All Things Ending

[Garza]

Darren was hesitant to get back to work. He payed attention to what Ashin was saying about Disciple. Being a Bio chemist like person. but instead of sicence it was The Force. Darren began to work on the gauntlets that he would make for his armor. Making sure that he could fit into his own armor he would test out the gauntlet afer he had place it in water. The water would make a hisss sound as he placed it in the bucket. he would wrap the armor aourn his hand to see of t would fit. So far it was going well.

To not emmbaris himself he didnt sing the tune that he had ealier. He was just humming it for now. He felt the force flow around him making th gauntlets. the right shape and size for him. he kept working untill the first one was done. he found that it fit slightly snug on him. and thats how he wanted it. That way it wouldnt slide off of his hand or be too tight that he would loose circulation in his arm. He then began to work on the second gauntlet. Using hammer and anvil to shape it, the force to protect it, and his will to free his mother.

The armor began to come together. The greaves that were then traveled up to meet where his thigh would be. more armor was ther also. It would wrap around his entire thigh. there was more armor that would cover his hip and connect with the breast plate. Which Ashin was working on. "So Where would we place the Crystals exactly?"

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"Honestly, the safest place might be the helmet. Here..."

She passed him various helmet templates.

"I think you're about ready to pick one and get to work. I'm almost done with the breastplate, and I've worked bits of crystal into the inside of the plate. They're inset, so they won't cut you if you're hit hard."

 

[Garza]

Darren grabbed the templates for the differnet helmet types that he could have. "Thanks Id rather not be cut by my own armor." Darren then began to look at the Templates. some of them were dome helms like he had ealier others were eye slots, a few took the consept of the Mando Style T- visor. He looked at one that was different from the rest. It was a slit across the helm and would be slightly bent downwards. It had a ridge that went from the the top of the forehead and down the back untill it would reach the botton of the helm.

He picked the template up and he decided to make that specific helm design. With out another word Darren grabbed some more Songsteel ingots and place then in the furnace. He began to form the main shpae of his head taking measurements and such. Every once a while He would check on Disciple to make sure he wasnt doing anything. He had all that he needed and began to shape the helm. so he could place the Crystals in the ridge. It seemed lke the best place to put them. With the ridge the crystals wouldnt be digging into his skull, and with the ridge it would only look ordinate to fit the rest of the armor.

Darren had made the basic shape of the inside of the helm. He Made little sockets where he would place the Crystals so they would stay in that one place. Darrne smiled as he did so. Knowing that the Phrik was getting hot he grabbed the hot metal out from the furnace and started to mold and shape the helm. He also wanted to make sure that he had room to maybe place a resporator in the helm. If the Mandos and other Non-Force users were carying these grenades then he would like protection from it.

Darren used the hammer and anvil to get the right formation of the helm. To piece them together he would make half of the helm and a different half, when he was done he would smelt them together over the mold of his head. Making sure that it would fit. He pulled out the helmet pieces and began to craft them together. Darren wanted to make sure that the protection neede for his heml was kept but also had the crystals in the ridge. He would then come up with an Idea. He would have liquid Phrik that would be poured into the sockets that had the crystals would be laying in. They would become imbeded in the actual helm. In doing so he would then cover up the rest of the inner helm with the durrable Phrik.

Many atimes he would hum the tune over and over again. Adding the force to make the armor stay in shape and become stronger than any armor he ever had.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

After several hours -- and a break, and some food, and a nap -- Ashin began putting the finishing touches on the breastplate for Darren. The sidebars would guard his belly from lateral slashes, though the gap on the belly was more for aesthetics. It seemed to leave him open for a belly stab. Then again, he had picked the armor's design himself, and presumably he had the fighting style to back it up. She had yet to see him fight.

The Force and the hammer formed the breastplate, and she tried to ignore Disciple's eyes on her. At last, she put it on armor rack with the leg armor they had already made together. Once the helmet was added to the mannequin, she examined the suit.

"All right, Darren. All that's left is the arms and hands. Let's get to it. I'll take a shot at the right arm and gauntlet - you've done a fantastic job, but I'll make sure the finger joints are just right."

After this many hours swinging a hammer, it was a matter of using the Force to strengthen her arm, and keep it in a rhythm. When she took breaks, she spent time lacquering the existing pieces of armor, verifying that the strange new enchantment was still at work. And if it faded over time, she could create new lacquer involving alchemically preserved taozin flesh. Because it was awesome, and easily repairable.

 

[Garza]

Darren nodded at Ashin after he had placed the helmet on the rack. "Thank you, and you do a nice job yourself." Darren examined the armor a bit more. he had wanted the stomach open slightly. It would make a huge target for his stomach rather than his arms or legs. he thought about making a Cortosis weave Enviroment underlay for the bottom. It would protect him from lighsabers shorting them out and protect him from extreme cold and extreme hot enviroments. He nodded his head and began to work on the left gauntlet and the arm.

Darren took some more Phrik from the locker under the watchful eye of the Sith Master Disciple. Every time he would look in his direction Darren would get shivers up his spine. Darre would try to forget he was there by making the armor. He took the bright red almost white colored sheat of Phrik and began to bend it to fit around his arm. He wore heat resistant coverings that way he wouldnt burn his arm.

BANG..... BANG.... BANG, Darren would land his blows of the hammer upon the hot metal. Forming what would be the gauntlet. He would feel the vibrations of the hammer hitting the Phrik gauntlet though the tongs he would use to keep the metal where it was. Without a car in the world Daren began to sing the tune again. He felt slighly embarrised that not one, but TWO master were listing to him sing. As a joke he thought "Maybe I should get thier imput on my singing?"

Darren let the idea fly away from his mind, so he could finish the work. He would ocasionaly point out to Ashin how he would like the gauntlet to look and have the "feeling" to it. He would also look at her work and see what she was doing and go some good ideas from her work. He would tell her later about an Idea that he would have for the Helmets that they would make. and he would have to change it accordingly to his. It would be slightly cosmetic, but well worth it.

The Idea was to make the helm collapsible. So you wouldnt have to carry a helm around with you all the time. Maybe it would be a good idea. He had just finished the left gauntlet when he asked out loud. "What would you think about a collapsible helm? It would be lighter than normal allowing you to move your head quicly, and you wouldnt have to deal with carying your helmet all day long. What would be best is that you donw have to take your helm on and off. You have some button just like with a lightsaber where you used the force to activate it."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"It's a valuable idea," said Ashin, examining the helmet, "but think about structural integrity. The single most important part of the armor is the helmet -- the more joints you include, the weaker the helmet. This will deflect a lightsabre still, even with collapsibility , but a helmet for this sort of suit is far more likely to protect you against, say, a Force blast throwing you against a wall. Or through a wall. It'll also be much harder to repair. Yes, I suspect the helmet is better off as a single, solid piece. I suppose you can leave it at home.

"Then again, it's your suit. I wouldn't do it, but I'll help you make it."

 

[Garza]

Darren thought about this. Ashin brought up some majior points. As so, He was often slammed against walls and was even crushed by scafolding. If anyhing had hit the helmet he would have been killed. He would rather have to suffer discomforts than be dead. "Good points I think Ill stay with the solid helm." He shook his head. Why didnt he think of that before? It didnt matter now.

They continued to work on the arm pieces. He wanted something flexable yet stilll sturdy enough to protect him. he came up with pannels that would over lap eachother. it would allow him to still have his moviements and give good protection. To make sure that he would have more protection against blaster shots towards the neck. Darren made a high ridge that would cover most of his sholder and wrap around just slightly so it would cover his entire shoulder. if he were to be shot at from the side the ride would be there to protect him from getting shot.

Darren was banging on the Phrik sheats making them fit together piece by piece. Molding them together to make the finisehed product. He then handed the gauntlet and the arm pieces to Ashin so she could put the lacquer on the armor. Darren began to put all of the tools away when he rememberd that Ashin will probably want some armor of her own.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

At this point, they had been working for a considerable amount of time. A secular blacksmith would have spent weeks on a suit like this, but a modern alchemical furnace was high technology, and the Force sped the work considerably. The experience was as much of a forge as their gear -- it was like the in-depth, intensive labour of constructing a lightsabre, but with the added strain of physical labor. To pass through an experience like this meant growth, not just as a person but as a Master or apprentice. And although it wasn't yet clear how much Ashin was Master to Darren, they could not work this long together without getting to know one another better.

Without pause, they shifted from his completed armor into the task of making hers. She went for deep bowl pauldrons, high hip plates, a segmented neck piece, and a curved breastplate that did not dip in to threaten her sternum with a chest-crushing impact.

And she watched in approval as Darren's skills grew.

 

[Garza]

Darren began on the greaves like he had with his own suit. Although he started some time after Ashin. He wastched her for a while to get a feel of what kind of armor she wanted. With the shape in mind, Darren began to gather the materals needed. He would make a simple boot shaped greave and would expand on that shape putting slight curves on the top-back portion of the greaves. Givvin her more room to bend her knees

Darren molded the leg armor in his hands. He took notice that the armor would be rounded off in some areas making it harder to get a solid blow on her. it was an intreaging way of making armor, but he liked it. With every pound of his hammer on the metal he shaped the greaves and the leg plates to match with the breast plate, and the hip plates. He was suprised that she was making hip plates for her armor. The did protect the hip and the uper thighs, but they might have limeted the user to use frontal assaults instead of jumping around in the Juyo form that he fighted with.

She made the armor ro her wantings and would compesate for that. He would occasionaly as a question about the shpae that she wanted making sure that he didnt get the wrong curve or cut in the wrong place. he would take a break when he would be reheating the metal. He would take a swig of water to wet his mouth and keep it from cracking of the heat form the fires. He might have taken a look at of his armor to see if he could find any imperfections in it, to his eyes that is.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"Yes, Darren...it's a sort of meditation that few remember. We train to push ourselves to our limits, but these are different limits than the limits we most frequently push. This is about self-discipline and exactness, even when exhausted. When we push ourselves this far, we discover new things about ourselves."

They had talked, but only about the details of their projects. Now, as Ashin used biological alchemy and Taozin flesh to make a new and potent batch of lacquer, she pulled Darren away from the forge to share a moment's food and relaxation with her. The chamber was sweltering hot, to the point where she had to use tapas to keep herself cool, or redirect the heat. Her armor was taking shape.

"I've heard you sing several times -- a children's song about defeating the Sith. You know I do some work for the Sith Empire. I'm curious about your background." She gave him a lopsided smile as she leaned away from the lacquer alchemy and poured him some water.

 

[Garza]

Darren took the drink of water and wiped his forehead. He nodded his head. and took a moment to catch his breath. "Yes, I know that you work for them, but my mother use to sing that song to me when I was a little boy. I didnt have a good childhood because of my father. He was a Sith Knight who was always away. When he was there he would beat me and my mother." Darren took another drink of the water to wet his mouth. "I was trained as a Sith soldier when they found out that I was sensitive. I trained as one of them for a few years and I left. Later on I became a Jedi and because I did the Sith are torturing my mother because of my actions. Because of that I trained and trained to be the best Jedi that I could. However my last mission was to find a Sith that was making a mess. Come to find out it was my father. I fought him and I tried to turn him, but he disowned me. I had to kill him and I did. Out of gult I lef the Jedi and became a freelance Jedi and formed the Rebel Alliance."

With all of this story he just told He felt like hew as exposing himselfs. Darren looked at Ashin and forced a smile. A second later he looked away and found a sudden liking to his boots.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Ashin nodded slowly as she put the finishing touches on the new batch of Taozin lacquer. "I can understand that," she said. "At least, as well as anyone can truly understand anyone else. I understand guilt. Being forced into paths I didn't choose. Being forced to oppose people I would rather not fight. My life has been...complicated, but let me tell you a bit of it, and I think you'll see a part of me in it.

"I had an apprentice, the Empress of the Jade Empire, a domain in the Unknown Regions. She was a prodigy - much, much stronger than me. And she was a good friend. I helped her rebuild her empire after a cataclysm shattered her people.

"And then, one day, I learned of a prophecy that she would conquer the galaxy, become immortal, and rule for ten thousand years.

"So I stripped the Force from her, and left her and her Empire helpless against their enemies. She didn't understand. We went to war. I killed good people for her pride, and she killed people I loved.

"We attained peace, in the end. But it cost us dearly."

 

[Garza]

Darren nodded his head. loosing people that you loved and cared for was not a good thing. It never was. Sometimes Darren thought that maybe he sould just leave his mother where she was. He wouldnt have to fight for anything. he could just settle down have kids maybe, but he knew that he couldnt do that. Darren had learned that he had the force because of his mother. He remembers the day that it happened

Darren was walking home from school and he had a good day. He was about 13 at the time. He was opening the door on a very hot day. He heard some yelling and knew that his dad Jax was home. Without a sound he went up stairs to his room and began to play. Alittle while after he heard moaning. This always happened. At the time he didnt know that his mother was raped constantly by this man. He would hear the loud bangs of a couch or a bed hitting the walls. Darren didnt hear the sounds that day and went to check it out. HIs father was passed out from drinking and his mother was sleeping. As a child he was not careful about what he did. Darren woke his mother up. and in the prosess woke his father up too. Jax yelled at him to leave and not to come back. Maylee his mother began to defend him. saying he was a little boy and didnt know better. Jox raised his hand a smacked Darrens mother. Darren became angry and yelled "STOP NOW!" Jax came over and picked him up by his neck saying "What did you tell me to do boy?" Darren gargled for him to stop again. Jax was about to throw him when Darren let out a scream making Jax fly though the wall. Jax was knocked out and his mother took them to the nearest Sith training camp.

Darren learned that he had the Force with him that day. And he hid it for most of his life in the military. Darren shook his head to get rid of the memory that had taken the place of a few seconds in real time. "Well You obtained peace, but though the price that no one should pay." He spoke to Ashin. Darren looked up at the woman and took note of her face. She was white skinned, soft face, and looked beautiful in the ligh of the furnace. He knew however the he could never have a wife or kids. He didnt want people to hurt them for one, and most of all. He didnt want to end up like his father.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Ashin leaned forward, her forge-burned arms resting on her knees, and stared into his gaze for a long moment. She didn't blink, just stared. It didn't matter whether she could see into his soul, as that gaze normally suggested, or whether she could simply guess some of his thoughts after days working alongside him.

"You know," she said after a long moment, "I loved a man much like you, caught between Light and Dark and expectations and dogma. His name was Colonel Tamzar Ranox -- Tam, for short. And when I left, it was to keep him safe, because our friends were dying around us. Memories...there are some memories I can't escape, no matter how many hours I spend with this forge."

 

[Garza]

Darren lisened to Ashin talk about a love intrest she had in the past. She had left him to ultamatly protect his well being. She seem very troubled on the inside She was falling apart even though on the outside she was put together. Darren looked into her gaze towards him. She had blue eyes that would stare into his soul. He felt lost with in them. He returend back to the current time and rememberd that he was in a cellar with Ashin.

Darren looked down at his boots for a second and then looked back up at Ashin and said "Ashin you are not alone. Everyone has memories that they can't get rid of. This wr has brought pain and suffereing to any and all people of the galaxy. when thei war ends, If it ends, everyone will not come out unscathed from the claws that rip and tear at groups, factions, and individuals."

Darren felt like he was liking Ashin more and more, but he remembered that He was a Jedi and she was a Sith. It wouldnt work out too well if the- He ended the thought and moved away from it. He couldnt do that. He shouldnt do that. Darren was mentaly kicking himself in the ass for thinking that. Darren took another sip of his water. Darren didnt move from Ashin because it would be rude to do such a thing. Darren just looked down ashamed of himself.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"Shame," she said, catching his muted expression. "What is shame for? It can make you weak, let you be controlled by others, or it cam motivate you to self-improvement. I can't read your mind, Darren, so I don't know what lies behind the emotion, even if I'm reading your face and aura correctly. Will you tell me?"

 

[Garza]

Darren smiled and shook his head. He sat back up and looked at Ashin. "Yes I can make me weak. I use it to further myself. Not hold me back." there was a slight pause in his words. "I dont know if I can tell you." Darren rested his hands on the end of his thighs on top of his slightly sore knees. He didnt want to andmit something like that. He couldnt If he did some one may come after the person he cares for most. Right now that would have been his mother.

But his mond was racing if he should tell Ashin how he had felt. He didnt want to bring harm to her or to himself. He took a deep breath and talked in a low voice. "If you want to know I will tell you. I..." Darren shook his head again and wipe his forehead. He knew that he was nervous from saying this but he had to get it out some way. "I have feelings for you. Strong feelings that are hard to escape." He looked down at his caloused hands then back at her and said with a carring voice "I have taken a liking to you that is hard to ingnore."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Ashin leaned back against the side of the forge. "Ah," she said, after a long moment. "Darren, you've worked well with me, been a good friend to me, and so I'll be straight with you -- one adult to another. I don't feel the same way. But I've been around the block enough times to know that feelings change; what matters is commitment. Stick with me, and there's a very real possibility I'll end up reciprocating your interest."

She stood, stretching out her hammer arm. "Now, a classical Sith -- Sirella Valkner, for example, my old Master -- would tell you that to keep you around, to manipulate you. But you deserve the chance to look at things clearly."

 

[Garza]

Darren knew that he was going to be "Shot down" and didnt take it hard. It was easy to see that. He was a Knight she was a Master. ANd if he could he would stick with her. He promised himself that he wouldnt bring this topic up again, unless she did. He had never heard of the woman Ashin was talking about. but he was glad that she said openly that she wasnt going to use him, but she mention that she was not a typical Sith.

"Thank you for being honnest with me, but what do you mean by Clasical Sith?" Darren took one last dring from the glass the heald his water. He set the empty glass down on the table and stood up. Darren grabbed his own hammer and let it hang by his side.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"Well, I'm oversimplifying," she said, relaxing a little. "Some Sith are like Palpatine -- manipulative in the long term, secretive, focused on domination and order. Some are like Vader -- brazen, open, obsessive. Some are like Dooku -- willing to go to any lengths to pursue reform and entrench their ideals. Some are like Maul -- singleminded, living weapons. Some are like Exar Kun, who killed at least two of his Masters and charted his own path. Some are like Ajunta Pall -- admit defeat, leave, create an empire elsewhere unopposed. And some are like my personal inspiration, Vectivus. Live life and pursue the Force precisely on your own terms, unrestrained by the more entrenched parts of Sith dogma. Nobody ever heard of Vectivus. He lived exactly the life he wanted to live, and died at home, surrounded by family."