The Obsidian Citadel

[Percy Imura]

Percy was simply watching. An Imura, she had a very strong connection to the Force. However, even after training with the Sith she was unused to the Force in the more mental and emotional areas. Telekinesis and other physical abilities were okay with her, but even the common Force Sense wasn't exactly up her ally. As she listened though, she concentrated, hoping she would feel who she was meant to work with...

... she suddenly felt something, allowing her eyes to briefly widen. Who was it through?

 

[Marek Starchaser]

Right, partner. Still needed to work on that. Looking at [member="Raziel"] and [member="Percy Imura"], because the girl seemed a bit easier to deal with than the men in the group, she bit her lip. Closing her eyes as the Master-man spoke, she tried to reach into the Force, what was she supposed to feel? That connection? That thrill when she knew she was not getting caught for lifting a wallet? Was that the Force or just adrenaline?

She could feel, or she just knew, there were others here. What did that all mean? She wasn't sure, but for now it was fine. All she needed was the Force, and to feel that... excitement, she assumed... And make it do what, exactly? There were a few new faces that entered since Raziel started speaking.

Including [member="Phade"] and that Starchaser man.

 

[Raziel]

[member="Phade"]
[member="Seto Du Couteau"]
[member="Vi'kas Mirtis"]
@Molly Rix
[member="Percy Imura"]

Raziel raised one eyebrow and let out a long breath. "This isn't a high school prom and if cassandra won't dance with you, you're not going to be turned into a social media meme. Split into pairs. Now."

 

[Percy Imura]

Percy bit her lip, almost growled even. She needed more time! She glanced around the room, trying not to let nervousness break her concentration. She started seeing more clearly now. The first person who spoke after her, [member="Molly Rieux"], was she it? Percy tightened her fists, as frustrated as she found herself, she should keep her cool. The Imura sighed and walked over to her. Each step, she realized, that feeling grew stronger.

A nervous smile crept over her when they were face to face, "I'm not the best at Force Sense, apologies in advance if I didn't get something right... though I think I didn't."

 

[Raziel]

[member="Seto Du Couteau"]

Raziel turned to Seto at his question. "If, by the end if the day, you are able to affect your Force presence at all, I'll consider today a good first step. If anyone here managed to completely mask their presence from searching in under an hour of tutelage, they'd probably be a Jedi Master by the end of the day by extrapolation."

 

[Seto Du Couteau]

"What's a High school?" Seto muttered the question as he gave a small nod in response. He moved to face the other members and moved towards the other one wearing the Obsidian Armor. Seto gave him a short nod as he spoke, "Shall we?" It sounded more so as a suggestion, Seto though raised a single eyebrow as he waited for a brief moment for [Member="Vi'kas Mirtis"] .

If it was anything like the balance board, Seto mused that he was going to be here for a very long time. His instructor's comment did anything but place any confidence. Stretching his arms behind his head Seto then quickly clasped his hands together in front of him. Collecting himself he focused on himself, his breath, each heartbeat and even each subtle movement of his muscles.

That's not right

A thought pierced into his mindset, his approach felt off, if not wrong. Seto than realized he needed to hide not his physical presences but the constant aura emitting from him, his Force signature Seto dubbed. Seto, focusing on hiding his force presence.

[Member="Raziel"]

 

[Raziel]

Whilst they were pairing up and starting the initial sense exercise, Raziel took a moment to walk around the room. A made a beeline for the newcomer*.

He waited patiently for a lapse in his concentration before interrupting. The Spymaster was remarkably sensitive to the Force, even without concentrating, he felt the presence of Seto wavering. The inpatient Noble was never one to waste time, and Raziel offered him an approving nod.

Sensing a break, Raziel offered a hand and said: "Good morning, I'm Raziel. You've missed the introductions and I don't believe we've met before?"

*[member="Phade"]

 

[H3xle]

Phade closed his eyes a moment before opening them again and turning towards Raziel. He took the offered hand and shook it firmly.

"I'm Phade. I don't think we have met before either...and ironically enough I was a bit late and tried to slip in unnoticed." Phade said, the grin on his face wasn't sheepish, but it wasn't derogatory either. He had gotten caught and was showing good humor at such a prospect. He also vowed to himself to work hard until he could do so without being caught. "I'm fairly new here."

[member="Raziel"]

 

[Marek Starchaser]

If High School was what she thought it was, well, she didn't want to go through that again. Nope. She focused herself, reaching out with the Force, seeing what was happening, seeing what she could feel, who she could feel. She opened her eyes a moment later to see [member="Percy Imura"] standing before her. She gave her best smile, trying to not be a Thot to the girl. “I wouldn't be able to tell if it was wrong.” The girl smiled and shook her head.

“I'm new to this Force thing, but... I dunno, getting pulled off Nar Shaddaa for something bigger is why I'm here. We'll make sure we each get it right, deal?” And was she hearing [member="Raziel"] right? A Jedi Master by the end of the day... But weren't the Jedi the bad guys? They stole children for Krath's sake. And while she was trying to concentrate on Percy, that new guy walked in. [member="Phade"] was it? Right, focusing...

You can trollop around later, Molly.

 

[Lord Ajihad]

Vi'kas offered a brief nod to [member="Seto Du Couteau"] a brief nod, and walked over to the man. He had plenty of experience of sensing others, given that he was a practitioner of the Vaapad combat style. Closing his eyes, he reached out to his partner's presence. Annoyinglyly, the fellow apprentice was attempting to his his presence from Vi'kas. He sighed, irritated by the counterproductive action. Never less, he searched and found the man's presence. He stood there, awaiting further instructions from [member="Raziel"] .

 

[Raziel]

[member="Phade"]
[member="Percy Imura"]
[member="Lord Ajihad"]
[member="Molly Rieux"]

OOC Note/ This is a bugger to try and think of a narrative to teach, bear with me!


"Excellent to meet you Phade, grab a partner or I can try and observe your practise if we've reached an odd number*," Raziel said with a friendly smile.

Raziel took his position back up at the head of the room. His eyes narrowed momentarily as he allowed himself to stretch out with his senses. The Force swirled with small eddies from all the novices establishing their control of the Force. Much of this would come with time, precision came with months of practise. As each student moved onto more challenging tasks, what they had achieved before would become more mundane, and thus easier to accomplish with greater precision, when under stress, or whilst masking one's presence....

"There are many descriptions of concealing your presence from the senses of others: Quey'tek meditation, Art of the Small, Concealment. All of the descriptions are relatively nebulous and that is because of one simple fact: everyone has an individual perception of the Force. In the same way as different species experience colour in very different ways, so too do people. Now, if everyone is able to sense their partner, we'll start taking it in turns.

"You need to relax your mind. Some people find it best to focus on forcing in their presence and almost repelling the Force. Others feel like they are tightening down their core. Some almost feel as if they are allowing their mind to drift on the wind, and allow the Force to flow through them unperturbed. Many who describe the process feel a sudden disconnect from the experience. Nothing real, it's akin to colour suddenly fading. You feel momentarily disconnected from your senses through the Force as you start to remove yourself from it.

"I know I'm being vague, and I can only apologise for that. It is why you're in pairs. Guide each other through the process and find out what the experience is like to conceal your presence."



*Feel free to use an NPC

 

[H3xle]

Phade slid up to a young lady who seemed to have been neglected by the other participants.

"Hello there." He said with a pleasant smile. "I guess that leaves us together. Would you like to try to sense me first?"

With her nod, Phade would half close his eyes and try to focus on the instructions Raziel had said. In his mind he compartmentalized this as Quey'tek Meditation, the exotic feel of the phrase felt right to what he thought of what they were doing. He let himself go, his mental presence falling into the force as the feel of it rose up around him. Without pushing, he focused on the ebb and flow of the force around him and tried to imagine himself within that flow, spreading out into it and becoming part of it. He tried without forcing to suppress his presence in the background of the force around them all.

[member="Raziel"] [member="Lord Ajihad"] [member="Molly Rieux"] [member="Seto Du Couteau"] [member="Percy Imura"]

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

A whale spy? Perish the thought. The mere image of a Herglic creeping in the shadows collapsed all sense of rationality. Indeed, Orcus came to his trading partners not in search of concealment, but of revelations. Darkwater Security was not confined to one nation and neither for that matter was Orcus. He'd filed for citizenship ages ago and paid taxes regularly.

He was here for two matters: to learn and to offer a business proposition.

The cetacean, clad in an XXXL navy-blue business suit, strode into one of the citadel's many chambers in search of his elusive acquaintance, [member=Raziel].

 

[Raziel]

[member="Hion the Herglic"]

Despite his travels, Raziel had never talked to a Herglic before. Still, the Spymaster always did his research, and had been glad to see how well integrated they were with the rest of the galactic community. Nothing was more tedious than learning a breadth of customs and different interpretations of body language. Even in the broad spectrum of sizes that the sapients of the Galaxy came in, the Herglics were enormous in stature.

What he hadn't expected was the suit.

The Obsidian Order took in refugees and interested students from across the Galaxy. However, most turned up in simple clothes. He idly wondered how many X's were in the label at the back of the Herglic's....neck? He doubted it was three.

Raziel cross the hall, the mix of alabaster and obsidian flagstones in stark contrast in the well kept citadel. "I believe you're looking for me?" he asked with a warm smile.

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

"Indeed."

Orcus' loud bass boomed in these lofty, chiseled halls. He looked the human up and down, noting the cleverness in those green eyes.

"[member="Raziel"], I presume?"

He extended a flipper. "I have a proposition for you."

 

[Raziel]

[member="Hion the Herglic"]

Raziel extended his hand, hoping dearly he would get it back. That explained the suit, he supposed.

"I'd be glad to hear it," he replied. "The Citadel is a touch oversized for its current occupants. There are plenty of rooms for a discussion, so I suppose it just depends: do you want a room with a view?"

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

"Of course, nothing beats a scenic vista. Soothing for the spirit, taxing on the pocketbook. Hauum."

He grinned in turn, lips splitting over rows of gleaming, conical teeth in a smile so wide it seemed his face might come apart. The flipper released [member="Raziel"]'s hand.

"But, pardon my forwardness, I often find that in the great capitals stones are porous, no matter where you are. The matters I have to discuss are not sensitive in any case. Twofold. First, I have found myself sorely vexed by rats in the shadows. Who better to ask then the master of the hidden corners? Second, your companies utilize droids as security, a legacy of the CIS. As owner of Darkwater Security, I could provide your corporate executives with bodyguards not so easily hacked."

 

[Raziel]

[member="Hion the Herglic"]

"Ah the dark corners, always the dark corners. How big is the rat?

"As for guards, that's an interesting point. It takes an intelligence agency around seven man years to find each vulnerability in the droids, which we generally prevent with layered security and then patch.

"Last week someone stole one of my most sensitive files for fifty thousand pounds. Fifty thousand, to pay off his house and move. So, what's makes your men so resistant to compromise?" he kept his tone formal, but polite, without hint of accusation.