"Does my word mean nothing to you?" the Master questioned his Apprentice. "Of course not, but -" "But nothing... Trust is a precious attribute in this era... especially among such great warriors as ourselves. You must realize this and you must trust my judgment." explained the Master.
He stared into the cold, empty night sky and reached out with his mind... seeking his solution just as his Master before him, but there was nothing. He could not focus. A feeling of hopelessness came over him... With his eyes closed and his head hung low, the Master turned away from his Apprentice and faintly said...
"I fear for you."
2 days later...
It was one thing for his Master to be concerned, but to be fearful? That was unheard of... it still lingered in his mind. "He obviously sees something I cannot..." Drake thought to himself, "but what?". He had no time to ponder that... he had a recon expedition deep in to the Abyss to embark on tomorrow. His orders were to infiltrate and assess the potential threat and to gather what information he could. It was rumored that the Abyss had extended its plague-stricken borders even further into Deep Space, but it had to be confirmed before any real action could be taken.
"Whatever... I bet he's just scared of me becoming even stronger than he is." Drake thought, stubbornly. "Yup, that's what it is! It has to be." he reassured himself as he prepared his gear for tomorrow's mission.
He and his Master, Tristan, had been to the Abyss months before... At that time, they were tracking a vile humanoid that could potentially lead them to Noxious, a well-trained, veteran saber-mercenary, who they believed to be responsible for recent attacks on the Galaxy's influential peoples. During that time, the Abyss was a relatively small system, but now... it's said to have grown exponentially, extending its borders and ceasing the nearest systems of Deep Space. If you weren't a hardened scumbag or a veteran of some sort of combat, you wouldn't last 2 hours there...
