As you walk through the swampy jungle to the South, you enter the ancient ruins of the Dark Temple. Abandoned and forgotten, the temple has slowly succumbed to the erosion of time. Before you lies the central chamber—the walls have crumbled, the ceiling caved in, and the jungle now flourishes within the once pristine halls.

Green light filters itself through the temple, mixing eerily with the dark, violet hue of Dromund Kaas' sky. Lightning flickers overhead, the raw energy of the Force clashing high above. The floor is overgrown with flora, large plants and grasses that have swallowed the old stone. Wild creatures roam freely, skittering away from your presence, but your heightened senses can feel the brush of vicious predators, hiding just out of sight.

The main hall is lined on both sides by towering statues, heads bowed in supplication. They stand in deference to the sculpture of a pureblooded Sith, which towers over the chamber with outstretched arms. The sculpture has been split diagonally down the middle, as if cleaved in two by a rusted blade, but you can still feel the majesty in the stone.

On either side of the main hall, remnants of branches to inaccessible parts of the temple remain. Ignoring those, your head tilts to take in what is left of the mezzanine—the balcony overlooking the chamber—still held aloft by the great pillars standing behind the statues. Several of the pillars have fallen, providing a pathway up to the mezzanine for those willing to take the risk for higher ground.

You can feel the danger of the temple. Sense the spirits of the Sith that still haunt the grounds, waiting for poor, misguided fools to walk blindly into their domain. Now, they have two souls to consume… that is, if you and your opponent don't destroy each other first.

The wind sighed eerily through the hall as Taranae entered. Her highly attuned senses searching every which way for her Apprentice. His strengths and weaknesses were known to her, but yet, she knew he was a very capable student. His recent actions on Korriban proved to her that he could take whatever was thrown his way and crush it to dust with hardly any energy spent on his part. But she knew she was his superior, both in prowess and skill. Yes, some of his abilities would benefit him in this place, which was the reason she had chosen to summon him here of all places. She wanted to test him to his utmost limits and with the things she could sense hiding in the shadows in the temple, she was sure he would use at least one of the skills that she wanted to test. Rather than concentrate solely on combat, her Apprentice Calvo had become rather adept at controlling beasts.

She smiled her wicked, lopsided smile as she continued into the ruins and stood before the large statue in the centre of the main hall. She noted that it had seen better days as it had, by some means, been sliced down the middle by some unknown force and now was in two pieces, barely touching at the centre. As she glanced around, the wind picked up and blew dust, obscuring her vision slightly. She raised her arm to shield her eyes and squinted back towards the entrance. She could hear approaching footsteps in the distance and immediately assumed her Apprentice had arrived. Glancing left and right, she felt the gazes of all the statues around the walls as their stare bored into her soul. She shook her head, her red hair dancing around in the wind, as she tried to clear her mind. If Calvo was here, she needed to be able to concentrate on the battle that was to ensue here.

Calling on the Force, she sprinted to the walls and leapt; her target being the balustrades around the hall. She landed upon the ground a few metres above the main floor and spun around. She risked a glance over the rails around the area to see Calvo steadily making his way into the hall. She concentrated and vanished.

First test, she thought. How good are your senses, Apprentice?

Calvo edged gingerly into the main hall. His Master had summoned him here but he had no idea why. The empty halls worried him and he began to suspect that Taranae had something more in store for him than a simple meeting. He drew his lightsaber from its clip on the belt on his armour and thumbed the activation stud. It sprang to life with an audible hum and illuminated the chamber before him. As he gazed around, he could sense movements, but was unsure exactly what they could be. His battle armour reflected the light of his weapon, giving him an almost ghostly glow as he advanced and he sensed yet another presence of which he wasn't aware at first. The statue of a pureblood Sith, cleaved in two, stood before him and he gazed in awe at the workmanship. It was, of course, marred by centuries of wear and the wind blowing sand and dust through here had not been kind to it. He turned in a slow circle, his lightsaber poised, as he surveyed his surroundings.

It seems the first move is yours, Master. he thought, as suddenly a figure dropped behind him from above, and he had but milliseconds to react as a foot kicked out from behind; its intention to buckle him at the knees. He leapt forwards and landed a metre away, spinning on the spot to face his adversary.

Taranae grinned in the light of her ignited lightsaber.

"You failed the first test Apprentice, but at least your reactions are up to scratch." she mocked, as she swung at him with her full strength. "I know your weaknesses and I aim to test them. Now let's see what you've got!" She gestured and a large part of a stone pillar hurtled towards Calvo from behind as Taranae closed in from the front, her lightsaber at the ready.

“I will not fight you.” Calvo states, to the shock of his master.

“Then you fail a second test.” She lunged, her blade nearly catching Calvo. At the last possible moment Calvo blocked the strike, and jumped back, landing on the statue. “I thought you would not fight. That was very unexpected.”

“I will not fight you.” Calvo reached out with his senses, and found a Wraid lurking nearby. Taking what control he could, he yelled out, “Attack!”

The Wraid came out into the open, and attacked Taranae. Not expecting Calvo to use such a creature, the Wriad distracted Taranea. It hit her and managed to knock her down. Taranae jumped back up, and slashed at it viciously, severing the beasts head from its body. When Taranae looked for her Apprentice, he had vanished. Sensing he was nearby, she prepared for her apprentice to charge.

Calvo, now up, holding on to a column, was behind his master. His saber off, he relied on his own sight. He looked up, and spotted a Shyrack flying above the temple. Again he called on the Force, taking basic control. Enraging it, he then called out to it. “Attack!”

The Shyrack swooped down, catching Taranae off guard, ramming into her, though she did respond quickly killing it. Calvo leaped down from the pillar, igniting his saber. Calo and Taranae clashed blades for only a second. The momentum pushed Calvo forward, and he spun over Taranae’s blade. Now he dropped low, Calvo entered a stance between crouching and kneeling, a Teras-kasi technique, his saber raised defensively. Taranae struck out against her student, testing his defences. Calvo shifted his feet, moved his chest out of the way, and then pushed Taranae’s blade to the other side of her body. Taking the opening he created, he spun around elbowing Taranae in the stomach. At the end of the spin he was back in the Teras Kasi stance.

“Your move master.” Calvo stated.

"Teras-Kasi I see," mused Taranae aloud to her apprentice, "although I am rather adept at the arts myself." She leapt at Calvo, her foot outstretched and her lightsaber pointing at him along the length of her leg. The move was so fast that calvo had little time to react. He felt the attack coming, but was unprepared as to what it may be. The kick struck Calvo just below the jaw and threw him backwards into the pillar he had just jumped down from. As the pillar cracked under the sheer force of his body hitting it, and from the power of Taranae's kick, he attempted to right himself and shakily threw himself to the side just as Taranae landed again. She had jumped from the position she had landed in after kicking Calvo and had immediately sprang forwards, meaning to land on his chest with her knee. She had meant to inflict sheer pain, but instead heard her knee crack loudly as it hit the floor with terrifying force. She screamed in agony as Calvo stood, shook the fogginess from his head and cradled his aching midsection. He knew that it would be difficult for either of them to continue and he cursed not knowing his Master's full range of abilities. He began to limp away quickly, trying to put a little distance between himself and Taranae and as he rounded a pillar he sagged to the floor where he called on the Force to try to mend his broken body. "That will get you nowhere, apprentice." His Master's voice mocked as he looked up sharply to see Taranae standing over him with only a slight limp. "It seems we both had the same ideas, but while you were busy distancing yourself I was already healing." Calvo's lightsaber flew from his grip and he gasped in astonishment as Taranae grasped it and thumbed the activation button. The weapon flared and Taranae swung it directly across Calvo's chest. He let out a scream as the weapon burned his flesh. "You don't know what it truly is to burn." She mocked. "This weapon won't kill you, so still your tongue! I have given you this mark as a sign to remember by. You were defeated. You thought you had the superiority over your Master, but you underestimated me. You need more training, apprentice." With these words, Taranae struck Calvo in the face with the hilt of his own lightsaber and he passed out into oblivion. Throwing his weapon on the floor beside Calvo, Taranae walked away, muttering to herself. "Note to self : Train Apprentices better in the art of defence...." and she grinned.

Taranae pushed Calvo back, her saber whirling like a defencive shield, yet as deadly as a Rancor. Calvo fought hard to keep up, and managed to match Taranae for a short time. Just before his guard slipped, he was blasted back by the Force.

Calvo hit a pillar hard, and disrupted an old pile of bones. Calvo felt a beast, a Hssiss, angered by this.

Taranae approached, saber in hand, "Surrender now!"

Calvo looked defeated. with most of his remaining energy he moved all of the Hssiss's anger to Taranae, and the beast lashed out, an extension of Calvo's will. Taranae was thrown across the room. Calvo lost control, and the Hssiss's anger was still focused on Taranae. The beast moved foward to kill her. Calvo felt an anger rise in himself for his inability to control the beast. The anger mixed with the Force and drove him into a frenzy.

Leaping up, his frenzy empowering him, Calvo charged at the beast, and telekinetically brought Taranae's lightsaber into his hand. Now with both the Crimson and green blades in hand he jumped into the air. Taranae, regaining her sense's saw the Hssiss above her, and Calvo above the beast. For a split second, with his cloak rising, the blades held above his head, and him spinning in a fast circle, he looked like a maroon skinned angel of death. Only in that second. Calvo landed on the Hssiss's back, and loped off its head and a leg. The beast collapsed on to Taranae pinning her. Calvo managed to deactivate the blades before falling with the beast.

Suscumming to exhaustion and a good amount of pain, Calvo clattered to the ground, unconscious. Taranae pushed the Hssiss of of her and grabbed her lightsaber. Looking at Calvo, she called upon the Force to heal him.

"When you wake up I will be on the Anchorage." Taranae stated telepathically. she turned and left the temple.

Nearly two days later, Calvo woke up.