Archer Gear: Part 1

[Matreya]

"Why should I do this? What can you offer me?" Damien asked the youth that stood before him. Clad in a suit of pure gold, gifted to him from Damien himself, the younger man appeared ever the businessman! Yet, he asked for something that was rather...

Large. To waste the Kerrigan Coat he had paid millions for, as well as ruin a portion of the tree he had nurtured to the valiant sprite it had become. Combined with alchemizing materials to provide a physical durability, all in the efforts to make someone he had barely known a suit of flexible yet durable armor.

Who was this youth? The Force continued, since their acquaintance originated, to murmur contradictory information. Foremost was the mention that they knew each other, though Damien had no recollection; it also said to be wary of the man, despite the obvious gap in power, and control, the Force believed this Valashu to be a danger to Damien's health!

 

[Zaiden Dean]

"Honestly, I cannot explain why, truly. Save for the Force showed me utilizing the gear I am asking you to make. It showed, hazily I admit, me in a hooded vest taking a direct hit from a lightsaber - to which it did nothing!" Val replied, he cast his eyes out the window of the JAC tower, "I did plenty of meditation on who designed such, as it clearly couldn't be me! I returned, continuously, to you. I then did some digging.

"You have owned the jacket for years, yet worn it less times than there are fingers on a single hand." He said, "Why should you keep it then? I can offer money, over the long term, to reciprocate, plus favors for such a thing. The tree, why fret? It is healthy as can be, and driven by the ethereal Force itself; the limbs will return stronger than these currently!

"Also, I can, and will, provide the metals to be altered. The only things you offer, are the limbs of a tree that will be replaced, and a jacket you no longer use." Valashu said, finally done with his words.

 

[Matreya]

Damien reclined in his seat, staring at Matreya who stood across the room, staring out into the open air of Val'hala. Since he had first arrived minutes ago, with such an outrageous request, he had been filled with anxiety among other things. For most of the discussion, he had paced, until finally he stopped at his current position.

Placing the tip of his right pointer finger against his chin, Damien experienced the roughness of his fingers - one who worked hard for a living - as he contemplated the idea. It had been far to long since he had worked on anything, the very touch of his skin said so, once so callous he had to alter the molecules to feel smooth, now were genuinely becoming such on their own. Plus, the kid was right, Damien had not worn the jacket but three, possibly four times. He had Beskar'gam that did the same as the leather.

The tree though, surprisingly, this was where he halted his thought process. For whatever reason, the sapling that had grown to be a voracious piece that dominated the center of his office, held a place in his heart. Maybe it was the process, nurturing it, loving it, speaking to it so it grew healthy - the non sentient species very well may be his child for what it was worth!

"What will you offer for this? I do not want to hear random possibilities, I want legitimate offers." Damien finally said, calmly meeting both hands before him on the desk, each set of fingertips lightly placed against the opposites.

 

[Zaiden Dean]

Val listened to Damien silently, and decided to think before he spoke. If he were honest with himself, there was little he could offer the man. Damien was the owner of a massive company, a leader of a Clan amongst the Mandalorians, and had a large respect amongst the populace of Val'hala. He was, very likely, the most rich and influential man that he knew.

There was the already stated offer, favors; these could be a good currency to many, considering who Valashu was. He could make hits on men for Damien, but this to was not an obvious gain, as Damien was well in enough power to be capable of offing people on his own. There was the promise of returned money, equal to or beyond the expense wasted on the jacket itself. But this was also very probably not something that he would need, as it was years ago that the purchase was made, meaning he would have made the money back since.

"Respect." Valashu murmured softly, "My respect. Favors, until you feel the debt paid. Plus promise of future contracts between us, whether that be JAC and Merr-Sonn, or ourselves individually. I cannot offer anything more valuable than those..."

 

[Matreya]

Damien was caught off guard for a long moment, before he chuckled, "Respect, favors, and promises of the future. That's it? You do understand what is asked of me, correct? This wouldn't be some trinket, this would likely be a Galactically known item, if it was allowed to be. It would rival the most powerful armors, and yet hinder in only the slightest of ways!"

He would not reveal it, so as to see if there was truly nothing else that could be brought to the table, but the respect offered... It was the most value of it all. Since his brief training, if the singular session could be called such, under Rave Merrill... He had strived for that very same goal. It was his craved addiction, to know that people looked to him in awe, admiration, and fear.

Though he would hardly have a hand in this suit, other than maintaining the alchemical enhancements of the leather, and brief alterations of a metal alloy, it would potentially be his most devastating armor. Better than his own Beskar'gam, more durable than Tantibus even.

Yet, the respect would be given. Something he sought hard...

 

[Zaiden Dean]

Val sighed, "I can once more offer the return of the expenses in the long run, even with a promise to pay for the damage done to the tree. But," Valashu paused, glancing down at the ground so far below the windowsill, "-my respect is the most expensive I believe. I respect little, as there isn't much to do so in this day and age.

"What you do though, if you agree, would be beyond the worth. You would be spending time and energy to make something that could be useful for yourself, with no return that could be seen as useful for yourself." He said, finally turning to look at Damien with an honest interest. The man would likely deny his request, and thus Valashu would be needing a different source to find the requirements for such a task.

Yet, what else could he do? Though he had arrived to this universe with enough to pay for this, he hadn't forseen it. Instead he looked for his own monetary future, buying out a company that could eventually become something amazing. In doing this, he had relinquished most of all the money he had since.

Like he said, the respect offered was his best bribe.

 

[Matreya]

Slowly smile spread against Damien's features. Rising from his standing point with a flourish, he held out a hand as he neared the man, "Deal." After shaking, he turned and headed back towards the tree. Staring at its beautiful greenery, he closed his eyes.

Taking in the smell of the tree, he slowly reached a hand out, and touched it with a gentle caress. Many wouldn't believe a darksider so considerate, yet it was as if showing love to a first born son. Finally placing his hand flat against the bark, Damien met the essence of the tree with his own Force energies.

Merging, as if a breeze meeting the petals of a flower, to carry them off, he became one with it for a moment. Unlike himself, the tree was neither dark, nor light, but an utterly neutral part of the equation. Sentients either chose darkness, or light; sometimes they attempted the grey in the middle, but none would ever achieve the true neutrality of the tree.

It was powerful, as if while soaking in UV, it also soaked up the Force. Which likely it did, acting as a battery of sorts. But that to couldn't necessarily be true, not the way stated. Plant life sucked in sunlight as a means to feed, if that were the case for the Force, most of the energy drawn in would be used in the longevity of the tree - though like food eaten by any species, a great portion of excess energy would be placed in the cellular make up of the body.

 

[Zaiden Dean]

Valashu shook the other's hand, a shock coursing through him. What was the deal breaker? Nothing had changed except offering payment for the tree as well. Was it the favors? Could it be Damien believed that Merr-Sonn would become something worth investing in for the future? Was it the larger sum of money after all?

Or was it the respect...

While mulling this over, he watched as Damien turned and closed the distance between himself and the tree. It took a moment for him to recognize what was happening. The senior man before him was expressing his concern, and apologizing to the tree for what was about to come.

Reaching into the Force, Valashu was stunned for a second. Their essences, the tree and Damien, had merged perfectly as if one entity. This power though was what shocked him. It glowed so brilliantly that it was almost to much to observe for Valashu.

Closing his mind off to the scene, he instead walked closer, and reached out to feel the leaves that hung the lowest. Once more surprised, he paused in his touch, noticing an oddity: the plant was warm. As if alive...

Returning his fingers to the leaf, he stroked it gently, giving back warmth that coursed through his fingers. Maybe that was the Force, being fed to him through some reverse photosynthesis like process. He didn't know, but he was happy to find such a feeling did indeed bring a smile to his face. The hardened killer, was standing as if a child in a candy store, with a massive smile on his face as he stroked the leaf of a tree.

His credibility would be utterly shot if he were found in such a position, so he quickly drew his hand back.

 

[Matreya]

Slowly coming down from the euphoric feelings, Damien loosely drug his hand up to a medium sized limb that extended from the solidity of the plants body. Here, he paused, and began to coax one of his best abilities into action: molecular control.

In the same manner in which he approached that which he had aided to life, he to did so here. Single by single molecule was severed, broken apart in the least damaging fashion he could think of. While many people would believe it best to get it over with fast, using a hacking tool or a laser, Damien knew it would be less damaging or painful for the tree this way.

Though far harder, more arduous, and delicate work, it to was more safer for the tree. If severed, the tree, like the process of blood clotting for a human, would grow a patch of hardened bark over such a exposed place. Using a laser was even worse, as it would literally burn the tree, causing damage, while making the essence against the one who did so. This way, though freely exposing more ungrown inner tissues, Damien could make it painless, create a delicate outer layer of shell that the tree could believe was part of its own, and stay in tandem with the almost semi-sentient foliage.

Basically, he could severe the limb, but trick the tree into believing it wore a cast made of its same material, where it could regrow the lost tissue.

Minutes ticked by, but Damien continued to stand statue still. That is until the weight of the branch threatened to snap the remaining combined tissues. Reaching a hand up, he used his own muscle to hold the delicate thing at the proper level, before returning to his work. Not once since beginning, did Damien actually look about to see what Valashu did.

The younger man had placed his order, offered his respect, and now could rot in patience as he waited.

 

[Zaiden Dean]

While Damien went to work, Valashu sat in one of the lush - possibly the most expensive he had ever been in - chair against on of the walls. Crossing one leg elegantly over the other, he began a breathing exercise. Slowly, almost annoyingly so, he would fill his lungs to capacity, until the alveoli were filled to the brim. Then, he would just as slowly exhale.

While he did this, he centered his conscious. Focusing on simply being at first, his mind cleared, his body relaxed, and he began to swell with his connection to the Force. Long ago he had found this form of meditation, true meditation, helped as most wished their own did. When no longer observing anything else, when no other problems exposed themselves, he found his inner tranquility as he was fully immersed into the Force.

This was the time for loose minded work.

As he kept himself centered, almost of its own volition, an arrow flew ever so gently from his quiver. This he would reach out and take, before catching the whetstone that would just as delicately float to his other palm. Setting the stone flat against the surface of his crossed leg, he would place the edge of a head of the arrow at an angle of around fifteen degrees. Next he would slowly push forward until the entirety of the edge had been across the stone, then he would lift, pull back, and do so again.

After sharpening a few arrows, he was surprised to see movement, which brought him back to the real, to the here and now. Damien had lifted the branch so it wasn't sagging, where it could possibly snap the rest of the material holding it to the tree. But it still hung loose, more so now then it was a bit ago, as Damien continued whatever method it was that he was using to remove the limb.

Replacing the arrow in his quiver, Valashu figured why not help, so he rose to his feet. After a light dust off of his clothing, to remove any brittle dust from the shaving of the arrow heads, he moved closer to also raise up the limb. Choosing a point a bit further from the tree, he made sure to hold it at approximately the same height as Damien, to not add any counter stress either.

What would be the point in helping if he only made things worse??

 

[Matreya]

When suddenly the weight against his arm drooped, he knew that his work towards removing the arm of the tree was complete. Tapping the tree lightly, as if it console it, he made the bark from the edges still on the tree multiply and grow until they created a loose casing over the new break point. The tree would now believe this to be a new limb it hadn't yet fully grown.

It was now, that he finally looked for Valashu, only to find he helped support the other end of the tree branch. Nodding his approval at the youth, he gestured with his free hand towards the door, "It will probably be better to take it to my alchemy chambers. Out that door, take a right, my right, and head down the hall. Third door on the right, go through and its the first door on the left."

In a few moments of walking silently, they arrived at the chamber, and entered quickly. After closing the door, Damien turned back towards the limb. Now that it no longer was attached to the tree, it was more a detached unused body part, so he felt less considerate as he began to use a Shadow Dagger to cut through the smaller twigs or sticks that grew from this one.

In but a few moments, he looked to Matreya and stated, "Look through the Force, you will feel this limb as it dies. Merge with its essence, keep it sustained as I work. This will allow it to know the difference between those that wear your armor, and it won't work but for yourself."

Turning back to the wood, he took the dagger, and drew it swiftly against his own palm. Next he began to smear the blood into the wood, all the while amplifying his own blood to act as a sort of binding agent between the tree and Matreya. In the end, while it would act as a battery, it would also need his energy to connect with it so often, to push excess energy into it as if feeding it.

Once finished, he turned and smiled at Valashu, "Now let's work on the rest of your suit as this dries."