. [member="Thraxis"] had given him enough incentive to delve further into the data-files behind the smaller trade world who's leadership was domestic and otherwise unaffiliated with the larger powers present in the Galaxy, here there were no official ties to the First Order save from brief association, a relationship of which had been distant to begin with and merely supplied them in trade and import/export business, something that held little importance so long as he was able to hide his true origin from public eye. Brennan had become quite gifted of late in his choosing whom and who not to allow know of his background though with Veiere Arenais somewhere down upon that very planet so closely tied to the Queen, there were clear risks and even more obvious rewards in seeking to route her out and gain answers for himself. How he were to go about this however was another question. Discretion was the very nature of the Knights of Ren, a secretive Order of which the Galaxy had been blinded from by the will of the Supreme Leader Seiger Ren, yet in this how much of a response could he expect to invoke in the former mentor and Jedi Knight. Certainly a threat to this queen's life would greatly increase his odds of luring Veiere out of hiding and right into his hands; yet too increase the odds of their discovering his allegiance to the First Order.

Taking the controls into both hands, he pushed forward and drove the Ominous Corvette down into the worlds atmosphere guiding it through into a sky of non-turbulence and soon releasing the shields and deactivating all defensive systems so not to arouse suspicion in his inbound flight. Chasin City, the capital city of Commenor was his destination and at the seat of power in this place was the woman overseeing it all. Here he would bide his time and need to discover in his own means the best time and setting to make contact with her, no doubt surrounded by military personnel and those employed in her protection, blindly killing all that stood before him and his goal would completely undo all his two years of service to the First Order under the Knights of Ren.

Setting down within one of the public landing bays, Brennan disembarked his vessel only to be greeted by one of the public officials of this world, they who wished to know his name and origin were given the best of fake smiles and a foreign alias under which were quietly known among their people for identities that often led to dead ends. Given no motive to delve deeper into the private file of the false identity, Brennan moved on without so much as a worry knowing that by the time they might have picked up something suspicious, he'd be long gone and the tip that he had given the officer was far more than he'd make in that very week. Moving off into the public eye, he would go seeking the nearest tavern of which the loosely tongued drunks of this foreign land might better influence his knowledge around their precious monarchy and her apparent husband to be.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay needed a break. The stresses of ruling on her own, plus keeping peace between members of her own staff, and trying to plan out a wedding was getting to her. It was as though she was being pulled in every direction and about to break apart. Delegating her workload was near impossible right now. Instead she had to take it one day at a time.

She dug her commlink out of her pocket and signalled [member="Darlyn Excron"] . After her last little venture, he wanted to keep tabs on her at all times, so she had to oblidge. ~Darlyn, I need to get away for the afternoon. I fear that I might break if I don't and tea isn't helping.I haven't heard from Veiere, so more than likely he's busy with the Praxeum. I'll leave him to his project and will just go to the Eldrich Mountains for a bit.~

Kay had some unfinished business there. Although she knew that she wouldn't be going alone as she was sure that Darlyn would see to that, she had hoped that there'd be a bit of private time for her.

She headed up the spiral staircase in her office and stepped into her bedchambers. Time to dress appropriately and to pack up a satchel. One could never be too prepared.

[member="Brennan Cabrol"]

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Darlyn hummed when he received the message. He wouldn't want her alone, yet he knew at the same time his concern for her safety was growing hard on her. He bit the inside of his cheek as he considered his response for [member="Lady Kay"]. In the end, he'd have to balance her desires with her safety. So he let out a sigh, and returned her message. "Take at least two guardsmen with you. Stay within earshot but they don't have to be right next to you the entire time. Just make sure they can get to you quick enough if something happens and remember to send an emergency distress call to me if you need me. I'll be checking in every few hours. Is that fair?"

He wanted to protect her dearly, but knew well enough she needed some level of privacy. Hopefully she'd be satisfied with these conditions, he figured so long as the guardsmen were close enough she could handle whatever would come. Not to mention she'd be able to call for him immediately if something went wrong, hopefully with enough time to track her call and make his way there. It wasn't like he couldn't get on a speeder bike, after all.

[member="Brennan Cabrol"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay mulled it over, pausing in her packing as she heard [member="Darlyn Excron"] 's response. He seemed to have understood her misgivings about always being watched. Sure she was nearly kidnapped by a new hire, but she managed to talk herself out of that situation and came out the better for it. But still, it was careless and Darlyn reminded her of it when he could. ~Understood. I'll take three with me....Thanks Darlyn. I appreciate it.~ She pocketed her commlink before finishing her packing.

A half hour later she was on her way to the Eldrich mountains on her speederbike with three guardsmen in formation behind her. From overhead, the four of them were in a diamond formation as they crossed the valley in a straight line in full throttle. Kay knew where to go as she'd been there many times before. Sure they could've just flown, but this drew less attention. The whine of their engines was the only thing that could be heard. She was dressed in an outfit that she tended to wear when she was going on a bit of an adventure, no dress, just black pants and jacket, giving her protection from the elements and freedom of movement.

In some ways she felt as though it should be a one way journey. By rights it should be after what she had done. This was just one way that she could make ammends in a small way. Or at least that's what Kay told herself.

Journies of conscious were like that.

Spoiler

[member="Brennan Cabrol"]

 

[WolfMortum]

The Eldrich Mountain Pass, it was rumored to be a place of residence for an individual the local inhabitants of the tavern supposed was a Jedi Master. The irony of this far too coincidental to pass up, Brennan had left the establishment and turned his attention to the new trek; he had come armed and now held an idea where Veiere himself might be holding up, it was an apparent place of popular visit from the Queen herself which coupled with the Jedi's supposed lack of keeping the place closely guarded, only encouraged Brennan further. Rather than retreating to the corvette, he found his way to a kiosk of which hired out speeders and bikes of similar design, hiring a swoop and then setting off that way. The speed of which the bike tore into the streets caused the locals to scramble to the sides, the young Disciple showing little regard for both theirs and his own safety as he dropped down into a crevasse and shot through around the outskirts of the eastern part of Chasin City heading across the open plains towards the mountains base.

It seemed far too easy in truth, that Veiere might not keep his own residency a secret from the locals. Apparently it was a place registered under government ownership and therefore likely held some sort of import to the Queen, aside from being the possible home to her fiance, Brennan questioned how often the estate might see visitors from time to time, then leading to the possibility of whom might be there at the current hour. His answer would come within the next twenty minutes that it took to reach the place, the estate looking rather luxurious for a Jedi, that and completely silent, the Vagabond nowhere in sight nor anyone else for that matter. Brennan kept his distance for a good while, instead scouting the edge of the grounds before deciding to pursue a closer look and tearing the front entrance from its hinges in all his anger and lust for Veiere's death, the power of the force ripping the doors away from the building with little difficulty and opening her up for Brennan's complete perversion against the Jedi's would-be privacy.

It was in this place that Brennan felt it, a confirmation of sorts, a familiarity to the feel of the house and the way that despite looking so grandiose outside, the inside was rather simple in it's decor, the kind of simplicity that came off as intentional, humble even. The first floor didn't hold much in the way of anything differing from typical living uses, however moving up the stairs onto the second floor he stepped foot into the Jedi's room and discovered in the corner a datapad of hand-held use, of which he activated and perused it's contents. His former Master was a fool when it came to technologies, that hadn't changed in the slightest, the device wasn't at all encrypted or even held a four digit code to deter invasion from outside practice. Mulling over what the small device had to display, the Disciple snorted in contempt for his memories, eyeing a list of frequencies one of which named the Queen herself. This bringing fourth some very interesting idea's.

He had focused in the arts of killing, sabotage and stealth infiltration. Here he was most at home with the dark nature of the galaxy sneaking about with the hope for death in the imminent future of his targeted interests. The Comm-Frequency was [member="Lady Kay"]'s though the residence itself was Veiere's and now with the living area filled with power-cells and fuel canisters from the outside, the kind of equipment made best for the maintenance of star-ships, Brennan had hauled them inside and moved out through the front entrance pulling his P-23 Sidearm Pistol from the back of his belt and turned it's sights back within. Stepping backwards, wary of the blast radius, he loosed a single bolt that impacted into the side of the first cell, the chain ignition of fuels and flammable liquids spread throughout the first floor in a blaze of wild fire, erupting out through every one of the windows and pluming thick black smoke up atop the roof as the heat sought to rise in the wealth of oxygen fueling the flames.

Back on the swoop and priming the ignition, he sat idle on the vehicle while inputting the frequency into his comm-link, soon opening a direct channel to the Queen of Commenor while he looked back at the now burning homestead of Veiere's; "I am looking to gain an audience with the Queen" He spoke into the device with a smirk. Cutting the communications channel then and there so that she might have time to question and grow paranoid over the small act while he could put distance between himself and this burning mess of a home representing all the benefit his former mentor had come away with while Brennan had been left to struggle. This was the first step in a game of cat and mouse that he intended on enjoying, spent so much time grieved by his past, he was happy to lengthen out the persecution of his enemy if not only to appease his own satisfaction. The Swoop took off once more and heading back for the Capital City, he wondered how the rising smoke would look from the docking yard of his ship.

[member="Darlyn Excron"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay raised a brow as an unknown voice came through in her helmet. It was linked to her commlink. She slowed her speederbike down as she focused on trying to figure out if she had heard that voice before. She didn't believe that she had. ~Hello? Who is this?~ There was no immediate answer.

The guards followed her lead as she slowed her bike even further until she came to a complete stop. Kay removed her helmet and started to look around. One of the guards approached near her and spoke up. "Something wrong, M'Lady?"

"I don't know. Someone contacted me requesting an audience. The problem is that it's my private channel. No strangers should have it. Maybe a slicer is playing games with me?" But that thought quickly vanished as she saw smoke rising from the part of the hillside where Veiere's estate was.

That wasn't her intended destination, but now it had to be. Already one of her guardsmen were signalling emergency services to be dispatched to the fire immediately. They didn't need a large forest fire on their hands.

Just before Kay put on her helmet, she saw an explosion as one of the canisters blew up. A feeling of dread came through her like a wave. Veiere wasn't there, she knew that. So who was? Cillian? She plopped her helmet back on and turned her speederbike towards the Estate, her heart beating faster as the bike sped up towards the trail that she knew by memory. More than likely the fire brigades would already be there by the time the four of them would reach the burning home.

[member="Brennan Cabrol"] [member="Darlyn Excron"]

 

[WolfMortum]

He sat perched upon the swoop bike, the countryside around him all but silent as he had parked himself to the side of the quiet path and leaned back against the frame of the vehicle kicking his feet up upon the handle bars, the datapad of Veiere's in his right hand held above his gaze, his eyes reading it while his left toyed with the comm-link in his hand. How best to go about causing a fuss he wondered. One of Veiere's old teachings were over the emotional attachments that Jedi were often discouraged from save for those who could keep their minds on the mission or objective at hand and not become swayed in their path that they might prioritize their love over sound reason. A small smile placed across his lips as he soon wondered what sort of things he had shared with his soon to be wife. Drawing the communications device closer to him, he triggered the open frequency and called to [member="Lady Kay"] once again, this time seeing whether or not she'd take the bait.

"How might you react to the news that I have a particular Jedi knelt before me, broken and bloodied..." His tone faded as he glanced away from the Datapad and the mic, soon considering how far to go with this little game. She might actually come to him should she believe him so, this of course needing some sort of improvised evidence, a lie built up on the memories he held of Veiere in the past. "This Jedi...-He just loves to talk, the Force...-Morality...Right and wrong...-Well, I guess he won't be talking to anyone now..." He took his thumb off of the activation toggle though this time left the channel open for Kay to respond to him. Attacking the heart, it was a rather straight forward tactic, go for the loved ones of a target and lead them straight to you or whatever trap you've in store. The thing was, he had nothing planned and every bit of this little game of his was played from moment to moment; it kept things entertaining and ensured he didn't fall into any patterns where he might be discovered. Any shred of evidence that he had given Kay was at this point all useless, given his information and acknowledgement of Veiere could have been as easily obtained in from the handheld device he had stolen, rather than giving hint to their past affiliation.

"I hear you're to be wed..." He stopped again, not for any reason other than to drag it out, "Perhaps I'll leave his ring finger attached to his hand..." it was an effort not to say too much and make the claim any less believable. Across the comm-link she'd have not an expression to link to the words and in his intent, he kept his voice cold and unchanging as best he knew how. The entirety of his time back on Virgillia had been spent remaining isolated and focused on the end-game, here it was as easy as looking straight ahead of himself, keeping his identity under wraps for the sake of his own skin. Veiere was one thing, yet coming against the discipline of the Supreme Leader or any of the Knights of Ren for that matter didn't entertain him at all.

 

[Kay-Larr]

As expected, the fire at the estate was already being put out by the time Kay and the guards had arrived. The black smoke billowed through the trees and was seen for miles as it rose skyward. Were it not for their quick actions, the fire surely would have spread to the nearby trees.

Kay frowned, her helmet long since removed as she looked to the burned out shell that was once her retreat and Veiere's home. Even the garden was singed from the explosions. Sure it could all be rebuilt in time, but that didn't take away from the sadness of it all.

One of the fire inspectors approached her. "My'Lady, it seems that the fire was deliberately set. Fuel cells and cannisters were found inside." Someone was sending a clear message, but it wasn't his job to speculate who. It was common knowledge that the Queen had enemies. That was part and parcel of being in her position. He was just glad that it wasn't a part of his.

Kay's commlink became active again. At first she thpught that it could be [member="Darlyn Excron"] checking in on her, but instead it was the voice of [member="Brennan Cabrol"] . A chill ran down her spine as she pictured Veiere, kneeling while bloodied up and beaten. Surely it would take a lot to knock Veiere down. She reached out with the Force, using their shared connection to get a sense of whether or not the truth was being told. Not knowing that her husband-to-be was on Voss and engaged in combat, she could feel his pain as part of his ear was burned off with a lightsaber, accompanied with a gash on his cheek. Yet still she could sense a determination and willingness to continue.

She pulled back her focus once Brennan spoke up again. The stranger knew them both well enough. Although rumoured, their upcoming wedding hadn't been made official yet. This had to be [member="Thraxis"] ' doing. Who else delighted in tormenting her? Kay pressed a button and signalled the stranger. ~Who are you? Let me talk to Veiere. I want to hear him.~ Proof of life. That's what was usually asked for in a hostage negotiation. If that's indeed what this was.

 

[WolfMortum]

"That's going to be a little difficult seeing as I cut out the mans tongue..."

Brennan responded coldly, staring down at his wrist device with a look of frustration in his eyes, anger for how [member="Lady Kay"] was challenging him, though this was all part of the game truly; he wanted an audience and he planned on getting one. "So are you going to meet with me, your highness or must I spill his gullet and leave a trail for you to follow..." his free hand moved to take the hilt of his lightsaber into hand, activating the arc of energy and sending the weapon into a loud hiss as it triggered and light up at his side, the sound loud enough to be carried through to her in what he meant to be a threat, though she wouldn't know any better considering the game he was playing with her.

"Naturally, I would not want you to get any idea's either...-Any hint of company with you will get your fiance killed on the spot and slowly....-I will make it bloody painful for him if I suspect you're playing with me, lady...-All I wish is to see this woman who would marr the sight of a Jedi so much...-A man who once put everything behind the Jedi Order...-You who have somehow turned him away from all of that when everyone else failed...".

 

[Kay-Larr]

Cut out his tongue? No. Who was this man? A Sith Lord more than likely. Did [member="Tirdarius"] send him to keep her in line? She hoped not. But then if he was sent by someone else, then what other enemy did she have? A very good one if he was able to capture Veiere.

The sound of [member="Brennan Cabrol"] 's lightsaber came through her commlink. That sound was unmistakeable. He followed it by words of warning. She was to go alone. But he didn't say to go without weapons or by some means to contact her guards. Kay looked to the three that she had with her, knowing that they would refuse and surely [member="Darlyn Excron"] wouldn't approve. But she couldn't leave Veiere to die. She knew that the two would be used against eachother some day. This was just the first.

The stranger seemed to put some kind of blame on her for Veiere stepping away from the Order. But it wasn't entirely her fault. The Order had changed. The people within it had changed, along with it's direction. Veiere was a grown man and chose his own path.

~I'll go...Where are you?~

All three of her guards looked at her. They didn't like her decision in the slightest.

 

[WolfMortum]

[member="Lady Kay"]

"There is a series of fields to the east of your grand Capital".

He spoke into the comm's device, seated still upon the speeder bike as it hummed in idle rotation of the engine, the repulsorlift thrusters keeping the bike hovering above the ground while he considered the opportunity ahead.

"It is a vast open space with no places to hide, you will find me rather easily and so too will I notice if you come with others...-Don't keep me waiting".

He cut the communications transmission and leaned forward to take the handlebars of the bike into grip, drawing back on the throttle and sending the bike off into a surge of power and speed. He was closer to the location than she was and therefore had the time to retrieve his vessel from their docking bay. His verification codes had all been rigged to flag it as a civilian craft and he had undergone all the necessary precautions he'd managed to think of in order to keep the First Order free of his personal vendetta. Lying had come easily and Kay had taken the bait, fallen onto his lure and now came the excitement of the expected meeting though this one would likely not go as others of this kind had gone, before. She wasn't a target for termination but a means to an end; an end of which would result in the murder of his former mentor.

****

Striding up the loading ramp of the Furious Class Corvette, he entered back into the vessel and prepared for departure. All lights were green and signaled that he were clear, he triggered the repulsors to raise the vessel off of the landing bay floor and turned it towards the east, from there it were only a short flight before he'd reach the location he had given to the Queen. The ship stuck out like balls on a kathhound among the vast open fields, the hills far off in the distance being the only vantage point of which had grown to cloud in thick black smoke, the residence that he had dismantled giving off the perfect background feelings of resentment and hate that he held against [member="Veiere Arenais"].

Here he waited, pacing back and fourth outside of the vessel, his cloak black and draped around him, the young Disciple leaving no difficulty in that Kay would see him as soon as she'd near the location. There could be no mistaking his presence, nor the air about him in how he had come dressed in the black Armor of Ren, Talisman of Calling hanging from around his neck while his Lightsaber hung with a heavy weight against his right.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay knew exactly where [member="Brennan Cabrol"] was talking about. They were the fields that soon dropped to the entrance of the Twin Canyons. Her gaze fell to the ground as she pondered on her next move. Every part of her told her that it was a trap, yet for Veiere's sake, she had to go.

She looked up to her guards. "I have to do this. Alone. I'll stay in contact and I will use every means necessary to defend myself. I did bring my lightsaber afterall. Stay by the trees and ready a transport ship to get to me if I call for help. Those are your orders. Got it?" Kay wasn't sure if they would listen or not, but at the end of the day, she was their Queen. They had to obey.

She put her helmet back on, tucked her commlink back into her pocket and brought her speederbike's engine to life. The sounds of it echoed amongst the trees as she turned it around and made her way down the path. Her guards followed, stopping at the treeline. Once Kay was in the open field, she opened up the throttle and headed towards her target. It wasn't exactly hard to miss.

Once she was fifty feet from Brennan's ship, she came to a stop, cutting the engine and removing her helmet before she got off. Kay glanced around. Brennan was easily spotted, but there was no sign of Veiere. Was he inside the ship? Or was he anywhere near at all? Through their Force bond came the feelings of pain and determination, the same as earlier. She hadn't learned yet of how to pinpoint locations through the bond yet, if such a thing was possible.

Kay slowly approached the young man, stopping when she was fifteen feet away. She eyed his lightsaber, her own hooked behind her back on her belt, before looking up Brennan's eyes. "Where is he? Where's Veiere? I want to see him."

 

[WolfMortum]

[member="Lady Kay"]

So this was her, the woman that Veiere turned away from his Jedi life for despite refusing to bend his back in order to fight for the lives of everyone that had died back on Svivren. Brennan's recollection of the past had become greatly twisted in all his anger and hatred of the galaxy around them; the First Order had it right but everything else, it was all marred with self-righteousness, personal ambitions and ulterior motives, even the man that he had once respected and thought of the highest morale had compromised himself and resulted in the death of everything they had all loved, resulted in Brennan's capture and torture for years while he...-Did what, sat here in the company of a good looking woman surrounded by riches and a lavish world of trade?

"He will not be joining us, today".

Brennan near spat the words as his lightsaber was torn from the clip of his belt and cast into the firm grasp of his right hand with a heavy slap. The blade ignited in a heated scream of energy streaming out into the weapons straight arc, the vibrant thrum of the blade of Amber spilling out against the grass around him, it radiated with power as Brennan's anger fed through to the weapon and they seemed to fuel off of one another.

"Show me what you can do!"

He challenged her, moving forward in stride showing now intention of stopping in his approach, his lightsaber being swung in an arc with the flick of his right wrist that he might motivate her to ignite her own. He could feel her aura out here where no one else had come to join them, no one for her to need to hide it at all, he knew already her connection to the Force. Veiere had been a fool to note the requirements for the lightsaber that she had created with him, it could only mean one thing and if Brennan was wrong in his assumption then he would kill a Queen this day.

"Show me what he taught you!!"

He screamed at her as his anger bled through, no longer restraining himself, the force around him erupted in darkness and swept out across the area in a physical gust of wind, the grasses being pushed to every direction away from the pair who seemed to stand in the center of the encircling wind; not strong enough to be visible but enough for Kay to know that Brennan was preparing to lash out at her, her senses would be piqued and on full alert, he raised his lightsaber, his left hand joining his right and moving to strike down at her vertically from the right shoulder to her left leg, a killing blow were she not fast enough to evade him. A killing blow that would be utterly ridiculous if she failed to avoid, he had walked to her, given her ample time to protect herself, none of which were the decisions a figure such as he in his line of work (Organized Killing), would do with the intent of death to the other. In most given situations, a knife to the back would have been preferable but then in this situation, he would learn nothing from her.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Veiere wasn't there. It was a trap. But the true intention of what this was about wasn't entirely clear. Kay's brows furrowed as the man's face was somewhat familiar. Where does she know that face from? At the moment she couldn't recall it as the face she had caught glimpses of was much younger.

The instant that [member="Brennan Cabrol"] grabbed his saber and ignited it, Kay stepped back, reaching behind her and unclipping her own. Her eyes widened as he prepared himself to fight, stepping towards her. She was on her own, alone with this Darksider that was full of anger, yet there was something about him that stemmed curiosity as well.

Kay ignited her blade as he stepped closer, yet she matched his steps with her own as she tried to maintain a safe distance between them. At least she wouldn't be backed into a corner. Not out here. She hadn't intended on using this lightsaber that she had created during her captivity when she had set out just hours earlier. Her intention was to leave it at the Elders sanctuary, to seek their forgiveness for her crimes if she was able to contact them at all. And now she needed this lightsaber that represented her fall into Darkness to save her life.

The red blade glowed hot, it's light reflecting off of her black leather clothing. But her eyes were solely on Brennan. Show her what she could do? Show her what he taught her? The words, the way that he said them, it sounded like jealousy.

Then he attacked. First came the gust of Force wind, then came his lightsaber after he had closed the gap between them. She gripped her hilt with both hands for added stability and brought the blade upwards to meet his. She held it there as she met his eyes. "Brennan? Is that you?" Kay's questions were a distraction, giving her a moment to send Brennan back with a Force push.

 

[WolfMortum]

Their blades struck with one another and both wielding their weapons with two hands, they met one another in strength and neither parried, instead locked in the battle he were about to drive her back yet what she spoke to him in the brief stand-still caught him completely off-guard. He had assumed that his past with Veiere would've come up at some point or another given they were apparently to be married but for her to recognize him, to put that name with his face. His jaw tensed and opening his mouth to deny the claim he was instead met with a wall of telekinetic energy throwing him from his feet and forcing them to break contact; it was well played and with his being caught by surprise he had to anticipate a follow up strike least she loose her advantage.

Being pulled from his foothold, he threw himself into a backwards somersault so to seek to land back on his feet some few meters away, the power of the Force in which she commanded was far stronger than he had expected and now it seemed to be a fight that he could not presume to be his like most other kills done in silence. Stumbling, he landed and doubled back, lightsaber held within his left hand this time, his right balled into a gloved fist, he built up as much energy as he could in the Force though with less experience than she, he had to command it with physical motion, his hand extending back before being thrust back in her direction, fingers extending from his palm to open and unleashing a blast wave of energy back at her in retaliation in order to keep her at bay in whatever follow up attack she had planned.

Sprinting, he made the dash to close the gap once more using the wall barrier of telekinetic energy as his shield and once more joining his left with his right and holding the blade facing his south, he brought it across in a horizontal sweep once within range and then releasing it with his left while his right followed it through, he reached out this time with his free hand for her throat, not to take it in a physical grasp but rather targeting her neck in a hold with the force, attempting to cut off her breathing and temporarily hold her in place.

"All you should be worried about right now is your own life, your majesty...".

She was on point and it pissed him off something aweful, the first notion of the fight and she had already figured out who he was. How she had achieved that, he could not see nor presume to know. There had been no mistakes infiltrating Commenor space, he had left no trail from Virgillia nor anything pegging him to the First Order so how in the hell could she recognize him...-Veiere had no record of him, he couldn't have, everything had been wiped out on Svivren by the Sith...-It was a question to go unanswered, he couldn't give her the satisfaction of a confirmation.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

It worked. Her distraction caught [member="Brennan Cabrol"] by surprise and enough so to have him thrown back. He recovered quicker than she had anticipated, however. If this really was Veiere's old apprentice, than whomever finished his training had done very well.

She watched while he had balled up his fist, bending back his arm. Her instincts kicked in. She knew what he was doing, or at least she suspected. Force lightning was what she anticipated. The Force gathered around him and so too did Kay draw it to herself. She knew how to create shields, had used them while training with others, picking up skills along her travels from whoever would teach her. So she crouched down on one knee, her lightsaber held with with the tip downward to the grass as she built up her shield.

There was no lightning. Instead there was a wall of energy. And what surprised her still was the fact that Brennan was rushing towards her. The telekinetic energy hit her shield, yet she hadn't practiced enough to get it to withstand a lightsaber's blade. She sprang to her feet, directing her blade to meet with his, yet his horizontal strike seemed to be no more than his own distraction as she suddenly felt pressure on her windpipe. Her eyes widened as she lost the ability to breathe. Kay swung her lightsaber at his, in order to try to protect her leg as she delivered a swift kick to his kidneys with her left foot. She needed him to lose his concentration so that she could breathe.

 

[WolfMortum]

[member="Lady Kay"] parried his blow just in time, sending her boot into him and forcing him to crumple back, his hand that gripped telekinetically at her throat withdrawn to hold himself as he stepped away only a pace, raising his lightsaber into a defensive posture to guard himself while he tried to regain his composure. He hadn't been trained in the Dark-Side of the Force as of yet, all of his aura fed through his emotions rather than the possession of the lure in darkness, his aggression came through to strengthen his resolve yet tactics and abilities such as force lightening weren't something he were skilled at all in, he had gained no further abilities since the destruction of Svivren, yet what he had gained was direction and purpose following the Sith who had killed the Brennan Cabrol she had sought to acknowledge.

That boy was dead, too weak to keep himself out of the hands of the Sith, to worthless to protect those of his friends and family within the Jedi Order back on Svivren and too insignificant for his own Master to want to protect; he relied on none to further his path, only for the will of Seiger Ren to show him the way into power for the First Order...Only one thing remained that connected Brennan to his former life, one infuriating presence that he could not ignore, that one person to remind him of the failure that he had been, it pulled from his strength and embraced him in shame; the Disciple of Ren refused to be consumed by it.

This time he targeted her left knee, reaching out into the force with a telekinetic grip, he attempted to force her to a kneel, applying such pressure that it would pain her to try to fight yet she were the stronger in the Force, the more experienced and the most rational between them. For whatever pain she might endure, she did have the strength to steer him away and thus, he moved in again, taking his lightsaber into two hands and thrusting it forward, not in a slashing motion but this time in a straight push aimed for her chest; another killing blow this time that would run her through if she could not find the strength to block him.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay coughed and gasped for air as the invisible hold on her throat was released. Thankfully her breath wasn't witheld for too long. But it was long enough.

[member="Brennan Cabrol"] stepped back, holding his lightsaber up as though she was going to attack him. Yet she didn't. "Vengeance isn't the answer! Killing me won't ease your pain!" Her words fell on deaf ears, with the attack now targeting her knee. She felt herself being forced to kneel. Trying to stop it only sent sharp pain through her knee. Once she was down, he held his saber in both hands and thrust forward. On instinct, Kay brought her saber up to meet it, pushing it above her head, the tip of his blade getting far too close than she was comfortable with. Drawing up the Force to her, she sent a volley of it at Brennan's stomach intending on sending him flying backwards. If anything it would give her a bit more breathing room.

The guards meanwhile stood at the edge of the trees, watching as the two lightsabers twirled during the duel. They wanted to intervene, yet they were ordered not to. Still they kept their full attention on it. Their Queen had better know what she's doing.

 

[WolfMortum]

As his lightsaber clashed against [member="Lady Kay"]'s in a blaze of light and the sound of energies disputing each other, she parried his lunging stab and forced it over her head, soon to respond with the build up of telekinetic energy aimed for his midsection; a volley of the force hitting him and throwing him back several paces, stumbling and struggling to keep his footing, refusing to be taken to the ground though succeeding in putting distance between them.

What pain did she believe she understood in him, what gave her the assumption that anything about him she could relate to. Reaching out with his left hand, his palm opened to the earth beside him and closing his eyes, the Darkside pooled around him once again, a massive build up of energy being called to him as his grip extended to the ground in the same telekinetic power that she had used against him, pulling from it a large chuck of dirt and grass, soil and rock being torn from the rest of the field the size of Kay's upper body. Drawing it into the air his eyes opened to narrow upon his target, soon leaning into the throw with all his strength, arm reeling forward and sending the mass of dirt and rock toward her.

Again, just like before he used the tactic as a distraction to guard his approach, though the projected mound of earth would be enough to send her sprawling to the ground if it hit, he wouldn't leave it to chance. Sprinting to close the distance regardless of her evasion or not, he targeted the woman's chest, not using his lightsaber this time but lunching himself into the air and raising his right knee that it might connect with her sternum and drive her further back. His lightsaber while not being used to attack her, sought the blade of her own to ensure that she wouldn't cut him in two while mid-air, keeping himself defended as much as possible while unable to turn the trajectory of his flight.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Her knee was released. Thank the Force for that. She got to her feet as soon as [member="Brennan Cabrol"] flew back, but instead of falling, he landed on his feet. What he did next came at an equal surprise as the earth in front of him was lifted and flew towards her. Kay called the Force to her in a bid to create a shield around her to block it all, but it wasn't done in time and some of the rocks pelted her, causing her to stumble back.

All of that debris hid Brennan's form as he flew at her, his knee bearing into her sternum, causing the wind to be knocked out of her. Kay let herself drop to the ground and rolled away from him, getting back onto her feet again as she didn't want to get caught on her back, or at worse, her stomach. "Where's Veiere?! Did you even have him at all?? What have I done to you?!"

Kay half wanted to run up into his ship to look for herself, but that would be stupid. She'd be trapped then. It was better to remain out here.

She gathered up the Force, letting it pool around her and then thrust her hand forward sending not one burst, but two smaller ones to push him away from her further. "Who sent you?!" Someone was toying with her and she wanted to know who and why.