A different dynasty

[Kriel Firin]

Spoiler

Apologies for the delay. OOC poodoo sapped my mojo somewhat. I’ll be slow for another couple of days and then I suspect I’ll be back to normal

Kriel nodded. His apprentice was well-armed and had more than enough weapons at his disposal — although the Dirk was something special. But he mused that such powerful retract invariably came at a cost, in this case how long you could use it for.

And then he turned his attention to Brennan’s question. “The Art of the Small is a radical Force technique. By narrowing your focus, you can essentially shrink your presence in the Force to a microscopic size. It is a common way to hide your Force aura.”

“But once mastered, you can also learn to operate molecules in any way you want, turning them into something completely different. You could open a lock for example or give your tears healing properties. Or even render yourself completely invisible.”

“It will take time to fully master any of the more advanced aspects of the ability, but the possibilities are quite literally endless. It’s all about what you put your mind to. But your concept of assassin made me think of it as a potential weapon. Get close using the stealth option and then generate a toxin you could use to kill your opponent. And given it’s a unique poison there is likely no antidote.”

[member="Brennan Cabrol"]

 

[WolfMortum]

The Art of the Small sounded to be beyond anything he'd experienced in the past, though Altus Sopor had been the Jedi technique used to cloud ones force signature from detection, it didn't work so delicately at the very fabric of what made a person who they were, to delve to far into the very molecular structure of his own being, Brennan knew not what this could mean for him, he of whom barely understood himself on the outside, let alone scowering the very definition of his identity in the Force.

"How does someone gain such a power?"

He asked simply, having been shown the door, his interest had been perked certainly yet knowing not how to open it and step on through he wondered if [member="Kriel Firin"] possessed such an ability or if his Master would expect him to discover these secrets on his own. No doubt this form of training and study over the Force would take a great deal of meditation and patience, self-reflection, all Jedi exercises that he had come to loathe yet was more than experienced in. Still, such a complex ability must surely have come with it's share of struggles in the acquisition of power that it was apparently so capable of. To generate a poison known not to the worlds around him, it was spelled certain death and held no bounds in it's potential.

"What must I do to acquire this..."

That age old cliche, that those fueled by the Darkside all sought power and inevitable lost themselves within it, those old Jedi lectures of keeping as far from the lure of the Darkside least they wished to be consumed by selfish desires and lose sight of the large goals ahead of them, Brennan was reminded of them now, the many conversations he had held with [member="Veiere Arenais"]. He would come to prove them wrong, the First Order would be his pillar just as the three pillars of the Jedi were Veiere's. From this pillar he would take comfort and claim security over himself while exploring the darker nature of the Force around him. His loyalty almost fanatical in the sense that it had given him direction, made him something large than himself when all others had only taken from him. He would not become another walking cliche for the Jedi to teach their students.

 

[Kriel Firin]

Talon Ren smiled — an action lost on his companion, given he wore his obligatory mask. But there was a chance that his good humour would leak as an emotion, if Brennan was attuned to such things.

“How does one gain any power?” he asked, aware he sounded like one of those annoying Masters that always answered a question with a question. “And I know you know the answer,” he said almost immediately, to signify it was a rhetorical question.

“Hard work is the main factor. Time is another. Learn the technique first — which I can teach you. Then explore the ability in your own time. You know what you want to achieve and you can command the Force to obey your will. It is simply a matter of patience and dedication. And only you know if you’re prepared to invest those precious commodities.”

“Which is why we came here. Patience is key to your development and it is the only thing that is holding you back. We command the dark-side of the Force, that much is true. But we cannot achieve everything instantaneously. We need to apply ourselves.”

“So the question is now 'how', but ‘when’?”

[member="Brennan Cabrol"]

 

[WolfMortum]

Training and dedication to the end-goal, of course this were the way towards gaining such powers though Brennan's head merely tilted as his mentor sought to respond. Had that been a joke from Talon? Brennan's lack of empathy towards others made it difficult for him to catch on if so though he remained silent and simply listened so not to take the wrong approach to the sentiment regardless. [member="Kriel Firin"] soon confirmed that he could teach Brennan the ability, such a thing was a gift as he had not expected to be granted such a power from the one who was ought to be his superior. He had expected to need to come into fruition of something so deadly of his own doing, a sort of reassurance that he might not gain a power stronger than that of his own Master; yet again he was reminded of the mercy the galaxy could show, though it only ever came from those within the First Order and the power and weapons they could offer him, he bowed his head as if to express how humbled he was from the gesture, so too offering his submission to Talon and speaking quickly.

"The time is now and I will do all that I can to fulfill any expectations you have of me..." He almost called the man but his title over Brennan, still not completely comfortable on being of a first name basis between them. Brennan's name held no meaning, he was a disciple and one to still yet earn his place so in Talon calling him by name, it meant little but for him to do the same, it still didn't feel right despite the Knights of Ren having already explained to him that between their Disciples and Knights of the secretive Order, they were all on common ground.

 

[Kriel Firin]

The trip to this planet had been something of a turning point for both parties. Talon Ren knew of the potential Brennan had, but similarly understood that this would be wasted if his apprentice could not learn to master his own shortcomings. For if that were not possible, what chance had he to control the Force? And had things not gone well, Talon Ren would have walked away from the Master and Disciple relationship. Not because he was heartless or not up for the challenge. But because he was pragmatist. He could only do so much and it required Brennan to meet him at least half-way.

And judging by the progress they’d made, he was sure that they could continue. Knowing your weakness was over half of the battle — and he knew his Disciple was aware of his needs. Being prepared to sacrifice something — anything — to overcome the shortcomings was the remainder of the challenge. Learning was the easy part.

“The expectations will always be your own. You are limited not by my beliefs in your abilities, but your own. The Jedi know something that most Sith ignore. And given we wish to be the best, we take what both sides have to offer and use them to our own ends. For the Jedi teach that a lack of belief is the greatest challenge to learning. If you doubt you will succeed, then you will fail. It is as simple as that.”

“So, are you ready to learn?”

[member="Brennan Cabrol"]

 

[WolfMortum]

Brennan was far too familiar with the teachings of the old Jedi Order, despite the years that had passed and the collections of trauma that had weighed over him since clouding his mind and twisting him into something else; he held vivid memories of his time upon Svivren where he had been taken up in the disillusion of the Jedi, forsaken reality for the facade of security within their enclave walls, training day in and day out with the other students unable to see the true nature of the galaxy beyond their reach as Padawan, unable to truly be prepared for the fight that was inevitably to come, the slaughter of their kind and the miraculous yet devastating chance that rather than join the dead, he would be taken up into capture and slavery under the regime of the One Sith Empire. The Jedi Code, he could recite off the top of his mind, the theory of the three pillars of the Jedi, they were once the pillars that had held him in place, strong enough by idealistic virtue that he would not decline into the lure of the Darkside of the Force. With those things stripped away, his faith having been utterly destroyed, he had found his true place with the First Order after great tribulation; a great price he had paid to find some semblance of direction in his life, infatuated now by the leadership of Seiger Ren and fanatical in his loyalty to the Knights of Ren, it was difficult to understand that something as weak as the Pacifist Jedi ways were still required for his continued growth and establishment of strength and power.

"I have come too far and sacrificed too much to fail now" He countered [member="Kriel Firin"]'s lectures with the confidence of his past experience, he had survived against the odds, the Sith had done their worst while still keeping him alive trying to bend and break his will, they had succeeded yet he had again found his pride enough to outlast those years, the intervention from Galactic Alliance personnel had stormed their stronghold where he had been incarcerated near to the Core Worlds and with the sacking of Coruscant, their power had finally been diminished enough so for Brennan to enter once more into the turbulent path of his own life, his own choices, his control re-attained.

"I am".

 

[Kriel Firin]

Assured that in his own mind Brennan was ready and that his Disciple also confirmed he was at a point where he would progress his learning, Talon Ren nodded and behind his mask he smiled.

He sat in the encampment, cross legged and gestured for Brennan to follow suit. “In a sense you will have to unlearn what you have already learned. The Force surrounds us and obeys us, but for now, you will have to learn to constrain its presence in your body whilst at the same time manipulate it.”

“So first connect with it. Feel it all around you and how you connect to it. Then, once you feel comfortable, isolate yourself from the Force. Put up a barrier around your body. Maintain the same level of the Force but shrink it inside your body. Make it so small that it is undetectable to other Force Users. Is this easy? No. It sounds both simple and complicated — because it is. You must learn to control the Force so perfectly, that you can compress it and hide it from other’s sight.”

“And like any lesson, you can only begin at the beginning. So off you go.”

[member="Brennan Cabrol"]

 

[WolfMortum]

Lowering himself to the ground, Brennan took his place opposite [member="Kriel Firin"] with his legs crossed and his hands at his front, fingers laced and eyes forward upon his Master, listening to what he had to offer. According to Talon his first step was to draw upon the Force and call it to his center; starting from the basics it seemed, perhaps this was what he meant by unlearning what he'd already learned. Starting over from scratch and forgoing all that he had previously learned from the Jedi Order.

Closing his eyes when Talon had finished speaking, he opened his mind up to the environment around them, summoning upon the presence of the Force itself, the vibrancy of life in the air, the natural world flourishing through the will of the force, all of it used to strengthen his senses and then molding the presence, drawing it in upon himself and burying it within his center in his gut. There he compressed the energy he had gathered, having done this often as an exercise of control, one of the core aspects of Force practice. The challenge however would now be in throwing up a barrier between himself and those who might be around him. In this case, that meant Talon who himself was most gifted within the use of the Force and would likely break through his attempt if he had but the inclination to open his senses up to try and deter Brennan's efforts.

The expectations will always be your own. You are limited not by my beliefs in your abilities, but your own.​

​

His Masters words came to mind, perhaps due to the expectations he often felt were put upon his shoulders during such times. Brennan had to steel himself and keep his mind free of his doubts and insecurities, his determination to prove himself among the Ren would come in time and with great persistence though as Talon had often told him, patience was a very key virtue required for progression in the Force and in himself. To often putting pressure upon himself where there needn't be any, his remained closed, moving beneath his eyelids as his mind seemed initially busied yet after a time he managed to settle himself and fall into an adequate trance, everything else quietening around him, all but his presence and that of the Force taken up in his immediate focus.