The First Steps

[Silas Karn]

***Sector R-5, Moraband***
-----Sith Academy-----


The wayward Padawan Aliclair was escorted to the inner sanctum of the massive complex allocated for training adepts amidst the Sith. It was here that the headmaster had the student’s chains removed and granted them their Vibro Lance and Antarian Armor. Given mere minutes to acclimate to her surroundings Aliclair was certain to be nervous as those that had attended to her dispersed save for the headmaster who bowed toward the entryway to the antechamber.

Marching in to meet the penitent master, the Sovereign strode, adorned in ornate obsidian armor etched with script and runes belonging to the ancient sith. Juxtaposed to the darkened plates was platinum silver armor-weave alongside a similar hued sheen on the inside of the Sovereign’s cape which flowed from the backside of his belt reminiscent of Tulak Hord. A single horizontal slit illuminated dim silver light from the unique aerodynamic helmet the Dark Lord bore which hearkened back in design back before the Great Schism while alluding to Silas’s nobility with a crown embossed in the obsidian metalwork. To the small of the Sovereign’s back resided four unadorned saber hilts set horizontally within a small framework forged to be as minimalist as possible while easily recalled from their rest. As the Dark Lord approached Silas removed the resplendent helmet, setting it upon its rest just underneath the collar on the back of his armor. Unmarred platinum locks crested above the sharp sapphire hue of the Echani’s eyes terminating just shy of Silas’s shoulders yet meticulously maintained. At the Sovereign’s left side resided the stunning hilt belonging to Irus’s Mirtis which was known in the common tongue as Light’s End.

The stunning, seemingly ageless being was a wonder to behold. Looking to Aliclair the Dark Lord spoke, “Raise your weapon and charge me down. Attack me with everything you possess, I wish a full demonstration as to gauge the full breadth of your combat capacity.” While waiting for the crossbreed to ready their assault the Sovereign began to detail the failings of her former master as he drew the Irus’s Mirtis from its sheath.

“I know well the Jedi from whose side you’ve been cleaved. I imagine it may be surprising for you to hear that his return from unknown regions was the impetus behind the birth of the former Dark Lord Tormentous. His very meddling in attempting to stop a possible future he claimed the Force had divined to him set into motion events that claimed many lives and allowed the rise of a figure far beyond the capacity of the Jedi to defend against. Thousands perhaps millions of lives have been sacrificed to the whim of a single man. For it was Kenobi that altered the fates of the imperial hierarchy which upon fracturing empowered the very order he had sworn to do away with!” Silas sought to incite Aliclair to tease out the darkness within her mixed blood as he began to grant color to a blank canvas.

[Aliclair Austjor]

Aliclair rubbed her wrists as she was granted freedom. She began to wonder if chains was a pattern, even with submissive subjects but it wasn't her to judge. Relief washed her as she gave a brief hug to her Antarian armor; she'd thought it was destroyed in flames. But seeing it in one piece, alittle ragged due to handling, but it was still functional. A piece of her Padawan past in her hands, and now she bore. Finally to be in something other than her slaven combat outfit. But, even with familiarity on herself, the training grounds were completely different. Her nerves spiked, and eyebrows furrowed. Her time with the Sith had made her usually stoic foretake and had broken it down. As their goals were; to get into the person's head and revert them.

Of course she was nervous. Scared. She didn't want to be here; the enslaven had an idea of what was going to happen now since she'd taken Silas' side on becoming leader of the Sith, in replacement of their old. Upon entering the room, and standing within distance of the armored Sovereign, Ali paused as he asked her to strike, fists gripping the handle of her vibrolance. "I-I don't wish to." she said, giving her lance a swift twirl to stab it into the ground. The reasoning was a few, but the main was not having the strength, or energy.

The metal shing! of Silas' sword stunned the opalescent eyes, flashes of battling Tormentous in the dark rain and him wielding the artifact that claimed many lives, souls. Swallowing roughly, the feminine took another step back but taking her vibrolance in hand and out of the ground. As she prepared to throw a swing, she paused when he began to speak about her Master, Ben Kenobi. Her attitude shifted, her eyebrows knitted. Life of a Jedi were often met with sacrifices, deaths. He'd tell her stories on his endeavors to apply to his lessons. She figured he knew of the Dark Lord, because who hadn't known of him. She allowed a small growl to rumble her throat.

"Don't confuse doing the right thing with meddling. My Master was doing what he had to do. It's unfortunate that others died, but that comes with war. With battles. HE did not bring Lord Tormentous into surface, the Sith did! You will NOT spoil his name in order to get into my head," she said, her eyebrows knitted angerly but sorrow combating her face. It wasn't due to his actions, but he held a special place in her heart, and anytime his named was mentioned, it'd only remind her on how much she missed him. Clenching her jaw, she sniffed and blinked out tears, taking a moment to wipe them using her gloved hand. "I know what you're trying to accomplish. You're better off leaving me in chains. I stood at your side because.. I understood. But it wasn't an invitation to corrupt me. I have no doubt... I'm sure you can. But not using my Master's name." she finished, being honest with herself and the man before her. This was the Sith's specialty. To corrupt. To control... Ali looked at the lance in her hands and sighed, putting her left foot slightly back and giving the awkwardly bladed weapon a spin before briefly pointing it at him then pushing off, she charged forward with the lance's blade behind her and down then quickly slashing upwards when close enough.

[Silas Karn]

Pale luminance gleamed from the Irus’s Mirtis as the Sovereign deftly parried Aliclair’s slash at the point of kinetic gain resulting in a held clash. Reaching out through the Force, Silas touched upon the crossbreed’s mind sifting through her surface thoughts (Telepathy). ‘The anger is there though true malice is lacking. Yet the manner to which it’s being expressed, the channeling of such emotion…seems off.’ The Dark Lord had if anything grown ever more calculating in parsing the psyche of those subject to his manipulations.

Pressing Aliclair back with a few well-placed jabs of the Irus’s Mirtis the Sovereign began to orate once more. “So you believe yourself to know the mind of the ‘Thorn’ do you? Well my foolish youth allow me to more properly educate you.” Though it had started as a mere guess Silas had latched onto Aliclair’s former master as a focal point to her emotions. Lazy blade-work, for the master swordsman, was sufficient in pushing the former Padawan to their limit physically while the Sovereign taxed her mentally.

“Kenobi nearly killing the former Empress resulted in the arrest of myself, her, and the man Tormentous was in life. It is the direct result of this action that led to his death and Tormentous’s creation. Yet your master’s short-sighted influencing of what he perceived through the Force as a possible future went much further than that. It resulted in my expulsion from Regency, the death of the Empress, and the sacking and utter destruction of Coruscant killing millions. His attempts to truly affect the galaxy for good yet lacking the refined foresight of his order as a whole was the impetus for all of the subsequent events that were altered by his influence!”

Despite her objections or the powerful emotions that stirred within Aliclair there were hints of a greater truth in the Dark Lord’s words. Cycles before the crossbreed had ever felt the touch of the Force Silas had met Kenobi. It was the return of the old Jedi that did indeed interact with the powers that existed in that day resulting in monumental changes in the galaxy that had yet to be undone. However, even with his impassioned speech and the proper influence of Aliclair’s emotions the Padawan did not gain from her anger nor empower herself with such fervor.

It was then that Silas knocked aside her lance and executed a swift back-step. “Not even able to walk yet it seems. You are lacking, but it is in an area that I myself once struggled mightily. Though somewhat a natural when it came to acquiring higher levels of potency, control, or mastery of sense it was to the last aspect that I was long waylaid in mastery. You cannot grasp hold of what I am saying or instructing at this time because you lack balance. The capacity to alter both the physical realm beyond your physical grasp as well as the natural flow within your flesh is too underdeveloped. It seems that before we continue this discussion you must attain such equilibrium or continue to fail and be returned to your shackles.”

[Aliclair Austjor]

As their bladed weapons clashed, Ali coudn't help but to clench her teeth. She then paused, then briefly shook her head with a small rumble in her throat. She could tell from this moment on, life would be anything but simple and clean. Silas' blade slid then moved forward which led Ali to side-stepping to not make contact with the blade, following parries, in which she took steps back. Although he was speaking, she found it hard to follow with each parry made. The more Silas pushed his knowledge onto her, the more her mood wavered. Her grip trembled. And with the bladesman's final swing, he managed to disarm. Stumbling back then onto her rear end, her energy was expelled.

While she didn't lose faith in her Master, her mind wondered into the parts that she'd avoid. "How can I walk when I'm constantly being pulled back and forth?!" she snapped, looking up at the sapphire sighted Echani. "First, I'm in chains then I'm being sent on here and there tag team missions. Than, I get paired with you! Probably the most time spent away from chains. I'm sick of it!" she snarled, her sharp canines from her feline blood visible. She huffed for a second before looking at the stone ground. Here she was, showing weakness to the enemy. But, did they really have to be enemies? Even if it was temporary. To be allies, to learn from him.

Her eyes briefly shut, and her face away. "What do you want me to say, Silas..? Want me to call you Master or something? That I bow before you?" she asked, gazing up at the Sovereign. Her opalescent hues showed nothing. Dull, and not shining.

[Silas Karn]

Sheathing his sword the Dark Lord look upon the frustrated and confused crossbreed. “Unfortunately it seems what I desire from you must wait. First you must deepen your understanding of the very entity that ties us both together. The one factor that intertwines both our fates. In order to do so you must reach beyond yourself. Follow me.” The Sovereign immediately pivoted and began to slowly path towards the vast training grounds within the immense academy. Sectioned off from the active combat, military prep, and dueling rings was an alcove dedicated to Force training.

It was here that Silas led Aliclair to an engraved circle two meters in diameter with polished stones adorning eight evenly placed points. “This is the manner to which I mastered the aspect you are in the greatest need of advancing. However, manipulating these at your current state is not likely possible and would serve little as an intermediate lesson.” Waiving the Padawan forward the Dark Lord continued to the far west wall of the academy. It was here, set against the wall itself, that a proper challenge for the young adept could be had. Built into the wall was a series of inclined channels that terminated just a quarter of a meter from the wall forming a small plateau for each channel with all cumulative paths leading to a trough at the bottom filled with solid durasteel ball bearings.

Sixteen channels intertwined one another as the climbed the inclines to the plateau. Each ball bearing weighed in at ten kilograms given their density. Looking back to the youth Silas grinned. “I can tell you’ve already been given the most basic instruction in your earlier teachings under Kenobi. Now I will require you to grasp a more advanced understanding in altering the flow of energy within yourself as well as that of your surroundings.” To Aliclair there likely seemed to be no connection between anything that had transpired since leaving the palace. Fighting with everything she had against Silas only for the Dark Lord to relent. Verbal barbs being shot at her time with Kenobi only for the Sovereign to seemingly be building upon that foundation.

Now expecting the youth to apply themselves to training, halting everything else with unsettling patience. Yet, Silas did not hesitate in pushing the adept forward. “This may be the first time I’ve ever had to elucidate to another the manner to acquire mastery. As such we will approach this at its most basic. You must clear your mind, calm yourself, centering yourself before even attempting to touch upon the Force.” After a brief respite the Sovereign called to Aliclair. “Take this task in set goals. The first to merely move a single bearing from its rest to the first channel’s starting point of origin. Next, guide the bearing to the peak of that channel to rest at the plateau. Once you succeed it would serve you well to attempt moving two such bearings along divergent paths to their peak.” Of course it was an oversimplification and lacking key details that would be made apparent once Aliclair attempted to move a single orb. The path inclined and against the natural gravitational pull while adjusting the flow of the Force within her would serve as fitting obstacles. “Now show me how exceptional you are. Reveal what the ‘Thorn’ sought to nurture.”

[Aliclair Austjor]

Aliclair stayed on the floor for some time. She knew where her heart laid. And for the time she was housed, or imprisoned, whichever made more sense, she knew better than to fight, or attempt escape. She would’ve been easily dragged back in much worse conditions as she was during her first time. Chains, coldness, the constant laments of her fellow prisoners. The insane, the sorrowful. It was contagious. The feminine would find it harder and harder to meditate, concentrate.

With a small sigh, Ali stood to her foot with a small shake to her body, and a shiver. Constantly cold.. Brushing it off her shoulders, she followed behind the taller Echani with her eyes to the ground until she noticed the floor change. Knitting her eyebrows in curiosity, she lifted her chin to scan her new obstacle before her. It wasn’t like anything like she’d seen before. Seeing the metallic spheres then the channeled plataus; her fret wasn’t the lack of ability to move said spheres. It was losing control. Her Force was, lack of a better term, ravishing. Controlling. It was overbearing at times, hence why she joined the Enclave. To learn how to be one with her Force instead of holding it back. Aliclair exhaled before holding out her hand, clenching her jaw.

[ Alt. 2: Begin ]
From the soles of her uncovered mets (feets) to the top of her head, water droplets formed solid tendrils, similar to whenever her Force is activated, a bubble dome forming around her. Since she had more to do than just to feel around her, she’d need to move something. With a small inhale, then exhale, the exhale eased any disturbed waves she may have had, and with a small lift of her hand, she focused her tendrils on the metal spheres. They were heavier than expected; Ali strained slightly, her arm had even dropped slightly from the sudden weight she had to lift but shifting her wrist, she was able to hold them more steady. This integrated system Lord Silas had created a controlled environment for her to focus her tendrils instead of having them all over the place. Tendrils coming from her hands to hold onto the spheres, it all felt natural and flowing. With the Force working in a controlled environment, it gave a mixed feeling throughout her, and the challenge ahead of her. She’d only hoped it would be contained enough, and not actually overload and break the glass of this contraption.

The more power she put, the more her tendrils became usable, and with that, her opalescent-kissed eyes shifted into a hellborne orange / yellow. But, her mind started to become clouded with snippets of the past, and losing whatever discipline she’d had from her time with the sith. Panic pumped within her heart, which coursed out to her fingers,and her Force dome rippled, her hand trembled and her teeth clenched under her lips. ‘Stay in control.’ But, it was easier said than done; the tendrils holding onto the metal spheres spazzed, causing them to hit against the glass containing it. It cracked before being dropped. Ali’s Force shut down where the spheres rolled back down to their starter point. To the beginning… Blinking, her eyes shifted back to normal. Coldness settled in for a second, and the imprisoned Padawan was stuck for a second as the diluted Force circled around her. Failure wasn’t something she’d tolerate, and she showcased what she could do to the Master before her. But, she could feel everything within basin shifted and disturbed like waves in water.

Huffing, and shaking out her hand to release the shooken feeling of over-usage, then reaching out, the settled tendrils of the Force listening to the commands of their wielder to start their work again. The tendrils coiled and encased the spheres more solid, here, her abilities became determined now more than ever to succeed. Ali knew they were unhinged, and the way to keep them from going out of control was to either not use them or limit herself. Like a calm serpent with prey within its jaws, the spheres seemed to effortlessly move now versus what they were before. Two sharpen and focused eyes, the system Silas had presented before her had formed to the irrigate of her Force, and she could lead. Eventually, it reached a point where the shattered part of the glass provided cover for one of the pathways, and Aliclair couldn’t see its path, so she had to expand her sight to give some stepping stones. The rumbling of metal against wood gritted Ali’s teeth but she pushed passed that, remember doing this reflected against her physic when she did this against frozen blue milk and having a brain freeze because her tendrils had to penetrate its hard surface to break it back back to it’s liquid state without watering it down.

The metal spheres were well over halfway through the wooden imprisonments, and the flow of the Force made itself known to the Lord before her what sort of power she had inside. Metal rolling against wood as an outside pushed it through, using it in such a controlled environment would usually lead to disaster. But with the flow finally tame and to use her tendrils to finally lift and placed them in their appropriate placeholders. The water dome of her Force lingered for a while, like a ropecaster, the tendrils retracted back within the feminine’s dome, and as she lowered her hand, her field shrunk until it was no more.
>
”I’ll uh. Fix, that glass if needed.” she said nervously, rubbing her left palm with her right hand.
> [700 Words] <
{} 704 - Alteration {}
{} Words All Together : 943 {}
[] APPROVED []

[Silas Karn]

Looking at the rupture of the training apparatus Silas was inclined to anger yet the success Aliclair enjoyed put away such thoughts. Instead the Dark Lord looked the crossbreed in the eyes and began his instruction anew. “That will suffice for now. Now with a firm foundation we may actually begin with what I had planned for your learning. Follow me.”

Once more Silas departed without further expanding on his intent. This time the pair met at the very heart of the academy. A circular insignia belonging to the original Sith Empire of old embossed on the ground now encompassed them. The Dark Lord’s cold pale eyes soon gleamed and shifted to a sickly yellow citrine hue as Silas spoke. Channeling the nigh limitless indignation birthed at the core of his being Silas was engulfed by the darkness that had created this persona.

“This, what you can do doubt sense even lacking mastery of that aspect. It is in this that you will now seek to gather into yourself and lay claim to its might. To fold the powerful emotions that are second nature to all sentient life and bind them, drawing the essence they call from the Force and adhere it to your own spirit. It is through this that we may open a proper dialogue of your future.” In uncharacteristic fashion the Dark Lord payed no heed to the efficiency to which the Dark Side energies that gathered to him now flowed, allowing his aura to leak out and consume the youth.

The danger to Aliclair’s own soul was rapidly becoming apparent as the intensity of such powerful corruption would easily erode the crossbreed’s own spirit should Silas’s words be ignored. “What you feel now as an attack, as danger, as looming death. It is in this potential ruin that which you will now break upon your will and instead empower yourself with.” It was surely the way the Sith most deemed appropriate to advance themselves. Succeed or perish.

[Aliclair Austjor]

Aliclair stood in silence as Silas gathered his thoughts. Her eyebrows furrowed before she followed, jogging lightly to keep up with the larger Etchi, her slit pupil eyes scanning the new room they’d entered. Something crawled up her spine that caused her hair on her neck to bristle. For a moment, Ali stayed away from entering the room further until she essentially forced herself to walk more into the Heart.

Suddenly the shadows of the Siths’ aura began to fill the room, and the hybrid felt as if she started to suffocate. Clenching her jaw, she would attempt to push past it until the inky corruption that was Silas’ Darkside energy latched onto the Aliclair’s own and began to consume it as termites with wood. She let out a brief hissed exclaim, feeling herself fighting against the foreign apparatus. Fists clenched and the weight overwhelming, it made her get to a knee, shortly followed by the other, and the more the halves fought, the more it shifted from weight to pain. ”S-Silas-!” Aliclair yowled briefly at the Darklord, unable to finish, as her eyes, shifted from their normal opalescent to a hellbore copper orange, as per her genes at work when she used to Force. Her sharpened nails clawed at the ground below her as her breathing heaved, and her head hung. Was this it? Was this her legacy, to succumb to the darkness she had swore to never venture? She let out another hiss, more weaker, and her arms trembling lightly under the weight of all that was happening ontop of holding herself up.

[Silas Karn]

“What you are sensing as a miasma, death made manifest, this frightful toxic aura. It this very presence that you must break upon your will and cast down. Rend the energies from this fog and meld it your being altering the very nature of its interaction with your own soul. This darkness will be made to be your sword and its diseased atrophy a cloak by which to guard yourself from those that seek to harm you.”

Rather than lessen the output of Dark Side energies being emitted from the epicenter of his being the Dark Lord clasped his hands audibly together and called forth arguably the greatest of his gifts (Sith Sorcery). Withdrawing his hands the Sith Lord seemed to tear away the fabric of physical space between them as a domain was established. Raw currents of energy leaked and then began to pour out in increasingly turbulent fashion as Silas refined his hold of the favored technique. If the young disciple did not swiftly adapt their mind would be rent asunder and their soul consumed by the very power the Dark Lord now offered.

[Aliclair Austjor]

The panic began to raise within the Felidae's chest. This was it, to do.. or die. Heaving her breathe, she shut her eyes and braced for what she thought she'd never do.

"I'm... sorry, Ben. I hope you can come to forgive me."

Forcing herself to sit upright, the hybrid exhales and allowed the Darkside energy to consume whatever good she had left in her heart. Or, to at least, trap it within itself. She felt no sympathy, or remorse... but the pain was gone. Slowly opening and blinking, the iris changing gene became a permanent hellebore copper orange, and her limbs, from her fingers to her elbows, and from her feet to her knees darkened by the acceptance. Furrowing her brows, Ali said nothing... there was nothing to say. All she could do, as done before, was just await orders, so she stayed on her knees with her hands resting on her lap.