The New Librarian

[Darth Empyrean]

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The Telos Holocron;

That which has held the secrets of the entire order of The Sith Order, be it at its strongest, to its weakest. Owned by some of the strongest, most prolific users of The Force, it could very well be the one saving grace of The Sith Order after Darth Gravid’s destructive betrayal of the order nearly five hundred years before Darth Sidious; and quite possibly the single entity that allowed for the epic status of Sidious himself, in addition to his personal holocron. That which all of his knowledge, leverage, opinions, and history were etched into through the course of his life, making it the strongest artifact in the galaxy for those that consider ‘Knowledge’ as power.

Now, it lay in the hands of one Darth Maliphant, gifted to him by the likes of [member="Darth Adekos"] during a raid on the ex-Sith Emperor’s lucrehulk deep in the unknown regions, the unknown slumber interrupted by the power hungry nature of a more youthful sith. With the prolific nature of the holocron now in his possession, Maliphant began to move through his chambers for the private study of its endless archives.

With the only other witness to his goal now killed, all traces of the holocron would stop at Adekos, if they were tracked, and now it would help lead to the next evolution of a soon to be powerful Sith Lord, its every spell and incantation open for his exclusive purveying. Being the new, enigmatic owner of the holocron could very well lead him down the path of its last three true owners; each becoming a Sith Emperor in their own right.

Only time would tell if Maliphant would do the same.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

It was cold to the touch, odd and painful to hold, but it fit firmly in Maliphant’s hand like it had always meant to be there. The crystalline structure reflected him, if only slightly, but it drew the relatively fledging Sith into it’s gaze off beauty alone. Setting the box it came in aside, Maliphant moved through the dim light of his private study; the one place that nobody in Harper’s Respite was allowed besides him. Not [member="Thesh"], nor [member="Nilia Saavilin"]; his own private domain deep within the confines of the facility. Within, no electronics existed, only accessible through melding through a very specific wall within his home; All of this done in an effort to hide its traces.

The room held a few shelves, various artifacts and tomes having their place amongst his private collection. In age, they were peerless, many thousands of years old collected from Cartels and collections across the galaxy; making his own little museum, an effigy to the Sith of Old. A smile grew on his face as Maliphant moved to the stand he had erected for The Telos Holocron, a black marble structure that barely reflected light, only drawing it in and holding it in a sweet embrace.

As it was set, Maliphant took a few careful steps away before kneeling down. Centering himself, the Sith began drawing in what power he could through his training armor, all in the hopes of forcing the Holocron to react in response. It took a few moments as it seemed to learn who he was, take it in, and then release as the tension in the air grew far colder and thick as the holocron began to glow a deep red. This went on for another few second before it decided to change; quickly brightening and shooting a small light towards the ceiling, leaving the entire room basking in a rose like hue.

Maliphant focused on it, breathing slow as he watched the holocron adjust to its new surrounding, as if by the guiding hand of a blind man washing through the room before it fell quiet and still; now bristling with the dark side potential it had pulled away from Maliphant himself. It’d been some time since it was last activated, evidence by how much metaphysical fuel it took from its surroundings, but it didn’t hinder it’s newest keeper.

As it finally settled, a single sudden crack of energy broke through the air like a small string of force lighting; raising the hair on Maliphant’s neck. Before him, the form of the first long dead Sith Lord moved to greet him, the youthful form of the legendary Sith known as Darth Sidious; his gaze golden and slightly translucent, pink hue’d despite the robes he wore. The once self declared Sith’ari broke a smile as his voice moved through the air in a wicked chill;

“A new student…”, he said with a vigor unlike anything he held during the waning years of his life.

“Tell me, were you given The Telos Holocron, or did you take it?”

“I was given it by Darth Adekos, Master.”, he responded, gazing up to the figure.

“Good… Then let us begin, Apprentice.”

 

[Darth Empyrean]

It had been only a few weeks so far, but The Telos Holocron had taught Maliphant more than he imagined. Just as Bane had once witnessed the power of the ancient Sith compared to the Brotherhood of Darkness and witnessing how far the Sith had fallen, Maliphant now stood with an awe at what they failed to teach at the Academy’s, not in philosophy but simply aptitude. Now, he could see how far removed from reality, how weak so many of his tutors had once been; at least the false memories of such.

Maliphant’s breath was heavy, however, as the Sith Lord Sidious moved through his preferred cadences for nigh the hundredth time; forcing Maliphant to swing through the traditional lightsaber positions of the Shii-Cho form. It was wide, birthy movements that tore at his muscles for the same movements done over and over, until they were so ingrained in his nervous system that just mere strike of an enemy would inspire autonomous action without thought.

The Sith pupil finished through, striking the last lightsphere with a lightning fast efficiency as sweat beaded down his forehead and soaked into the blindfold he wore. Sidious’s voice broke through his shallow breaths, speaking to him in a casual manner unbefitting of what most Sith would expect in Imperial space, but in no such way could Maliphant speak against.

“Again.”

And again Maliphant would commit; Sidious steepling his fingers in enjoyment as he watched his newest apprentice work through the masterful tutelage he offered. While the history of the Sith was great, Maliphant picked up on the skills offered by Sidious at an almost eidetic rate; sparking at least the fatinest interest in the holocron interpretation of one of the greatest sith lords to ever exist.

“Again.”

And again Maliphant would commit.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

In two fold, Maliphant held himself aloft as the air around him churned with pebbles and stones, things levitated for the sake of concentration as the Sith Lord known as Revan spoke on the teachings and history of The Sith; the addition of breath control keeping the youthful Sith well adjusted, having not taken a single breath for well over a few hours. His focus however, was not on either of these, though they did hold some measure of his concentration; No, instead they were focused on what Revan spoke, his tones masked by the symbol of his being, the mask that had created a symbol for generations of the galaxies well educated to fear.

“- two years after Malak’s defeat was I left with nightmares, visions of a time before myself.”, something Maliphant could relate to.

Between [member="Darth Vesper"] appearing before him to claim him some brother who had lost his way, to the fact Maliphant himself somehow controlled more force potential than he cared to admit. There were visions, flashes of times he never knew, often the harrowing venture of drugs or some other ill gotten maneuver, yet as he stood now he was in peak condition; only pulling him away from the credibility of the thoughts.

“I made my preparations, speaking to the likes of Canderous-”, the Sith Lord continued with his autobiography, many hours of this as he told the entire history of Revan, the entire history of one of the most prolific Sith Lords to ever grace the galaxy.

“It was through Lord Scourge that I first learned the depth of The Emperor, learned of his plan to invade the republic. He spoke in depth of what he knew-”

The objects the surrounded Maliphant took a few moment to speed up and slow down, only to find a constant between the two; as if for a moment his connection with them was weakening, tiring, that he needed to introduce some change to make himself comfortable once again. As they settled, so to did Maliphant, stuck amids the story with as much of his attention dedicated to memorizing the legend before him;

“After her death, I was left broken, tortured for centuries by Vitiate. However, as he attempted to use my for his own ends through a connection in The Force, I mirrored his efforts and did all I could to temper his aggression, slow the Sith’s plans to wage war on The Republic. It was during this great period I discovered everything I knew about him; learning many of his secrets. From the existence of his own holocron, to-”, he continued.

Though a word stuck out to Maliphant, ‘Holocron’, as it would be. Through Revan’s two way connection with the Emperor, he was able to learn even a smidgen of what made Vitiate so feared, so infamous in history to The Sith and The Galaxy as a whole. He who once sought godhood, now immortalized in whispers and legend; and all this before Maliphant now, at least the summary.

Still, just the mention made him understand what must come. He’d hire [member="Koda Fett"] as soon as he was done with this prolonged training session, and begin work on tracking the artifact down. Revan could only tell him so much, but it was Vitiate himself that could really satiate his curiosity.

As Maliphant thought for a moment, his control on the objects faltered, some bumping into each other as he suddenly struggled to stay afloat and maintain his breath control; inciting a quick verbal lashing from his newly appointed teacher,

“Again! Do not lose yourself to your thoughts, always be aware. Once more…”, Revan said with considerable venom before he continued onwards with his tales.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Sidious had worked Maliphant to the bone, broken down his mistakes and rebuilt him over the course of days of grueling, back breaking training. Maliphant stood there now, in front of the holoprojected form of Sidious’s latent conscience, sweat pouring off him in droves as the lightsabers laid limp in his hand, still ignited, only increasing the heat of the training room he had built within his small alcove.

He had demanded the Telos Holocron teach him quickly, teach him as brutally as possible, and so it was the innumerable Sith Lords within agreed. Hours, days of constant labor left him absent from the rest of Harper’s Respite; to the point he had his apprentices and body guard that he was simply on business trips to various parts of Bastion, though they only seemed to ask questions when he returned, more beaten and broken than before. In his current ‘training’ session, he had already spent over eighteen hours working his muscles to memorize the cadences, the maneuvers that his newly appointed Blademaster had spoke about.

Sidious was by in large, one of the top lightsaber combatants in not only Bane’s Sith Order, but of The Sith as a whole; outpacing all but the legendary Vaapad duelist known as Mace Windu, though some believe that even that defeat was heavily controlled and predetermined by Sidious himself, that and Yoda, but few really could compare to the near millenium old Jedi Master. The few Sith that could compare were perhaps the massive figure known as Tulak Horde, his legend surviving for many thousands of years on his lightsaber ability alone, referred to by Kreia as the greatest lightsaber duelist of his time; something Revan had referenced in their training session only a few days before.

“Are you tired, my apprentice?”, Sidious spoke out in his oddly youthful representation.

“No, my master.”, Maliphant attempted to lie through harsh and shallow breaths as his muscles fought their very instinct to collapse.

Sidious simply laughed, something equally as harsh as the pain Maliphant felt. It was short lived however as he spoke up once more, his voice able to send chills up a regular man’s spine.

“Then let us begin again…”

“Yes, my master.”, Maliphant responded, only to move back into the cadences.

He was a quick learn at the very least, as the floating orbs around the room were hit in quick succession; although slower than he had when he started. The rate of his failures were quickly lowering, but Sidious and the other’s within the Holocron continued to push; as one cadence or move was mastered quickly moving onto the next before bringing in one of Maliphant’s dueling droids to test such maneuvers on a mobile target. Rinse and repeat.

It was a surprisingly quick process, as the combined efforts of an entire Order worked to craft the ultimate Sith in skill alone; every ounce of their fortitude being poured into the owner of the Telos Holocron, as it had for nearly seven thousand years, progressively making every concurrent stronger than the Sith until the fall of The Emperor. Maliphant was simply the next link in the chain, before he too inevitably handed the holocron off to either his apprentice, or those who would seek to defeat him.

In time.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Maliphant moved through the usual motions he was put through, wide strikes in a seemingly disconnected staccato of movements, each a dedicated Shii-Cho strike working into the next, met and match by the droid in front of him as Revan watched the two, concealed by the iconic nature of his mask. With every level of the droid acting as a complicated mirror of all the master’s who had put the movesets into it, Maliphant was hard pressed to get an advantage, though whether he knew it or not he was pushing the Droid into the upper echelons of its programming. Every ounce of strength he held drove him farther, harder into the darkness of his maneuvers, drawing on him, pulling him towards the joy of combat and the nature of his emotions; something he was taking care to control only when it meant well to do so.

“Remember your footing.”, the Reborn Revan spoke through the holocron’s machinations.

The droid readjusted, pushing itself to the next level as it struck for the waist only to be parried, though the joy of Shii-Cho allowed the training duelist to simply reiterate the same strike with more force; a seemingly unconventional move but one that surprised more experience duelists. Maliphant saw this, blocking it once more before bringing his blade up for a duel ending strike to the Droid’s shoulder, but missed the moment the droid spun back around and struck from the other angle at an almost blinding rate. The lightsaber struck Maliphant with full force, throwing him to the side as he cried out in pain, the result of the training saber’s harsh settings to maim instead of kill; forcing a massive bruise to begin to form on his waist.

Today’s training session had lasted almost thirteen hours, and it was not the first bruise to have formed; though it did feel the most defeating. The Sith groaned as he moved to stand, the voice of Revan quickly moving to fill his ears;

“Mind how aggressive you become in a fight. The greatest duelists of The Sith found strength in overwhelming, but Shii-Cho is not for that, only to strike in a seemingly random array. Well adjusted for many opponents even, but not how you are intending to fight with it.”

“Again.”, Revan finished with.

Maliphant simply nodded, his exhaustion moving far past the level of being able to respond. Instead, he moved back to engage the training droid, never bringing the force into his control of the blade nor his movements; knowing full and well that the day that it would be required to do such would be a day he fought a true enemy. Holding himself back to just the physical maintained the droid’s ability to keep up, and Maliphant’s own ability to be confident in his sword abilities in the case of force neutralizing areas, most commonly used by the Mandalorians.

Still, somewhere deep inside him, he knew that the eventual hope was to outdo those he had fought before; especially one [member="Alexandra Feanor"], though it was not so much a defeat facing her so much as a dissapointment. He pictured her over the droid, facing lightsaber to lightsaber before Maliphant let out a grueling scream and slapped the Misini’s lightsaber far enough from its defensive form to bring back in an almost immediate turn around of his strike; forcing the droid to admit the fight had ended in his victory.

Whether Maliphant knew it or not, he was quickly moving to form a complete mastery over the Shii-Cho style, one that the Blademaster’s Revan and Sidious could see as the group trained together. Maliphant picked up on the styles faster than many before him, but there was already a heavy foundation in his lightsaber forms from taking in much of the memories of the Sith Lord known as [member="Mythos"] through his own bone based holocron; an artifact the Sith used to full degree before attaining The Telos Holocron.

In due time, Maliphant would very likely move on from the Shii-Cho form with all its instances memorized to muscle memory, but today he would be sent through the ringer a few more times before settling down for another history lesson.

Revan’s voice picked up once more, reverberating off not only his mask, but the room;

“Again.”