Svies tave Ipros

[EmKay]

DAGOBAH

The time with the Jensaarai had so far proven to be worth Tachon's time. He had learnt a few tidbits so far, but he was still unlearned in most things. He had reached out to someone from the Order who was available and capable to teach. From that message, a Knight named Kaia Triz had emerged. She was a fellow Zabrak, and a more 'progressive' member of the Jensaarai. She would not explain further what that was supposed to mean, but she gave Tachon an invitation to meet her on Dagobah. He took it, and now the Night Avril was gliding through fog and branches. Each time wood screeched against metal, the Iridonian winced. Proximity scans showed that he was near enough surface area to activate repulsors, so he threw those on. The Firespray halted and came to a hover over one of the planet's many lakes. The fog blew away from the force of the repulsor lifts. Tachon could see around him, and in the distance spotted a twinkle of light through the thinning fog. He brought his ship to a wider patch of ground and gingerly set the vessel on the squishy ground. He kept the engines warm and his hands hovered over the controls while the hip settled into the mud. It didn't sink.

Zur-Ksi stepped out of the ship and was vaguely unnerved at how the ground felt spongy. He pulled his jacket up to his neck to keep the cool, moist air off his skin, and made his way toward the white light ahead. As he neared it, it vanished and another came to exist further ahead. Tachon frowned, but carried on following the light. The cycle repeated. Every time he neared a light, it vanished and another appeared. Finally, he was able to get into the glow of the light and as that last one faded, he was faced with a robed, masked woman with two short lightsabers adorning her belt.

"Labintias," she spoke in Sith. Her voice was metallic and was obviously coming through a helmet speaker, "You are Tachon, then?" she probed.
"I am," the Iridonian replied, "And you're Kaia."

She nodded, removed her helmet, and shrugged off her cloak to reveal her shined, raw metal-look armour. She hung them both up on a nearby tree branch, and then turned to face Tachon. Her golden eyes pierced through the mist and drew his attention. She held his gaze for a moment, then smirked and gestured broadly around them.

"Tell me, Iridonian, what do you know of Dagobah?" she asked him.

The question took Tachon off-guard. He racked his brain, and nothing came to mind. Kaia watched him with a rather amused expression. She waved her gloved hand to get his attention, and when she had it she spoke.

"I would have been surprised if you thought this planet was anything more than a slimy mud hole," she beckoned him, "Walk with me, I will explain what I know, and we can begin your lesson for today."

 

[EmKay]

"So you know, I hope, about the Old Jedi Order?" she looked to him, and when he nodded she continued, "Good. There were several great masters in that time. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, Kit Fisto," she looked above them when some animal screeched, "And Yoda." they stopped at a large tree, with an odd base that looked like it had been bubble-like but collapsed. There were bits of metal and fabric around, but apart from those remnants there was nothing to indicate this place was of any importance. It looked like a weird camp site.

"Sit," she said, and pushed his shoulder to eliminate hesitation, "Now, close your eyes."
"Is this rea-"
"Close, your eyes." she repeated.

He sighed and did so, and his other senses started to compensate. He knew she was standing just behind him, and when the time of silence reached the border of being uncomfortable, she spoke again.

"This is, if you believe the New Jedi Order, the resting place of Yoda. For me, it just feels like someplace the Force converges and blooms," she took a deep breath, "See what you can feel, here where the Force is strong." she instructed.

Tachon struggled with the notion. What little he had accomplished with the Force was mostly accidental, and even going so far as to consciously feel it was difficult. She crouched down beside him and touched two fingers to one of his shoulders. She lowered the joint, making him realise he was tense, then repeated that with his other shoulder. She stood then, her footsteps grew distant, then they stopped altogether. Tachon momentarily strayed his thought to wonder where she went. He felt a mental nudge back in the right direction, and he took a deep breath to calm himself, now aware of keeping himself somewhat at peace. As he slowed himself down and felt more than he thought, he felt the world around him swim and shimmer, and then he felt something else. It was like he was floating in nothing. He was weightless, and he slowly allowed the darkness of his own eyelids to fall away. Then he was left staring at a monochromatic version of reality. It was dream-like, and as the last images fell into obscurity, he felt as though the world as he knew it was changing around him. Colour emerged.

The world around him was spiraling in light and dark. The Force converged here, bright beams and clouds of light dancing with damp, dark clusters and tendrils. Light lingered along the area nearest him longer than anywhere else, and the dark trailed off in a different direction. In between, a mist clung to his perceptions and blotted out greater knowing. His ability was rough and unrefined, but he had taken the first step toward knowing the universe in another way. As he took a deep sigh and relaxed into what he could see, he felt a gentle touch within his mind and then a voice.

"You have taken your first steps. Good. Explore this for awhile longer, and then I shall show you something else." Kaia's voice echoed gently.

 

[EmKay]

Spoiler

MASTERY RANK-UP:
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ROOT FORCE ATTRIBUTES RANK-UP
SENSE LEVEL
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FORCE POWER RANK-UPS

• SENSE DANGER
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• SENSE FORCE
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• SENSE FORCE DISTURBANCE
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"Alright, get up," Kaia called out verbally, "You have enough sense to know what you are feeling, now you need to learn something with a more practical use." she slid out of a tree she had been perched in.

Tachon's vision of the Force flickered and dimmed, but part of it still remained behind his eyes. It was as though he were given new insight. He could feel her, he could feel the swamp, he could feel everything in his immediate area. It left him shaking and with his eyes darting around at every pulse of life. There was so much noise, it was everywhere. She approached him and rested a hand on his shoulder. She shushed him gently, squeezing and imparting a sense of calm through the Force. Zur-Ksi's mind stopped reeling, and the new foreground senses receded to the back of his mind. He could still feel it, but it was not taking over his perceptions. He took a deep, calming breath, and she flashed him a smile and a nod.

"That happens sometimes, do not worry," she started walking and he followed, "The first time you become aware of what exists beyond what your eyes can see..." she trailed off and shook her head, "I would love to feel that again." she sounded wistful, then gestured to a clearing of solid ground. They headed in that direction, and she positioned him in the centre, then took a place off to the side, sitting on a tree stump.

"So what now?" he asked her.
"I read the report on Taloraan before I came here," she answered, then went on to explain, "Your natural ability is impressive, but you lack basic understanding. That Sith," her voice lingered on the word, "Used nothing more than Telekineis. To block it, you must know it. Now I shall help you begin to understand." she crossed one of her legs over the other, and her eyes went from Tachon to a pile of pebbles. They slowly lifted from the ground and glided to Zur-Ksi. He watched them, and the niggling new senses in the back of his mind latched onto the different facets of how the Force boiled around them and flowed by Kaia's will. She did not even appear to be putting very much concentration into the matter.

"Feel how they are being controlled, and the rest will come to you naturally." she said, watching him again. He gave her a critical glance. One of those 'easier said than done' looks. A pebble smacked him on the head, and he sighed and closed his eyes again.

First the general senses came, then he frowned and zeroed his attention onto the pebbles floating around him. He felt the currents through the mist. Clarity came to him and he could almost pluck the tendrils of control that Kaia was using to manipulate the little pieces of stone. He opened his eyes and watched them, then he lifted up his hand to one of the pebbles. The Force came to his call, stretching out and wrapping around the stone. She relinquished her grip on that rock, and let him take the reins. The stone wobbled in the air and threatened to fall.

"Control, you must call the Force to your command and control the rock. Control the Force." she guided him, pushing his attention in the directions it needed to go.

Tachon recalled how he had imposed his willpower on Stormchaser back at Taloraan. How he had made the Fleft-wauf heel to his whims. He pressed that same will onto the Force. He called it to his command. The rock stopped wobbling, and then it shot off through a tree and into the distance. Kaia's head turned to watch, and Tachon stared at the hole in the tree. She looked to him, he to her, and he shrugged it off.

"Oops."

 

[EmKay]

Spoiler

CORE RANK-UP
CONTROL LEVEL
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NEW FORCE POWER

• TELEKINESIS
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"'Oops' is an understatement, Zur-Ksi," Kaia snipped, "You cannot simply yank the Force around like some beast. You require skill. Tact." she chided him, punctuating with a rock smacking against his temple. She sighed and walked away. Tachon could feel... something, but he didn't know how to pin it down. He looked to the ground and sat down. The Iridonian in him wanted to feel outraged. How dare she accuse him of any sort of incompetence? For the majority, though, he was ashamed. Not for failing her, but for not living up to what he knew he could do. He could feel it when he reached out to the Force. That feeling, those senses... they came more naturally to him. On that thought, he closed his eyes and looked into his past. His whole life before piracy, bounty hunting, and the Alliance was spent honing his skills of sense. He was a brutal fighter, but in his whole time as part of Section Ksi, he was the best at reading others, at feeling his way around. He was the expert of sensing, while the others were adept at other things. Telekinesis, lightning, and speed among others.

That is when it dawned on him. He was not just Zur-Ksi at this point. In that final trial, he had taken claim over all of their abilities. Those specialisations, Omega, Sigma, Phi, they were in him somewhere. Locked away. He was something more than what he had allowed himself to believe for all this time. He kept his eyes closed and took a deep breath. He reached into himself and focused his new grasp of the Force inward instead of outward.

The Force within him was tumultuous. It was volatile. It was a writhing wild mass of chaos. In his mind's eye, in his interpretation of these unknowable abstracts, he was at the edge of a vortex. One step, and he would plummet. The roaring waters called to him, and the black well sang a siren's song. He leaned forward, and fell. He was swallowed by the black, and the waters made a swallowing motion and stilled. The currents dragged him down, and it felt as though a multitude of hands were grabbing and pulling on him. He struggled against them, but the more he fought the harder they pulled. All light was gone, and finally he went still. He continued to sink for what felt like an eternity, until he felt a sudden drop and stopped. He blinked, trying to see, and slowly the glowing runes he saw the last day he spent on Arbega revealed themselves. Overhead the water reflected and shimmered, then they stirred, rumbled, and in large splashes came down on the smooth floor like waterspouts. They twisted and writhed, and then receded above. In their place, the other nine Section members were there, illuminated softly from behind by their respective namesake symbols. Tachon stood, and looked from one to the other, his senses touching out like they never had before.

Gamma, a Trandoshan who had a knack for moving fast and hard. His body and mind seemed to shake like a wound-up spring. Delta, a human girl, whose heart was heavy with the loss of her sister. Her mind was screaming with the pains of those around her. Theta, a Wookiee who felt enraged that he knew so much, but none could understand him. Reaching out to him felt dangerously close to giving him your mind. Iota, a Rodian who was looking at Tachon before the Iridonian's eyes even fell upon him. He seemed to know what was coming before it even ever happened. It was unnerving. Lambda, a Chiss whose mind worked like a machine. When Tachon sensed over her, there were riddles of code and confusion. Sigma, whose image faded, fizzled, and was replaced by the image he saw on Bestine. The human male with a fire in his eye and a spark in his hand. Tachon knew already, this was a master of Force Lightning. Next was Phi, who gave Tachon a chill. The Devaronian gave a grin and had eyes of hunger. Psi, who Tachon couldn't feel at all. Her Zabrak face was neutral, and calm. Finally, Omega, whose presence was like thunder. He was the human who tripped everyone up with power alone.

Sigma stepped forward first, reached out his hand, and dissolved into sparks. Those sparks coursed through Tachon and settled painlessly. The Iridonian's eyes swiveled around, and landed on Omega. Their eyes locked together, and Omega stepped forward. The others watched. Omega raised his hand, and a wave of energy washed over Tachon. He braced himself to balance aginst a push like he had experienced on Taloraan, but instead he froze in place. Omega walked up casually to the Iridonian, and stood face-to-face with him.

"You trifle with powers that you know nothing about. You come here to control me, but you can't even control the simplest things." Omega spoke, low and even, then made a gesture and Tachon fell to a knee. The Iridonian gritted his teeth and his eyes rose up to the offending spirit. His whole body hummed within. His muscles strained against the invisible casing locked around him. The waters above rippled and shook, and Omega looked up to those. He smirked, and then twisted his hand. Tachon's head bowed, preventing him from seeing anything. Tachon's fingers clenched and loosened slightly, as Tachon let go of trying to struggle, and instead honed himself to pull the Force to him. He guided its flow this time, rather than forcing it. The waters slowly lowered down, and Tachon was brought to rest on his hands and knees, then his elbows. The waters continued to trickle down, and then Tachon exhaled and the flow reached down to him. It swirled and ebbed. It washed away Omega's influence, and Tachon stood. The water fell from above and washed over them all. It flowed outward, surrounding them all, and without the depths towering over them, light shined again. They were on an island surrounded by a sea, and Tachon stepped forward. Omega threw power at Ksi again. To halt him, to push him, but Tachon reached out, took that power, and threw it back. Omega froze in place and fell over, and then Tachon had him by the throat.

"You're mine." the Iridonian claimed, then squeezed down. In this moment of struggle, facets of Omega trickled into Tachon. The latter could feel it, and he breathed in deeply. His understanding grew, and then with a pulse of energy the former's neck snapped. The lifeless husk dissolved into shimmering energy. It snapped between pushing air away, drawing air near, going still, and igniting into flame. The churning power ran up Tachon's arm and settled into his chest. The Iridonian felt a chill run over him, and then the others all faded away. He was left alone, and he looked up to the light. His vision faded.

He felt cold.