Thread #6367478
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A golden noose, colder than any glacier, clings to your neck like a limpet to the hull of a spacecraft. Mad hands claw at the metal rope, trying to pry the burning steel from your scarlet flesh. Fingers try to dig a gap between the skin and the metal, to find some purchase on the polished bands of unmovable iron. They fail, and nails score small dashes on flesh already red. Red light spews from the heart of the crystalline rose, growing brighter as it illuminates ever more of the stone and concrete prison that will be your grave. Words that would cry for help are rendered silent by the amulet that swallows you with unending pain.
Coherent thoughts are long gone; the pain has stripped them from you, debasing you into a wretched animal seeking nought but succour from this agony. Crawling like a wounded nenamor, you claw with each hand one after the other, trying to escape this realm of suffering. Your eyes can see all the details of Tyus’ lair, but your madness robs you of everything other than the vague appearance of the stone tiles that you drag your face against. You pick up minor wounds from scraping your face against the rocks, but you do not even realise the scratches as the torture device blares in your skull.
Your directionless journey is eternal, the ceaseless cavern has no end. Trapped in this curse, you see no escape, but the animal part of your brain keeps you moving, because to stay still will bring death. Like the legend of Argonemus, you are blind and dumb, forced to forever wander this infinite labyrinth. But unlike him, you have not been stuffed full of cybernetics to preserve you from the ravages of time, so that his lament will last until the very stars themselves die out in the sky.
Blood and bile burst from your lips, spilling the acrid liquid onto the floor. You convulse as a second wave follows, staining your robes with the vomit. Retching, you meekly curl up into a foetal position as you shiver in your own filth. The darkness of slumber grows around the edges of your vision, and you shut your eyelids firmly closed. A new bright pain explodes on your right arm as if struck with a bantha prod. This spurs you out of your weak submission, forcing you onwards on this endless journey to find some relief from the suffering.
With a dulled thunk, your head strikes something. Weakly, you raise your head to see what has halted your journey. It is a bed, your bed, in your room. Lifting yourself up with shivering arms, you flop onto your bed, pulling off your foul robes and dive into the sheets. Naked, barring your underwear, you shiver in the warmth, still wearing the small remnants of your vomit. The linen is soft against your delicate skin, it holds your fragile form in its gentle embrace. Finally, graciously, you close your eyes and allow sleep to whisk you away from the pain.
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You are C2-9O, also called C2 and sometimes See-Two. As soon as the darkness swallowed the pair of you, you switched to night vision, then to thermal sensors. And nothing, you are blind. Rapidly running diagnostics to try to isolate the flaw within your wiring, but no defects show in the scan. So you repeat the action again, and again, until you have run it 2,589 times, only to get the same answer every scan. Finally, the unexplainable veil darkness is lifted, and you feel the erratic beat of your master’s heart. He crawls along the ground as if he were a droid with broken servos trying to complete its thankless task.
Running computations, you can not think of a way to assist him. You were not built for loading cargo; you are built for stealth and reconnaissance. You can’t carry him. Digitised thoughts of calling his friend Yira for assistance form, but you discard the idea as soon as it comes. Your master is defenceless, having another Sith aspirant witness him in such a state could prove fatal, or worse. After voiding his stomach of an evil liquid, do you find a way to help him. As he folds into a ball in the middle of a hallway where students pass frequently, you shock him with a powerful blast of electricity. This drives him on his migratory path, back to his room. The doors unlock at your command, and Vulfstahn struggles into bed.
Leaving the room, you are aware of the dead Sith Lord that Vulfstahn left and the trail he created between his room and Tyus’ sanctum. You need to hide your master’s involvement in this. Knowledge of Vulfstahn being there in any form spells trouble, not to mention the violent reaction to the old Sith artefact. You need to have the servants clear up the mess, and you need to wipe all security footage of Vulfstahn going to and returning from the location. The only place you can access this required level of clearance is within the security centre.
Scurrying on golden insectoid legs, you crawl on the ceiling, avoiding any organics and the view of security cameras you are going to wipe. Arriving at the door to your objective, you spy the hardened door between two reinforced walls. You do not have the strength to break your way in with force, nor do you have the time required to hack the door console. Instead, you slice your way into the ceiling until you find a cable. Connecting a probe to this now-exposed wire, you send a pulse of electricity into the cord. 12.457 seconds later, two humans appear from the opening door to check a minor security alert.
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Launching yourself towards the shutting entrance, you clear the doorway before you are trapped outside. Noise from your landing is infinitesimal due to your superb construction. If it weren’t the case, then the droid left to man the security console would have detected you through his audio receptors. With slow and careful movements, you shrink under a desk, watching the humanoid robot for any signs of knowledge of your presence.
>False signal – Send a fake message from the humans to the droid, summoning him to them.
>Fratricide – His back is turned to you, leap upon his neck and unleash a fatal burst of electricity into his central processor.
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Back after two months, I don't think it's long enough you need a recap so I won't include one this time.
Archive: https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Sith%20Asc endant
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>>6367480
>>False signal – Send a fake message from the humans to the droid, summoning him to them.
Good to see you Bored!
And we must remember to give C2 plenty of headpats later.
I'll be honest tho: I didn't expect us to get out of that room of our own volition.
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Your large, central, rubied eye watches the human-shaped droid, studying the figure with an intense focus. He is a large one, an unholy chimaera between a battledroid and an assassin bot. A thick torso, heavy with armour shielding his heart, strong arms conceal stowed blasters. It, being the last presence in the room, fulfils its duty. Alone, the robot’s eyes gaze into the screens without blinking, watching for anything of note while his fleshy companions are checking out the security alert. Vulfstahn is just lucky your synthetic brother was not at the desk during his affliction, otherwise the droid would have caught what these inept organics missed.
Despite his imposing build, you think you could still kill him. All you need to do is dig your fangs into his neck and unleash a torrent of electricity, frying his circuits. But as with all things, there is nothing certain. You could make a mistake and miss his vital wires. Also, leaving his body behind would only further raise suspicions. No, you will leave him alive, for now. Instead, you will send him a false message telling him to come to his dolts for masters, leaving you alone to conduct your business.
A fabricated message is produced by an antenna hidden beneath your outer shell; it contains sender codes that you’ve ascertained belong to the security forces. If they were competent, they would have revolving codes that change with every passing second, but with all the Sith housed in this compound, security wasn’t given the proper care it deserved. You see the logic, but find it lacking; these are the future of the Sith. Eyes need to be on them constantly; if an assassin waltzed in here and added some slow-acting nerve agent to the air system, you’d be down an entire cohort. Nerve agents are great, your master should really consider trying to acquire some, an excellent method to kill fellow force users.
The sitting figure rises to his feet and marches one step after another until he leaves through the doors which shut behind him, leaving the centre utterly defenceless. Uncurling your body, you extend your thin legs and crawl out of your hiding spot. Reaching the open floor, you leap like an alien predator onto the control panel. On the screen in front, both the humans and the droid are still moving away from this bunker. You have enough time to do your work and get out before you are spotted.
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Extending your tail, the mechanism inside reforms into a shape that fits the input/output port. It stretches out of your tail like a scorpion’s stinger, perfectly fitting inside the port, giving you full access to the protected controls. As soon as you are in, you send a message to the cleaning staff to remove all of Vulfstahn’s mess, biologicals are so messy, you’ve never spilt your internals before. The next task is to scrub the footage of Vulfstahn. If you had time, you could cut him out of the tape, which would be a much more elegant solution, but would take far too long.
Going through the files, you wipe all of them that could link Vulfstahn to Tyus’ death, let them guess and wonder while keeping your master out of mind. On the screens above, you spot the servants beginning their task to clean the surfaces of all evidence. The self-deleting message has already vanished from their commlinks, something they’d notice if they weren’t too busy with their tasks. And sadly, the robot has caught up with its masters, and confusion is evident on the humans’ faces. You need to go soon.
You have maybe a minute, possibly two, before you get caught. The question is, what do you do in your remaining moments? Removing the files is one thing, totally wiping the drives clean is another. If they try to reconstitute it, there’s a chance that over time, with advanced machines, they can do so. Or you could leave a bug in the security centre, allowing you and your master to access many of the systems once reserved for the staff. It could be such a boon for Vulfstahn, knowing where everyone is at his whim or opening locked doors. Your processor reaches a rapid conclusion, enabled by the lightning-fast silicon neurons.
>A Backdoor – Leave a bug in the security net, allowing you and Vulfstahn to access the system at will.
>Full Wipe – Leave nothing remaining, shred the storage completely.
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>>6367825
>Full Wipe – Leave nothing remaining, shred the storage completely.
We can find other ways into the system or the quarters of our rivals if we need to, but if Vulf is implicated then we'll never get the chance to do anything ever again.
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>Backdoor
This is obviously more advantageous. Are the Sith Lords going to see the ritual object & assume a bunch of acolytes killed him, then left it behind? Of course not, they'll recognize that his own risks were his undoing.
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>>6367827
Yes and... No.
Killing your fellow aspirants? Absolutely encouraged.
Killing teachers? Less so. Much less so.
Except for one particular fuckwit who'd probably pop his first hardon in fifty years.
>>6367825
>Full Wipe – Leave nothing remaining, shred the storage completely.
Safety first, especially safety that keeps us and the droid safe.
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Vulfstahn has had many encounters with the other would-be Sith, often leaving them dead. It is quite funny, he’s only killed other students at this point, no enemies of the Sith or of the Empire. If this carries on, he might become the Republic’s greatest asset. With an amused binaric chirp, you decide to infect the security system with one of your many viruses. You’ve been preprogrammed with a cohort of viruses, and in your downtime, you’ve written new ones to keep your cybernetic brain whirring. Deciding to use a slightly altered version of one that was implanted, you save some of your more bespoke code for times when secrecy might matter more.
Retracting your tail, the malleable hacking tool disassembles within its sheath. It is done. Your final command before withdrawing from the input/output port was to open the doors to allow your escape. You could have followed up with a delayed command to shut the doors as you exit, instead you wait until you are out of the room and send the command over the hacked network as a test. Confirming your success, the doors shut on command. Please with yourself, you scurry off before anyone can catch you, to watch over the sleeping form of your sick master.
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You stand in a world engulfed in war. Munitions screech overhead as they race to add to the ever-growing blood toll extracted from the two at war armies. The sky is poised with thick black-brown smoke that flows like heavy ink, strangling the orbited star’s already weak light. Rolling hills that were once fields of sparse crops are now dead. Choked of sunlight, the once resistant plants are withered, even their native adaptation isn’t enough to save them in this world of death. Excavation sites that bore into the dirt pock the land as far as your eyes can see. Some craters are small, others are large enough to house an entire star destroyer, all caused by an array of different explosives from repeated pummelling of the earth.
Bodies new and old lay scattered across the battlefield, resting eternally as they are slowly being swallowed by their perpetual resting spots. Some are nought but skeletons with shredded fabric; other, newer corpses are festering from exposure to the elements. Insects have are using the unfortunate cadavers of once young men as their home and a glutinous feast. They feast upon rotting meat, burrowing deep inside the once-living being and lay their eggs within. There are even those who look like men who are stuck in a deep slumber, if not for their slack faces and vacant eyes.
A remnant of a tank is corroded with rust, and its turret is long gone, taken by the detonation of the ammo held within the hull. There is no chance the crew could have survived such an explosion. Small fragments carve thumb-sized wounds into the decaying metal, and scorch marks pock the vessel, but neither of those wounds slew the mighty war machine. A foot-wide circle has been carved through the armour by a beam weapon. Next to the tracks are now dead soldiers, slain by your Lightsaber. They used the tank as a shelter, as they tried to advance through the storm of steel.
The planet breathes and the air around you oscillates with it. It strokes at you with a deep sorrow, trying to console the living when faced with so much death. A troop ship appears, no longer hidden by the curvature of the planet, and it angrily races towards you, bringing with it a hive of missiles under each of its wings. Two cannons sit on the craft’s nose; they are equipped with belts that feed explosive anti-personnel rounds into the barrels. The chain cannons begin to spin, preparing the mechanism to spew a torrent of murderous rounds. You and the men you led on this advance dive to the floor, behind the wreck of the tank, in a desperate attempt to find some safety from the bird of prey.
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As you wake, the first thing you notice as you shrug off the dream is the foul taste in your mouth, the second is the acrid smell that burns your nose. Then you see the stains of blood and bile dried to your flesh and in your sheets. The next thing you notice is the blood rose that hangs off your neck on a golden chain. No longer is the band trying to throttle you, it is loose and allows the amulet to move. Hooking your thumbs under the chain, you try to remove it from your neck, but fail. Your hands slide away as you almost free yourself, like a magnet meeting its opposite pole, it just doesn’t work. You try again and again, only to fail with every attempt. It’s not coming off, for some reason, whatever the reason you know it is not good, it has bound itself to you.
Piling your spoiled fabrics in a bundle, you cleanse yourself in the warm shower. Allowing the relaxing water to numb the ache that gently echoes throughout you. Cleaned, you check your commlink, seeing that it is midday and you have a slew of messages. The first dozen are from Hela, sent in rapid succession. Then they stop an hour ago, then there is one from the staff telling all students that lessons are not proceeding today. Remaining messages are students reaching out, asking if you know the reason for the cessation of today’s classes. The ones from Yira are filled with happy emojis, asking if you to go for a picnic.
Racking your mind, you try to think about how you’ve not been caught. It isn’t like you were in a state to cover your tracks. C2 perks up from his resting place as you pace aimlessly, trying to decipher the riddle. He speaks in binaric, telling you that they shouldn’t be able to tie you to Tyus’ death and that he’s now got access to the academy’s security network. You fire a series of questions, but the pleased robot gives you vague answers and tells you not to worry about it.
The question is what to do with your free day.
>Meet with Hela – She’s found out about her master’s death, meet with her and find out why she was trying to summon you.
>Study at the Library – Use the tomes of ancient knowledge to try to figure out what is hanging from your neck.
>Attempt to Probe the Artefact – Use the force to try to speak to the presence hidden within the crystal flower.
>Write-in
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>>6368413
>It is quite funny, he’s only killed other students at this point, no enemies of the Sith or of the Empire. If this carries on, he might become the Republic’s greatest asset.
"Local robot centipede realizes Sith are self-defeating idiots, finds it hilarious."
>>6368417
That might plunge us back into a blood-barfng agony coma.
>>6368415
>Study at the Library – Use the tomes of ancient knowledge to try to figure out what is hanging from your neck.
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>>6368415
>Study at the Library – Use the tomes of ancient knowledge to try to figure out what is hanging from your neck.
I'm wondering if we should hide the Artefact or something? Probably might backfire in a one ring kind of way.
Maybe cut ourselves open and hide it in ourselves since we have forced healing.
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>>6368415
>>Meet with Hela – She’s found out about her master’s death, meet with her and find out why she was trying to summon you.
We do have an obligation there, one should not ignore ones temp-master, tho I very much understand and support the wish to try and figure something out about his damnable thing.
That said; the library might be less of a source of information then the collection of the sith who sent us to grab the necklace, and his apprentice 'wink wink'.
>>6368466
>>6368471
>>6368480
Yes, absolutely. If it has to be said we should try to cover that thing and hide it.
I somehow don't think it will help much, considering sith can 'feel' dark side nonsense, and this is a powerful piece of nonsense indeed. But it can't hurt to try!
Unless it does hurt us to try, you never know.
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Hela has stopped trying to contact you repeatedly; whatever the emergency she was suffering, it’s over, one way or another. You need to find out what parasite is attached to your neck. And the rest of the messages are just noise from those whipped up in excitement, engaging in wild rumour and speculation as their mundane schedule is disturbed. That is all the other messages, apart from Yira’s. Replying, you tell her that you are busy with studies, you end the message with an uncomfortably typed smiling face. You have never liked replying to messages with images; it feels messy.
Sitting on your exposed mattress, you ponder how to discern what the item is and what soul is trapped within it. You heard a word spoken from the crystal, so it has intelligence; there is something within it. Lord Tyus did tell you it was an ancient Sith artefact, one that belonged to your people. It called you a mongrel, so whatever Sith within it must be older than the dark Jedi banished to Korriban, close enough to that age at least so his bloodline wouldn’t have been mixed with human. If you were foolish, you would try to probe it with the Force, but it has proved its strength. It crushed a Sith Lord and bound itself to you through a painful process; testing it with your power would only invite retribution. Playing it safe, you decide to visit the library with the task to find books that hold the old knowledge of a dead people.
As you garb yourself in fresh robes, hiding the rose beneath the dark fabric, C2 crawls up you to find his place coiled around your right arm. You wish you had some other way to hide it, but the spell it has put on you keeps it around your neck. Sadly, you can’t just leave it, you doubt that time would diminish its strength, considering its impressive age. Wrapping your patchwork cloak of flayed shade skin around your shoulders, you leave your room with a bag filled with the spoiled fabrics you have ruined. Dropping off the mess in one of the bins, you order a servant to deliver fresh robes and new bedding.
Walking to the library, you see the odd cluster of students around the ziggurat, whispering ideas about the cause of the day’s disruption. Passing them without even bothering to look at the faces. You wonder how Yira will be spending her day now that her plans to share it with you are scuppered. Hopefully, she’s having a pleasant day or practising the Ataru techniques you were last showing her. Uncharacteristically for a Sith, you worry about her. While she pulled off her task of assassinating a Republic senator, she is far from one of the strongest of the class, and you don’t think she will ever rise to those heights. It isn’t a lack of effort, it’s a lack of ability, which makes it even worse. There are those who do not reach the highest peaks. Most don’t, and they live good, productive lives, so it isn’t the end of the world. Everyone has their own path.
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Entering the library, it is vacant apart from the single servant employed to assist the now-dead Tyus, former Lord of Scrolls and Keeper of Artefacts. Dangerous profession. Approaching the middle-aged human at the desk, you ask him where the books about the Sith are. He fights down a sheepish smile and says neutrally that most of the books here are about the Sith. Biting down your irritation, you tell him that you meant the species, not the sect. That jerks him into action, he takes a second to think about the location of the area before glowing with a smile of recollection. Grinning, he tells you to follow him, and you trail him through the pillars of encased books protected against minor damage.
Arriving at a small section, he points out a collection of books, papers and scrolls. With a deep bow, the silver-haired man retreats to his station, allowing you to study in peace. Collecting a bundle of literature, you place the pile on a table and spread it so you can look at the names and covers of the writings. One book’s cover has a sketch of a Sith that looks surprisingly like yourself and is titled “The Secrets of the Ancient Sith”. To you, it appears like a decent place to start your search.
Awful, the book is utterly awful; every line is a question. Asking if the ancient Sith did this or that, or were they really like this. There is nothing informative about it, apart from the idea that the old Sith species were conquered by the dark Jedi who were banished from the Republic, and that the Sith bloodline eventually became so diluted that they faded from history. The following text is worse; it was written recently by some revisionist human Sith asking whether the species ever existed, and in his opinion, no.
One work posits that these Sith fought another extinct species called the Rakata, another source vehemently disagrees with that summation, saying it was a cult called the Bendus that fought them. One scroll mentions a few artefacts that escape the era, but they always end in destruction. The details the majority seem to agree upon are that there was a species called Sith, that had a small empire, which were conquered by the dark Jedi and were bred out into oblivion. That’s all that is there.
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This is the entirety of your people’s surviving history; they might have existed tens of thousands of years ago, and people aren’t sure who they were or how they lived. All the details that have survived the passage of time could fit on two short pages. The only remnant of your people is the word Sith. How you carry their blood in your veins, you don’t know, but you feel the weight of being the last of something magnificent. To inspire so much, to hold such power and knowledge. Then, to just disappear through mongrelisation, you yourself might be a Sith Pureblood, but you aren’t a full Sith. You carry human genetics mixed with Sith. And with your children, they will lose more and more of that ancient lineage until there is none remaining. Extinction isn’t something you can even fight, it is a predetermined fact.
Looking down at the collection of works, only now noticing the day has passed as you’ve searched fruitlessly through writings that contains nothing of substance. Feeling a deep ache in your chest, a yearning to preserve those who inspired millions over the ages.
“So this is all that remains.” A commanding voice echoes within your skull, his inflexion mirroring the pang in your heart. “A name and a mongrel.”
“Huh?” You ask dumbly, jolted to attention by the words.
“I am a Sith of old, without human taint. The Gand woke my slumber, attempting some ritual. I killed him and beckoned you, my corrupted inheritor.” He lets his words settle, then continues. “I will assist you, sometimes, when I choose to, and in return, you will prove to me that the strength of the Sith lives on. For now, you may ask a single question of me.”
>Write-in
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>>6368927
Hmm. We can ask a single question, but that means we can talk until we ask a question. He evidently doesn't wish to tell us his name, but he desires the sith blood to persist. We could ask how to obscure the trinket or.
>I am beset on with lessers in strength, and oppressed by those with more experience, if you would conceal yourself then that would be appreciable. I have no intention of begging a spirit for a hand out though, so I will instead ask "What rite and practices that I may practice did my ancestors undertake to strengthen themselves?"
He might have something useful, tapping into his desire for ancestral restoration. Or he might just tell us to kill an army alone.
Call it a test of his character
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Caught up with the two other threads.
Great job QM; and Anon voted good enough in my opinion. I'll follow the thread with great interest.
This is not a formal vote but opening discussion with anons.
>Is there any chance we turn the pendant into a light saber?
Conceal it, and if we could it would make a POGGERS weapon.
>Should our question be related to Sith-Force-Healing?
Looks quite unique to us and a rare source of insight on the matter
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>>6369115
Now naturally, my first instinct is that no, it's a pendant and inhabited by a furious spirit.
BUT if we ignore the obvious answer, and consider it more deeply, we don't actually know the properties of the crystal. If it could serve as the focusing crystal, or replace a kyber crystal entirely. . . well that might be something unique.
We just need enough ambition to do it.
about the question, I already elaborated that the reason to make use of this one question is a test to see where our mind goes.
by asking him for a route to power, we appeal to his desire to see the true sith reborn and their strength glorified. All from power we earned with our own work, rather than handed freely.
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>>6369121
Then, would
>Suck his ghosten dick about what we thought he would prefer on vague road to power terms
or
>Ask something completely useable here and now
be the most Sith?
This is a genuine question as I'm a bit of a star wars noob, like if you're the guy that wrote that great paragraph about dark-side of OT being cancerous-like, I won't challenge it or anything
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>>6369134
I am the afformentioned sperg, yes, hi, nice to meet you. I will try to not go on a rant again this time.
To understand the Sith sect of force users, their basic and underlying philosophy is "I am strong and because I am strong, I can do whatever I want". They believe that might makes right, and the pursuit of personal power is the highest calling they have.
their code goes as follows, Peace is a lie. There is only Passion.
Through Passion, I gain Strength.
Through Strength, I gain Power.
Through Power, I gain Victory.
Through Victory my chains are Broken.
The Force shall free me.
This encourages a very social Darwinist hierarchy of hedonistic competition to be the top dog. If you're clever, cunning, ruthless, powerful and capable of violence, you should get what you want.
This has the entirely foreseen and encouraged result of being a religion filled with backstabbing, self sabotaging, empathy lacking sociopaths. It's why whenever they turn up, they are a great threat [their individual powers are usually immense to have survived in the vipers pit and come out on top] but usually always fumble the bag [your level 200 sith lord is rarely a match for 50 level 190 jedi masters who trust eachother and can work together].
The ancient sith, the people, which this ghost is or was, used to follow this philosophy as well but they had a lot more success and institutional knowledge that as time has gone by has been lost to infighting, hoarding of secrets and repeated genocides of race and cult. If they kept producing sith of the quality of the old, they would still be producing sith capable of 1 vs 3000 with their lightsaber. Or sorcerers able to detonate stars and create new forms of twisted life.
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Getting back to your question, directly, Either is an appropriate sith answer in that it seeks to increase your personal power.
I prefer "what did our ancestors do to get stronger, that I can do" because it might prompt him to tell us more. The question is open ended, directly relates to our desire to improve, hints at a desire to revive/remember our ancestory which he is very sad has gone extinct.
What you ask is very direct, very pertinent and likely to yield a certain result to improve one of our new abilities. It does not attempt to play on his sentimentality or shared identity with a Mongrel less-than-halfbreed.
I want to aim for more, at the risk of it blowing up in our face or him giving us a worthless bit of information, ala "kill your master with your bare hands, that will make you strong".
Did that help?
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>>6368957
>Show me that the strength of the Sith remains
>Submit
Yea, no mate. Either we're gonna make this ghost proud, and in this we're competing with nostalgia or we're ending up a sockpuppet.
>>6368933
I like it, doesn't beg or supplicate, its nice and open ended (to the point where it might instruct us to perform the ancient rites of Push Up) and appeals to his pride. That's good, I like it.
Another option could be, simply, "What advice would you give me?"
>>6369142
Rant! Rant! Rant!
It is unsithlike to hold back and restrain yourself! One might think you a Jedi
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“I am surrounded by those who are attuned with the powers of the Force. I have seen a portion of your strength demonstrated against a Lord of the Sith. If you glow with the potency you contain, it could make my path difficult. If you conceal your power, I would appreciate that.”
“That was not a question, you are telling me what you desire.” He states, “But I shall continue to hide my presence, I would be parted from you by one who is not so young in their journey down the path of the dark side of the Force.”
You give a small, respectful nod to the invisible voice within your skull, then proceed to ask your question. “I will not grovel for you to impart me with your strength; I will succeed through my own will, determination and natural talent. What I will ask is: What rites and practices that I may exercise, did my ancestors undertake to strengthen themselves?”
“They dove into the depths of the Force, learning new skills through experimentation and study. The Force is not as static as many of your contemporaries believe, it holds much mysticism and mystery they have forgotten. They challenged themselves eternally, constantly pushing themselves to greater heights. If you mean something more direct, there are those with a true gift who could play with the essence of life itself. Some could consume someone’s soul and bind it to themself.” As soon as the spirit stops speaking, you feel he has retreated from this conversation, leaving you alone in the library.
Sitting at the desk, you sit there deep in thought. There is a long-dead Sith with all or part of his soul bound to the ruby rose hidden beneath your robes. You are stuck with him for now, it is clear your strength and knowledge are not great enough to remove the amulet. You do feel some slight bond with him, simply for being an undead revenant of your race. Furthermore, he has claimed that he will assist you on occasion when he desires to do so. But words are only just that, to trust him when he has such a grasp on you could easily end in treacherous misdeeds. Perhaps he wants you disarmed to a slow, grinding attempt to steal your body from you, it wouldn’t be the first time something like that has happened.
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A snatching hand of snow-white breaks your solitude as your eyes were gazing off into nothingness. The outstretched arm swipes a book off your table and brings it level with her head. It is the book The Secrets of the Ancient Sith, with the figure on the cover that looks too similar to yourself. With a mocking tone, the Arkanian smirks, “Did you really pick up a book because the guy on the cover looks like you? The Secrets of the Ancient Sith, huh. Self-inserting, are we? Not a good look when you can actually become a Sith.”
You allow Seyra to prattle on until she takes a moment to continue scanning the book, realising the true content. Sitting in silence, you look up at her impassively as you wait. Seeing she isn’t having the effect she wants, Seyra goes back to reading the book. “The Secrets of the Ancient Sith covers the primordial race, now extinct, that are the forbearers of the modern Sith…” Her words trail off as she continues to read, but no longer out loud for you to hear.
Seyra’s face slowly shifts from a furrowed brow of rejection to a look of utter confusion. Her jaw hangs slack as her eyes dart across the blurb of the book again, trying to find the joke that is eluding her. When none comes, she slowly opens the book at a random page and reads a paragraph in some attempt to fight off the dawning realisation. Finding no avail, Seyra holds the book beside you, so she can compare the figure against you. After a recognition that has taken too long, Seyra retreats without speaking another word with book in hand, leaving you smiling with a wide grin.
“Excuse me, miss, but you need to-” The receptionist’s voice ends as you hear a thud.
Placing the writings back in the shelf with a click, you give the worthless books a last glance. They are shielded within transparent blast containers that will defend them against fire and small explosives. As you leave the library, you give the dishevelled man a small wave, and he returns a weak smile. It remains as he notices you aren’t removing anything without first giving him your name. You do want to learn more about your people, and if you could identify the Sith inhabiting the pendant, that would be even better. Returning to your room, your failure is slightly lifted at Arkanian making a fool of herself.
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Maybe there is a secret text out there with more information about the Sith of old in some Sith Lord’s private library, but it won’t be within your grasp for a long while. Deciding to make good on your word that you will succeed through your own determination, you reread your copy of The Path of Unfettered Pain by Darth Sion. You continue to imbibe the work as you have done for the past nights. Burning the words and messages into your memory, you enter your shower. Scoring a long, but shallow, gash down your torso with your blade. At first, the sharp edge leaves no visible mark, then the blood begins to seep from your chest, staining the basin with the dark liquid. Focusing your will and summoning the Force, the wound eventually seals, and the flow of blood stems. Feeling drained, you quickly fall asleep.
Which teacher will be leading the class today?
>Lord Qiral – He teaches animal handling, and further in your career, he teaches alchemy.
>Lord Thane – The Besalisk will be continuing your journey with swordsmanship.
>Lord Velka – She will continue her lessons about the secrets of the Force.
>Lord Yvalok – His lessons cover subterfuge and extracting truth.
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>>6369373
>She didn't realise we are a Sith
Lmao, she thought her genetics were hot shit but we're a scion of the OG sith.
Not sure what we should pursue just yet but whatever it is should be a genuine challenge that requires experimentation like our ghost friend said.
On the temporal side we should consider that Seyramy beloved psychois the closest thing to a rival at this point and as far as we know it's fighting and mind control that are her strengths.
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>>6369374
Lord Velka – She will continue her lessons about the secrets of the Force
And remember: the teachers are giving out private lesson, which we absolutely and desperately need in on.
Alchemy could be an extension of the path of unfettered pain, we are already experimenting with our own biology after all.
But survival first and while we're a decent enough fighter we're a better space wizard and specialisation breeds excellence
>>6369387
>our only rival
Besides Yvalok, fuck him, and our would-be murderer with the fancy new nose. Yes, yes she is.
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>>6369548
Nah,unfortunately, we got his guy but not Thang.
And who cares if he's a sith lord and better then us in every way. I know full well this is exactly what he wants but the fucker needs to die, the rest is a plain skill issue on our end.
But first thing first.
We really should visit Thang, it'd be an invitation to try again if we don't solve this issue.
If we could get Seyra on side it'd be a done deal, and it would reduce our class to basically the two of us vying for top dog
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>>6369558
I'm not disagreeing that he needs to die just that he's not a rival per se.
>We really should visit Thang, it'd be an invitation to try again if we don't solve this issue.
I doubt he'll be as open in his enmity now that we've thinned the hoard and proved we can take him.
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>>6369560
Alright let's establish consensus.
Do we think the one who tried to brazenly murder us in a corridor is going to say: well we gave it a good shot, let bygones be bygones.
Or is he going try try again with more planning, preparation and resources invested (the teachers seem happy to give out money to the top students, plus whatever bonus he got from the missions)
If its the former no worries, if its the latter and I think it is.
He is a problem that needs to be solved.
>>6369561
I'm not, really. I don't think she wants us dead. I think she wants to win and prove herself superior.
Our next duel is going to be hell tho, sword against lightsabre.
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>>6369571
That or some other trigger we have yet to uncover (drugs/seduction/torture/etc.).
>>6369573
I dont disagree about Thang, we are on the same page, what I was saying as you surmised is that he will invest more energy into a scheme than the ganking attempt.
Regarding Seyra her whole premise regarding her duel is that she is better and wants be the dominant one, if we had lost and been honorable about the loss she would have dominated us like she threatened.
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PS: It's probably too late now, but it would be a Bith Brain move if we could plant evidence linking Yvalok to Tyus' death.
Also, we should reach out to whatshisface from the mission to barter/buy some intel on Thang.
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>Thinking sith are trusting enough to marry
lmao
>>6369627
I like the way you think about Yvalok but the guys speciality is subterfuge and the truth, we'd likely have to get very creative with the approach or come at from a angle he is less inclined to be as strong in.
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The group of students, no longer thirty-strong, kneel uncomfortably on the hard rock floor. Before the crowd is a raised lip in the stonework, explicitly stating that your teacher is above you. You kneel on the ground like defeated supplicants to a warlord who is in the midst of deciding who lives and who dies. The Sith Lord that stands on the raised edge towers over you in a kingly manner. Your knees would ache if this weren’t something you have been forced to adapt and ignore, but the chill from the marble still manages to seep through your robes and infect you. The room succeeds in its objective: to turn the students in from furthest state from ease.
Shoulder-high statues line each side of the hall; they stare across at their partner, green crackling fire dancing in wide maws. Each figure is half-melted into the brickwork wall; only their fronts are visible. It appears as if they are phasing through the solid surfaces to pounce upon the remaining Acolytes. You sit alongside Yira; her warmth is the only thing battling the chill of the room. Seyra is alone at the very rear of the class, her eyes constantly flicker over to you whenever it is time to practice what you have been taught. Your friend Thang sits at the opposite end of the hall from you. Since you carved up his face, Thang has always been like a coiled spring, never letting his guard down. A mask covers his visage to hide the ugly wounds that have been gored into his flesh.
Looming over the class, Lady Velka commands the attention of the enraptured seminar; all the students can’t peel their eyes off the Zeltron. The living Force has imparted the gift of beauty upon the race, and if that wasn’t enough to win the hearts of the galaxy, their natural pheromones add to the enthralling spell. She knows the effect she has upon those fortunate enough to witness her, dressing in clothing which teases her curvaceous form. Exposing enough to wet your taste but hiding enough that you are drawn deeper into the charm, needing to know what hides beneath.
Lady Velka’s lesson today is about the innate Force shield every living thing possesses, “Every living being, even those deaf and dumb to the Force, has this field. It protects them from the currents of the Force and those that would manipulate them. This shield only covers the person who originated it. Like gravity, we all have our own, and those without command of the Force can be broken very easily. To the point it almost isn’t there. That’s why they fall to mind tricks and bodily manipulation so easily. For example, you can reach out and crush their heart with no resistance. Now your protection is much greater due to your natural strength, for someone to wave their hand and have you dancing to their tune would require a great deal more mastery of the Force. And that is also why won’t work on a Jedi.”
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The class continues, and you listen with typical great interest as you follow along, trying to fully internalise the lesson being taught. It is one of the more important ones, having a rival Sith reach out with the Force and causing a brain bleed would be a quick and pitiful end. As she said, you all have an innate aura of protection that can be strengthened and tempered through practice and will. As the lesson comes to an end, your eyes rest on her form, enjoying the treat, until Yira breaks the moment by talking to you. Turning to your friend, embarrassedly asking while your cheeks flush, “Sorry, I didn’t get catch.”
“What are we doing after class?”
“Ah, sorry, today is a busy one for me. I have to talk to a few people.” You sigh, realising you’ve not been giving Yira the attention she hungers for.
With a pout, Yira huffs, “Well, look at you, too busy to remember who your friends are. You will have to make this up to me.”
“I promise will,” You smile and relent, meaning the words which soothe the human. Eyes returning to the front of the class, Velka shoots you a playful smile, knowing it was she who had you spacing out. A pleasant shiver runs down your spine.
Slowly, the class filters out, leaving just you, Seyra and Velka. Seyra has revealed that she has received private lessons from Velka on your mission together. After you beat her in a duel, she offered to share the knowledge of reading minds with you, but it is something you’ve not yet to taken up. To do so, the teacher would first touch your mind. Both women look at you with interest, wondering your reason for remaining after the lesson has clearly concluded. Far from the worst company in the world, you think to yourself.
Velka speaks in her velvet tone that is music to your ears, “Vulfstahn, class is over. Why have you stayed behind? Is there somebody you want? Me or Seyra?”
>Lady Velka – She has taken an interest in you since you’ve arrived, thanks to your innate power. You believe she will accept your request for personal tutelage.
>Seyra – She offered you a lesson in how to protect your mind and read others. You trust her more with this than Velka.
>Leave – You don’t trust either, and do not want to fall further into Velka’s spider’s web.
>Write-in
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>>6370170
>Seyra is alone at the very rear of the class, her eyes constantly flicker over to you whenever it is time to practice what you have been taught.
I'm not sure of we should parse this as her being Jealous, stalkerish or just overly aware of us. Though the fact she is alone says a lot.
>Seyra – She offered you a lesson in how to protect your mind and read others. You trust her more with this than Velka.
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>>6370172
>Seyra – She offered you a lesson in how to protect your mind and read others. You trust her more with this than Velka.
NOT because I'm on team Seyra, but I'm on Team Velka even less. The only reason I don't leave is because to do so after demanding this opportunity would read as weak and cowardly to the Sith.
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A few thoughts occur
1.This class is beneficial to any defense or attack if we can better visualise the effect, part of the problem with the detonators and the Jedi was visualising how to do it.
2. Having an inner "gravity" as a defense may be important to keep secrets in the future.
3. Seeing Velka and Seyra together makes me a little concerned that Seyra is her favorite.
4. I'm curious if we could hijack/backdoor someone trying to probe us if we took them by surprise
5. This would be an excellent opportunity to experiment as the force ghost suggested, Yira would be safer but she has none of the knowledgeor my personal interestto help us learn the fundamentals.
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>>6370172
>Leave – You don’t trust either, and do not want to fall further into Velka’s spider’s web.
I seem to remember that offer being a lot less about helping us understand something and a lot more about scrambling our grey matter until we couldn't spell our own name.
Also if we are to go bother a teacher for private lessons I still hold that we should at least *try* N'wes. Whom I keep wanting to call Nwah, but details.
Cause I very much doubt anyone has had the balls to petition the headmaster for tutelage.
But hey, ambition is a virtue.
Let's show some.
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>>6370172
>>Seyra – She offered you a lesson in how to protect your mind and read others. You trust her more with this than Velka.
Ok.
Currently I feel our goal should be aiming for a proper apprenticeship.
Velka got her apprentice lined up.
We're not a good match for swordmaster.
Remains Qiral and Yvalok. We might have a position lined up with the latter faggot (and each student eventually aim to kill their asshole of a master) but maybe Qiral might be a better match for us?
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“I would like to speak to Seyra.” You answer flatly, ignoring Hela’s tone.
“Oh, really? Interesting. The two of you may have this room. I’m done.” Hela feigns disappointment before smiling with amusement, implying you want Seyra for some unsavoury reason.
“And what do you want to talk about?” A challenging Seyra asks as the Zeltron slips out of the door, her hands are buried within her robes, likely fondling her Lightsaber.
“You owe me a favour.”
“I do?” She snorts with disbelief at your braggadocious tone.
“Yes, after I defeated you in our duel, you said you’d teach me how to use telepathy.” She bristles at the recollection of her loss. “And I would like to collect.”
“Ah, yes, we can work on that if you wish.” Seyra relaxes at your request; the recollection of the deal calms her. “But as I said, the way I was taught requires your teacher to invade your mind. So you can learn how to resist. That means you’re opening up your thoughts to me.”
“I remember,” You shrug, playing the situation off as something utterly mundane when it is anything but. Seyra will be able to touch your mind with your permission, doing with it as she wills.
A playful grin tugs at the edge of Seyra’s lips, “Oh, Vulfstahn I didn’t know you trusted me that much.”
“I need to learn how to resist it at some point. Why not now?” You huff, not enjoying the teasing.
“You don’t need to be embarrassed,” She says with a wolfish grin before letting out a little laugh that chimes like music. Looking around at the uncomfortable room, not impressed with the location. Seyra’s voice reverts back to her normal strict cadence. “I don’t like this hall, we will need to focus rather than feel rock and chill. We can do this in my room.”
Once again, you shrug, not caring where this lesson happens as long as you gain the skill. Seyra begins to leave the room, and you skip to reach her side, not letting yourself be left behind. You walk together through the countless corridors of the expansive temple. The pair of you do not speak during this military march. A few times, you spring with ideas for conversations to start, then dash them; the pair of you aren’t close enough for small talk to come easily. She walks beside you with practised poise that extols confidence in her every movement.
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Arriving in the same corridor that contains your room, she touches the door’s controls, and a sliding door moves to reveal her room within. An evil smirk has stretched over her face like a wicked queen, it quickly turns it to a much sweeter expression. Her arms slip around yours, and her head leans on your shoulder. Sliding into her room, she drags you into her sanctum. Following her with a confused blush, you follow her direction. As soon as the door shuts, she suppresses a laugh that slips between her fingers as she shakes her head. “Sorry about that, it’s just… it’s fine, don’t worry about it. It is just a little joke.”
The room is functionally the same as Yira’s and yours, but it is without personal decorations, a total inverse of Yira’s room. There is only one thing you notice, a framed photo on the desk that she quickly puts down, hiding the image. Gently sliding onto her bed, she motions to you to copy her. Seyra’s face is emotionless, like a sculpted statue carved from snow-white stone, displaying the beauty of a serene figure that time should not forget. Seyra focuses on the lesson, forgetting the chides of before. Trying to distract yourself from such thoughts before the lesson begins, you think of the Shades you fought in the forest with Urr’tal, not wanting her to know just how attractive you find the snow-skinned elf.
“This is how we are going to start,” Seyra declares in an authoritative tone. “You are going to think of something, how about… the forest outside. Think about it as hard as possible, try to shout it out. And I will gently graze your mind to see this thought. Don’t fight it yet. I want you to feel me gently listening in. After that, we can go further.”
Closing your eyes in front of your fellow Acolyte, something very risky, you think about the world outside this compound. You think about the tall trees that cover this forest planet that reach up ever so high. Then you think about the canopy floor that is as dark as night due to the foliage above that strangle the star’s light. Something very gently tickles your mind, like a hand softly brushing across yours, almost imperceptible if not for the foreknowing. Knowing that it is Seyra, you tense up, your muscles clenching as your mind begins to swim with thoughts.
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Words gently escape her lips, like the wind tenderly caressing loose leaves in autumn. “Focus on the forest.”
Doing so, you get used to feeling Seyra’s mental probe listening to your projected message. Seyra breaks the silence, “Excellent, now you do the same. Don’t try to focus on anything; stay relaxed, don’t try to burrow your way into my head. Just listen to the thought I am thinking of.”
Following Seyra’s instruction, your eyes are still closed, and you listen to the world around you. Through the Force, you can feel the material plane around you and the glow of power that Seyra emanates. Then you can hear, feel, and see the thought she is projecting; her mind is replaying today’s earlier class, where she is focused on Hela’s lesson. She speaks as she feels your presence, “Fantastic, now this is as far as you will go when it comes to my mind. I won’t let you have a look inside and use me as cattle to test yourself upon. But I will, when we are done with this, invade your mind. And when I do that, I want you to fight as I invade.”
After a couple of minutes of getting used to the sensation, you withdraw and tell Seyra, “I’m ready.”
“This won’t be gentle; it can be, and that typically means it is done with greater skill. But this is a brute force attack I will perform.” Seyra tells you in a calm, measured tone.
A psychic limb extends from Seyra and gently touches your brain. The force grows with strength. You try to focus on the forest outside, but the probe pushes with growing strength, trying to slip through the cracks of your defences like the sun slips through the forest’s trees. Fingers dig into your thighs as you try to resist the force, but the large waves are crashing at the dam, each one breaking upon the timber with new potency. Wooden planks strain from the stress, moaning from the effort.
>Full Strength – The Force is your gift, you’ve always been the greatest, unleash your full might upon her. (Roll three lots of 1d20)
>Defuse the Assault – Skilfully attempt to evade and misguide her overwhelming attack.
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>>6370820
>Framed photo on the desk that she quickly puts down, hiding the image.
Interesting, not quite a complete psychopath then. Given our lack of practice with this, our Innate strength is likely what we should rely on, I personally would like to be clever about this but I honestly don't think that it translates well out of theoreticals.
Option 1: Fabian retreat, let her in before full strength counterattack
Option 2: Use a subtle portion of our power to backdoor her psychic limb
Option 3: diffuse her attack with lewd, humiliating and violent thoughts about her and through her focus into dissaray.also know as sociopathic flirting
>>Full Strength – The Force is your gift, you’ve always been the greatest, unleash your full might upon her. (Roll three lots of 1d20)
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>>6370838
+1 to these ideas, this all seems like a terrible idea honestly, but we're in too deep already. Hopefully our droid will summon help or a distraction if she decides to scramble our brain like an egg.
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>>6370818
>Sorry about that, it’s just… it’s fine, don’t worry about it. It is just a little joke.”
Calling it now: Yira was watching, and Seyra spotted her. This bitch wants to drive a wedge, ether out of hr own interest or (most likely) to create drama and misery for rivals.
>>6370820
>Full Strength – The Force is your gift, you’ve always been the greatest, unleash your full might upon her. (Roll three lots of 1d20)
I am, of course, NOT in favor of psycho-flirting or wantonly lusting after frosty here, though.
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>>6370820
>Full Strength – The Force is your gift, you’ve always been the greatest, unleash your full might upon her. (Roll three lots of 1d20)
>>6370883
>Yira was watching
easy enough to explain that we were getting a lesson (and then get consent from Yira to teach her and practice on her). Serya said she won't let us into her mind, so we can use Yira instead. That way Yira gets to learn from us (which is what she wanted) and we have someone to practice with. No need to let Yira (or anyone else) into our mind though. Except...
>>6370838
Save the lewd thoughts until Yira is reading our mind... The old 'what am I thinking' trick (picrel).
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Conjuring your unbridled strength, you call upon your will and determination. You refuse to allow yourself to lose in the field in which you excel; you were gifted such strength, and it needs to be used. Allowing this small defeat here would snowball; it would lead you to accept another, and another, in training. Then, outside of training in the real world. No, this is your area, you won’t give any ground. Like a volcano, your power gathers and concentrates into a single, infinitely dense point, struggling to contain the massive pressure that begs to be unleashed. Like a great beast restricted by chains of straining iron, it can’t hold, it will be free.
Then it explodes outward, the wave of psychic energy surges and travels through your connection, flushing Seyra out of your mind. The wave of power does stop there, it carries on through the circuit of your connected minds. It is something you can not control; it is something you’ve unleashed and are unable to halt. Seyra, reeling, puts up a rushed, impromptu defence, but it is utterly pointless. The defences crumble as a castle made of paper against the rushing onslaught. Folding under your strength, without the briefest of pauses. Instead of Seyra entering your mind, you bulldoze into hers.
Emotions and thoughts flutter around you. They flicker past, brushing against you, giving you a small window into the memories. One recollection bubbles up and engulfs you. You are in the hallway with the doors leading to the rooms of Acolytes. Down the hallway, you spy a mousy-looking girl in the distance, freckles dotting the face that is watching you with such intensity. Deciding to have a little fun at the voyeur’s expense, you grab Vulfstahn’s arm, wrapping it between yours and rest your head against his shoulder. Then you pull him into your open room at the outrage of the human girl. Yira is quite fun to tease, she could be a good source of amusement if Vulfstahn and you continue to work together.
Ideas of how to wind her up the little float to your mind. You are more attractive than her; she isn’t bad in her own way, but objectively, you can make any man’s heart beat faster. Vulfstahn gave you that hideous outfit that made you look like a whore, something you still haven’t fully forgiven him for, and you know he was ogling you the entire mission. The first is sending him something, a small gift, what it is isn’t important, the key thing is Yira noticing it. Maybe flowers, no, Vulfstahn might think you are trying to win his heart. It could cause too many issues and complications.
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What could be fun is sitting next to him each lesson, learning from one another and taking an interest in him. It is enough to tease the young girl, but not enough that you are basically declaring you have feelings for the Sith. Maybe with prolonged contact, he would view you as someone dear to him, as he does Yira; that would be extremely useful. He clearly is a wizard with the Force and gives loyalty; while you can’t trust him, he would be an extremely valuable ally. Not just through his power but from his knowledge and the competition between the pair of you.
Vulfstahn is your foil in a way, the opposite of you. Where you love swordsmanship, he is obsessed with the Force. While both of you are exceptional in both fields, you have clear strengths. Since the acquisition of a Lightsaber, your skill has grown with leaps and bounds, eclipsing where you once were and growing your lead over the rest. But when it comes to the Force, you just lack the innate strength Vulfstahn wields. You’ve been trying to nurture your potency, which has worked, but he’s still so far ahead of you. Maybe you can’t ever beat him with raw power, but skill can make up for talent. That said, he doesn’t slack off in his studies.
It will be a hard struggle to overcome Vulfstahn, but your hunger to be the very best will not abate. You will fight to become the strongest Sith in your class, then the entire empire. The first step is surpassing Vulfstahn and hearing him verbally state that you are his better. He has defeated you once, but next time you’ll have your victory, and you’ll keep growing after that. Due to his seeming loyalty, it would be worth keeping him around after you defeat him, you’d just need to earn it somehow. Maybe there will be some artefact you find that could enhance your potency.
Withdrawing from the snapshot of Seyra’s memory, you remain in the centre of her mind. Time hasn’t passed, but you feel a gravitational-like force slowly gaining strength, wanting to remove you from where you are not welcome. Trying to restore the natural order of the universe. You do not have much time remaining in Seyra’s mind, there is only the opportunity to do one thing before you leave. Something small, like a peek at another memory or implanting some small alteration to the web of feelings and memories. Or you could just leave and respect her privacy.
>Recall a Memory – Look for a memory and get her thoughts on the moment (which memory?).
>Alter – You will not change who she is, but you can change how she feels within limits (what do you alter?).
>Leave – Seyra was giving you a lesson; this accidental invasion was not something planned. You will not betray her favour.
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>>6371399
Huh, it was just to mess with Yira... and not even to cause anything more than Drama, kinda disappointed.
I don't think we should apologise, she'd read that as weakness, altering or transgressing on her memories seems like it would make things worse and turn a somewhat agreeable ally into a grudge bearing enemy. On the other hand though tuning her to be very slightly more agreeable to us could do wonders for future collaboration. It's just a question of if natural growth or synthesising it is more beneficial.
>Worst idea: change her to be slightly more agreeable/Involved in us.
>"Less" worse idea: leave and take a look at the picture on the way out briefly.
>"best" Idea: leave and offer to help her attune to the force as quid pro quo for this and leave the door open to a functional alliance.
Might need to think on this a bit more.
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>>6371399
>>Leave – Seyra was giving you a lesson; this accidental invasion was not something planned. You will not betray her favour.
It was just confirmed that she doesn't harbour us any ill will, not really, and is even considering working 'with' us rather then actively against us.
This was effectively another competition and we won. But there's no need to be a dick about it.
Get out, thank her for the lesson and leave it at that. Seyra is damned prickly so leave it to her if she wants to pretend it happened or not.
>>6371405
Fully agree that apologizing would be a bad idea, but starting to tweak her is not the call here. We 'might' win something that's already happening but if she finds out/notices/anything its an enemy for life. We already have plenty of those.
We gain more by doing nothing.
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>>6371461
but we're not subtle.
We genuinely do not know what we're doing.
if we did, maybe. Maybe. But she would know, she's doing her damnedest to get us out.
More importantly us leaving rather then being pushed out is a very strong sign of goodwill and not trying to fuck her over.
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>>6371399
>>Alter – You will not change who she is, but you can change how she feels within limits (what do you alter?).
Implant the idea of "honorable rivality among Sith"
She'll aim to overcome us straightforward : we CAN work with her and turn her into an asset as she doesn't deeply desire our death : if she prove herself better, she's ok to keep us around. Let's subtly implant the fact as "equal" we could also rely on each other
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>>6371476
Yeah alright, as much as I have a small temptation to do something that could seed something down the line, it's outweighed by the practicals right now.
>>6371399
>Leave – Seyra was giving you a lesson; this accidental invasion was not something planned. You will not betray her favour.Toxic route can wait for now
The next question is how long has Yira been following us and what has she seen?
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>>6371399
>Leave – Seyra was giving you a lesson; this accidental invasion was not something planned. You will not betray her favour.
I'm in favor of making it obvious that we're onto hr, though, and being smug about it. Establish social dominance!
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I'm still torn on this, it's a unique opportunity that we will never have again, even a tiny nudge could be incredibly helpful.
Aside from that we really do need a mentor/sponsor to receive training from, falling behind further than Seyra at this point is a huge concern given her own growth with the lightsaber.
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>>6372073
While true I think that's a bridged that's been burnt for a few reasons.
1.like you said we do not know if she is dead or not
2. When she agreed to teach us it came under the provision we hop to her orders no questions asked and we specifically did not do that after our own recovery.
3. She has lost her own master and we can only speculate on the ramifications of that for her.
4. Do we really want to be going anywhere near the strangely silent incident that left her master dead when we have the crystal in us?
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Very briefly, you consider doing something in her mind. Slightly altering what is there to make her warmer to you, having her as a true ally, like Yira, would be most beneficial. But there are a slew of reasons why you don’t go ahead with the urge. Primarily for the reason that you entered her mind with blunt force, there was nothing subtle about the forcible entry, and that she was giving you a lesson on something you have yet to learn. To repay the favour with the defilement of her mind would set a poor precedent for future occasions.
Like a serpent, you slither out of her mind back into yours. With a deep breath, your eyes open, and you see the beautiful Arkanian sitting on the opposite side of the bed from you. Waking from her stupor, she blinks a few times before her crystal blue eyes settle on you. Her cheeks begin to glow red, and her eyes narrow upon you in an angry scowl. Her fists clench on the perfectly tidy bedsheets, bunching the fabric within them. Closing her eyes once again, Seyra deeply exhales as if trying to exercise a demon.
Without a word, Seyra gets to her feet and walks to her door. With a gesture, the door slides open, revealing the external world. “You have learnt enough for today. Congratulations, you exceeded my estimations. I clearly can’t teach you any further on this topic.” Seyra speaks with anger in her voice.
“Thank you,” You reply with a friendly and sincere tone, hoping it would reduce the sting of her loss. “I really appreciate the lesson, it will be most useful to me in the future, I won’t forget this.”
“I’m sure you won’t,” Seyra replies, wanting this conversation to end so she can rage by herself.
As you get up, you notice a book sitting centrally on her desk, The Secrets of the Ancient Sith, with a sketch of your kin on the cover. Getting up to leave her room as she clearly desires, you pick up the book and wave it at Seyra. “Find it interesting?”
Anger fades from her cheeks as her eyes focus on the item, “Very interesting, actually. Enough for me to pick up a few other works to get a more complete picture of the hypothesis.” She walks back into her room with the door shutting behind you.
Returning to her bed, you sit down, allowing her to freely access the cramped room. “Thoughts?”
Opening a drawer, she withdraws the paper that declares your people to have never existed and another one that talks about the hybrid Human-Sith called Naga Sadow and his crusade into the Republic. “A lot of strange and competing claims with nothing to back them up. One even claimed a member of this supposed people caused a star to turn into a supernova.”
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“Seems fantastical, doesn’t it?” You murmur.
“To wield such power,” Seyra smiles with eyes blazing with hunger, before shaking off her imagination. “But that, like much of it, will be a fabrication. A imaginative rumour that has survived too long.”
“Many things that have been forgotten are possible.”
“It does inspire the imagination, doesn’t it?” You ask, sharing the same wistful desire for such great feats.
“I will admit I have daydreamed enough times of the ability to do such things, imagine what I could accomplish,” Seyra clearly having another flight of fancy, before focusing on you intently. “What do you know of such things?”
“I’ve read the same works as you.” You evade the question with a smirk on your face.
“I’m sure you have, but I’ve got a feeling there is something, not a lot, that you know more about than me.” Seyra sits on her desk, looking down on you, enjoying the topic, with a playful smile on her face.
“Me knowing more than you? I doubt it.”
“Come on, Vulfstahn, after me so kindly teaching you something I didn’t need to, it is only proper for you to return the favour.”
“The only knowledge I have about people exploding a star with the Force is in that book.” Seyra pouts at your response. The very beautiful Acolyte makes your heart flutter. You wonder if her beauty was crafted in a genetic laboratory, for someone to be this gorgeous from sheer genetic luck seems unnatural.
“And what about this ancient race of the Sith that have been lost to time?”
“Some say they never existed.” You shrug casually, but with a lingering smile on your face.
“I would think so too, if not for you looking exactly like our namesakes. Furthermore, you were coincidentally reading about it in the library. So, Vulfstahn, why don’t you share with the class? Tell me what you know about these not-so-extinct people that you totally aren’t part of. Tell me about the Sith.” Seyra asks with eyes twinkling with fascination.
>Tell her – Tell her what? (Write-in)
>You know nothing – Don’t tell her a thing, she clearly knows, but until you can confirm her as an ally of yours, you won’t share more.
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>>6372293
>Tell her – Tell her what? (Write-in)
I would like to turn this into flirting by hyping the genetic legacy of the sith from one genetic freak to another but there's not a lot we can say that isn't classified due to our circumstances, there were several sith lords of renown who were sith and their feats are well known (in canon anyway).
We were no one, an urchin on some planet until we were picked up for training.
We were picked out by lord Tyus as a sith, but he and his apprentice have been tight-lipped about what we mean now though.
There have been other things (dreams/prophecies) but I don't know if they should be shared in detail.
If we can manipulate her into investigating the Tyus situation we won't have to do it ourselves. Also we should save juicier details under the provision she practices swordsmanship with us down the line.
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>>6372293
>Tell her- "That I am an orphan, That I am evidently a mongrel freak plucked up by Lord Tyrus, and I will be a sith in every truth that matters. If you wish to have much more, I am afraid I am only inclined to waxing poetic with my allies. Perhaps in our next lessons, Hmm?"
Let's leave it like that. Leave some interesting things to chew on, and make our offer clear.
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>Tell her we believe we are descended from that ancient race who laid the foundations of our very order, & Lord Tyus mentioned it to us when we first arrived to the academy, but that we were orphaned & have no further knowledge yet of our lineage.
I just realized something; the samples Tyus took may have been key to unlocking the holocron/phylactery we are now in possession of.
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“Well, I am just an orphan, no parents to tell me what species I belong to.” You say and leave a pregnant pause to allow her mind to work.
Your mysterious origin excites her imagination; different threads play out in her mind. “Very interesting that. You were dropped off at an orphanage, you look like an extinct species, and I have never seen another of your race before.”
“I will be Sith in every truth that matters. That is the only thing which is important.” You shrug, causing a wave in your long black robes. “Any more than that… I don’t think I feel confident sharing such details with those that aren’t very close allies.”
Giving her a cocksure smile, you get to your feet and head to the door to exit. Seyra calls out, “Hey, just tell me. I promise I will keep it between the two of us.”
The door slides open as you slowly slip out of the room, enjoying her interest, wanting to feed it and cultivate this curiosity. Seyra is the object of much fascination, let you be something that tickles hers. “Perhaps I will share more in our next private lesson.”
With your last words, you slip out of the room, letting her mull over your conversation and the offer. Letting her know freely could cause some ramifications down the line if others, who are more learned about your extinct species, want to study a living specimen. Still, the undeclared implication is enough to stoke her fancy. If she wants to know more, you’ve left the invitation open for the pair of you to spend more time getting to know each other. Ideally, you’d love to use her knowledge of bladework to increase your own skill, so that you can take her place as the greatest duellist of your cohort.
If she is interested in further collaboration, it could develop into a true alliance. With Seyra on your side, there’d be no one who could challenge the pair of you. The rest of the class would be seething with jealousy, not just your clear superiority, but how the wonderous Arkanian wishes to spend her time with you. Perhaps you can get sent on more missions together. You haven’t forgotten how she looked in the skimpy disguise you picked out for her; maybe you could convince her to do something similar, given the previous success. Memories of the image have been the frequent subject for many of your more pleasant dreams.
Walking back to your room, you see Ryn Sol approaching, calling out with a casual “Hi.”
“Hello, Vulfstahn,” The Chagrian smiles at you in a polite manner that contains his usual lack of warmth. “Oh. I have something you might be interested in. Free of charge. There are two ships bound to our humble planet infested with shadow creatures. One will depart to Umbara, taking any Acolyte hungry for glory or death to the front line of the contested planet. The other to our capital, Solace. Why, I don’t know.”
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Standing outside in the courtyard, you are surrounded by your fellow students. Yira is characteristically close to you. On the platform overseeing the students is Lord N’we, flanked by the other Sith Lords. Behind them is Hela, who scowls at you through the crowd, not appreciating you shirking on your deal to support her when she calls you. Well, that is one bridge burnt; there will be others to burn in the future. No point thinking too much about it. Two new figures stand upon the stage, one a Sith in the typical midnight-black robes, the other a Sith Navy officer in dress uniform.
“Students,” Lord N’we calls out. “I have much news for you. Firstly, I know you have noticed Lord Tyus missing. Sadly, he is deceased. We are still investigating the cause. I sent a request for a replacement for him, but due to the stresses of the war, we may be missing our Keeper of Artefacts and Lord of Scrolls for some time. Apprentice Hela has declined the generous offer of taking over the role, which vexes me.”
“Moving on, we have two guests, both with offers.” N’we continues, waving to the two new figures. “First, there is Sith Lord Furghast. I shall allow him to speak for himself.”
“Thank you, Lord N’we,” Furghast bows his head in a respectful manner, but not overly so to the point of submission. “I have come to invite you all to Solace. As I’m sure you all well know, the Conquest Games are beginning in a month, and we invite all you students to perform in these events. If you want to represent your school and yourself in front of trillions, against your peers, come with me to Solace.”
Furghast is referring to the games that are held every five years in the capital. Acolytes perform in a series of games that are typically non-lethal, but accidents do happen, to showcase their academy’s skills and speak to the exceptionalism of their abilities. It has become heavily televised, and you remember watching them with keen interest when you were trapped as a rube on the space station. There is also a second part for Attached Apprentices who have lost their masters. Unlike with the Acolytes, their competitions are most lethal, ending in a slew of deaths, and the victors are poached by watching Sith Lords.
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“I, too, will be joining those of you that wish to take part. Secondly, here is Marine Major Alarn.” N’we waves to the officer.
“Thank you all for your attention. I, too, have an offer for all students. I am travelling to Umbara, seeking those who wish to earn glory on the battlefield. This war is a hard one with many great Sith falling. But with harsh times, there are opportunities to shine. Come with me, help me turn the tide of this painful ground war. Display your great skill through deed, in a way that truly affects the Sith Empire we all share. Become a war hero and gain more attention and prestige than any athlete could.”
“Let us not attack each other, Alarn,” N’we warns at him with irritation plain on his features. “Students, the choice is yours. It is one of the other. There will be no staying behind, time to show the empire why you are one of the greats.”
>Conquest Games – You have always wanted to see the capital with all its beauty, and you don’t want to die forgotten in some field.
>Umbara – If you want one of the many Sith Lords to notice you, this gives you the greatest opportunity to spread your name and hone your skills in the fires of war.
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>>6372760
Hmm, Hera is a burnt bridge but that's fine.
She's an asset lost but not irreplicable. Does mean we need new avenue's into the hall of knowledge.
Hmm. I think this should also be taken into consideration, we have the ghost watching us. And the conquest games don't really offer us much in the way of glory, power or influence, just fame.
>Umbara
>"Well Yira, lets enjoy some of the pleasure world of Umbara. . or whatever other drivel we will be fed."
Take our lacky.
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>>6372760
Okay let's break this down, Conquest games has
>Seyra (Probably)
>The chance to get a master
>Intersith relations
>Exposure
However it also has
>Seyras lightsaber (probably)
>Intercompetitor intrigues
>The wildcard of a masters agenda should we gain one
>Exposure
On the other hand Umbra has
>A war zone to gain combat experience
>Potentially our own lightsaber
>external networking potential
>a chance to gain clout without sponsership
It's also
>a goddamn war zone
>Potentially other people's lightsabers
>external politics (of which we know nothing)
I'm tempted to go for Umbra simply because I suspect at this point if we were to go head to head in a competition with Seyra we'd have a very bad time against her lightsaber and Umbra strictly has a greater chance of that not happening due to its inherent nature and our developments with her even if she comes.
I'll set on this a bit before I vote.
>>6372769
Yeah taking Yira is a good call since she's at least a warm body for us to use and at best a trustable ally.
We should talk about the Seyra thing though to make sure shes not too fucked up about it and distrusting us and experiment with what we can do with mindreading on her, I'd like to try and develop better force sense with it through habitual use but we'll have to see if we can get there, the theory of it should just be an extension of reading minds just with less focus on a single mind.
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Side note, I suspect Ryn sol fell in with Yvalok since they seem to share information warfare as their field of excellence so we might want to be a bit cautious with him. Now that I've said that I kinda want to leave our decision until the last possible moment to see where things land but that seems rather paranoid.
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Well we have to take Yira with us either way for sure; she's more likely to die in a war-zone, but then again she's also likely to be targeted by any enemies we'll make in the Acolyte Games. Hard choice, perhaps we should ask the Major what HVTs we might be able to earn glory against on Umbara?
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>>6372808
Either use her or have her be used against us again like Yvalok did.It still bugs me to shit that I can read more sith motivation from Seyra than Yira, like if she's this poorly motivated as a Sith how the fuck did she come back from that assasination mission?
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>>6372865
>>6372808
>>6372785
Yira is a normal person trying to adjust to something as fucked up as sithhood.
And you wanna take her to a war bad enough that they're coming here for half trained acolytes they're going to throw at the Republic armed with swords and harsh language?
That's cruelty for its own sake...
But Umbara is probably the play, we had a vision of a war when touching the Rose, an old sith to impress and quite frankly I'd give us better odds there then in the academy.
But be smart about it, we can approach Seyra and say something like.
"Bet you I would do more on Umbara then you. What do you say, you watch my back and I watch yours and in the end we both come out the other side drenched in gore and glory"
Because she isn't going to be able to turn down that kind of challenge, a grand way to settle who is the better sith between us.
And the marine, they sent a soldier instead of a sith! Is going to be desperate enough that we can haggle and sign up as, and remain, a team.
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>>6372760
>Umbara – If you want one of the many Sith Lords to notice you, this gives you the greatest opportunity to spread your name and hone your skills in the fires of war.
Can we work out something with our shade-cloak and Force to turn invisible?
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>>6372894
She's a normal person who has survived the herd thinning to less than thirty sith apprentices and that makes me more more nervous about her being "normal" at the point where the teachers have been cultivating their students potential and connection to the dark side.
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>>6372913
Sure, Sure.
But most people are going to be more or less normal, most acolytes are going to be normal.
And then you reach the outliers in the top three
A man trained from childhood to be sith
A talented, driven, violent psycho
A weird alien walking around in a literal skin cloak.
She probably has a lot more capacity for violence now then when she got out of the forest tired, scared and bruised.
That doesn't make her a monologueing monster, it just means she's gone through bootcamp with some added political indoctrination
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I like the team idea anon, we should ask the other remaining acolytes who would like to work together for whichever mission we go on. I take it Seyra, Thang, & ourselves are the only standouts remaining in the class? Who are the remaining acolytes we haven't interacted with? There's also Yira, Ryn Sol, & the big guy rival to our fallen bro (RIP, PBUH).
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>>6373059
>I take it Seyra, Thang, & ourselves are the only standouts remaining in the class? Who are the remaining acolytes we haven't interacted with?
There were a few others that you were going to interact with if you went to the capital. As it seems you are going to be sent off into the meat grinder, only a couple of students will be going with you and none of them will be the bigger names.
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>>6373063
>None of them will be the bigger names
See I assumed as much, hence why we should bait Seyra, if the anons agree with me, since I very much doubt she'd be able to look us in the eye and say "Sorry Vulf, I'm way to scared and not confident enough in my ability to tag along to Umbara"
>>6373059
Thank you.
But I don't think there are that many who are dumb to go and good enough to stand half a chance of survival. Definetly not Thang, Sol also strikes me as the "not an absolute idiot" kind.
Basically I doubt anyone but us or Seyra has a chance, but together it would actually be doable. Perhaps even possible.
Worst outcome is that she still says no and we get to call her a pansy princess.
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>>6372894
>That's cruelty for its own sake...
It we leave her here, our rivals and Yvalok will target her, most likely. It won't necessarily be safer than war, where she isn't a specific target of anyone in particular, and where we can keep an eye on her.
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>>6373077
I doubt Yvalok would do that, cunt he is he is not one with a axe to grind against us.
>>6373096
Man she is going to laugh and call us a pussy, go figure since the game is way more up her alley since she's powered by pride and a drive to show off being the best.
Still this could be a good chance to acquire our own lightsaber without her interference and to grow our own powers.
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>>6373219
of course it's possible, so is wiping out a star.
We don't know how to *do* it, but that's what On the Job Learning is for!
More seriously, we already have an art about making pain work for us in a type of regeneration. We can try and apply principles, or use our natural prodigy status to simply feel out how to do it or try it and get some tips from the ghost for the balls of trying.
either way, the battlefield has less oversight and more chance for gains.
And more chance to die. But hey, that's life
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Of both options, Umbara calls to you. While there are fame, riches and networking to be earned in Solace, those are the lesser prizes that would only deceive the most materialistic of the Acolytes. The true reward is on Umbara; it is a world at war, with large armies from around the galaxy concentrated at a single point. It is a place you can gain true combat experience, that isn’t playing with blunted swords where mistakes are forgiven and forgotten. There is only so much you can learn without shedding blood in the real world. Furthermore, there are Jedi on the planet, and there is a greater concentration of Force users than in the rest of space, outside the home worlds of either order. With Jedi, there is a chance of you gaining your own Lightsaber from a corpse’s hand like Seyra has previously achieved.
Lord N’we finishes, “Please give your names to the representative that you will join.”
The crowd erupts in a hum of a dozen different conversations, turning to Yira, you excitedly exclaim, “Umbara. We should go to Umbara.”
“What?” Yira looks at you with the same shock as if you slapped her. “Are you insane? Do you have a death wish?”
“No, I get how it is dangerous, but think of all the rewards we can earn. We can get ourselves Lightsabers off fallen Jedi, we can learn by doing while everyone else plays make-pretend.” You were expecting to have to convince her, but the strength of the horror on her expression from the suggestion takes you off guard.
“There are over one hundred million soldiers on the planet, it is the nexus of battle in our time. There are thousands of full Jedi and Sith. We are not making a difference there. Maybe one day you might be enough of a bigshot to affect a war like that, but we aren’t anywhere close to that now. And I will never get to that level. I’m going to Solace, the games are typically non-lethal, I’m not trading that for a bloody land war.”
You try to think of a way to convince Yira, but no words come to mind, so she continues, “Come to Solace, take part in the games, see the capital, have fun, be admired by the mortals. Let Sith Lords see the pride of Lao academy.”
Smiling at her, you can see she won’t be budged. “I’ve got this, watch me come back all the stronger. Don’t worry, I’ve got this.”
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Continuing the conversation a while longer, you try to reassure Yira, but it doesn’t quite seem to work. After a while, you extricate yourself from the conversation to have another with Seyra. She is standing alone in the line to join the Conquest Games like the rest of the cohort. Turning to you, she shoots you a polite smile with her perfectly sculpted facial structure, “Hello Vulfstahn.”
“Hi, I see you are planning on joining the Conquest Games.”
“And you are not?” She looks at you incredulously.
“Here’s what I’m thinking: the games are a parade for the Empire at large. There’s no true combat, there’s nothing to learn, no true glory to earn. Let us test our skills and grow in a real war. You are meant to be the better duellist; don’t you want to give your Lightsaber a taste of real blood? Don’t say you are a greater coward than me.” You try to bait your fellow Acolyte into joining you.
Seyra chews her ruby red bottom lip as she considers the proposition and then lets loose a laugh. “Tempting, but no. No, I am not going to risk my life in a battle that doesn’t mean anything to me, just to prove myself better than you. If you want to die forgotten and nameless, you can do so, but I won’t be joining you. But it is very sweet that you wanted to be with me in such a perilous situation, that I am the one you look to for backup. It is nice to know you care. Are you sure you do not want to participate in the Conquest Games? I know you could do quite well out of it.”
“Maybe next time.”
“If there is one,” Seyra retorts with a shake of her head, letting her silver hair ripple. The line moves forward, leaving you behind.
Walking up to the Naval officer, he beams at you, then shoots you a sharp salute. Finally, handing you a list with two other Acolyte names, ones you can’t put a face to. “Nice to see that there are some of you who value duty before personal self-interest and fame. Some would even say that your fellows not joining are cowards. Major Tarr Alarn of the 1783rd Marine Corps, within General Wuen’s 32nd Marine Army Group. You’ll be with good company; there are a fair few of you lot we’ve picked up on our way to the front. All signed up now. We will be leaving at first light; the rest of the day is yours. Enjoy yourself, maybe visit the Mothers of the Sith outpost I see you’ve got here.”
With your name signed into the war contract, you retreat and decide how to spend the rest of your day.
>Farewell to Yira – Spend your day with Yira before you are parted for however long your missions take.
>Train with Seyra – You need to train as hard as you can before you leave, and Seyra is the right person to help you do that.
>Private Lesson from a Teacher – Who do you ask and what will be the lesson?
>Write-in
I will write a minimum of one, to a maximum of two updates before you go, if you want to do more than just what you now vote for.
>One Update
>Two Update
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>>6373449
>Train with Seyra – You need to train as hard as you can before you leave, and Seyra is the right person to help you do that.
>Private Lesson from a Teacher – Who do you ask and what will be the lesson?
Sith Alchemy or Saber training.
>Two Update
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>>6373459
I was going to say Yira, but I'm clearly outnumbered and this is proper cocky.
Have to respect it, but why ask for sabre training when we don't have a sabre? Seems a wasted opportunity, but you have my respect regardless
>support
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>>6373474
>>6373468
Yeah, that's Thane, he's a Besalisk. N'we is too important for lessons.
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Aight, neat.
I remembered right, like the idea of bothering the guy in charge and using it as an excuse to kick-start our career, so to speak.
But why not ask for something we haven't had any training in like
"how do you fight/kill Jedi?"
Cause he probably knows more about that then us, and it is something pretty likely to come up.
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>Time with Yira
>Ask Hela what happened while we were poisoned/apologize for being unreachable
>Mothers of the Sith????
What the hell is even that?
We should probably bang Yira before she leaves though.
One last thing, we need to take the armor & weapons with us.
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>>6373548
Mothers of the sith are concubines.
We got told that last few threads, they are in a temple on the compound and you get to have your way with them as a reward or rank privilege.
Because force sensitivity is partly hereditary.
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>>6373449
>Two Update
>Farewell to Yira – Spend your day with Yira
>Private Lesson from a Teacher – N'we, techniques against jedi/force users
I'd go with >>6373548 on talking to Hela, but not if it takes a whole update and stops us saying goodbye to our bestgirl, or learning useful techniques for the war
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Your time is limited until you head off. The best use of it is preparing before you are sent to war. What you want is a teacher, a benefactor who will give you some last-minute technique or advice to help you through this. Hopefully, that guidance helps you with dealing with the Jedi you face in the field. Of all the teachers, one sticks out: Sith Lord N’we. He is the overseer of this entire academy; all other teachers defer to him at the end of the day. For him to command this position over others displays his hidden prowess that outstrips the others. If it were not the case, then there would undoubtedly be a tragic accident involving him and another of the Sith Lords getting promoted.
The instructors are in the midst of leaving while talking to their guests. Furghast seems to be enjoying the company much more than Alarn, who just appears as if he wants to leave. Rushing up, before the master of the temple can escape, you shout out to the Sith Lord, “Lord N’we!”
“Yes, Vulfstahn, what is your concern?” N’we asks in a semi-polite attempt to hide his lack of interest in whatever you are going to say next.
“Considering the timing, I humbly request your guidance before I leave this academy. I want to be best prepared for the upcoming trials.” Standing with your back straight, you declare your humble request with a passionate intensity.
Cocking his head, his face shifts to one in thought. Then smiles and answers, “Yes, Vulfstahn, as the greatest Acolytes of this cohort, I will spare some of my time with you. It is only proper that you are best prepared to display the great skill you have been imparted. You could really show off at the Conquest Games how excellent the Lao Academy is.”
“Thank you, lord, but I meant when I’m sent into battle.”
The human looks at you with angry slits for eyes and hisses, “Battle? You are going to Umbara?”
“Yes, my-”
“What a waste.” Lord N’we stomps off, leaving the entourage of fellow Sith Lords behind.
One stays with you as the others disappear, the ancient human with leathery skin that sags on a delicate skeletal frame. With a wicked smile, Yvalok speaks, “Oh no, you are going to be dropped into that warzone? That was not a very intelligent decision. You have got so much to learn before you are ready for something like that. There is no fame or honour to be won there; your deeds will pale in comparison to the actions of Darths and Jedi Masters. Do not worry, Lord N’we might not help you, but I shall.”
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Within his cruel eyes, you see Urr’tal’s death playing again and again. Each time he dies, it is from your sword. Balling your fists up, all you want is to strike him, to break him and make him suffer. And while he will accept your hate, Yvalok will not accept disrespect. So you must nod your head and accept his direction. You aren’t strong enough to break free from his demands, yet. One day, you will take his head and embalm it so you can be reminded of his suffering every time you see it. All you are able to get out between a jaw clamped shut, “Yes, Yvalok.”
Yvalok takes you within the temple and into his study to begin the lesson. It is full of grey and purples, the vibrancy and the plainness are in stark contrast to one another. The old man slinks into a great chair that envelopes him. With a wave of a hand, he directs you to another, much less ostentatious one, close by. Sitting in your seat, you look at the frail excuse of a man and wonder how the bag of bones can be so withered yet contain so much power. Of course, you understand that the Force isn’t physical, but the sheer contrast is baffling.
“Was there anything in particular that you wanted to ask N’we for?” The old man inquires, studying your strange Sith face.
“I was wondering if he could teach me a way to more effectively combat a Jedi.” Removing the idea of asking for a task, you will never invite him to set one for you. As you sit there, you feel a gentle slither trying to softly touch your mind. With the teachings Seyra gifted you, a shield blocks the intruder from your mind.
A smile reveals a hint of worn, yellowed teeth. “Very good. There are things you can learn, but none that you are ready or have the time to learn. If you want to kill a Jedi, there are always the most common methods: Lightsaber or the Force. If you are not strong enough, which you are not, then preparation is key. Use weapons that Force users struggle with or a quantity enough to drown them in whatever manner. On a battlefield, that is much less useful advice, of course. My advice would be to take them unaware. Surrender and stab them in the back when they are transporting you or something like that. What I will graciously teach you is how to hide yourself, so that they do not detect you or your intentions in the Force. There are, of course, limits with it like everything.”
For the next two hours, he instructs you on the basics of the technique. It is also the opposite of reaching out and reading someone’s mind. As per your usual success with the Force, it comes easily enough to the point that this short lesson was worthwhile. You won’t become invisible with this ability, but it will mean you are harder to see in both the real world and in the Force, like something hidden at the edge of a person’s vision. Not what you were hoping for, but truthfully, it is very useful. Not that you would thank him for it.
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Yvalok sends you away when he is finished with the lesson, parting with the final words saying that the tool can be sharpened greatly with power and experience. Time has passed, and evening is rolling in with the sun beginning to slip behind the curvature of Lao. Having some time left before you go to bed, you need to decide upon some last action.
>Write-in
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>>6373647
Okay force stealth is actually useful, fuck you Yvalok.
Dammit with a limited amount of time left their is a lot I want to do
>Duel Seyra
>Shove crystal in our body for safe keeping
>Study the basics of sith ceremony/sorcery
>Practice mind reading on Yira
>Buy a slugthrower pistol (if we have the credits)
Everyone seems to think this is suicide which has convinced me this was the best path to take, I get the implication that most of the sith are too internally focused on power struggles to care about the very real problem of the Republic kicking our teeth in.
>>6373635
Okay can you explain the Yira best girl thing? I genuinely don't get the appeal.
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>>6373666
If we're talking battle, advanced force attacks would probably be better, Sith warlock/Necromancy shit seems more of a long term gig.
>Indeed. "What a waste" will come back to bite him if we don't die.
I mean I can also see at as " Kid just volunteered for the meatgrinder when he has a lot of potential" so it's less a slight and more we made an unwise decision to him.
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>>6373655
>Okay can you explain the Yira best girl thing?
She's bubbly, fun, has interests outside of Sith stuff in common with us, ad is possible to relax around. She liked us before we were cool, helped save our life once, and can still assassinate fools. She seems like a better pick for keep Vulf from going crazy in an unproductive and self-destructive way, and less likely to backstab us.
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>>6373682
Damn I might have to reread the first thread, I don't remember anything about the shared interests.
>She liked us before we were cool
I can't help but look at it as her latching on after we humbled Murl with a display of power.
>can still assassinate fools
She served a senator a drink while working with a team, not something I'd call a feat of her own.
>She seems like a better pick for keep Vulf from going crazy in an unproductive and self-destructive way
Yeah she great at that.... ditching out when volunteer for the war effort. I dunno I guess it's just a preference difference at the end of the day.
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God damn it Yvalok is making a power play
>If we die he lost a few hours
>if we live he can claim credit, where N'we wouldn't give us the time of day
So anything we do is going to advance his position and bid to be in charge
Say what you want about the slimy shitweasel but he is clever. And after one teacher died I bet he is smelling weakness
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>>6373760
He is a sneaky bitch.
>>6373754
>other interests
Shopping, desserts, watching movies in our room, goofing around in the snow, etcetera.
>the war
True, bur nobody else in our class and not even any of our teachers think it's a good idea. I'm disappointed that the whole cast thus far will be absent, but it's hardly a strike against Yira unless it's also a strike against Seyra as well.
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>>6373863
Those feel less like interests and just things you do.... I mean it makes sense since Vulf never had other friends from memory that basic decency gives him something to cling to.
>but it's hardly a strike against Yira unless it's also a strike against Seyra as well.
Seyra thought about it to give her some credit and took the route that as usual was demanded by her ego and passion to excel which is why I imagine the check was so high to convince her. I'm genuinely surprised Yira did not come but given she's relatively normal as people have said I imagine she still wants to be a kid.
It will be interesting to see how things have changed when we return as we'll have genuine combat experience rather than most of the limited experiences on offer here or at the capital.
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>>6373869
we'll just have to see what our freedom allows us.
But doing some networking isn't a bad idea either.
Don't discount the capital though, the only difference is "pressure to not die" is replaced with "pressure to not displease our teachers"
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>>6373871
I mean it comes off like I'm discounting the capital but I'm not, it feels weird to even say that. But different opportunities abound there that are not in the Battlefield and said opportunities are what have distracted the Sith from the war.
>the only difference is "pressure to not die" is replaced with "pressure to not displease our teachers"
I mean I'd say the whole thing is vastly different as it will be constant and bloody, no safety net, no restraints just violence and it's consequences.
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>>6373875
an error of nomenclature "genuine combat experience" is something they are going to have too. In that they will be fighting, with stakes and consequences for failure. It doesn't produce glass swords.
we will be experienced in a meat grinder. Which as you state, have a vastly different connotation, impact and experience.
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Seems there's no consensus. I will take the evening off and roll for it tomorrow if there's nothing decided.
>>6373655
>Duel Seyra + Too much other stuff
>>6373666
>>Study in the library for tales/thesis statements on soul stealing/binding/consumption.
>>6373689
>>share some of our lessons with Yira, before we part ways
>>6373807
>>Self study on the force(Vibeforcing of some sort to try and get newstuff related on our race)
>>6373814
>>mingle with the marines / navy
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at the risk of introducing more problems.
When you all say study, as that one seems to be winning at the moment, do you mean "read for an hour or so before going to bed" or are we more the angle of "find books to bring with us to the horrid warzone?"
Because I doubt there is that much time before we leave, but a lot of time until we get to Umbara.
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>>6374288
>We might raid his bookstore with the help of the pendant as a goodStuff detetctor.
First thing the other sith lords did was steal all his shit.
>Also, interested : does the cape grant us stealth bonus?
No, but a long way down the line, it might give you something else.
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>>6374291
Ok, ok.
I already had some plans for that cape and now I feel like I have to. So anons and bossman, thoughts?
>Urr’tal told us that turning a worthy kill into a trophy is the thing to do, so that is how we can honour his memory
>We clearly have a thing for the trophy taking
>We have the teachings of the Path of unfettered pain
>We have some basic concepts of healing
>We must add to the cape.
>It must grow with our victories
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>>6373647
>mingle with the marines/navy
Unless Vulf levels up like a videogame charcter by killing people, the only 2 reasons to visit the trenches are:
1) Loot a dead jedi for a cool sword
2) Get your own squad of dudes/become a better commander in general
Might as well start working on the second one.
Yira is going to the anime tournament arc that she's probably going to lose. Seyra might actually win. Either way spending an evening with either is going to be inconsequential. Vulf isn't gonna see them for a loong time anyway.
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Thinking about it, the soldiers are probably not nearly as insane as the force users. Evil, sure, but in a normal "power-tripping grunt" way.
Considering Vulf has force healing and is fairly "boring"(in a good way) as far as sith force users go, he could probably wrangle a squad fairly well. We're gonna need numbers and a basic level of loyalty to overwhelm a jedi or a padavan.
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You do not know how long this mission will take, or whether you have just signed up for the entire war. Whatever the case, you know for certainty it will not be a short journey to the front and back again. It will be worth acquiring a few works. The old Sith trapped in your amulet talked of eating another’s soul and stealing their essence. With the battlefield approaching, there will be more death than you’ve ever been around before. It would be a perfect time to learn such a power and feast on your enemies and the dying.
Stuck on this planet, the best place you can think of for such information is the library. That is, apart from the private collections of the Sith Lords, but to access them without permission would be most perilous. Arriving in the room stuffed with writings, you wave to the clerk who has grown used to your visitations. Pulling out a chair, you claim the spot in the room which is devoid of other Sith. More so out of habit than of need. Returning to the shelves of works, you begin scanning them to find some hint of the ability to devour the Force energies of others.
“You are searching in a public library for ancient Sith knowledge that is long lost in this age?” Asks a derisive voice in your head.
“Where else could I look?”
“Just to begin with, private collections of Sith rumoured to possess the ability. Old ruins that have yet to be unearthed.” The spirit counters.
“And how am I going to get them now? This is my best chance to find something related whilst trapped on Lao.” You try to hold back your budding anger from his scorn.
“You are not going to find anything similar to what you are looking for. Even if you did, do you think you would be able to use such knowledge? To consume someone else’s life energies and retain the growth permanently is a skill only the greatest practitioners can call upon. You do not even have the foundations of this power.”
No longer able to control your anger, you lash out. “You tell me of such a great power, and now mock me for attempting to learn the technique. Is it your wish to torment me with things always out of my reach? Are you forever going to be a fly in my ear, buzzing about great powers I would be foolish to aspire to learn?”
“Calm yourself, young one, you asked me for methods of gaining strength, and I answered. Just because you excel when surrounded by children does not mean that everything will come easily. Your long journey has only just begun; do not be in haste to reach the end. Progress takes time, and you have already learned much.” The firm yet calm voice responds to your fury.
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Leaning your head against the glass cover of the shelves, you huff out a hot breath. “What can I do then? This is my last chance to learn before I go to war.”
“Brave choice that was, it shows the fire in our people’s blood remains in your veins. Your skill has not matured enough to the point where I can teach you anything that will help you. And the things you want takes time to unlock. The basics must be refined until perfection; your strength alone is not enough.” He instructs. “But your ambition is to be commended and rewarded, with my name. I am King Adas, Lord of All Sith, Bane of the Rakata. Within the crystal you wear is the blood of my exsanguinated body. Unsullied by the taint of the Human Dark Jedi.”
Standing motionless, you absorb the news of the soul that inhabits the artefact bound to your body. The spirit’s presence retreats, allowing you to think in silence on the words that were said. Both the Rakata and Adas were real, which in turn means that mundane technologies of today can be infused with the Force’s power. Like the ability to consume souls, it will be out of your reach for a long time, but once you ascend to mastery, you will be determined to learn such a skill. Leaving behind the library, you return to your room ready for sleep.
A small knock stops you from dozing and alerts you to the presence outside. Getting to your feet, your arm reaches out for your blade, but C2 dissuades you. Informing you that it is only Yira. Opening the door in your nightclothes, you welcome the Human woman in. Her pale, freckled cheeks turn red as she catches sight of your muscular chest. “H-hey, Vulf. I just wanted to see you before you go.”
“How are you feeling?” You ask warmly, enjoying the blush on her cheeks.
“I’m worried, no I’m terrified.”
“Don’t be, you’ll be fine. I know it, you poisoning that Senator was more perilous than the Conquest Games.”
Yira hits your shoulder, hard. “About you, you idiot. You are going to war! What if you die?”
“I know this seems foolish to you, but I know what I am doing. I will be back and stronger for it. Be strong and remember, we are Sith.” You rest your hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look at your steely determination. Her arms wrap around your torso, and she begins to cry heavy tears into your chest.
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Aboard the bridge of the assault ship, The Hydra’s Revenge, you look down at the forest planet of Lao. The other two Sith from your academy join you watching the shrinking planet grow ever smaller. Major Alarn is overseeing the departure from the system. It is disappointing that so few of your fellow Acolytes have joined up. Too self-interested, a common flaw within the Sith order. When you get to a position of influence you will change this and many other things. Yira was inseparable from you all morning, clinging to you the entire time. Not her usual joyful self. Even Seyra wished you good hunting, before Yira could shoo her away. Just before you departed, Yira gifted you a variable blaster pistol, which can either spew out a torrent of plasma or singular, large blasts.
“Well, my Sith friends,” The Major speaks to the three of you. “It will take us two weeks to arrive at Umbara. Meet the crew, meet your fellow Sith apprentices, pick out your armour and weapons. Just a word of warning, do not kill on my ship. I have fifty thousand men, they will not take kindly to the news of their brothers dying within the vessel.”
>Kitted out – Get armour and weaponry from a quartermaster.
>My Fellow Sith – Meet your fellow Sith Acolytes.
>Stay with Alarn – Talk to the young Major about the war.
>Meet the Soldiers – Find out their morale.
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>>6374479
he's a BIG fucking name, eh
>Speak with Alarn.
Give us the sit rep, the projection of what we are going to be doing to help, the force dispositions and how well the matter is going.
we also want to know the disposition of the troops, and if this is their first or hundredth deployment. All stuff we can use.
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>>6374479
So... I don't know that much about Star Wars...
King of all Sith tho. That's a big player.
How did he end up in the hands of a random Jedi transporting the crystal on a space-buss?
There's no way they had a clue of what they had, is there?
>Stay with Alarn – Talk to the young Major about the war.
I like this man. "Welcome aboard, don't be retarded" also that's why people like Yira; even when we ignore her (which fair enough, I can see Vulf feeling rejected after being rejected three times in a row) she actually seems to care for us.
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>>6374479
>Stay with Alarn – Talk to the young Major about the war.
I do wanna find out about the other two acolytes at some point. What are their schizo reasons for going to war. The fact that it is just the three of us is pretty telling. Hopefully their not friends with our our rival.
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>>6374600
It was found in a digsite according to the apprentice we snagged it off, presumbably the Jedi were informed when it was found and yes given how the Master was apparently acting they likely at least had a inkling of what it was.
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>>6374681
I thought the wookie reacted poorly to our presence due to Seyra deciding to redecorate their room with the Padawans guts.
I mean it left the crystal with said padawan, so it can't have thought it was that dangerous.
>>6374655
I think there are a lot more then just three, they did the rounds and have picked up a few from every academy they've visited. Could be a fair number, and since we're last there's already gonna be a hierarchy established that we'll have to break down and get on top of.
>>6374695
I think it's worth asking the question: what kind of gear do you imagine is available and useful to us? Our lack of training with proper weapons and choice of fighting style limits that rather severely so I'm having trouble thinking of things.
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>>6374722
The Jedi did not expect us to be on their trail and so easily bait the apprentice I guess. He left the crystal with his apprentice because he likely sensed a disturbance in the force and got the report of the body Seyra presumably left in the bars bathroom.
He did put importance on it given the Padawan was to get out if something happened to him.
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The crew on the bridge work at their stations, interacting with the control panels and doing a hundred different jobs, made simple by automated commands that call upon preprogrammed libraries. All wearing their naval uniform without a single infraction that would get a seaman humiliated by an angry sergeant. Major Alarn sits upon his command throne, trusting his well-practised crew to do their frequently repeated task. With the flight of The Hydra’s Revenge further out from the core of the solar system, Lao is gone. Being aboard this ship reminds you of your childhood, stuck as an orphan in a space station and treated like vermin.
Retreating into the ship, the two other Sith disappear, leaving you alone with the Major. You need to know what you will be facing on Umbara. “What are we going to be deployed into?”
He looks at you with a raised eyebrow, “War.”
“Anything more specific?” You attempt again to pry out the truth from him.
“Umbara is on the Great Kashyyyk Branch, which leads into the Inner Rim. If we can break through it and penetrate deeper, we can threaten to sever the north of the Republic from the South. This, of course, was something they knew about, and the Republic has turned the planet of night into a dark fortress, brimming with fortifications. There are an estimated one hundred and eighty million Republic troops to our one hundred.” The Major sighs and shrugs. “And with our numerical disadvantage, we have to pry them out of their fortresses and claim them for ourselves.”
“Couldn’t we just bomb the planet and skip it?” Confused why so many lives are being spent when orbitals would be so much more efficient.
“No, the fortifications include multiple planetary shields and defence cannons. After the initial groundfall, we managed to capture a number, but not enough. Due to this situation, the Republic and Sith fleets are not committing to bombard the planet, as they would be pincered by the other against the defences. It’s this strange standoff where we both stare at each other, not daring to risk our naval assets.”
You have a better understanding of why this protracted siege is taking such a long time and extracting a great toll. “And what will we be doing there? What is our mission?”
“Trying to kill more of them than us, repeat ad infinitum, or until the Republic breaks.” He chuckles darkly.
“There must be some plan on how we are to be used, or we would be increasing the logistical load without a goal.”
“We are to reinforce the 974th and 33rd army that is fighting for Horostev City. Within the heart of the fortress, there is an array of twelve planetary defence cannons. When we win the city, we will hopefully capture the guns intact and land additional reinforcements and supplies on the planet. With enough of cannons, the fleet will be able to enter orbit safely and glass enemy positions.” Alarn informs you.
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“And you want us Acolytes to capture the guns without them being sabotaged?” You ask, thinking about the glory and fame you could earn.
“No,” He chortles, “I think I will deploy you and the others to find or clear a path across the river that is blocking us from further incursions, that is assuming I do not come up with a different task for you. If you achieve that, you can go home.”
“And how do you suppose we achieve it?” You inquire, dubious about the release clause.
“Either you, or I, or someone else will present an idea. Now, why don’t you meet your fellow Acolytes? I have work to do. You should meet the squadmates who make up your platoon and get to know them. Get your people to agree on a leader, it will make the organisation much easier.” Major Alarn finishes and looks at the screen on his command throne, forgetting your presence.
C2 emerges from your robe to reveal his large central eye that projects a hologram of the cross-section of the ship, highlighting where the other Acolytes are located. Committing the directions to mind, you walk the halls of the finely polished troop carrier. You don’t think the pristine ship would stay as clean if targeted by a planetary defence array. Soldiers see you and scurry by, knowing you are Sith from the dark robes and the flayed skin cloak you wear. Truly, it is a shame there is this disconnect between servicemen and Sith, you will both be fighting for the same cause. Dying on the same patch of dirt. It is good they know you are above them, but they should respect you, not fear you, well without cause.
Entering a mess hall, one of many, you see two dozen odd dark-robed figures. Your fellow Sith. The wraiths garbed in black sit in clusters, divided into small groups of closer acquaintances. But there are more: among the Sith, off-duty personnel can be found around some of the louder congregations, trying to curry favours and seek advancement. One of your Lao fellows is sitting alone, staring at a bowl in front of him. The other has already found a group to join.
Walking up to the server, the middle-aged woman hands you a tray with a bowl of delicious-smelling soup, freshly baked bread and a dessert. Giving the ageing woman a polite smile which doesn’t reach your eyes, you look back at the tables and the figures sitting on them, deciding who to interact with.
>Loud and Guests – Sit with the coterie that is laughing heavily and with service personnel around them.
>Reserve Collective – Sit with the group one of your fellows have joined. They have numbers but don’t seem to contain the mirth of the larger group.
>Befriend the Loner – Sit beside the Acolyte from Lao who is alone.
>Write-in
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>>6375013
We should probably be in charge.
Prison rules. We either crush our way into the groups that lack cohesion to challenge the apparent leader and take control, or we build our power base with the loner, make him reliant on us as a henchmen and using him as the start of the snowball to our street gang tier politics.
>Befriend the loner.
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>>6374478
You know, weird that Freckles over there never tried to pounce on Vulf, even with Seyra intentionally presenting herself as a threat. QM has decided that our boiled-looking boy dies a virgin lol.
Well, that all doesn't matter anymore, no more women, only war.
>>6375013
I don't get how ranks work in this army. Does the space navy guy Vulf just talked to also gives orders to ground troops? Do sith get normal military ranks? Is Vulf a private? An LT?
Which groups are "in our platoon"? Platoon is like 15-30 dudes(Although who knows how is it in the sith empire), if ours is 30 acolytes we can *really* fuck shit up.
>Loud and Guests
Starting with one sidekick is too little. Surely Vulf isn't a complete autist and can fit in with a group. Get to know the normies.
Also it's nice to know that the lunch lady is the same kind of creature in every galaxy.
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>>6375089
Yira is hardly the most assertive person, notice how she didn't even bring up Seyra's bad bitch act? She's likely as nervous about the act as Vulf would be.Now if it had been Seyra Vulf's bones would have been jumped long ago
>>6375011
>Befriend the Loner – Sit beside the Acolyte from Lao who is alone.
Not really sure I'm invested in this choice but the loud group gives me a bad vibes.
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>>6375013
>establish the hierarchy
>Clap hands together, raise voice and say "Greetings my fellow sith-to-be. I am Vulfstahn and for the duration of this war you all report to me, now. Line up"
Obviously they won't, but that's the point. We figure out who fancies themselves impressive, hammer them down and get the inevitable dick measuring contest over and done with now rather then under fire.
And there will be at least two voices of reason from Lao who knows not to fuck with us.
Then we can start chatting up individuals.
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>>6374600
>also that's why people like Yira
100%. The OTHER reason to pick the loner is the same reason to pick Yira: most Sith suck and are completely untrustworthy. We need some allies who are unlike other Sith in that way so we can beat the Sith who are more traditionally bakstabby.
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>>6375146
Do we think we can beat a challenger?
If yes we will win big, if no none of the plans to get on top will work.
Besides the major probably gave everyone the "No deaths" speech. So no deaths.
And letter various groups and leaders establish themselves will just make it so much more difficult in the long run.
Go in, hard, establish ourselves and then use that authority mixed with promises of lessons to play people against each others and stay on top. Like a sith do.
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>>6375140
We literally just got told not to start shit by the acting commander of the ship, even if we aren't the ones drawing a weapon we are inciting the incident.
Let's at least try and get along with the presumably fascist military at the start.
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>>6375175
Yes but that is always going to be the case.
I am willing to bet that just like our own academy the best went to the games, because why wouldn't they?
And even if they are good, according to N'we we are the best. So we'll have a damn solid chance at worst.
And that's going to be true now or in two weeks when we land
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>>6375089
>QM has decided that our boiled-looking boy dies a virgin lol.
You haven't been choosing to hang out with Yira, don't blame me.
> Does the space navy guy Vulf just talked to also gives orders to ground troops? Do sith get normal military ranks?
The Major is in command of a sizable infantry contingent which is primarily designed for space combat but in tough times will be deployed to the front. Think how Russia is using it's naval infantry in Ukraine.
>Platoon is like 15-30 dudes(Although who knows how is it in the sith empire), if ours is 30 acolytes we can *really* fuck shit up
There's roughly 30 acolytes on this ship. As you've volunteered with the Major you are under his command, but Sith Lords are outside the military command structure and can commandeer military units.
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>>6375301
>don't blame me.
I don't, I put "lol" there to make it sound like a joke, which didn't work at all evidently. It's chill, Vulf is pretty good at missing the right moment. My vote for mingling with army dudes has amounted to just a navy guy brushing Vulf off, so yeah, wrong vote from me there, should have coached freckles a bit for her tournament arc.
>The Major is in command of a sizable infantry contingent which is primarily designed for space combat but in tough times will be deployed to the front.
Oh joy, we're gonna go groundpounding with a bunch of boarding specialists. This is gonna be fun, can't wait.
At least Vulf won't have to emo cut himself in the shower anymore, there's gonna be plenty of flesh wounds to practice on.
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Eyeing up the collection of Sith hopefuls, you get a last look at the crowd before your decision. Resting your eyes on the Sith from Lao that sits alone, you will approach him. He is no lone wolf exuding personal confidence and competence; instead, he is trying to sink into his robes and hide beneath the layers of dark fabric. His posture is just awful. There is part of you that understands him, something you’ve tried to suppress since joining the Sith and awakening to your powers. Growing up a freak on the space station, you remember what it is like to be stuck in a place that you hate.
Balancing your full tray, you walk up to your fellow student and sit down across the table from the defensive Sith Acolyte. His head is buried in his hood while your red skin and face tendrils are on full display to all who would look your way. He glances at you, and despite sitting across from him, you can’t pluck out his name from memory. His eyes grow wide in surprise at the presence, then with fear, as he recognises who the person is. Sitting motionless like a womp rat caught in the headlights of a speeder, waiting for you to make your move.
Using your hand, you rip apart the small load of bread and dip it into the liquid. Letting it sit for a couple of seconds, your eyes return to him, before looking back at your bread that is absorbing the soup. Bringing it to your lips, you eat the sections infused with the flavour. Food is one of your joys. Since arriving in Lao, it has been something that never fails to brighten your day, and this meal is a good one. Chewing down on the bread, you slowly clear your mouth of the food before speaking to the nervous Acolyte.
“What is your name? I remember your face from Lao, but your name escapes me.” You ask the rough-skinned Weequay.
“I-Ilthor Ra,” Ilthor meekly answers back, he must remember you mutilating Thang’s face in front of the class.
“Well, Ilthor Ra, I am Vulfstahn if you did not know.” You say to the well-aware Weequay before taking another mouthful of bread.
“I know.” There is a pause as he waits for you to speak again, not taking the initiative in this lacking conversation.
“Why did you sign up? What’s your plan?” You ask, curious as to why someone so timid would volunteer for war.
“I know I’m not strong, the others let me know that every day. But here, free of them at least, I can try to earn myself some respect and gain strength; if I can’t do it on the battlefield, then I can’t do it anywhere.” Ah, so Ilthor Ra is viewing this as a do-or-die. Either he will manifest hidden strength or fall on the battlefield. Looking around the room, you gently open yourself to the Force, and you feel no others that come close to your strength. They are either failures desperate for a last chance or overconfident fools.
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“Ah, I see the logic in that. I, too, felt it could be somewhere I could grow. Playing in front of the cameras for a mindless crowd doesn’t sit well with me.” You reply to the Weequay. The conversation drags due to the Sith being too nervous to hold up his end. “What were you before becoming a Sith?”
Ilthor looks through you as he answers the question, seeing a time long passed, “I was a young man, enjoying my father’s limited, but comfortable wealth. I spent my days enjoying the beauty of Solace. Like the rest of us, I was spotted not long into my adulthood by a Sith, and here I am. Stuck as the runt of a litter, reminded of my place every day, mocked and scorned.”
“Hmmm,” You reply, not revealing that you have felt such things. Sharing your past weakness will only detract from the image you project. “Well, at least the food is good.”
He watches you feast, less on edge due to the length of the conversation and your inoffensive demeanour. “I can understand why you have joined us, partially, but why not join the war later, after you’ve at least become a full Sith? You would travel with your master to do what task he chooses, rather than us getting ordered into some suicide mission as expendable chaff? Right now, you could be enjoying the White City, the great treasure in Sith space.”
“The war affects us all, and we all need to our play part; waiting for the opportune time would be cowardice. Plus, we learn more by doing rather than playing games. The others will be atrophying whilst we continue our part to greatness.”
He looks at you with a look that spells out just how much he disagrees with what you’ve just said before quickly replacing it with a neutral expression. “That is quite a set of ideas.”
The pair of you continue speaking, and Ilthor slowly opens up over the days, getting more used to your presence, knowing it means no harm. You talk to the others and decide that you do not like the gaggle of loud, arrogant Acolytes. Noisy and irritating, thinking that they are just a step below Sith Lords. To their credit, their arrogance and general rudeness have not escalated into bloodshed, which is a small mercy. They do not see you as an object of interest, which tells you their ability to read the currents in the Force is lacking. Leading your new follower, Ilthor, you do converse with the Acolytes who are grimmer and more fatalistic.
During the weeks of travel, you spend your time focused on one thing.
>Self-Study – Further practise your ability to cloak yourself in shadows and touch the minds of lesser men.
>Raise Them Up – Train those who want to learn, you will make them more effective, and some might just survive.
The Acolytes from Lao participating in the Conquest Games have landed on Solace. A part of you is curious about how it is going. Do you call anyone?
>Write-in
>Self-Focus – Your time must be fully spent on preparations, no lollygagging.
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>>6375502
>Self-Study – Further practise your ability to cloak yourself in shadows and touch the minds of lesser men.
>Self-Focus – Your time must be fully spent on preparations, no lollygagging.
We are going to war, no distractions.
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>>6375522
I think it sets a precedent for distraction when we are better served facilitating our growth as a sith during this time away from the Academy.
But I'm also rather neutral on the whole thing even if Yira is not my preference.
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>>6375502
>Raise Them Up – Train those who want to learn, you will make them more effective, and some might just survive.
Of this is the path to authority anons prefer its not a bad one, but we do need to be more organised then a few random friend groups by the time we hit Umbara.
>Call Yira
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>>6375744
Because so long as we are always stronger, then they cannot stab us in the back and survive.
And stronger subordinates usually means, subordinates who can do more for us.
You just have to make sure they understand the logic and their actual chances of winning. That is, making sure they know that defeat is 95% certain.
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>>6375744
I can explain why.
Because our chances of success are far better with only semi-incompetent backup
Because we gain nothing if we fail and if we succeed by our leadership *and* lessons that's two feathers in our cap
Because those lessons is a way to establish our authority and makes us the natural leader
Because two weeks of self masurbatory meditation going to be a piss in the ocean for our capabilities
And finally
What do we want the reports to N'we and darths looking for appreciates to say?
Do we want "Vulf is good at stabbing things, but don't care for much else"
Or
"Vulf took charge of a disorganised gaggle of acolytes, trained them himself and led them on a local, but meaningful, victory and contribution to the war effort"?
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>>6375757
Dammit I was preparing a whole spiel about my conspiracy that Yvalok is going to sabotage the games to usurp N'we and how if we have one guy trying to backstab us and 29 thinking they have more to learn that's 29 bodyguards invested in our survival
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>>6375761
Don't let us stop that!
But you are clearly in the wrong, It's Lord Thane who is planning to usurp Yavlock when he makes his move on N'we's throne, the lord of the sword wants to cut out the legs of the spider when he is over exposed, which is why he threatrened Hera, who was also being simultaneously threatened by N'we and Yvalok, to avoid her master's title so that the gross old man overreaches and exposes his hand.
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>>6375764
OK, aight.
So let's look at the recent history of N'wes leadership
>a teacher was murdered
Weakness
>he has no culprit
Failure
>he's been unable to secure a replacement
Failure
>the lowly apprentice rejected his magnanimous offer of a promotion
Weakness.
Now he needs a win, and if his students also perform poorly, which sounds very much within Yvaloks skillset to ensure, then I'd say there is plenty of room to argue that the Lao academy needs a change of management, that N'we simply lost his edge...
Man he really would need a win then, wouldn't he?
Something like his best student returning a war hero, which was obviously N'wes idea all along, that he could focus on instead of the failures.
Only catch is that he'd have to ensure we live up to the hype he'll have to drum up.
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>>6375766
I don't know how much those last two are flaws against him. If the seat is allowed to remain empty though then you're right, it would start to grate and look poorly.
What I don't understand is how us coming back a war hero would help the scheme.
but, if Yvalok is hedging bets, then sabotaging the blade work or other principles that are overseen by other professors would be a good move right about now, as it renders our return either bright and the sole success [which fits he weird desire to nurture us] or a flat sheet of failures [which might unseat N'we]
the only question is who is the hatchet man for killing N'we?
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>>6375776
Because sith are dumb and value one excellent alot more then several good.
If we return the conquering hero (yes pure bullshit but the narrative is what matters) that's enough to turn things around.
Who cares about cameras and pageantry when you have lowly acolytes capable of shining in a meat grinder like Umbara?
Yes the risk is that things will escalate and more people will be sent there to prove how amazing of a teacher he is...
But hey that's just politics, and at least he'd be very invested in everyone's success
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As soon as you get acclimated to the ship, there is only one thing that occupies your mind: war. This will not be an easy thing; in fact, it will be the hardest thing you have had to do. Unlike training in the somewhat protected halls, under the supervision of a teacher who tepidly enforces the rule of no fatalities, death will be abundant. Corpses litter the planet already, and more and more are getting piled upon the ever-growing mound. They rot in fields as insects and vermin gnaw their bones clean. There will be no safety rails for you here. You will either succeed or die.
There are two ways to prepare for this baptism by fire. The first is to go away and train yourself in the new techniques you have recently learnt, going unseen and touching the mind of the lessers could be vital to your survival and success. Secondly, you could train these failures the best you can. If you are being deployed as a unit, then the better they are, the greater the likelihood of accomplishing your task. Usually, you’d attempt to go it alone, for so long you have been used to being alone. It is different now, there is always a Yira clinging to you. Travelling with fewer people can make a task easier. But you do not think this is one of those times. Resolving to yourself, you decide to uplift these second-rate Acolytes.
First, you talk to the decent-sized group that Narmakal, the other Lao Acolyte, joined. You tell them that you to plan train heavily until planetfall and suggest that those who wish to survive join you. Together, you can grow and learn to work with others. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail, etc. Ilthor Ra agrees with you as soon as you suggest the idea, like you asked him to do. The group has no strong objections and agrees to join you. Before you leave for a training room aboard the ship, you stand on a table and loudly widen the invitation to all other Acolytes. Seeing the crowd following you to the door, many are influenced into joining the herd.
They are bad, shockingly so. While you are happy to train Yira, there are times when hidden frustration grows due to her inability to grasp things that come easily to you. With these Acolytes, it is even worse; at least Yira is above average. The best here are average, and most fall far short of that. During the first session, you display a hint of your power without boast or arrogance; there is no point in upsetting those you are rushing to train. From the demonstration, they realise just how far you are beyond them and, through it, become the de facto leader. You reteach them the basics, drilling them on the easier-to-grasp things they can learn in the few weeks you have together.
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Despite them being poor swordsmen and weak with the Force, they are determined. They know that their life is on the line, and wasting the opportunity to better themselves will only cause their death. With these sessions, you push them hard; they don’t have the gift of time. Ilthor Ra is the one you push the hardest, and there are results. You do this because you see much of your younger self in the failure. There is one thing you do learn with them: how to fight with a blaster. You do not have Lightsabers yet, so fighting at range will be something that you are forced into. Luckily gifted by the Force, it comes naturally to you, as many things do.
As the journey to the planet of Umbara approaches the end, you think of Yira. You wonder how she is getting on; you know the games are going to start soon. Also, you are curious about what Solace is like and whether they have had interactions with the Sith Lords who call the capital home. Instructing C2 onto your bed, he projects a still holograph of Yira’s face from his eyes as you wait for her to receive the call. It takes a minute for the images to shatter and be replaced with her real face.
“Vulf!” Yira excitedly exclaims into her communicator. “How have you been? Have you made it to Umbara yet?”
“Hey, I’m good and not yet. We are arriving soon, just thought I would call, say hi and hear about what you’ve been up to.” You awkwardly say; you are not good at reaching out to others.
“It has been great, everyone has got such excellent accommodation, treated with the finest in everything the Empire can provide. There is this hum in the people, building with the days, their excitement is palpable. It is like we are holo stars. And Solace is beautiful, the world is a city, and the city is covered in white marble. Cupolas sit on every tower and shimmer with gold or prismatic crystals. It is a shame you aren’t here.” Yira pouts into the camera as she hugs a pillow.
“Oh, they have been treating us all with beauty services, making us look our best for the introductions. What do you think?” Her hair is tied up in a bun, and the subtle makeup on her face makes her look even prettier than normal. Standing up, she does a twirl, and her white knee-length dress spins and enlaced gems sparkle under the ceiling light. It really does look good on her.
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“You look beautiful, amazing, as you always do.” You grin at her over thousands of light-years.
Yira’s face turns serious, “How long do you think you’ll have to stay on Umbara? It would be nice if you could spend a day here, I’d show you my favourite places.”
“It isn’t quite clear, but shouldn’t be too long,” You lie to her, not wanting Yira to be worried about you when she must focus on her own challenges.
The conversation lasts a long time, and you just enjoy speaking to her again. Treasuring the moment as long as you can, before you are sent into a warzone. The days remaining grow short, and you’ve done your best to train your fellow Acolytes. It is the day before you enter the Umbara System, you need to get your gear and have it prepared. As soon as The Hydra’s Revenge bursts into the solar system, it will be racing towards the planet, and you will have to be fully equipped due to the high probability of a crash landing.
Entering one of the many armouries around the ship, you give the quartermaster your name, and he tells you, “It seems you have a friend, someone who has decided to remain anonymous, paid for you to get hold of one of our speciality weapons.”
You pick out armour and a weapon, you currently have a blaster pistol and a dagger.
>Heavy Armour – Resilient and hardy, but limits your movement.
>Medium Armour – With it, you might survive a single direct hit from a blaster, but don’t get hit a second time.
>Blaster Rifle – The common rifle that dominates the battlefield across the galaxy.
>Vibrosword – A standard vibrosword that will slice through armour.
>Scatter Gun – Short-range gun that fires an array of shots.
Pick a speciality weapon.
>Wrist-mounted Flame Thrower – Burn everything within a short distance.
>Variable Rifle – A blaster that can be modified into a carbine, a long-range rifle, or a scatter gun.
>Spikerifle – An armour-piercing gun that fires impaling darts.
>Grenade Belt – The belt contains more than your standard single grenade; it holds many different types.
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>>6375903
Well at least we've established dominance I guess, not that there's a lot of help to be had from them.
>Vibrosword – A standard vibrosword that will slice through armour.
>Grenade Belt – The belt contains more than your standard single grenade; it holds many different types.
Terror, surprise and versatility should be our play, I'd love the flame thrower too but the grenades offer a lot more options.I fucking bet Yvalok is our secret friendI wonder what Seyra's up to
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>>6375903
>Heavy armour
Hear me out. We aren't going to be doing dexterous swordsman stuff with guns, risk of fire saturation is high, and if worst comes to worst, we can reenforce our body to run faster. Better to take heavy armour.
>Scatter gun
>Grenade belt
We already know how to manipulate grenades with the force, and we have other people for long range. So use our stealth skills and get upclose to blast them before they can block.
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>>6375903
>Medium Armour – With it, you might survive a single direct hit from a blaster, but don’t get hit a second time.
>Vibrosword – A standard vibrosword that will slice through armour.
>Variable Rifle – A blaster that can be modified into a carbine, a long-range rifle, or a scatter gun.
Nice and versatile.
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>>6375903
>Medium Armour – With it, you might survive a single direct hit from a blaster, but don’t get hit a second time.
>Variable Rifle – A blaster that can be modified into a carbine, a long-range rifle, or a scatter gun.
Medium armor so we can do sneaky/agile stuff
Variable rifle so we can adapt it to what we're trying to achieve
Maybe we'll be able to loot grenades from some dead body or something. I don't think we want to get into close brawls, so vibrosword is not that useful. Ideally we'd pick up a saber at some point but who knows what is in store.
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>>6375903
>Medium Armour – With it, you might survive a single direct hit from a blaster, but don’t get hit a second time
>Vibrosword – A standard vibrosword that will slice through armour.
>Grenade Belt – The belt contains more than your standard single grenade; it holds many different types
>>6375916
Anons makes a solid point, and I'd too want the flamethrower. It'd be our saving grace in case of jedi. Curse you cruel decisions!
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>>6375903
>Heavy Armour – Resilient and hardy, but limits your movement.
>Vibrosword – A standard vibrosword that will slice through armour.
>Grenade Belt – The belt contains more than your standard single grenade; it holds many different types.
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>>6375917
I'm not sure there will be that much gun, really.
I mean we're going to be tasked with crossing a river and establishing a foothold, right?
Assuming we figure out a sneaky way across what's probably waiting for us is trench lines and small outposts, where our ability to do those coked up bunnyrabbit style swordsman are probably more applicable then taking it slow and steady.
I'm willing to be convinced tho
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>>6375903
>>Heavy Armour – Resilient and hardy, but limits your movement.
>Vibrosword – A standard vibrosword that will slice through armour.
>Grenade Belt – The belt contains more than your standard single grenade; it holds many different types.
Imagine powering up our grenade throws and launching them at the enemy.
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>>6376100
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>>6376107
>let's randomly mindrape our followers and torture prisoners
Nice try Yvalok! Nice try
More seriously yes if we do capture prisoners we should try to extract information from them, and we could learn a lot doing that.
But that doesn't mean we should go full canada on everyone within reach
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>>6376122
Well no, that's just rewarding insubordination.
Willing to compromise at;
Making a sincere effort to teach some of them how to notice and defend against someone reading your mind.
And instead practice more extreme/heavy handed/experimental changes on those we need to make an example of.
Force terror ain't going to discover itself.
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Sleep got fucked and I'm going to have an early night but I will leave you with this very important vote.
From reading the thread you seem to want to advance much quicker than I was planning. If you remember the original concept it was follow one guy during his younger years as a Sith. So far I've written 70k words and I can continue with this pace until the the end. But with your wishes of faster advancement, the current pace means this quest will never reach an end due to the length, and one day I will drop it for one reason or another. So what I can do is speed up this quest, include more time skips, have advances come faster. Meaning that Vulfstahn can reach higher heights and be more consequential.
>Continue the Path - You want the quest to continue to focus on the earlier part of Vulfstahn's career.
>Greatness - You want higher stakes, you want grander powers, you want the big leagues.
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>>6376317
You should be doing what you need and want to do rather than what we want, playing to the audience can often be a recipe for disaster rather than greatness. As >>6376319 said the nature of the beast (for players and Sith) is to want more power and to be as ambitious as possible but that should never come at the consequence of the story you want to tell, tell the parts you find enjoyable, skip over the parts you don't and just enjoy things.
>Continue the Path - You want the quest to continue to focus on the earlier part of Vulfstahn's career.
I'm enjoying the pursuit of power and just because we are ambitious and are driving that hard doesn't mean we are guaranteed to make overly meaningful progress at our current level while under the intense pressure that we've put ourselves under.
Ultimately I'm just along for the ride thoughand making Vulfstahn an abjectly worse personwith Seyra
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>>6375903
>>Heavy Armour – Resilient and hardy, but limits your movement.
Our stealth power is shit for now, we go mage tank
>>Blaster Rifle – The common rifle that dominates the battlefield across the galaxy.
>>Grenade Belt – The belt contains more than your standard single grenade; it holds many different types.
Force is cool, however, grenades are slightly cooler.
>>6375902
>You awkwardly say; you are not good at reaching out to others.
See, I enjoy Yira because without her addition Vulf is just a brooding dude who wants power and revenge. Also I guess I'm a sucker for "normal" romance in places where it really shouldn't be. You know, it's like a romance in the cyberpunk game. It's really not the time nor place to be doing that, but the romance subplot persists.
>>6376317
After the "rocks fall, everybody jumps Vulf" in the end of thread 1, besides graduating in one piece, the second end goal of the quest became killing that one old man who's name I forgot. Will we get to the necessary power level to do so at the current pace? If yes then we're fine. I don't really care about seeing the big war through, that can just happen in the background with occasional missions(I do yearn for the frontline a bit though. Personal preference).
Vulf getting his revenge and graduating to slot himself into the empire at some level would be pretty good end I think, if he doesn't die. If that doesn't require speeding up, then
>Continue the Path - You want the quest to continue to focus on the earlier part of Vulfstahn's career.
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>>6376331
I know what I said!Seriously though I see Yira as a sweet but ultimately doomed romance due to the nature of the dark side, Seyra on the other hand is all about the dark side and feeds his worse impulses and ambitions
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>>6376317
>Continue the Path - You want the quest to continue to focus on the earlier part of Vulfstahn's career
Perfectly happy to keep things slow, over reaching and fucking up seems almost appropriate for us as players. So don't feel any pressure to keep powercreeping
>>6376350
The man who is going to start the "Bad Rancor" company and line of products.
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ill still, sorry again, tomorrow i promise
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Drew Vulf. Got a bunch of space left so I drew Yira eating the weird flesh thing sith faces have(The voices told me to)
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>>6377402
>Excellent stuff! Vulf is buffer than I envisioned.Should have edited his head to be bigger probably. Normal "walk away from the drawing for an hour, find an obvious flaw" kind of thing.
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With a judder, the troop transport holding tens of thousands of souls re-enters realspace. The stretched stars that look like smudged white paint on the dark galactic canvas are now solid and stationary, settling in place. Surrounding The Hydra’s Revenge are a swarm of behemoths hanging listlessly in the void. In concert, they glare at the planet Umbara and past it at the fleet, the other side of the beleaguered planet. Stuck in motion, not daring to risk their fleet, they let the masses of troops fight and die. Their number is insignificant on a galactic scale; who cares about millions when there are hundreds of trillions spread across the galaxy? What really limits the space-faring civilisations is their warships.
Passing through the ball of gargantuan warships that bristle with world-shattering firepower, which are painted the same colour as the surrounding void, The Hyra’s Revenge weaves between imposing ships that will not move for something so small. Within each star destroyer’s reactor is housed a small sun, able to feed the turbolasers that can spew firepower that would emasculate any ancient nuclear device. There is not one single class of star destroyer, but most are based on the Domination class. Within this class, there are plenty of variants tailored for specific roles and are well represented here. Also, there are older models, built in shipyards that are now disused and forgotten in history.
The greatest of all are the super star destroyers, massive durasteel constructs the size of many star destroyers combined into a single hull. Each one houses shield generators so large and numerous that it would need a medium-sized fleet to crack the protective shell. Sprinting past, you get a good look one in your helmet’s screen - at the sharp, knife-like bow that elongates into a pyramid with a massive engine at the base. Gazing at such a wondrous work of technical marvel, you are shaken with awe at the sheer scale of the beast.
Your ship races past the fleet at a staggering percentage of light. Engines groan and ache from the stress, but it is necessary. A slow approach would have The Hydra’s Revenge at the mercy of patrolling enemy fighters searching for vulnerable targets, or the Republic-controlled planetary cannons that can pluck easy targets out of the sky. Within the vessel, you and your fellow Sith are housed within a shuttle that is sealed in the hangar. All troops on board are wearing helmets to protect them if the hull is pierced by a spiteful turbolaser lance and they forced to endure the harsh vacuum of space. The sublight’s straining against its welding causes all hearts to pound a beat at an elevated rhythm.
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Strapped within your seat, the wall beside you has your vibroblade and grenade belt. The medium armour you wear is slotted over your robes, making it look much the same but with an armoured variant of the apparel. Your knife and the blaster pistol Yira gifted you sit at your hips in sheaths, ready for your landing. The platoon is strapped in, ready to land upon the planet and face the forces of the Republic. A rare emotion blossoms in your heart: fear. You are surrounded by failures and incompetents, flying into the jaws of Republic turbolasers onto a planet that holds millions of soldiers.
Planetary cannons begin firing, your hope to slip in before becoming notice is dashed. Long beams of laser fire erupt from the surface, trying to swat you from the sky. The beautiful dark planet, separated by vast distances from the star, house glowing spots of red that diffuse into purple born from intense fighting. Umbara grows ever larger as you home in on your landing position. Gifted with incredible speed, no defence cannons have impacted the vessel, yet. Hands tightly grip the restraints as the juddering rattles through your body with an intense violence that threatens to rip you from your seat and dash you against the wall.
On the dark surface, a large hypervelocity cannon aims at the shooting star descending on the planet. Hidden away under smaller shield generators and armoured metal is housed its computerised brain, which performs incredible tracking calculations in mere microseconds. Computing the most likely trajectory, capacitors brimming with power, hungry to be released, are given the signal to fire. A projectile hurtles through the long barrel, propelled by a magnetic pulse. It races upwards into the sky, through the clouds and towards The Hydra’s Revenge.
The metal slug evaporates the troopship’s weak shields with a prismatic burst and continues its path. It rips through metal, through countless systems and out of the other side of the ship, ruining the internals and destroying the primary reactor. Thrown off course by the tremendous impact, the Hydra tumbles without control as it hurtles helplessly to the surface. Automated systems take over; the crew are stunned animals, helpless to the slaughter. Within thirty seconds, the secondary reactor springs to life, sending its minimal power to the ruined engines. As the ship continues to careen toward the surface, the surviving engines sputter to life, trying to arrest the incoming crash landing. Another impact ripples through the ship, and the world goes utterly black.
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Opening your eyes, a red emergency light fills your shuttle. Requiring another blink, you clear your head from the daze and see your other Acolytes slumped in their seats. In the Force, you can feel that there is life left in the majority of the would-be Sith. There is no pain or ache from the traumatic impacts; you believe it is due to your gift of healing working while you were in the land of dreams. Ripping the restraints from your body, you free yourself and collect your weapons. The angle within the craft is wrong, and you slip on the floor towards the sealed exit hatch. Pulling a lever, the hydraulic latch is released, and you see the ruined interior of the hangar. Ships are piled up in a corner, and the hangar doors are still fastened. After unsuccessfully attempting to open the bay, you move on.
Walking through the vessel, you find many sleeping and more dead, most resting in their harnesses, those that are not stain the walls a crimson red. Jogging through the crashed hull, you make your way to one of the many emergency hatches and escape into the planet bathed in darkness. The only light comes from bioluminescent plants and fires raging in the distance. Looking at The Hydra’s Revenge, it is clear the vessel is dead: the front is half-submerged in the dirt at an unnatural angle, and a large hole has ripped through the hulk of durasteel.
Pulling up a map of the surface, you see where you’ve crash-landed. Behind enemy lines, near an abandoned city already ruined by the war. You pray to the Force that the Republic presumes that you are dead, otherwise it is only a matter of time until you are swarmed by infantry and armoured forces. About a two-day walk is a contested front line, one of many on this planet-spanning battle. An aerial fighter races towards you and the downed ship. You dive into the brush, attempting to hide from the optics. The bird of prey circles the vessel a couple of times, then shoots off. Troops will be coming; the ship is too intact for it to be left to rust.
Chatter over the local coms begins to spark to life as those not dead enter the world of the living, but how long will they stay there? It is a mad mess with no overall command. You need to decide what you are going to do.
>Prepare Defences – The Hydra’s Revenge carried fifty thousand troops, plenty of military supplies and some vehicles. Command all awakening to prepare a defensive perimeter anchored to the ship.
>Journey to the City – Lead the troops into the nearby city ruins. The ruined urban sprawl will make a good defensive location where you can decide on how to regroup to a friendly part of the planet.
>Solo Escape Act – These people are doomed, as will you if you stay, slip off into the night.
>Write-in
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>>6378023
>Prepare Defences – The Hydra’s Revenge carried fifty thousand troops, plenty of military supplies and some vehicles. Command all awakening to prepare a defensive perimeter anchored to the ship.
We'll need to salvage some supplies and equipment before anything else
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>>6378023
>Journey to the City – Lead the troops into the nearby city ruins. The ruined urban sprawl will make a good defensive location where you can decide on how to regroup to a friendly part of the planet.
This ship is too juicy and fresh a carcass for vultures. Move on, then formulate a plan.
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>>6378023
>Journey to the City – Lead the troops into the nearby city ruins. The ruined urban sprawl will make a good defensive location where you can decide on how to regroup to a friendly part of the planet.
So let's think about this. Staying in the ship and settling in for a siege would be a good idea if we could rely on friendly forces taking advantage of the sudden drain on the frontline.
I somehow doubt that is going to happen, so it'll be up to us to break out.
And if we do slam into the rear of the front that's a lot of opportunity right there...
So yea, if people listen to us we need to get them unloading and get moving before bombs start falling.
Bonus points if, once we get set up slightly, we could contact our side...
Lots and lots of air cover is basically our only chance to keep any kind of column intact.
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So anons, irregardless of what choice we make here I think some planning ahead is very much in order.
If we are two days march behind enemy lines that should put all kinds of juicy things well within strike distance; artillery, supply depots, air bases, supply routes...medical facilities.... etc.
So my question is this: should our goal, assuming we actually have any sort of command, be to break through to safety or wreck havoc back here in the hopes of facilitating the regular forces to crack the front and link up with us?