Ask The Shadow of Atravis

[Wodan]

The shadows of what happened on Atravis still hung low over the head of Wodan. His sleep was punctuated by the screams of his dying men, every piece of cooked food reminding him of the smell of burning flesh in the air. The past two weeks had been some of the worst of his life, he had tried to move forward and had ventured out beyond Korriban with other members of the Empire, but they had only been distractions, avoiding the problem.

Wodan had tried to dive deep into the Force and the Blade but neither gave him any solace, the images of those dying men and the horned Champion kept flowing back to him as soon as he stopped. He had written to the families of the men who died, he didn’t expect any replies and didn’t get any, but perhaps if one of them had maybe that would have made him feel better. The dog tags from the fallen men still hung on the hook near his bed on Korriban, a daily reminder of his failure on Atravis and that he must do better.

His pride had forced him from the battlefield soon after it was finished, not wishing to face any of his peers or betters after his failure on the planet surface. But the nightmares were taking their toll on his mental state and he was visibly a few pounds lighter after not eating any cooked food over the past two weeks. Finally his desire to improve beat down his pride enough to cause him to make contact with his commander on Atravis.

The short flight from Korriban to Ziost was uneventful, a routine route between two core worlds deep behind the red borders of the Empire. Many travelled back and forth between the two planets, home of two of the Empires most prestigious academies. The Military Academy on Ziost was where the Champion had told Wodan to meet him, the Campus was huge, making the Academy on Korriban look like a study hall in comparison.

Wodan was given his visitors pass at one of the gates, between his rank as a Sith Acolyte and the letters from Altair he was quickly rushed through security, though he was asked to leave his weapons at the checkpoint. After getting directions the Firrerian headed to the main plaza where he was supposed to meet his old commander, a thick knot settled in his throat.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair had only recently moved to the campus on Ziost. He was surrounded by a lot of very disciplined individuals and it was very different from what he was used to on Dromund Kaas or Taris. Everyone around him was rigid and focused, leaving him feeling as if he constantly had to catch up. The biggest blow was drastically cutting down on smoking herbs. The policies against drugs of any kind were so harsh that it wasn’t even worth it. He could only indulge himself on breaks and make sure everything was out of his system.

The tiefling was a little surprised when Wodan wanted to follow up after Atravis. The entire mission was fraught with mishaps and failures to where Altair questioned even his own calls. However, they pulled through in the end and that’s all that mattered. Wodan was understandably demoralized after a series of failures and Altair knew no amount of talking would change that.

Altair spotted Wodan approaching from a distance. He was in the plaza getting himself a snack in the meantime, pocketing it shortly before he strode over towards the acolyte. Altair was adorned in his brand new uniform emblazoned with his rank. He offered Wodan a smile, “Acolyte Lidar,” He said, “Great to see ya,” He said cheerfully. Privately he sometimes had a tough time telling the acolytes in his mission group apart - all three men were prettyboy princes.

“Welcome to the Ziost academy,” Altair gestured broadly around himself, “So, you didn’t specify exactly why you came all this way,” He turned to look at the acolyte again, “How can I help ya?”

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

Nerves sat in the pit of his stomach as he awaited Altair’s arrival. With no weapon to grab hold of to keep his hands still the Firrerrian fidgeted with the pass he had been handed. Spinning it in his hand, flipping it back and forth whatever he could do to keep himself busy. Luckily for Wodan Altair was not hard to spot when it came to the students of the Academy. The Tiefling stood at a good height to begin with, the fact his horns stuck up a fair few inches above that meant he was easy to spot.

The uniform of the Imperial Military fitted the young Champion well and Wodan couldn’t help but stare as he approached. “Champion Din, or should I call you Lieutenant here?” Wodan replied, holding out his hand to the uniformed Sith to shake. It was perhaps a little too formal for their greeting but old habits die hard.

The Acolyte was stiff, both in posture and in language now that the Champion was here. The facade of nobility he had been raised to conjure to help hide his weaknesses was in full effect, the fidgeting hand now held behind his back clamped down on the security pass. “Atravis,” His voice almost broke, but he held it together continuing with an almost monotonal tone. “Was a failure on my part, I wish. I need to do better. You were there and handled yourself excellently, saving my life as well as others.” Wodan would not deny that Altair had placed himself upon a pedestal that day for the Firrerrian. One he could only be knocked off by Wodan himself. “I would ask for your assistance in improving my abilities when it comes to commanding men.” Wodan could almost here his instructors back on Korriban smack their own heads in frustration at the stupid formality of the Acoylte.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

“Lieutenant here,” Altair said. He was still getting used to the title himself and it made him giddy every time. It was a consistent reminder that all his hard work had paid off to get into such an exclusive academy. His parents were extremely proud, and that’s what mattered most in the end. He could tell Wodan was bothered and it all made sense when he spoke. Altair said nothing for a moment as he thought over his words.

“Well, the first step is admitting when you fucked up,” Altair said with a smile. He began to walk then, encouraging the acolyte to join him, “Engagement with the Imperials is very different than your usual training. Do you have a master?” He asked curiously, “A lot of Sith principles may conflict with it because with the military you can’t just look out for yourself.”

In truth, the Acolyte didn’t seem like he had much exposure to many aspects of being a Sith. Altair eyed him curiously, “How did you come to the Sith? What’s your story?”

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

A weight lifted off the shoulders of the Acolyte as Altair began. Just those first few words from the Champion had eased the collection of knots between his shoulder blades. Wodan followed Altair as he lead him away from the centre plaza. He kept himself a half step behind the Champion, as a sign of respect to someone of a higher rank than him. “None at the moment. I have trained under a number of different Sith in the Academy and beyond but I haven’t yet sworn to one in particular.” His tone was still flat and stiff as they walked.

“My Force Sensitivity was discovered by a Sith Champion when visiting Bespin. I was transferred to the Korriban temple around nine months ago. Since then it's just been the usual training and assignments. Atravis was my first test outside of Korriban.” Wodan purposefully moved around the question about his story, he was not trusting enough in the Tiefling to give him his true reason for being here. Nor was he happy to lie to the man either.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair could tell Wodan was rigid and stiff, but that wasn’t his problem to sort. He hoped the man would loosen up over time. He knew he wasn’t sharing every detail, but such was the way of the Sith. It was something Altair learned quickly. He came from a big family that constantly shared everything and made friends in two seconds.

“What kinda focus area are you interested in?” He asked, “For example, I specialize more in hand to hand combat outside of the Force lessons of course. What’re you into? I saw you using a spear. They’re a part of my Matukai training as well,” It was clear Altair admired the utilization of spears in combat - something that was rare for Sith.

“Hope you’re warm, we’re goin’ out into the fields,” Altair said. The planet was a wasteland outside of the base, many areas covered with an icy sheet. There were areas made to run training simulations filled with droids that posed as enemy soldiers.

“I’m gonna run us through a simulation when we get to the spot,” Altair explained as he arrived at a speeder bike, “Once we get there, you’ll be in command and I’ll be your soldier,” He said with a grin. He knew the suggestion would likely catch Wodan off guard, but nothing would teach as well as doing. Altair swung his leg over the bike and motioned for the Firrerreo to get on behind him.

“Any questions?”

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

“The spear always felt natural, I understand the reasoning for the lightsaber. But I always felt restricted with it, the Spear allows me to control the fight more.” Wodan replied, his hand grasping at the invisible weapon. “I haven't heard of Matukai, is that something you learned here?” He gestured to the Campus.

They had reached the edge of the Campus, the wind slowly picking up as the high buildings gave way to the wasteland beyond. He had dressed for the climate of the planet within the Campus, not expecting to go beyond its walls. Though before he could answer Altair stumped him with what they were going to do beyond the Campus walls. “Umm… But…” He stuttered as he followed the Tiefling towards the speeder.

“What about my gear?” He said discomfort was easily detectable on his voice as he got onto the back of the speeder. Any comfort would be welcome right now. That of his own weapons could at least bring some peace to the Acolyte's mind.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair blinked at him, “What about your gear? Grab what you need and hop on,” He stated simply. Why were these prince boys so complicated? He carried his own collapsible wan-shen at all times and he figured Wodan could strap his spear to his back or the side of the bike. The tiefling would wait until Wodan was comfortable and ready before he kicked off and zoomed out of the base and out into the cold, open wasteland.

The air was absolutely frigid, but Altair wasn’t entirely bothered. His thick skin protected him from extreme weather. However, for someone like Wodan who was from a tropical planet, he would be struggling. The ride took almost half an hour before Altair finally began to slow down. Up ahead, there were cliffs and gorges with what appeared to be the mouth of a cave up on a hill. Snow and ice covered much of the terrain.

Altair parked the speeder and stepped off. He glanced over at Wodan, “We run scenarios out here. There are droids hiding along the cliffs and the valley below,” Altair pointed towards the cave, “That’s our end goal. We gotta get up there without being taken out. All weapons are set to stun so we’ll just flop around on the ground if we get hit.”

The tiefling looked positively giddy about getting terrorized by some droids. He glanced over at Wodan, “You ready, sir?” He asked with a grin.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

“Security took it from me when I got here.” He replied matter of factly looking back towards the checkpoint on the other side of the plaza. Furrowing his brow he turned away from the Champion and took a small jog to the other side to get his gear. Wodan had to wave his badge, point at Altair on the other side of the plaza and display his Force Sensitivity to an overly stuck up guard before he released his gear back to him.

It was about ten minutes before the Acolyte was able to rejoin the Champion. A blaster strapped to his hip, lightsaber at the waist and his spear in his hand. With no proper way to holster his spear on the speeder the Firrerrian would just have to hold the weapon as they sped across the cold wasteland. Within ten minutes Wodan was frozen to the core, his right hand gripping the spea felt as if it was on fire as the bitter air crashed into the outstretched limb.

Fifteen minutes in he tried to do the overly complicated shuffle of the weapon behind his back, careful to not jam the sharp blade into the side of the speeder so his left hand could take some of the brunt of the cold.

He swapped a further two times before they finally reached their destination. Wodan was visibly shaking when he stepped off the speeder. Channelling The Force through himself he tried to use the mythical energy to increase his internal body temperature. It partly succeeded but he was still bone cold as Altair explained the situation the pair were now in.

His mind was still cloudy from the cold, but he tried to hone it in as he glanced across the terrain before them. “Umm…” He hesitated as he tried to formulate a plan in his head for them to succeed. “Ok, we take the Eastern Side, try to stick to the top of the cliff as much as possible. From there we can spot any of the droids down in the valley and the far cliff side.” Speaking aloud gave him some confidence, his voice gaining strength as he spoke. “You take the lead and keep an eye out for those in the valley and the Western Side, I will follow keeping eyes on the Eastern side. He had no idea if it was a good plan, it was probably a poor one, but it was all that could come to his frozen mind.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair could already tell Wodan wasn’t doing too great with the cold. Did the guy even realize he had snot running down his nose? The tiefling said nothing about it, letting the acolyte focus on the task at hand instead. If there was any indication that Altair found his plan to be shit or not, it certainly didn’t manifest on his face.

“Copy,” He said simply, taking the lead as ‘ordered’. He walked along the tops of the cliff, glancing over across for any activity and down towards the valley. He didn’t spot anything, but he also knew he and Wodan stuck out like sore thumbs against the white snow. It wasn’t long before one of the droids from down in the valley sprang out from behind a boulder and shot at the two. Altair managed to diffuse one of the bolts with his matukai glove and he dropped to a crouch as a barrage of bolts began to come their way. There were at least three droids from the valley shooting at them from behind boulder covers.

“There’s no cover up here!” Altair called back to Wodan, “What should we do?!” He yelled over the bolts being peppered their way. By now Altair was flat on his belly, crawling across the clifftop.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

The silence and quick reply from the Tiefling gave Wodan confidence that his plan was a good one. The Firrerrian expected that the Champion would rather not get blasted by droids and would have at least hinted at him if his plan was a bad one. As Altair began the march Wodan fell in behind about five metres back, he subconsciously wiped his nose on his sleeve as they walked. He was still cold, though his body had stopped shaking and his teeth were no longer clattering when he wasn’t talking.

The steep incline of the cliff helped pump blood and warmth around the Acolyte's body. His body couldn’t keep up with the rapid change in activity and temperature and he was soon sweating profusely as they walked along the ridge edge.

Wodan’s eyes were fixed on the far side and he didn’t spot the droid in the valley, that was Altair’s job wasn’t it. Shots were already ringing out as Wodan dived for cover. The problem was he had none. Altair’s shout only helped the levels of panic rise inside of Wodan. “Shoot back.” He shouted in a clear panic. Every battle he had seen or more correctly shown was carried out by two forces shooting at each other. Laying his spear to one side he pulled out his blaster and began shooting down at the droids.

He was able to get one with his shots, but the fire from only one blaster was not enough. Why wasn’t Altair shooting?

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair grimaced as he army crawled behind a mound of snow, the best bet he had right now. He scowled as Wodan yelled at him to shoot back, “I’m a melee soldier under your command!” He hissed back, “You gotta plan with my skillsets in mind, sir!” The tiefling shook his head and rolled his eyes, reaching down to grab the collapsible wan shen on his hip. He extended it to its full length, the spear materializing in his hand.

As the droids took a pause to assess damage, Altair abruptly sprang up, aimed and hurled the spear at them. The wan-shen sailed through the air and tore through not only one droid, but it shot through several others behind it. The result was a perfect shish kebabs of short circuiting droids. Their opposition on the bank across the valley was effectively neutralized from one well thrown spear.

Altair stared at his handiwork. While he knew he would at least get one, he couldn’t have anticipated such wonderful luck of the other droids lining up perfectly. In true Altair fashion, he immediately broke out into a brief and quick celebratory dance, “FUCK YEAH! Did you see that, boss?” He quipped cheerfully before using the Force to yank the wan-shen back to himself.

The little miracle gave them some breathing room to proceed further ahead. Altair dropped to a crouch again, sticking to mounds of snow and tossing some on himself for camouflage. He took out some macrobinocs and peered through them, “I got visual on two heavy droids patrolling the cave entrance. They look heavily armed with rifles so we can’t risk being spotted,” He glanced over his shoulder, “Orders?”


Dice: rolled a m'fing 20/20 on that spear throw

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

Altair’s response to Wodan, brought anger and frustration in the young man. Both emotions were aimed at himself however, how stupid was he? He had seen Altair fight before, he had always been close in, fighting with his fists or bladed weapons. Wodan didn’t even take the opportunity at the start of this mission to ask the Tiefling what weapons he had on him, Wodan just assumed the more experienced man would have factored this into their training and come prepared.

Angrily smashing his fist into the snow beneath him for his stupidity he missed Altair’s amazing one in a million throw, only looking up to see what had happened when the blaster fire from the droids ended. Altair would only see a puzzled look from Firrerrian as he broke into his celebratory dance. “Ummm, well done?” He said more confused than anything, the Acolyte slowly putting things together as Altair pulled the wan-shen back to him.

Wodan still trying to process the battle, the pair continued onwards up the cliff edge towards the end goal. Shifting up beside the crouched Tiefling, Wodan asked for the macrobinocs after Altair was done with them, another bloody thing the Acolyte had forgotten about on this mission. He didn’t have any as he hadn’t planned on coming to this remote training range, but he should have asked what Altair had. Use of the macrobinocs could have saved them some hassle in the previous fight.

His eyes scanned from one side of the cave entrance to the other and back again struggling to find a decent avenue of attack. The rifles out ranged anything the pair had on them, by The Force he wished he had a rifle of his own. “Umm, how…” No that wouldn’t work that was a stupid idea. “Ok, Ok.” His eyes scanned over to a set of slight cover off to one side, it wasn’t much but it could work.

“You are the better fighter, so I will go to them and draw their fire. You can then try and get at them from the side.” pointing at the small set of cover off to one side he continued. “I will distract them from there, my blaster will at least keep their attention.”

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair looked over at Wodan as he laid out his plan. The look of skepticism was unmistakable on the tiefling’s face. However, in the end Wodan was in command for this and Altair was his subordinate. The tiefling nodded and waited for Wodan take up position and use himself as live bait. As soon as the blasterfire started, Altair bolted off to the side and made his way towards the entrance. He had been skeptical, but he was genuinely surprised by how well Wodan managed to keep the droids focused on him. That or he was getting riddled with stun bolts and the droids decided to keep going.

The tiefling closed the distance and came up on the side of the entrance. Wodan had managed to take down one of them, but the other was still up and oblivious to Altair having come up from the side. He wasted no time in coiling the Force and launching him right off the edge and to the depths below. He turned back towards Wodan and gave him a peace sign, their little simulation a success.

He would wait for Wodan to make his way over as he sat on the edge of the cave mouth, his feet dangling over. From here he could see the entire barren valley and the gorges stretched before him. Once the Firrerreo joined him, Altair glanced up with a grin, “Not bad,” He said cheerfully, “Some of your ideas had me scratchin’ my head, but you pulled through,” He motioned for Wodan to take a seat next to him.

“You still holdin’ onto Atravis, ain’t you?”Altair asked quietly after a moment of silence.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

The plan decided they both slowly began moving to their assigned positions, small rocks and rubble grazed against skin as he kept as low as possible almost slithering across the ground like a snake. Once in position, he took a single deep breath before popping up from behind the small boulder and firing his blaster.

His first shot crashed into the right hand side of the first droid's shoulder, good enough to ‘injure’ the mechanical warrior but not down it. Then came a hail of return fire which almost littered him with stun bolts. Ducking behind cover, he let the bolts slam into the boulder, waiting for the few short moments the weapons had to cool down he was able to pop back up and fire again. This happened a few more times before Altair was able to make his move and remove the other droid, somehow in the haze of combat he had taken the other out with his blaster fire.

Wodan was breathing heavily as he stepped out from his cover, adrenaline had shot through him a number of times today and it was starting to take its toll on the young Firrerrian. “I guess.” He replied as he plopped himself down on the ground next to him.

“Wouldn’t you?” He said, his breathing finally returning to normal. “The first time they let you out of the academy, shit hits the fan before burning said shit to the ground.”

@Sreeya