The tension in the air was thick as the two warriors stared each other down. Kaayn Salis felt the cloth of his white shirt stretch against his arms as he readied himself into a fighting stance. His opponent, T’Espera, donning the traditional orange combat uniform of her family, was already in fighting position. After what seemed like an eternity, T’Espera charged forward throwing a series of punches. Kaayn brought his hands up to intercept the onslaught of punches and ducking as a hammer fist came flying to towards the side of his head. With lightning fast precision, T’Espera fired another series of punches quickly followed by kicks. Kaayn jumped back, the cold stone railing chilling his back. Anticipating her next attack, Kaayn sidestepped as a flying kick crashed through the railing. T’Espera followed through with a straight punch at Kaayn's head. Kaayn again slipped to the side, sending T’Espera’s fist crashing into a ceramic planter. The planter shattered sending harden clay, dirt, and dust flying through the air.

T’Espera again charged her opponent. Throwing a series of kicks followed up by punches, the Sith angrily pursued Kaayn. Blocking each successive strike, the Grey Jedi was taken by surprise then T’Espera grabbed his arms. The two warriors wrestled for control of the fight. The Sith quickly got the upper hand and sent Kaayn flying across the arena floor. The human male contorted his body and landed in a prone position, propped up by one hand and his feet. T’Espera continued her assault sending a variety of kicks to the man. He hastily dodged the blows and leapt to his feet. T’Espera flew through the air sending a kick into Kaayn’s chest. The kick was followed by another fury of punches and kicks that sent him staggering back.

Kaayn regained his composure and focused on his enemy. He closed the gap to his between the two calmly but with authority. T’Espera, still at the ready, immediately continued her assault on the Grey Jedi. Kaayn quickly blocked the attacks and countered with a punch of his own. He followed through with a punch towards her head. Showing restraint, he stopped it just inches from her face. He knew the pulled punch would show her that he was indeed powerful and that he could beat her. He also knew that she would take the pulled punch as a sign of disrespect.. an insult. This fueled her anger.

She drew her power from her anger and fired back another series of punches and kicks. The renewed strength of the attack surprised Kaayn. He caught the blows in the chest and fell to the ground. He jumped to his feet and noticed the crowd observing and heckling him. He again focused hard on his opponent. T’Espera once again charged towards Kaayn. He leapt in the air threw a thrust a kick directly into her sternum. She flew back crashing into the ground. She glared at Kaayn, and slowly rose to a ready position. Kaayn loosened his stance, bobbing back and forth between his feet, changing the weight distribution.

The two fighters circled for a moment, T’Espera was the first to strike. She charged with a series of punches that were easily dodged by Kaayn. Opening the gap between the two, Kaayn gauged the situation. The Sith charged him again. Kaayn counted with a series of punches, causing T’Espera to crash into a rack of spears. The two fighters stood at a ready, throwing a punch of kick to test the others defenses. T’Espera threw a series of punches and kicks that were blocked by Kaayn. Kaayn retaliated with his own and a strong kicked connected in the chest. Taking a step back, T'Espera observed her opponent. She noticed the changing distribution of his weight. She waited until his weight was on his lead leg and with the speed of a viper attacking its prey, launched a kick into his leg sending him flying to the ground. She threw another kick towards Kaayn as he rolled back to his feet. Kaayn barely avoided the kick and countered with a flying kick to the side of her head.

The Sith and the Grey Jedi lowered into a ready stance glaring at one another, knowing that the fight would soon be over. They exploded at each other, like two elephants going to war. They exchanged a fury of punches and kicks that would look like a blur to any onlookers. Kick, punch, block, punch, block, kick.... Kaayn felt a stalemate was coming and made a quick decision. He leapt in the air and threw a strong kick into his former Apprentices chest. She flew across the arena floor into a set of stone railings. She climbed to her feat, only to fall. She realized she was too beaten to stand and eyed her opponent with seething hatred. “I lost.” She finally conceded as Kaayn left the arena.

The night was dark and the air was thick. All the smells of the forest, animals, and excrement clung to the humid air. The large group had been traveling for hours since their landing. They marched on towards their objective. On the horizon they saw a large pyramid shaped structure.
“This is it!” Vosiri thought as they reached the location.
His amazement was interrupted by a muffled scream. Quckly turning around, he saw one of the soldiers with the group crumple to the ground in a bloody heap. The remaining soldiers opened fire on the assailant. The dark obscured his vision, but he could make out a silhouette of a large bipedal creature. The creature looked as if it was wielding a large weapon….

Lightsabers of all colors sprang to life illuminating the trees and throwing shadows around the group. The light from the weapons of the Jedi revealed the hideous creatures that had surrounded the Sadowans. They stood approximately 2.5 meters tall and looked as if they were pure muscle. They had bronze skin that looked almost as if they were made of rock. They only wore a loin cloth, but carried a very large sword.
One of the Dark Jedi charged the beast. With one large swing, the guardian cut the Jedi in half. The guardians began to cleave who ever stood in their way. The telltale hum of lightsabers igniting was heard through the melee. The beasts began to fall as the new combatants waving the banner of Tarentum sliced through their thick bodies.

Moriband
Vosiri waded through the sea of bodies. The sickeningly sweet smell of rotting flesh stung his nostrils. Originally designated as a resupply and rearming for the troops on the ground, his shuttle had arrived just after the battle came to a close and was now reclassified to help in the relief effort. By now, he had been on Moriband for almost a week. “So many dead, so little wounded,” Vosiri thought as he surveyed the landscape. The relief effort was underway, but it was more focused on collecting the dead than patching up the wounded. “Except for the smell, this wouldn’t be such a bad planet.” He continued to think as he knelt down next to a body. Grabbing the body by the collar, he turned it over to expose the man’s face. It was a human boy, no more than 19 or 20. The boys’ throat and stomach were cut open. Blood stained his tunic and small bits of intestine were trailing on the ground. Through the bloodstained cloth, Vosiri noticed a rank insignia of Lance Corporal. He nodded as he reached for the identification tags that lay next to the body. “Rann Freeman” he whispered to himself. He nodded again and stood up walking away.

The metal clang of boots echoed through the inside of the shuttle as a human man in his late 50’s in a crisp white uniform descended from the interior of the shuttle and flanked by four armed guards. The group confidently marched past Vosiri as he continued up the ramp.
“Field Marshal Freeman, we’re glad you could come. I trust your journey fr…” a trembling male voice said as Vosiri made his way to a seat in the back of the shuttle. He closed his eyes and was fast asleep. Moments later the shuttle lifted off to deliver its new passengers.

Myrimidon
Vosiri gathered his bag and headed down the ramp. He was greeted by a woman of about average height dressed in all black, long brown hair with red highlights. Overall an attractive figure, despite her age. He continued to admire the individual as he approached her. Glancing at her waist, he noted the lightsaber at her leather belt, drew in a deep breath and let out a sigh. “Why did they always need to be Jedi?” Vosiri thought to himself.
“Mr. Lightscrest?” she spoke.
“That is correct.” Vosiri responded more coldly than he meant.
“I’m Lilith Versea-Stormwind, the Battle Team Leader of Devil’s Shroud: You must be my new hand to hand instructor…“ the Jedi spoke eyeing her datapad.
“…Captain in Clan Odan-Urr, fought for them in the Dark Crusades, highly trained in seven different martial arts, and a champion cage fighter.. Impressive resume” she finished.
“Indeed, and I’m going to teach your people how to really fight.” Vosiri commented.
The two made small talk as they continued to the main base

Myrmidon
Devil’s Shroud Base of Operations
Barracks Room – Hours later
Vosiri emptied the bottle of Corellian Ale in his glass. The memory of the smell burned in his mind. The sight of an ocean of dead ripped at his heart. He had told people he wished he could have been there to fight, but in reality he was glad he wasn’t involved. The sight of that boy, much younger than he was laying there lifeless, made him tremble. Vosiri reflected on the time he fought in the Dark Crusade. He’d seen combat before, he had killed and hade friends killed. He saw death and was one of the toughest in the galaxy. But this one death struck him differently.
Finishing the drink in his glass he dropped it on the ground and opened another bottle. Taking a sip directly from the bottle, he dropped into a low stance of the Echani form. He began to stumble around and not so gracefully run through the basic movements of Echani, taking a large drink from the bottle after every couple of movements….
Hours Later
Vosiri lay on the cold floor, snoring loudly with an empty bottle in hand.