Floating Boxes (Animus Malgus)

[Darth Ophidia]

One of the greatest responsibility for any Lord or Lady of the Sith is to train the Acolytes. Darth Ophidia seemed to be taking on quite a lot of this responsibility as of late, but she did not mind. In fact, she found it quite rewarding in it's own ways.

Now, she sat once again in the courtyard of the Glee Anselm Sith Academy. She remembered when she herself was an Acolyte and aided the Sith Occupation of this very planet by riling up the Anselmi to a futile warpath, only to poison their leaders and rout their army. In the end the Anselmi had been effectively wiped from the planet surface. Good times. These days, she found herself often in the caves of Glee Anselm, offering training to those who were willing to learn.

Her eyes were closed as she sat in meditation while waiting for the student. Her mind probed deep into the recesses of the dark side of the Force, and she let it envelop her body and empower her; she fed off it by drinking in the residual pain and anguish that lingered in the walls after the Nautolans who had been murdered there. To the untrained eye, she appeared only to be sitting there, unaware of the world around her.

[member="Animus Malgus"]

 

[Mythos]

Animus was summoned to the training quarters for a special training session. This was what he was waiting for... he was excited... but tried his best not to show it.
Auto Doors opened before him as he walked inside of a room filled with Cargo Boxes as Master Ophidia sitting in meditation appeared not to even notice his arrival.

Once about 50 feet across the Master Animus Kneeled to now knee and hung his head in a bow.
"I have arrived master... I am ready for whatever you may teach me"
[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

"Animus Malgus, I presume."

Her eyelids opened, revealing irises that burned like embers in contrast to her ashen skin. The way she looked at the acolyte was nothing short of predatory and the stillness with which she observed him, simply eerie. Of course, only weak wills would find themselves deterred by a single look. Slowly and fluently, the Sith stood up and ran an inky black hand over her bald head before clasping her hands behind her back and walking towards the would-be-apprentice.

"Tell me, Acolyte Malgus. What makes you Sith? What makes you think you can succeed where thousands have failed?"

Her voice was rasped, calm, cold like the stone walls that surrounded them. The way she spoke seeped of authority and demanded attention. As if the presence of a Sith Lord was not oppressing enough, being questioned by one could break an eloquent man into a bumbling fool.

[member="Animus Malgus"]

 

[Mythos]

Animus felt the Penetrating gaze of the Dark Master pacing towards him, yet he did not dare raise his Gaze but instead maintained his Kneeling posture in reverence.
Her voice would give chills to the Hardest of warriors, her presence itself was daunting as if death itself was approaching step by step. Animus Listened intently on her Words and formulated an Answer... Although not an Easy one, Animus knew the Answer... if not the right one for all, but the right one for him... that was never in doubt he knew the Dark Side was his True Lover...

"Master... " Animus Paused for a millisecond to measure his words "I have not chosen the Sith, but it is the Sith and the Dark side that has chosen me and singled me out from birth... It was only through its guidance that i made my way here to the Academy... I shall not fail you."

With every ounce of would be courage and pride he lifted his gaze and set eyes upon his teacher...
"I submit myself... to your teachings..." He said bowing his head again

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Singled out from birth. An arrogant answer. Yet, by following it, he had apparently ended up on Glee Anselm. A funny choice of destination, but who was she to doubt the will of the Force?

"Success or death, that is the way of the Sith. You either come back victorious, or you come back dead. Failure is not an option. And for a chosen one, you are awfully quick to submit."

Her demanding voice adopted a tune of mockery. He was an interesting figure, quite spirited and very sure of himself. Willing, perhaps a little too willing. Still, she was only teaching him for now. Whether or not she was his master would be settled at another time.

"We best get to the lesson at hand. Telekinesis; it is the foundation of some of the most basic and the most devastating ways to use the Force. A master of Telekinesis can crush his opponents with his mind"

As she spoke, her right hand extended in front of her, and one of the large crates shifted from its bedding to float in the air between them.

"-Can throw his enemies back or pull them to him, and choke the life out of their bodies."

Clenching her hand into a fist, the metal crate crumbled into a ball and smashed to the floor.

"Of course, that is a long way ahead of you, Acolyte Malgus. Before we begin, I want you to meditate. Make yourself ready."

[member="Animus Malgus"]

 

[Mythos]

Animus listened intently to the words of the darth... He remembered what he had learned... the Rule of Two.. *One to have power and one to desire it*
The Dark Master in front of Animus had power... He could sense it, feel it in his bones, feel the Ache and desire... to wield what she wielded... it was Intoxicating.

After hearing the Dark Lady heard the moving of heavy metal.

The roar of Metal Crashing down a few steps from Malgus almost startled him... Almost...
He had half the mind that she would drop it on him just to test his skills... he wondered if we would survive if she decided to do such a thing...

"Yes master..." Animus bent down from his kneeling position and Sat legs crossed closing his eyes....
There was a fear, that she would kill him, Drop a Metal Crate on his head while he was meditating, or just slice his head off with her lightsaber... But he did not pay attention to that now... He was commanded to Meditate, and so He did.

Animus wanted to learn, he wanted to learn all that his master would have to teach. But for now... He was More than eager, to Obey in every given Command.
He cleared his mind... meditated... on the Dark side...

 

[Darth Ophidia]

The fear that Ophidia would kill the acolyte was foolish, but a natural thing. Killing acolytes was a counter-productive activity, and thus uninteresting. Still, she would never sign for his safety. The life of a Sith was defined by peril and strife, and no matter how strong, clever, or destined one felt, death came for all in the end when one could struggle no more. She waited while Animus meditated, and when she felt it was enough, her sharp air cut through the air.

"That's enough, Acolyte Malgus. We will proceed"

She moved to one of the crates and opened it before scattering its contents all over the floor. Anything from polstering to datapads occupied a wide space in front of the Acolyte.

"Have you ever succeeded in Telekinesis before?"

[member="Animus Malgus"]

 

[Mythos]

He stood forth facing his master saber in his hilt, although he knew he did not need it, it was more symbolic to his cause... for greater power.
"I... Believe so master" The question caught him off guard, he had killed his parents with the force.. but was it telekinesis? He did not know yet the distinctions of such things, but from what he did understand of the Force Push.. then yes.
"I.. Killed My Parents With the Force." He said as he removed his head robe and mouth cloth. Looking into the Master's eyes not seeking Sympathy, but understanding about the subject. "It was pure anger and i was young back then but they smashed into the walls and into the ceiling"
Animus paused and considered the Jump from Glee Anselm Cliff then looked back at his master and said "I know nothing master if i did i could do it at will which i cannot, It has only ever worked at times of near death... or hatred"

 

[Darth Ophidia]

"Strong emotions bring out powers we otherwise cannot employ. It is a conduit to the Dark Side. This is also why we meditate before training, to strengthen our connection with the Dark Side and use it for power."

She turned her back on Animus and took a few steps before sharply turning to face him once more.

"Now, try to move one of these objects."

Her right hand gestured to the array of objects between them. First, she would see how he did intuitively. If he did not pick up on it, she would give him some hints. He had killed his parents with telekinesis, after all. Somewhere deep inside him, the affinity lay. She just had to show him where to dig.

[member="Animus Malgus"]

 

[Mythos]

Animus Bowed at her command before stretching his hand towards the objects in front of him, breathing slowly and focusing in his mind the array of objects before him.
Clearing his mind the Objects began to vibrate heavily and move causing a clunking noise and the box to topple over, but nothing else.

Clenching his fist and seeing how that Metal crate the Master had lifted and crushed into a ball gave him the desire to do just that.. to crush the life out of his enemies, to destroy all who would oppose him and the Sith.
Animus looked down and thought of the times he had used the force out of desperation and channeled the memory... of the screams of Agony of his dying family, at the thought of imminent death falling from the cliff of an unknown world, the Anger he had to focus...

He Tried again, this time feeling the Emotions of Hatred and Anger Boil up inside him, but he was in control of them... he was in control, of the Force.
With a heep the Metal Objects flew around sent scattered 8 feet in the air and a metal box had been slammed into the wall.
No where near as powerful as what Animus had seen, but he was beginning to doubt he could even accomplish it. Animus looked at his hand, as if in question. Then Turned to his Master to await her judgment of his progress.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

"Pitiful, but not entirely useless."

Her words were harsh for a reason. Sith did not play nice nor offer much in terms of compliments. What the acolyte needed desperately was control and refinement in his ability. Raw power only got one so far. It was how it was utilised that settled the matter entirely.

"Next, I want you to focus on one object, and only one. Then you will command it to move. Be its' master."

Sometimes, grasping wildly dispersed ones focus too much. Perhaps focusing on the object and making it move would prove more useful? From there they could add more objects and complex patters of movement.

[member="Animus Malgus"]

 

[Mythos]

"Yes Master" Animus' Pride began to swell, Submitting to the teachings of one more powerful than him, was the greatest pride he could accomplish, to be a member of the sith, to be part of the Ancient Order of the Dark Side was the greatest pride he had ever fealt.... Kneeling before a Dark master, he felt as the Tallest and Strongest Being in the Galaxy.
Nodding as he stretched his hand out again, this time focusing on the Big Metal Box directly in front of him.
He now was confident, he knew he could do this, he could control the force... He could make his master Proud... That was his objective.
He stretched out with the force, imagining the box in his mind, focusing on the Box, clearing his mind from everything... but the Box and his Anger.
The Box began to levitate, higher and higher, a full 25 feet in the air it was then that Animus began to feel the Pressure.
As if he was holding it above his own head, his focus waned and the box began to shake from side to side and grunting he could not hold it anymore and it dropped down with a large CRASH.

Animus was not pleased, he did not understand... She was able to crush that box without even breaking a sweat, and here he was Panting trying to even hold the thing steady.

Disappointed in himself he started to draw his hand back again to await her Judgment but instead opted to try again.
Stretched out his hand one more time to lift the Box.
This Time the Box shot up in the air faster than the first time but again the weight of it caused pressure and broke his concentration and the Box fell, this time however Animus regained his concentration breaking the fall of the box and it landed with a soft Clank.
But again Animus was disappointed in his performance and said with a hushed tone "It's too heavy... i can't hold it for long..." Clenching his fists in frustration... he awaited the expected Harsh response with a grimace...
[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

As the box flew up into the air, she raised the part of her face that would have an eyebrow if she had hair, but then it dropped and so did her expectations. When it rose, she watched with scrutiny in her eyes, and she was not surprised when it dropped. Pale fingers with nails painted purple extended to her face as she rubbed her forehead in mild frustration. She had no harsh words for him, it would not make him any better. Still, her silence was potentially harsh enough.

The reason why she was frustrated was because there were several lighter objects, which she had placed before him just earlier. Instead, he had taken on a much larger object. If he had been entirely successful, then she would be positively surprised. Again, she had to commend his strength, but she wondered if he was not a little bit slow in the head.

"Why don't you try a lighter object. Like that datapad"

Her hand moved from her face to gesture to one of the datapads she had placed on the floor between them earlier that session.

[member="Animus Malgus"]

 

[Mythos]

Animus Nodded at her command and saw the Datapad she motioned to.
Animus extended his arm to the data pad who was on top of a steel table. He focused on the datapad, imagining it in his mind clearing everything in his mind except the device.
He felt more confident now, he had no doubts he could do what he was thinking.
The data pad started levitating, 3 feet above the steel table. Animus Beckoned the Device to him, but strangely it did not move. Just levitated in it's position. with his free hand Animus removed his head cloak and mouth cloth in a sign of determination.
Animus closed his eyes and thought of what emotions he had used to lift the Metal Box. Anger, Frustration, Desire...
The Datapad flew to his hand as he caught it. Catching the datapad in his hand he held it and looked at it.
Success!!! he thought, he had begun to doubt his abilities to properly execute force telekinesis this exercise although basic, filled Animus with the sense of fleeting accomplishment.
He knew that the training ahead of him would only get harder, still it was hard to wipe the smirk off his face as he awaited his Master's Judgment.

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

With a swipe of her hand she gestured to a collection of other items. Two more datapads, three blasters, a ball and various other small items.
"Pick up two more and keep them floating without putting them in your hands. You need to be able to control more than one object at a time."

She was relentless in giving Animus more tasks. There was no rest, and nothing was easy under her tutelage. If it was easy, then there was something wrong or a trick.

[member="Animus Malgus"]

 

[Mythos]

Animus nodded, separating his legs in a more balanced stance. holding both of his hands out and levitating the datapad he already had in his hands. Getting the Hang of this he thought two more items should not be too Daunting.
With concentration he focused on the other Two datapads, it was the simplest target considering he already had focused on one datapad the just had to duplicate the image of the Item and they were off.
The Datapads floated serenely in animus' direction. Soon enough three datapads floated in front of Animus.
At first he was hard pressed to keep them all floating, but then he relaxed and focused putting down on hand, and keeping all three data pads floating. a Few seconds passed with the data pads floating statically 3 feet from Animus' face when he started to make them circle each other. Animus no longer had to force anything, it came naturally. The Three data pads seemed to dance around each other in a ring, then he changed the rotation of the orbit, first Vertical, then Horizontal, then angular.
He smiled and looked over in the direction of one of the Blasters.
This is when it got tricky, With one hand he focused on the three data pads to keep them Circling each other in motion, and with the Other he lifted the blaster and beckoned it to him.
Whereas the Datapad at first took time to come to him, the blaster shot to him twice as fast.
Now he held the Blaster in the middle, static, and the Three Data Pads orbited around him.
He knew his Master had ordered only Two Items this time, but he decided to challenge himself to one more noticing he was twirling the Data Pads with ease and now the blaster joined the Unison Dance. He was amused by his new found ability.
All the while he was making the Objects dance he now glanced over to his Master, expecting his next task said "I think i'm getting the hang of this master" The smirk never left his face as soon as the first datapad latched to his hand.
[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

"Yes, you seem to understand the basics."

Flicking a finger, she threw the ball onto one of the floating datapads.

"Balance the ball without using the Force on it directly. Move only the pad to maintain balance. Sometimes you have to face moving targets under a lot of pressure. Your telekinesis has to be good enough to counter this"

To simulate pressure. Ophidia reached out her right hand and lifted the crate Animus had formerly tried. Her movements were nonchalant and relaxed as she moved the heavy metal crate up and then placed it over Animus head and lowered it slowly.

"At some point, I will drop it. Until then, keep all objects floating and the ball balanced. Drop the ball and you fail. Know this: If you are not strong enough, or fast enough to catch this crate, then you will surely die."

The presence of death was a good motivator. It was how she had climbed through the ranks of the sith; by always keeping an element of mortal peril.

[member="Animus Malgus"]

 

[Mythos]

The instant the ball landed on the datapad the other objects stopped moving the datapad moved slightly as animus focused on it to balance on the small ball. It was then the Crate was over his head and all the objects angled slowly to the ground.
Animus quickly dropped to one knee and with one hand slowly tipping his fingers he balanced the ball.

As the Metal box slowly dropped upon him he felt its weight more and more and the pressure amounting. He became more and more hard pressed to keep all the objects floating and the Metal crate banged on his head as he stooped even lower
The box was now fully upon him, and the weight of it's force cause him to grunt in resistance to being crushed, while at the same time, he would not dare let the ball fall off the datapad or any of the other objects hit the floor and fail.

It was then he remembered what she said before, why me meditate. why we focus on the task at hand. he relaxed his body and he focused on the force placing both hands with his fingers upwards as is grasping two apples.
The Datapad became still and the ball was perfectly in the middle. all the items rose 4 feet higher.
He remembered the emotions that had lead him to the force and focused on them to feel... not see. He closed his eyes. breathed in, and let out a long sigh as he came standing from the kneeling posture hands over his head then raised the objects high above his head.

The Box started rising steadily and all items converged upon it. He stood tall and affirmed his posture. This time instead of a battle like posture he rose steadily, almost in a graceful stand before his face grimaced. The box was now a few feet over his head and the items were rising along with it.
He opened his eyes, as Beacons of yellow fire and dropped one hand slightly, before crunching down the other one in a fist as the box on top of him smashed into nothing and he became showered with a rain of thousands of small rusted metal fragments that fell like leaves on the metal floor.

He could see the force now. Everywhere and all around him.
The datapad continued immobile but now animus moved it around and placed it closer to himself. The other objects around him in a triangle. He now closed his eyes and continued to focus and bowed his head.
Awaiting his master's command.
[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

The Rattataki smiled and raised the area of her face that would contain an eyebrow, as she turned her back on the Acolyte. Flakes of rust floated down around them like autumn leaves on Tython. It must have been a rusty crate. Still, she was slightly impressed by his progress. She would wager he would become quite familiar with the ability of Force Crush as an offshoot of his Telekinesis. It fitted his extravagant style. He was chosen after all.

After taking a few steps, Ophidia stood once again where she had sat when Animus entered. With a smooth, swirling motion she turned and sat down in a lotus position. Her hands fell naturally to her knees and drummed the fabric of her skirts as she beheld the acolyte in front of her.

"These are the basics of telekinesis. Use them well. I suggest you take a brief moment to meditate upon what you have learned, and practice daily. Lest your already limited abilities dissipate back into nothing."

Limited. The word was placed there consciously to spur him into wanting more, to be better, to practice and become stronger. Still, her words were true; without practice his abilities would not only stagnate, but dwindle. For her own training, she had fashioned stone weights with which she had a number of exercises to maintain and increase her endurance, speed, manoeuvrability and power.

[member="Animus Malgus"]

 

[Mythos]

Animus smiled at the master and bowed his head. "Yes master" Animus said as he let the objects fall where they stood but made sure to put the blaster in a distant elevated shelf. He sat slowly imitating his masters sitting position and heard her words.
She was right he knew, he needed to become stronger, he needed to learn more. He needed to relax and meditate right now, but before joining his master in meditation he said.
"Does that mean i will become your apprentice?" He said as he joined her in meditation, closing his eyes and remembering her words carefully, every syllable she said would become his words to abide by the the battles to come.
[member="Darth Ophidia"]