First Steps into a Really Crappy World (Vitor)

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Vitor Avendahl"]

He'd called for the boy, the miner, and he'd forgotten why. Mainly because, over the course of the Yutan raid, he'd taken splinters from various explosions, and they hurt. So now, in a Sith meditation sphere buried beneath a black-market shantytown on Svolten, Velok sat and cursed as he worked with a pair of tweezers. Vitor had had no prior warning about what he would find at the end of the tunnel; as the door opened, Velok looked up and gestured for the boy to enter.

"Ignore me," he snarled. "Fool Sith and their fool gestures of bravado and their fool objectives and fool Jedi and their worthless temples and here I am yanking two-inch splinters out of my skin. We are surrounded by idiots, Vitor Avendahl. We are besieged by the forces of mediocrity and pretension and path dependency." He leveled the bloody tweezer's at Vitor's face. "And of salt and of edge. So help me, the day you grow a lock of hair that half covers your face, and begin talking about your sensitive feelings, you die on my barbecue. Have a seat."

 

[Zef Halo]

Vitor had already gotten used to the hives of scum that were always the locations of their meetings. There was a good reason to that. He had accepted it and was not surprised at where [member="Velok the Younger"] had summoned him now. What surprised him was what the picture that greeted him at their designated place to meet - a Whipid pulling out splinters from himself with a tweezers. It definitely looked like a grumpy warthog cleaning his flesh from his unsuccessful assault on a hedgehog.

The barbecue comment, the human did not find as comical.

"Especially of salt." The former miner muttered under his breath as he sat on the closest chair to him. Vitor had sustained a couple of wounds himself from the raid on the temple, all that were being tended by bacta bandages on various places of his body. Most notably his cheek. "There is certainly much to be desired, Velok. I am sure you called me here for more than giving feedback on the recent events." On that the banker was sure. Velok, as far as Vitor knew him, schemed and executed these schemes. "I can only assume you have prepared a new action plan. Something that can drive us away from these mediocrity."

 

[Velok the Younger]

"Certainly. There's always another plan, Vitor."

Velok resumed digging at his hairy skin with the tweezers.

"For example, consider this. A period of extreme action and ambition, followed by a rejection of obvious material power and a period of subtlety. I speak, of course, of the liberation of this region -- the Stygian Caldera -- followed by the Sith Order's deliberate return to the quote-unquote shadows. What was accomplished? The majority of the galaxy's most powerful, aggressive, active, and ambitious Sith were brought to a single place, more or less united, and identified. And then they faced the long grind of actual work, work that did not give them the pride and prestige that was so crucial to their self-identification. Phase one identified those willing to act, to commit. Phase two identified those capable of committing even without the rush of battle and easy achievement. It identified the portion of the Sith that can think strategically, pick their battles, await the proper moment, identify the right opportunity, and take the initiative.

"All people, Vitor, fall into one of three categories. Independent operators, leaders, and followers. Many independents and followers believe themselves to be leaders, or crave acknowledgement as such. There's no shame in being a follower, a supporter. There's no shame in being an independent rather than a genuine leader. There's no reason to denigrate such people. Correct evaluation is simply about understanding what they're likely to do given any given set of stimuli -- and how to craft those stimuli to identify who, in their heart of hearts, is whom.

"I am fishing for genuine leaders, Vitor. I don't know if you are one, but I suspect you can be useful in finding them. Your thoughts?"

 

[Zef Halo]

Vitor crossed his arms as he sat there listening to the musings of Velok like a student in a classroom. The banker had not been during the Caldera crisis where the bombardment of Korriban City had occurred along with the retreat of the Jedi from the Stygian Caldera and most importantly - having a large morale stain. He wondered how had the public's opinion shifted when it came to regarding Jedi as peacekeepers, was the opinion shifting negatively only on the Order of Silver Jedi or did it also affect the New Jedi Order. Much opportunities might have arisen as of late. Vitor, as a common citizen really, considered all Jedi the same. Something most people did anyways.

Before Velok could reach the end of his talking, the former miner had anticipated where the Whipid was leading him to. The latter had a way with words and with actions. Come to think of it, Velok remained as enigmatic as the first time he had met him. Even during the assault on the temple, he did not give out much. Certainly his initiative to further the Sith's goals were clear but at the same time his agenda, viewpoint and stance all seemed rather concealed. It worried him as much as it impressed him.

"Very well." Vitor nodded unlocking his arms, while his eyes still locked with his mentor's. "I agree with you." He paused before adding. "To an extent. I've seen men grow from followers into leaders. What stops men from jumping from one category to another ?" It was the memory of a classmate of his that was like a servant to bullies but eventually became a very liked and capable leader of a strong financial institution in the Corporate sector. People followed him, served him. "What would you propose ?" He evaded using the phrase 'what would you want me to do' for some odd complex reason.

This memory in addition to Velok categorizing people gave much food for thought to Vitor about himself.

[member="Velok the Younger"]​

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Vitor Avendahl"]

"Good. You're right: growth and regression defy my simplistic cladistics. But consider this: can a true follower become a leader, or would any similar process just be a matter of uncovering innate potential? Exert pressure on ten snowballs. Nine crumble, but it turns out that one had a stone hidden inside all along. I claim that some believe they are followers, only because they don't know what they genuinely are. Self-knowledge can develop so randomly, and so often in response to..." He peered at the tweezers, then grunted and put them away. "...pain.

Tell me, Vitor. How do you pain a Sith?"

 

[Zef Halo]

How do you pain a Sith ?

The whipid had a point. Velok's argument well countered the young banker's. The word natural-born leader rang in his head for a moment as he put his thoughts more into it and then linked it with his own self. Was he a leader ? At this moment ? No. He certainly was not and he knew it. At first, Vitor could not admit that to himself but Velok's things put things in a different perspective.

"Hmm." The former miner caressed his chin wondering on the answer to that question. He'd look ridiculous to try guessing, it was better to admit ignorance. "I am not sure I know."

"Tell me." He curiously said to his mentor as his eyes squinted thoughtfully. Every new lesson learned from Velok made Vitor see different sides, made Vitor expand his view of the galaxy.


What would his view be eventually ?

[member="Velok the Younger"]​

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Vitor Avendahl"]

"No. See if you can figure out an answer for yourself. Call no problem insoluble until you've sat down and considered it for five minutes, by the clock. You thought hard, but only for twenty seconds or so. Awaken your faculties, Vitor. Consider the problem and find answers. This is not a situation in which I'm expecting a specific response. Consider the question open-ended. What would pain these titans? What would discomfit them? Cause them grief or cognitive dissonance at a significant level? Attach faces to the question, if you like, and we can work from specific cases to general principles."

He pulled a datacard from his belt pouches and tapped it thoughtfully against a tusk.

 

[Zef Halo]

Vitor sat there silently, his eyes locked to the ground while his mind worked and worked. Thought after thought came to him, questions piled one after the other in an attempt to grasp the answer. When he raised his head once again to look at his master, the former miner had seemed to come to answer while the datacard that danced on his tusk peaked his curiousity.

"Pain is a reaction." The banker spoke from experience. "It is triggered from something, be it physical or mental." His mind shifted to his own experiences of the Sith and what tied them together, what could be characterized to every Sith and...possibly to every man. "Take away his control." He shot the words out as if he had come to the answer that would solve the mystery of life. "Take away his possibility to change something. Have him be completely helpless as events unfolded before him. Having no power over them."

"Nothing pains a man more when he finds himself nothing more than a puppet on strings. Strings that he has no control over."

[member="Velok the Younger"]​

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Vitor Avendahl"]

"You know," said the Whiphid, "I quite like that. Loss of control would be incisive for any number of Sith. Very good, Vitor. Have a cookie."

He reached underneath the stool and produced a half-empty packet of Mirai Confectionaries cookies. Taking one daintily between thumbclaw and forefingerclaw, he passed the remainder of the baked goods to the young banker.

"Now, in a practical sense, that takes a degree of gamesmanship. It's a bit like playing dejarik -- well, how I play it, anyway. I set up five or ten advantageous positions from which I can launch any number of adaptive assaults, each minor in its way. Sooner or later, attrition wears down the enemy, and then I finalize the contest. They can't handle being surrounded by unpredictable elements. I'm no master of dejarik, not by a long shot, but I can beat most laymen with those principles. I believe they're applicable to what we're discussing: adjust every element in a target's life or in a given scenario, so far as you can. Don't place all your hopes in one killshot or in anything that requires more than two or three things to go right. And whether or not you can truly draw the net tight, they begin to see all these risks and points of wariness, and there you have it." He tossed the cookie into his mouth and chewed volubly. "Suddenly they feel they're not in control -- regardless of how uncontrollable the situation might have actually become.

"Give me another one. Way to hurt a Sith, not cookie. Have as many as you like; I've had plenty."

 

[Zef Halo]

Gladly Vitor accepted the pack of cookies and pleasantly took one. It tasted good. He stuffed two in his mouth in a quick succession as he listened to his master explain to him the importance of scheming in the shadows. The young banker had never played dejarik but Velok was kind enough to simplify his example into something more practical

And once again fired another task at his apprentice. The latter who felt as if being on an exam. Vitor took another cookie and shifted his eyes around the chamber thinking intensely and trying to come to an answer. This time it took him a while longer and he finally spoke. The answer he had formulated, more or less, on stories Velok had told him about various Sith. Most of them seemed to have an overdose of arrogance so Vitor decided to dissect that.

"I would say...inflate the ego?" He suggested before explaining in more detail. "I can gather by the stories you've shared with me about other Sith is that most seem to be highly confident. If one is able to inflate a Sith's already sky high confidence to become overconfidence, he sets one on a dangerous path of overestimating their capabilities. In some scenarios, especially in the Sith's line of work, that might result not only in pain but in death. Granted, that's from a physical point." Vitor paused to gather his breath and continue. "From a psychological point of view, I'd assume that overconfidence in itself may hurt a Sith by making him weaker." He thought over what he had suggested and on one hand felt that his answer fell short of his master's expectations.

Vitor would not be surprised if so. He had yet to learn more about the Sith. Learning from their most common weaknesses was a great learning experience.

[member="Velok the Younger"]​

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Vitor Avendahl"]

"Another excellent point. We may yet run out of cookies at this rate. Now consider the corollaries. It's wise, in certain circumstances, to project the impression of overconfidence, so other Sith assume you're weaker than you are. Balance that with situationally appropriate chutzpah -- audacity -- and learn to walk that line, and you can keep your enemies safely contemptuous while emboldening your allies and followers. Be larger than life, but don't be ridiculous.

"Comes in handy with fundamental attribution error as well. Most sentient species tend to attribute their own actions to the pressures of circumstance and others' actions to innate qualities. I do X, it's because the situation demanded it. You do X, it's because you're a terrible person." He grinned. "And so it goes. The real art is to act so that others believe you're simply acting due to innate badness -- very believable -- in such a way that it disguises the circumstances to which you're reacting, or which you're trying to affect. Does that make sense to you? If so, restate it in your own words and use an example."

The grin broadened. "Involving actual Sith, if possible."