Welcome to Gaia! ::

Naku was meditating in his chambers, as he was prone to do when he wasn't training the padawans, or practicing his saber skills. He was at peace at the moment, the force was a calming place to be for him. It showed him visions, calmed his mind, allowed him to explore the galaxy without leaving. However, this time, something was different. He felt a disturbance in the force, as if something, or someone was on their way to the planet. Though, not at all threatening, but more curious. He could sense it's fear, it's desperation, it's desires. It was humanoid, heading towards their planet, at an alarming speed. The force showed a vision of an escape pod, one that would crash, then explode, but a survivor would get up and walk away from the crash, injured, but otherwise, well. The visions never showed Naku his face, the visions rarely do.

Naku awoke from his trance. He looked around his meditation room, regaining his barrings before getting up and leaving for the control room. He wanted to see if what he saw was true, and a planet wide scan could show him of anything happening.

After some rest, Marxus, set out gathering food. As he hunted he tested and surveyed the climate. His diagnostic gave him some results. The weather was temperate, which was in his favor. The lush trees, fruit, and game seemed to be... well everywhere. However, he saw nasty looking storm clouds on the horizon. Better make this trip fast. He found a low clear stream of water, no doubt full of fish. He simply stood there, letting the fish pay no heed to his presence. As if he was a willow tree, swaying slowly, guessing the fish's direction. Then after some more time. He struck!

An hour later he came back with some 5 fish, wood for carving/fire, and some plants he knew to make medicinal herbs with. Later he would look to the crash site to see if any equipment was still intact. Maybe to make a distress signal or two... but he knew that he was far from Republic space. Anything else out there would probably be apart of the Separatist army. Marxus cut the wood in frustration. He had found some jagged stones in the river to harness together with some wood to make a stone age looking axe. It did its job well as he cut his anger away.

When he finished with the wood he made a fire with the help of his brands it was easy. As he sat down arranging the fish upon the fire, his thoughts strayed to the past. Veena, one of his many sisters and consequently his favorite. Congratulating him on becoming a general for the 3rd platoon. In those days life was peaceful, his only worries were to make sure his men were battle ready. War was honor. Always win, no matter the odds. In those days Mandolorians were the only issue. There tactics were great, their equipment, almost unparalleled. The only issue they had were really one reason. They had no government, or if they did it had no power. Most of his learning of martial strategy though was from them, in many ways. Some things they did not teach you in the academy. For every battle he had against them though he earned it! He thanked them for every victory he had against them, for he learned from them.

As the thunder began to shout, his mind took a different turn. He saw a battleground. Usually that would not have been the problem, however it was HIS home that was the battlefield. What was worse his OWN countrymen were what did it. The rain came, pouring it did. Shaking him out of his nasty reverie. The fish were cooked, and were neatly piled. It seems he had put them there when he was in the past. He had no fear of the rain for now. His camp was in a cave upon a hill. Geographically a flood would not occur here.

He started nibbling on a piece of fish, as he did so, he began to whittle at a piece of wood. He began furnishing a bowl, using some more of those jagged rocks he found. Some time later a nice smooth bowl appeared. He began making his medicinal herbs, crushing them in the bowl he had made. Making powders for wounds, poison, anything else he could think of for the possible dangerous animals that lay ahead.

As if to make his day better, a very large Kath-Hound came into his shelter. This Kath-hound was not just big, it looked different as well. It had a very large scar in place of its left eye, its fur was...gray? silver? Usually Kath-Hounds were tan or brown. This one had an air of authority, its long flowing mane told him that this one was crafty. Marxus did not make a move, as it strode across from him by the fire. Very uncharacteristic of this particular animals. It looked used to people, maybe there was civilization. Then again maybe it just simply was wanting to have a nice cozy bed. Fat chance at that. It simply watched him as it lay down. He threw one of his pieces of fish at him. With a gracefulness and quick reflexes that he simply did not see coming, it snapped its offering of parlay. So be it, it looks like I have a roommate.

He slept on his side, his back against the wall in the sitting position. If this Kath-Hound (if that was really what it was) was just sitting there for an ambush in the night. Then it would have another thing coming.

When he slept, his nightmares enveloped him. As always they left him there sweating with a sense of unearthly horror. He looked to the other side of the cave. The fire was at a low ember and the Kath-Hound was gone. No sign of its passing. Not even were it lay the previous night. A chill hit his spine. Now that is spooky The land looked the same, as if the weather was a good friend that just came by to say hi. He just sat there overlooking the forest. Bringing his wits together and bringing his sense of reality back in place.

After collecting his wits and stretching for the day, Marxus began outfitting himself. He had managed to make his medical supplies as well as a few nasty things for the bigger predators he would likely see. No Rancor for me, thank you very much. Marxus after a time had spent a good portion of his life in the wild. This forest was not much different, except for spooks.Never trust a spook. Of course the formula would only be able to drive away small Rancors. For bigger ones, some more work would be required but he had only made some for now. Later he would find more materials. He made a mental tab on the fact that while the bombs would drive small Rancors away, it would also attract the adults.And not just one

He decided that after fishing today he would check the crash zone to see if he could find anything that would get him off this rock. Perhaps a beacon, a beacon would be nice. Unlikely, bloody unlikely. If this planet was as filled with animals as it was. There was a slim chance that civilization was present too. However what type of civilization would be the deciding factor. Still it was better than just sitting around like a hermit for the rest my life. He began doing the usual fishing, when a brief shadow caught his attention. His years in military almost immediately identified what this was. A ship! Come on luck don't fail me now he was thinking as he got his gear and hurried to its general direction. He figured it saw his crash landing, for it was heading in that direction. Hopping on rocks, trees, hills. He made his run time quite fast. Making sure that he would gain time by not falling into pits. So it was only a few minutes when he reached the crash site.

A black fighter ship had landed near site it seemed.Customized too. Then he saw a matching black clad figure checking the ground. Sith's Blood he thought/cursed. A dark Jedi! Great what was I saying about luck failing me now? It was a good thing he decided to hide his person to check who it was he was meeting. It would be no good to have an ambush for himself now. Still this was very good. The figure had no mask on. So he was familiar to this climate already. This would indicate a sign that there was a base nearby. Figures, crash land on the one planet that the Sith use for a secret base. ******** you Karma. He was still prepared for trouble though. He devised a plan though, that might work. Depending on what the sith would do

He's tracking me. This Sith had some skill in tracking, however those tracks were days old. It would take him some time to find Marxus's cave. The cave itself was 15 minutes away, however the rate this Sith would make time around 45 minutes later. Interesting He made a plan. Marxus did not like messing with force users, in open combat. They had the mystical power of the force to conveniently change the equilibrium of the match to their favor. He had fought many before in the cauldron...he shivered in remembrance. He simply waited until Zeraxul was well out of both ear and eyeshot. About 15 minutes. He shook those dreadful thoughts away as he tossed one of his anti-Rancor formulas at the Customized ship. His plan was simple: destroy the ship and make the Sith walk back to wherever he came from, Marxus would track him back. Anything else he would figure out when he saw the Sith's base. Marxus did not have to wait long as an adult Rancor made vibrations on the ground around him. The monster was a bull! Two large tusks that could cleave a Separatist tank in seconds. To emphasize his point it began utterly ripping at the ship. First knocking it over on its side then stomping/slashing at the bulk. Marxus winced as the beast roared a savage shout. It shouted at the sky as an adult Drexl came descending on it attacking the Rancor.

It was at this point that Marxus decided to sneak away from the area. The commotion would draw the Dark Jedi back to this location. The roar itself would probably make him come running. Marxus covered his tracks and climbed trees to were he would have a perfect view of the spectacle. The monsters roared at one another displaying great savagery and bestial vigor. Marxus judged it would only be moments before the Sith would come back.

After a bit of time had passed, not only did Zeraxul hear a roar of a Rancor...a slight beeping noise came from in a pocket of robes. ....that better not be what I THINK it is. As he pulled out a remote for his ship, a little light on it was blinking, and it was emitting a beeping noise. An indicator that something was happening to his ship. He already began feeling rage boil within as he turned around and went into a full out run back towards his ship. Rancors did not randomly attack ships...someone had to have drawn it to his ship and made it aggressive towards it. That someone will be paying in blood for whatever damage was caused....

...which apparantly was pretty bad. His ship was not only knocked over, but it appeared to have been slashed and stomped...damage that would cause him to take, at the very least, a month and a half to fix. He didn't even really care about the drexyl, to be honest. Right now, he began feeling a rage build unlike any he had felt before. He didn't know what to make of it....but he accepted the rage in, though he felt his body heat raising in temperature at the same time. His vision tunneled a bit, focusing in on the beasts. The noises they were making dulled as he became lost in this rage...the air would seem to actually shimmer around him, as if giving off heat waves. He himself did not feel anything other than a little warmer than usual....aside, of course, from the obvious unfathomable anger that would be clearly displayed in both his posture and his face.

His ship....someone had caused it to be rather heavily damaged....this was worse than what his master had done. With his burning the scars into Zeraxul's back...those burns. He could remember what each agonizing second of that torture was, and he roared himself in anger as he felt.....he felt that burning throughout his body, and wanted to inflict it on these creature right now. As he made a flinging motion with his hand, a heat wave would seem to move towards both beasts....and then the air would catch on fire. This wall of flame would rapidly move towards the beasts, its blistering heat actually causing other things nearby to catch fire. This would easily start a forest fire in the end, this one action. However, since the beasts seemed too preoccupied with each other, it was quite likely they'd be caught in this attack of Zeraxul's, and probably catch fire themselves. He drew his saber and ignited both ends, seperating his double saber into two seperate ones and roaring in rage again as he rushed both creatures. He likely had their attention already, but ended up sending another wall of flame their way.

Fortunately, even though Zeraxul was too pissed off to notice, the wall of flame ended up fading away before it hit his already damaged ship....however, most of the trees surrounding the clearing would be either on fire, or about to catch fire due to the fact the flames were spreading fairly rapidly.

Naku felt a new disturbance in the force, one of anger, blind and uncontrolled. Something had happened, and he felt it had something to do with Zeraxul. He gunned his fighter forward. He needed to get there, whatever the reason was, he needed to calm Zeraxul down, before he harmed himself as well as anyone or anything around him.

Smoke could be seen on the horizon, and Naku worried. Smoke ment fire, and fire ment either something blew up, or something is on fire, either way, it wasn't good. As he approached, he saw the fires that caused the smoke, and felt through the force fear, and blinding hatred. He saw a clearing nearby, in front of the fires. He needed to contain the situation. He flew higher onto the sky before dropping his nose and flying towards the ground, targeting the area ahead of the fires and blasting it with his fighters blasters, taking down trees and cause a fire that would go against the already trailing fires, cancelling out any more fire damages that could spread. This took time, as he had to repeat the process several times before he was able to contain the fires.

Once the fires were contained, he used the force to sense were Zeraxul was, locating him as he rampaged towards the creatures he was chasing. At this point, one had already been slain by him as the other fled the scene. "R3, keep the ship in flight till I call for you." He ordered as he opened the canopy of his fighter. He waited till he was in over Zeraxul's path before jumping off the fighter, falling toward Zeraxul.

Naku closed his eyes, calming himself and using the force, he slowed himself down to just enough that he landed, unharmed with his legs spread, as he was hunched down, a small crater being formed from his landing. This caused a small shockwave, one of wind, and another of a calming aura that came directly from Naku, and was directed towards Zeraxul. Naku recovered and stared straight into Zeraxul's eyes in a calming matter, as a master would a padawan that had lost himself, as Zeraxul had. "Enough Zeraxul. Calm yourself." He spoke, both in a calming, yet commanding voice.

He felt it, more strongly now then before. He had reached his break point. He felt it in him, why he was angry. The Hatred seemed to just seep out of him, as he tortured the Rancor. He felt it's pain. And though at this point, Zeraxul's anger was pointed at the creatures, he was hunting for the one responsible for getting them agitated. He would not let this go. "Enough!" He yelled as he used the force to suppress the fire cage and let the Rancor escape. "Zeraxul, calm yourself, or I will be force to calm you myself." He said, in a commanding voice that would faulter almost any creature to follow. Although he was a Jedi, he wasn't the Master of the Outcasts for nothing.

Naku drew his saber, but did not activate it. Zeraxul was strong in the force at this point, and his anger and hatred would blind him, but by directing his attention to himself instead of anything else, he would stop him. And Zeraxul wouldn't be thinking clearly at this point. Even Malice was unable to fully control himself when he used his Sith Fury. Zeraxul had just begun to tap into it, and he had no more control then the fires he started.

Naku got into his force fighting stance, arms were up, pointing in the direction were Zeraxul was, while his legs separated slightly, for stability. He knew how to deal with Sith at this point. Though he was not going to tap into his own true self until it was needed. He waited, knowing that by taking this stance, he showed a willingness to fight, as he would wait for Zeraxul to make his first move.

Naku watched, prepared for anything that Zeraxul would throw his way. He moved faster then normal, which ment he was using the force to an extreme amount. He prepared for his attack, which was powerful, he defected the altered lightning strike to the side, feeling a sense of shock as it bounced from his hand to the ground. Naku instinctively activated his lightsaber, falling into Zeraxul's plan of attack as he blocked Zeraxul's attack, both of them, but losing his saber in the process. This did however send him back a bit as the force from the attack was tremendous. Naku however recovered fast enough to see Zeraxul's final attack to his vicious assault, and and blocked the attack with both his hands. This caused Naku to use a lot of the force to keep it from touching him, and it dragged him back further as the attack pushed him, kicking up dust and soot.

Naku caught his breath as he let the dusk by him some time. He closed his eyes, not needing to rely on them for this battle. He felt the world around him and saw it through the force. He could feel his saber, undamaged, he could feel forest, and it's fear. Most importantly, he could feel Zeraxul, and his uncontrolled power. Using the force, Naku lifted a huge boulder from behind him, letting it hover as he positioned it towards Zeraxul's presence. Then, with the force, he rushed the dusk towards Zeraxul, temporarily making him lost in the smoke, which would not last long, but was just enough time for Naku to send the Boulder Hurling towards Zeraxul. At the same time, he picked up several knocked down trees and launched them from their respective location, shooting them one at a time as though they were missiles towards Zeraxul. This would only by Naku time more then harm Zeraxul, though if any of them hit, it would feel as though it was a direct hit from a speeder almost at full speed.

Naku commanded the force once more to return his saber to his hand, and prepared for what Zeraxul would do. No doubt it was going to be an interesting fight, but Naku would not kill one of his own unless he absolutely had to. All he wants is for Zeraxul to calm down to regain control and to let go. These are things Naku must teach Zeraxul.