Basic Understanding (Enig's Basic Training)

[Nameless]

Enig didn’t like this. He loathed being a student, especially when he knew so little about the subject matter. He had been far too sheltered, and now he was paying the price. His back ached from the bed, his stomach longed for exquisite food, and it was so damned cold. The young Umbaran was in far too deep to let complaints as superficial as these to change his mind. His course was set, and he would do everything in his power to follow it.

His hooded head turned to afford Enig another glance around the training room. He hadn’t put on his mask in light of the day’s events, and as a result his pale face and empty eyes was nearly indistinguishable from his cloak. He glanced at the scars on the stone walls and the metal footlockers scattered about the otherwise empty room. Enig wasn’t sure what his training would entail, but he figured he would find out soon enough. His master had to arrive at some point.

“Now if I could just remember his name,” Enig mumbled.

 

[Mars]

Aiden entered the training room in a somewhat lax mood. He was assigned a new acolyte and their training was to begin today. It had been some time since the future assassin had been on a mission so he was not as sore as usual, despite recently finishing lightsaber sparring.

Aiden wore his usual attire; black armour underneath similarly colored robes and a red silk headband around where his eyes would be. Underneath the robes were his pair of curved-hilt lightsabers. If his acolyte had his own lightsaber it would be taken now and given back later on.

His acolytes name was Enig and was an Umbaran from their homeworld. Umbarans were famous for many things, force-sensitivity being one of the major things. He stepped into the training room and saw a pale faced male sitting down, one Aiden had never seen before.

"Stand up and face me." He said curtly. "Are you Enig?"

 

[Nameless]

Enig rose quickly from his seat and attempted to stare down this newcomer. Eye contact was important in rituals such as this, but there was a small problem. His master was either a Miraluka or a blind member of various other humanoid species. Meaning his eyes were completely concealed from view. At least Enig didn’t have to question his choice of attire.

“Yes, I am Enig Marcoo of Umbara,” he said quickly, failing to avoid the bow that had woven its way into his list of natural greetings.

“Are you my master? I haven’t been told your name, unfortunately.”

 

[Mars]

Aiden listened to his students formal introduction. This one came from higher up in society, not a street rat like most of the trash that came through.

"Aiden Dekker, Crusader of the Bogan." He stated emotionlessly. "And your new master."

He had worked long and hard to earn that title. The scar on his palm reminded him of his trials.

"Are you armed?" He asked.

 

[Nameless]

"Yes I am," Enig replied casually, attempting to match Aiden's tone.

A single, gloved hand slid beneath the Umbaran's robes and removed his lightsaber from its clip. The curved hilt seemed to be made specifically for Enig's hand, and he marveled at the thought of what he and this blade would accomplish in the future.

"This, is my only weapon," he said, holding the hilt with an open palm.

 

[Mars]

Aiden smiled as his acolyte drew a weapon from the folds of his robes. It was a lightsaber, a curved-hilt like Aiden's weapons.

"Are you able to use it without harming yourself? Keep in mind, a yes means I will not confiscate it, but we will be sparring and you may die if you're not ready to use it. A no means I'll be holding that untill later on." Aiden said. His tone was one of seriousness. To emphasize this, he pulled his more ornate lightsaber into his right hand but did not ignite the plasma blade yet.

 

[Nameless]

“No, I haven’t had any sort of training. I’ve never even powered it up. I received it only a month ago, and it seemed like an object that should be handled with care. So, I’ve just kept it on my side,” Enig explained quickly.

He had noticed that his master’s blade was similar to his own. That could certainly make training a touch easier. The young man was hesitant to give up his new weapon, but he supposed it was for the best.

“Will you be wanting it now?” he asked mildly.

 

[Mars]

Aiden nodded his head and extended his left palm. The blade left his acolytes hand, floated through the air and landed noislessly in Aidens palm. He closed his hand around the weapon as he put his own away.

"A fine weapon Acolyte. Learn well and many will fall to this one day." He stated with a slight grin on his face. Enig was not unlike Aiden during his first day at the temple.

"Follow me, we will go to the training room." Aiden said.

 

[Nameless]

Enig had never seen any display of the Force, but he had heard enough rumors to know what had just occurred. This combined with the smile that lifted the corners of his master’s mouth was all Enig needed to know that he was in the right place. It was time to begin the training that he had been planning since as far back as he could remember. The pale youth was practically giddy with excitement.

“After you,” he said in the most even tone he could manage.

 

[Mars]

Aiden felt his students happiness through the Force. This was good, he wanted this. It would make fighting through pain easier. He needed to teach the young man many things he was sure but he needed to find out what he knew first. The pair made their way through the snaking corridors of the Temple and ended up in a large room full of both Acolytes and Crusaders training with the occasional master dirrecting the chaos. Aiden quickly grabbed a seat near a table and motioned for his acolyte to join him.

"Sit, we must talk before we begin." He said.

 

[Nameless]

The acolyte did as much as possible to take in everything he saw on his journey through the temple. It was much larger than he had expected. The training room was alive with the Force. Enig could feel it, and it felt like raw power. He took a second to observe some of the contests that were taking place in the training room. The speed and intensity of some of the duels suddenly made the boy happy that he had temporarily given his blade up. He slowly slid into a seat across from his master.

“Then let’s get started,” Enig said quickly.

 

[Mars]

Aiden pulled a leg up onto his chair and relaxed his posture.

"What is your past acolyte? Why are you here?" He said. It was a plain question, but one of the most important ones and the answer should be long enough to warrant Aiden not launching him across the room. Too many acolytes came here for the wrong reasons.

 

[Nameless]

“I was born on Umbara into a rather well-to-do family. Umbaran society works different than a lot of others. Our lives are spent playing an intricate game of chess with consequences ranging from imprisonment, to death, to ruling a planet. There are no set positions meaning that anyone and everyone can be promoted or ousted on a whim. Out of hundreds of classes I was lucky enough to be born into the top layers, and from a young age I began putting into motion plans that would raise my family’s status and allow me to leave the Ghost Nebula,” Enig paused to take a quick breath before continuing his story.

“My past is a short one. Even I’ll admit that I have very little practical experience, but I’ve seen more than my fair share of evils on Umbara. I am here because I see a potential in myself that won’t be satisfied sitting on some committee deciding what color we should paint the new capitol building. I did not come here for power, because the power I crave is within me. I am here because I need the keys that will allow me to utilize that power however I see fit. The Dark Jedi have all of those keys, and I figure devoting myself to the Bogan is the least I can offer in exchange,” he explained.

Enig had spoken the truth. He knew too little of the Dark Jedi to claim full acceptance of their ideals, but he was more than willing to learn and apply whatever they had to teach him in whatever way they needed him to. He would be a tool, and the Bogan would use him however he saw fit.

“I have many plans, after all,” he finished.

 

[Mars]

Aiden nodded his head as the acolyte spoke of his past. He had heard of the Ghost Nebula before and a good number of Bogan were Umbarans. Being able to manipulate ones way through their society was an impressive feat.

The young man continued after a brief pause. He lacked real experience, which was a problem. Learing to kill is one thing, but to kill a man and feel him die through the force was a different beast entirely. Live drills would be abundant in this ones training. The man craved power and believed he held it but the Bogan held the keys. Time would only tell how true this is. He finished with a statement about having plans. Through the Force Aiden felt that he was truthfull and he saved himself from being tossed.

"Have you ever killed a man acolyte? You speak as though you were raised as a politician, and had assassins like myself who could do the dirty work for you." Aiden said.

 

[Nameless]

“You are correct. Getting one’s hands dirty is generally frowned upon in my society. I arranged to have an opponent killed by convincing another Umbaran to order the murder. My target was killed, while my patsy and his closest relatives were slapped with extreme sentences. That is the closest I’ve come to murder, however, I have no qualms about committing the act. Everyone has to die eventually, right?” Enig said with a smile.

“I know that if it was a choice between my life and my enemy’s I would not hesitate to end his existence with extreme prejudice,” the young acolyte added.

 

[Mars]

A grin came to his face as his acolyte described his underhanded move. This one was a slimy bastard and Aiden liked that. Perhaps Umbarans weren't the frail bodied weaklings he thought they were.

"That is impressive acolyte. Were you taught any form of fighting during your upbringing? Such as a martial art system, how to use any form of sword or blaster or even a lightsaber." He asked. Aiden would teach him what he needed if not, followed by a brief sparring session and then live combat with one of the various Bogan slaves.

 

[Nameless]

“Unfortunately, no. I had planned on studying basic hand-to-hand techniques in order to protect myself from any would-be assassins, but my father insisted I hire bodyguards instead,” he said with a dejected tone.

“I have seen lightsaber exhibitions though, and I have a cursory understanding of the different forms. I can usually tell one from the other simply by viewing a few swings, but I don’t think that would be much help to me in real combat,” Enig explained.

“Personally, I prefer the flowing forms of Makashi. That is why I choose the curved-hilt lightsaber when I began preparing to leave Umbara,” he said, hoping this information would be of some use to his master.

 

[Mars]

Aiden frowned a bit as his student mentioned that he had no previous training, but that also meant he had no bad habits to correct. Hiring bodyguards, bah! Perhaps on his homeworld it was safer. Aiden cringed at the though of being unable to defend himself.

"It is good you can see the lightsaber forms, I'm sure you've put a few hours into studying them when you should've been doing something more...political." Aiden said with a slight bit of a laugh. Many teachers in the Bogan refused to show any hint of emotion but in Aiden's mind that was no better then the Jedi teachings.

"I have been a practicioner of Makashi for nearly eight years now and taken the form to a very high level. With it, I killed three Jedi during our assault on their temple. By the Jedi standards, I have mastered the form." He said. "That is the form I am best suited to teach and you wield a curved-hilt blade like I do. However, you must learn how to use your body as well as some sword skill before we advance to lightsaber training."

 

[Nameless]

Enig laughed with his master. Indeed, he had spent much more time at the exhibitions than he should have. He then listened silently as his master explained his skills. Killing three Jedi was certainly a great achievement, and Enig had certainly lucked out with his assignment to this particular crusader. Things were already looking up.

“Of course, I can’t be expected to walk if I haven’t learned how to crawl,” he smiled before continuing, “I am ready to begin physical training. I’ve never even held a sword, but I’m a quick learner.”

 

[Mars]

Aiden nodded in agreement with his student. At least he was honest about not knowing well enough to start right in and didn't argue. It was good that he was quick learner but Aiden would find that out shortly.

"Good. We'll begin with basic Martial art's moves and work on to incorporating weapons later on. As we finish up the concepts of the hand-to-hand stuff me and you will spar and then you'll fight one of our slaves. Same idea for swords and finally with saber work you'll do a high-intensity sparring match with one of the other acolytes." Aiden said, explaining how the process would go before they began. "Now come here." He said motioning towards a large open-area of the room.

As Aiden neared the area he assumed his fighting stance that he had taken to use over the years. Hands up, chin down, weight planted on his rear leg and back slightly arched.

"Over time, you'll find a style that fits you best. For now try to emulate this stance. Always return here after any strike." Aiden said.