A Knight's Commander

[HunterOrdo]

Sindri had put in a request to further his own training by learning Force Deflection from an older Knight. He had assumed it would be a Marshall, or perhaps even the Field Marshall that would agree to teach him.. but he was astonished when he learned that the Knight-Commander, herself, would be the one to show him.

He was not sure what he had done to deserve this honor, or if the Commander had a hidden objective.. which he would not put it past her as she was a woman, and understanding how a woman thought was a mystery far greater then the force.

Nonetheless, he felt this was a lesson he needed. He could easily make due with his lightsabers to deflect most attacks, but what if he was disarmed? ambushed? It was to many what ifs for Sindri's liking. He enjoyed living, and he wanted to keep it that way.

Still.. as he sat in an almost meditative stance, he could not help but feel excited to see the Knight-Commander up close.. and to be able to speak with her. He had seen her from a distance at the funeral.. he had sworn his life and service to her. He told no one that.. but his service was to her.. the Knight-Commander and to the people of the Empire. Perhaps he was blasphemous against the ideals of the Knights to swear his fealty to his Commander first, his People second, and the true Emperor.. in fourth.

He pushed the thoughts aside as he reached up to brush his hair aside as well. He did not wear his helm today, but did put on his fixed and polished armor. His long brown hair was tied back in a ponytail, save for one small flock that would swing to hang in front of his face. He stared at the door waiting.. anxiously for his Commander.

 

[Dmitri]

The Sith's Folly was the Imperial Knights' new palace, where the Imperial Palace once had been called home. Now the palace served as home, hideout, sanctuary, and, in usage at the current time for the Knight-Commander, training grounds.

Earlier, Bellatrix La Rouge had assigned Sindri Esmer to go to Ando Prime and investigate abnormalities near the ancient Bogan ruins. Rouge had not had a chance to debrief her of the mission yet. While looking through applications for training, she had spotted Sindri's and decided to take on the application personally, for two reasons. The first was to learn what happened and the second was that Rouge found it best that she teach too, instead of leaving duties like that to others. It was not befitting of a commanding officer if she left others to do everything. By doing such tasks too, she showed that she was their leader, not their dictator, an aristocrat who leeched off their efforts.

Rouge entered the room to find Sindri already there. Her red armor shined due to polish. She stood by a wall adjacent from Sindri.

"I see you wish to learn Force Deflection," said Rouge. "An interesting and useful choice. We'll do a little training and during the break I'll let you brief me about what happened at Ando Prime."

 

[HunterOrdo]

Ando Prime. So she was here because of other motives. It was not surprise.. as well, Knight-Commander or not she was a woman. He did not mind as he had been given more then enough time to come up with a plausible story. One that contained half-truths so that even with the aid of the force, one would not be able to distinguish truth from lies.

Still, he was honored to be able to learn from her no matter her motives behind it. He nodded to show he understood "Of course Commander. Where do we begin?" He asked. He truly wanted to learn this ability.. it was one he had already thought of numerous uses for.

He would complete his own personal goals.. but for him to do that he needed more.

 

[Dmitri]

Sindri seemed to be suspicious, and Rouge wondered if mentioning the Mission on Ando Prime had anything to do with it. Still, the Knight seemed eager to learn, asking where to start.

"Force Deflection is a difficult technique," noted Rouge. "Due to its difficulty, most prefer to instead just use a lightsaber. However, if one loses their lightsaber or it is destroyed, this technique is very useful. The ability helps deflect blaster bolts and energy, whether normal or Force-initiated, such as Force Lightning."

Rouge cracked the knuckles in her hands, a devilish grin on her face. "Due to the level of difficulty, it's best to work off of other techniques to elevate to Force Deflection. What defensive techniques do you know? That includes Force Pull, Push, and the likewise."

 

[HunterOrdo]

Sindri nodded as the Commander spoke to show he was listening. He knew it was difficult and a ability he would not be able to learn on his own which was why he had asked for additional aid. Her cracking of her knuckles surprised him as she seemed to be very.. well, he was not even sure.

Maybe he should be not only confused by women but terrified as well. He paused that thought train instead switching it to thinking of all the defensive abilities he knew before slowly listing them."The defensive abilities I know: Force Pull, Push, Jump, Absorb, Shield, and Tapas." He listed. He was more of a lightsaber user then a force adept, but he was average for his rank.

 

[Dmitri]

Sindri listed off techniques he knew.

"Push... Absorb... Shield... very useful," said Rouge. "Let us try the combination of Push and Absorb."

Rouge pulled out a small blaster set at the lowest setting.

"When you are ready, concentrate on the blaster bolts. Use the Force, and think of it as a glove on your hand. And with your hand, place your hand between yourself and the blaster bolt. Let your hand be a wall, that pushes all impurities, all energy, away from you."

When Sindri was ready, Rouge would fire a test shot.

 

[HunterOrdo]

Sindri let out a slow breath to help center himself. Push and Absorb. He was not sure how he was going to combine them, but he would use push and see how that went.

A glove. Closing his eyes, he tried to tug and pull the force around his hand. He was not sure if it was a glove or not.. but he felt it was the closest he would ever get to a 'glove'. Now.. She wanted him to put his hand in front of the bolt to act as a wall blocking all impurities. He nodded unsure of this.

"Alright lets do it before I lose my courage to get shot at." He said shaking his body to prepare himself. Without hesitation the Commander pulled the trigger. The sound of ionizing air filled the air as the blaster discharged its bolt.

Sindri extended his 'gloved' hand towards the bolt. A wall.. A wall. He told himself as he tried to push the glove into a wall. For a moment, just a moment, Sindri could have sworn he saw the bolt slow down.. before hitting his flesh. It was turned down on its lowest setting, so it would not go through his hand, but it hit his metal gauntlet which still stung.

He responded on instinct shaking his hand trying to get the stinging sensation gone "Son of a.." He started before stopping himself. Right. Not the right place for that.

 

[Dmitri]

Rouge fired. Sindri was unsuccessful in stopping the attack.

"The 'glove' is the pinnacle for where to focus the Force at," said Rouge. "Use that focal point to erect a barrier. Focus on stopping the blaster and nothing else." She gave an encouraging smile. "Believe in your own ability."

 

[HunterOrdo]

A beacon? That just seemed rather confusing. Letting out a slow breath, he tried once more raising his hand, but instead of making the whole glove, he merely made the padding on the front of his hand.

Stop it. Stop it. He chanted to himself over and over again. Once again the Commander aimed and fired again without hesitation. Sindri watched as the bolt approached in almost slow motion as it collided with the shield he made in front of his hand. It stopped.. for a moment. As he watched it became a ball of energy.. but it had to go somewhere, and before he knew it, the ball shot down back into a bolt and smacked against his thigh.

Sindri rubbed the now stinging thigh.. but it did lead him to an idea.. If he could stop it.. turn it into that ball. He could absorb it.. or perhaps, if he angled the shield.. he could get it to go where he wanted it.

 

[Dmitri]

"Good job," complimented Rouge. "Speak how you did that. We'll then take a break in which you can tell me all about your mission at Ando Prime."

Rouge offered a medpac to Sindri.

 

[HunterOrdo]

Sindri flashed a smile at the compliment. He was glad to be able to do it somewhat right before he got too many bruises. "I concentrated on getting it to stop... That was the only thing running through my mind." He admitted feeling slightly less as achieved as before.

He accepted the medpac. He would talk as he used it. He could multitask. He opened the small pac taking out the pain reliving gel. "I arrived on Ando Prime on a smugglers vessel with the rest of the cargo." He started "It took a short investigation of cantinas, beggars, and a few other less reputable sources to find out that the area with the dark energy was only a little ways off, however, I could not find out exactly where, so I 'borrowed' a speeder and a map and searched the general area."

He took of his gauntlet and thigh plates as he slowly applied the gel. "It took me awhile, but I arrived at the ruins of an Ancient Bogan temple. I was not alone however. A native by the name of Steve had gone there before me.. he attacked me on sight believing me to be a trick of some kind. I managed to knock him out without harming him, but he was near death from the frost, so I bound him and put him in the speeder." He could still remember Steve.. that man.. was a scary sight.

He paused as the memories came flooding back. "The ruins.. they were pulsing with the dark side. They tried to break my will. I am not sure if the goal was to drive me insane, kill me, turn me to the dark side or a little of all of them." He continued "I faced two.. unpleasant memories in my search for the source of the corruption." He said.. although if he had to.. and only if he had to would he tell her what the memories were.

"After the second, I pushed open the last door and found myself in the cave. I know now that the rooms never existed. The ruins lead right to the cave.. the rooms were merely in my head." He admitted "The cave.. of Light, I learned it had been called once. A mockery of a name if there ever was one. It was the source of the dark side, although at the time I did not know why." He said. Now it was time for the lie, he had mixed it so well with the truth that it would be impossible to tell if it was a lie "I placed some low grade explosives that I had 'borrowed' from the smugglers to close off the exit of the cave of light in hopes of stemming if not destroying the corruption. I searched the local holocrons and rumors for what was the cause."

He looked up at the Commander as he closed the Medpac "The sight of the temple had been the site of a massive bombardment that killed hundreds of bogan.. with all their dead dark side powers residing it created a wound in the force."

 

[Dmitri]

Rouge listened to Sindri's story. However, there were some inconsistencies.

"You say that you learned it was called the Room of Light," said Rouge. "From whom? Surely the ignorant citizens of the settlement wouldn't know about that specific location from which it was called during the time of Bogan occupation."

"And where'd you get these explosives? To cave-in such a cave, you'd need some powerful stuff, and such level of explosives are guarded well."

 

[HunterOrdo]

Sindri sighed "Remember I was traveling with smugglers. You would be surprised at how many independent factions that are jumping around would pay for some decent explosives. These caves were thousands of years old already crumbling, they just needed a little.. push." He said copying the pushing motion.

Once again, he met her eyes "Rumors. Indeed. How did I find out about the bogan? By researching among the populace. They had rumors, myths, legends and such about the ruins. It was a manhood test. A kid would dare another kid to enter the ruins and stay for the night that kind of thing. The name the Cave of Light, I said.. strange, it could have been Room." He said contemplating.

He gave a soft shrug "Well, it was either call it Room of Light, or 'That dark spooky cave'. Which sounds better?"

 

[Dmitri]

Rouge listened to Sindri's defenses. She decided to believe them... for now.

"I see," purred Rouge. "So the ghosts of the deceased Bogans haunted the cave. Interesting. In curiosity, what do you know about the Bogan? It may be good to look into them, as they were in some ways pre-date Sith. It's actually ironic. The Bogan Empire's structure was more stable than the Sith's yet the Sith are the ones who managed to stay alive this long and continue to rise."

 

[HunterOrdo]

"Truly?" He said thinking over the Bogans.. and the bogan he had met. He knew little to nothing of the Bogan themselves, only what he had learned about a single bogan.. and his methods, but that bogan seemed to be the type that was a loner and different then his peers.

"I know nothing about the Bogans. I merely assumed they were Dark Jedi who had yet to.. mingle." He chose the word for obvious reasons "With the Sith of Korriban."

He did find it amusing.. but then again, perhaps the Bogan and Sith were not so different. Same beings different name? Or perhaps not. Who truly knew?

 

[Dmitri]

Sindri knew less than Rouge had guessed.

"I'll tell you what I know. During the Alsakan Crisis, there were Jedi who believed the Jedi were not reacting fast enough and left to form the Ospion Guardians to combat the Alsakans. Sound familiar? It's similar to what Revan did in the Mandalorian Wars. These Ospion Guardians, like the Revanarchists, eventually fell to the Dark Side. I'm uncertain when the transition came when the Opsion Guardians officially evolved into the Dark Jedi of the Bogan. Regardless of when, they became a major threat by the time of the Second Hutt War where part way into the war the Hutts betrayed the Bogan Empire and crushed them. Strangely, the Bogan did not believe in betraying others for power like the Sith seek."

 

[HunterOrdo]

Sindri listened intently. The hutts betrayed them? That was strange. Hutts were known for keeping their deals not breaking them. In fact, they were very stern about such things. They were respectable in that fact. The Hutts do believe themselves to be far above every other species.. and are very greedy, so it would not be a complete stretch to see this happen.

Revan.. Not much was known about the Sith Lord turned Jedi. So much history had been lost over the time. Sindri, himself, knew that he would have joined Revans crusade against the Mandalorians... even if he knew what would come out from it. Sometimes.. sacrifices had to be made for the greater good of the galaxy. Sindri believed that was one of those times.

"Interesting." He said softly "So what did they believe in?" He questioned. If they were not like the sith, nor the Jedi, then what was their principles?

 

[Dmitri]

"Like the Sith, the Bogan believed that if they had power, they should use it," said Bellatrix. "Like us, they viewed the Jedi as too pacifistic and slow to action. Unlike the Jedi, they viewed that universe as chaotic, nothing set in stone. The first Bogan emperor was very strict about loyalty and dissuaded his members from betraying each other." She laughed. "It's ironic he stressed about his men not to betray, only to fail to notice the mad Hutt Emperor Tusa the Hutt would ultimately betray them.

 

[HunterOrdo]

"Hm. They seem more Gray Jedi then Dark Jedi." He commented. From what he heard, they seemed to be merely violent Jedi. Not true Sith.. Nor Knights. More like they had been working on refining their ideals before they were.. wiped out.

"Trust.. is such a strange thing." Sindri said softly. It was precious. Once given it was very easy to lose. Once lost it was impossible to truly gain it back. Sometimes it left scares on people and they could never trust again. He was not one of those people. Trust.. was something one had to give. You had to trust that your fellow knights had your back.

One could not have unity if they were always watching eachother for betrayal.

 

[Dmitri]

"It is a fragile bond indeed," said Bellatrix. "I have learned the hard way that trust isn't always enough. I've had people betray me in the past. But I overcame them. My loyalty, my determination, always allowed me to climb back up. This is my suggestion to you: trust does not mean you can't be cautious and suspicious; it's only until you act upon these beliefs, especially without evidence do things turn bad."