Private The Wolf Among Sheep

[Zeptepi Zambrano]

Euric Shadowwalker ​

Like extensions of the ship's robotics the Imperial Crew of the TSO Star Destroyer efficiently orchestrates its extended trek across the farthest reaches of the galactic grid, into the insufficiently documented outer rim, beyond the reach of the Sanctuary Pipeline. Its mission, one and the same as it was long ago, to expand the reach of the Empire and encourage populations to join the fight against the galactic rebellion, to surround and snuff out the Light.

The Star Destroyer stalled momentarily to accept trade provisions and contraband from the Sector. Remnant rock of the lost Panatha floated in the far distance, a testament to the infighting among those who believe themselves superior Sith, supporting the reason behind her Father Darth Carnifex 's expansion into Arts Darker than most dare to study, producing Magick beyond any which mere mortals can sustain. Her own Mother, High Priestess of the Nightsisters Wanica 13, fell victim to her own Spell which had expanded across the realms of existence. Viewing the extent of planetary-wide annihilation by enemy Sith forces, Zeptepi could feel her Father's home world expel a signature chaos beyond her anticipation. Modestly dressed in black from head to toe, she closed her eyes for just a moment as she stoically stood before the observation window and drank in the display, a glorious sensation. The Darkness thumped in beats opposite the rhythm of her cold heart, vibrated as a chaotic mess within her veins, and groaned within the perception of her mind, gripping her Soul in a sensation like HOME. Her thumbs slipped into the band of her belt, and she gripped the leather in result to the jolt of Darkness into which she plummeted. 'The beauty…like beholding Dathomir while standing within the Netherworld Realm.' A single tear spilt or her Father and Mother…

The stories of her youth made her notorious. For many, the anticipation of her presence always made the least competent Imperial Crew nervous, for Zeptepi had not been raised taught to respect the lives of others in the least. However, once she would arrive onboard and mentally link into their core existence, they would all fall in line like respectable military. Contrary to their deep rooted fears, she would not mistreat those loyal to her Family. To her own benefit, perhaps those in particular feared the wrath of her Father far more. Many officers desire to become elevated in their position through a single publicly witnessed act of greatness, while more do most certainly desire to remain out of any given Sith's direct mental focus.

"Mistress," the Lieutenant addressed, standing in the doorway to the observation deck, aware he had broken the silence, fearing Zeptepi's possibly meditative. "Forgive me. The supply ships have successfully docked and the Captain is preparing to set our course for the next stage of our journey."

"Very good," she answered, turning her head towards her shoulder, to only half view him from the corner of her eye; how much more she can simply sense him. "Let's leave the remnants of our past behind us, and focus on the future of the Empire."
​

 

[Euric Shadowwalker]

Euric snapped awake in the dark and cold interior of a cargo container. He felt a momentary panic at not knowing where he was. There was no light at all. He could feel the cold metal beneath him, and the air was cold and still. He remembered that he'd escaped Zygerria, escaped slavery, stowing away on a cargo freighter. He couldn't know the cargo ship had been attacked and captured by a Sith Star Destroyer, and the crate he resided in was now in the bowels of the vessel. He'd slept through all of it. His hands grasped and felt around in the darkness until they laid upon his prybar. He gripped it hard, relieved to not have lost his only means of escape from the container. The prybar was still sticky with the blood of the overseers and guards he'd bludgeoned to death with it.

Feeling his way along the side of the cargo container, Euric explored with his hands in the darkness until he found the door. Slipping the edge of the prybar into place, he torqued it back and forth until the double door popped open with a muffled clang, and bright light burned his eyes. A few moments to readjust, painful, but fleeting, and Euric could see beyond his dark prison. The room outside was not the room he expected to see. Instead of a confined freighter's hold, he saw the spacious and military-style cargo hold of a warship. Not good.

He'd expected to have to deal with a few scruffy freighter crew, not a ship fully equipped with heavily armed troopers. Now he had to escape the ship like he'd escaped the slave planet of Zygerria. Rage began to build within him, borne of frustration at his situation, and fueled by a lifetime of abuse and captivity. Clad in rags, still splattered with blood, dirty, and carrying several wounds himself, with only a short metal pry bar for defence, the former slave crept out into the cargo hold of the Star Destroyer. He kept to cover, and used shadows and obstructions to keep away from the eyes of the crew and the electronic eyes of surveillance cameras.

Euric had mentally discarded his original plan of simply killing the crew. Attempting his original plan would only get him killed in this situation. Stealth would serve him far better, and he gave thought to locating a fighter or a shuttle to escape the warship. Corridors and the main passages of the ship weren't options. He located a ventilation duct, and took advantage of his prybar to work loose the cover, before slipping inside and doing his best to replace the cover behind him.

Despite the darkness of the air duct, Euric found it far brighter than his confined, pitch black cargo container interior, and he was able to move fairly quickly and easily through the ship, pausing to look out through vents and get an idea of his location. He had no map, no idea where he was going, and was building the map in his head as he went along. This would be a slow, methodical, patient escape, if it was going to work, and Euric knew he'd need to use every trick and skill he'd picked up as a slave to move unseen.

Zeptepi Zambrano

 

[Zeptepi Zambrano]

Euric Shadowwalker ​

Another time perhaps, Zeptepi shall stand upon the same hallowed soil where her Father Darth Carnifex once walked. For the briefest of moments, her senses drifted to touch upon his omnipotence. She pondered how the Sith would surely prosper if all the gods would come together in unity, ending their in-fighting; except they stand apart and cut throat like the filthy Jedi, who also accomplish nothing to bring order to the galaxy. How many souls her Father incorporated into his own to fortify his strength. How glorious her impression of a Sith Singularity. 'If only…' she thought.

"Mistress, we await your judgement upon the prisoners," said the Lieutenant, who next followed the Sith to the docking bay.

Lite footfalls carried across the cold, riveted, metal floor panels as the Sith entered. Crew scurried about quietly and most orderly, to empty the contraband from the ships in the hangar, while others emptied confiscated pods through their docking hatch, to load the provisions onto hover carts before carrying the confiscated items off. In the midst of the task kneeled a dozen of the enemy ships' crew members. They had been drug out of their ships and rounded up by the Imperials. Upon sight of the Sith, one grunted and keeled over before Zeptepi uttered so much as a word to the lot. She blinked at the display, cardiac arrest and merely moved past the incident entirely, without so much as an acknowledgment, and most certainly never ever to the extent of an empathetic tear.

Zeptepi inhaled as she gazed over the enemy crew. Many looking down at the floor, some gazing back with determination and hatred in their eyes. How such minuscule emotions as she determined them, especially those which threaten one lose their soul, feed the Darkside of the Force. The Sith's expression did not waver, on another note not even a snicker did she regard them. Then her heels came to pause before two who stood side by side within the line of prisoners and both who immediately broke out in sinister laughter. "You have done well," she said, as the GA traitors swooned before her presence. "You may return to your Faction. See you again next time." The Lieutenant stepped forward and presented their two allies with a change purse filled with coins. As the other GA crew looked on in shock at the desertion of their Captain, while the two men hurried off back to their evacuated ship.

In the distance, from the far corner of the cargo bay where shipping containers are accumulated, a sudden clamoring began among the Imperials, who immediately besought the attention of Zeptepi. The moment she turned her attention away from the prisoners, she pointed a finger towards them from her backside, and within a moment of her concentration they all dropped dead upon the very spot where they had been standing. Had any of them desired to remain living, they should have at least attempted to gain her consideration before the moment of opportunity passed. In the corner of the bay the Sith turned her attention onto the process supervisor, who explained that his crew had only begun to examine these particular containers in this area. The crew brought to his immediate attention that a hatch had been open prior to their inspection.

"Good work." Zeptepi reached out in the Force, first ever so lightly, followed by an intensity which made those closest to her struggle to quell a sudden desire to retch. She perceived one Force Sensitive aboard her ship. "Alert the crew," she said.

Zeptepi continued to intently focus upon the Force Signature of her uninvited guest, in order to determine his location. She felt his movement about her ship quick and without hinderance. Reaching for a computer console, with a few taps from her fingertips she enlisted the vessel's droids to search utility corridors and all unmanned pathways.
​

 

[Euric Shadowwalker]

Moving silently in the near darkness of a ventilation duct, Euric made his way through the Star Destroyer, trying to remain undetected and ignoring the slight and brief sense that he might be being watched. He was a Force sensitive, but didn't know it. He'd just always been quick to react to things, and deal fairly easily with other people. Understanding didn't come easily to the former slave, who preferred simplicity of thought and deed as it was less mentally taxing.

A clanking sound from further down the duct stopped him dead. That was the sound of a hatch cover being opened, and they only did that for maintenance or security sweeps. A moment ago he'd felt the slightest sensation of being watched, but had dismissed it as the understandable paranoia of being alone and unarmed aboard a hostile war ship. The noise was a clue that he'd been wrong to dismiss his instinct and that he'd best get out of the duct.

"Sithspit." The ex-slave swore under his breath, though he wanted to punch the wall of the vent in anger. Somehow, he judged, the crew of the warship knew he was there.The Gods continued to sneer down and piss on his head, it would seem. Euric's tribal upbringing had taught him that Gods played with the world for their own reasons. To his perspective, They enjoyed tormenting him specifically. Life as a slave hadn't shown him much of the good and decent parts of galactic society. Now someone or something was coming into the ducts to hunt for the interloper.

He knew what it was like to be hunted. As a slave in the arena he'd once faced six opponents upon a complicated and multi layered obstacle course. The scenario facing him now was unpleasantly similar in form if not in scale. If he slowed down or allowed himself to be trapped, he'd be wounded and cut down in moments. He had to remain alert and remain free, and this was his sole focus. Worrying about the likelihood of success only got in the way of success. He had to avoid battle until and unless he had the advantage, or had no other choice. He had to conserve his strength until it could be used most effectively. The arena had taught him that he did not need to seek combat out, it would inevitably come to him in time.

In the arena, though, hiding was not an option. Contrasting this, in the slave pits and hellholes on Zygerria, hiding was just something you did if you wanted to live long enough to see your next meal. Not being noticed was a survival skill, and those that didn't learn to blend into the background came to bad ends.

Euric backtracked to the last vent he'd passed, which was mercifully free of troopers or crew in the corridor beyond. Trying not to make any noise, he pried off the vent cover and slipped through, dropping to the deck. One corridor looked very much like any other, and he had no idea where he was. He knew he couldn't stay still without a better place of concealment than the halls of the ship. Risk was part of the game if he wanted to remain free and alive. Hallways stretched off in three directions, with doors spaced at uneven intervals. Plenty of choices, but no clue what waited beyond. Trusting to luck, he slipped along the nearest corridor and made bold with the first door, opening it and walking through, prybar clutched in one hand, held behind his back.

Zeptepi Zambrano

 

[Zeptepi Zambrano]

Euric Shadowwalker ​

Within the pitch-black ventilation shaft, a small compartment lid slid open on the mobile droid's frame permitting it to operate a built-in thermal scanner arm. It chirped lightly as programmed, an audible acknowledgement of negative results as they were recorded. Then it turned its attention upon the opposite direction…

The scan produced positive results. The culprit although vacated, momentarily left behind the heat signature of his footsteps and detected his hand prints upon the vent grill, although far less due to the swiftness of his exit, yet still indisputably detectable. Immediately the droid sent a location signal to the Imperial Guard, and the Sith is likewise alerted.

"This way." Zeptepi whispered, sending a Telepathic mental push, a sensation that safety lies ahead, leading her victim along a path to intersect with her.

A few members of the Imperial Guard produced in the corridor junction, finding no one. "Negative. We'll take a look around," they reported back to their Station.

Her footsteps in haste as she approached the Guardsmen, Zeptepi turned the corner in the corridor and stormed past them. She directed, "The search is over." As she passed, the Guardsmen respectfully filed in line along her side and just a few steps behind her.

The automatic door through which she had mentally guided her prey only a heartbeat before slid open, and she entered the room fully expecting to find him standing there. Her Guardsmen follow her through the threshold.
​

 

[Euric Shadowwalker]

The former slave gladiator entered the doors he'd selected, or more correctly, been 'encouraged' to select, and found himself inside a small and spartan office containing a desk and a freestanding closet and not much else save for bare walls and a lumen strip in the ceiling. He let the doors slide closed behind him, and considered the merits and disadvantages of taking cover under the desk or inside the closet. Both were obvious hiding places and would not shield him from any more than a cursory glance into the room.

Euric was still considering his options, when only moments after he'd entered, the doors hissed open behind him, and a woman followed closely by guard troopers entered, neatly blocking his only means of escape. Their position behind him revealed the metal pry bar gripped in his right hand, still held behind his back. Slowly, Euric turned around, now holding the metal bar loosely by his side. They had him dead to rights, no point to subterfuge or assault. Bloodied and clad in rags, the slave faced the woman. She seemed to see right through him, her presence filling the space, and Euric felt unnaturally small and helpless, a feeling he wasn't used to at all. He'd never encountered anything like this before.

He detected no surprise from the guards or from the woman, who was clearly in charge. They'd known exactly where he was, and they'd neatly trapped him. He'd never had a chance. He carefully assessed the foes before him, looking for opportunity or weakness, and found little to none. They'd burn him down before he got two steps. Fighting was out of the question. He ignored the guards and focused on the female face.

"Alright, alright." The slave said, none too happily. "You've got me." Moving slowly, Euric leaned back and put the pry bar down on the desk, keeping his hands where the guards could see them.

Euric felt a little fear for the first time in a long time. He'd rarely faced a challenge that he knew he couldn't beat, and now he faced just such, standing before him with her guards in tow. He suspected the guards were merely show dressing for the woman, who he very much doubted required any sort of protection or assistance. He recognized capability, and something more in the one before him. Very infrequently he'd encountered other slaves that he knew instinctively not to mess with, like Zoffe the Wookiee, or those with more subtle talents like Alethea Hesper . This lady was one of those people, this he knew in his bones. She was beautiful, and she was powerful. He hoped she'd have mercy or at least curiosity, or this was going to be a short, painful encounter for him.

Zeptepi Zambrano

 

[Zeptepi Zambrano]

Euric Shadowwalker ​

Yes the Guard could have done him in without batting an eye. They pose a challenge even for the Jedi, because when called to action, they feed off Zeptepi's Force. They serve as an extension of herself.

'Someone must die for this,' she thought. Zeptepi blinked at the sorry sight before her. He isn't Jedi. He doesn't seem to be anything worth a shit. She wondered how exactly it was that this thing…this unarmed being evaded her troops and actually trekked across her vessel, freely. It truly agitated her. She pondered of maybe a surveillance droid missed its scheduled program updates, or someone of her crew failed to take their post. Someone must be held accountable.

Her fleeting thoughts suddenly vanished and she focused upon the elephant in the room. "You must really have something going for you," she said with an amused tone to her utterance. "It isn't every day I actually feel…" She thought for a moment, the precise word eluding her. What exactly does she feel? "Pity?" Her face scrunched up as she turned to her masked Guards as she asked them, "Is it 'pity'?" She honestly doesn't know and only suspected that they might, but they they are much like her and so they just shrugged and questionably nodded at the same time, which only confused her. Turning back she finished her thought, "…for the dregs of the Galactic Alliance." It was in that moment she still believed their captive to be in league with the others who were a moment before put down. He would NOT benefit to actually BE a member of the Sith Order's enemy who offers safe haven to Jedi and promotes galactic disorder.

He is physically strong in appearance. She felt not cowardice in him for surrendering without a fight, but intelligence and a will to endure without the intent of malice, which is exactly what the GA flight crews lacked. For a mere second Zeptepi tapped inside his mind and studied the man, not a joy for her, as most turn her stomach. "Indeed a greater power is truly in your favor, and that would be the Darkside of the Force. I see greatness in your future. You have within you the potential to serve the Empire and command the military…if you survive training and answer me one question; 'With who lies the allegiance of your Soul?'" her question cryptic and most serious.

​

 

[Euric Shadowwalker]

No pain yet, nor instant death, and that was good. Euric didn't much care for the look he was getting from the Sith Lord or whatever she was. He felt like she could see his innermost thoughts and feelings, and he didn't like that at all. At the current time, there was nothing he could do but stand there, an open book, ragged and bloody, trapped like a barve in spot lights. There was no escape.

He considered the question seriously, if for no reason than he assumed his life to ride on his answer, and the manner of it. Euric had only days ago escaped from a lifetime of slavery. He'd never had to think about his allegiance, because it was part of his existence, he was owned, he lived at all times at the whims and desires of others. He'd been free all of two days, and to be assumed to be allegiant to anyone at all amused him deeply. Before he could prevent it, a smile crossed his face, and then he laughed.

"Lady." he said, not too disrespectfully, "My life has been shit up to now. Whatever Dark God rules over existence has been pissing on me as long as I can remember. I've got no allegiance, certainly not to the fucking Galactic Alliance. I'm an escaped slave, and you're the first living breathing individual i've met since I got off Zygerria. I stowed away aboard that freighter, and it ended up aboard this ship."

Well, the unvarnished truth was going to have to do, Euric couldn't think of anything creative or make up a suitable story on the fly, and he didn't expect this one to be taken in by lies. The gaze chilled him more than a hundred bastard overseers with shock whips, and he'd rather endure a hundred beatings than stand here, feeling naked, having to speak and converse. He wanted to run, to hide, to fight his way free, but he could do none of those things. Euric lowered his eyes, expecting death. He did not welcome it, for he longed to fight on, not to give up, but he accepted that dying free wasn't the worst outcome for a slave.

Would she do it, or would the pity drive her to spare his life and find his purpose? He would settle for getting off the ship alive, but he doubted that was going to occur easily or soon. Euric waited, as the instants dragged on like minutes and hours.

Zeptepi Zambrano

 

[Zeptepi Zambrano]

Euric Shadowwalker ​

Lady, he called her. This woman had never been called such a descriptive title. It sounded subpar, a word to describe a commoner. Zeptepi is most certainly refined in her mannerism, but femme fatale best suits her when the moment calls for such. Were the renderer of the label one whose opinion she respects, she would have taken immediate offense. Certainly this man's opinion will form more precise than regarding her outward appearance, if he is able to just stick around for a while longer.

The captive's response proved him not sufficiently wise. He could have declared any aspect of life at all worthy of his allegiance, family, meal ticket, protection, to one who bestows financial security. The Sith Order is a unified force to be dealt with, deserving of allegiance; however, the Sith Lord herself/himself is one adept to rely on none other. But then…"An untrained Force Sensitive, and a loner, often eradicates himself without much effort. Most often it is his pompous ego that misguides him." Yet her captive is obviously capable of surviving on his own to a point, much like till right now. "You have it in you to be so much more than a slave boy," Zeptepi revealed. She imagined it could be his mouth that caused him to become one of the dregs of society. "But of course the price is allegiance."

The captive's perception of seconds being drawn on for hours, perhaps days even, are indeed his reality, as Zeptepi where she stood, bled the Dark Side Force from herself, the very same waves of Chaos her Father had introduced and freely rendered upon her since the moment of her conception, and she bathed the man before her in it just a tad enough to lure him over to her side.

His reaction shall formulate her next decision.
​

 

[Euric Shadowwalker]

Euric didnt understand what he was feeling as the waves of Dark Side flowed over him. All manner of cocky retorts had begun to flow unbidden to his mind and towards his tongue, as the jubilation of not being summarily executed fueled his ego. But he didn't speak. His mind, still unbidden, went to what he knew about Sith. Terrible destructive powers to avenge himself upon those who had wronged him. He didn't think of it as evil, not after life as a slave. He didn't think of it as wrong, for he was at heart a practical man, worn down by years of being owned.

Servitude didn't faze him, as the anger rose in him. He had no conception that he himself might be a Force user, and now with the Dark Side flowing into him, he recognized the feeling inside himself for the very first time. What she said was true, he realized. He did have the potential to use the Force. She might teach him how to use it. For that he'd endure a thousand slaveries. Euric raised his eyes from the floor, though it took an effort.

"I will serve the Sith." He said it almost reverently, not a tone he had used much in his lifetime. Deep down, he recognized the significance of his decision, and not because it had likely been the only one that would save his life. He wanted to do this.

YES!​

That voice, so loud and ringing in his ears, the voice of hell itself, a dark and menacing and hateful voice, which had come to him at various moments in times past spoke now in exultation. Euric did not know what the voice was or if it was even real. He didn't know which possibility scared him more, and he tried very hard not to think about it. If there was a Dark God, and it spoke to him, or if his broken mind had conjured it up; he didn't like either idea very much.

He stood submissively looking at Zeptepi Zambrano trying not to show her his deepest fears. The humour and jubilation and even the anger the Dark Side had sparked in him all frozen away by fear and trepidation at what might await him. Servitude, yes, but so much more besides.

 

[Zeptepi Zambrano]

Euric Shadowwalker ​

She felt a plethora of emotion brewing within her newly appointed Apprentice. He would be an open book to her mind intrusion, however only unto the depth she digs down into the creative goo that defines Euric Shadowwalker. She has seen enough to learn his interest genuine. If he harbored soul secrets beyond her lite unravelling, they are of absolutely no interest to her at the moment.

She did allow herself to sense his genuine response and sparked elation to her offer. He seemed to be in disbelief at the turn of his luck…which in reality is only her bestowed grace. "Do NOT soothe your emotions. Let them drive you. They will help you to initially establish your more vivid connection to the Force." She is pleased to find him to be filled with enough indignation regarding his past circumstance, to feed his journey forward.

"With loyalty there is honor. With honor there is gratification, elevation in rank and notorious popularity. People respect power. Your loyalty to me is your means to earn honor in the Empire. You must learn to bring order first to yourself, before you take part in the Empire's conquering of the galaxy at large."

She waved her wrist and a control panel in the corner of the wall whirred. At that, the wall opened up to reveal a larger chamber beyond this little ruse of a study. Zeptepi walked past Euric and stepped into the larger round chamber. It wasn't much to comment on visually, but it held hidden compartments all throughout, filled with training gear. Her guard would follow, after first allowing Euric to pass through before themselves. She stepped over to a console near the opening, and withdraw him a data pad and some study discs. "Whatever sportsmanship has been drilled into your head, forget it entirely. In the rage across the galaxy, life is either retained, or lost. There is life eternal," she referred to a the lesser known Magick among the elite of her Father's house, "but trust me, you are not ready to live forever before you are skilled enough to keep your limbs while wielding a Lightsaber."

Zeptepi handed Euric the data pad and disc. He would find the journal unscripted upon it filled with the dogma of the Sith, studies required for Meditation and focus upon the Force. "Before you begin to open up a can of whoop-ass on anyone, first, while I am certain you have somewhere witnessed the Force in a state of manifestation, I will show you proof of the literal existence of it."

Zeptepi turned her palms upward and uttered a simple Spell in Paecean, causing the entire room around them to suddenly darken and become visually clouded with chaotic swirling plumes, thick, black and smoke-like. The tendrils fought to occupy the same space, her, and when she closed her eyes for a moment and opened them again, their color had changed. The Force in its vibrancy began to take on a pattern of her will, as heavy violent waves would flow and collide, during a storm in the open sea. This order of chaos would soothe the soul of a Darksider, and twist the stomach of one accustomed to the Light enough to wretch alike.

She welcomed Euric to participate in the experience, and manipulate the flow of the Darkside Force. "Focus your thoughts on how it makes you feel to know that you shall evolve as a warrior, beyond that of your past oppressors, and shall have your revenge upon them all, in time."
​

 

[Euric Shadowwalker]

Euric listened and followed his Master's lead. Submission came easily enough to him, which surprised the ex-slave, though he figured that this one time it had been his choice to submit. This would be his life now, and it would behoove him to learn and understand. He let his anger simmer, not damping it down as a distraction as he had done in the past. This time, he felt empowered by it instead of distracted from his goals.

His master led him into another room and provided him with a datapad and study disc. He put them away in time for her to cast some sort of incantation, which darkened the room and surrounded them in a smoky fog. It battered at him, unseen, but powerful, engorged and imbued with palpable energies. He felt not attacked or assaulted, but supported, empowered. He felt more confident, stronger, better.

With some trepidation, for the first time in his life, Euric reached out with his feelings, with his anger, and discovered he could interact with the Force that whirled and swirled around him. He was struck by the truth of Zeptepi's words. He was sure that she spoke true, that he would gain power, and liberate himself, and gain his revenge upon those who had wronged him.

Eyes alight, Euric spoke. "Yes!"

He would learn to use this power, and to command it. His Master would show him the path to power, and he must be dutiful, studious, and above all, obedient. This he knew in his gut. The Dark Side was with him, and would remain so if he remained on this path. A dark path, to be sure, but a sure path to overwhelming and unlimited cosmic power. The young apprentice did not yet know the depth and breadth of that power, but he wanted so badly to understand. He would serve...

Zeptepi Zambrano

 

[Zeptepi Zambrano]

Euric Shadowwalker ​

"This power is built into your DNA. Its greater than any know-how, than anything all the Credits can buy you, and greater than any fears man can instill. This power alone rules the galaxy with our guidance. Out there men only think they are in charge by those other measures of wealth. Together with the Empire, you will prove them wrong. You will make me proud when the time comes that you have learned to master this Force, and you return to your past oppressors and put them in their place in my name Samshij-Zambrano, and the name of the Sith Order. Show the galaxy that the Sith are beyond their reproach, high above contemplation of what mere mortal men believe to be powerful positions." She released her control of the Darkside Force, and it spread out into their surroundings like frantic sifting static.

"You probably have questions about the opposite of your inherent Darkness. What has the Light done for the galaxy? The Jedi hide behind human politicians to govern the people, people whose power is only an illusion, while we are blessed with our gifts of the Force. Jedi serve the people, instead of rule by their own hands. And look at where the galaxy is today…everlasting turmoil. It is our charge to weed them out and loose their insane grip on society. See, they pretend it is the nature of the Force that people should exist adamantly opposing the very nature of our species. They shun all emotion. Emotion, a Law of Nature for all creatures. Why should Jedi believe this? It is their excuse not to own up to their responsibility in their failings across the galaxy. Laws could be written and even discarded, without any guide to their justice. It's one thing not to give a crap, worse to pretend you possess no ability to!" She thought about the most outlandish facts she was ever told about the Jedi, and shared this thought as well. "Without passion, do you know how the next generation are even born? The Jedi in existence today were inducted as children who were abducted from their parents by the masters? Sith, on the other hand, we welcome our Acolytes, and most importantly through our passions we beget Sith! Whatever you know about your birthright, what matters most, is that starting today your lineage shall bring forth Sith!" she added, insinuating he ought be prideful of the fact.

"The journey to Master takes dedication and perseverance. It all begins with retraining your senses to perceive the Force naturally available for you to utilize in many powerful ways. Your success lies in my guidance, and in your mind. Believe that you can perform great feats…" Zeptepi waved her hands which revealed an alternate realm beyond their own, "and thus you shall." Before their eyes materialized a gathering of Sith shadowed under a veil of darkness, long past away from the physical world, chanting ancient words of magick in perfected unison. In their native tongue, they blessed the newly found Acolyte with insight and understanding.
​

 

[Euric Shadowwalker]

Euric stood and listened as Zeptepi spoke to him, explaining who and what he was, what he had to do, and what he could strive to become. The truth seemed inherent in her words, common sense, not lies and propaganda as he might have expected from rumours that swirled around the Sith. The truth of it was far less common, and he came to know it to be true. He felt it to be true, using senses he had not known that he had. Somehow, he had always had this power within him, had used it without knowing it many times. How powerful might he become once he had mastered the power through cognition, practice and training?

As his Master waved her hands, and the alternate realm was revealed to Euric's senses in all of its dark glory. The veil of darkness almost overwhelmed him with its sheer presence, and the Reaper nearly dropped the datapad, but caught it. He was awed by what confronted him there. The chanting, the words, and then all at once, understanding hit him like a tidal wave. Through his logarkine sense of language and inherent talent in the Force, unconsciously he picked up their tongue, and the power flowed from the words themselves into him, through him. They burned and seared themselves into his mind, accepted as truth and the source of true power. Euric couldn't see it, but his eyes had begun to burn and glow yellow with the power of the Dark Side.

He had been chained all his life, and more than just the chains of slavery. The chains of ignorance that had bound him seemed to melt away. No longer a slave boy or an empty headed dreamer, Euric had accepted the truth of the Sith, and carved the will of the Dark Side into his heart. Pride began to swell in him as he recognized the place that was made for him in the galaxy, his potential, and what he could become. He was Sith, and he was indomitable. Belief mattered, and his was forged in iron-clad understanding. He believed.

Eyes glowing, the Apprentice looked upon his Master's face with understanding, pride, and humble gratitude. "Thankyou, My Master." He meant it as genuinely as he had ever meant anything in his life. The chance he had been given, the loyalty and trust he had been shown. He would earn it.

Zeptepi Zambrano

 

[Zeptepi Zambrano]

Euric Shadowwalker ​

The power of the Darkside manifested, and communed with its own. Zeptepi inwardly beamed at the expression of her new Apprentice as he kneeled obediently. She had known that he would choose wisely! The ancestors had seen the future of Euric and approved of his training.

Others, however, who are simply and sadly born lacking in such ability to walk within the shadow of Darkness, are those do not fair very well standing before such learned practitioners. "Let your lesson begin," she permitted, guiding he now rise. She turned to face the room void of anything noticeable, but steel panelling which sealed hidden doorways and compartments in its walls. Numerous panels slid open and living prisoners to the Sith Order were forced to step through, and were left standing apart from one another. They did not make a move to huddle together, for they learned there is no benefit in unity where death is the most likely outcome for their presence in this training room.

"Your training is more mental than physical. The Force is mind over matter; the physical being your ability to tap into those highly active medichlorians racing throughout your blood stream. Focus on the Darkside Force within you, and let it flow forth like a beam of energy." The prisoners stammered but remained standing, their presence already forgotten by their beloved System, as the GA deemed these men already dead, the glory spoken of during each of their eulogies obviously warranted them nothing spiritually useful in the current moment, nor could free them in the future.

"These people are local politicians of the same planetary government which systematically beat you down, the same civil order that wants you returned to it, squashed under their iron thumb to belittle you to serve it's filthy self-righteous elitists!" she told Euric, her voice rising with anger towards the galactic situation.

"Look upon them and with every emotion you have ever felt because of their kind, lead with your Will to reach out and strangle each and every one of them! Save other young children from the fate which you had been forced to suffer under their rule!" Although Euric is the one who will be performing the task, Zeptepi likewise felt enraged by these heinous facts.​

 

[Euric Shadowwalker]

The Apprentice rose as he was bid, smouldering with dark side energy fueled by pride. "Yes, Master." Eyes turned toward the ones marked for death.

He had accepted servitude, and then accepted the truth of the Sith as his Master guided him along the path to power. He had been given the gift of knowledge; data to absorb, and ancient wisdom of the Sith long past. He felt a lingering sympathy for the pathetic prisoners, but cast it away. These were no innocents, they had held power. They had earned their fates. Anger rose in him as he looked on each in turn.

Years as a slave had taught him to observe those in power, and he realized now his innate ability to determine which overseers and masters were truly dangerous and not, had been yet another manifestation of his innate inner power. He could sense that each of these prisoners had tasted power. It marked them, as it blazed from him now, a torrent of raw anger and frustration.

Euric struggled to forge that beam of energy into a conscious exertion of his will. An iron thumb, his master had said. Euric's first attempt to carry out the command of his Sith Master was clumsy. As he reached out with his will and formed the image of an iron hand in his mind, he grasped too swiftly and too roughly, as the Force in his hands crushed the man's larynx inward. Clumsy, he chastised himself inwardly.

He had been ordered to strangle the life from the prisoners. Euric, undaunted by his first failure, allowed his frustration to fuel his second attempt. This time an invisible iron hand grasped the neck of the second prisoner. In his eagerness and lack of finesse, Euric squeezed too hard, and crushed the man's neck. Cocked it up again, fool, he cursed himself.

It was the glance the third man sent his way that did it. Euric saw defiance in those eyes, and without thinking, he lashed out hard in pure anger and flung an invisible chain around the man's neck.

This time, he felt control, visualzing an interlinked black shadowy chain, thin but solid, flowing from him and around the target's throat. Euric constricted the chain slowly, saw the eyes bulge satisfactorily, and held it there a moment, drawing out the moment. The man died, and Euric released him. Confidence flowed through the Apprentice, and he began methodically choking the life from each of the remaining prisoners one by one until it was done.

His rage was cooled somewhat by the release of his anger, but more by the exhaustion he felt after he released his will. The Dark Side had flowed through him, but as it left, he felt drained, and hollowed out. He realized he was sweating like he'd just wrestled a wookiee.

"I had no idea." He smiled a little wryly, embarrased at how out of condition he must appear. He was very fit, the life of a slave gladiator having hardened him, but he felt like he'd never been this exhausted by a fight before. This was something unfamiliar. A new path.

Zeptepi Zambrano

 

[Zeptepi Zambrano]

Euric Shadowwalker ​

She watched his Focus the Force all over the room, cast forth from his hands like sand in the wind. "Focus harder," she whispered to him. While Euric's first few attempts were impressive, they were the result of having little control, and thus she did not encourage him. Standing next to him and gripping hold of his forearm, she helped him gather the Darkside within himself, before pouring out his power upon the victims across the room. "You wouldn't want to strike someone else entirely." She imagined that a fellow Sith would react quite unkindly to being hit by a rogue Force power while on the battlefield.

As Euric exhibited more and more focused control of his willpower, Zeptepi identified with the exhibit of his lack of endurance. She had the option to teach two things in this instance. One being that meditation upon the Darkside can replenish his sense of perceived energy. The second, that the same Darkside which a Sith utilizes to produce the Force does not actually ever leave a Sith. His datapad will provide him with the specifics for meditation, while Zeza shall teach him, that however many times he believes in his training that he is going to die, he simply is not going to!

'Perfect opportunity to learn lesson number two.'

The next victim to be shoved out of his cell just so happens to be a jedi Master. He was screaming like a madman, before the neuron-control helmet he was forced to endure was suddenly removed from his head and rolled across the hard metal flooring. Zeza stood and looked at him, and in turn the jedi's focus immediately fell upon the two Sith. Zeptepi watched him shudder, as he struggled to regain his mental composure, likely preparing to spit blasphemies against the Darkside of the Force their way.

Zeptepi turned towards Euric and withdrew her lightsaber from her hip and tossed it to her Apprentice, while the Jedi was approached and a lightsaber was thrust into his open palm by a member of her Imperial Guard. Zeptepi ignited the blade while Euric held it, and she simply guided, "Your legs, your head, etcetera…etcetera…NO. Him, (swipe towards)" she pointed towards the jedi, "YES! And preferably first!"

The Master and her Guardsmen stepped back toward the edge of the room. Zeptepi watched intently. Damn if that jedi didn't immediately exhibit a facial expression that revealed he believes he can actually defeat her Apprentice!
​

 

[Euric Shadowwalker]

Euric caught his breath as the prisoner was brought in. He began to wonder what lesson number two was, and he soon found out it was not what he had expected. In his hands he found a lightsaber. An unfamiliar weapon, light for the damage it could do, but hard to control, wanting to leap this way and that from his grip. Swords he knew, and he held the blade between himself and the enemy, as his Master instructed him, he listened.

"YES! And preferably first!"

He heard what he thought was excitement in her voice. Pride swelled within him that such as she could be excited by him, his actions, his choices, his potential. He wanted to impress her, to make her proud, to be worthy of her instruction. As she and the guards stepped back, he resolved to obey the spoken command and the unspoken will behind the words. His eyes were on the enemy, the hum of the blades permeating the small room.

The Reaper did not know the man was a Jedi Master. He sensed great pain and confusion, but also power. He suspected the man might be a Jedi. He saw some manner of confidence. He'd seen enough times in his gladiatorial days that prisoners who were starved, tortured and abused could still fight well. He'd seen many overconfident and distracted fighters taken down to death by desperation. He did not underestimate his opponent, and he did not speak, there were no words necessary.

Euric ran at the Jedi, raising his blade high and swinging hard. The blades met as the Jedi blocked, but the force of the blow threw him onto his back foot, and the locked blades got dangerously close to his head as they clashed. Euric did not give him time to recover, raining a second and third blow down against the block, using the weapon almost as a hammer to batter down the Jedi's defenses. Anger and rage built in him, fueling him, pushing him on, to hit harder, more viciously. There was little technique to his attack, he was trusting to brute force and an overwhelming attack to keep his opponent from being able to attack him.

As they fought, Euric began to sense more, instinctively building on the initial sense of the Jedi that he had gotten. He found he could now sense the man's life energy in the Force itself. As he brought his will to bear, he began to pull at that life force directly, by instinct and the knowledge beholden to him by the Ancient Sith, draining the Jedi, while restoring himself. He battled with renewed vigour while his opponent began to lag, struggling more and more to intercept Euric's hammer blows...

Zeptepi Zambrano

 

[Zeptepi Zambrano]

Euric Shadowwalker ​

Zeptepi wanted to see to what extent Euric developed his natural abilities, in order to discover where to begin his training. She found Euric's initial attack to portray a profound fearlessness. He quickly proved himself to be a natural at Djem So as he initiated his attack against the jedi infidel with an unrelenting onslaught of powerful blows, exhibiting raw and splendidly terrifying brute force. While her gaze remained intense as she watched her Apprentice move, her eyes beamed mirroring her approval. To be truthful, this jedi while an apostate, is no cakewalk as an opponent, which only serves to prove how formidable Euric is, even as an untrained Sith.

The jedi soon engaged in avoidance tactics. He threw pushes and pulls in the Force at Euric in attempt to throw off the Acolyte's concentration. He tried to anticipate the Sith's next aggressive blows with the lightsaber. One block after another, the jedi's endurance began to crumble. The Light of the Force abandoned his willpower to control it. His last stab at regaining his control, he mustered his remaining strength to cast Force Light upon the Sith.​

She sensed Euric's attempt to drain the jedi of his power. "Brilliant," she whispered.

"You are far better than them," the jedi said to Euric, referring to the Sith. "You are not lost yet. Their methods of training are far more soul shattering than any challenge you have ever faced to date."​

Zeptepi sensed the jedi's dastardly move as a weakness, and she scowled. When Euric finally finishes him off, she resolved she would rush in immediately to teach him how to fully absorb his life-force energy, to be enslaved for use in any future casting of arcane magick. She wholeheartedly believes what she had been taught, that the jedi should eventually feel honored to have his soul utilized in Sith magick, as it would literally free him from the shackles of his erroneous dogma.​

 

[Euric Shadowwalker]

Euric fought on, emboldened by his success, and reveling in his newfound power. The Jedi fought with tricks, keeping Euric at bay with telekinesis. Euric fought with anger, with the desperation of a pit fighter whose life hung on his victory. He began to sense more from his opponent, and found he could get a reading of intent. Unclear, but it was there. This did not in any way distract him or slow the pace or ferocity of his assault. He rained down blow after blow, smashing at the man's guard block as if to drive his foe's glowing blade backward into his own body.

Euric didn't reply to the Jedi's speech. The words were lost on the Reaper, like the dregs of a drink poured into a river; they washed away, diluted and irrelevant. This one knew nothing of what challenges he had faced, nor of the strength of his resolve to serve the Sith Order and his Master; to be worthy of his potential and the trust shown him. She had not just spared his life, nor simply pointed him in a direction and ordered him to march. She had promised to show him true power. He would not deny the depth of that undertaking by showing it contempt. He would not allow this one to sway him, nor stand in his way any longer.

With the Dark Side urging him silently and continuously onward, Euric struck without warning, heaving back yet again to land another titanic blow. He saw the Jedi ready for it, the set of his shoulders, preparing himself to meet the force of the blow. When the Reaper's blade came down, it was faint, halfhearted. The true attack came from an unexpected quarter, far too swift and unpredictable for the foe to see coming or to meet. Euric's right boot cracked hard against the man's jaw, cracking bone, stunning nerves, and dealing a hell of a concussion.

He was not done. The blade of his lightsaber, locked into his foe's, slashed down in a blow aimed to take the sword hand off at the wrist. As the abortive Force Light came at his face in a blinding white burst, Euric missed his mark, instead cleaving through the other lightsaber hilt and taking off several fingers in a hissing crackle. The man screamed, and who wouldn't. The Forceful attack ended and the fight was over, the broken parts of the destroyed lightsaber dropping to the deck along with the fingers of the Jedi's sword hand.

Euric ignored the Jedi, trying to think. There was a lesson here, his Master had said. Euric didn't think it was anything to do with the lightsaber in his hands. He strained himself, wishing to please, trying to force his brain to think for once. The Dark Side of the Force, ever more familiar, had helped him to get a sense of his opponent. Instinct told him that he was on the right track, this was not a lesson about combat. He could feel the flow of energy still between himself and the crippled fool on the floor before him. He felt pain, despair, regret, grief. Euric followed that train of thought. The blade of the weapon in his hands hummed, a counterpoint to the vocal agonies of the defeated Jedi. He waited to be told what must come next, sensing that he shouldn't simply decapitate the Jedi and put an end to him until he understood the lesson.

Zeptepi Zambrano