Private New Recruits

[Darth Themis]

Wearing: Armorweave Catsuit

Armed with: Divining Rod (Green bladed Lightsaber Spear )


Darth Themis, Bright Lord of The Sith, walked the mysterious world of Odessa, guided by her visions.

Unfortunately her own mission to locate Julia Crownwraithe had stalled. The Force simply was not providing her with the visions necessary. But the Force had shown her something very important all the same.

It had happened last night aboard her Lambda Class. A vision. An intense vision of two people she didn't know.

Unlike most visions, this one had kept her up, and she had spent most of her night sketching the faces of both Lucien Dooku and Alyosha Drutin , feeling their importance.

She knew they would be here but she did not know how she would be encountering them.

She felt herself guided to ancient ruins near the world's mountain regions, feeling the air get thinner as she took a rocky trail up to an ancient stone step pyramid, its surface carved with images of ancient legends and gods.

The curvy Sith's figure was hugged by a glossy, black armorweave catsuit, her inactive spear a simple shaft of cortosis weave durasteel that tapered a bit at the bottom, and was just as obsidian like. Her light mutated eyes, the whites a brassy sheen, the irises an odd dark green that scanned the ruins courtyard, filled with ancient, shattered stone totems. Themis searched the Force for answers. But nothing yet.

She walked a little more, commanding the Light to her bidding as one might switch on a flash light, Themis forced it to show the way...

Her concentration was understandably broken when half her head exploded from a Slugthrower round. She dropped to her knees, snarling in agony, but not dead, rolling out of the way of the next shot on instinct behind a fallen pillar more than anything as slugs riddled the area she had been in only milliseconds prior.

She struggled to think as her skull regenerated, half her face gone. It was difficult to use the Force, but now it at last (and seemingly at its own convenience) showed a vision of who was attacking her. She had been sloppy, too focused on triggering the events that would lead Lucien and Alyosha to her that she simply had not thought to look for futures containing danger.

Bright, glowing green blood leaked from her skull, what was left of her brain growing itself back as her position was peppered with armor piercing rounds unrelentingly, causing her to duck to avoid them. Her left hand was blown off and she cried out in pain, moving sideways on the fallen pillar. She could see her attackers in her vision about to flank her. Sith Assassins.

(Character Theme Song Power Up)

(Theme: "Veteran Of The Psychic Wars" by Blue Oyster Cult)

As two rounded the pillar she pushed through her intense agony and called down a bolt of Dark Green Lightning with little flare from the sky smacking into one man and instagibbing him due to his connection to the Darkness. The second one, armed with a machine pistol tried to choke her with The Dark Side, and Themis countered by Twisting the Light around her, so his choke attempt only felt like a light squeeze, and got up and rushed him even as his armor piercing pistol rounds tore through her suit and chest, and though the Force sustained her, it still hurt in the extreme as she hit him with dark green bolts emitted directly from her remaining hand. Not powerful enough to kill, just stun him. Her head had almost finished regenerating but there was still a quarter of it missing as she was ambushed from behind, her stomach getting pierced by a lightsaber. She had seen this coming however and slid backward on the blade eve as her lungs burned from the proximity to the beam, grasping her attacker's wrist and flooding his body with the green bolts, killing him instantly and grabbing his still active blade, just in time to deactivate it, whip the hilt around, and activate it just in time to catch the blade of another dark armored attacker, deflecting his vicious slashes with her Form Six one handed, until she forced him back and focused her full mental might upon him.

"Turn your saber upon yourself." She commanded, her voice having a metallic quality in the mind of her masked attacker. He struggled, almost dazed as he turned the red blade on himself, shoving it into his own skull and dying on the spot, dropping flat where he stood.

Themis's body pushed out the bullets in her torso, the bleeding wounds sealing up and healing as her hand regenerated. She used the Light to ensnare the remaining Assassin's limbs and commanded him awake with The Force, hoisting him in the air, the light wrapped around his neck to prevent his moving, but not hurting or choking him. He was too weak to do anything.

"Alright dipchit, who sent you?" Themis demanded.

"The allies of The Sith Lord you stole that Lambda Class Shuttle from."

Themis snorted in annoyance. "You people are fething petty coming after me over a shuttle."

"You experimented on The Owner's corpse after you murdered him!" The Assassin exclaimed in seeming exasperation at her dismissal.

Themis rolled her eyes. "It's not like he was gonna be needing his corpse, dude. I figured...put it to good use!"

"It produced nothing but cobras that targeted Dark Siders! Their poison was lethal!" he raged. "I lost my brother to one of them!"

"Imagine that, a Dark Sider acting indignant about lives lost. Get fethed."

Themis was about to activate her blade into his skull and end him when she saw a vision.

This incident, if he survived, would forever scar him, make him disillusioned with the power of the Dark Side. Though he would not take her path, eventually, he would seek out the Jedi, and reject the Bogan. This happened in every future she saw.

Themis rose, gesturing for him to rise.

"Scram." She told him bluntly. "Don't ask questions, just scram."

The Assassin didn't need to be told twice. He sprang up and ran for his life.

Themis sighed, looked at the bodies.

"Sayyyyyy...you guys are dead...how convenient..."

Fifteen minutes later...

Themis had gathered the three into a pile, drawing a pentagram of her own blood. These ruins were impressive. They might even serve as a headquarters if she played her cards right. If nothing else, it would provide a barrier against the Dark Side.

She cut open her forehead, upon which her Sith Brand lay, a black pentagram at the center of which lay the strange, ancient geometric symbol for The Light.

Green blood flowed out of it as she chanted, the blood flowing down her body as she levitated, the blood dripping into the ward circle and eventually breaking down the bodies into a mass of writhing green tissue, upon from which burst a an obsidian tree with black leaves and "apples" just as black that swelled on the branches.

The faces of the slain appeared on the trunk facing away from the pyramid, open mouth bearing sparks of green lightning that danced around within. The Light twisted around the tree, inscribing the flame like binding spells that pushed the Darkness out...and drew those curious adepts who crossed this tree to be more tempted to use the Light.

Themis dropped to her knees, the wound on her head healing, but heavily exerted. It had not been so strenuous to do this once, but her newly ressurected body could only handle so much at once. She breathed heavily.

This small victory seemed to be nothing against all her past failures. She clutched her spear, remembering her fallen family, murdered by Darth Phyre. The guilt of being alive while all those she trained as Jedi died hurt worse than any physical wound...she noticed since her ressurection that she seemed to tolerate physical pain far better than she did in the old days...she would have been slowed a little more by sustaining such heavy wounds in such a short span of time.

She went forward into the ruins wearily, examining the reliefs, the carvings. It was as she suspected: an ancient but small Jedi Enclave. With a touch of the Force still within.

Themis spotted an ancient Prayer Wheel, made of stone and as carved as the rest of the temple was. It told the tale of a highly skilled Jedi that fought in the Invasion of Korriban thousands of years ago.

Themis touched the wheel...and shuddered as her mind on instinct picked up the knowledge imprinted within.

Her face warped and deformed, the skin melting and stretching away from her skeleton, rearranging into the face of a bald woman with very dark skin and more severe features. Muscles bulged along her body as she staggered back for a second, the echo of the ancient guardian's mind having taken over completely.

She blinked, feeling the surge of power within her.

"Interesting..." she muttered,

She stretched out her hand toward a wall, setting aside the spear as a hidden door opened with telekinesis.

It was an armory. The Echani Ritual Brand lay sealed in an ancient stasis chamber. It had once belonged to The Guardian whose echo now occupied the Body of Themis.

She summoned it to her hand, spinning her body experimentally with it as she thrust and sliced through the air with the ancient sword, executing flips forward and backward, letting the light flow naturally through her rather than twisting it as Themis did. She conjured a push that knocked over a broken statue.

The Echo was already making plans to immediately return to the service of The Jedi Order, eager to start training padawans. But it was only an echo of a mind, not a true mind in of itself, not truly aware of what it was, and it was not long before Themis reasserted control, the Echo's figure warping and melting back into Themis's preferred appearance.

Themis blinked, dropping the sword...and freaked out by hyperventilating. She hadn't expected that. For one to leave an imprint so strong...the Guardian herself must have been horrendously powerful.

Regardless, a fragment of her knowledge...and perhaps the teeniest piece of her mind...now belonged to Themis...

(Plasmid Acquisition Theme Plays)

(New Force Powers Gained!)

(New Skills Learned!)

Power: IMITATE GUARDIAN

Spoiler

Take the form of an ancient Jedi Guardian, strength increasing by 007, and greatly reducing kinetic, vibro, and piercing damage by seventy five percent, as well as enabling the use of Double Bladed Swords, Telekinesis, and Force Push. However, Themis's ability to see into the future is greatly reduced to just a second or so ahead, and she cannot use any Light powers or magic while this technique is active beyond her ability to heal herself and others, which is heavily reduced in strength. The longer technique remain active, the stronger the Echo becomes, allowing it to remain in control for hours or even days depending on how long Themis used it, and becomes increasingly difficult to reassert control as a result.

Power: TELEKINESIS

Spoiler

Lift objects with the mind. As skill in power increases, heavier objects can be lifted (Note, only usuable when Imitate Guardian is Active)

Power: FORCE PUSH

Spoiler

Push objects and organics. As skill increases, heavier objects and organics can be pushed. (Note: Only usable when Imitate Guardian is active)

Skill: DOUBLE BLADED SWORDS

Spoiler

Execute techniques with the double bladed sword. As skill increases, weapon usage becomes easier and character becomes more dangerous (Note: Only usable when Imitate Guardian is active)

Themis caught her breath and left the sword where it lay, heading out side.

The vision of Alyosha and Lucien told her their arrival was imminent. She composed herself, grabbing her spear as she went outside, wondering why the Force had sent them to her...

She dared not hope it was for apprentice ship. She wanted to show others the way, in spite of her failures, but so few seemed to have the talant...

 

[Kai and Gerda]

Spoiler: Armor/Weapons

Cortosis-Weave Armor | Blaster Rifle

Alyosha was getting tired of the Force constantly jerking his chain.

This was the second time in the past few months he had been summoned by the mysterious cosmic web, injecting unexplained impulses into his brain. Go to this planet, find this person. Why? All will be revealed in due time, young padawan. Ohhhh...

His dealings with space wizards had increased ever since he left the Black Sun behind, opening up new encounters with the Force itself. It seemed he could no longer ignore his potential. He had to face his power and learn how to master it, or the people around him would take advantage.

So he obeyed this bizarre call to Odessen, though he was only vaguely aware of what exactly he needed to do once he got there.

The planet was beautiful - lush and wild, an untamed wilderness. He heard there were ruins nearby left over from thousands of years ago; supposedly an archaeological operation was going on at around the same time. His purposes weren't to interfere with them, but given that his calling was bringing him close to the ruins of a pyramid temple on a mountain, he couldn't be sure their paths wouldn't cross.

As he ascended the stairs, the atmosphere thinned with the higher elevation. Alyosha was in excellent physical shape, but even he had to slow down as breathing became more difficult. He hoisted his rifle across his back and focused on getting to the top, putting his acrobatic skills to work.

Soon he found himself standing in the midst of a courtyard filled with broken totems and pillars - and bodies. The corpses themselves had been dragged into a pile at the center of the courtyard, where some kind of occult symbol had been drawn around them.

The bloodstains and signs of recent battle around him were all fresh. Carbon scored the walls, and broken pieces of rock and spent rounds littered the ground. By the looks of it, it was the sort of slaughter that only a Force user could inflict. Alyosha was glad he'd thought to wear cortosis-weave armor on this particular trip, just in case, but he knew his blaster rifle wouldn't be of much use. Whoever had done this could simply repel his shots.

At the same time, he sensed (as much as he could interpret his untrained Force instincts) that the killer didn't wish him harm. In fact, they seemed to be the one whom he was supposed to meet. Alyosha approached the pile of corpses, noting their dark clothing and armor. Were they Sith? He didn't know. It seemed the whole Jedi vs. Sith dichotomy was pretty vague these days, anyway...

At the other end of the courtyard, through an open archway, he spotted a figure standing outside, Darth Themis . From the short distance between them, he could tell it was a woman carrying some kind of spear. Alyosha hesitated, wondering whether he should draw his weapon and risk alarming her, or if he should approach her empty-handed and risk being attacked. After a few moments deliberation, he decided on the latter.

"Hey," he called out, putting on his most friendly, boyish smile. "I don't mean to intrude, but would you mind explaining what happened here?"

Lucien Dooku

 

[Lucien Dooku]

Lucien was never one to let visions within the force be the guiding path in his decision-making. They were fickle things, according to his master, and it wasn't as if he were plagued with them either. At least, that was the case before a week prior to his informal visit to Odessen. The visions were weak at first; frames without sound, and the occasional connection between scenes. Later they were vivid and audible, until the final vision convinced him that maybe he should give it a listen. That was a couple days prior to his arrival, and the pressure they the visions left on his cranium didn't let up until after he entered the system.

A feeling of relief took over from that point forwards. He had half a mind to high-tail it back out the system, but a tug within the back of his mind convinced him to see it through till the end. "Trust in the force, it will guide you where you must be." Luc said to himself with a chuckle. The words were from his former master, and for once they seemed relevant in his day-to-day existence.

The force wasn't much a guide for him as a spacer, after all. On the other hand, there could've been something valuable down on the planet if the force actually guided him there. He knew enough of its history to not disregard the potential, and Luc hadn't acquired any artifacts from the world as of yet. His lips curled into a smirk upon finishing the thought. "Odessen it is." He disconnected Midnight from its Hyperdrive Ring and made his way down to the surface of the planet. Luc didn't have any coordinates, but instead let the force guide him to where he needed to be.

"R-4, take over the controls and open the cockpit on my mark, alright?" The frantic response he received all but said yes, but Luc knew his droid would follow his lead. Midnight soared across the planet's skies for what seemed like forever, and all the while Luc simply let the force guide where he flew. Much time passed until he finally felt something; a connection, maybe? It felt right, and Luc acted upon it instinctively. Immediately the Eta-2 began to forward dive in the direction of the trees beneath them. Seconds was all she needed to reach the canopy, and Luc pulled her up with barely enough time to properly stabilize Midnight. He spotted a temple, and something told him there was a great chance that's where the force was guiding him.

"You better be right, Luc-- Mark!" He disengaged the lock on his cockpit, the glass sliding backwards just as he unstrapped himself from his seat. He propelled himself onto one of Midnight's wings, his concentration keeping him balanced perfectly as he scanned the canopy for the right time to jump. When the opportunity came, he leaped off without hesitation into the canopy of trees beneath him. "Take her back through atmosphere,, and keep her quiet--" He said over his comms, right before he smacked into the canopy and began his rough descent through the trees.

At one time he called himself something like a Jedi, but now he was an adventurer, or a tomb-raiding treasure hunter whenever his connections proved reliable. Sometimes planets had no viable landing zones for miles on end, and sometimes he was simply too lazy to go for the walk. Luckily for him, he commanded what he knew of the force in innovative ways, such as assisting him with the acrobatics necessary to survive a fall of that size.

Unfortunately the force doesn't prevent the occasional branch from smacking him in the face. But a few scrapes and bruises weren't enough to delay him from heading towards the temple's direction. The closer he got, the more confirmation he felt that this was the place he'd felt and even seen in his visions. He quickened his pace upon reaching the stairs and beginning the journey up to the top. He only came to a halt upon nearly reaching the top and hearing a male's voice call out. He paused for a moment, then slowed his pace on his last few steps up.

Standing across from him was the same woman who he recognized from his visions. Behind her on the opposite side of the courtyard was someone else; a male, and most likely the one who he heard yelling a few moments before. Judging from the calm demeanor of everyone present, he was assuming they were all on the same page.

He wiped his hands against his pants before shoving them casually into his pockets, his gaze shifting from Alyosha to Themis. He didn't quite have the visual perspective of Alyosha just yet, but he did feintly pick up the smell of burnt carbon wafting from between the two. He opted to remain quiet for now, to gauge both her intention, and also the individual on their opposite end as well.

Darth Themis Alyosha Drutin

 

[Darth Themis]

Themis descended the steps to receive Alyosha Drutin and Lucien Dooku , using the Force, Making the Light shine on their past. As she looked she grew more intrigued--she had not been sent naive saplings...these ones actually looked like they knew their way around a fight or two...and not afraid of danger either...they had sought her out as much as she had sought them.

Themis remained silent, guaging them. As she descended the steps, Alyosha was the first to speak up. Bold. She liked that.

"Ohhh, we had a bit of a disagreement...I won the argument, in case you're wondering. Had a bit of a splitting headache during the debate for my trouble, though..." Themis joked, but in a grim manner. She smiled, but only a little.

"They were Sith Assassins. I stole a shuttle from one of their bosses. Don't ask what I did to the boss. It involved reptiles and copius amounts of profanity...which mainly came from him. The reptiles were all me though. Great party favors. But what of you, young one, what of you?" She trailed, stepping a little closer.

"I saw you, y'know. In my visions. You, an apostate from the Black Sun...and another, a nobleman a long way from his wealth..." Themis trailed, head turning to at last spot Lucien in the distance.

Themis reached into her supply belt, pulling out two of her drawings, on of Alyosha, the other of Lucien.

"It is no accident that we meet..." Themis added.

She paced around a bit, twirling her inactive spear around her body.

"It is my belief that I have visions of you both because you both are meant to learn from me..." she continued, circling the Obsidian tree she had grown from the slain Dark Adepts.

"Sensing your potential...both of your potential...I must say...impressive..."

She leaned against her glossy black spear.

"I find honesty is the best policy in recruitment attempts, so rather than waste both your and my time by playing coy and shying away from what I really am while we engage in multiple back and forths about the other's identity and intentions, I will just come right out and say it...you, my friends, are staring at your first Unicorn."

Dark green lightning arced everywhere across her body, the clouds shuddered above.

"You are staring at one of the very few actual Light Side Sith. Now, most Adepts, when they call themselves Light Side Sith, are, well...the holonet rightly dubs a good many of them edge-lords, because they're too independent to truly ascribe one hundred percent publicly to The Jedi Code even if they practice most of its precepts in the field consciously or not...and are also far, far too nice to be considered typical Sith. A genuine Light Side Sith Lord does not use the Light the way a Jedi does. A Jedi flows with the Light, seeking to be guided. A Light Side Sith uses their will to bend the Light. To twist it to their bidding...the same way a typical Sith uses The Dark Side. A true Light Side Sith is as genuinely dangerous as a typical Sith...and in certain cases more so. Those who believe as I believe know that the only way peace and order ever comes to the galaxy is when the Light brings it...often by scouring the servants of evil and chaos. Those who believe as I do are willing to kill to ensure peace...even pre-emptively. To make the Light a tool and weapon to enforce peace. Whether the Light brings balance via democracy or not is completely irrelevant to me, so long as there is balance."

She stopped leaning against her spear, began twirling it around her body again out of restless habit.

"And the both of you have not only come across a true Light Side Sith, but no less than a Darth of such Sith. I am Darth Themis. Bright Lord of The Sith. It would be a pleasure to share my knowledge with you...with both of you...provided your interest has sparked..."

 

[Kai and Gerda]

So the corpses were Sith. Nice. Alyosha listened to Darth Themis in silence, noting the presence of a third party on the opposite side of her. Lucien Dooku certainly looked the part of a swashbuckler, albeit a somewhat foppish one. The woman described him as a nobleman turned adventurer... well, if worst came to worst and he got violent on them, that long hair of his would put him at a disadvantage.

An apostate of the Black Sun. Alyosha's lip curled at her description of him. She pulled out two drawings, one of each of them. He didn't realize his adam's apple stuck out that much...

"A unicorn?" he echoed, grinning. Her little light show failed to intimidate him, though he didn't like the thought of becoming one of her science experiments either. As for her pitch and offer of apprenticeship, he was somewhat skeptical, but intrigued.

"The edge-lords of the galaxy don't impress me either," he said. "And I always try to stay out of politics."

His smile faltered as he was reminded of his lingering allegiance to a so-called 'God King' in the form of Zaiden Dean, but he never intended for that strictly business relationship to last. Zaiden's attempt to make Alyosha his apprentice had fallen through the moment he tried to brand Alyosha with his sigil.

Themis' offer seemed legitimate, but there was always the possibility of her having ulterior motives. He had a feeling that if he tried to look her up in more traditional ways, he'd come out empty-handed.

What do you see in her, Val? he called to his brother through their Force bond, letting Val Drutin glimpse Themis as she stood now before his eyes.

A faint twitch upon the thread gave him a tentative answer. Themis was indeed what she claimed to be - a Bright Lord of the Sith. But for all his training, Val was confused by her. He couldn't comprehend what she was, only that she did, indeed, exist.

Using the Force as a tool appealed to him. He was still an assassin, even if he had left the Black Sun behind. His interest in the Force was not spiritual so much as practical.

"If you can teach me how to use the Force, I just might take you up on that offer," he replied. "Provided there are no strings attached."

 

[Lucien Dooku]

Lucien listened to the woman's words as quietly as he'd been before, his thoughts currently racing between his course of action moving forwards. The concept of a Light-side Sith made sense to him, though it was't anything his master bothered to teach him during his training. Luc figured the old man either knew nothing about them himself, or he simply didn't bother with bringing it up to Luc for whatever reasons he thought up. It was an intriguing idea that one could flow the light in such a manner that it equally treaded with the dark. Outside the method she displayed her control over the force, his ethos on the force fell in line quite similar with how she thought. It was a tool for his use, and while he possessed no desire to actively seek out and remove dark-siders from the realm of the living, neither did he believe that walking the path of the light would lead him where he wanted to go.

He walked his own path, well, usually. His coming to Odessen was the very rare occasion where that philosophy didn't stick. On this specific instance he trusted the force to rid him of the chronic migraine that only waned upon reaching Odessen, and low-and-behold it worked. His head felt the lightest it'd been in a week, and the woman from his visions was giving him a golden opportunity if he ever heard of one. Though he decided to stay for the chance at a holocron, the knowledge a Master of the force possessed was equally as valuable. Especially when their own philosophies matched close enough to his own.

Moving a bit closer to the two, Luc removed his hands from his pockets and let them hang loosely to the side. Alyosha Drutin was revealed to be an agent of the Black Sun of all things, while the now-visible pile of corpses gave him a visual to the previous smell that wafted through his nostrils. He let the man speak first before addressing himself into the conversation. A part of him wanted to gauge the man's reaction to all of this, considering he didn't strike him as much of a force user. His response was right on the money as far as he was concerned. Luc had left Serenno to avoid being roped into his grandfather's plans to send him to the Sith, and his desire to be the pawn of another was still sitting at zero.

That didn't mean he was foolish enough to not accept her offer, though. His response was simply a nod, followed by his lips settling into a grin. "Darth Themis, was it? My name is Lucien; Lucien Dooku, or simply Luc for short." He made no effort concealing his heritage this time around. The woman knew enough about him already for any deception to simply make things more complicated than they needed to be. "I would be honored to be your student, for a time." The last few words were emphasized to ensure there were no misconceptions, but nonetheless his tone remained respectful when he addressed the Sith 'Bright Lord'.

Darth Themis

 

[Darth Themis]

Themis smiled grimly at their answers. Inwardly, she knew she had to be careful--she saw futures where any attempt to persuade them to accept the brand would cause Alyosha Drutin in particular to rebel. No. Tempt them with the outer edges of her power, make them want more, gradually, slowly make them want to twist the light within themselves of their own accord as she did. Apprenticing could be rocky.

"I accept both of your terms." Themis replied smoothly. She bid them to follow her into the ancient enclave. She searched the Force for futures concerning them all this enclave, this world.

"Enclaves such as this contain great secrets...and it requires great wisdom to uncover such secrets." Themis spoke softly "But first, ground rules: If you are both to be my apprentices, there is to be no treachery amongst us. No backstabbing. It's what caused me to leave the Mainstream Sith: Bastards will stab you through the eye if they thought they could get an ounce of benefit from it. Barbaric. Utterly barbaric. Second rule: Keep what you learn hidden from the uninitiated. Especially Jedi. Don't blab about being able to twist the Light. Definitely don't twist it in front of them unless you have no choice. Three: Using The Light in such a manner for prolonged periods may cause your eyes to start looking like mine. Most Jedi, unless they're reaaaalll savvy about Force Mutations, won't pick up on it. It might not happen to you, but if it does, find a way to hide it."

She finally came across the armory she had found, and entered it. She inspected what was there. Alyosha favored rifles, it seemed. Themis personally never touched them, though she had to concede that every skill of war had its place. Still, Themis knew Alyosha's combat repetoire would need more. Much more. But she took it slow. Assassins were among the cagiest to train.

Themis inspected each piece, until she spotted something she knew would make a great example of what she could teach.

Themis removed a Cortosis weave vibroshield from the armory. Alyosha and Lucien needed to see how they could become much more. Lucien was a little farther ahead...his poise screamed budding swashbuckler...but he had still barely scratched the surface.

"Alyosha...you wear heavy armor...this is a perfectly reasonable strategy. But what if I told you that with my type of power...you would never need more then the bare minimum of armor again. Perhaps no armor at all..."

Themis switched on the vibroshield.

"Try not to get sick, boys. This won't be pleasant. For either of us. Remember what I said about splitting headaches?"

Themis slammed her face directly onto the blade edge of the shield. She suppressed the snarl of pain as her head was violently torn open, leaking bright green blood through the shredded open canyon of splintered bone and muscle where her face had once been. She staggered back as she focused. The horrific, disgusting wound gradually reversed itself until the only sign any injury had occured at all was the bright green blood on her suit and the ground around her.

"The Light can allow you to survive and recover from wounds that would be otherwise mortal." She explained. "With enough focus, enough will...it can function constantly to heal you, even in the midst of battle, like that one movie about the dude with the claws in his arms--the name escapes me--but you get the idea."

Themis then got to the second half of her first lesson about the Light's power. Her spear at last went active, the green shoto blade snaking out at 007 inches as she headed to a nearby window.

"Lucien, I smell a fencer about you...what if I told you that with The Light, even metals resistant to your saber are unsafe? Like this shield..."

She focused, and dark green lightning fell from the sky and hit her spear blade, the dark green lightning arcing off of it but huggling it also. With a careful, but elegant whirl, she whipped the blade into the path of the shield, cutting through it almost too easily on one swipe. But the shield was broken.

Themis turned to them.

"Which would you both care to learn about first?"

 

[Kai and Gerda]

Alyosha followed Darth Themis deeper into the ruins of what he now realized was once a Jedi Enclave. The ancient structure of hewn stone slowly began to reveal itself to him for what it was - though he had little to no knowledge of the Jedi or their history, he felt something there. It was like a pulse in the walls and floors, the crumbling totems and pillars, the strange markings and symbols which he almost understood. Each time he tried to pursue it, however, complete knowledge would retreat beyond his reach.

His awe of the Enclave was disrupted by Themis laying down the law. No backstabbing, no blabbing. Got it. The assassin preferred to avoid getting in fights, especially with those who outmatched him in terms of power and training, and only an idiot would shoot off about their secret weapon.

He had noticed Themis' strange eyes when she came close enough for him to take in the details of her features. It was a well-known fact by now that prolonged use of the Force tended to distort a person's appearance, especially when it came to the uber powerful Sith Lords who were constantly harnessing it. As was to be expected from someone who seemed like a walking contradiction, the Bright Lord's eyes were not exactly frightening, but they were definitely... unsettling. A great and terrible beauty, and a dead giveaway of what she was. But it was nothing a cosmetic treatment or even just a pair of colored contacts couldn't fix, right?

Even though he was used to the sight of blood and gore, her demonstration turned his stomach. The healing process, rapid as it was, was equally gruesome, but very impressive. He was already gearing up to learn the technique when she introduced another lesson, a method of cutting through armored shields like butter. A defensive option, and an offensive one.

He glanced at Lucien Dooku when she offered them a choice. Not that he particularly cared what the fop wanted - it was always good to gauge the interests and motives of others. Turning back to Themis, he answered, "Healing."

 

[Lucien Dooku]

Luc followed the two through the remnants of the enclave, though he initially trailed back a bit as he took extra time to soak in with his surroundings. Odessen was a treasure trove that he'd barely dipped his feet in, and he was certain that much thorough exploration of the temple could lead to important discoveries of Jedi knowledge. Lucrative and informative discoveries, if he may add, that he didn't particularly mind sharing with the two if it came down to it.

Eventually they settled into discussing the terms of their apprenticeship, and what they would potentially begin learning immediately. He was mostly unaffected when Themis described the potential for mutation in the eyes when one overused the abilities they were about to learn. He'd seen various mutations of the sort, though her's was unique from his previous experiences.

There were ways to remedy this, though he figured the most effective manner would be to approach it much like he'd approached the force in general. Moderation it seems, is the key. He thought. Luc had always sought a balance in his beliefs when it came to the force, and the idea of utilizing these sort of powers without caution seemed just as dangerous as rampant use of dark-side abilities. And if all else failed, there were treatments out there to correct such issues, assuming one had the money to do so.

Once demonstrations of what they could learn had come and passed, Luc moved a bit closer to Alyoshan to gauge his reaction to what they'd just seen. He responded first, and Luc gave a nod of approval to the ability he wanted to learn. The next technique was far more up his lane, especially with its applications being useful against the various creatures and monstrosities that proved hard to kill during his last few temple expeditions.

"I would prefer to enhance my combat abilities, although I can see the merit in being able to heal grievous injuries too." He responded to Themis, then turned towards Alyoshan. "But for the sake of keeping things uniform, I'm willing to learn the healing ability along with my fellow 'apprentice' here."


Darth Themis Alyosha Drutin

 

[Darth Themis]

Themis smiled. "Healing was the very first thing I put all my experience points into myself, so believe me, I approve. So many Force Adepts think they don't need Super-Hero healing. Nothing could be further from the truth, given all the insanely dangerous unregulated anti-personnel weaponry readily being fielded in this day and age."

Themis thought she had seen bad chit in the Gulag Era. Being introduced to this Era was like every gritty reboot she had ever seen turned up to eleven. To an extent, even she had been effectively grittily rebooted by coming back from the literal fething dead.

"Without healing a lot of Adepts careers would have ended quite differently. My own included." she remarked, going back to the armory, retrieving two small knives and a box.

She handed Lucian and Alyosha a knife.

"Cut your palms and start there. You twist the light into the wound, command it to fix it," Themis instructed, going back to the box and opening it. "And while you focus on that, this is the perfect segway into something else..."

She retrieved two small, yellowish crystals, handing one to Alyosha Drutin and Lucien Dooku .

"These," she explained. "Are among my favorite kinds of crystals...Lorrdian Gemstones. When installed in a Lightsaber, they allow you to better predict the actions of your opponents. I used to have one...before this spear..." Themis trailed, gripping her weapon of choice a little tighter. The familiar metal, constructed to lead The De Lifte Family into battle against the Dark Side, was the only comfort she truly had in this strange new era. It obeyed its master no matter the name she went by.

"Meditate on both crystal and wound, and command the Light into both. All of yourself must go into the effort..." she instructed. "Controlling your own flesh with The Force, in truth, isn't all that different from controlling other forms of crude matter with The Force...such as your crystal. If you can direct the nature of one and what it turns into, you can direct the other..." she explained. "It may take a while to get it right...certainly took me a while. Start small, and as your skill grows, you can survive greater wounds, like developing a callous on your skin from constant abrasions."

 

[Kai and Gerda]

Taking the dagger and the Lorrdian gemstone from Darth Themis , Alyosha studied the objects. The crystal was pretty, sure, but the longer he stared at it, he noticed a faint glow or warm aura that seemed to emanate from within.

His fingers wrapped around the knife handle, but he hesitated before cutting himself. In his mind's eye he envisioned the patterns of human skin, how there were ways of not leaving a scar. Pressing the blade into his palm, he made the incision with surgical accuracy, wincing slightly at the initial puncture. Hands were sensitive to pain no matter how you sliced 'em.

As blood welled up from the wound, he pressed the gem into his hand, clutching it tightly. His own understanding of the Force was so limited. He'd never attempted anything like this before. Hell, the most he'd ever done with the Force was communicate telepathically with Val, and that was difficult to do and even harder to control.

Now, he closed his eyes and concentrated on the warmth he felt from the gem. His instincts and training as an assassin were to ignore pain, never to focus on it. In response to his attentions, the gem began to glow brighter... but he could not channel its power into healing an injury he refused to acknowledge.

Frowning, Alyosha opened his eyes. Blood was dripping down his arm and onto the floor in a steady trickle. It hadn't worked.

He resisted the urge to sneak a glance at Lucien Dooku . The last thing he needed was to become competitive with someone who was clearly much farther ahead than he was anyway. Quietly exhaling, Alyosha closed his eyes once more and tried again. No luck.

A mixture of frustration, embarrassment, and muted dread churned in him. He sensed why it wasn't working, but he also knew that if he did what needed to be done, he would be taking a risk. One that had the potential to humiliate him even further in front of his new master and fellow apprentice.

But it was a risk he'd have to take if he was going to accomplish this mission. Painfully aware of the eyes upon him, Alyosha geared up for a third attempt. This time he permitted himself to feel, to admit that it hurt. He stopped blocking out the pain, let it shoot up his arm and threaten to blind him to the world. His eyes welled up, stinging against tears.

The crystal glowed like a candle, getting bright enough that its light bloomed behind his eyelids. Alyosha's hand began to tremble slightly, the knife slipping from his grasp and clattering to the floor.

His eyes opened. The blood flow had stopped. The wound was healed.

Alyosha clutched the crystal to his chest. His breathing was a little ragged, punctuated by sniffling and slight sobs which he was clearly trying to hide, albeit not very well. He wiped his eyes furiously and turned toward the others, struggling to maintain his usual composure, but he knew he was fighting a losing game. He did what he had to do in order to open himself to the Force, but the situation (for him, at least) was going to deteriorate fast as a result.

"Third time's the charm," he said with a faint smile, holding up his healed hand. The smile faded as quickly as it appeared, no more than a twitch of the facial muscles. "Never knew using the Force required... giving in to... admitting your own vulnerability. At least, the Light Side..." He broke off, silencing himself willingly. He looked like he was either about to faint, or burst into tears. Or laugh. Or scream.

Oh, he had opened himself up to the Force, all right. And Val was right there on the other side, ready to dump his mercurial emotions and his disgusting weakness onto Alyosha for the price of admission.

 

[Lucien Dooku]

"A Lorrdian gemstone, huh?" Luc commented back with a hint of surprise. His own lightsaber used a synthetic crystal, and while it provided no tangible benefits to the user, it did give the blade a unique color that was aesthetically pleasing to its user's eyes. It might've come as a shocker, but the young adventurer had not come into contact with many genuine lightsaber crystals other than his own. Holocrons and other artifacts, sure, and even the occasional antique lightsaber, but neither him nor his clients found any lucrative value in the majority of the gems that were available on the market. Seven-hundred years ago and the outlook might've been different, but in an age where the Jedi and Sith were as prevalent as the golden era of the old republic, there was little value in the acquisition of lightsaber crystals for your average buyer.

He held the crystal between his thumb and index finger, trained eyes peering into the crystal to appraise its authenticity. Not that he didn't trust Themis to provide the genuine article, but instinct got the best of him when his curiosity took over his thoughts. A smirk curled on his lips, and he took the dagger in his opposite hand after Alyosha did the same. "Interesting." He muttered to himself, the dagger twirling around a pair of fingers before the hilt landed in his palm, his hand closing together after. A single motion met blade with flesh, a line of cut flesh proceeding to drip blood down his palm before he let the crystal fall into a shut hand.

Luc dropped the knife and removed his jacket, the two weapons holstered beneath his shoulders being visible for the first time. They were just as paradoxical as him, a weapon of the sith on one side, and one of the Jedi on the other. They were tools and nothing less, and that same philosophy was kept in mind once he tightened his grip on the gemstone and dropped to his butt in silent meditation. Alyosha had already began focusing on the crystal by then, but Luc paid his fellow apprentice little attention in that regard. He wasn't there to judge the man for struggling to find a connection; Luc had been in his shoes before, once upon a time in his former apprentice days.

He concentrated on the crystal, the force freely coalescing into both crystal and wound, though the sting of the wound remained in spite of his efforts. He could feel the burning sensation that came with air touching flesh, and the minerals that made up the crystal sure didn't help either. "Command the light." The thought repeated itself a few times in his mind. The force was a tool and nothing more, but truthfully the idea of commanding the light appeared foreign to his mind. He winced on the inside as the wound pulsated with a sharp pain after every couple of seconds had passed. The gemstone glowed a minute later, his thoughts focusing upon the pain, with each pulse of the damaged nerves hitting him right down to the core. The glow eventually faded back to its original state, and Luc rolled the blood-covered gem into his opposite hand in order to see the outcome of his attempt. The majority of the wound had sealed itself shut, while the corners remained fresh, dried blood gathering together and doing its best to scab up the wound.

A glance turned towards Alyosha, an eyebrow raising up in curiosity once his attention settled on him long enough to see the current state he was in. Luc felt his emotions through the force; not all of his emotions were tangible, but he got the gist of it, much like a silhouette, if you will. "You alright, guy?" Luc asked plainly. He wasn't concerned for his well-being, for he didn't feel any imminent threat or danger stemming from the man's life force. But they were apprentices beneath the same master, and the last thing he needed was his newfound comrade ending up unstable from their unorthodox Light-Sith training regime.

Darth Themis Alyosha Drutin

 

[Darth Themis]

"I didn't get it right on the first try either, Alyosha...but you got it about two tries sooner than I did the very first time." Themis said reassuringly to Alyosha Drutin .

"It's like a muscle. It gets...easier. But the pain often remains. Its the price of admission." She almost felt normal. Almost felt like Moya De Lifte again. She clutched her spear a little tighter. Moya was dead. The corpse of her mind lingered within the skull of the Bright Lord.

She then went to examine Lucien Dooku .

Yes, she had been right about this one. A little more experienced in the Force than Alyosha. But she never discounted the Assassins she had trained.

Parlor knowledge was one thing...anyone could replicate desired effects in a controlled setting. It was the stress test that revealed who you really were.

"That's one little fragment of knowledge. But to get to the next...you are going to take the crystal that has bonded to your spirit and blood...and construct a Lightsaber-Spear. All of my apprentices, even if they never become masters of it, are at least expected to be familiar with its basics. Its symbolic of your reach and willingness to go farther than the Jedi...like it became mine."

Themis walked into the armory and retrieved the parts to two disassembled Cortosis Staves, along with the parts necessary to modify them into a Light-Spear, handing one kit to Lucien and the other to Alyosha.

"These are the perfect base with which to construct your new weapon. The choice weapon of the Morgukai." Themis explained. "Deadly warriors...as you shall be. Many discount the Light-Spear. They underestimate it. The Double Blades and even the Light Whips have more popularity, despite having few legitimate masters. But the Spear...I gotta tell you, there is nothing like pissing a Form Two User off with it. You will have the time of your life watching them go beet red from embarrassingly getting poked to death through all their fancy guards. Once you have constructed your spears, we shall move to the second part of your lesson. Then...you shall face each other. Not to kill. To know. To understand. Then you both shall face a true test, no matter the outcome of your match with the knowledge you have gained."

This would serve two purposes to the Bright Lord. It would put them each out of their comfort zone with an unfamiliar weapon against an unknown opponent, and it would allow Themis to assess them more properly. Plus, they had to learn to respect the others capability. Alyosha had been surprisingly able to learn fast despite his inexperienced nature and Lucien had a cold focus. Both of these were things Themis favored in warrior students.

 

[Kai and Gerda]

Spoiler: OOC

It seems Alyosha's Force bond with his insane brother Val has been activated by his first real attempt at using the Force. This weird little quirk is outlined in more detail on his bio page, but long story short: you are no longer interacting with the "real" Alyosha Drutin, at least not as long as the color of his dialogue is brighter than usual. He'll still retain whatever he learns, and the effect is only temporary.

Regardless of any ulterior motive, Lucien Dooku was courteous enough to ask if he was all right. "I'm fine," Alyosha mumbled, not very convincingly.

Aside from his physical appearance, everything about him had undergone a subtle but noticeable shift. The texture and tone of his voice was softer and slightly higher-pitched, making him sound almost childlike. His shoulders were hunched as if he were trying to make himself appear smaller, and the overall way he carried himself had become less rigid. Even his presence in the Force had been altered, the color and texture of it somehow different. Softer and gentler, yet more violent and obtrusive.

His reaction to Darth Themis ' reassurance and vague praise was to beam at her like a small boy at his mother's approval. A similar naive excitement came over him as she described how they would build their own spears with the Lorrdian gems. "Neat," he said, looking over the kit she handed him.

The enthusiasm he felt was only briefly dampened as she mentioned they would have to fight each other. He looked up from the kit, his blue eyes studying her uncertainly, then a rush of relief flooded him as she explained they would not be required to kill each other. "Good," he muttered. "I don't want to kill anyone if I don't have to."

Having said that, he promptly tore into the kit as if it were a Lego set on Life Day morning, carefully assembling the spear.

 

[Lucien Dooku]

Lucien gave Alyosha a nod after his fellow apprentice responded with an all clear. He definitely wasn't convinced after looking at the man, but nonetheless he gave him the benefit of the doubt. He knew all too well the struggle that came with the path of a force user, and the current training regimen the pair were undergoing was far from the normality that was the standard Jedi training of old. Returning back to a brief period of meditation, Lucien once more concentrated on the gem within his hand. The wound had mostly been healed following his first session of concentration upon the gem, but he considered himself a diligent student when it involved training on subjects he was interested in.

His eyes closed shut as he rolled the gem into the semi-scabbed palm, the force flowing through his body once more coalescing into the now glowing gemstone. His thoughts shifted between the dull pain in his palm and the words of his newfound master, who had now proceeded to explain the next step in their training. He felt the scab on his palm tearing off his skin as fresh skin covered the raw flesh that momentarily exposed itself in the process. It took no more than a few moments for the process to be complete, and shifting the gem into his opposite palm would allow him to view the now fully-healed palm once he reopened his eyelids.

A grin followed, and he took the moment during the exposition to wipe the dried blood off the Lorrdian gem with the corner of his sleeve. Luc's attention fully returned to the pair in his presence, and he grinned after hearing Alyosha say "Neat." in response to hearing about their next task. He agreed that it was neat as well, though his own sense of amusement was dampened by the thoughts shifting in his mind as he carefully considered every word coming from Themis's lips. With the kit to a disassembled cortosis stave sitting infront of him, Luc sat there for a moment and observed Alyosha, who had taken the initiative to begin putting together the weapon first.

Unlike his fellow apprentice -- or as he assumed -- Luc had clearly gone through a similar process to this before. The charcoal-black hilt that remained holster beneath on his shoulders made that evident. With that in mind, the assembly of a lightsaber or any of its equivalents was admittedly never his favorite task, and he'd long come to terms with the fact that he lacked the savviness that some Jedi possessed when it came to the creation of their weapon. His own lightsaber had been in his possession for going on nearly half a decade, and in time that he'd only broken it down enough to ensure proper maintenance as wear and tear accumulated over years of diligent use.

He opened the kit up eventually, his eyes trailing over to Alyosha's handiwork every-so-often, and slowly he began the process of piecing together the weapon.

Darth Themis Alyosha Drutin