Post by Novan on Feb 10, 2017 16:11:25 GMT -8
Day 1: The Offer
The first thing Xivar sees when he opens his eyes is a door, one that seems larger than most. Muffled voices could be heard from the other side of the door. Xivar then felt his body move on his own as he walks up to the door and slowly cracks it open enough to see into the next room. He could see two people; a man wearing light armor that was red in color holding a blaster rifle and appeared to be guarding a door, which seemed to be where the voices were coming from. The other person was a woman with blonde hair, wearing a formal looking gray dress pacing back and forth. She looked distressed, perhaps she was in trouble of some sort. The room itself seemed like a lobby of some sort, almost like a living room but more formal looking. From what Xivar could see, there was a banner on the wall with an unfamiliar design and a large patch of light on the wall beside it. The light looks like it's coming from a window that's out of view. The woman appeared to be talking to herself, but Xivar couldn't hear anything she was saying, despite being able to hear the angry voices outside. After a while, a shadow appears in the patch of light and the woman looks toward the direction of its caster...
"Wake up!" Exodus' voice ripped through the haze of the dream.
Suddenly Xivar wakes up, starring up at a ceiling made of stone. He quickly sits himself up and surveys his surroundings. He was on a bed wearing his regular clothes minus the tattered cloak he wore with them, sitting in a room that looked like it was part of an old temple. The walls were made of stone with banners from the Empire hanging from them. The center of the room had four statues made of obsidian, all pointed to the center of the room which sat a pool of some sort of red liquid.
"I really hope that's not what I think it is." Xivar muttered to himself.
"A pool of blood, perhaps a ritual room. This could bode poorly for you if you were kept here." Genesis spoke.
Seconds later he heard the sound of footsteps approaching the room. Xivar instinctively reached for his knife but couldn't find it on him, or any of his other weapons. It didn't take long for the owner of the footsteps to make it to the room. He was a human who looked pretty old, with a red tattoo on the right side of his face and a pair of red eyes, a sign he was strong in the dark side. The moment he noticed all these features Xivar immediately recognized him.
"You bastard! Why did you bring me here!?" Xivar yelled at his abductor.
The Sith's only response to his question was a glare. Xivar then realized that the man was holding his war blade at his side. As Xivar began to open his mouth to return his weapon to him, the man walked toward the pool in the center of the room. The Sith submerged the weapon into the pool and began speaking in a language Xivar couldn't understand. After about a minute or two, the Sith pulled the weapon out of the pool of blood and examined it. From where he was, Xivar could tell that the sword almost looked like it had gotten sharper but couldn't understand how.
The Sith then walked over to Xivar, brandishing the blade. Xivar was still recovering from that sucker punch to the back of the head from before, but he knew he had to defend himself. But an attack never came. The Sith set the blade next to the bed, standing it upright and against the wall.
"Go to the courtyard outside from the second floor. You have fifteen minutes." The Sith simply stated before leaving the room.
Xivar watched the Sith leave, confused about the entire situation. The last thing he remembers was sitting in the Dark Watch tower and that same Sith sneaking up behind him. He lost the quick skirmish and was knocked out cold, then woke up here and saw his kidnapper enhance his weapon before leaving. He got off of the bed, picked up his war blade and slowly made his way to the second floor of the temple. He reached the exit and made his way across a bridge leading over to a clearing that was behind two smaller temples. Xivar felt as though he was being watched the whole time. He passed the small temples, not even bothering to take a glance inside of them, and continued to the courtyard. The area almost looked like a training ground of sorts, similar to the ones at the Korriban Academy. The old Sith stood waiting in the center of the area.
"Seventeen minutes. Not sure what I was expecting of a mercenary to listen to directions." The Sith complained.
"Who the hell are you and what do you want from me?" Xivar asked, tired of guessing things out for himself.
"I am Darth Orias, Councilor of the Dark Watch. As for what I want...I think that'll be too complicated for your understanding."
"Orias? Wait, you hired me to watch after Jenneca if she left the tower all those months ago." Xivar stated, to which Orias nodded. "Wonder what kind of trouble you'll be in for attacking and kidnapping one of your own people."
"Even if they find out what happened, they wouldn't be able to anything about it. Who's going to drop everything to come looking for a simple mercenary?"
The realization hit Xivar like a ton of duracrete. Hired guns weren't all too important when it came to organizations, especially if they get themselves caught. And to top it all off, Xivar didn't make that many connections with the other members of the order to even out the odds. He was on his own here.
"And what if I decide to leave?" Xivar defiantly asked.
"You can." Orias said with a straight face. "Go right ahead. There's a ship on top of the main temple."
Xivar looks off toward the temple and back at Orias "What's the catch?"
"I'm the one with the codes to access it, and I'm not just going to give them to you."
"So I'd have to kill you to leave." Xivar said, piecing it all together. Orias nods, confirming the situation.
"This is a difficult situation. You won't be able to kill him. Not with your power." Genesis advised.
"Not now, no. But after a bit of training you might stand a chance." Orias suggested.
"Whatever." Xivar said while looking away from the Sith. Then he suddenly realized who Orias was responding to. "Wait, you can hear them?!"
"I can. They are part of the reason I've brought you here. I understand you have a certain disdain for the two of them. I can remove them, you will never hear their voices hounding you again. But there is something I want in return..."
"What could you want?" Xivar asked.
"You will become my apprentice. You would need to be stronger than you are now to survive the ritual needed regarding the spirits. And surely it benefits you as well, gaining a little more power. When you are strong enough, I will release the spirits from you and we will continue training from there. When I believe your training is finished, you will be allowed to leave as you wish."
"Like hell! I'm done with the Sith. I'd rather put up with the voices, they tend to give good advice." Xivar answers before turning to leave the courtyard.
"Their advice will do you little good here if you don't have the capability to escape." Orias points out, not bothering to stop him from leaving. "We start training tomorrow."
For all his defiance, Xivar knew he wasn't in the best position to act against a Sith lord such as Orias. He returned to the main temple and began to think to himself.
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Day 2: Training Begins
When dawn came on the next day, Xivar was awaken by two people wearing strange black robes with their faces hidden behind veils. It didn't take a genius to tell they were Sith robes, but they looked different than the ones Xivar had seen before. One of them had brought a training uniform, the same kind as he had worn in his time at the Korriban Academy. Once he changed into the uniform, the two robed Sith led Xivar through the cave nearby. His living arrangements had changed from the day before from the ritual room in the main temple to a small campsite near the edge of the wilderness, with a cave leading back to the temple grounds nearby. The cave was simple and straight forward, the only things Xivar could see of any significance were an old, ruined altar at the halfway point and a statue of a hooded being with torches around it. When the three of them reached the temple exit, they made their way to the training ground. Darth Orias stood in the center like the day before, wearing plain, grayish robes. His hood was lowered this time, showing . He waved his hand and the two veiled Sith walked away out of sight.
"Today will simply be a run down of what you learned from your days as an acolyte. Weapon training and Force exercises, mostly." Orias informed Xivar.
"Don't expect me to follow the Sith code, or call you Master for that matter." Xivar said, glaring at the old Sith.
"There is little point in forcing you to adapt to a philosophy you refuse to follow. You will only be learning to hone your lightsaber skills and strengthen your ability to command the Force. As for what you'll address me as, Orias will suffice."
Darth Orias held his hand up to the large tent on the side of the area, specifically to one of the weapon racks near it. One of the vibroblades was sent flying through the air and into Orias' waiting hand. The Sith readied the blade and signaled Xivar to draw his own weapon. The two sparred for a while, with Orias simply blocking and countering Xivar's attacks with little effort. The routine kept up for over two hours, taking small breaks only when Orias issued them.
After sparring, Orias issued multiple small probe droids to float around Xivar and fire low energy bolts. The purpose of this exercise was to dodge every shot fired by the droids, with the number of bolts firing increasing as time passed or if any of them connected. The exercise started out well until two minutes in when Xivar couldn't keep up with the rate of bolts hitting him from all directions, forcing him to collapse on the ground. After taking some time to recover, Orias instructed Xivar to manipulate a series of objects with the Force. This task was difficult due to Xivar's low affinity to the Force. His connection to his had weakened after he renounced being a Sith, but it wasn't much better when he was on Korriban. Xivar's strong suit was his swordsmanship. He was never able to even conjure Force lightning. Before long, the day was over and the training ended.
"That's enough for today. Return to your camp and we will train more tomorrow." Orias said before turning to walk to the bridge.
"Hold on. There's something I don't get." Xivar said before Orias could walk off. "You're doing all this to make me strong enough to separate me from the spirits, and making me stronger as an added bonus. What do you get out of this?"
"What an odd question of a mercenary to ask. You benefit from this arrangement, isn't that all that matters?" Orias asked without bothering to turn around.
"Call me curious, just answer the question."
"Can't I just help a fellow member of the order out of the kindness of my heart?" Orias asked in an obvious mocking tone.
"You forget that I know how Sith act. What kindness?"
"Heh, you're not as dumb as I thought." Orias chuckles. "As I said yesterday, if I told you what I wanted, you wouldn't understand. It would fly right over your head if I tried to explain it, and I don't have the patience to explain it."
Xivar clenched his fist, infuriated at the insult and lack of answers. Orias continued to walk off of the training ground and on the path to the main temple. Xivar was then escorted by the veiled Sith back to his camp.
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Day 3: No Rest for the Wicked or Otherwise
When morning came, the two veiled Sith arrived to bring Xivar to the training ground. None of them ever call each other by name, so Xivar simply refers to them by details from the parts of their faces that aren't covered. The two that always bring him to and from the campsite are a Chiss woman and a human woman with red tattoos running down both sides of her face. Due to the dynamic he calls them Blue and Red, though they don't express any sort of opinion on the nicknames given to them. Like before, Darth Orias was waiting in the center of the area. The only difference was he wasn't alone, the training ground was surrounded with veiled Sith standing around the area in a large circle.
"What's with the crowd?" Xivar asked.
"They're here to assist in the second round of training. Some of them will be your sparring partners." Orias explained while gesturing to the Sith.
"What are the others going to do?" Xivar asked, noticing the use of the word 'some'.
His question was met with no answer as Darth Orias walked off to the side as one of the Sith walked to take his place. This one had really pale skin and strange scars on the lower half of his face. He drew his weapon, a red bladed saberstaff and waited as Xivar drew his own weapon. The two of them sparred for almost an hour, not stopping to let each other rest. This Sith was sparring aggressively compared to Orias, though yesterday's training was more of a way to test Xivar's current strengths and skills. This match was similar to the ones on Korriban, where acolytes could kill each other if they proved to be stronger than their opponent. Xivar felt as though he could fall over at any moment.
"Orias...how long do you...plan on keeping this going?" Xivar asked through heavy breathing.
Darth Orias didn't answer. His opponent charged forward and continued the fight. Another hour goes by. Xivar can barely find the energy to stand, much less fight the Sith. His only solace was that his opponent was finally showing signs of fatigue, even it if wasn't as bad as what Xivar was feeling. His vision turns from blurry to black and he could feel himself falling to the ground. Before he could slip into total unconsciousness, he could slowly feel himself being rejuvenated. He opened his eyes, his body feeling like it had just taken a long rest but his mind had not recovered to the same extent. He had no trouble standing up and looking around, noticing the veiled Sith surrounding the area all had their hands out toward him and the scarred Sith.
"Their purpose is to make sure you don't pass out before the training is over." Orias stated, finally giving the answer to the first question.
"I guess I can work with this." Xivar said as he stretched his limbs "Keeping this up for the rest of the day?"
"No. This cycle will continue for the next several days. You will not find rest until I say it's over."
Xivar starred at Darth Orias in shock. He had to keep this up for days?!
"Keep your head in the fight!" Exodus' voice ripped through his mind.
The scarred Sith had resumed the match and charged at Xivar. The two continued to spar until Xivar felt complete exhaustion, and was revived again. As Orias told him, the cycle would only continue. Over and over and over again, Xivar fought the same opponent for hours to the point of collapse and being healed moments later. It seemed like endless torture each time he was knocked out. When night fell on the planet, the scarred Sith switched places with two others. These two were a woman with red and black skin, most likely a Zabrak, while the other was a large man with gray skin, a Rattataki. The new match began, and soon ended again with Xivar becoming exhausted. But this time he noticed it took longer this time, he was slowly developing more stamina and endurance as the fights continued. Though that didn't make them any less torture when each round ended time and time again. Xivar knew there wasn't a way out of this. They wouldn't let him die and he couldn't fight his way through the surrounding Sith.
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Day 7: The End of the Beginning
It was nearing the end of the fifth day of the torturous training session. Five days of constant fighting with no food, water, or sleep. Xivar's only source of rest being the efforts of the veiled Sith reviving him each time he falls from exhaustion. He was now fighting four of the Sith at once, it had been like that for about a day with the opponents changing every few rounds or so. Once again, Xivar found himself almost unable to breathe, his vision fading as he tries to focus on his opponents. It didn't take long for him to finally collapse. But something was different this time. He couldn't feel himself being healed as his mind starts to shut down. Perhaps the training was over, or this was the sweet release of death coming to end it all.
Xivar opened his eyes and once again saw the strange door. The voices outside were louder but not any clearer than before. He watched as his body moved to open the door again, seeing the same room with the same people. He could hear the woman speaking, but her words were muffled and could not be understood. The shadow appeared in the patch of light on the wall and the woman turns to the other side of the room. The shadow changed shape, taking the shape of a person standing upright. The person jumped down from the window, their shadow moving out of sight. The woman's expression turned from distressed and troubled to one of fury and anger as she notices who the third person was. She began yelling, words still not understandable, as the voices outside become louder and angrier while the guard near the other doors keep them from opening. Before anything else happens, the vision fades into black.
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Day 8: A Life's Lesson
The sounds of Yavin IV's wildlife slowly woke Xivar from his slumber. He slowly got himself up and looked around, his body still sore from yesterday but no where near as bad as it should be. It was the middle of the day but no one had come to take him to the training grounds. Perhaps Orias was humane enough to give him the day off after the excruciating training session he was forced to endure. Xivar walked over to the lake near his campsite. As he walked he almost didn't notice how light his body felt now compared to five days ago.
"Wonder what else that training did for me." Xivar asked himself, half expecting Genesis to offer a possible answer. But no voices were heard.
Xivar sat by the water's edge, enjoying the simplicity of not doing anything for the moment. He got to relax for an hour or so before the usual pair of veiled Sith came to retrieve him. Xivar found very little reason to complain this time, maybe somewhere in his mind he figured the worst was over. The three of them made their way through the cave and to the training ground. Xivar couldn't see Orias anywhere and assumed he would show up soon. He stopped and began to wait.
"What are you doing?" The Chiss Sith asked. The two of them had continued moving ahead while he had stopped but were now turned to face him.
"Waiting for Orias to get here."
"You won't be training today. We are going to the main temple." The Sith with the red tattoos stated as she gestured him to follow them.
Xivar hesitantly followed them, waiting for Exodus or Genesis to say anything that could help. No answers. Xivar followed the two women across the bridge and into the temple. From what he could see from the second floor, the main floor of the temple was full of the veiled Sith with the exception of Orias and a Chagrian in blood red robes talking to him. When they arrived on the ground floor, Orias dismissed the Chagrian and walked to Xivar.
"Today we are going to separate the spirits from you." Orias explained before Xivar could ask a question. "However, that is not 'all' we're doing."
"What do you mean?" Xivar asks as he's simultaneously wondering if this is why the ghosts hadn't been speaking anymore.
"You needn't worry about them, they will merely be removed from your person. Free to roam around as they wish." Orias answered, sensing the boy's concern. "But before we can remove them, you will gain their combat skills. We are preparing a ritual to allow you to see the memories of each spirit, as if you were reliving them yourself. You will feel what they once felt many years ago. The theory is that your mind and body will learn from memories relating to their days as warriors, integrating their skills to your own."
"Wait, don't think I didn't notice the word theory. You don't know if this will work?" Xivar questioned the Sith Lord, slightly surprised that he's calmer than he should be in this situation.
"It will be the first time testing something like this, I am unsure of the results. I've taken every precaution into consideration. The other Sith will concentrate on keeping you stable and keep the spirit whose mind is being used linked to the energies of the ritual. The Chagrian will be the one to allow you to see their memories."
Xivar understood the purposes of the ritual, but still couldn't tell what Orias' goal is in all of this. He hasn't killed him yet, so there's still time to figure a way out. His current plan is to go along with the first ritual and learn one set of memories, then try to attack Orias and get to the ship. He would just have to wait and hope he gains enough combat experience to stand a chance.
"And I know you can hear me spirits, despite not saying anything yourselves. Your reward besides your freedom will be getting to fight foes worthy of your strength in the next few days, should they show themselves here." Orias said as the others were finishing the setup for the ritual. "So, who would you like to get rid of first?"
"Exodus. The one who just sounds more like a Sith." Xivar gave his answer that would best help his plan. Exodus was the more aggressive of the two, hopefully his skills translate the same.
Darth Orias nods and leads Xivar in front of a large pyramidal Sith holocron and has him sit in front of it. The Chagrian stepped in between him and the holocron and began chanting in his language while the other Sith began channeling dark energy around them. Xivar closed his eyes and allowed the ritual to commence.
Xivar saw the visions of Exodus' memories in his life. Starting from his training on Korriban that was similar to Xivar's, to intense battles against Jedi and Republic soldiers. From what Xivar could gather here, Exodus was a Sith around the time the Sith Empire made its return to the galaxy. Xivar watched many vicious battles take place before his eyes, feeling every muscle movement, every injury, every kill Exodus committed. They were all more or less the same to Xivar, but to Exodus every fight gave him strength. In almost all of the memories, Exodus was with another Sith in similar armor to him. The memories continue on, time feeling convoluted as he relives them, it was impossible to tell how long he had been watching them. The visions of battle and war continued with some images of an old Pureblood woman repeating several times, along with the feeling of unbridled rage. The last sight of this woman was in a cave, limping toward Exodus as he holds his hand out and she's soon set aflame and burns to ashes.
The next set of memories seemed out of place, with Exodus running through hallways holding a heavy rifle instead of a lightsaber. As he passed by a window, Xivar saw nothing but towers and speeders flying by in a peaceful looking setting. The next memory was him fighting the man that had been in almost every battle with Exodus, this time he was fighting him. The fight ended with the man grabbing Exodus' arms and soon they were covered in what looked like ice. Xivar could feel all sensation to his arms dying away as he felt the severe pain subside. The final set of memories were of Exodus running through hallways similar to the ones before, this time with his lightsaber cutting down anyone in his way until he came across his friend and what Xivar could only assume was his wife and two sons. The memory continued for a little more until Exodus stepped out from behind a wall into an open area and excruciating pain could be felt on the right side of his skull as all sensation of Exodus' body goes dark.
Xivar woke up, gasping for air. He just witnessed all of Exodus' memories of combat and felt him die suddenly. He looked out the large entrance behind him and sees that night had fallen, but couldn't tell if he was gone for hours or over a day. Darth Orias walked over to him, looking down on Xivar.
"I take it the ritual was a success?" Orias asked him.
"I don't know...Exodus, still here?" Xivar asked and waited for a response.
"He's gone. The ritual had done it's job." Genesis' voice answered him.
When realizing this, Xivar could feel a kind of absence around him. Like something was missing. Exodus had really been removed. Perhaps now was his chance to escape.
"Go back to the training area, the others will test to see how much you've improved." Orias said while turning his back to walk into a different room.
"Actually, I have something else in mind..." Xivar said while raising his hand up and forcing one of the cage looking chandeliers to come crashing down toward the Sith.
Orias was quick to react and stopped the chandelier before it hits him and sends it flying toward Xivar, who dodges in time. The two stare at each other before Xivar draws his weapon and charges forward. Orias doesn't bother to draw his own weapon and instead dodges each slice that attempts to strike him. Xivar was much faster and accurate than before, and was attacking more aggressively. It almost as if he was acting on instinct but it wasn't his own instinct he was following. Was this what he gained from the ritual? It wasn't until long before Orias had enough and raised his hand and sent Xivar flying into the air, dropping his weapon in the process, and forcing him to a wall to prevent him from moving. Xivar powered through the oncoming force and raises an arm toward Orias. He had noticed his weapon on the ground next to the Sith and concentrated on it. With a flick of his wrist, the warblade sprang from the ground, spinning up to Orias' arm. The blade connects with its target and Orias jerks backward from the attack. Xivar falls to the floor and recalls his weapon as he runs forward for the next attack, but was soon stopped by two of the veiled Sith who disarm him and knock him away before he could get close to the old Sith.
"Enough! Let him return to his camp. We need to prepare for the ritual again for the second spirit." Orias commanded the Sith.
The two of them bowed to Orias and returned to the others. The usual two Sith came up to Xivar and began to lead him toward the back hall where the stairs were to leave. As he was leaving, Xivar looked back at Orias who was looking at his wounded arm. For a second it looked like he was smiling.
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Day 8: Freedom?
Xivar had woken up before the sun rose. He couldn't sleep well after the series of events from yesterday. After the ritual and the skirmish with Darth Orias, Xivar began noticing he had more power than he did before. Orias was keeping his promise of making him stronger, but Xivar still can't find any ultimate goal the old Sith could be reaching.
"It's been quiet since they released Ivernik. I have to admit, it's nice that it's quieter." Genesis suddenly spoke.
"Ivernik? That's Exodus' real name? Why haven't you told me all this time?" Xivar asked the voice.
"We didn't trust you when you first noticed our presence and we never bothered to correct you from the names you had given us when we were content with the situation. Perhaps if you had gone back to the Sith Order when we told you to, we would have told you then. Even teach you our techniques rather than have some ritual do it for you."
"Feels like I'm back in the Sith with all of this damn training. I think I'd rather go back to the academy than go through those five days of hell. Hopefully there isn't anything as bad after this next ritual. Or maybe if I can kill him and get that ship."
"I advise against that. Your first attempt managed to land a hit on Orias, but he wasn't even trying. He could have ended your life had he wanted to."
"Any idea on what he wants?"
"I know what he wants. He wanted us to be free from you. What happens to you afterward is a mystery to me." Genesis answered.
"Wait, you knew that this whole time?!" Xivar yelled. "Why didn't you tell me? I would have had more time to try to escape! Now I only have until the end of the day."
"I won't take sides on this and you will find out why when you learn from my memories." Genesis stated before going quiet.
The two Sith arrived when morning finally came and they hiked back to the temple. Xivar had thought about making a run for the ship and try to break past its security but opted against it when he noticed a figure on the top of the temple wearing strange black and red armor looking down at him. They walked down to the main floor and repeated the events of the ritual. Xivar sat down while the Chagrian standing in front of him chanting with the veiled Sith around the room. Xivar closed his eyes and watched the memories unfold.
The memories were similar in appearance to Ivernik's. The beginning was on Korriban training alongside another acolyte. Xivar immediately recognized the other young man as Ivernik, to which he assumed the recurring man in Ivernik's memories was Genesis. The memories of familiar battles repeat but from Genesis' perspective, who was more calm and precise than Ivernik who was highly aggressive in combat. The memories become different when Xivar sees Ivernik in a dark room of what seems like a laboratory and trying to access a terminal. He's stopped by a woman in a lab coat who was holding a blaster to his head. Surprisingly enough, Ivernik didn't move to kill her but rather helped her reach a ship while meeting up with Ivernik along the way and escaped the building on a ship. The memories after that became mundane as Genesis seemed to act as a body guard for the same woman for some time. The next battle memory was alongside Ivernik as they charged toward a village of some sort, four Jedi running to intercept them. Genesis kills one of them but spares the other for some unknown reason.
The next battle was against Ivernik on Dromund Kaas amid the ruins of an old Sith site of some sort. Ivernik held an angry expression throughout the fight, but Xivar couldn't tell why. Xivar could feel every movement that Genesis made during the intense fight. He tried to block and overhead strike from Ivernik, who had deactivated his lightsaber before hitting Genesis' blade and bringing the hilt up to his face and reigniting the blade. Xivar could feel the burning blade strike against the lower part of his right jaw as Genesis' dodged just in time. The fight continued until Ivernik disarmed Genesis and knocked him to a knee, holding the blade up to his neck. Xivar only watched as Genesis quickly lunged forward and grabbed Ivernik's arms, a frost like substance covering both of the Sith's forearms. Xivar remembered that part from the first ritual. Genesis took his chance to escape into the wilds.
Time passes to the next memory, Genesis running through the halls again but this time with the woman from before and two young boys following him. Xivar could feel Genesis' concern for them, could they be his family? Genesis was shooting people that were trying to kill them, people that looked like those Ivernik was killing in the final moments of his life. Almost on cue with this realization, Ivernik kills a group of the unknown people as he meets up with Genesis and his family. They all made their way through the building and came upon a large open room, one that looked familiar to Genesis and Xivar as well. Xivar watched as Ivernik took a step out from behind the wall they were all hiding behind and watches the Sith fall dead when a sniper bolt hits the side of his head. Xivar felt the side of his head pulsing slightly, remembering the final sensation of Ivernik's memory.
Genesis took Ivernik's lightsaber and hands his wife the blaster pistol. He then runs forward, blocking the sniper's shots before reaching out with the Force and slamming him into the walls and floors repeatedly, rage coursing through him. It didn't take long for more enemies to pour into the room, dozens of them all with blasters pointed at Genesis but not firing. He looks up at the walkways above him and sees a Sith Pureblood speaking to him. The words seemed to blur together, making them difficult to understand. But one word that Xivar could hear was Novan. The two soon stopped talking and the soldiers start priming their weapons. They all fired at once, Genesis moving quickly to deflect the bolts back at them. But for all of Genesis' skills, bolts began to hit their mark. Xivar could feel the pain of each shot as Genesis began to slow down. The enemy numbers began dropping, starting from around forty and dwindling to the last ten, but it was too much for Genesis. In the end he fell back onto the ground as the last six soldiers approached their target, all of them reloading their rifles. Xivar felt the pain of the multiple blaster wounds on Genesis' body, feeling the Sith slowly fading away. The soldiers stood in a line, side by side, and leveled their weapons toward Genesis. Xivar watched and felt as the six of them unloaded the rifles into Genesis, each bolt becoming less painful than the last as the Sith finally died.
Xivar woke up trying to get his breath back. The sun had begun setting with the sky glowing orange, the ritual took hours like before. The Sith in the room had begun leaving the room, save for Orias who stood over Xivar, looking down at him.
"There. They are both gone." The Sith informed Xivar.
Xivar could no longer feel any presence of Genesis anymore. The two of them, Ivernik and Kessik are now gone. He was finally alone. As he was thinking on his new memories, he came to the ultimate realization.
"Your name, it's Kagrido Novan right? One of the councilors told me that a while back. The two of the ghosts were Novans as well. Genes-- no, Kessik, was your father. Am I right?" Xivar stood up as he asked the Sith, who nods in reply. "So that's what you wanted. To get them back."
"Yes and no. As I said twice before, you won't comprehend the reason I'm doing all of this. Even with the rituals increasing your intelligence, you won't figure it all out." Orias explained.
"I doubt I want to know...So what happens to me now? You gonna kill me? I don't have much else use for you. You made me strong enough to survive the rituals and got your ghosts back. What's stopping you from killing me?"
"You can leave." Orias said suddenly.
Xivar raised an eyebrow in question. "Let me guess, the catch is if I can kill you."
Orias reaches to the side of his belt and tosses Xivar a code cylinder. "Those are the codes to the ship. Leave if you want."
Xivar looked at the cylinder, still trying to make sense of the situation. He looked back at Darth Orias for a while then turned and walked toward the stairs leading out of the temple. After a few steps Orias spoke again.
"That's an interesting crystal around your neck."
He was talking about the necklace Xivar was wearing. He had it for as long as he could remember, but never knew where he got it from. He shrugged in response and kept walking.
"Know where you got it?" Orias questioned.
"No."
"Want to know where it came from?"
Those words caught Xivar's attention. He had asked himself that question when he was on Nar Shaddaa, asking jewelry vendors if they had an idea of where it was from. No one knew anything. He turned to face the Sith.
"I can help you find out. But I want something in return."
"Of course you do." Xivar muttered under his breath. "What do you want now?"
"I'm curious about your newfound capabilities. I'll give you missions to run and have someone follow you and observe as you fight. Do this for me and I'll tell you what I know, and have my people find out what I don't."
"Not interested. I'm done with you. I can find out on my own." Xivar proclaimed, the words 'on my own' having more of a meaning with the ghosts gone. He began walking away again. "Besides, you don't seem like someone who's interested in jewelry."
"The necklace itself looks like it's from the Core Worlds. The crystal might be close to it." Orias states.
Xivar turned around again, sensing the truth in his words. Maybe he had the answers after all.
"So what will it be?" Orias asked.
Xivar takes a moment to think. He had never been able to find anything out on his own and Orias seems to know the necklace's design by looking at it. If all he wants is to see how powerful he's become since he was brought here, what's wrong with a mission or two to test his newfound strength. Eventually Xivar nods in agreement.
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Day 11: War Games
Xivar sat watching the wide and barren desert in the distance. After being sent on several missions, Darth Orias had Xivar sent to an old homestead on Tatooine. His orders were to wait for one of the old Sith's acquaintances to land and drop off some cargo. Why have him oversee such a task was beyond him. The place wasn't bad though, decent living quarters, servant droids to deal with cooking and getting anything from the far off settlements, almost seemed like a reward. Though Xivar knew better than to let his guard down.
After a while, one of the protocol droids notified him of three starships approaching the homestead. Xivar looked up and saw an XS stock freighter and two cargo ships, ships that common smugglers would use. Xivar made his way down to the ground floor and over to the hangar where the XS freighter landed. The boarding ramp lowered and a man walked down followed by two armed guards. The man was a human that looked to be in his early forties, wearing brown robes that were often used on Tatooine to combat the light sandstorms. When he saw the insignia on the guards' uniforms, which consisted of a cracked skull wearing a broken crown, Xivar recognized who he was dealing with. Who appeared to be a simple smuggler was really the Nar Shaddaa crime lord Kingslayer, a name he earned from killing any two-bit gangster who called themselves the king of the criminal underworld, though never made a claim for the crown itself. Xivar had heard of him during his days on Nar Shaddaa after Zakuul had ransacked Korriban.
"Uh...Gixar?" Kingslayer asked, trying to guess a name.
"Xivar." He corrected.
"Right, right, right Xivar. Name's Avolis. Darth Orias asked me to give you a little assignment to see what you're made of."
Xivar wasn't aware Orias had connections to any crime bosses, even Kingslayer for that matter. What could he provide as a test for him? Before he could ask any questions, Avolis walked past him and made his way outside the hangar. Xivar followed him up toward the external landing pad toward the outskirts of the homestead, where the other two cargo ships landed. There he saw the smugglers and pirates unloading crates from the ships.
"What is all of this exactly?" Xivar asked the crime lord.
"Darth Orias said I could keep some valuables here for a while. You're gonna defend 'em, with help from my men of course." Avolis answered simply.
"What kind of valuables exactly?"
"Spare credits, weapons, spice, et cetera. You know, smuggler stuff." Avolis answered in a carefree manner. "Just keep them guarded from anyone who tries to steal 'em."
"That's it? Seems kind of mundane to be a test." Xivar admitted.
Avolis looked at Xivar for a moment before turning to his guards "Prep the ship for takeoff, we'll head out when I finish having a little chat with my friend here."
The two guards did as ordered and returned to the hangar. Avolis once again began walking off without Xivar, this time toward the main house built into the side of the cliff. Xivar followed him up to the giant balcony where he was before, watching Avolis pour himself a drink.
"Wanna hear a little secret?" Avolis asked in a hushed tone.
Xivar was starting to get a little annoyed, he only shrugged in response. Xivar sat down at the table and waved a hand over for Xivar to do the same. He took the seat across from the crime lord.
"Kag tells me he wants to test your skills, so here I am." Avolis began explaining. "Ya see, running a large crime syndicate like mine, you're bound to have some lying, traitorous bastards waiting to get the jump on ya. 'Cept this lot of traitors aren't smart enough to keep their mouths shut, so I caught on quickly."
"What's this have to do with me?" Xivar asked, not getting the point.
"The ones coming after my cargo here are those traitors. The people helping you guard everything, also traitors but not from the same group. Both sides don't know about the other so they'll basically take each other out." Avolis continued. "Normally I'd have done this some other way, but with all this business about Kag kidnapping a merc and me with my little problem, he figured I could make a little game out of it while giving you a test at the same time."
Xivar was beginning to understand. This was supposed to test his ability to lead a group into a battle, complete with objectives to control. Should be an easy war game seeing as both sides don't need to live through it.
"Oh, and Kag wanted me to keep quiet about the whole situation. So don't tell him I told you about what's happening."
"Why tell me then?"
"Hey if I'm handing the fun of dealing with these traitors to someone else, I have to at least laugh about it." Avolis answered with a grin. "They'll be here in a couple of days, so you got some time to relax until then."
Avolis stood up and started to walk toward the small lobby leading to the elevator. Xivar stopped him.
"Wait, why are you calling him Kag?" Xivar asked, not seeing how the crime lord could refer to him so casually.
"Heh heh, like I'd tell ya." Avolis chuckled before entering the elevator.
Xivar watched below as the crime lord returned to his ship and watched the freighter fly out of sight. He then watches the people continuing to unload the crates throughout the area.
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The first thing Xivar sees when he opens his eyes is a door, one that seems larger than most. Muffled voices could be heard from the other side of the door. Xivar then felt his body move on his own as he walks up to the door and slowly cracks it open enough to see into the next room. He could see two people; a man wearing light armor that was red in color holding a blaster rifle and appeared to be guarding a door, which seemed to be where the voices were coming from. The other person was a woman with blonde hair, wearing a formal looking gray dress pacing back and forth. She looked distressed, perhaps she was in trouble of some sort. The room itself seemed like a lobby of some sort, almost like a living room but more formal looking. From what Xivar could see, there was a banner on the wall with an unfamiliar design and a large patch of light on the wall beside it. The light looks like it's coming from a window that's out of view. The woman appeared to be talking to herself, but Xivar couldn't hear anything she was saying, despite being able to hear the angry voices outside. After a while, a shadow appears in the patch of light and the woman looks toward the direction of its caster...
"Wake up!" Exodus' voice ripped through the haze of the dream.
Suddenly Xivar wakes up, starring up at a ceiling made of stone. He quickly sits himself up and surveys his surroundings. He was on a bed wearing his regular clothes minus the tattered cloak he wore with them, sitting in a room that looked like it was part of an old temple. The walls were made of stone with banners from the Empire hanging from them. The center of the room had four statues made of obsidian, all pointed to the center of the room which sat a pool of some sort of red liquid.
"I really hope that's not what I think it is." Xivar muttered to himself.
"A pool of blood, perhaps a ritual room. This could bode poorly for you if you were kept here." Genesis spoke.
Seconds later he heard the sound of footsteps approaching the room. Xivar instinctively reached for his knife but couldn't find it on him, or any of his other weapons. It didn't take long for the owner of the footsteps to make it to the room. He was a human who looked pretty old, with a red tattoo on the right side of his face and a pair of red eyes, a sign he was strong in the dark side. The moment he noticed all these features Xivar immediately recognized him.
"You bastard! Why did you bring me here!?" Xivar yelled at his abductor.
The Sith's only response to his question was a glare. Xivar then realized that the man was holding his war blade at his side. As Xivar began to open his mouth to return his weapon to him, the man walked toward the pool in the center of the room. The Sith submerged the weapon into the pool and began speaking in a language Xivar couldn't understand. After about a minute or two, the Sith pulled the weapon out of the pool of blood and examined it. From where he was, Xivar could tell that the sword almost looked like it had gotten sharper but couldn't understand how.
The Sith then walked over to Xivar, brandishing the blade. Xivar was still recovering from that sucker punch to the back of the head from before, but he knew he had to defend himself. But an attack never came. The Sith set the blade next to the bed, standing it upright and against the wall.
"Go to the courtyard outside from the second floor. You have fifteen minutes." The Sith simply stated before leaving the room.
Xivar watched the Sith leave, confused about the entire situation. The last thing he remembers was sitting in the Dark Watch tower and that same Sith sneaking up behind him. He lost the quick skirmish and was knocked out cold, then woke up here and saw his kidnapper enhance his weapon before leaving. He got off of the bed, picked up his war blade and slowly made his way to the second floor of the temple. He reached the exit and made his way across a bridge leading over to a clearing that was behind two smaller temples. Xivar felt as though he was being watched the whole time. He passed the small temples, not even bothering to take a glance inside of them, and continued to the courtyard. The area almost looked like a training ground of sorts, similar to the ones at the Korriban Academy. The old Sith stood waiting in the center of the area.
"Seventeen minutes. Not sure what I was expecting of a mercenary to listen to directions." The Sith complained.
"Who the hell are you and what do you want from me?" Xivar asked, tired of guessing things out for himself.
"I am Darth Orias, Councilor of the Dark Watch. As for what I want...I think that'll be too complicated for your understanding."
"Orias? Wait, you hired me to watch after Jenneca if she left the tower all those months ago." Xivar stated, to which Orias nodded. "Wonder what kind of trouble you'll be in for attacking and kidnapping one of your own people."
"Even if they find out what happened, they wouldn't be able to anything about it. Who's going to drop everything to come looking for a simple mercenary?"
The realization hit Xivar like a ton of duracrete. Hired guns weren't all too important when it came to organizations, especially if they get themselves caught. And to top it all off, Xivar didn't make that many connections with the other members of the order to even out the odds. He was on his own here.
"And what if I decide to leave?" Xivar defiantly asked.
"You can." Orias said with a straight face. "Go right ahead. There's a ship on top of the main temple."
Xivar looks off toward the temple and back at Orias "What's the catch?"
"I'm the one with the codes to access it, and I'm not just going to give them to you."
"So I'd have to kill you to leave." Xivar said, piecing it all together. Orias nods, confirming the situation.
"This is a difficult situation. You won't be able to kill him. Not with your power." Genesis advised.
"Not now, no. But after a bit of training you might stand a chance." Orias suggested.
"Whatever." Xivar said while looking away from the Sith. Then he suddenly realized who Orias was responding to. "Wait, you can hear them?!"
"I can. They are part of the reason I've brought you here. I understand you have a certain disdain for the two of them. I can remove them, you will never hear their voices hounding you again. But there is something I want in return..."
"What could you want?" Xivar asked.
"You will become my apprentice. You would need to be stronger than you are now to survive the ritual needed regarding the spirits. And surely it benefits you as well, gaining a little more power. When you are strong enough, I will release the spirits from you and we will continue training from there. When I believe your training is finished, you will be allowed to leave as you wish."
"Like hell! I'm done with the Sith. I'd rather put up with the voices, they tend to give good advice." Xivar answers before turning to leave the courtyard.
"Their advice will do you little good here if you don't have the capability to escape." Orias points out, not bothering to stop him from leaving. "We start training tomorrow."
For all his defiance, Xivar knew he wasn't in the best position to act against a Sith lord such as Orias. He returned to the main temple and began to think to himself.
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Day 2: Training Begins
When dawn came on the next day, Xivar was awaken by two people wearing strange black robes with their faces hidden behind veils. It didn't take a genius to tell they were Sith robes, but they looked different than the ones Xivar had seen before. One of them had brought a training uniform, the same kind as he had worn in his time at the Korriban Academy. Once he changed into the uniform, the two robed Sith led Xivar through the cave nearby. His living arrangements had changed from the day before from the ritual room in the main temple to a small campsite near the edge of the wilderness, with a cave leading back to the temple grounds nearby. The cave was simple and straight forward, the only things Xivar could see of any significance were an old, ruined altar at the halfway point and a statue of a hooded being with torches around it. When the three of them reached the temple exit, they made their way to the training ground. Darth Orias stood in the center like the day before, wearing plain, grayish robes. His hood was lowered this time, showing . He waved his hand and the two veiled Sith walked away out of sight.
"Today will simply be a run down of what you learned from your days as an acolyte. Weapon training and Force exercises, mostly." Orias informed Xivar.
"Don't expect me to follow the Sith code, or call you Master for that matter." Xivar said, glaring at the old Sith.
"There is little point in forcing you to adapt to a philosophy you refuse to follow. You will only be learning to hone your lightsaber skills and strengthen your ability to command the Force. As for what you'll address me as, Orias will suffice."
Darth Orias held his hand up to the large tent on the side of the area, specifically to one of the weapon racks near it. One of the vibroblades was sent flying through the air and into Orias' waiting hand. The Sith readied the blade and signaled Xivar to draw his own weapon. The two sparred for a while, with Orias simply blocking and countering Xivar's attacks with little effort. The routine kept up for over two hours, taking small breaks only when Orias issued them.
After sparring, Orias issued multiple small probe droids to float around Xivar and fire low energy bolts. The purpose of this exercise was to dodge every shot fired by the droids, with the number of bolts firing increasing as time passed or if any of them connected. The exercise started out well until two minutes in when Xivar couldn't keep up with the rate of bolts hitting him from all directions, forcing him to collapse on the ground. After taking some time to recover, Orias instructed Xivar to manipulate a series of objects with the Force. This task was difficult due to Xivar's low affinity to the Force. His connection to his had weakened after he renounced being a Sith, but it wasn't much better when he was on Korriban. Xivar's strong suit was his swordsmanship. He was never able to even conjure Force lightning. Before long, the day was over and the training ended.
"That's enough for today. Return to your camp and we will train more tomorrow." Orias said before turning to walk to the bridge.
"Hold on. There's something I don't get." Xivar said before Orias could walk off. "You're doing all this to make me strong enough to separate me from the spirits, and making me stronger as an added bonus. What do you get out of this?"
"What an odd question of a mercenary to ask. You benefit from this arrangement, isn't that all that matters?" Orias asked without bothering to turn around.
"Call me curious, just answer the question."
"Can't I just help a fellow member of the order out of the kindness of my heart?" Orias asked in an obvious mocking tone.
"You forget that I know how Sith act. What kindness?"
"Heh, you're not as dumb as I thought." Orias chuckles. "As I said yesterday, if I told you what I wanted, you wouldn't understand. It would fly right over your head if I tried to explain it, and I don't have the patience to explain it."
Xivar clenched his fist, infuriated at the insult and lack of answers. Orias continued to walk off of the training ground and on the path to the main temple. Xivar was then escorted by the veiled Sith back to his camp.
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Day 3: No Rest for the Wicked or Otherwise
When morning came, the two veiled Sith arrived to bring Xivar to the training ground. None of them ever call each other by name, so Xivar simply refers to them by details from the parts of their faces that aren't covered. The two that always bring him to and from the campsite are a Chiss woman and a human woman with red tattoos running down both sides of her face. Due to the dynamic he calls them Blue and Red, though they don't express any sort of opinion on the nicknames given to them. Like before, Darth Orias was waiting in the center of the area. The only difference was he wasn't alone, the training ground was surrounded with veiled Sith standing around the area in a large circle.
"What's with the crowd?" Xivar asked.
"They're here to assist in the second round of training. Some of them will be your sparring partners." Orias explained while gesturing to the Sith.
"What are the others going to do?" Xivar asked, noticing the use of the word 'some'.
His question was met with no answer as Darth Orias walked off to the side as one of the Sith walked to take his place. This one had really pale skin and strange scars on the lower half of his face. He drew his weapon, a red bladed saberstaff and waited as Xivar drew his own weapon. The two of them sparred for almost an hour, not stopping to let each other rest. This Sith was sparring aggressively compared to Orias, though yesterday's training was more of a way to test Xivar's current strengths and skills. This match was similar to the ones on Korriban, where acolytes could kill each other if they proved to be stronger than their opponent. Xivar felt as though he could fall over at any moment.
"Orias...how long do you...plan on keeping this going?" Xivar asked through heavy breathing.
Darth Orias didn't answer. His opponent charged forward and continued the fight. Another hour goes by. Xivar can barely find the energy to stand, much less fight the Sith. His only solace was that his opponent was finally showing signs of fatigue, even it if wasn't as bad as what Xivar was feeling. His vision turns from blurry to black and he could feel himself falling to the ground. Before he could slip into total unconsciousness, he could slowly feel himself being rejuvenated. He opened his eyes, his body feeling like it had just taken a long rest but his mind had not recovered to the same extent. He had no trouble standing up and looking around, noticing the veiled Sith surrounding the area all had their hands out toward him and the scarred Sith.
"Their purpose is to make sure you don't pass out before the training is over." Orias stated, finally giving the answer to the first question.
"I guess I can work with this." Xivar said as he stretched his limbs "Keeping this up for the rest of the day?"
"No. This cycle will continue for the next several days. You will not find rest until I say it's over."
Xivar starred at Darth Orias in shock. He had to keep this up for days?!
"Keep your head in the fight!" Exodus' voice ripped through his mind.
The scarred Sith had resumed the match and charged at Xivar. The two continued to spar until Xivar felt complete exhaustion, and was revived again. As Orias told him, the cycle would only continue. Over and over and over again, Xivar fought the same opponent for hours to the point of collapse and being healed moments later. It seemed like endless torture each time he was knocked out. When night fell on the planet, the scarred Sith switched places with two others. These two were a woman with red and black skin, most likely a Zabrak, while the other was a large man with gray skin, a Rattataki. The new match began, and soon ended again with Xivar becoming exhausted. But this time he noticed it took longer this time, he was slowly developing more stamina and endurance as the fights continued. Though that didn't make them any less torture when each round ended time and time again. Xivar knew there wasn't a way out of this. They wouldn't let him die and he couldn't fight his way through the surrounding Sith.
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Day 7: The End of the Beginning
It was nearing the end of the fifth day of the torturous training session. Five days of constant fighting with no food, water, or sleep. Xivar's only source of rest being the efforts of the veiled Sith reviving him each time he falls from exhaustion. He was now fighting four of the Sith at once, it had been like that for about a day with the opponents changing every few rounds or so. Once again, Xivar found himself almost unable to breathe, his vision fading as he tries to focus on his opponents. It didn't take long for him to finally collapse. But something was different this time. He couldn't feel himself being healed as his mind starts to shut down. Perhaps the training was over, or this was the sweet release of death coming to end it all.
Xivar opened his eyes and once again saw the strange door. The voices outside were louder but not any clearer than before. He watched as his body moved to open the door again, seeing the same room with the same people. He could hear the woman speaking, but her words were muffled and could not be understood. The shadow appeared in the patch of light on the wall and the woman turns to the other side of the room. The shadow changed shape, taking the shape of a person standing upright. The person jumped down from the window, their shadow moving out of sight. The woman's expression turned from distressed and troubled to one of fury and anger as she notices who the third person was. She began yelling, words still not understandable, as the voices outside become louder and angrier while the guard near the other doors keep them from opening. Before anything else happens, the vision fades into black.
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Day 8: A Life's Lesson
The sounds of Yavin IV's wildlife slowly woke Xivar from his slumber. He slowly got himself up and looked around, his body still sore from yesterday but no where near as bad as it should be. It was the middle of the day but no one had come to take him to the training grounds. Perhaps Orias was humane enough to give him the day off after the excruciating training session he was forced to endure. Xivar walked over to the lake near his campsite. As he walked he almost didn't notice how light his body felt now compared to five days ago.
"Wonder what else that training did for me." Xivar asked himself, half expecting Genesis to offer a possible answer. But no voices were heard.
Xivar sat by the water's edge, enjoying the simplicity of not doing anything for the moment. He got to relax for an hour or so before the usual pair of veiled Sith came to retrieve him. Xivar found very little reason to complain this time, maybe somewhere in his mind he figured the worst was over. The three of them made their way through the cave and to the training ground. Xivar couldn't see Orias anywhere and assumed he would show up soon. He stopped and began to wait.
"What are you doing?" The Chiss Sith asked. The two of them had continued moving ahead while he had stopped but were now turned to face him.
"Waiting for Orias to get here."
"You won't be training today. We are going to the main temple." The Sith with the red tattoos stated as she gestured him to follow them.
Xivar hesitantly followed them, waiting for Exodus or Genesis to say anything that could help. No answers. Xivar followed the two women across the bridge and into the temple. From what he could see from the second floor, the main floor of the temple was full of the veiled Sith with the exception of Orias and a Chagrian in blood red robes talking to him. When they arrived on the ground floor, Orias dismissed the Chagrian and walked to Xivar.
"Today we are going to separate the spirits from you." Orias explained before Xivar could ask a question. "However, that is not 'all' we're doing."
"What do you mean?" Xivar asks as he's simultaneously wondering if this is why the ghosts hadn't been speaking anymore.
"You needn't worry about them, they will merely be removed from your person. Free to roam around as they wish." Orias answered, sensing the boy's concern. "But before we can remove them, you will gain their combat skills. We are preparing a ritual to allow you to see the memories of each spirit, as if you were reliving them yourself. You will feel what they once felt many years ago. The theory is that your mind and body will learn from memories relating to their days as warriors, integrating their skills to your own."
"Wait, don't think I didn't notice the word theory. You don't know if this will work?" Xivar questioned the Sith Lord, slightly surprised that he's calmer than he should be in this situation.
"It will be the first time testing something like this, I am unsure of the results. I've taken every precaution into consideration. The other Sith will concentrate on keeping you stable and keep the spirit whose mind is being used linked to the energies of the ritual. The Chagrian will be the one to allow you to see their memories."
Xivar understood the purposes of the ritual, but still couldn't tell what Orias' goal is in all of this. He hasn't killed him yet, so there's still time to figure a way out. His current plan is to go along with the first ritual and learn one set of memories, then try to attack Orias and get to the ship. He would just have to wait and hope he gains enough combat experience to stand a chance.
"And I know you can hear me spirits, despite not saying anything yourselves. Your reward besides your freedom will be getting to fight foes worthy of your strength in the next few days, should they show themselves here." Orias said as the others were finishing the setup for the ritual. "So, who would you like to get rid of first?"
"Exodus. The one who just sounds more like a Sith." Xivar gave his answer that would best help his plan. Exodus was the more aggressive of the two, hopefully his skills translate the same.
Darth Orias nods and leads Xivar in front of a large pyramidal Sith holocron and has him sit in front of it. The Chagrian stepped in between him and the holocron and began chanting in his language while the other Sith began channeling dark energy around them. Xivar closed his eyes and allowed the ritual to commence.
Xivar saw the visions of Exodus' memories in his life. Starting from his training on Korriban that was similar to Xivar's, to intense battles against Jedi and Republic soldiers. From what Xivar could gather here, Exodus was a Sith around the time the Sith Empire made its return to the galaxy. Xivar watched many vicious battles take place before his eyes, feeling every muscle movement, every injury, every kill Exodus committed. They were all more or less the same to Xivar, but to Exodus every fight gave him strength. In almost all of the memories, Exodus was with another Sith in similar armor to him. The memories continue on, time feeling convoluted as he relives them, it was impossible to tell how long he had been watching them. The visions of battle and war continued with some images of an old Pureblood woman repeating several times, along with the feeling of unbridled rage. The last sight of this woman was in a cave, limping toward Exodus as he holds his hand out and she's soon set aflame and burns to ashes.
The next set of memories seemed out of place, with Exodus running through hallways holding a heavy rifle instead of a lightsaber. As he passed by a window, Xivar saw nothing but towers and speeders flying by in a peaceful looking setting. The next memory was him fighting the man that had been in almost every battle with Exodus, this time he was fighting him. The fight ended with the man grabbing Exodus' arms and soon they were covered in what looked like ice. Xivar could feel all sensation to his arms dying away as he felt the severe pain subside. The final set of memories were of Exodus running through hallways similar to the ones before, this time with his lightsaber cutting down anyone in his way until he came across his friend and what Xivar could only assume was his wife and two sons. The memory continued for a little more until Exodus stepped out from behind a wall into an open area and excruciating pain could be felt on the right side of his skull as all sensation of Exodus' body goes dark.
Xivar woke up, gasping for air. He just witnessed all of Exodus' memories of combat and felt him die suddenly. He looked out the large entrance behind him and sees that night had fallen, but couldn't tell if he was gone for hours or over a day. Darth Orias walked over to him, looking down on Xivar.
"I take it the ritual was a success?" Orias asked him.
"I don't know...Exodus, still here?" Xivar asked and waited for a response.
"He's gone. The ritual had done it's job." Genesis' voice answered him.
When realizing this, Xivar could feel a kind of absence around him. Like something was missing. Exodus had really been removed. Perhaps now was his chance to escape.
"Go back to the training area, the others will test to see how much you've improved." Orias said while turning his back to walk into a different room.
"Actually, I have something else in mind..." Xivar said while raising his hand up and forcing one of the cage looking chandeliers to come crashing down toward the Sith.
Orias was quick to react and stopped the chandelier before it hits him and sends it flying toward Xivar, who dodges in time. The two stare at each other before Xivar draws his weapon and charges forward. Orias doesn't bother to draw his own weapon and instead dodges each slice that attempts to strike him. Xivar was much faster and accurate than before, and was attacking more aggressively. It almost as if he was acting on instinct but it wasn't his own instinct he was following. Was this what he gained from the ritual? It wasn't until long before Orias had enough and raised his hand and sent Xivar flying into the air, dropping his weapon in the process, and forcing him to a wall to prevent him from moving. Xivar powered through the oncoming force and raises an arm toward Orias. He had noticed his weapon on the ground next to the Sith and concentrated on it. With a flick of his wrist, the warblade sprang from the ground, spinning up to Orias' arm. The blade connects with its target and Orias jerks backward from the attack. Xivar falls to the floor and recalls his weapon as he runs forward for the next attack, but was soon stopped by two of the veiled Sith who disarm him and knock him away before he could get close to the old Sith.
"Enough! Let him return to his camp. We need to prepare for the ritual again for the second spirit." Orias commanded the Sith.
The two of them bowed to Orias and returned to the others. The usual two Sith came up to Xivar and began to lead him toward the back hall where the stairs were to leave. As he was leaving, Xivar looked back at Orias who was looking at his wounded arm. For a second it looked like he was smiling.
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Day 8: Freedom?
Xivar had woken up before the sun rose. He couldn't sleep well after the series of events from yesterday. After the ritual and the skirmish with Darth Orias, Xivar began noticing he had more power than he did before. Orias was keeping his promise of making him stronger, but Xivar still can't find any ultimate goal the old Sith could be reaching.
"It's been quiet since they released Ivernik. I have to admit, it's nice that it's quieter." Genesis suddenly spoke.
"Ivernik? That's Exodus' real name? Why haven't you told me all this time?" Xivar asked the voice.
"We didn't trust you when you first noticed our presence and we never bothered to correct you from the names you had given us when we were content with the situation. Perhaps if you had gone back to the Sith Order when we told you to, we would have told you then. Even teach you our techniques rather than have some ritual do it for you."
"Feels like I'm back in the Sith with all of this damn training. I think I'd rather go back to the academy than go through those five days of hell. Hopefully there isn't anything as bad after this next ritual. Or maybe if I can kill him and get that ship."
"I advise against that. Your first attempt managed to land a hit on Orias, but he wasn't even trying. He could have ended your life had he wanted to."
"Any idea on what he wants?"
"I know what he wants. He wanted us to be free from you. What happens to you afterward is a mystery to me." Genesis answered.
"Wait, you knew that this whole time?!" Xivar yelled. "Why didn't you tell me? I would have had more time to try to escape! Now I only have until the end of the day."
"I won't take sides on this and you will find out why when you learn from my memories." Genesis stated before going quiet.
The two Sith arrived when morning finally came and they hiked back to the temple. Xivar had thought about making a run for the ship and try to break past its security but opted against it when he noticed a figure on the top of the temple wearing strange black and red armor looking down at him. They walked down to the main floor and repeated the events of the ritual. Xivar sat down while the Chagrian standing in front of him chanting with the veiled Sith around the room. Xivar closed his eyes and watched the memories unfold.
The memories were similar in appearance to Ivernik's. The beginning was on Korriban training alongside another acolyte. Xivar immediately recognized the other young man as Ivernik, to which he assumed the recurring man in Ivernik's memories was Genesis. The memories of familiar battles repeat but from Genesis' perspective, who was more calm and precise than Ivernik who was highly aggressive in combat. The memories become different when Xivar sees Ivernik in a dark room of what seems like a laboratory and trying to access a terminal. He's stopped by a woman in a lab coat who was holding a blaster to his head. Surprisingly enough, Ivernik didn't move to kill her but rather helped her reach a ship while meeting up with Ivernik along the way and escaped the building on a ship. The memories after that became mundane as Genesis seemed to act as a body guard for the same woman for some time. The next battle memory was alongside Ivernik as they charged toward a village of some sort, four Jedi running to intercept them. Genesis kills one of them but spares the other for some unknown reason.
The next battle was against Ivernik on Dromund Kaas amid the ruins of an old Sith site of some sort. Ivernik held an angry expression throughout the fight, but Xivar couldn't tell why. Xivar could feel every movement that Genesis made during the intense fight. He tried to block and overhead strike from Ivernik, who had deactivated his lightsaber before hitting Genesis' blade and bringing the hilt up to his face and reigniting the blade. Xivar could feel the burning blade strike against the lower part of his right jaw as Genesis' dodged just in time. The fight continued until Ivernik disarmed Genesis and knocked him to a knee, holding the blade up to his neck. Xivar only watched as Genesis quickly lunged forward and grabbed Ivernik's arms, a frost like substance covering both of the Sith's forearms. Xivar remembered that part from the first ritual. Genesis took his chance to escape into the wilds.
Time passes to the next memory, Genesis running through the halls again but this time with the woman from before and two young boys following him. Xivar could feel Genesis' concern for them, could they be his family? Genesis was shooting people that were trying to kill them, people that looked like those Ivernik was killing in the final moments of his life. Almost on cue with this realization, Ivernik kills a group of the unknown people as he meets up with Genesis and his family. They all made their way through the building and came upon a large open room, one that looked familiar to Genesis and Xivar as well. Xivar watched as Ivernik took a step out from behind the wall they were all hiding behind and watches the Sith fall dead when a sniper bolt hits the side of his head. Xivar felt the side of his head pulsing slightly, remembering the final sensation of Ivernik's memory.
Genesis took Ivernik's lightsaber and hands his wife the blaster pistol. He then runs forward, blocking the sniper's shots before reaching out with the Force and slamming him into the walls and floors repeatedly, rage coursing through him. It didn't take long for more enemies to pour into the room, dozens of them all with blasters pointed at Genesis but not firing. He looks up at the walkways above him and sees a Sith Pureblood speaking to him. The words seemed to blur together, making them difficult to understand. But one word that Xivar could hear was Novan. The two soon stopped talking and the soldiers start priming their weapons. They all fired at once, Genesis moving quickly to deflect the bolts back at them. But for all of Genesis' skills, bolts began to hit their mark. Xivar could feel the pain of each shot as Genesis began to slow down. The enemy numbers began dropping, starting from around forty and dwindling to the last ten, but it was too much for Genesis. In the end he fell back onto the ground as the last six soldiers approached their target, all of them reloading their rifles. Xivar felt the pain of the multiple blaster wounds on Genesis' body, feeling the Sith slowly fading away. The soldiers stood in a line, side by side, and leveled their weapons toward Genesis. Xivar watched and felt as the six of them unloaded the rifles into Genesis, each bolt becoming less painful than the last as the Sith finally died.
Xivar woke up trying to get his breath back. The sun had begun setting with the sky glowing orange, the ritual took hours like before. The Sith in the room had begun leaving the room, save for Orias who stood over Xivar, looking down at him.
"There. They are both gone." The Sith informed Xivar.
Xivar could no longer feel any presence of Genesis anymore. The two of them, Ivernik and Kessik are now gone. He was finally alone. As he was thinking on his new memories, he came to the ultimate realization.
"Your name, it's Kagrido Novan right? One of the councilors told me that a while back. The two of the ghosts were Novans as well. Genes-- no, Kessik, was your father. Am I right?" Xivar stood up as he asked the Sith, who nods in reply. "So that's what you wanted. To get them back."
"Yes and no. As I said twice before, you won't comprehend the reason I'm doing all of this. Even with the rituals increasing your intelligence, you won't figure it all out." Orias explained.
"I doubt I want to know...So what happens to me now? You gonna kill me? I don't have much else use for you. You made me strong enough to survive the rituals and got your ghosts back. What's stopping you from killing me?"
"You can leave." Orias said suddenly.
Xivar raised an eyebrow in question. "Let me guess, the catch is if I can kill you."
Orias reaches to the side of his belt and tosses Xivar a code cylinder. "Those are the codes to the ship. Leave if you want."
Xivar looked at the cylinder, still trying to make sense of the situation. He looked back at Darth Orias for a while then turned and walked toward the stairs leading out of the temple. After a few steps Orias spoke again.
"That's an interesting crystal around your neck."
He was talking about the necklace Xivar was wearing. He had it for as long as he could remember, but never knew where he got it from. He shrugged in response and kept walking.
"Know where you got it?" Orias questioned.
"No."
"Want to know where it came from?"
Those words caught Xivar's attention. He had asked himself that question when he was on Nar Shaddaa, asking jewelry vendors if they had an idea of where it was from. No one knew anything. He turned to face the Sith.
"I can help you find out. But I want something in return."
"Of course you do." Xivar muttered under his breath. "What do you want now?"
"I'm curious about your newfound capabilities. I'll give you missions to run and have someone follow you and observe as you fight. Do this for me and I'll tell you what I know, and have my people find out what I don't."
"Not interested. I'm done with you. I can find out on my own." Xivar proclaimed, the words 'on my own' having more of a meaning with the ghosts gone. He began walking away again. "Besides, you don't seem like someone who's interested in jewelry."
"The necklace itself looks like it's from the Core Worlds. The crystal might be close to it." Orias states.
Xivar turned around again, sensing the truth in his words. Maybe he had the answers after all.
"So what will it be?" Orias asked.
Xivar takes a moment to think. He had never been able to find anything out on his own and Orias seems to know the necklace's design by looking at it. If all he wants is to see how powerful he's become since he was brought here, what's wrong with a mission or two to test his newfound strength. Eventually Xivar nods in agreement.
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Day 11: War Games
Xivar sat watching the wide and barren desert in the distance. After being sent on several missions, Darth Orias had Xivar sent to an old homestead on Tatooine. His orders were to wait for one of the old Sith's acquaintances to land and drop off some cargo. Why have him oversee such a task was beyond him. The place wasn't bad though, decent living quarters, servant droids to deal with cooking and getting anything from the far off settlements, almost seemed like a reward. Though Xivar knew better than to let his guard down.
After a while, one of the protocol droids notified him of three starships approaching the homestead. Xivar looked up and saw an XS stock freighter and two cargo ships, ships that common smugglers would use. Xivar made his way down to the ground floor and over to the hangar where the XS freighter landed. The boarding ramp lowered and a man walked down followed by two armed guards. The man was a human that looked to be in his early forties, wearing brown robes that were often used on Tatooine to combat the light sandstorms. When he saw the insignia on the guards' uniforms, which consisted of a cracked skull wearing a broken crown, Xivar recognized who he was dealing with. Who appeared to be a simple smuggler was really the Nar Shaddaa crime lord Kingslayer, a name he earned from killing any two-bit gangster who called themselves the king of the criminal underworld, though never made a claim for the crown itself. Xivar had heard of him during his days on Nar Shaddaa after Zakuul had ransacked Korriban.
"Uh...Gixar?" Kingslayer asked, trying to guess a name.
"Xivar." He corrected.
"Right, right, right Xivar. Name's Avolis. Darth Orias asked me to give you a little assignment to see what you're made of."
Xivar wasn't aware Orias had connections to any crime bosses, even Kingslayer for that matter. What could he provide as a test for him? Before he could ask any questions, Avolis walked past him and made his way outside the hangar. Xivar followed him up toward the external landing pad toward the outskirts of the homestead, where the other two cargo ships landed. There he saw the smugglers and pirates unloading crates from the ships.
"What is all of this exactly?" Xivar asked the crime lord.
"Darth Orias said I could keep some valuables here for a while. You're gonna defend 'em, with help from my men of course." Avolis answered simply.
"What kind of valuables exactly?"
"Spare credits, weapons, spice, et cetera. You know, smuggler stuff." Avolis answered in a carefree manner. "Just keep them guarded from anyone who tries to steal 'em."
"That's it? Seems kind of mundane to be a test." Xivar admitted.
Avolis looked at Xivar for a moment before turning to his guards "Prep the ship for takeoff, we'll head out when I finish having a little chat with my friend here."
The two guards did as ordered and returned to the hangar. Avolis once again began walking off without Xivar, this time toward the main house built into the side of the cliff. Xivar followed him up to the giant balcony where he was before, watching Avolis pour himself a drink.
"Wanna hear a little secret?" Avolis asked in a hushed tone.
Xivar was starting to get a little annoyed, he only shrugged in response. Xivar sat down at the table and waved a hand over for Xivar to do the same. He took the seat across from the crime lord.
"Kag tells me he wants to test your skills, so here I am." Avolis began explaining. "Ya see, running a large crime syndicate like mine, you're bound to have some lying, traitorous bastards waiting to get the jump on ya. 'Cept this lot of traitors aren't smart enough to keep their mouths shut, so I caught on quickly."
"What's this have to do with me?" Xivar asked, not getting the point.
"The ones coming after my cargo here are those traitors. The people helping you guard everything, also traitors but not from the same group. Both sides don't know about the other so they'll basically take each other out." Avolis continued. "Normally I'd have done this some other way, but with all this business about Kag kidnapping a merc and me with my little problem, he figured I could make a little game out of it while giving you a test at the same time."
Xivar was beginning to understand. This was supposed to test his ability to lead a group into a battle, complete with objectives to control. Should be an easy war game seeing as both sides don't need to live through it.
"Oh, and Kag wanted me to keep quiet about the whole situation. So don't tell him I told you about what's happening."
"Why tell me then?"
"Hey if I'm handing the fun of dealing with these traitors to someone else, I have to at least laugh about it." Avolis answered with a grin. "They'll be here in a couple of days, so you got some time to relax until then."
Avolis stood up and started to walk toward the small lobby leading to the elevator. Xivar stopped him.
"Wait, why are you calling him Kag?" Xivar asked, not seeing how the crime lord could refer to him so casually.
"Heh heh, like I'd tell ya." Avolis chuckled before entering the elevator.
Xivar watched below as the crime lord returned to his ship and watched the freighter fly out of sight. He then watches the people continuing to unload the crates throughout the area.
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