Myrkr is a dangerous world for nearly all sentients. Although once settled by the Neti, it has long since evolved from those days. The flora of Myrkr has a high metal-count, making it easy to hide from sensors and the perfect spot to set-up a pirate base or other criminal operation. What also made this world perfect for all manner of seedy individuals is the presence of ysalamiri—creatures with the ability to neutralize the Force.

The ysalamiri are located deep within the forests of Myrkr, where you have also found yourself. They have evolved the ability to make a bubble that excludes the Force to protect themselves from dangerous predators called vornskrs. These dangerous, canine-like predators hunt using the Force, and as such are highly attracted to anything that is Force-sensitive.

The forests of Myrkr are not for the faint-of-heart. It was used by the Yuuzhan Vong to create monstrosities, and continues to be utilized by the seedier elements of the galaxy. The dangers that lurk under the shadowy canopy cannot be underestimated. Not even the Force can protect you from the dangers of the forest.

You stand seemingly alone in a small clearing. Though you can feel the Force at the moment, you know that not far from this clearing, many of Myrkr’s horrors lie – including the Force-negating ysalamiri – can easily be found… You quickly realize this clearing won’t be safe for long as you sense you are not alone.

The Lambda-class shuttle behind them was an eternal herald of the Imperial House, the symbol of Palpatine's empire so conspicuous that seeing one here with Brotherhood personnel bespoke the presence of a member of Scholae Palatinae. The apprentice of the Praetor to the Master-at-Arms, Arron Saylos, had been sent here to this distant world to learn some kind of lesson at the behest of his Master. However, Evant had not spoken of the nature of this expedition to the Guardian - and had only given the instructions to Arron's escort. The Titan of New Tython was a stark contrast to the Cathar; large and powerful with every step he took, the wiry, lean and yet taller cat-man seemed puny in comparison. Here at the request of his fellow Praetor as return for previous favours asked by the Grand Master's assistant, Mirus was here to help his fellow brother learn about the hard truths of the Galaxy before it consumed him.

Mirus strode off the shuttle behind the learned Cathar, checking his Pride robes were locked into place correctly, his sword and saber upon his belt so that he would not be left unarmed on this planet. The air was thick and steamy with the acrid tang of sulfur from the swamps, overpowering the senses with their scent. Casting his gaze around with his glowing blue eyes, the Obelisk took one glance at the back of his companion and shook his head.

"Did you even bring a weapon, Arron?" remarked the Dathomiri with a questioning, authoritative tone. The lesson began now.

"I don't need one. I have the Force," growled the Cathar in reply. He bit back the added part about weapons being for barbarians.

"You're a fool. Did you even bring a lightsaber?"

"No."

"Mistake number one," Mirus began, walking around so that the Cathar would be forced to face him. "Always keep your lightsaber at your side. It is the tool of all Dark Jedi. Wear it with pride. Secondly, your over-reliance on the Force on this world is going to get you killed. Your Master sent you here for a lesson, and now I'm going to teach it to you - the Force can be taken away from you. Very easily."

Narrowing a feline eye, Arron scowled at the little man. Who precisely did he think he was? Did serving the Grand Master make him that all-knowing? Probably. Muz Ashen was an imposing thought, after all. If this man was chosen to work for him, then he had to be worth something to the Lion.

"But the Force is everywhere," retorted the Journeyman, reciting the knowledge of the Shadow Academy. "It is present in all living things and serves the needs of those powerful enough to sculpt it."

"Mistake number two," Mirus shot back, holding up two fingers. "There are ways to remove the Force from someone. Force-nullifying collars and toxins. Or... ysalamiri."

Mirus had been to Myrkr as a Journeyman with his own master, Rian Aslar, long ago. He had learned first-hand what it felt like to have the Force stripped away from you, torn bodily out of your grasp - the nausea, the feeling of helplessness at your crutch stolen so easily. Arron would learn too, just as he had.

"A ysalamir is a creature that projects a Force bubble that negates the Force around it. The more ysalamiri that are close by, the bigger the bubble gets. Stand in that bubble and you can not conjure the Force. In these forests, ysalamiri are everywhere. The Force does not save you on this planet."

Arron stopped. "And my Master sent me here on purpose?" The shock of realisation was a painful thing, when you gleaned even part of the truth; this place was anathema to the Brotherhood and its members. A Krath so over-reliant on the magics of the Force denuded of his only defence became little more than a mewling kitten.

The hint of a triumphant smirk crossed the Titan's lips. "And now you understand why I am here with you."

Okay. So maybe weapons weren't just for barbaric fools. Arron bit back a curse at his own hubris. Not bringing a weapon meant that journeying into the forest became suicidal. Fortunately, the Praetor came forever armed in all things. The scrape of a vibrosword being drawn from its scabbard echoed for a moment as Mirus drew his blade, then held it out for the Cathar to use. Accepting it with a two-handed grip, the Krath looked the weapon up and down. Built like a katana, the curved sword served as a wicked homage to the exigence of battle.

"But I don't know how to use this," implored Arron. He was not confident in holding up this blade, let alone fighting with it.

"You're about to. Lesson one: put the pointy end in the thing trying to kill you."

Holding back the thought of what Evant had specifically asked for - to have the lesson of using only the Force as a weapon, that there was far more to fighting amidst the Brotherhood at war than just the magics of the ancient Dark Side, beaten into Arron's skull - Mirus realised that the planet itself would teach this. He wouldn't have to fight Arron, but he'd learn the lesson. Whether either of them walked away from this was up to the native wildlife, not the Dark Jedi.

In the distance, the familiar snarl of angered beasts reached his ear as he approached the edge of the forest-- vornskr. Fast, deadly and lethal to Force-users, the hunting dogs would shred an unprepared Jedi to pieces given half a chance. Without hesitation, Mirus drew his lightsaber, flicking it to life. The teal glow was a reassuring sight, surrounded by the threat of untold enemies.

"Was this really a good idea?" queried the Krath. "Bringing me here?"

"Well, we're about to find out," Mirus replied with a dour tone. "Be on your guard. They're coming."

Arron leapt to the side to dodge the charge of an oncoming vornskr, rolling into a crouch as it landed on it feat and turned to face him. These vornskr things were fast, Arron had to admit, black fir and streamlined bodies, and with a form of force-sensitivity that made them ideal for hunting Dark Jedi. Instinctively, Arron reached out with the force intending to snap the hunter’s neck. Despite Mirus’ warnings, he hadn’t encountered any ysalmiri yet, so use of the force was still fair game. Unfortunately he hadn’t taken into account that vornskr were force-hunters, and so the other three members of this creature pack pounced just as the first vornskr’s neck was broken. Arron reflexively through up a force barrier holding them back, but the creatures were relentless, scraping away at the shield he crafted, and Arron could only hold it up for so long. It was at this point the Titan of New Tython decided to intervene, using his Lightsaber to carve through two with a single swing, and spinning around with a round house kick that broke the third ones ribs. “I told you Arron, you need to learn about not relying so much on the force here. That little stunt almost killed you.” Arron let out a feline hiss at the superior officer. He was quickly losing his patience with this “lesson” and was tempted to tell the old warrior precisely that, held back only by the knowledge that this man served directly under Grand Master Muz Ashen, and could probably get away with killing the small time journeyman. Scratch that. This man could definitely get away with killing him. Arron rose reluctantly to his feet. “Fine, I need to learn more about fighting without using the force. Lesson learned. Can we leave now?” “No, no we cannot. Your ‘lesson’ is only just getting started. Follow me.” At this the Titan of New Tython turned around and marched further into the woods, concealing the satisfied smirk on his face. Evant’s apprentice had a lot to learn before he could make it as an Equite, or even a knight. Arron was following at a short distance, and suppressing the desire use the vibro sword to kill this man where he stands. It was while these dark fantasies were playing in the Krath’s mind that a strange feeling, or rather, lack of feeling, washed over him. His connection to the force had been cut off, and he was quickly feeling the disorienting experience. It was like nothing he could describe, so confusing was it to have his sixth sense, something he had come to rely on without his realization, torn form his mind. He was overcome with nausea, and held back the urge to vomit right there. “I see your feeling the effects of the ysalmiri Arron. I told you it was disorienting.” Arron held his desire to point out the Obelisk had said nothing of the sort, and focused instead on steadying his disoriented senses. Not long before he realized that this area was filled with ysalmiri. At least a dozen of the cursed reptiles, one in almost every tree. Doubtless the force was useless here. Arron could only wonder what he had done to infuriate his master.

The Titan quirked a momentary brow as he readied himself for the inevitable next wave. Without the assistance of the Force to guide his actions, the two Dark Jedi would be left to rely only on their own physical attributes... and that meant that Arron was going to be rather helpless to fight off any incoming vornskr. While this request had been difficult, Mirus knew only one thing: getting the Cathar back to the shuttle to train him on the trip back to the Cocytus system was the only real option. Some hands-on time with a sword was a great starting point to get the new Krath into the mindset that fighting was not all about the Force, though this experience bordered on ridiculous. Mirus could almost physically feel the resentment radiating from the Journeyman - even without his Force-inspired senses.

"Let's not overstay our welcome, Arron," Mirus said quickly, a low growl coming from the veteran warfighter as he looked over his shoulder. "Back to the shuttle. Go!"

"Why'd we even come here, then?" grumbled the young scholar, deciding that this entire excursion had been a colossal waste of time. In some ways, he'd likely learn more from this experience than he would have in mountains of books. There was no substitute for the harsh teacher that was the battlefield. He wanted to stay and fight, of course - this would have been a grand battle. But here, hopelessly outmatched? He wasn't a fool. Logic and reason won out.

The sudden roar of a pack of monsters echoed from the treeline. What hesitation had been in Arron's mind before was suddenly washed away in a tide of fear, his stalwart mask evaporating. Turning with sword in hand, he made a mad dash back to the shuttle, through the trees, along the path they'd already travelled. The Cathar took a glance behind him, to see if the Praetor was following.

He was not.

The first three vornskr leapt wildly from the trees, spittle flying from their wide maws as he sought the prey they'd already found in the darkness of the forest. Taking a rooted, defensive stance, Mirus held his saber high, ready to fight - in a single swing, he cleaved one from the air, stepping through into the next at his side and slicing back upwards, lancing the third with a straight two-handed thrust of his blade. Determined and resolute, Mirus knew that he could not break here - he had to defend Evant's student and prevent him from coming to harm. It was the right thing, the only thing, he could do.

"Are you an idiot?! Run!" Arron shouted, practically goading Mirus into action. The blue-eyed Titan glanced over his shoulder in the momentary break in the action, seeing his companion running. He would not be able to protect the young Krath staying where he was. It was time for a tactical retreat - but the hounds were hot on his heels. Given how fast they were, they were going to catch up.

Suddenly, a vornskr sprung through the treeline to Mirus' right, claws latching on to the skin of his left arm and knocking him to the dirt. Another followed suit immediately, piling on top of the Dathomiri man in their rabid attempts to shred him to bits. Blood trickled from the new wound, to which the Titan released his right hand from his saber and raised his arm, springing the hidden blade trap under his wrist. One vornskr found an electrified blade spearing through his jaw and brain, dead instantly. That left the second, which now had the corpse of its companion as a defensive bulwark - and it had the advantage.

Arron running away had served one grand purpose, however: he was now out of the ysalamiri's toxic Force nullification, meaning he now had full faculties of his powers. Hand raised like a Force-warlock, he conjured the dark magic within and blasted the live vornskr off Mirus' prone form, knocking it into a tree. That gave the Titan enough time to push the other body off him, rise to his feet and start running one more time. Arron hesitated momentarily, wanting to fight, to prove that he was powerful - but this place was not good for either of them. It was best to leave, to fight another day - eventually the seemingly limitless hunters would overwhelm them.

Together, Mirus and Arron broke through the trees - then, suddenly, light shone down like a blinding beacon. They were free of the twisted forest. The sudden loss of eight of their pack meant the vornskr were willing to let them go - for now. The snarls of enraged hunter-beasts, held at bay, were a chilling reminder of how close they were to meeting their fate. However, they would not be able to fight them aboard their ship. They had fled, successfully. The threat had passed.

The two were suddenly polar opposites; Arron was tired and exhausted from the sprint through the woods, hunched over and panting, lacking the stamina that the warrior beside him did - and Mirus barely wiped the beads of sweat from his brow. It was a good exercise for the both of them, certainly.

"That was fun," Mirus commented offhand, ignoring the pain radiating from his arm. "I'll have my sword back, if you don't mind."

Arron offered the sword back to the Titan, who handily sheathed it and his lightsaber, returning once more to a quiet repose. The Cathar very sorely wanted to ask how he threw himself headfirst into that and brushed it all off like it was nothing, but bit back the question.

"Are we done learning here? I'd like to go home," commented the cat-man.

Mirus nodded quietly, turning to head up the shuttle's ramp one last time - and then paused at the base, before walking back to Arron while he caught his breath. He looked up, wondering what the hell the savage wanted now, about to rise with his breathing steadied.

"One more thing. Don't trust anyone."

With a blow so sudden it could've come out of nowhere, Mirus struck down on the back of Arron's neck as he rose up to look at the Dathomiri, delivering a perfect chop with the blade of his hand. With the Titan's strength and the Cathar's unfortunate physique coupled with striking at a vital point on the body, Arron crumbled as blackness swallowed him whole. A momentary thought of 'what the hell' crossed his mind - but that was momentary and fleeting. His body piled up at the ramp of the shuttle.

"I should be a teacher at the Shadow Academy," Mirus commented to nobody in particular, heading back aboard the ship, dragging the unconscious body behind him. He'd have to do something about that arm before they got back to Judecca. The pain would be a good lesson for when he woke up - and he'd probably have to deal with an angry kitten on the way home.