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At the School of the Dancing Blade, an Echani run fencing academy of considerable note, the day wore on like usual. The halls were filled with the shouting of students and teachers engaging in mock bladework and the grounds were ripe with activity.

Then, a sudden quiet calm spread across the practice hall. The students and instructors present found themselves glaring at an unwelcome intruder standing at their door.

"Excuse the intrusion, but a humble traveler has come calling for the Master of this fine academy. Perchance is he within?"

A Zabrak male sporting the tunic of an aprentice instructor stepped in his way with a dire look upon his face.
"The Master wont see a street punk like you. Now get out before I decide to throw you out!"

Link gave a sheepish smile and took a step back from the imposing Zabrak."Please, the humble traveler only wish to discuss a proposition with him. It will not take too much of his time."

The Zabrak noticed the vibrocutlass at the man's hip and smirked derisively. "Tell you what. I'll make a deal with you. You beat me in a bout, and I'll let you see him."

Link blinked confusedly. "Are you sure you want that?"

The Zabrak snatched a practice sword from a lesser student and tossed it to Link. "I always enjoy a chance to prove my skills. So on guard!"

Link almost dropped the lenth of wood composite material tossed to him. "Please, the traveler wishes not to engage you-"

"Too late human!" The zabrak roared as he charged with an over head slice. The blade of the practice sword gave a loud crack as it struck the hall's floor where Link should have been. The zabrak student paused and looked about in confusion.

"Behind you." Link's voice called out.

The Zabrak turned angrily, only to feel the tip of Link's faux-blade press against his jugular and pause in suprise.

"You left yourself wide open with that attack." Link remarked critically from his end of the practice sword. "You should have moved in slower so you could study your opponent better. A charge like that is only good once you know what you are dealing with." Link lowered his blade and stepped back to put distance between him and the Zabrak. He snapped his blade up in an on guard position. "Best two out of three?" he said, his eyes now a serious glare.

Angered to be so easily bested before his peers by some outsider, the Zabrak took his blade up again and shifted about to Link's side. He darted forward to close with the young man and slashed at Link's right, the blades metting with a loud crack. Having caught his opponent's blade, Link pushed it back with suprising strength and brought his faux-sword's edge up into the zabrak's chin, the force of the blow lifting the Zabak up in the air and onto his back, hard.

As the Zabrak lay groaning on the floor, a pair of teeth clattered on the hard wood surface.

Link rested his blade on his shoulder and gauged the faces of the other student's and instructors.

He gave an irritated sigh as he read their faces.
"You won't let the traveler see your master, one could gather."

At that, eager to avenge the fallen instructor, the rest of the assembled students closed in on him.

Angel freshened up, having had a little time to rest and a quick shower, then came out of her room and headed back into the casino. Though she was packing over 100,000 credits, she wasn't gambling this time. She merely observed others, occassionally being given a little tip from a big winner who enjoyed the company of a fine woman. One man mysteriously fell out of his chair after copping a feel. While accidents can always happen, they can still be more than they appear, however, there was no evidence to support foul play.

Echani Blademaster and Martial Arts instructor Syntas Morr was working on some annoying paperwork when a battered and panting student slipped in unbidden and bowed low at the foot of her desk.

The Grey haired echani arched an eyebrow curiously. "What is it Cirric? And what happened to you?"

The trembling Twi'lek looked up at his instructor, his face puffy and his nose broken.
"M-Master! A tresspasser is laying waste to the school! He has already beaten down half the class and all the senior instructors!"

Syntas bolted upright from her desk at the news.
She knew that she wasnt getting the whole story, but the fact that some stranger was tearing up her school was more than she could let stand. She grabbed her favorite vibroblade from its rack and followed Cyrric out into the Hall.

The sight before her was akin to the aftermath of a battle.
25 of her students lay on the floor, some groaning in pain, others unconcious. They lay in a ring around one young blond human man, his hand grasping a broken practice sword and cautiously eyeing the frightened students who had not attacked.

Despite having beaten down 25 of her disciples, the man showed no signs of exaustion, or even having broken a sweat for that matter.

Syntas' Echani soul stirred in her. A real warrior, a rare challenge. She could not pass this up.

As she reached to unsheath her sword, the man suddenly spyed her. His serious demeanor faded in an instant and instead was replaced with a weary smile.

"Milady Instructor. The Traveler before you wished to speak with you but alas your students sought to challenge him. Please call them off. He does not want to hurt anyone else."

There was no boasting in his tone, only tired honesty and certainty. She released the grip on her blade and motioned for her students to back off.

"Very well. I will hear what you have to say Mr..."

"Link Darksun, Milady." Link bowed to her upon revealing his name.

"Mr. Darksun. We will talk in my office if you do not mind."

"Of course not." he said as he dropped the broken practice sword and made to follow her.

Syntas made a mental note. No matter what, she must do battle with this man.

" You sure you don't wanna join in? " a young man asked, after winning his 9th Pazaak hand in a row. " I've done enough of my own gambling for the time being. Besides, it's not smart to win too much, especially all at once. " Angel said. " Eh, you're just not as confident. " the man replied. He flipped a chip worth 500 credits into her lap. " Here, go yourself some big ones. That's nothing to me at this point. I'm going for a record. " " Suit yourself. " Angel said, adding it to her generous amount of " tips " from other players and walking off. For a Jedi, she sure didn't act like one, but then again, that's a perk for being a rogue. She looked around for something more interesting and saw a pair of new faces playing Sabaac at another table. She walked over and looked on, curious as to who was on top of their game and who wasn't. Looking back to where she came from, she saw the young man seemingly being escorted away by a pair of rough-looking patrons.

Brunhildt follwed the red-clad stern knight to the knight and page's quarters, located elsewhere in the palace. "Yes, sir,"

"Capital idea," Veron beamed. "The Mon Cal were an invaluable ally for the Alliance of old, and I suspect that they would come to our aid."
Freya smiled at the big wookie. "Oh yes. Very good call, Gorry!"
Veron then looked to Gorwooken. "And, you're right. We should check on things, for Cloud City shan't run itself," With that, he gestured to the elevator, with Freya and Rusty piling in.

Aurora looked at her crono for the thenth time in the past 30 minutes and resumed pacing in front of the Starsinger residence.

Aurora left the apatment and went back down to the casino. She arrived just after the others. "Wow, never a dull moment in this place is there?" she asked.