A Bit Cold... [Need Trainer]

[Drex Rhane]

A dry wind blew across Korriban, straight towards the young Sith Apprentice standing outside the Sith Academy. Sand brushed across his mask, and the wind flaying out his blood red cape behind him. He stood there for nearly two hours, contemplating why he had to train on such a dry, sandy planet. Why couldn't the Sith homeworld be just the slightest bit colder. At least the dry day came with a bit of good news. Someone had finnally deemed him ready of getting training from a master, one on one. Not just mindless drills and lectures. Even his patience wore thin....sometimes.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"A man who understands the value of patience is a man I can train. They told me this when I came to the Academy looking for a worthy student."

The voice was deep, cultured, and slightly inhuman. It was also loud. A seven-foot-seven Whiphid, his features heavily marked with age, bulled through the Korriban sandstorm to join Drex.

"Let me tell you a story. Once there was a...well, let's call him a man...who saw a Sith government suffused by unworthy idiots, at the highest levels. For years he laid his plans, cultivated his agents, then sat back as his people destroyed everything. Can you play the long game, Drex Rhane? Can you be patient for long years, for your plans to come to fruition?"

 

[Drex Rhane]

Drex held crossed his arms behind his back, and glanced over at who was approaching him. His master. At least, that's what he was guessing. "That would depend on what exactly my plans are." The mask he wore had little effect on his voice, barely muffling it. He'd have to change that. "Tell me, what did this man gain from sitting in the shadows for so long?"

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"Another, wiser man once said that if you sit by the riverbank long enough, you will see the bodies of your enemies float past. Our shadowy friend manipulated his enemies into tearing each other apart. Once they were done..." He shrugged. "Well, forgive the dissembling. That was me, and it worked wonderfully. I have the combined Sith archives of the Unknown Regions stored away, and all my enemies are dead. For now."

 

[Drex Rhane]

"Then remind me never to make an enemy of you." He chuckled. "I have a feeling you and I shall get along perfectly, Master...." He let his voice trail off, and looked at the Whiphid. The sentence was both a statement, and a question. He still was going on the assumption that the Whiphid was to be his teacher. "You know my name, yet I have yet to learn yours."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"Apologies. I'm pushing two hundred Standard Years; I have been known to forget things. My name is Velok.

"Now, let's begin crafting your long game. What do you hope to achieve, ultimately? How do you intend to get there?"

 

[Drex Rhane]

"What else is there for a Sith to gain beyond knowledge and power of the Force. I could sit here for hours, thinking of things to accomplish. But at the moment, I only need to achieve one. That is where I turn to you. If anything, I should be asking: how I am part of your plan?

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Velok barked a laugh. "Astute. For the moment, you're a recently introduced gamepiece. I'm still working out where you would be best suited.

"But here's something to ponder. The pursuit of knowledge is a glorious thing, but is it an end or a means? The same applies to power. Why do you want power? What makes you tick? What drives you? Answer those questions, and turn them into goals, and I can teach you."

 

[Drex Rhane]

Drex stood, pondering the many questions. He'd need to narrow all of those down into one answer. To do that, he needed one question. "Would you mind summarizing those into one, 'ultimate' question?"

 

[Ashin Varanin]

The Dark Lord growled.

"Why? That is the question. Why power?"