The death and decay lying in the shallow trenches was caught by the soft breeze, leaving the small town downwind to suffer the putrid odor. When it finally became no longer bearable, a small team was dispatched.

The team, which consisted of five men from the towns newly formed miltia, was armed with a heavy repeater rifle, and simple hand-held blasters. They had to be careful these days. It was mid-afternoon by the time they set off, the sun's unforgiving heat pouring down on the men, making most wish that they had left their gear back home. They made their way through a field in a tight formation, two each on the side and the rear, while one led them on.

Suddenly, they came to a halt. Directly in front of them lay the bodies of perhaps fifteen, gaping wounds on most. Some of them were even dismembered; though the limbs remained missing from view.

Four men turned away, unable to deal with the sight. The one in the lead however, did not falter. An unexpected determination swept over him, though he fought back the tears that now swelled in his eyes. These had been former residents of the town, though they chose to go their own way due to the leadership.

----------------------

A few days passed, the men gathering as much information as they could. Fear now came over the town as each night lengthened from the changing of seasons. Something had to be done. Rulic Hart, the man who had led his men to the corpses sent out a call of aid to the Jedi.


OOC: I'd like for well-trained Jedi, Masters/Knights, to respond. Thank You :)

(OCC: I hope you don't mind a Shadow Jedi Knight in this. )

Good, bad, and ugly: that was how Raven rated her days at this point, and today wasn't an exception to the rule.

A call for help was issued, and such a call was something she just could not ignore, since situations like it were what she trained for in the past year or two. Good lord, she couldn't remember how long she had been fully trained in the ways of the force, and at this point in her life, it really didn't matter.

Time wasn't really important, only lives were, and that was why she was here.

Approaching the town, she wondered who was going to meet her, and if either she was the only one who responded for the call for help, or she was the first of many.

OOC: Don't mind a'tall :)

IC: The woman was suddenly brought to a halt by two armed men. Their blasters were trained at her chest, hoping that it would be enough to assure her to stop.

"Name and reasons for being here." It wasn't a question but a command. Things had gotten odd as of late, and they were ordered not to be too careful. Some commotion could be seen at the towns entrance as three other men made their way to her position.

Fear and suspicion were easy to sence from the men who held blasters at her chest. She could sense a few more were about to join the pair who greeted her in their overly tense fashion.

Raven slowly pulled back the hood covering her head, and she gave them a small smile, holding up her hands in a surrender gesture. It was best here not to make any sudden moves, and be as diplomatic as possible.

"I'm Raven Skywalker, on behalf of the Shadow Jedi Order, in response to a distress call either your town, or a community close by yours has made." Raven replied, glancing about to see three other had joined the pair, making a total of five so far.

"I have the proper identification papers, to verify my identity, of course. I'm not here to cause you any trouble or that of your community, for I feel that you have experienced such already. I'm only here to help in any way that I can."

One of the men who had just arrived motioned for the men to lower their blasters. They complied, though reluctant. He took a few steps foward, looking over the woman once.

"Shadow Jedi?" He said in a soft voice. The man was about six feet tall, dressed in black pants and shirt. Unkempt light brown hair crowned his head, while his eyes gave the impression of endless nights spent crying, though they also seemed to tell of a hidden wisdom held within. He walked as if he carried an unseen burden, though he had an air of authority about him. Most in his town did not understand him, though accepted him.

"Interesting. I have not heard of that before." He continued. "Forgive me, my name is Rulic Hart. That is not how we usually greet our guests, but we can't be sure about outsiders these days."

He stepped back and bowed, returning to his original posture only after a brief pause. "Now, Ms. Skywalker, would you please accompany us to my lab?" He turned and pointed to a building that seemed to stand out from the rest. It had a white color to it, due to the construction materials used. As he turned back to hear her answer, his eyes scanned breifly over the dead landscape of leafless trees and pale yellow grass. His heart sunk to see his home in this condition. What was worse, was that he could feel it dying somehow.

OOC: How about a Jedi Master to go along as well? :)

IC:

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> A breeze blew gently through the air, causing blades of grass and other plants to shift slightly. There was a certain feeling in the air, one that even a being who was not sensative to the Force noticed. It was an emotion thinly covered with the pretense of 'normal' town life, but you could see it in the eyes of passerby; could see how they seemed to be in more of a hurry than usual, how they looked around suspiciously at neighbors whom they had grown up with.

Fear. Fear attracts the weak, the strong. Fear was a very powerful emotion. It drove wise men to become irrational, caused sane beings to go mad. Fear could cause people to commit murder or suicide; it had the power to corrupt governments and destroy lives. And for this little town, fear was just the beginning.

At an entrance different from the one Raven had entered, a figure garbed in a simple brown cloak approached the guards standing watch. They shifted nervously, hands becoming damp with sweat as they adjusted their weaponry. The figure was moving at a pace that was neither slow nor hurried towards the guardians.

The Jedi Master had recieved a message a few days earlier, a message that requested assistance. Although the person who made it in the hologram spoke in even tones, it was easy to sense the underlying fear and tint of panic to his voice.

Kahn had not been in the best shape when he recieved this message; it had been very recently that his wife, Hanna Skywalker, had passed away, taking with her the two unborn children that she carried. The blow had been a hard one for the Master, but he had been relieved to have a mission, something to take his mind off Hanna's death. Kahn had been more serious, more withdrawn, ever since the ship carrying his wife had exploded. Still, he was a Jedi, and his training went too deep for him to ignore a plea for help.

So, here he was. Almost to the gate now, and it looked as though one of the guards was about to say something.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

OOC: Good, good. :)

IC: The guard shifted uneasily before taking a step foward, the other only moving to block the entrance. Both kept their weapons at their sides, ready to be drawn if need be.

"Sir, I advise you to stop right there." A young voice commanded. "Name and business plea-"

The young man was cut short. A low growl came from an area to his immediate left, instilling fear into the guards hearts. As they both pulled free their blasters, a dark shape leapt from it's hiding place and tackled the man who had just been speaking. His cry of help was silenced within a seconds time, and only one ill fated shot being fired. The shot hit the other guard in the leg, causing him to fall to the ground and drop his weapon.

A sickening crunch from the beasts mouth signalled the death of the speaker. The creature slowly backed off the body, and eyed the only man left standing. It's yellow eyes were fixed firmly on the man's own, a low growl issuing a challenge.

The seven foot long creature stood on four muscular legs that were used for springing onto it's prey. It's entire body was covered in a wet-looking coat of jet black hair, camoflauge for the night. A set of four inch claws were on each of it's feet, and if one was not quick enough, they could be used to tear chunks of flesh off it's victims hide. It's head was a third as long as it's body, an enormus jaw with jagged teeth gave the creature an all together hideous look.

Slowly it inched forward, the growling becoming deeper right before it sprang. It's jaw swung open and it's claws aimed to catch the standing man in his chest.

Edit: TTT

OOC: My apologies for the delay, RL has been very hectic for me lately.

IC:

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> To any beings viewing the events, they would seem to be progressing nearly too quickly for a person to react. However, such a thing was not true when a Jedi was involved.

Kahn had reached for the Force a second before the creature appeared, having felt the disturbance. The Light Side flowed easily through him, enhancing his senses. The Jedi Master may have been troubled emotionally due to Hanna's death, in the past he had learnt well the lesson of keeping one's emotions from getting out of hand.

As the beast leapt for him chest, it seemed to Kahn as though things were moving in slow motion. With the Force as his ally, he drew his lightsaber and ignited it in one smooth and fluid motion. The white blade shot to life and he took one step to the left, effectively allowing himself a better angle at striking the creature.

Unable to halt its attack, as it was in mid-air, the creature's momentum carried it forward, and the Jedi Master delivered a strong blow to its neck. The blade of energy cut through muscle and bone, severing the head of the beast from the rest of its body.

Kahn's breathing was slightly harder than it had been before as he stood over the beheaded carcass. Many thoughts were running through his mind at this point. The creature had been a predator, that was for sure. But not many beings still existed on civilized planets that stalked humans. What was more, the beast had been intelligent; the Jedi Master had seen that in its eyes before it attacked. This mental attribute, combined with its predatorial physical characteristics, meant that this was not going to be an easy mission.

All of these thoughts ran through Kahn's mind quickly before he turned and knelt down beside the man who had been shot in the leg by his now-deceased comrade. The Jedi's face was serious, although aside from that he appeared calm. On the inside, however, Kahn was alert, knowing that it was possible the animal traveled in hunting parties with a pack, rather than just on its own.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

"Are you all right, my friend?"

OOC: If you didn't want Kahn to kill it, go ahead and let me know and I'll edit.

OOC: No worries for both :) I know how it is, btw...I like how you write.

IC: The guard stared at the fallen beast for a moment, watching as it's body twitched. Snapping out of it, he realised that he was still in pain and someone was now speaking to him.

"I'll live. You must be one of th-" He was caught in a spasm of pain from his leg. After a brief moment he continued. "..One of those Jedi. Please will you go...to the white building and report what happened to...a man named Rulic? He should send me some help and a call an early shift change."

The guard clutched his leg again, giving out a short cry of pain. His teary eyes found themselves staring directly into the Jedi's.

"Please! Before more come!"

"We're a small group. Not too many in it, which explains why you might not have heard of it." Raven replied, shrugging her shoulders.

From all indications there wasn't much room for small talk, and something told her that there wasn't much time.

"We need to move quickly to solve your mystery, and help those already injurred."