[center][h2]~| The Jedi Temple on Coruscant |~
~| Day 1, 11th hour |~
[sub][sup][sup][i]Heart of the Temple room[/i][/sup][/sup][/sub] 
[b]Khan Sainen[/b][/h2][/center]

There were echoes of chaos all around him as Khan entered the central chamber of the Jedi Temple with his Master by his side, but the Padawan was used to the sounds of a battlefield by now, even if the location of this one still made him nauseous if he dwelled on it too long. The young Echani was much more surprised to see a young man herding along a group of younglings, although he was also relieved to see that none of them seemed too hurt. As soon as Xid mentioned that he was being pursued by a sizable sounding force, Khan moved to interpose himself between the children and the entrance from which they'd come, his mind already whirring through half-a-dozen strategies, none of which were particularly viable while defending a gaggle of barely trained younglings at the same time. If he'd had a moment, the Echani might have found it odd that he probably would have been among their number mere months ago, but this was hardly the time or place to indulge in a developing sense of irony.

Fortunately for Khan's plans, the arrival of an older Zabrak master and his apprentice evened the odds significantly, especially when a plan was quickly devised to get the children out of harm's way. Khan's stance relaxed considerably even as their opposition arrived. The Padawan's Echani upbringing couldn't let him get a very accurate read on their stances, or rather there wasn't too much to read beyond confidence, arrogance and hostility in the way the two held themselves. The old Zabrak instructed them to leave the droids to the younger man, so Khan factored them out of his projections. This 'Xid' was most certainly frightened, but there was a core of determination to his posture that reassured Khan that he could reliably play his part. They were to perform a delaying action while the younglings retreated to  a position of relative safety. In which case, the best course of action was to strike hard, fast and in a way that immediately drew enemy attention. He stayed silent, focusing on the goal and not its terrifying requirements, trying to feel confident in the other Jedi around him and his Master.

One of the Sith took the time to mock and threaten him. He decided as he kept moving through the little crowd of younglings that she would be his first target. He could read dismissal in her stance, the assumption that he was unused to fighting with his life on the line. He broke from the younglings with as much of his considerable speed as he could muster and charged her, counting on surprise, her arrogance and his swiftness to close the gap before he was shot or she could react. He planned to channel his momentum into a right-to-left rising slash aimed at the Sith's head, igniting his saber in the last few paces right before he swung.

Time to see if all of that dueling practice would pay off.