Don't Panic (Ignus)

[Niysha]

Ziost Orbit
Bridge of the Mirial Accord

With a heavy sigh, Niysha stepped down from the captain's chair. One hand came up to wipe the sweat from her brow, the other running through her hair. Now that the immediate threat was over and the rush of adrenaline to her brain had begun to subside, the dawning panic set back in. She had just been in very real danger, and in charge of hundreds if not thousands of life. Easily thousands, approaching "tens of" if she counted the enemy fleet. It was far more pressure than she'd ever been under before, and far more pressure than she'd ever prepared to be under. Frankly, it was a wonder she was still breathing regularly.

When the captain approached her, Niysha offered a weary smile. "Thank you for your help, Captain. You've done your lord well, and I'll make sure he's informed of your steady performance under the command of an inexperienced officer."

The man gave a quick bow, then raised a hand to indicate to the communications console. "We've just received word that Lord Ignus is returning to the Accord. I've no doubt he'll wish to see you when he arrives, my lord."

At that, the little Miraluka almost flinched. She stayed as still as possible and kept her face neutral. "Of course. I'll remain here, where he left me. No reason to make him search." Internal screaming. She would, of course, be berated for her incompetence in a crisis. She didn't think it would progress to the point of execution, or else she would have immediately run for an escape pod. Take her chances on Ziost. Maybe run to a starport and get lost again. There was no way for them to find her in a galaxy this big...

No. You can handle being chastised, and there's no reason for him to kill you. Everything went according to plan. Niysha took a deep breath, exhaled, and returned to her seat in the captain's chair. Today has gone well, girl. Relax. It's just a bit of verbal abuse. You can take it, and you will grow strong from it.
[member="Darth Ignus"]

 

[Kamon's OOC]

With the conclusion of the negotiations, so masterfully aided by the fact that one of the Jedi's own had decided that they would rain fire upon a civilian population, Leos no longer needed to remain on the Jedi vessel. As such, he'd concluded his negotiations with Master Heavenshield, and had boarded the RAL once again with his two cohorts and the Maalraas. They'd taken off, making their way through a minefield, no easy task and he was more than grateful for the masterful flying of his pilot, and had rendezvoused with the Mirial Accord once again. Suffice to say, he was rather glad to be safe aboard the ship once more. Even the presence of the new Jedi vessels no longer bothered him since they'd been ordered to retreat.

He didn't immediately head for the bridge, however. No, leaving Niysha in charge for a bit longer would be good for her. Let her stew in it for a bit. Meanwhile, he retired to his quarters and called up the data logs of what had transpired while he was gone. Putting everything up on the holoprojector, he watched as she reacted, and listened to the words she said and the tone of her voice. At first it was easy to read her unease. He could see it written on her body movements. But she steadied herself, and managed to address the Captain accordingly, relying on his knowledge to help see her through the situation. Smart.

When the new Jedi vessels arrived and began laying mines, she reacted appropriately. Yes, the Mirial Accord was a six hundred and fifty meter long destroyer, actually quite small for a destroyer, but it was a single ship that had moved into a situation where it was surrounded by aggressive forces. She'd maid it abundantly clear that the ship was a diplomatic vessel, chosen for its protective capabilities when jumping into a war zone. Plus she had demanded the removal of the mines not once, but twice, and threatened the Jedi Admiral accordingly. She was correct in her assertion that the act of laying the mines was an act of aggression. Defensive measures were employed prior to the arrival of an enemy fleet, not after. Especially when the Sith vessel was acting in a diplomatic capacity.

After reviewing the logs, which took a bit of time, he left his quarters and made his way to the bridge. He entered, but didn't immediately address the girl.

"Captain, take us to the rendezvous point with the rest of our fleet."

"Yes, sir."

The Sadow began to move at low sublight speeds, gradually increasing as it made the turn away from the planet. By this point the mines had been removed, and any stragglers would be quickly dispatched by the defensive guns. As the ship began to move, he turned to look at Niysha where she was resting in the chair, his face utterly impassive.

"I want you to tell me, in your words, everything that transpired while I was off the ship. Then I want you to explain to me why you think I chose this method of action while all the others chose combat."

[member="Niysha"]

 

[Niysha]

When Ignus returned, Niysha's Sight picked up the powerful aura approaching behind her long before most other humanoids would have. This only added to her reaction. The moment the elder Sith walked onto the bridge behind her, the Miraluka thought momentarily to get to her feet. This was subsumed by her terror, of course. This man had not addressed her. That implied disappointment. The only thing keeping her from collapsing into panic was the fact that she'd had, at that point, several minutes to run through how this was going to go in her mind. Most of the potential outcomes didn't involve her death.

The elder Sith spoke to his pet captain. Niysha was silent. The ship lurched into hyperspace. Niysha was silent. Only when she was directly addressed did she speak. She tried to keep her tone steady...and to her credit, it almost worked. "After you left, my lord, I instructed the captain of this vessel to provide me with a summary of the situation." She swallowed hard, as the next part required her to admit her incompetence. "As I had no knowledge of how to command a capital ship, I also invited his input on what should be done. His insight seemed adequate."

Deep breath. Keep calm. Don't panic. "We continued as we were instructed - shields up, weapons down - until an enemy fleet dropped into realspace at the edge of the system. They heavily outnumbered us. I ordered the crew to scan the area around us and the enemy, diverted power from our shields to do so expediently, and called for a communication channel to be opened with the arriving fleet." Remember to breathe, girl. You don't want to faint. "They had launched mines and fighters, as the scan showed."

Her nerves began to relax once again as she related the whole event. She had been ordered to maintain peaceful interaction with all nearby entities. She had done so. There was nothing that happened today that she could be executed for...probably. "During the communique, I confronted the enemy commander about his aggressive actions, leveraging our position of diplomatic immunity. He resisted, so I ordered propaganda footage damning the Jedi for actions that the enemy commander himself accused us of. This seemed to achieve the desired effect. Shortly afterwards, they withdrew with the rest of the Jedi forces."

For a moment, Niysha decided to breathe again. It felt like all of the air had been punched out of her lungs. The elder Sith had asked a question on top of that ordered report. She had yet to answer. "I admit that I was quite worried about our chances as we arrived, my lord. One small ship and a few shuttles had no conceivable chance against a large Jedi fleet. The genius of your plan was much more obvious as it began to unfold before me. Diplomatic immunity is a weakness that the Jedi would be keen to fall victim to. Their image of themselves as righteous requires that they honor all suppositions placed at their feet."

She risked a smirk. Just a small one, muted by her lack of eyes. "Through diplomacy and sedition, our tiny force defeated one dozens of times its size and apparent strength. It was a stroke of brilliance, my lord. We would've been blown to detritus if we'd tried to fight. Instead, we deprived them of their ability to fight. The only possible outcome was victory."
[member="Darth Ignus"]

 

[Kamon's OOC]

Leos listened intently as she spoke. He'd already made up his mind on how she'd done in the little test he'd thrust upon her. Regardless of what she said, he was pleased with her choices. A lesser Sith would have started shooting at the enemy for laying the minefield. Despite her tangible fear, which was both delightful and disturbing at the same time, she'd managed to keep a cool head, and had reacted appropriately. There was no fault to be had with her actions, but there was fault in the words she said at the end. As she finished, the smirk would be her undoing. It was a trademark falter of many Sith.

Slowly, he moved towards her, aware that she was more than a little afraid of him. He was not big like some Sith were. Not a gigantic being of immense physical power. In fact, his powers lay mostly in that of the mind with a tiny little bit of focus on telekinesis. But he could still be intimidating. As he reached the chair, his hand shot out and grasped her by the throat, pinning her back against the chair.

"I don't want you to pander to me, Niysha. My ego needs no stroking and you will win no favors for it."

He continued to hold her throat as he leaned forward and put his lips against her ear.

"We won because our actions were a direct response to the Jedi's proclivity for non-violence, and the fact that true Jedi still exist in this galaxy despite the rampant reports to the contrary. But we really won when one of their own went rogue and slaughtered civilians on Korriban. That was unaccounted for, and not part of the plan. It was luck. I didn't honestly believe the plan would work because I have little faith in the Jedi holding true to their ideals. History has shown us they aren't very good at that."

He switched to her other ear then.

"But you did well, Niysha. I was pleased with how you handled yourself. Despite your lack of confidence you showed wisdom in asking for help from a senior commanding officer in an undertaking which you knew nothing of. You accepted his guidance, and utilized it to your advantage in leveraging the newly arrived forces. You show promise."

Now he released her and moved until he was leaning before her. If he could see beyond the mask, and if she actually had eyes, he'd be looking into them. Instead, he did what she did, and stared into her soul with the Force.

"Because of that, I will take you as my apprentice and teach you what I know."

[member="Niysha"]

 

[Niysha]

"Ghhk!!"

It wasn't like Niysha's mind needed an excuse to run at breakneck speeds. In fact, that seemed to be her default. Nervous insecurity was painfully easy to fall into when your entire life had been one threat against your existence before the next. The One Sith academies trained Force-sensitive children to be brutal, hateful, vengeful, cold, and violent. Niysha had not functioned there, instead fading into the background. Fear was her default state...and there was a lot of "default state" right now.

That wasn't to say she didn't struggle, of course. Her delicate little hands tugged and pulled at the man holding her by her throat as she tried to focus enough to preserve her breath. That didn't work out nearly as well as she'd hoped, and she couldn't very well choke with her airway blocked. Vanity held no appeal to her, so she was lacking in any fingernails to claw at Ignus' hand with. Instead, all she was left with was terror, distress, and his whispers in her ear.

It was just like the Sith to give praise while simultaneously threatening your life.

What felt like an eternity of panicked, futile struggling later, Niysha could breathe again. She hacked a wet gasp out of her throat, slouching into the chair she was in and panting for air. It took her maybe a little too long to respond. "...I-kk!" Breathe. "...I'm at your service, my lord." Of course you are. The alternative is that he kills you right here. Niysha's life only continued one way, at this point, and that was through Darth Ignus.

Once more, she privately mourned the loss of her first master. Adekos might have been craven and understated, but he fit her understanding of the world. He had her future in mind, and was stern with her in the present. Meanwhile, Ignus seemed intent on actively terrorizing her. This was much closer to the Sith she knew. The Sith she had quietly hated for years. So good to be home, right?
[member="Darth Ignus"]

 

[Kamon's OOC]

He released her, and he could hear, as much as feel, the terror that she felt. At the same time, she had willingly offered herself to his service. Well, as willingly as one could who'd just been sort of threatened. After all, he hadn't actually been trying to hurt her, and he hadn't threatened to hurt her, just told her that she'd win no favors from him by stroking his ego, which was true. Leos was not an ego maniac. He knew his capabilities and preferred to let his actions speak for themselves. Perhaps that was why some thought him so dangerous. He didn't honestly care. None of them really knew what his endgame was. None of them knew what he was planning.

For what seemed like minutes, he just stared at her. And then he did something that would more than likely surprise her: he slid his arms around her and scooped her out of the chair, cradling her in his arms. He could feel her tremble, but he ignored it as he pulled her close to him as one might do a child. He didn't say anything, but he walked off the bridge, leaving the ship in the hands of her captain. Only when they were on the lift did he speak.

"I have no intentions of harming you, Niysha. Your struggle for air was do in large part to your panic, something which you must learn to control."

When the lift stopped, he carried her out of it. The level they were on was curiously empty, but that was because it held the various off duty spaces necessary to keep a crew happy. At present the crew wasn't off duty at all. Everyone was manning their stations because they'd just been in a combat situation. Technically they were still in a threatened state. The Jedi were withdrawing, but that didn't mean all of their allies would. They could just as easily be sucked out of hyperspace by an interdictor as they could reach their destination in the northern part of the Caldera where the rest of the fleet was waiting for them.

He carried her into a lounge and set her down upon one of the couches before walking over to pour them each a glass of water, one of which he soon offered to her.

"I plan to take good care of you and teach you what I know so you can go out into the galaxy alone and expand your knowledge without fear of being slaughtered just for being a Sith. Do not look at me as if I were Carnifex or Vulcanus. I don't beat my acolytes into submission. I see no point in such acts."

[member="Niysha"]

 

[Niysha]

What.

It was impossible to blink without eyes. Niysha really wished that wasn't the case, because the only way to relate confusion this profound was to blink soundly and give a dumbfounded look. From seconds earlier, this man had been choking the life out of her and berating her for unnecessary flattery. Now, he was holding her like a child. Nineteen, going on four. Of course, there was another potential reason for this, and naturally, Niysha had no way of preventing that either.

Her mind rationalized at the speed of "what the actual fuck is happening to me right now." This was obviously some kind of ploy to humiliate her and shatter her will to resist. The joke was on him. Niysha's will had been shattered for years. This, of course, meant that she was unfit to be a proper Sith, like almost everything else about her. Her cowardice, her toadying, her friendliness, her insistence on a non-violent approach...everything about her screamed "eat me" in Sith. Ignus would obviously do just that when he found out.

But what could she do? Niysha wasn't exactly a mistress of deceit.

Darth Ignus insisted he wasn't going to beat her into servitude. He was either lying, which was predictable and Niysha had prepared herself for that, or he was telling the truth, which was understandable since Niysha was about the most submissive creature involved in the Sith's activities in Wild Space. He didn't have to beat her for her to grovel like a slave; she'd learned how to do that as a measure of survival for years on Coruscant.

The Mirialan made a few claims that Niysha wasn't sure were empty or not. She immediately, from her new and surprisingly comfortable position on a lounge sofa, shirked away and hugged herself tight. "My mind is an empty vessel awaiting your lessons, my lord," she replied reflexively. Her face turned away in a rather uncharacteristically human attempt to shield herself.
[member="Darth Ignus"]

 

[Kamon's OOC]

He frowned at her reaction. Someone had already broken her. Most Sith would be displeased with that for the simple fact that it meant they couldn't break her. He was displeased with it because it meant she was going to be harder to guide, and entirely too submissive. If he was of a mind for such a thing, he could turn her from a Sith into a personal slave. Fortunately for her, he wasn't that type of Sith. No, Leos actually valued life rather than wanting to destroy it all the time. That was the reason he was doing the things he was. She'd come to understand in time.

A sip of his water and he eyed her as he set her glass of water down on a side table near her before taking a seat in one of the chairs near to her.

"You are entirely too broken."

He sighed and tapped fingers against his glass of water. How was he going to get her to grow a backbone? There had to be a way, of course. There was always a way to get someone to be strong, you just had to find it. He knew a good place to start.

"Tell me your history, Niysha. Everything. Leave no detail out."

[member="Niysha"]

 

[Niysha]

Right. Learn your history to learn your weaknesses. Learn your weaknesses to tear you apart. Right back to where she started. Fortunately, Niysha's fear was beginning to settle a bit. A numbness pervaded her thoughts as she tried to drudge up exactly where she wanted to start.

Deep breath, girl.

"I was born on a Sith world," she began. Immediately, she winced a bit and corrected herself. "Or, at least, that's what I assume. All Miraluka feel the Force, and there's a better-than-average chance we'll feel it deeply enough to use it in a real and physical way. I can't remember a family. I never needed one, according to my instructors. Family was a weakness to be exploited. I was well to be rid of it." Niysha's face was entirely impassive. She relaxed by dint of being so stressed out that she looped back around into ennui. "I heard a lot of that, growing up."

The young Miraluka rested her arms on her legs. "I had a government-sponsored education until I was old enough to manifest talent in the Force beyond simple Sight. I pushed a child away with my mind when he was pulling my hair. Broke his spine. They said I'd done such a good job, and that my life was about to turn around." It was impossible for a Miraluka to cry. Niysha felt like it anyway, but she kept it to herself.

"At about...twelve, I think, I was taken to an academy on Coruscant. Along with about two or three dozen other Force-sensitive children. We were taught everything the One Sith needed us to know. Military history, religious lore, basic combat, management, information processing..." There was a quick shudder that ran through Niysha's body. "And we were taught the Sith Code, and how to live by it. How the only victory that mattered is achieved through force and sacrifice. How emotions are both your greatest strength and your key weakness. It was a lot to take in, but it was what we had. We learned it all."

Her expression finally melted into a frown. "Psychology teaches us that children thrown into an isolated environment without any outlet for their passions will inevitably turn on each other. In the academy, this was actively encouraged. I've always been quiet and small, and that didn't exactly lend itself to me being...threatening." Her arms reached up, hugging herself tight. "When you aren't the dominant party, you're crushed beneath their feet. A lot of us died because of that. I survived because I learned to play off of egos, and fade from their attention. I was quiet, and small. I made it work to my advantage."

Taking a deep breath, Niysha swallowed hard. The tiniest hint of a smile played across her face. "When we were close to graduation, Lord Adekos came to the academy looking for a bright spark amidst the dim bulbs. He was shrewd, and cunning, and subtle. He saw my scores and knew I was smart, but weak. I guess he thought that was interesting, so he took me aside and asked me about it. I told him how I'd learned to survive, and how I planned to keep doing so in the future." Definitely a smile now. "He seemed impressed, and took me as his apprentice."

Aaaand smile gone. "That didn't last long, of course. He disappeared, or died, or something. We never had time to even train before he was gone." Finally, Niysha shrugged and sat up straighter, folding her hands in her lap. Her face returned to its carved stone lack-of-expression. "I wandered the space lanes for a few months, scraping by where I could. Now I'm here, because someone put out a call and I answered." She shook her head, frizzy curls pulling against her blindfold. "That's all, my lord. I don't have a grand tale or a fierce history of glorious battles. I'm not even a proper Sith. I would never have made it out of that academy, if it hadn't been for a man who died before he could even change my life."
[member="Darth Ignus"]

 

[Kamon's OOC]

"The One Sith," he said, practically spitting the words, "were a disease that needed to die."

A small sigh escaped him. A troubled history did she have. He felt he could not compare his life to hers considering his own had been more or less comfortable and his exploration had come about as a direct result of the simple acts of pirate scum, not because of some trauma. Leos was a product of his own mind, not of someone's actions or a great emotional loss. Niysha was a product of turmoil, self-righteous Sith, hatred, despair. She was truly a tortured being created by the Sith themselves. The fools hadn't realized that she had a gifted mind, and the only one that had either abandoned her or died because he was unable to care for her. More than a little unfortunate.

"When we're in private I don't want you to call me lord or Darth Ignus, or any variation of that. I want you to call me Leos."

Again, though he was a Knight among the Sith, and had obtained a Darth title accordingly, something he was proud of, he did not relish having everyone refer to him as lord. He was not their lord and master. Superior, perhaps, but that didn't equate to the same thing. Referring to him in such a formal manner, when in private discourse, was uncomfortable. Almost as uncomfortable as watching her discomfort at relaying some of what she'd said.

The one thing he noticed was that she liked that she'd been noticed by someone. That she'd been brought out of hell, even if briefly, for something greater. That was good. He could use that. Not against her, but to help her.

"Niysha your past is over. The One Sith are gone, as they should be, and you are free to do as you will. But you should know that where they saw weakness, I see the greatest of strength. The reason the One Sith fell is that they relied too heavily on brute force, focused too greatly on murder and destruction, that they failed to grasp the true power of the Force. They failed to see in you what I saw the first time I laid eyes on you. That very sight I had is why I entrusted this ship to you. You have a gift, and that gift is your mind."

He reached over and took her hands, gently, and held them.

"These," he said, giving a gentle squeeze, "are never to be as important as this." He released one hand to gently place it on her head. "You have already shown an ability to manipulate your foes in what you've told me, starting with playing off of their egos in order to survive despite being smaller and more feeble than them. You want to do something in this galaxy, be someone? Forget that you are small and not as strong as most other Sith. It might be physically true, but your mental prowess is greater, and if you stoke that flame, feed it, you will surpass the greatest warriors, and likely lead them. You are an intellectual. Use that."

[member="Niysha"]

 

[Niysha]

Deeply conditioned habits were very, very hard to break. Specifically, Niysha had built up a reflex to defer to anyone with any notable measure of strength - in body or in spirit - over her. Every part of her was screaming to reply with titles and honorifics, because that was how she had lived for as long as she could remember. It took every last ounce of her mental discipline not to do exactly that, despite being explicitly told not to. Several seconds of intense concentration passed as she tried to reason her way through it.

No, it's not just a trick to get you to slip up for an excuse to break you again. Yes, he really is just uncomfortable with titles in private. Almost a full minute of silence passed after the Mirialan had stopped talking before his timid little apprentice responded. "You sound a little like Lord Adekos," she managed to almost cough out in a dry sob. A second later, she sniffled herself back under control. Emotions. Bottle. Now. "My-... Leos. If I hadn't been using what few resources I had to survive up until this point, I would have been lost in some back alley on Void Station, or decomposing in the sands of Mos Eisley."

Letting out a deep breath, the young Miraluka managed to get her emotions back under control. "If you want me to think, I can think. If you want me to plan, or improvise, I can do those things. But being Sith is so much more than that." She shook her head, "looking" away. Another eerily human habit from the girl without the need to look at people. "I barely know which end of a lightsaber to hold. The Force doesn't always listen to me when I need something. I'm not brave, or ambitious."

A sad smile crept across her face as she turned back to face Ignus. "Basically, you're going to have your work cut out for you if you want to turn a mouse into a Sith, master."
[member="Darth Ignus"]

 

[Kamon's OOC]

"And yet here you are. On my ship. As my apprentice."

Not dead in some gutter. Not buried in the archive of some pompous prick of a Sith who looked at her more like a play toy than what she was. No, Leos could see the truth in her, the truth that she was blind to. This girl was brilliant. She was a masterpiece in ways that the other Sith would never understand, but he could see it as plain as day. It could slap him in the face if it were any more obvious to him. But she was stubbornly resisting the truth, which was a little frustrating. Could be worse, though.

"Being a Sith is only what you make of it. Yes, we strive for power to break the chains that would hold us down, but power comes in many shapes and forms. Knowledge is one of them. The Force is a great and powerful entity in this galaxy. It encompasses all life. We can not begin to know everything there is to know about it. Through time, and patience, you can come to know much of it, and you can use what you know to your benefit.

"You need not be strong in the Force, capable of whipping up a storm to slaughter your foes, if you can master the subtleties of it, and use its intricacies to your advantage. You aren't a warrior and you never will be. I carry a lightsaber and blades, but I rarely use them. I prefer not to, regardless. I would rather face my foe in a war of words, and defeat them through knowledge and willpower, than face them in combat. Combat is savage and barbaric. To use knowledge to win your battles requires finesse and attention to detail. Minor applications of the Force can be much more powerful than grandiose abilities."

He snapped his fingers and two Maalraas suddenly appeared seated on either side of her. They'd been hiding themselves in the Force, at his command.

"Arus and Milan are my companions. They were wild creatures of Dxun, the moon of Onderon. I used my knowledge of the Force to soothe their minds, to calm them, and to convince them that I could care for them and take them from the insanity of that dangerous place. They acquiesced and now lead lives of relative safety and peace by comparison. The same goes for the two Hssiss I keep in my home. Is that a grand power? No, but these creatures that now live with me will defend me to the death, and their very nature makes them deadly foes to all that would oppose me. Knowledge of them, knowledge of the Force, has allowed me these companions. Not strength."

He tapped her on the nose.

"You think to poorly of yourself, Niysha. There is greatness in you if you will only choose to accept that said greatness will not come in the flashy way that others think they achieve it."

[member="Niysha"]

 

[Niysha]

It was pretty much a guarantee that Niysha had never been nose booped in her entire life.

The increasingly confused Miraluka once again felt the need to blink, but her smile relaxed a bit as she did. "I'm not sure how much you remind me of Lord Adekos, master, but I'm beginning to think that that isn't a bad thing." Niysha wasn't terribly confused or even shocked by the presence of Ignus' pets. They hadn't been hiding when she was on the bridge, hours ago. While it was intimidating to have a hidden potential threat nearby, she wasn't exactly taken off-guard when they suddenly appeared. "I don't think I mind being added to your horde of pets."

Okay. Deep breath. Cut back just a little on the self-depreciation, maybe. "I'm willing to learn anything you're willing to teach. Actually, I look forward to it. The only thing I've been doing for the last few months has been surviving. I haven't had a chance to really...progress. Not as a Sith, and not as a person." But here? Maybe she might have a chance. With a man who appreciated her talents, who didn't sadistically punish her for his idle amusement...maybe here, she could finally have a shot at being...something like a Sith.

She sat up straight and cocked her head to one side, "looking" down at one of the maalraas. Really, simple creatures were sometimes the most fascinating. They were easy to read, but even that tiny amount of information contained in a non-sapient aura could hold an entire library of depth. For instance, she Saw in these two the willingness to follow and fight and die for Leos Palle.

A feeling that Niysha was beginning to understand all too well.
[member="Darth Ignus"]

 

[Kamon's OOC]

Leos laughed.

"You're not a pet, Niysha. You're my student. I am but your teacher."

He motioned a hand towards Arus, who stood, stretched, and jumped down. He then moved to sit beside her, slid his arm around her shoulder, and drew her close to him. Not in the way a guy does a girl that he has an interest in, more like a big brother sort of thing. In this case, he wanted her to feel safe with him. If she felt safe, she'd be more open, she'd cower less. The fear might slowly subside and her mind would be open to learning what he had to teach her. He hadn't been a Sith for a long time, but his dedication to learning had been paramount to his quick success, both in the field of the Force and the business field.

"Start by telling me what you know of the Force as a whole. Not the dark side or light side. Just the Force. What is it? What is it to you? How do you understand it?"

Yeah, he was totally going to make this awkward for her, but in the end he actually wanted her to enjoy his company for the awkwardly laughable moments. It might bring her a little happiness.

He really was weird.

[member="Niysha"]

 

[Niysha]

Huhboy. Well, at least this wasn't as weird as that time that he'd picked her up bridal-style and dropped her on a sofa. Niysha tensed noticeably at the physical contact, mostly because the last two times Ignus had done anything physical to her, it had left her extraordinarily uncomfortable. He was close enough to choke her again, for instance. Or to...do whatever the hell it was he was doing now. Hugging her? What in the...

Question. Focus. "The Force shall free me," she echoed immediately. Her body was still quite tense. "It's a little more complicated than that, though. Most Sith I've talked to see an entity to be controlled, like the Force is just another servant they have to beat into submission until it does what they want." Shaking her head, Niysha started to relax just a bit. She was verging dangerously close to an area of expertise. "They don't See it like I do."

Honestly, Niysha had never met another of her kind before. She had no idea if all of them were like her, or thought like her, or acted like her, or were as deficient as her. She assumed at least part of it was heritage, but most of it was likely her own unique failure. Regardless, it stood that she knew a very different Force from most of the creatures she'd interacted with during her life. Putting it to words now after years of having it hammered home how wrong she was was...tricky.

"The Force is everything. I don't just mean every living thing, or every physical thing. It is everything. It's the future, and the past. It's concepts and ideals. It's good, and evil. Light and Dark aren't just concepts that everyone likes tossing around; they are facts." Her tone was almost authoritative. She wasn't speaking about things that she felt any more, but things that she knew. "And just as much of a fact is that the Force is alive. It has wishes, and it is exceedingly good at making those wishes become reality. If it doesn't want me to know something, I will not know it. If it does want me to know something, it is impossible for me to miss. That's simply how it works."

There was no more tension or fear or uncertainty in her voice. If she had to write an essay on this right now, Niysha would have been more than prepared. "When others claim that they're 'using' the Force, they're simply doing what the Force allowed them to do. When Sith claim that we're 'taming' the Force, we're deluding ourselves. When Jedi claim that they're 'following' the Force, they're sugar-coating the fact that the Force is fundamentally controlling their lives." She shook her head. "There's far more going on there than anyone wants to admit. Our understanding of the galaxy is too fragile to allow ourselves to disbelieve free will."
[member="Darth Ignus"]

 

[Kamon's OOC]

"Free will is a delusional fallacy if there is something out there which guides our hands, but people still like to believe in it because it makes them feel autonomous. Nobody wants to believe that we're all just cogs in a machine."

Didn't stop it from being true, though. He had expected no less of an answer from a Miraluka, even one as different as she was. She had a deeper understanding of the Force because her people had a spiritual connection to it from the time of their birth. It was that connection with the Force that allowed them to see in ways that most people never could. A Force user could master the art of seeing without their eyes, but for a Miraluka it was inherently second nature. For most of them, anyway. Judging by her other inadequacies, she had at least gotten lucky in that part. Which begged the possibility that she was deluding herself in her own control of the Force, or, as she put it, ability to channel its will.

He drummed his fingers on her arm lightly as he thought for a moment.

"I'd say you're right. Most Sith are pretty delusional to the realities of the Force. It's why they rise and fall so easily. They really are nothing but children in the Force, and it takes its toll on them eventually. You and I, on the other hand, as people intellectually intrigued by the Force, have an advantage over them. We think before we leap, and so we rarely bite off more than we can chew unless it's intentional.

"So now tell me what you can do beside see with the Force. What abilities have you already figured out?"

[member="Niysha"]

 

[Niysha]

Hm? Right. Still talking to someone.

Shaken from her reverie, Niysha flinched a bit as Ignus tapped her skin. She'd need to concentrate to keep herself from squirming away while also responding. Taking a deep breath, she held out her hand towards the glass of water Leos had given her several minutes ago. She entered that calm, centered place in the back of her mind and focused her will - fragile as it was - into a razor-sharp implement of change. Here, rage was her furnace. She was not comfortable with what she was being put through right now, and she struck out against that in frustration.

Controlled frustration. No huge, explosive measure of power. Her anger here wasn't enough to get anything dramatic done, anyway, and her fear had wilted several minutes ago. Instead, her modest and controlled passion was enough to move the Force around her. She Saw the ripples of her own will spreading through the air around her as the glass rose from its resting place. Somewhat shakily, it levitated through empty space and into her hands, where she held it close to her mouth without drinking.

"Precision is easier for me than power. I can only manage violence when I have a stressing factor," the Miraluka explained simply, then took a short drink. A few moments later, she continued. "I can affect the minds of others, sometimes. It doesn't work on everyone. Even on the same person, it might work once when I'm excited in some way, then fail when I'm calm."

Hm. What else? "I can manage telepathy, usually. It's sharper when I'm in a hurry, or nervous." Which was most of the time, to be totally frank. "But that's mostly it. I'm honestly pretty sure that I'm too calm to pull off most of the stuff I saw at the academy." She shrugged and took another sip to calm her nerves, still building from talking about her own incompetence. "I tried it the Jedi way once, with a calm mind instead of an emotional focus. I couldn't even move rocks."
[member="Darth Ignus"]

 

[Kamon's OOC]

So she was uncomfortable. Her squirminess wasn't that bad, but he could feel it writhing beneath her skin. She didn't like the position she was in. So, he drew his arm away and stood after she levitated the glass. He stretched and then looked around the room. If she was precise, she could do things like thread a needle with the Force. This was useful when you were, say, trying to sever someone's ability to connect to the Force? Oh, he'd heard about that technique, but it seemed overtly dangerous for him to learn. His control was good, but not quite as precise as Niysha's seemed to have the ability to be.

The glass was a good start. The fact that she needed emotion to do it was abnormal, but easily rectified for a Sith, most of the time. Assuming they wanted it to be rectified. For her, he knew the answer, but he also knew that it wouldn't be as simple as what he was going to say.

"Your actions are contingent on your emotional state. What you need to do is remember that when you need to apply the Force to the situation. There are things in your past that you can use to your advantage. I could see as much in your face when you were telling me of yourself. When in doubt, call upon those memories which hurt you the most, and let them help you. It won't be pleasant, but at least you'll be able to do what you need to do."

He lifted his glass of water and called it smoothly to his hands.
"I do not need such emotions in order to do the things I need to do, but I can understand your predicament. You are unique, and you were misguided before. With me you will find new life, new purpose. I need you to tell me now what you want in life. What are your ambitions? When you are dying, what do you want to look back upon to know that you had a fulfilling life?"

[member="Niysha"]

 

[Niysha]

Niysha had a whole host of ideas on why that was. She had been brought up in an environment where the norm was to use violent emotions to conquer the Force, and her survival pattern required her to bend to the will of others as readily as possible. It wasn't at all unlikely that she had brainwashed herself in her mad dash to stay just relevant enough not to be cast off, but not so vital as to become a target. It would have been just like her, too. Sabotaging herself on her path towards making herself fit in.

Still, Ignus had some good points there. All she had to do was call up on any number of freaking horrible things that had happened to her to fuel whatever she wanted to do. And wouldn't that be fun? How about she just snap to reminding herself of the time that two kids had held her down while a third poured a bag of sand into her mouth and then stomped on her stomach. Or possibly when her instructor had broken her arm in three places when she was the last one through his obstacle course? Plenty of ammunition, there.

Question, the third.

"I would very much like to avoid dying, master," she replied simply. After a moment, she winced as if she could feel his disdain, then continued. "But...I once told Lord Adekos that I'd like to find something to be mine. Not a physical thing, necessarily. Just something that I'm known for. I've spent my entire life very intentionally blending in. I suppose I'd like to stand out, one day."
[member="Darth Ignus"]

 

[Kamon's OOC]

Leos lofted a brow at her response. She wanted to avoid dying. Well, so did everyone else, but it was an inevitable part of life as far as he was concerned. Sure, he'd heard rumors that a few Sith had looked into techniques to make their lives longer, nearly infinite, but they'd always been unsuccessful in doing so. He, personally, didn't believe it was possible. The Force could possibly prolong someone's life for a short amount of time, sure, but not indefinitely. The only way they could survive beyond their normal life span was as a Force spirit, by tying their spirit to a place or object so that it couldn't be absorbed into the Force itself.

The rest of what she said made more sense to him. Finding something to stand out for was a good idea. Much better than wanting to not die, at least. Everyone wanted to not die. Well, almost everyone. Certain situations did lead people to wanting to die, but that was a different matter.

"You want to find something to master that's unique to you. I can understand that," he said as he sat down in a chair again. "I personally can't teach you anything that would be unique to you, but I think part of your journey in life will be to discover what that thing is, anyway. If that's really what you want, I think we should go to Obroa-skai and let you do a little research. Not as far as it could be from here, but we're definitely not taking the Mirial Accord, there. We'll meet up with the rest of the ships and the Eidolon should be there as well. We can take it."

[member="Niysha"]