Blades of Night

[Dethroned King]

SITH ACADEMY, KORRIBAN

Korriban. The [SIZE=10pt]tombworld[/SIZE] of the Sith. It had originally been the homeworld of the red-skinned Sith Species before they had been massacred in the Sith Holocaust. Since then it had been revered as a holy world of the Sith, where the great Dark Lords of the Sith were entombed in the Valley of Sith Lords and the best of the acolytes came to train, hone their skills, and kill. Lsinder Meruo had travelled to the tombworld to do all three of those.

His dual ruby-bladed lightsabers flashed and swerved, acting as batons in his dance. In front of him was a [SIZE=10pt]holocron[/SIZE]-projected image of a Jedi, faceless and wielding a sapphire blade. The projections blade was the only thing interactive; it would counter Lsinder’s ruby blades as if were a real thing, and deliver a small disturbing jolt if it touched Lsinder himself. The chamber around him was empty; barren and earthen, it was just wide enough that Lsinder could practice without being pressed for space, but that if he backed down he would be pressed against the hardened wall. The earthen floor, covered with the red dust that permeated throughout the planet’s deserts and valleys, forced Lsinder to dig his heels in to keep him from sliding. The trick was to move about; and the discipline of Jar’kai allowed that enough.

Pausing for a second, he deactivated the [SIZE=10pt]holocron[/SIZE] with a force-imbued wave of his hand, sweat running down his long blonde hair and high cheekbones. He’d been practicing his form for hours now, and as he deactivated his lightsabers his chest heaved up and down with each breath, his lungs screaming for oxygen in the poorly ventilated chamber.



[member="Irn"]

 

[Irn]

Something was in the room alongside him.

Instructed by its masters to travel to Korriban and assist with the training of one Acolyte in particular, Irn had made the decision to indulge this new organic in a training regimen that would quickly teach him the true adrenaline and skill needed to hold one's self in combat lest they wished to fall victim to the sting of the enemy's blade. In truth, the assassin had been watching this Acolyte train ever since he had entered the chamber and activated his holocron-projected opponent, observing the way he presented himself, how he utilized his weapons and how the environment was effecting his combat performance. It was clear that the Acolyte had a lot to learn and the opportunity to start presented itself as soon as he gave himself some slight reprieve with the deactivation of his training equipment.

Something shifted in the sands, the heavy thump of feet yet where it originated from seemed to echo around the poorly ventilated and enclosed chamber with an accompanying orchestra of ticking clockwork. Something was there, alright, watching and observing his weakness and requirement for a breather which no doubt incited this sudden change of position albeit it did not do this in a stealthy or subtle manner, it was almost as if it desired to make its presence known but keep the specifics hidden behind a wall of mystery; just another thing for the Acolyte to overcome. Was it a friend? Was it a foe? How prepared was he to defend himself if he were suddenly attacked?

He would soon find out.

"Your hologram can only teach you so much, Acolyte." a voice rang out, a strange fluctuation of male and female tone seeming to provide a constant battle between which would ultimately be spoken, creating a rather harrowing synthetic voice that echoed its shifting deep and light vocal tone around the chamber; "I have been instructed to assist you in your training. Let us see how your hologram has taught you to stand against a live opponent."

"The lesson shall now begin."

The sound of something leaping towards him was most likely very noticeable, giving him just a few moments to prepare his defense before the droid uncloaked itself, revealing the glory of its intricate and deadly design as all four blades seemed poised and ready for a swift and killing blow upon the young soul who had only perhaps just managed to get a few moments of a breather in before suddenly being thrown into the fire but this was intentional. After all, an enemy could reveal itself at any moment and as Irn wished to teach upon its student, no matter how tired he could be, preparation to defend one's self should be ready to spring in a moments notice. This was the life of a Sith, fight for your life or allow the sea of the dead to claim your soul.

Irn would soon learn how willing this Acolyte was to live.

[member="Dethroned King"]

 

[Dethroned King]

The sudden attack took Lsinder by surprise. It was by mostly luck and adrenaline that his instincts managed to kick and he slid under the rushing. . . whatever it was. Standing back up, his breathing doubled and chest heaving, he quickly summoned his two lightsabers to his hands, their ruby blades forming a defensive cross as they were ignited. Shifting his feet to a more sound and defensive form, the basic training that he'd been taught at the Jedi Temple and his few short months at the academy kicked in. His attacker seemed to be some insectoid droid, almost comical except for the fact that it had somehow managed to hide from Lsinder in pure sight, and was currently wielding four vibroblades with an unnatural speed and agility.

Shifting from his defensive posture to a more versatile stance, one blade in front and one blade held towards the back as he turned slightly so his left side partially faced the droid.

"What. . . are you?"

Had Lsinder not been in the fight for his life, he might've added some more colorful phrasing to his question. But it didn't change the purpose or the meeting, and now he awated the answer, and possibly another attempt on his life.

[member="Irn"]

 

[Irn]

The droid allowed its blades to slam into the ground as the Acolyte luckily slid beneath its frame in its attempt to leap and maim without mercy. To act with restraint would be to pamper and set a wrong impression and that was something that Irn simply could not allow. As the sands kicked up from the droid making contact with the flooring of the chamber, the clockwork droid swiftly got back up to its feet and turned itself to face the Acolyte once more, the glistening red optics focused entirely upon him as it harmlessly ticked away for the time being. The defensive stance that the human had instinctively gone into was now turned into a versatile and fluid stance that could either take up another defensive or an offensive role; this was something that it respected, so it seemed as the four blades took up their own versatile stance albeit with four blades it was clear that an advantage had been given to the droid. At a glance, the situation seemed as if this were a monumental task to defeat such an opponent but hidden away beneath the merciless and potentially lethal swerve to the training structure was simply to assist and make the training far more intense and difficult for if he were to overcome this? The rest of his trials as an Acolyte would pale in comparison, his skills learnt here providing much of what he would require for the road ahead.

Then the question came.

The droid's head titled somewhat as the optics never left the arc of vision that allowed it to cover the Acolyte and his surroundings as the droid saw an opportunity and took it. The cloak needed a few moments to recharge after it dissipated before it could be deployed once more and, with this question, Irn saw the possibility to not only give this required process time to pass but also to perhaps distract the Acolyte into a false sense of security; a known killer of Acolytes to some of the most notable Sith throughout history. The head sat upright once more as the voice that consistently fought for dominance like vipers spoke out; "I am what is known as a Shard. I care not for the history nor those that remain upon the world of which I existed. You have made your first mistake, Acolyte." the stern denouncement came as the droid's frame dissipated within a matter of moments and the thump of its metallic feet echoed through the chamber.

"Conversing with the enemy is surely to lead to the path of destruction. They are prey, Acolyte. Would you talk with a mindless beast?" the footsteps continued to echo; "Now focus. I am everywhere but only one. Focus your senses and strike."

If the Acolyte were to do so, it would become clear that the droid was circling him like a bird of prey, waiting for the best moment to strike.

[member="Dethroned King"]

 

[Dethroned King]

Lsinder slowly turned, following the sounds of the metallic footsteps. Muffled though they may be by the droid's slow movement and sandy ground, the combined effects of Lsinder's force sense and the echoing chamber made it a little less of a chore, and he thought he knew the beast's relative position. It was the extent of his abilities, though, and his mostly untrained force abilities made a hard time of locking on the signature of an object that was not technically alive. A tricky thing about droids. Drawing his lightsabers side to side, he crouched as he continued to cast glances around the whole chamber, sometimes turning quickly only to see yet again nothing, straining with his ears and limited force skills to grasp on to the Shard's location. It had said that it cared nothing for its history, but Lsinder could sense that there was more to it than that. It was plain from what it had said that it was not of a standard Imperial or even Sith make, but Lsinder couldn't tell whether he was humanizing the thing or simply twisting the droid's programming to fit his own imagination.

"Someone told me once that if you talk with your enemy enough, you can catch him off guard."

Lsinder cast his eyes around and finally located a pair of impressions in the ground -- the droid's lower appendages sinking slightly into the earthen ground. Finally, the environment was working to his advantage. Still turned away from the droid's location, he began to prepare his body to spring as he began to finish his sentence, gripping his lightsabers and turning the hilts ever so slightly, turning his eyes in a different direction as to conceal his discovery of the cloaked droid's movement.

 

[Irn]

"Good."

Rather strangely, the movement of the droid had all but stopped as the Acolyte had begun to adopt the tactics of a hunter, getting low to the ground and using both his senses and intuition to scan for the tracks in the sand, all of which had led him to the current location of the droid as it stood motionless and seemingly gave no sort of indication that it was moving or even going to move; the clockwork buried deep within its interior steadily ticking away as time passed second by second. The voice itself had even come from the very spot that Lsinder had been led to. Yet, in the moments that he sprung himself up and prepared to strike, the droid didn't seem to give any impression of moving out of the way or making sure that it got the first strike in; it instead simply uncloaked, the head that held the sensors turned and looked directly towards the Acolyte as the glistening optics put him in some form of spotlight.

"Taunting your enemy into a position of weakness is a viable tactic but that is not what I am here to lecture. To talk to your enemy for long enough, you must first be capable of holding yourself together for that period of time."

Irn's blades, having sat in a neutral position now formed some form of defensive stance; the two lower blades locked into some form of 'X' before its chassis whilst those outstretching appendages stood ready, no doubt to either attack of defend depending on the movements of the Acolyte it now had its sights upon. Was it teaching him? Or was it testing him? Provoking him to withdraw the most out of himself to showcase his abilities for the droid to identify just what the Acolyte needed assistance on, all done in its toying and antagonistic manner but for a moment, whilst stood in this position, the guise dropped as the voice called out once more, both gendered tones holding perhaps just a drop of sincerity to the words that vocalized; "Tell me, Acolyte. Do you prefer the way of the shadows or the path of fire?"

It seemed as if it wished to personalize his training. Irn awaited his choice.

[member="Dethroned King"]

 

[Dethroned King]

"They're both quite a cliche."

Lsinder lept at the droid, swiftly turning and dashing at the assassin as his lightsabers trailed beside him, at a rough angle that led their ruby blades to point outwards and behind from his swiftly moving body. He'd gone through this moment previously in his head, but it hadn't included the droid uncloaking and asking cryptic questions that Lsinder couldn't make sense of; he'd gotten his lifetime share of those at the Jedi Temple, after all, and didn't wish for them anymore. Besides, all those questions had either been asked in order to reprimand him or to educate something at which he was naive, and he preferred neither.

The droid was quite tall, something that added to his alien form. Far from humanoid, the six appendages and optical sensors gave it the appearance of some odd, overlarge insect that one might find on a sick alien world. It looked out of place in the dark and earthen chamber, the red ochre hue of the Korriban academy permeating through everything, covering almost every object that touched its sandy surface. Yet the droid's chassis was clean and polished somehow, the only sign that indicated to Lsinder that it wasn't some toy being marks and gouges that couldn't be fixed with a repainting. He took this all in as he lept up at the last second, bringing both of his lightsaber to the fore and preparing to strike down, his force-assisted jump lifting him several meters into the air.

[member="Irn"]

 

[Irn]

Irn was pleased with the answer.

The droid had since watched the Acolyte as he prepared his leap, flying through the air with grace and with all intentions to bring his lightsabers forward and downward upon the machine that asked and toyed away with him as the lessons it wished to teach began to take form. He showed that he knew how to track his prey and use the environment as a tool, now the droid wished to see just how capable the Acolyte was when investigation and diplomacy turned to combat; how well his stamina would keep up with the autonomous machine and how well the Acolyte could stand up to the combat strategies of the clockwork assassin. As the internals ticked away, each sound marking every second that went by as the distance between the two very quickly closed in. It was with this that Irn quickly shifted its defenses, the bladed appendages moving into position to meet with the blades and lock them into place, the intent to then push the Acolyte up and off, hopefully into one of the surrounding walls of the chamber. Killing the Acolyte would be problematic and would undo everything that the droid sought to teach-- As well as leave a mark of failure upon its existence.

Even whilst the two would begin to flow and strike against one another, the droid spoke out yet again; "You speak the truth. Allowing one to fall into a cliche leaves them rendered predictable. Even the masters of their respective paths can be brought to heel once you know their patterns and method of operation." it stood ready to defend itself once more, provided the throwback had been successful since the two had since locked blades; "Be adaptive like flowing water and you'll find that anything is within your grasp."

It simply waited for him to make the next move.

[member="Dethroned King"]