The Start of Something Big

[Geneva Blackburn]

Location: Sith Academy, Korriban

It had taken many long months of training under the harsh Overseers of the Sith Academy before Geneva had gotten to this stage. She had came into the academy, weak and knew practically nothing about the force, or the Sith. But after long hours of slaving away with her vibroblade, and learning the history and memorising the Sith code by heart, she was ready. The Academy has trained her in the best that it can in the basics of what it is meant to be Sith. The rest would have to be taught by an experienced Sith Lord, willing to take on an apprentice. Her skill with the force was still medicore, but it seemed to have passed an acceptable standard for acolytes, as the Overseers have pushed them for 'graduation'.

She had been told to expect a master to come for her soon. She had no idea who he or she was, and she was ever-so-anxious as this was what all the months of training and lessons ultimately culminated to, apprenticeship. Sitting on one of the many benches near the shuttle bay area, she nervously yet excitedly waited for the Sith Lord who would be her master. Ultimately, she would remain an acolyte until she would be deemed worthy to be otherwise.

[member="Darth Venefica"]

 

[Via Dolorosa]

She watched as the few Acolytes, those had survived the initial trials of Academy life, begin to filter out into the main lobby. She watched, with skepticism, how many of these new Acolytes had been brainwashed into thinking they were Sith by the teachers? She knew that what was passing as lessons and teachings here were nothing more than lies; or half truths. Words, mock lightsaber dueling, and the occasional trip to the haunted Valley of the Dark Lords did not make one a Sith. Even when she witnessed a few Acolytes die at the hands of their peers, she sighed and turned away in anger. Killing a weaker rival was not strength and it did not qualify one as Sith.​

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Yet, under the encouragement of the Academy teachers, the Acolytes continued down the wrong path. A few times, to her disgust, she had bore witness to the brutality cast upon the Acolytes for failing in their lessons by the teachers. As a youth, she had suffered harsh tactics herself. She had elected not to step in and stop it not because she felt it was wrong, but because it would fuel the Acolytes anger and just as she did; would get their much needed revenge by killing the teacher one day as they grew more comfortable in their skin. One day, she hoped, that the Dark Lord would grant her request in culling these teachers, replacing them with more adequate teachers. One day.​

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Still, she had come here in search of a new Apprentice, one she would be forced to undo the damage caused here and mold them into a proper Sith. Unlike her peers, she was picky. Not any Acolyte would suffice. She wanted one that was unique and she believed she had discovered one. For the past few months she had been secretly following the life of one Acolyte, a female human. The girl showed enough potential, but showing it and harnessing it were complete opposites. So it was time for her to see which it was.​

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"Congratulations on surviving Academy life," the Sith Lady spoke taking up position next to the girl on her left. "But you are no Sith yet...despite what the teachers claim. My name is Darth Venefica...and if you wish to learn the ways....the true ways of the Sith then I shall take you on as my Apprentice. But first....a test."​

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She pointed to a young male, one from her class and one she no doubt had dealings with before, and smiled.​

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"His lightsaber....I want it."​

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[member="Geneva Blackburn"]​

 

[Geneva Blackburn]

The Overseers at the Academy had always told her that only the strongest would live and rise to became Sith. They had reiterated that over and over again that only by overcoming great odds and each other would they be Sith. The more the she thought about it now, the more she realised that it may have been nothing more than a crowd-thinner. Her initial class of thirty had slowly withered down to a startling amount of a mere eight. Only four of them had managed to survive up to this crucial point. Many initiates had fallen along the way either to traps laid out by the Overseers, treachery from their fellow initiates, or from the many beasts that roamed the ancient Valley of the Dark Lords. But she wondered to herself, was there another way to go about doing this, or was killing targets weaker than you what it was meant to be Sith? From what she had seen and known about the Sith, she knew there were more than that. They often proved their might by setting themselves against enemies stronger than them and the Sith would no doubt prevail.

A Sith Lord walked into the main lobby of the academy where the few surviving acolytes waited. Day by day, they would wait until they were all eventually claimed up by one Sith Lord or another. Today, it was their turn to see who was picked. The Sith walked about with an air of confidence, her eyes firmly gazing upon the remaining acolytes displayed for her picking. They were standing four-by-four on each side of the hall, with huge gaps in-between each other. The Sith's eyes met her and they lingered on her longer than any of the other acolytes. Geneva had no idea if that was a good or bad thing. But she was to find about in a very short moment, as the Sith walked up to her, standing on her left.

The Sith then spoke.

"Congratulations on surviving Academy life...but you are no Sith yet...despite what the teachers claim. My name is Darth Venefica...and if you wish to learn the ways....the true ways of the Sith then I shall take you on as my Apprentice. But first....a test."

That was when she learnt the name of the Sith, and she was deemed worthy enough to be personally congratulated. That sounded good. As acolytes fresh from the academy, they all did not own any lightsabers yet. They had all been training with vibroblades, until they were deemed worthy by their master. But the Sith known as Darth Venefica spoke again. "His lightsaber....I want it." All of our heads turned at the mention of that, trying to see who she was referring to. It was male on the opposite side of her, an acolyte she knew as Renn. She had no idea how he had gotten himself a lightsaber, and from the looks of the other acolytes, they had no idea as well.

[member="Darth Venefica"]

 

[Via Dolorosa]

She waited for the Acolyte, her potential next Apprentice, to move into action. When the girl failed to do as she was instructed, the Sith Lady deemed it necessary to make a demonstration. Without looking at any one teacher in particular, she mustered the Force energy around her and gripped one of the teachers, via the Force, by his neck and lifted him up off his feet. She held him in the air while his feet kicked in the air, his hands clutching at the invisible hands that held his life in their grasp; waiting to cast judgment.​

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"I grow weary everyday of preaching and teaching those less fortunate than myself that the abuse of their power is weakness," she proclaimed for all the Acolytes to hear, especially the one she had chosen to be her Apprentice. "But a Sith must...at times....thin the heard in order for the strong to see the truth and the weak to adhere their place in the galaxy."​

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With a clenching of her right hand into a fist, she snapped the neck of the teacher, leaving his lifeless body to hover for a few minutes before she released it from her hold. Her black and red flecked eyes followed the corpse as it crashed to the Academy floor, making a sickening thud when it made contact.​

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"His lightsaber....I want it," she said again looking at the body of the dead Academy teacher. "Or shall I move further into my lesson until I obtain what I desire?"​

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[member="Geneva Blackburn"]​

 

[Geneva Blackburn]

Apparently she was supposed to move. To get the lightsaber. She didn't know which one though. Renn carried one and their teacher carried one as well. Her inaction had caused the Darth to provided a demonstration of what she would do to people who disobeyed her. A rather fatal demonstration it seemed. She moved towards the teacher that they have all gotten themselves every familiar with for their entirety here. Lifting her hand in the air, his body followed suit into the air, head-first as he began to choke, helplessly grasping at this neck, as though there were hands gripped firmly around it. She spoke, her tone clearly annoyed by the lack of any movement. "I grow weary everyday of preaching and teaching those less fortunate than myself that the abuse of their power is weakness, but a Sith must...at times....thin the herd in order for the strong to see the truth and the weak to adhere their place in the galaxy." Geneva knew what that force technique was. Force choke! She had seen it used before, but never actually done it on her own before, she guessed it must be a really advanced power a Sith eventually gets.

With a quick clench of her hand into a fist, Geneva heard the sound of a neck snapping, before their teacher's body went limp as the life ran out of him, hovering in the air for several seconds before falling to the ground in a heap. All of their eyes remained on the ground where the corpse lay, shocked by the sudden escalation of the events happening right before their eyes. The recognisable voice came again, repeating the order once more. "His lightsaber....I want it, or shall I move further into my lesson until I obtain what I desire?"

This time Geneva was the first to act, running towards the former teacher, snatching the lightsaber off his corpse and hurriedly presented it to the waiting Darth. She would not do well to keep her waiting.

[member="Darth Venefica"]

 

[Via Dolorosa]

She took the weapon, turning it over and examining the metal cylinder device. It was constructed poorly and she no doubt figured the teacher's ability to craft such a cherished weapon was another of his weaker pointes in life. She thought about destroying the weapon, erasing all traces of the dead teacher but instead handed it back to the Acolyte.​

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"This is yours to keep until you have gained the knowledge to craft one of your own," she said, giving the other Acolytes a cold and venomous stare. "Come....Apprentice."​

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The Sith Lady began walking through the Academy with no apparent destination in mind, except to teach the girl that had joined her about the nature of the Darkside and what it meant to be Sith. The girl needed guidance since she failed to react to her words the first time, causing her to make a demonstration. One that went against everything she personally stood for.​

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"Lesson one," she began breaking the silence between them. "You do not kill as a way to prove your power. That is weakness in it's purest form. You kill to survive...and you only kill when all possible solutions have been exhausted."​

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"My killing of that teacher," she continued, "Was one of necessity. His teachings were flawed and this beliefs water-downed. Rivals on the other hand is something unforeseeable but that to is a necessity of survival to eliminate them less they strike at you first."​

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She halted at the closed doors to one of the several training rooms built inside the newly furbished Academy. Her eyes fell on the girl, studying her as they did. This girl wanted to be Sith and not just in name. So she would put this girl to the grindstone and see what she could create.​

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"Before you embark on your journey....tell me....what is it you seek to learn from both the Darkside and Sith?"​

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[member="Geneva Blackburn"]​

 

[Geneva Blackburn]

[member="Darth Venefica"]

The Sith took the weapon that was offered to her, examining it, scorn and disdain clearly visible on her visage. She must no doubt be disgusted by the poorly constructed excuse of a weapon. Geneva had seen plenty of sabers in her life, and the designs some of the Sith she had seen owned had far more intricate or elaborate hilts that made this crude contraption pale in comparison. The Darth surprised her by handing the weapon to her, telling her to keep it.

Elatedly, she accepted the weapon. It was crude yes, but it would more than suitable for her, considering she was no polished gem either. She thanked the Sith who would be her master with a bow. She was then asked to follow, as her master left the hall where the acolytes had waited. Her lessons had already begun, it seemed as the Sith Lady spoke, breaking the silence between them. Geneva was told that she did not kill to prove her power, but to survive.

The apprentice was then posed with a question. She was asked what she sought from the dark side. This was a question that she knew with utmost certainty. She replied confidently to her master.

"I seek knowledge and power. Power to unlock the hidden potential in me."

 

[Via Dolorosa]

"Knowledge and power....some would argue they are one in the same. But they are wrong."​

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She moved gracefully, almost gliding, across the Academy floor. ​

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"Your potential is what you make of it...be it through force or manipulation."​

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She led the her new Apprentice out into the courtyard, where several plants and flowers bloomed. Each living sentient's petals and leaves stretching skyward toward the sun above. She smiled at the girl.​

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"Take these plants for example. Everyday they reach to the sun in hopes of unlocking something far greater than what they are....and every night when the sun goes down...they are lost...and begin the process all over the next day. The same is with unlocking your potential. Everyday you will stretch and reach and grasp for what is right in front of your face....but when you fail to grasp it....do you retreat and wait for a new day or do you continue to push yourself?"​

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The question was rhetorical. Both her Apprentice and herself knew the answer. A Sith always craves and is never sated until they consume what they set their gaze upon. And then the process begins all over again. Stagnation is the worse enemy a Sith could ever face.​

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"You will face trials that will exert you...push you beyond your limits...and at times pair you with almost certain death. But as a Sith....you will overcome all tribulations."​

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Darth Venefica turned her head to stare into the horizon where the sun was showing signs of retiring. ​

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"Do not mistake knowledge for power. Knowledge is knowing when to act and react...when to use your abilities and when to keep them under wraps. Power....power is what you will become. 'Through Power you will gain Victory.'"​

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[member="Geneva Blackburn"]​