A thinker's weapons [Arturious Engel]

[Fasalin]

Assadar had little interest in the One Sith and their war. Perhaps they would win, perhaps they would lose; either way, he certainly wasn't going to be fighting it. He had other plans; plans that involved helping himself out of the rut he had been stuck in since the demise of the Sith Council rather than helping some mysterious Dark Lord who was almost certainly not motivated by the best interests of his people. It was far better to serve one's self than to serve a man who only served himself. Still, Assadar was still in need of training; the truth was, however good he was with a blaster, and however many tricks he pulled with the force, he could only ever defend himself against a serious threat and make time for him to run away. He had always thought of himself as a thinker, not a fighter, but of late he had realized a simple truth: all Sith must fight.

So here he was, in the academy of the One Sith. He had arranged to meet with another Sith staying here who had promised to teach him some combative uses of the force.

[member="Arturious Engel"]

 

[Arturious Engel]

[member="Assadar Ilrast"]

Arturious roamed the halls of the Academy as he always did mostly from training room to training room. Arturious always did enjoy the sights and sounds of conflict observing the Acolytes duel when not training acolytes himself.

Acolytes were pouring in daily now that the One Sith were being constantly engaged by the Republic, The Mandalorians and who knows who else will end up knocking down their doors next. So far only one had truly gotten his attention in Hidia.

Another Acolyte one Arturious had not yet met but had heard whispers about around the academy grounds. Arturious figured it would only be a matter of time before they ran into each other as much time as Arturious spent there.

 

[Fasalin]

Assadar had been waiting for far too long. The Sith whom had promised to train him was clearly not coming, for whatever reason; Sith were very rarely late for appointments they wished to attend, as a Sith rarely attended any appointment he couldn't personally gain from, even if that gain was merely his own life, which was often the case when the appointment was with another, more powerful Sith. This was precisely the young Sith's problem; if he had people to manipulate he could expand his power exponentially, but unfortunately to get any followers that were worth having you needed to have some measure of power to hurt them. In short, Assadar's fighting abilities needed to go beyond being able to escape from a difficult situation; he needed to be able to strike rather than be struck.

Striding slowly out of the room and grabbing his datapad, he began to walk back towards his assigned quarters; they weren't much to look at, as the One Sith tended to be a spartan bunch. The young Sith could rarely be found without something that could be read, studied or analysed close to hand; knowledge was power and it was his only real power at the moment.

Immersed in the holonet article he was reading, he bumped into [member="Arturious Engel"] -- quite literally.

"My apologies." he said, as he recovered from the initial shock, cursing himself for his lack of awareness--he was a force user, and he knew better than to let his guard down in such a manner, especially in such a dangerous place. He had done this several times before, and knew from these experiences that the Sith would either not consider him to be worth the effort needed to reduce him to a bruised and bloody pulp or, as was more often the case, attempt to reduce him to a bruised and bloody pulp.

 

[Arturious Engel]

[member="Assadar Ilrast"]


Arturious looked at the young Acolyte that bumped into him for a long moment studying the man. On the one hand the man was walking around not paying attention to where he was going with his nose in a datapad. On the other the man had been quick to makes apologies for the offense.

Something about this man was familiar to Arturious but he was not sure what it was.

"It is not a very safe practice to roam the halls with your nose and focus concentrated so much into what ever it is you are reading." "Never know when one of the Acolytes may decide to make a name for him or herself by thinning the herd."

Arturious crossed his arms in front of his chest continuing to critique the man.

"What is your name?"

 

[Fasalin]

[member="Arturious Engel"]

"Assadar Ilrast, and that's a problem I've encountered regularly." he said wryly. The other Sith's reaction did not seem to be hostile, but this was a common deception used by Sith; appear calm so your opponent lets his guard down and then lash out. Assadar, therefore, remained wary, though outwardly he kept a well-practiced facade of indifference and relaxation.

 

[Arturious Engel]

[member="Assadar Ilrast"]

"And how exactly to you plan on resolving that little problem if you continue to commit to the same actions that cause the problem."

Arturious frowned.

"More importantly shouldn't you be in one of the training rooms anyway instead of roaming the halls?"

 

[Fasalin]

Assadar laughed humorlessly. "If one of the acolytes intends to "thin the herd", as you put it, they will not wait for me to give them an excuse. If they're going to try and kill men then I'm sure they'll be able to come up with some reason to do so. My actions have nothing to do with it. As for the "more important" matter, the man who was supposed to be training me didn't show--and in any case, I go where I please."

[member="Arturious Engel"]

 

[Arturious Engel]

[member="Assadar Ilrast"]

"If you are not where you are supposed to be Acolyte then how do you know the person who was supposed to train you did not show?"

Arturious looked at the man clearly not amused by the response.

"Is your time more valuable than that of the Knights and Lords of the order?" "Are you not tested in every aspect of what you do from the attitude in which you approach the other members of the Academy and the order as a whole to the seriousness in which you approach your training."

Arturious pointed towards the back of the Academy.

"My name is Arturious Engel and like most here I have a very specific place in which I train the Acolytes I deem worthy of personal attention." "I will be there tomorrow and if you wish to receive training you will report there." "In the future it would be wise to remember that the Knights and Lords of the Order have many responsibilities and if you want to learn you will make your time theirs." "I have just returned from a tournament otherwise I would have been here sooner."

Arturious walked around the young Acolyte stopping a few feet away to turn back and give one final bit of immediate instruction.

"And if my Acolyte Hidia is there we you arrive consider her your better until you can prove to me otherwise."

With that Arturious disappeared around the corner.

 

[Fasalin]

[member="Arturious Engel"]

Assadar was a fairly prideful man, and this part of him wanted very much to refuse. Besides, this Sith wasn't any different to all the others he'd met--superiority complex, overriding arrogance and a general obnoxiousness that very few Sith could hide. Still, there was something Assadar liked about that too--better for a man to honey his words than weave webs of deception. At least this way you knew exactly where you stood. Besides all this, Assadar realized that he had little choice. Rather than offering to place his head on a spike, this one had offered to train him--it was unlikely he'd find another Sith in this dammed place who would make an offer like that and keep to it. Quite simply, it was an offer he couldn't refuse.

_____________________________________

THE NEXT DAY

Assadar had done a bit of searching around and had found where this Sith was running his training sessions. It turned out the man seemed to be quite trustworthy and well-respected within the ranks of the order, and that he spent a lot of time in the academy. Most likely he was attempting to kick-start a power base for himself, but Assadar had no problem with that--perhaps he could make at least one alliance out of this damnable venture, and if not, he could at least get some basic training.