Fates Intertwined

[Lord Ajihad]

Throughout his life, Lord Ajihad had had two masters and had studied under dozens of masters. He was knowledgeable in many powers and abilities, and his mind contained more information than most libraries. He was well-educated, and had achieved many thing over the course of a short period of time. He owned two companies, and ran two well-known crime syndicates. However, he had never managed to stay under one master for long. One had all but vanished, the other had moved on to others. The assassin wished to learn from the best and stick to that path. That's where [member="Darth Pikiran"] came into play.​

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Vi'kas had originally sought him out to learn how to bind spirits to his will, a rare and great power. Since then, the two had run into each other occasionally on unexpected circumstances. Each time, the man had earned Ajihad's respect like not many others did. After quite a bit of thinking, the assassin had decided that Pikiran would be an ideal choice for master. He was powerful and influential, as well as rather interesting. He was the kind of person that Ajihad could train under.​

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When Vi'kas was learning force walk from him, Damien had placed a rune on him. It allowed each man to locate the other, as well as inform them when the other was in trouble. Pikiran had used it before on the Mirlian homeworld while the assassin was dueling a couple of rogues, now it was his turn to utilize it. He had used it track Damien to Korriban, the world that he had claimed after the Primeval conquered it. He was now entering a structure which looked sort of like an ancient palace. Perhaps this was Damien's seat of power on the ancient Sith homeworld? Either was, he was about to find out.​

 

[Matreya]

Damien stood silently in the midst of a group of Vong that had been seen traversing his planet, without permission, and uninvited. With haste he had made tracks to find them, which he did then brought them to the ancient palace he called his Seat of Power. Now they knelt before him, while he sat upon his throne, each was bound and gagged with several bearing marks of a recent battle.

He had not been kind when capturing them.

However, just as he was to begin questioning, he was caught off guard by a growing sensation in his subconscious. Glancing upward, his Force Shadow instantly shot out like a bolt towards the front of the Palace, while Damien guided it.

Looking through its eyes, he saw his ally Ajihad, and smiled before ceasing the shadow. Damien raised a hand slowly, a guard noticed and came quickly, "Take them into the adjacent room. Leave me."

It was hardly a second before the room was empty, just as Damien's feeling of Ajihad approaching reached its apex - he was at the door now. Waving a hand, the massive doors slowly swung inward towards Damien.

[member="Lord Ajihad"]

 

[Lord Ajihad]

The assassin made it into the palace without a hitch, bypassing any guards that happened to see the shadowy figure striding through the halls. The rune guided him to a pair of large doors guarded by a pair of men, which swung right open as he approached. The guards looked startled to the doors swing open seemingly on their on own, causing the knight to bear a slight smirk. It was often amusing to see simple folk such as they react to usages of the force, especially mysterious ones such as that.​

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He strode into the room, seeing Darth Pikiran sitting on a throne at the far end. He looked around, observing the grand decor that filled the room. It seemed he was in the warlord's throne room. He approached the throne, stopping a little ways in front of it. Bowing his head, Ajihad spoke. "Darth Pikiran, it's a pleasure to meet you once again." Just as he finished speaking, the assassin sensed something. Or didn't sense something, more rather. The Miraluka sensed several areas where the force was not present, just outside the room. The areas were dead in the force, but had a feeling of evil about them. "I didn't know you employed Yuuzhan Vong as part of your palace staff?"​

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[member="Darth Pikiran"]​

 

[Matreya]

(Wtf? It didn't save my post...I wrote a nice length one...seriously confused... oh well I guess.)

Damien laughed and waved a hand dismissively, "They are trespassers in my domain. Nothing more. I plan to have them slain soon enough." He said then grinned, "It is always good to see a friend, especially one that has interests I can actually understand." He rose and neared the other, his armor reflecting light, though jet black, with each step.

"How can I help you Ajihad?"
[member="Lord Ajihad"]

 

[Lord Ajihad]

(Ah, it happens to the best of us)

The knight nodded at [member="Darth Pikiran"]'s explanation of the Vongs' presence. Though his theory had been wrong, it had got him thinking. A Vong might make a rather good guard, given their tolerance for pain and their inability to be affected by the force. He would have to save the thought for later, when he would hopefully become a warlord of the Primeval himself.​

​

He gave a slight smile of amusement as Damien called him his friend. Not many had called Ajihad that, as he was a rather antisocial type of person. He gave the man's question a second of thought before answering. Not because he didn't know what he wanted, but he didn't know how to word his response. He'd likely only have a single shot at this, and didn't particularly fancy screwing it up. A few seconds later, the assassin would give his response.​

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"I was wondering, perhaps, if you might consider taking an apprentice?"​

 

[Matreya]

Damien arched a brow, and gestured for Ajihad to follow him. They walked in silence while Damien contemplated the request. In his 4 millennia, he had only ever taken one apprentice, and that was but a few weeks ago. How had Ajihad heard of it anyway? It didn't matter to him, he was just curious...

But he forced his mind back to the point at hand, "You are already a knight.. You could just focus on what you know, and work at it until you are promoted by a Master. If you wish to learn more, it must be because you feel you don't know enough...?" He partially asked, but it was mostly just a comment, "I only ever had one Master, though I had a teacher or two..."

With this he stopped ahead of the Vong, where they had been walking towards, "Alright." Damien said, having come to the final conclusion. "It would seem I will have two apprentices in my lifetime." With that, he reached out mentally to call his other apprentice, Fasalin, come to the main hall, I have something to tell you.

[member="Lord Ajihad"] [member="Assadar Ilrast"]

 

[Fasalin]

Slowly, Fasalin rose to his feet. Until now he had been kneeling on the cold, unadorned stone floor of his personal chambers, deep in meditation. Normally, he would permit no interruption of this daily ritual, but now his master had summoned him, and he would answer the call.

The young apprentice strode briskly out into the corridor, making his way swiftly towards the main hall. Passing through the wide entrance, which was flanked by twin statues of robed and hooded Sith, Fasalin approached his master, who he could now see was standing next to another figure, who he assumed to be a Sith. Several Yuuzahn Vong knelt before the two men, each one of them bound and gagged. Following their example, Fasalin sank to his knees before his master, bowing his head.

"You wanted to see me, master?"

[member="Darth Pikiran"] [member="Lord Ajihad"]

 

[Lord Ajihad]

Ajihad would follow the figure of [member="Darth Pikiran"] across the room and through a doorway. There, he saw the Yuuzhan Vong he had seen before. They were bound and gagged, brought to their knees before the lord of Korriban. In response to Damien's half-question, he began to answer. "Indeed, I feel as though there is so much more to learn, and I-" However, his sentence was cut short as he saw another figure come out of a nearby room. Ajihad figured this was the man Pikiran had employed to torture the Vong, until he called him 'master'. The assassin didn't let it show, but he was a slight bit confused. He had no idea Damien had an apprentice, as he had never mentioned him in any of their recent encounters. Perhaps it was a more recent development? His body language would remain the same, though he mentally prepared to have this youngling attack him. One of his previous masters had another apprentice, and had pitted them against one another in a tournament fight. Of course, Ajihad had beaten her so badly she had abandoned the dark side entirely and became a Jedi. Either way, he wasn't too fond of having a rival. He looked to Pikiran, listening for what he would say next.​

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[member="Fasalin"]​

 

[Matreya]

Damien nodded, "I did Fasalin. Rise though, and meet your brother on arms. Ajihad, this is my First Apprentice. His name, you may find if he gives it, but you may call him Fasalin. It means to alter or change. I plan for him to one day become the best alchemist in existence. Same goes to you Fasalin, this is Ajihad, we may find a name for him later on - I'm not sure yet." Damien said then with a gesture to both, "Let's see your combat prowess Fasalin, I have yet to teach you martial skills, but I need to gauge where you are first anyway. Both of you, release these Vong, and slay the lot of them. Watch each others backs, be aggressive, yet defensive. Be a unit."

Each of the dozen or so Vong appeared to smile at the idea.

[member="Fasalin"] [member="Lord Ajihad"]

 

[Fasalin]

Fasalin nodded, rising to his feet. Never before had he faced the Yuuzhan Vong in combat, but he was well aware of their prowess, and knew that even unarmed as they were, their razor-sharp claws and great physical strength posed a serious threat. The young apprentice's apprehension was considerable; he was no warrior, and he knew that the Vong would be deadly opponents. Still, he did not allow himself any time for hesitation; he could not afford to appear weak in present company.

He raised his right hand, and one by one the Vong's cuffs and gags fell to the floor. The Vong, at least, seemed far more eager than he was to fight; grinning madly, they rose to their feet, standing shoulder to shoulder and waiting for their enemies to attack.

Drawing his lightsaber, Fasalin turned to Ajihad and waited for him to make a move, resolving to follow his lead for now. As his master had commanded, he would watch Ajihad's back as best he could.

[member="Lord Ajihad"]
[member="Darth Pikiran"]

 

[Lord Ajihad]

The assassin nodded to [member="Fasalin"] as [member="Darth Pikiran"] introduced them to one another. It'd be interesting to see how this so-called protegee turned out. As Damien gave them the task to defeat the Vong, the assassin immediately began analyzing his opponents. He looked for weak points, flaws, anything he could use against them. Though he had indeed faced such creatures before, it didn't make him any less deadly. As usual, Ajihad had his force presence shrunk down to the size of an atom. He moved into an aggressive Vaapad stance, though he had opted not to draw his weapon.​

The Vong began approaching the pair of them, wicked grins spread across their faces. He zeroed in on a pair of the creatures towards the front, who were already unsheathing their fighting claws. Suddenly, a loud crack would be heard across the room, sounding almost like a gunshot. A thick cloud of smoke rolled up from where Ajihad was standing, making visibility extremely low in a ten foot radius. When the smoke cleared, the two Vong lay dead on the floor, the left eye of each gouged out. The question was, where was Ajihad?​

 

[Fasalin]

When the smoke cleared, a bewildered Fasalin was left apparently alone with ten equally bewildered Vong. Ajihad's disappearance bought him only a moment before the remaining Vong recovered and settled for attacking the opponent that they could still see.

They rushed Fasalin together, and the young apprentice began to back away while holding himself in a defensive stance. As the first two reached him, he gripped his lightsaber with both hands and executed two sweeping horizontal strikes, slicing one of the Vong in the midriff with the first and then catching the other with the backhand. As a third Vong attacked from the left, he ducked the heavy unarmed blow and quickly bought his saber across his body to cut of the Vong's extended arm. Completely unfazed, the Vong swiped with his other hand, his sharp claws extended, and caught Fasalin in the left shoulder. The young apprentice exhaled sharply, letting his left arm fall to his side as he finished his opponent off with a diagonal overhead slash.

The remaining seven Vong had now moved to surround the apprentice, and now prepared to attack him from all sides. Where the hell had Ajihad gotten off to?

[member="Lord Ajihad"]
[member="Darth Pikiran"]

 

[Lord Ajihad]

The assassin watched as [member="Fasalin"] defended himself against the Vong. It seemed he was occupying a defensive stance which almost looked like a rudimentary Soresu. He incapacitated two of the enemy, then went on to fight a third. He managed to chop off one arm, but these creatures, like the rest of their race, enjoyed pain rather than shying from it. The Vong adjusted by instead swinging its other arm, right on course to slice into Fasalin's left shoulder.​

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The assassin had been hiding behind a wall-mounted statue, waiting for the right moment to strike. As he saw the creature about to hit his fellow apprentice, he knew the time had come.​

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As the blow was about to land, however, something would quickly fall from above. It was Ajihad, a hidden blade extended from each wrist. He came down on the attacking Vong, both blades piercing its eyes. They cut through into its brain, ending its life almost immediately. The blow that had been just about to cut the other apprentice in the shoulder came up short, narrowly missing its mark.​

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He would use the dead creature as a launch pad, shooting off of it right into another one enemy. Again, his blade found its mark in the creature's eye socket. As it dropped dead to the floor, he leapt over to where Fasalin was standing. Again, they stood back to back, waiting for the next Vong that dared approach them.​

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[member="Darth Pikiran"]​

 

[Fasalin]

There were now six Vong still standing, and though they had at first moved quickly to surround their enemies they now seemed more cautious, after having lost half their number so quickly. Still though, they seemed to relish the fight, grinning madly as they prepared to face their two opponents unarmed. Moving together now, they closed the circle around Ajihad and Fasalin, hoping to overwhelm them.

Bringing his saber back over his left shoulder in a one-handed grip, Fasalin executed a wide, sweeping horizontal slash at head-height, but this time the Vong weren't caught so easily off guard. Two of them managed to stop themselves before reaching the blade, while a third, the one on his far left, ducked into a roll and used his momentum to come up and ram his full weight into the young apprentice, sending him flying and knocking the lightsaber out of his grip. Fasalin landed heavily on his back, winded by the impact. The Vong charged him once more and, grabbing onto his robes, lifted him into the air, his claws piercing Fasalin's chest. Still grinning, the Vong raised his fist, but as he did so Fasalin's eyes fixed on his lightsaber, which was lying on the floor several meters away. He extended his right hand and the weapon flew into it. With a horizontal slash, he sliced the Vong in half, managing to barely land on his feet as his dead opponent released him, a mad grin still plastered on his lifeless features.

[member="Lord Ajihad"]
[member="Darth Pikiran"]

 

[Matreya]

Pikiran watched with interest as Ajihad used a stealthy diversion, and almost grinned. Just as he was suspecting, Ajihad revealed himself before damage could be struck. Then there were 6, and Fasalin took on 3 more. With the last of them alive, he wanted to create an even harder challenge...

Shaking his head, Pikiran decided to change things up, and sent a decent flow of telekinetic power that kicked up debris and dust to cloud the entire area. In the end, there was literally no seeing, for fear of damaging ones eye tissues with the amounts of floating debris.

"Be careful. Now you must use the Force to be wary. Even if you find that Sight through the Force is difficult Fasalin, still you may attempt to sense where the Force isn't at, this will show the Vong for where they are."

[member="Fasalin"] [member="Lord Ajihad"]

 

[Lord Ajihad]

Ajihad was about to eliminate the last two targets, when dust and sand began to kick up into a whirlwind of sorts. He assumed it was the action of [member="Darth Pikiran"], trying to increase the challenge. However, the assassin had a custom-made cybernetic eye in one socket, the other was covered with an eyepatch. As the sand assaulted his face, it would have no effect on the implant. The device automatically began adjusting its setting, making it easy to see through the miniature storm.​

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This was too easy for Ajihad. There was no challenge. He could easily see his enemies, while they could not see him. He silently strode up behind one of them, hidden blades extended. However, he wouldn't even need a weapon for this. He cupped his hand over the creature's vile mouth, his other arm wrapped around its neck. Before it knew what was about to happen, he broke the Vong's neck. He silently lowered its corpse to the floor, so as to not alert its companion of its demise.​

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He saw the next Vong, but instead of killing it, he opted to do something else. As of right now, he was the only one could see out of his eye. He lifted up his hand, and caught a small pebble that had been flying around the whirlwind. Ajihad then used telekinesis to lift it out of his palm, then send it rocketing towards the floor right next to [member="Fasalin"] . A loud crack was heard across the room, but all would know its point of origin. The Vong's head immediately turned towards the noise, charging at the other apprentice.​

 

[Fasalin]

Fasalin coughed as the miniature dust storm swirled around him, invading his eyes, nose and throat. With one hand over his mouth, he searched around desperately for the remaining Vong, but soon decided that it was a pointless exercise and shut his eyes tight. That was when he heard his master's words, and hurriedly reached out through the force. He found nothing--it was as if Ajihad and Pikiran were the only beings in the vicinity, the Vong were completely invisible to him, their presence indicated only by their yells of anger and frustration.

Fasalin tried to take his master's advice, concentrating not on where the force was, but where it wasn't. After several seconds, he noticed a gap--it seemed to be off to his left. Turning around, he charged the location and swung his lightsaber, which sliced through nothing but thin air. The Vong was gone--had he ever even been there? Another gap, this time, on the other side of the room. Fasalin began moving to investigate, more cautiously this time, when he heard a loud crack near his feet. A triumphant yell rang out from the opposite side of the room; Fasalin spun around. He listened as the Vong's heavy footsteps drew closer and closer, and at the last second opened his eyes to see his silhouette looming out of the haze. Standing his ground, Fasalin struck him down with a single well-timed slash. The final enemy collapsed to the floor at his feet, but the apprentice knew not what had become of the other.

[member="Lord Ajihad"]
[member="Darth Pikiran"]

 

[Matreya]

With the enemies dead, Damien offered a slow clap, "Very improvised, but still commendable." He said as he looked to Fasalin, then grinned at Ajihad, "You remind me of an old acquaintance. He was an assassin as well, just focused solely on stealth, and how the Force can be applied to it. In that regard he is one of the greatest in history - maybe I can set you up with a chance to train under him at some point.

"Either way, you both did wonderful. Now I just gotta ask, what are we doing next? As a unit, where should we take this? I understand that Fasalin simply wants to learn, and I plan to teach him the full breadth of my knowledge - but you Ajihad, you're already quite a ways into training." He said then arched a brow, "So what now?"

[member="Fasalin"] [member="Lord Ajihad"]

 

[Lord Ajihad]

Ajihad bowed his slightly as [member="Darth Pikiran"] complemented his assassin work. He had been trained by one of the best in the business, but who was this other assassin his master spoke of? He liked to learn these types of things from many different perspectives, so maybe he would have to meet up with Damien's associate at some point.

When the man asked what he wanted to do next, Ajihad was slightly taken aback. He wasn't normally offered to give his opinion on such matters, so this was quite the development. He took a moment to think. What did he want? There were many things he wished to accomplish, but what could the Darth help him with.

Choosing his words carefully and deliberately, the knight would speak. "I would most certainly like to meet this associate of yours at some point, perhaps he could show me a few things. As for what I would like to do, I wish to be trained I all you know, so I can achieve masterhood and defeat a rather powerful enemy of mine."

[member="Fasalin"]

 

[Fasalin]

Fasalin eyed Ajihad carefully. So, it appeared that this man sought to become his master's second apprentice, and that could make him a competitor, perhaps even a rival. Fasalin was well aware of the Sith practice of pitting aspiring trainees against one another. The strong would survive, and perform the useful function of weeding out their weaker counterparts. Though Pikiran had certainly favored Fasalin far, he wasn't so arrogant to assume that he wouldn't be discarded if a better alternative could be found. Nothing personal--just good business.

As for what they were to do now that their little company had been assembled, Fasalin had an idea.

"Master, before I was frozen in that Hutt's palace, I was something of a moderately successful treasure hunter. A few months before the...incident with the carbonite, I discovered that one Sith tomb remains undisturbed on Korriban--the final resting place of one Darth Ignus. Among other things, I believe it holds a wealth of Sith artifacts, including a holocron and a sizable amount of treasure. I managed to assemble a large raiding party for an expedition to the tomb, but at that time Korriban was under the control of the Republic, and we didn't make it past their security. I haven't thought about it since I escaped from my imprisonment, but since we're here now, and considering our particular talents, I believe that the three of us should be able to handle whatever defenses Darth Ignus left to guard his tomb and claim the treasure. That is, if it remains undisturbed..."

When it came to treasure hunting, Fasalin had always prided himself on being the first and the last to know about many sites. After the tomb's accidental discovery by a Republic archaeological survey, the Jedi had sealed it off and put a good deal of effort into pretending that the whole affair had never happened. As far as he knew, Fasalin had been the only one to learn of the tomb's existence, but that had been a decade ago, and he had no idea of what had transpired on Korriban in the intervening years. Still, fate had brought him, of all people, to Korriban in the service of the planet's new ruler; he would be a fool not to look into the matter...