The Shield of Heaven Shall Tremble [Phylis Alince]

[Théodred Heavenshield]

In Orbit .. Voss​

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[member="Phylis Alince"]​

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Master Alince had returned to Voss from her travels between worlds. The reason for this is unknown to Théo but when he had heard of her return it prompted him to contact her and request further training in Alkahest. He had done so privately knowing that this 'skill' in the force is frowned upon by most of the Lightside Orders and Jedi. But he did not think it dangerous or anything strange, he still held the innocence of a child in nature and only wanted to learn more of this ability so he could be strong as he could be in order to serve as a Jedi. Was this ability unnatural? He did not believe so, the Force regulates itself and if It did not approve of this use .. the Force would tell you so.

He was informed to meet her at the star port in Voss-Ka and from there Master Alince would dictate their destination for the training. He was early, standing alone within the docking bay awaiting her arrival, with a belly full of nerves. The last time he had seen Master Alince, he had attended a demonstration with his mother and Nina, the experience captivated him. He remembered the sensation he received from holding the Dawnbringer and what had happened to the small rodent. Nibbles? He wondered what had become of that creature.

Through the funnel of the docking bay a strong wind buffeted his robes and long hair and the sound of roaring engines in the distance but approaching could be heard. He turned toward the entrance, his eyes eager to see the ship and he trembled with excitement.

Spoiler

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]

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[Phylis Alince]

[member="Théodred Heavenshield"]

“Hmm, yes, now we need to adjust the transmutation matrix…” Phylis muttered to herself. She adjusted a careful set of instruments which held a small piece of fabric in place.

A beeping startled her, but not enough to jog anything loose. Six-Nine rolled up, beeping impatiently.
“Appointment? What appointment?” Phylis asked, puzzled. More beeps. “Theodred?” Memory started to return, having been pushed aside by her work.
“Oh…Coci’s boy. Yes, she…called me?” The droid beeped patiently. “Oh? When’s that happening? Now? Hmmph, fine, fine, stay with the ship!”

Calling her outer robe to her with the Force she hurried from the ship. Waiting there, more punctual than her, was the young man.
“Ah, Theodred! Or do you prefer Theo? Hmm, apologies for the delay. Come aboard, come aboard! It’s good to see you again!”

 

[Théodred Heavenshield]

He covered his ears as the ship entered the docking bay, the engines seemed a lot louder as the reverse engines engaged before the undercarriage landed. In quick time the board ramp lowered and Master Alince appeared. She did not come out as such, but beckoned him aboard and Theo obeyed immediately not having time to consider his nerves.

"Greetings Master Alince", he said in a bow when finally facing her. "Theo is fine and thank you for coming". He cared little about her lateness, in fact she had been right on time, "It is good to see you as well". He gave a genuine smile, although this master is a little intimidating.

He could not wait to learn more, but at the same time, it was scary. The last time he had only witnessed Alkahest and now he was here to learn the application of it. Or at least in part, there was a lot to learn and one has got to start somewhere.

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[member="Phylis Alince"]​

 

[Phylis Alince]

[member="Théodred Heavenshield"]

Phylis led Theo up the stairs and into the Wellspring, her private ship. It was very well set up for her to travel and work alone, or for her with any apprentices she might have.
"Hmm, thank you, yes. Welcome aboard!"
At that moment a greenish protocol droid rolled up with a drink on a tray.
"This is ERP-69, but just call him Six-Nine."
The droid beeped happily.
A skittering over the deck announced Nibbles running up Phylis' back and peering from her shoulder.
"And you've met Nibbles before. I'm sure he's happy to see you again!"
The Jedispawn rat peered at Theo for a moment, then started to groom himself.

The crew introduced, Phylis started discussing the matter at hand.
"So, your mother mentioned you'd like some instruction in Alkahest, hmm? Well, I can give you a primer. I’m not sure how much you will be able to do at the moment, but I’m always happy to try.”

 

[Théodred Heavenshield]

As Theo entered the ship after Master Alince invitation, he looked around as they walked. It was a nice ship, one of the older style ships which he like, Corellian by the looks of it which would please mother.

A small green droid approached them with a tray and a drink for Theo which he took and thanked the droid. "Thank you Six-Nine", he looked the same as Teetoo his father's droid except blue. He continued to follow the master taking a sip of his drink as he did, which was nice and sweet with a hint of fruit the likes of which Theo had not tasted before. At this point he heard the soft patter of small feet, and strangely he sensed the small rodent.

"Oh Nibbles!", he said with a smile, of course he remembered the him. " Does he .. is he? you know .. still have the influence of the light side?", some had wondered if the effect would wear off with time, at least that is what he through they asked. He watched Nibbles for a moment as he groomed his fur while sitting on the master's shoulder. "He is so cute", he said raising a hand to stroke his fur with the back of a finger.

As he continued to pat Nibbles, "Yes, I want to continue to learn if I have the ability to do so. I understand I might not, but I am patient Master Alince and will do whatever you say", he had never always been patient, a natural child-like attribute but his father had taught him temperance.

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[member="Phylis Alince"]​

 

[Phylis Alince]

[member="Théodred Heavenshield"]
To answer, Nibbles looked up at Theo. The rodent’s eyes were still flecked with gold which shifted in a constant pattern. To Theo, Nibbles would appear as a Light Side presence beside the much greater presence of Phylis.

“Yes, I have been monitoring his, hmm, progress, and it appears the transmutation was permanent. I am already planning to move to a new test subject.”

“I will do whatever you say,” the boy had said.

Phylis frowned at that. “Hmmph, I’m flattered I’m sure, but blind loyalty means less than understanding! Still, I will be very happy to train you.”

She led the boy into the Alkahest forge and showed it off to him. “As I said last time, Alkahest is about transferring the Force into physical objects permanently, specifically the Light Side. Doing this is difficult as you must connect with the object at a subatomic level and meld the Force into it.”

From a safe she produced Dawnbringer and offered it to Theo once more to hold.
“My finest work yet, that is what you can do with Alkahest.”

 

[Théodred Heavenshield]

It was very impressive that Nibbles had retained the lightside, the presence of it was felt to Theo he had the moment he walked into the room. "Thank you Master", he said when she to him she would train him. Manners was something his mother had drilled into him from a very young age, and mostly it pays off, not only that it makes you feel good. No one likes a sour puss.

"How do you connect to the object, what force power do you use master?", he asked very curiously. Working on something, anything .. on a subatomic level Theo had yet to do or experience but there is always a first time for everything. Or at least a first try.

As Master Alince moved toward the wall and safe, she removed the Dawnbringer, an almighty sword he had seen before in their last meeting and had the pleasure to hold. He could not believe it then, and struggled even now, at the power one could embed the light side with. Clearly the masters that worked on his sword were very powerful indeed.

He took it from her hands and removed it from the scabbard slowly, watching the blade come out and shine. The light side of the force, filled his beings as his hand wrapped around the hilt as he held it high and straight before his eyes. He could see his reflection on the blade, half face and his eyes found his own. Dropping the blade to his spare hand, laying the sword flat on his palm. He was not frightened of it or that he might receive a cut, but the blade was not cold as he expected, maybe it was drawing warmth from him or giving it? he could not be sure.

"This truly is remarkable", he said softly.

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[member="Phylis Alince"]​

 

[Phylis Alince]

[member="Théodred Heavenshield"]
She smiled at his reaction and gently took the blade back.
“Though the lightsabre is a more elegant weapon for sure, there are things a physical blade can do that it cannot. As always, there are pros and cons.”

She replaced it in the safe and came back.
“Hmm, well, power is a definition I do not much like. Still, I believe it is referred to as ‘Art of the Small’, but basically it allows one to use the Force to affect all the parts of an object, from the largest whole to the smallest particle. The Force is in everything, but by infusing something with the Light Side we can make magnificent things.”

She led him over to her workbench. “I am attempting something new here. Metal and crystal I know well how to infuse, but other items are theoretically possible. I have been attempting to Alkahest cloth or leather. If I am able to do that I think the results could be enormous.”

“Tell me, do you go home to Midvinter often?” she asked, in an apparently random aside.

 

[Théodred Heavenshield]

Reluctantly he relinquished the Dawnbringer back to Master Alince, not that he wanted to keep it, it just felt so good to hold. Théo listened with great concentration and eagerness to learn more about this 'crafting'. And he remembered the words from the past meeting about the differences between the two blades, like the swords of Midvinter are crafted for strength and endurance and to cause as much damage to a body as possible, to be able to incapacitate ones foe in the most deadly fashion. The lightsaber is more elegant in this respect, if elegant was the right word to use. He was not sure any weapon was, that can harm another whether through clean cut or not, the end result remained the same.

"I have heard mother speak of this, the Art of Small, I have not trained in this skill but I understand the principles of the skill", And that was about Théo's limit there and maybe one day mother will teaching him. The idea of infusing the lightside into cloth intrigued him, and he wondered on the purpose of this. Until she asked about Midvinter.

"Yes Master Alince I go home as often as I can. Why do you ask?", the question was asked to prompt more from her about the cloth. "The Dawnbringer felt .. warm to the touch upon my skin. Is .. is that what you hope to do? to make cloth and leather warm to the wearer. And can be be that the cloth could be a form of protection against the darkside?". He was not sure how this would work, only she could answer that, but the possibilities began to form in his mind. Although a Jedi can use the force to protect their bodies against the elements, but those not attuned to the force could not and something like this would be very beneficial.

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[member="Phylis Alince"]​

 

[Phylis Alince]

[member="Théodred Heavenshield"]
“Ah, hmm, you catch on quickly, young Theo. That is exactly my intent, to create some clothing which imparts at least a little power of the Light into them, and protection too. If you wanted to help, we could see to designing something…and you can test it for me!”

“As for the skill, hmm, it is complex, and I do not expect you to master it yet. However, I feel you could learn the fundamentals and teach yourself how to master it in time.”

With a gesture she flicked on a small furnace and popped a small ingot of copper into it inside a ceramic container.

“Molten metal is the easiest to work with as its structure is still fluid. In theory any material can be affected, but some are much better than others.”
She gently put Nibbles on the floor and pointed. The rat seemed to understand and scampered off.
“He doesn’t like the heat much,” she explained.

 

[Théodred Heavenshield]

"Maybe the tunic of Jedi Robes", he thought out loud, at least it would be a start. "I would be happy to help any way I can Master". The Art of Small is complex and needs a great understand of the structures of objects and material of any nature. Something that will come with time as he studies, as for his ability within the force that had grown much but even he doubted he had the ability above the basics when it comes to this skill. But like Master Alince had suggested, it would be something he could research and self learn.

He took mental note of this, he wanted to be able to learn Alkahest to the best of his ability and it would require this skill. He followed her to the furnace watching what she did and listened while she spoke. It made sense for the metal to be in liquid form a more fluid substance to work with. He had seen this done on Midvinter, in the many forges he had visited there watching the Smiths at work. They would do the same, melt the metal before the mold and while still red hot, would put hammer to it to shape and fold it.

He would be the observer for now.

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[member="Phylis Alince"]​

 

[Phylis Alince]

[member="Théodred Heavenshield"]
“Molten metal is the easiest to demonstrate on I find. Other objects like water are too variable and impermanent, others such as rock are too hard to begin with.”

Soon enough the copper was bubbling gently and turned to a red hue before melting entirely.
Calling on the Force she called the crucible from the hire more expertly than any forge tongs. Producing a mould she poured it gently in, careful not to cause bubbles.

“Now come here, Theo. Feel the Force flowing through you, sense the metal in its liquid form. The Force is in all things, living or no, and even this metal is not alive you can sense it. Look deeper into it, look beyond the physical world to that which exists beneath it. Feel the liquid metal harden. Now, call on the Force, focus your mind. As the metal cools and hardens, fill in the gaps with the Force, bolster it.”

She did not expect Theo to achieve it first time, but he could see via this easy means a method of ably looking with Art of the Small into something. From there, it was just a matter of using the Force to imbue the metal before it cooled.

 

[Théodred Heavenshield]

The radiance of the light side of the force was present here on his ship. Not only because of the two Jedi and Nibbles, but the pull was unabashed as if it was pleased with their endeavours or use of it. Like a blessing, it gave it's acceptance. Drawing from this, Théo sensed the force not only come to him, but was able to direct it toward the melted metal, gently bubbling away within it's hold.

He listened to her words and instruction, understanding most of it. He knew the force resided in everything around them, filled it with energy and a life of it's own regardless of whether it lived or breathed, in the sense of those that held blood in their veins and thoughts in their minds.

Just because it did not speak or growl, did not mean that it lacked life. Théo pushed his force awareness to the metal, closing his eyes to allow better concentration in this exercise, and focused his mind toward it. Soft white tendrils swirled through the air and lapped upon the surface of the hot metal, dancing there as if scotched to the touch but only moments later did this white energy enter the metal, softly and slowly filling it. But try as he might, it was mostly superficial.

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[member="Phylis Alince"]​

 

[Phylis Alince]

[member="Théodred Heavenshield"]
“Good, good!” Phylis said excitedly. The boy had quickly taken a hold of her ideas, and though he would need long practice to become adept, he clearly had the basics.
“In time you will learn to focus your attention on making it consistently infused, but for now, let me show you what you have done.”

Extracting the copper from the mould she lay it on the bench. It was a relatively flat rectangle, and she produced a power grinder and cut down. At first it resisted the cutting edge, sending sparks flying. However, past the first few millimetres the copper suddenly cut like butter and she handed him the two halves. The very top had been infused somewhat and were much harder than the rest.

“Take them if you wish. It will show you what you can do now so when you try later you know how to compare. Now…would you like a drink of some form before we move on, Theo?”

 

[Théodred Heavenshield]

The exercise had drained him of energy somewhat, but the Master's excitement was enough to revive him again. He took in her words with a smile, and vowed to do some 'home work' on this to strengthen himself so that next they meet he will be able to help her even more.

Theo watched her take out the now solid piece of metal from the mold, and place it on the bench before she cut it in two. He could see the resistance of the blade before it began to cut, sparks flew everywhere! And as she handed him the two halves he looked at them resting in his palm. The metal on the surface did not look any different to the eyes but touched by the force it was easy to feeling it more stronger then the rest. He picked up one of the pieces and held it in front of his face, turning this way and take to get a better idea of the differences. Yes, you could just make out a slight difference in the metal enough for Theo to use in the future as guidance.

"Thank you Master Alince, I shall", he said placing the two pieces in his pocket. "Oh, I would like some more of that juice", he smiled delighted with his efforts thus far. The truth was, he could not wait to move on with whatever she had in mind next.

"Master? .. how, how did you learn to do this?', he asked knowing that this skill is very rare and he wanted to learn a bit more about her too.

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[member="Phylis Alince"]​

 

[Phylis Alince]

[member="Théodred Heavenshield"]
Phylis poured him a glass of juice, taking water for herself. After handing it over she considered.
“Hmm, well, it started as a thought exercise. As you know, the Force has a Light and a Dark Side. The two facets are opposed in methods and intent, but have many fundamentally similar points. One thing I was always fascinated with was Sith Alchemy – the process of imbuing the Force into items with the Dark Side. Well, it seemed only logical to me that if one could do it with the Dark Side, why not with the Light? The Light is not weaker, but it is different, thus my approach had to follow as well.”

“The first thing I did was I took crystals which conducted the Force and experimented on them. The Force flowed easily into them, and so I went through the process I’ve just shown you of trying to find another medium. In the end I discovered the properties of molten metal and taught myself to smith. It was there I found true enlightenment with the Force as my ally.”

“Hmmph, I’m surprised no Jedi considered this before, but I suppose they had their own reasons for it.”

 

[Théodred Heavenshield]

Although Théo knew of the existence of the darkside and the theory behind it, he knew it was a power that was all consuming of it users and would eventually destroy them, he actually had limited experience of it. In the sense of meeting someone powerful with the darkness, his friend Boo uses it but he has a good heart and does good things or so Théo believed. Yet, deep down he knew that Boo was not all good but to Théo, there would be some hope in saving him one day .. there was always hope. It was one of those confusing situations for Théo, he would save Boo's life if they ever faced that situation and Boo would save his, but one day they would have to fight on opposite sides. Théo did not want to think on that ..

"So the users of the darkside have had this ability for hundreds if not thousands of years?", he asked now as perplexed as the Jedi master had been in why the Jedi had not thought of it sooner. She was right, Théo understood this, even in his young age what she said made sense. There is an opposite strength and power in the light to the darkness .. so why not this?

"So how do the darksiders use this ability to enhance things?", she had said the methodology was different and in order to learn more of not only this ability but the darkness as well, he grabbed the chance. "And can anything be imbued with the force?", he began to shoot questions.

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[member="Phylis Alince"]​

 

[Phylis Alince]

[member="Théodred Heavenshield"]
She paused, thinking.
“Not everything, no. Some things due to their structure are, hmm, inappropriate for it. Liquids and gasses by their nature are too diffuse. Dense matter such as stone is also very hard to imbue as the bonds between the matter is already so tight. Living creatures, well, like Nibbles here, but it is impractical for most animals or plantlife.”
A Sithspawn tree was hardly the most menacing threat after all!

“Hmm, yes, the Sith have used alchemy for tens of thousands of years. Over time their skills have vastly improved. They use it on many things; amulets, rings, swords and more.”

“Now I consider this again I feel the reason why the Jedi have not done this comes down to goals. See, the Sith and those who use the Dark Side are selfish. They use the Force for their own ends, and in these cases the research needed is a very singular activity. The Jedi, and those who use the Light, are more communal. Hmmph, generally anyway. In this day and age though with the Jedi divided and scattered it became imperative to give my attention to this goal.”

 

[Théodred Heavenshield]

He propped himself against the bench but placed the glass of juice down. "But what if .. what if the likes of gases and liquids are confined to a certain place? or does it go deeper then that. I was thinking for water at least .. ice?". This was more for a theoretical argument rather then practice, or could it be so? He thought of his trip to Rhen Var and the caves that hold the crystals for lightsabers. That place is brimming with the force as it was but it is a frozen place and he wondered if such a place could be protected using this ability. Gases were a whole other kettle of fish.

"But I understand Master, there is always limits to everything. After all we are just moral", he smiled.

Théo, still young had very little experience with Jedi outside the Sanctum. Although he had visited and trained with Grand Master Raaf, he was not privy to the politics of the Orders. That was mother and father's job, and they had been working to try and strengthen relationships with the Jedi that wanted it. Not all did.

"The Sith have strength in their isolation .. in their blind ambition for power. The Jedi's strength is in numbers .. communal as you say. Should we not tap that power?". One single Jedi can create a Wall of Light, the combined efforts of many can destroy cities and legions. The tomes would show, that early in the creation of the Order of the Silver Jedi, Masters Gan and E'ron, with a group of Knights and Padawans had done this very thing to the blue crystal that graces the main entrance of the Silver Temple. Mother and father had used it against the Sith on Lujo and Midvinter.

 

[Phylis Alince]

[member="Théodred Heavenshield"]

“Hmm, the gas is too diffuse. There is nothing solid one could enhance. For liquid, one can infuse a small amount of liquid with a smaller infusion of the Force. In theory one could create something akin to ‘holy water’ in this way, but I can think of no way to make it efficient. Perhaps in time.”

“Hmm, well, the Jedi’s strength usually has been in numbers. At this current moment, I cannot say. See, as the Light Side does not engage and appeal to the more base elements of the Force, it produces ‘weaker’ warriors. A Jedi cannot use the Force in such ways as a Sith, thus must channel their power into other means, for instance a lightsabre and their skills therein. “

“As for unifying. Hmmph, well, I would like nothing more than that. However, I cannot allow myself to be part of an Order which does not give respect and follow the ideals of a true Jedi group. So many groups now profess to be the true embodiment of the Order, yet by their nature they cannot be.”

She shrugged. “It is a vexing problem, yes?”