This battle took place in The Sanctum of the Force between Renn Kelen (Pyrogram) and Warsman's character Cyndrak. I felt like making it a blog because a) it will be of vital important to Renn's development and b) it was too great to forget. It takes place in the leadup to the CVU's first large event. Enjoy.

The Library of Cognition, three minutes past dawn...

It had been a long flight back from Kashyyyk, but now the Jedi Master had put aside his grief and looked onward.

The Library of Cognition was the ultimate container of knowledge found in the universe and there was little that had not been documented. Sitting down, Renn's fingers flicked across a touch-screen device as he input the Symaarian title of Warsman.

Renn hoped it would shed light on what had been found.

To his dismay, it done this... And more.

-- Scanning Sanctum Archives: 10%.... 20%.....80% --

-- Scan complete. Entry by Jedi Knight Kalistro: do you wish to proceed? --

Jedi Knight Kalistro? Master Kelen had not heard of this Jedi Knight before. He burrowed his features and clicked proceed, wishing to read whatever prophecy Kalistro had foreseen.

"When the stars bleed, when the black of space turns to screaming fire, his hand will reach out and touch every world; death upon every people; genocide and famine; war untold of; pain and punishment; these are the times of ending, when Yrawa'Murz emerges and consumes all. Upon distant worlds, he was called Rama Khan, The Beast, Great Enemy, and Warsman. These are the dreams of Jedi Knight Kalistron, Symaarian by birth. The Force will be a weapon against him, but be cautious. The Force foretells of great tragedy, where brothers in its practice fight against brother. When Jedi spill their own blood and Sith, too, will crumble in a civil war. Strife will come to all corners of the universe, of all reality. None will be safe. There will be no harbor, no haven. To turn back the dark destinies I have dreamed of, we must be willing to protect what is precious to us - or die along with it."

(Written by Warsman)

The Jedi Master read the passage three times without looking away and then sat silent in meditation. There was no way that this could be true? Renn gently stroked his beard in thought, knowing that the fate of the universe itself was in danger. He would bring this to the Jedi Council and seek their guidance. Only then, would he proceed...

Cyndrak

10,000 Years Ago, at the Dawn of the Symaarian Age

Kalistro was a man of a small destiny, one that he could not have predicted. In the trying times before the Age of the Navigator, the Symaarians were lost and disorganized. A handful of them recognized the Force, and accepted it as their lot in life. Unfortunately, many Force-sensitive Symaarians following this time were unable to harness their gifts to their fullest extent, and after the Dark Age, nothing remained of their Jedi Temples and stories.

But Kalistro stood as a rarity amongst that uncommon breed of Symaarian, as he physically left his homeworld and traveled the galaxy, becoming a hermit and a prophet to many civilizations outside his own. He loved life as much as a man could, and valued the smallest petal and the largest sea creature all the same. He tamed many beasts on thousands of worlds, harmonizing with their innate Force-spirit.

Though many of his teachings were lost, his name all but extinct in the works of the modern Jedi culture, one of his wonders survived to the modern age. However, it had been corrupted by time.

---

The Beast was no stranger to the powers of the Force. He predicted many of its users would rise against him in the trying times ahead, in the wars he planned to unleash. His horrors and hellish biotechnological science gave birth to many powerful weapons, many of which remained secret in his arsenal. Yet some were not physical machines at all. Some were absorbed into the spiritual plane, locked until something he wanted to hide came to life. Such was the fate of proud Darth Cyndrak, Sith Lord of Karnath, now destroyed. More than just a Force ghost, Cyndrak emerged from the holocron Renn Kelen sought information from, hidden there many thousands of years ago by the creature who slew him - a Shadow of the Beast.

Yet Cyndrak was not his own.

The Shadow took residence in his corporeal flesh, having millennia to turn his spirit and wandering mind to its own cruel will. He was lost forever to its cause, and now it had awakened.

"Young Master," he answered to Renn's inquisitions. "You have delved too greedily and too deep. The Shadow of the Enemy is already over you."

With a flash of murderous red, the Shadow struck, and Cyndrak began his age-old duel once again - with Renn as the object of his immortal rage.

Renn Kelen

The Shadow fought with the strength and speed of a Sith bygone era that had not existed for thousands of years. For an instant, the Jedi Master felt as though he was a mere pupil battling against an esteemed Sith Lord.

He did not parry, did not avoid with skill, merely used what power he could to put his blue saber in front of the enemies and stop his head from being separated from his body. Every single block was felt as though strength being used by the shadows energy rocked every bone within Renn's body.

Every saber clash felt like Renn was being hit by a train, until a furious kick smashed into the Jedi Masters torso and instantaneously fractured three of his ribs and sent him flying backward into the archives like a ragdoll, momentarily stunned before regaining his composure and landing, a single palm grasping the floor."There is no ignorance, there is knowledge." He recited the Jedi code before spitting blood upon the Sanctum's floor, displaying his contempt for this adversary. Greed and learning could never go hand in hand.

Standing up Renn knew that this battle would be to the death. He clenched a fist and bolted forward, his speed amplified by the force as he sought to run faster than he had done in years, becoming a mere blur as three powerful slashes intended to claim Cyndrak's arms and head from his torso, before sending a torrent of force-energy from his free palm towards the resurrected Sith Lord - Intending to raise the man into the air like a puppet and pierce his Jedi Saber through Warsman's Puppet's heart.

Cyndrak

"Through strength I gain power,"

Lord Cyndrak was thoroughly pleased with the young Jedi's performance. Perhaps the newer generations were not manufactured to disappoint after all. Yet, he felt the need for the pleasantries to pass. He noticed Renn gathering speed in his legs, muscles filling with Force energy and ready to burst with the necessary speed. Renn's opponent only felt it polite to mirror his advance, and raise a Force-generated defense of his own. Though - much like any Sith worth his salt - the only good defense is a much more aggressive offense.

Charging ahead with reckless abandon, the Tyrant of Ages hooked his saber-arm in all directions, providing a flurry of strikes meant to push Renn's stance, break his balance, or outright intimidate him into making mistakes. No preservative fold in his form, no sense of self. He attacked, nothing but attacks, and surged forth like a raging wave of muscle and hatred, seething at the core.

The library around them suffered from this palpable hatred, as every glancing blow he inflicted came with it a burst of untold ferocity burning through the Force such as a hot iron through flesh. Searing outwards, breaking apart their surroundings and putting students and faculty in danger, Cyndrak fought with his brutal style without a second thought. Many times did Renn's own blade come close to striking him, many times did the molecule-thin containment field pass by mere micrometers away from his pale and cracked skin. But if anything, it proved that Cyndrak was in control of this duel from the very beginning. Thousands of years basking in the cosmic glow of near-godhood, attaining the unattainable sought after by Sith Lords for generations... he had finally grasped what not even the Ancients could understand.

They were infinitely close now, struggling with blade against blade, with the proximity proving the bane of Cyndrak's lordly stance. He thought he had Renn's life in his very hands only to see the smaller swordsman inch away from under him, pressing robe against armor, finding a way out at the cost of risking his own life each and every time. Almost instinctively, their weapons came to the furthest edges of this conflict, and instead of pulling once more into a clash of light, they opted for a shared Force confrontation to see whose mastery of it had withstood the tests of time and life.

To the resurrected warrior's intrigue, his own will over the Force subsided and he felt a constriction around his body as he began to float into the air. He pondered for a moment, his memories as Cyndrak and as the Shadow having intermingled in the sudden rush of fighting. He smiled as Renn attempted his almost ceremonial impalement, but held out a hand at the last moment for the young Master's throat, intent on usurping control of the situation and crushing his bones against a nearby pillar.

What Cyndrak commanded was pure telekinetic manipulation, having completely severed himself from the Force in return for power undreamed of. What was the potential power over all living things compared to absolute dominion of all matter in the universe?!

Renn Kelen

The Ancient Sith were a sickening creature. Cyndrak a remnant of a darker time. Renn felt the bones in his body break as his limp figure crumpled to the Sanctum floor, utterly defeated by the ancient Sith lord. Almost beautifully his saber fell from his palm as it rolled across the library, the tip still venting heat as though the kyber crystal itself wanted to fight on...

...With a weary gaze Kelen felt each step as Cyndrak grew closer, basking in his victory like a true Sith lord. Master Kelen's entire life had come down to this very moment. But in the end, a sad fact had rung true. He had not been good enough. Evil.... Had won...

"BE VANQUISHED, DARK LORD!" From behind Cyndrak three Temple Guards walked into the library, brandishing dual-ended golden sabers that illuminated the ground with their hope. The Sanctum of the Force was Renn Kelen's home. But he was not the only Jedi who lived here. With a blinding step the three Sanctum Guards sought to defeat Cyndrak, instantly underestimating their opponent as they were doomed to death the instance they had engaged this foe.

But as their swan song was sung Master Kelen felt the living force surrounding his very being as he slowly regained energy, channeling, basking, getting DRUNK with the force as his fragile figure was slowly rejuvenated and nursed into health by the cosmic energy. A hand grasped his fallen hilt, his heroic eyes gazing over Cyndrak as instinct took over - And Shatterpoint, a complex Force phenomenon, took hold.

With yet another blurry dart forward, Master Kelen speared towards Cyndrak like a tendril of Warsman himself. Faster than any Jedi Cyndrak had ever seen in his life as a flurry of shatterpoint enhanced strikes sought to terminate the Tyrant of Ages reincarnated life.

Shatterpoints was the ability to see fault lines or pressure points in an object or an individual. To sense the weakness in an enemies stance or defences, and capitalize on them beyond any human ability.

Cyndrak

The Guardians made a valiant effort. Six blades for his one, however, traded a stern practice of faith in numbers and a strict adherence to code for personal experience. Cyndrak doubted these later models of the Temple's protectors were anything like their ancient predecessors, and he was unfortunately proven correct. As he cut the last one down he exhaled in disappointment, though for a moment he was legitimately enjoying himself in the pressure of what seemed to be an actual fight. Their skills were, admittedly, enough to defend the Temple against almost any foe. As of late, they seemed to be constantly drawing the short end of the stick however.

As for Renn...

Cyndrak did not sense anything different in him, due to his severance from the Force. His lust for more power and eventual true immortality brought him ever closer to the edge of insanity, but the Sith Lord's personality shone through at all times. The Shadow, no matter how long it festered in his soul, would never take over. It was a tool for the ancient Sith, as were all things. He fought through Renn's onslaught, not once imagining the Shatterpoint as real. Yet he caught glimpses of something in the young Master's eyes, each time wondering what he was staring at. He mistook this for martial indiscipline, such as all Jedi were guilty of, that he was looking at where his blade was instead of where it was going.

However, being the swordsman he was, Cyndrak eventually tracked their duel blade for blade, and found that this was not the case. Renn was predicting exactly where the Sith's weapon would go next and in flawless tandem with his connection to the Force, the young Master slithered through a miniscule gap in Cyndrak's otherwise perfect brutal offense-defense combination and burned through his mask with the tip of his saber. Cyndrak fell away, momentarily stunned, but regained his composure almost instantly. The burn mark was not Renn's to inflict, but an old wound - in fact the mark of his first "death" against a certain Symaarian Jedi Knight, one whose teachings infuriated Cyndrak to the point of calling a vendetta from the grave.

The ancient Sith smiled through his charred flesh.

"So now you know," he cooed angrily, rage simmering from every word.

"Kalistro did not understand the value of such power. That is why he is dead, and I yet have a heartbeat. His love for life wasted his years. Now no one remembers him, but I am determined to snuff out the last of his memory,"

With a gesture, his fingertips pointed towards the archive Renn accessed, he set fire to the last living remnant of long-dead Kalistro's wisdom and message of peace.

"After all, what are brothers for?"

Cyndrak exploded from his resting place, power from an age unremembered bursting at the seams as he raced to confront Renn once again in the flurry of desperate combat - Shatterpoint or no. He would erase the young Master, overwhelm him with his savage fighting stance, no matter the cost to his own body. Immortality was his for the taking, and all that was required of him by the law of his lord was to usurp the Jedi once and for all.

Renn Kelen

Cyndrak may have been faster, stronger and more powerful than the Jedi Master - But he was at a severe disadvantage due to his severance from the Force. It was the true energy which bound together all Jedi and even Sith, it invigorated them beyond their mortal bodies and minds. Cyndrak had gained momentary strength, but had lost access to an infinite vastness of cosmic power. Renn clutched his blade tightly as he backed off, listening to the Tyrant of Ages before coolly replying.

"For all your power your knowledge is dearly lacking, Dark Lord. Kalistro is not dead. No Jedi ever truly dies. When a force sensitive dies their essence ascends to a different plane of existence and becomes one with the cosmic Force."

He paused, eyes setting upon the archive as it burst into flames - Releasing an energy which transferred to Renn - Invisible to Cyndrak due to his inability to feel the force. "The strongest Jedi are able to maintain their conscious individuality beyond death by learning the secrets of the living Force."

The Jedi stepped forward, before too exploding with a newfound power and zest, meeting Cyndrak's oncoming desperate flurry of saber blows with skill, peace and complete mental control. The two locked blades as Renn's eyes were no longer his own. In their place, Kalistro's shone through brightly.

"There is no death, brother of mine. There is only the Force. Return to the Cosmic Force with me, Cyndrak. For you no longer belong on this mortal plane."

Immortality was indeed Cyndrak's for the taking, but not within the physical world. Renn had become one with the force and in his body Kalistro fought his brother one last time, until the very end...

Cyndrak's

For the first time in their struggle, Cyndrak's eyes darted around in a blind panic. He could not grasp the limits of his own rage, but his connection to his brother inflicted far greater fear in his heart than anything in this mortal life. He was the only one to defeat him in a duel, the only one to push his power to its breaking point and tear him asunder. He reached out to deny Kalistro his return, but the Living Force he severed from himself so many years ago came back to strike at him and his flesh broke away to ash. He screamed, and Kalistro emerged fully, taking hold of his brother's essence and spirit, the same spirit that destroyed him and countless others ten thousand years ago.

Their bitter battle continued even from those ancient days, the devastation mirrored in the carnage they inflicted upon the Temple proper. Walls were demolished, pillars ripped down, monuments gutted of their innermost strength and shattered. This conflict would not have been so if Cyndrak had not accepted the Shadow's power at the cost of his Force-sight. The Shadow and the Living Force Kalistro represented wrestled each other just as the spirits of the two warring brothers fought for supremacy in those desperate moments. Countless eons of eldritch power crashed into the will of every living thing in the galaxy and beyond, the Echoes of the Beast and the Primordial Force screaming into the void together, constantly and endlessly rising and falling against one another.

Though the Beast had fewer agents, they were indeed powerful, and Kalistro felt himself falter. Cyndrak leaped upon this as they dove out of the Temple doors, breaking stone and scattering plasteel in all directions. The Sith grasped his brother's ethereal skull in both hands and wrestled with him to bring his thumbs to his eyes.

"Your dependency on others is your weakness! See how they run! See how they die!"

They were reliving the final battles of their star-shattering conflict, the closing days of the Symaarian connection to the Force. With Cyndrak's death, Kalistro went into hiding and never raised a pupil, the blood of his sibling on his hands staining too deep for his wisdom to allow more like him a chance to surface. Millions died in that ultimate confrontation, unrecorded, unsung. Kalistro denied his brother an Empire. But his descendents would not remember the lessons, and flocked to the feet of the Navigator in order to forge a new Imperium.

For this, Kalistro never forgave himself. The sins both of them committed against the Living Force, for that neither of them could be free.

"No, Kaligar, they will not die. All will become One in the End, even you."

Kalistro's blade shone out from a distance, and warped Cyndrak's face with the same smouldering strike that left his immense scar, forcing him to let go. They collided once more, vanishing into smoke and wisps of blue fire as the night sky enveloped them. Of the Shadow itself, none could say at this time. Cyndrak's ashes fizzled out and faded to the corners of the Earth.

Conclusion

And then...

....Silence.

The Jedi Master's body fell to the ground, weakened by the bout between the light and darkness.

But slowly he rose, there was still work to be done.

The Jedi Council, a few hours later

The Grand Masters were a wise few individuals. Hardly any capable of combat anymore, but their abilities were best by their wisdom and experience. They listened with curious ears and open minds, such a prophecy like this had not been predicted in a millennia. The older more experienced Jedi Grand Masters had known of the Symaarian's and the threat which they posed. They knew alone, that the Jedi would not be capable of defeating Warsman if he were to return. From the group, a single Grandmaster spoke to Renn.

-Master Kelen, find the Earth's Supreme Chancellor you must. Consult with them and seek answers to your questions. Alone, the Jedi are not enough. Return, Warsman will. Perish we shall.... If followed, the correct steps are not-

Renn bowed to the green high council member, seeking to find whoever called themselves Sorcerer Supreme... Unknown to Renn, the title itself had undergone a substantial change of meaning...