The Godless Matron is home to many, resembling a micro-society for those who wish to live outside the typical rule of the galaxy. The Lucrehulk-class battleship's massive hangers have been converted into dwellings as a result. Chute Town is the most notable of these makeshift towns. Many shops and storefronts have been constructed to take advantage of the higher volume of foot traffic. In addition, many ships and crews arrive into Chute Town to sell their "well-earned" commodities, weapons, or artifacts. It is commonplace to find the best and the worst gear the galaxy has to offer — it’s only a matter of how big your pocketbook is. The streets are patrolled regularly by the crew of the Matron itself, leaving would-be miscreants to be more wary, lest they find themselves on the receiving end of a pirate's sense of justice.

It is built mostly out of spare durasteel panels from derelict ships, dismantled machinery, or any other source or material the pirates could scavenge. It spans the length of the massive portside hangar of the Matron, reaching from its heavily protected reactor — hidden behind triple-reinforced blast doors and a guard retinue — all the way to the hangar entrance where the many incoming ships unload their cargo. It is more than a mile long, over five hundred feet wide and up to three stories tall, covering most of the floor. Chute Town's streets are a miniature maze, weaving in between buildings on several levels. Verticality is key for the masses of shops and bars to operate without interfering with one another. The main street is nicknamed Murder Alley, mostly because all the weapon shops are prominently opened there.

Illumination banks are staggered along the walkways and buildings to provide enough light for the society to function. Still, the streets are left dim with a low hanging fog built up from the collective humidity of so many people in one space. For those calling it their home, there is no such thing as off hours. A large crowd bustles along at all hours, an exotic assortment of individuals from countless planets and the warring gangs that divvy up the territory within. It's the perfect place for those looking to disappear in the crowd.

Crowded, dirty and degraded walkways were all that greeted the young Sorcerer as he cautiously stepped through the maze of streets that made up Chute Town.

In certain ways, the Godless Matron reminded him a lot of Zsoldos, the Clan Vizsla base planet. for this was also a place for those who wished to escape the shackles and restrictions of galactic law to make a new life for themselves or escape their old ones. This was perhaps why it was a base of operations for the Shroud Syndicate, a secret underground organisation of roughnecks, ne'er-do-wells and scum that operated under the Dark Council, more specifically, the Herald.

The air was hard and humid from the overwhelming number of people that barged past him and a low level fog threatened his visibility. The vague lighting was only provided by the myriad of illumination banks scattered over the area and remained dim on top of everyone and everything. Sweat formed on the former Jedi's forehead as a result of the harsh conditions. He wiped his face with his left sleeve as best he could, though it was ultimately futile. Body odor assaulted his nostrils from a combination of civilians and scoundrels that clearly hadn't showered in weeks.

'Okay, Master… where the hell are you?' the Sorcerer thought to himself as his eyes glanced all around him.

His heart pounded in his chest with each step he took. He instinctively kept his right hand close to Redeemer and his hand twitched each time someone walked by as his eyes darted to every sound and movement that occurred around him.

Appius had first hand experience of Farrin's extreme training methods during the recent war that involves the Brotherhood, the Severian Principate and the Collective and even afterwards the man still bore a habit of springing these lessons on him when he was least expecting it. Calling them brutal would be the nice way of putting it. Sometimes they were downright sadistic.

'Not today, Master. This time I'm ready for you.'

That's what he told himself, though the slight tremble throughout his body said otherwise. He stopped to take a few deep breaths and forced his body to release the pent up tension he was holding within him. He reached out with the Force to try and pick up any trace of the man he could but ultimately found nothing. There were too many people around for him to pick up an accurate reading on his Master's whereabouts.

He was only here to pick up some spare parts for Lawrence, his little R3 unit astromech droid but upon arrival he instantly felt Farrin's presence through the Force. But just as quickly as it came, he lost it.

Now to Appius this meant one of two things. One, his mind was playing tricks on him. Or two, Farrin was hiding from him.

He was willing to bet it was the latter. The man specialized as a Shadow and preferred to work from where he can't be seen or felt.

Appius wandered into Murder Alley, the main and largest street of Chute Town. Aptly named for all the weapon stores that dotted either side next to each other. Everything from blasters, slugthrowers and vibroswords to explosives, flamethrowers and a large collection of mouth watering toxins designed to incapacitate or kill in the most violent way possible.

'It's like a Bounty Hunter's wet dream down here.' He thought to himself.

He pressed himself back first against one of the smaller shop walls, folded his arms and glanced down either side of the street and watched as several citizens conducted their business, whether legal or not for their weaponry.

Appius exhaled a deep breath and rubbed the palms of his hands through his buzz cut brown hair all the way down his face.

"This is ridiculous…" he muttered to himself. Holding back a slight chuckle. Why would Farrin conduct one of his training lessons in such a crowded area in public? There was barely any room for either of them considering the masses of people out and about.

He closed his eyes and relaxed his muscles for the first time since he arrived on the Godless Matron. He took a few steps in the direction of the hangar but suddenly felt compelled to halt where he was.

His heart rate increased, his breathing became ragged and his eyes widened as he felt the pressure of a BlasTech DC-17 Blaster Pistol against his spine.

"What have I told you about dropping your defences, Appius?"

That voice haunted him and he had no doubt in his mind now. He'd been played and walked right into another one of Farrin's training sessions. The man cloaked himself through the Force and only re-emerged when his apprentice dropped his guard. He kept the blaster well hidden using his own Armorweave Cloak as to not draw attention to them. The man was incredibly cunning and patient like that.

Appius knew he had to act. The longer he remained stationary the larger the advantage he gave to Farrin. The man was extremely intelligent and there was a reason he was the former headmaster of the Shadow Academy after all.

He reacted quickly, tucked his elbows in tight and spun to reach out with the open palm of his left hand to seize the wrist of his master. Unfortunately for the Sorcerer, his master was also gifted with the Force and it warned him of Appius' act of self defence. The Augur took as big a step back as he could and pointed the blaster directly in-between Appius' eyes.

Though his apprentice had the Force on his side too and before Farrin even had the chance to pull the trigger, Vizsla's first Knight focused on the emotions developing within him. His anger, fear and frustration fueled him as he directed the burning sensations within him and redirected it to release a quick jolt of electricity from the fingertips of his right hand.

Farrin's reflexes were impressive, but from such close range he wasn't able to the attack entirely as the bolts of electricity struck his blaster and sent it careening into the middle of the street in view of some onlooking inhabitants of the space station itself.

Wasting no time, Appius reached out with the Force and called Redeemer to his right hand. He gripped the steel hilt in the very middle with both his hands as a green blade erupted out of one end. He gritted his teeth and attempted a single vertical strike at the shorter man only to be met by not one, but two silver lightsaber blades being held in an 'X' formation that locked his own blade in place as green and silver sparked against each other in a glorious display of colour. Farrin held firm with his own blades in a reverse grip with each of his hands placed at the very bottom of the hilts for maximum leverage and maneuverability.

"Are we really going to do this here, Master? In front of all these people?" Appius asked quickly as he felt his adrenaline infect his bloodstream.

"You won't always get your choice of battlefield, Appius. It's a lesson you have to learn." Farrin responded as a small smirk graced his face.

"I sense you are conflicted. You need to keep better focus on your opponent!"

Just as it did for Farrin, so did it too for Appius as he felt the power of the Living Force alarm him of Farrin's impending kick to his exposed kneecap.

In a normal locale, a duel between two lightsaber-wielding individuals would be met with no small deal of alarm; on Murder Alley it was quickly just incorporated into the din of an ordinary day, with passersby giving the combatants a wide berth. Clearly, no one wanted to be caught in the middle of this particular "lesson."

Farrin's kick caught his student's cloak as Appius quickly pivoted out of the way. Good, he mused. He's getting better. While the former Headmaster had developed a reputation as a relatively kind and caring leader when he oversaw the Shadow Academy, he was much harsher on his personal students. Appius had met - truthfully, had exceeded - his wildest expectations, but that didn't mean Farrin would let up on him. Someone with the potential that Appius had shown needed a mentor that could bring that out of him, and the Augur would be damned if that wouldn't be him.

"Appius, there is no need to continue this fight," Farrin stated in a quiet and matter-of-fact manner. "Put up your lightsaber."

After a second's hesitation, the young Knight disengaged his lightsaber and began to lower the hilt to his belt. Appius' eyes narrowed slightly as a slight grin played across Farrin's lips, and the lightsaber sprang back to life as he realized what his master had done. Stepping back to put a bit more space between the two of them, he lowered his green blade into a classic Niman defensive pose.

"Impressive, Appius. You're getting better."

The younger man blinked in surprise, unused to verbal praise from his mentor. "Thank you, Master. Your training is the-"

Green blade barely had time to rise up to catch brilliant white as Farrin used the distraction to renew his earlier attack. Appius awkwardly pivoted to the side to block his Master's off-hand blade, but the warning of the Force came too late for him to prepare for what felt like a fist of air slamming into his chest. The blow knocked the wind out of the Knight, shoving him back and knocking him off his feet.

The grin deepened sadistically on Farrin's face. "Giving up soon soon, Appius? That's unlike you."

I'm going to mold him into the best karking Jedi that the Brotherhood has ever seen, the former Headmaster mused, looking down at his student. Or kill him in the process, I suppose.

Farrin approached the downed Sorcerer and even despite his slight limp he managed to stomp his left boot onto his apprentices right wrist. Appius gasped as pain resonated through the joint. he had no choice but to release Redeemer as it rolled out of his right hand just inches away from him.

This was what the Augur hoped for as he sliced the metal hilt in half with the lightsaber situated in his left hand. His apprentices weapon lay in two pieces on the ground next to him, the resulting sparks were a clear indication that this particular lightsaber was of no use anymore.

"What are you going to do now, Appius? You have no weapons." Farrin said with a tone that demanded Appius do something or face the consequences.

Content that he had a heavy advantage over his apprentice, he released the pressure on Appius' wrist and lowered one of his blade towards his students throat. Relief washed over Appius as the Force already began to heal the minor injury done moments prior.

The satisfied smirk Farrin bore only moments prior was suddenly replaced by a frown of disappointment.

"A pity. I had high hopes for you, Appius. It appears I was wrong." Farrin said as his voice quietened and deepened.

Those words dug deep into Appius' subconscious. This man, the former Headmaster of the Shadow Academy himself, took him in as his apprentice to be trained. Such an honour was rarely bestowed upon anyone in the Brotherhood. He had the utmost respect for the man and even now sought only his approval.

"No." Appius rebelled, his voice confrontational even with the deadly blade humming at his throat.

"No?" Farrin repeated back with an eyebrow raised. In the entire time he'd known him, his apprentice had never openly defied him like this.

"You are not wrong and do you know why?" Appius said as he glanced behind his Master at the BlasTech DC-17 Blaster Pistol that laid just a few metres away.

"Please, do indulge me." His Master replied, but after he spoke those words his eyes widened at the sudden smirk that Appius presented to him.

"Because I'm your apprentice!"

Suddenly, Appius reached out with the Force and gripped onto the blaster like an extended limb. It skidded along with ground with great speed until it landed directly into the palm of his right hand.

Acting on survival instinct, Farrin leaped back and prepared himself for the inevitable blaster shot that would come.

But it never did.

Instead, Appius quickly jumped to his feet, spun and instead of pulling the trigger he threw the weapon directly at his Master. Perhaps it was Farrin's years of training, but he reacted instinctively by slicing his own weapon in two.

Not wasting any time, Appius used this moment of distraction to call upon the power of the Living Force and from a nearby stall on the right side of Murder Alley a selection of five small metal shurikens began to float like gravity didn't exist on them. Citizens and patrons moved out of the way quickly as the Sorcerer threw his arms to side as the five metal shurikens launched through the air like little airborne daggers towards Farrin.

The Force alerted the Augur to Appius' attempt at improvised offence as he bent his knees and centred himself. His movements were agile as he used both of his lightsabers to transform the tiny metal weapons of death into shards of shrapnel.

A small smirk resonated once again on the man's face.

'Good, that's more like it.' he thought to himself. Clearly his words had gotten to the Sorcerer, as was his intention.

Hitting Farrin with the shurikens was not what Appius had intended. He was buying time. A few short moments of concentration was all he needed and keeping his Master distracted provided just that.

Appius' eyes hardened like steel as he thrust his right hand forward towards his Master's face.

After all, how do you beat a Shadow?

Obliterate it with light.

Even with the warning from the Force, the Augur could not protect his eyes from what felt like a flashbang going off in right in front of them. Even from a slight distance Appius was able to detonate the energy right in front of his Master. The harsh brightness clawed at the Augur's retinas as he as well as the nearby crowd of observers watching them were forced to cover their eyes to prevent any kind of permanent damage to them.

Appius was not affected by the blinding light. Farrin himself had taught him how to use the technique without damaging his own eyes. The Sorcerer was going to take full advantage of that.

Appius ran at Farrin with all his speed he could muster in his legs and even with his vision impaired the former Headmaster could still feel his apprentices movements through the Force. He lifted his left hand vertically to strike at his apprentice only for it to stop as Appius grabbed the wrist with an open palm. Then, using Farrin's own momentum against him, he flipped him over onto his back which forced the Headmaster to release his hold on the lightsaber in that very hand.

Quickly, Appius released his hold on Farrin and with his outstretched left hand he called to the weapon through the Force. He activated the weapon and a silver blade sprung into existence once again. He pulled the weapon over his head and with all his weight behind it he swung the weapon downwards at his opponent.

Luckily, Farrin had the awareness to roll out of the way of the deadly strike. He returned to his feet and whilst still slightly blurred, his vision was returning to him quickly. He placed the single saber he still had into his dominant left hand and held it in the reverse grip once again as Appius swung the blade diagonally at his Master.

The sabers locked for a brief few moments as Appius could feel his heart race and breathing quicken. Extended use of Force powers was beginning to take an effect on him, he knew it and so did his Master. If he had any hope of winning he'd have to take his chance now while he still could.

The two continued to exchange blows and strikes with each other, silver against silver sparked and clashed in awe inspiring display of movement and light. Whilst Appius' strikes seemed haphazard and relaxed, Farrin's were quick and fluid as he attempted to counter each strike his apprentice tried to land on him. Though without his second saber the former Headmaster's ability to create offence was severely limited. His preferred style of combat with a lightsaber was useful against multiple opponents and blaster fire which is where the second saber came in as a means to cover that particular weakness.

They continued to exchange blows for several moments as Appius attempted a horizontal strike at his Master. the Sorcerer spun after the expected deflection and focused the will of the Living Force into the palm of his hand and slammed it into the ground between them. A detonation of energy exploded and forced Farrin to stumble back several metres.

Appius then called upon the emotional triggers from earlier in the fight, anger, fear and desperation this time to much greater effect as lightning danced like an arrow out of the fingertips of his left hand.

Fortunately, the Augur predicted this and held his blade in a defensive stance to absorb the threatening attack, grounding the lightning in the process. It streamed for several moments before eventually fading into nothingness.

Both men stood apart from each other, Appius struggled to catch his breath and even Farrin's had become ragged and sweat began to form on his brow. The Sorcerer had given him a better run for his credits than he had anticipated.

And then, he smirked sadistically. He knew what to do, there was a reason that he was the Master after all.

"Sorry, Appius, but this ends now." He said confidently as he threw his remaining saber at his student with all his might. It arched in the air and whirled like a flying guillotine and it was only thanks to the Force warning him of the imminent danger that he was able to duck underneath it before it cut his head off.

It returned to Farrin's outstretched hand but as soon as he did, he pulled out a second BlasTech DC-17 Blaster Pistol in his right hand and shot it at Appius' shin. The Sorcerer had forgotten about one of Farrin's golden rules.

Always carry a spare.

The blast connected and even with the Force's warning Appius' fatigue slowed him and prevented him from reacting in time. The torment in his leg forced the taller man to the ground as he clutched his leg in agony and bit his bottom lip to hide the pain he was in.

Farrin sheathed his weapons and slowly approached to pick up his second lightsaber and stood over Appius. Out of breath, but still the victor. The patrons observing down Murder Alley began to disperse now that their entertainment and sport had seemingly ceased.

"Well done, Appius. That was much better. Heal yourself as best you can and we will go over the details of this fight more closely."

As his apprentice called upon the Force to heal the injury his leg had sustained, Farrin couldn't help but smile.

'That was excellent, at this rate he might actually be able to best me someday…'

The smile then turned into a sadistic grin as he held out his hand to Appius to help him back onto his feet. A gesture that the apprentice gladly accepted.

'Maybe… if he's lucky.' Farrin thought to himself as he threw Appius' shoulder over him and together the two left Chute Town behind them.