Hey! Let Me Back On That Ship [Tyrin]

[Lief]

Maelasi had to be man-handled off the shuttle, her shoes doing nothing to prevent her from sliding down the ramp as rough hands pressed against her shoulders. "Cap'n's ord'rs" the gargantuan brute at her back rumbled, voice like thunder. Without warning the girl threw back her head to try and strike the man in the nose, but all that earned her was a firm push forward.

"Damn wench ought 'ta know her place" he spat, turning to walk back up the ramp before she could find her feet again. By the time Maelasi turned towards the shuttle it was already departing, leaving her trapped in one of Coruscant's many building-specific hangars.

"Why did I have to say I was Force Sensitive?" she grumbled to herself, kicking a stray piece of garbage out of her way, "I could be a soldier by now!" Sighing, the young woman shook her head and patted down her body to check that all of her equipment was undamaged and still present. Thankfully nothing had been taken, her commlink however had been busted during the fall. "Something else to fix, gah."

Shaking her head, Maelasi turned full circle. The hangar was unusually empty, and there was only one way out for a person on foot. The turbolift looked like it hadn't been used in years, which had her wondering whether it worked or not. Still, she remembered her orders to wait exactly where she was deposited and so she stood there for a time.

When someone finally came for her they didn't bother to speak. Instead she found herself stripped of her blade - and cuffed when she tried to fight back - before being led to the turbolift. When they stepped out from it, Maelasi found herself in an Academy - she knew them immediately by now, even if each had their own differences. I already went through schooling she internally groaned.

Led into another empty room, Maelasi was told to stay put. Then the escort and her blade disappeared into the Academy, leaving Maelasi cuffed and waiting for whatever was going to happen to her next.

One thing was for certain, this was not how she had expected to graduate.

 

[Caulder Dune]

Darth Adekos didn't usually come to this academy. Plenty of the Force Sensitives he scraped out from under Coruscant were sent here, but he had never bothered to visit prior to now. There had been nothing here to interest Darth Adekos prior to the arrival of a Force Sensitive Thrysian from off-world. Unlike the rejects from Coruscant, this one already had prior training and a remarkable education. Adekos simply couldn't bring it upon himself to see that kind of potential turned into One Sith cannon fodder- another faceless Sith adept to die leading a small horde of revolting Vong in conquest of a planet no one had ever heard of. No, not this one. Not if they had a degree!

The instructor leading him about, who dressed like a scary Sith Lord but had no stronger a presence in the Force than a mediocre Knight, stopped in front of one of the dorms. They looked more like cells from the outside. It was these homely touches, the barren corridors and harsh fluorescent lights, that reminded him of the Umbaran Shadow Academy. Good times, made all the better by the fact they were now behind him.

"Is this the Thyrisian's room?"
"Yes." The instructor replied. His tone was lifeless, probably a product of being trained here.
"Good. You can leave."

Once the lesser Sithling had stomped off, Adekos gave a gesture and the door to [member="Maelasi Eramar"]'s room slid open at his command. Of course, he immediately noted they had left her handcuffed. Strange policy they had here, keeping pupils handcuffed and alone in their dorm for so long. Perhaps they already expected Adekos to be taking her.

"They left you restrained, I see." He commented from the doorway. "Who did you assault?"

 

[Lief]

After a while, with her being able to do nothing save stand there in the completely empty room -- I mean, honestly, there wasn't even a bed to be seen! -- the door finally opened again. And in stepped... Great. Another masked and robed Sith come to ruin my day. Why did I expect anything different? The girl narrowed her eyes at him in a glare.

"The fool who brought me here" she said, without bothering to formally address the man or anything similar. Until she knew what kind of a man he was, he'd be getting no respect from her. "Not that it's any of your business. You gonna unlock these, or what?"

Call it a bad habit, but whenever she found herself frustrated with a situation Maelasi's elocution disintegrated. Maybe that was why so many viewed her as little more than a brutish woman.

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

The Umbaran mirrored the Thyrisian at that moment, also narrowing his eyes in annoyance. No wonder she had ended up cuffed and abandoned in a dormitory that wasn't even furnished. Darth Adekos said nothing for a few moments, allowing his agitation with her response to seep into the air. Maybe she would take the hint that he was to be addressed in a more dignified manner going forward. Probably not, this was a Thyrisian after all. Loyal warriors all, though they needed to be tamed or bought first, just as with any other warrior culture.

"You seem perturbed. That is natural, I imagine." Adekos stroked his chin in mock contemplation. "I'm told this academy has more... Mandalorian methods of dealing with that sort of tone, but I believe in a more accommodating, understanding curriculum. Meet me half-way, I implore you."

His own tone hinted at some form of reprimanding, but Adekos felt he didn't need to elaborate further than that. Adekos glanced around the room. The empty, featureless walls. The cold and unforgiving duracrete floor. It would be a right and proper shame for someone to end up in solitary confinement here with the lights extinguished and no concept of time. No food or water for a few days, or weeks, depending on who levied the punishment. Sith academies were a cruel place for the undisciplined or the docile. At least she wouldn't have any issues being the latter.

"Why, pray tell, did you assault the 'fool' who brought you here?"

[member="Maelasi Eramar"]

 

[Lief]

For once, Maelasi decided to listen without interrupting or making a snarky comment. She had been expecting an idiot who had been given too much power through his Sensitivity, like most of the other Sith she knew inhabited Coruscant and the other One Sith worlds. Fools who threw their weight around without thinking of the consequences, without careful thought or planning.

This one, however, seemed different. The way he spoke, for instance, was definitely of a higher calibre... Like he had actually been educated as opposed to indoctrinated. Perhaps he was someone she could stand behind. She knew his tone well, yet something told her that she had best do as he suggested and meet him half way. Finally the girl addressed him more appropriately.

"Of course, My Lord."

And then came the question she knew she had to be careful answering. Why had she attacked him?

"He was throwing his weight around, and thought he could control my future. I'm sorry, My Lord, but I serve leaders -- not their ilk. I won't be ordered around by someone's lackey."

Something told her that she ought to refrain from saying what else was on her mind, but she couldn't help herself.

"Besides, I wanted to be a soldier not a Sith. I'm one who serves, not one who seeks to lead the dominion."

Chewing on her lip for a moment, the girl fell quite silent and waited to be reprimanded for her ignorance.

 

[Caulder Dune]

She changed her tune quickly. That was good. It meant she wasn't entirely a lost cause. Though, as a supremacist Force User, he found her speech to be highly disconcerting. Adekos had done his reading, perused her file. A richly educated warrior, although apparently not overly keen to admit the rich education. Adekos could hardly imagine why. He had to largely self-educate himself once his term at the Umbaran Sith Academy ended. If he had a fancy degree to put up in his office and rub within the faces of all those around him, he certainly would.

"You are a Force Sensitive, otherwise you would not be here." He tsked. Like he'd just been told his child wanted to shovel coal instead of attend a prestigious academy. "You've been endowed with a connection billions can scarcely fathom, much less envy. The power to warp minds and the very fabric of reality rests within you to be unlocked through training. You truly have no aspirations beyond that of an infantryman?"

Darth Adekos shook his head. "The graduates of this academy, the mediocre ones at any rate, do not have a very high life expectancy. I will freely admit as much. But much lower than theirs are that of the One Sith's infantry. That is your desired place in life? You aspire to nothing?"

[member="Maelasi Eramar"]

 

[Lief]

[member="Darth Adekos"]

"Not everyone can be the General, My Lord, not everyone can rule. The Galaxy requires pawns too. I can be far more inconspicuous that way, no one will be looking for me amidst a legion of men."

But then she sighed, and glanced away from him with a thoughtful frown. She knew that the Force was a rarity, a gift almost, something she would be stupid not to take advantage of. But the Sith? They expected their students to desire power, to want to be God-like.

"I don't want to be an egotistical megalomaniac, My Lord. And the Sith... That's practically their end goal. I don't want to train amongst these people. You seem to actually have a brain as well as your sensitivity, but the others? They don't. They're practically hive-minded. Don't take my autonomy from me, My Lord."

 

[Caulder Dune]

"Flattery will get you nowhere." He commented dryly.

The more she spoke, the more Adekos realized she was incredibly dead-set on this "pawn" thing. It was odd to him that she seemed wary of having her autonomy removed and being indoctrinated into a hive mind, yet had enlisted into the One Sith military. What did she think went on there? Nothing terribly different than what went on in this academy. The only difference being she'd wind up dead on the battlefield with a lightsaber in her hand instead of a rifle. At least, those were the statistical odds. There was no arguing with numbers and the One Sith seemed to have little desire to improve them.

And now he was here, on a rescue mission for a Thyrisian that just happened to already have a higher education and combat training.

"So you have no desire to lead. Fine. But now you've been made aware of your Force sensitivity. What do you make of it?"

[member="Maelasi Eramar"]

 

[Lief]

The woman winced some to his accusation of her trying to use flattery to win him over. That was not the case at all, it had been a genuine observation. With a soft sigh she glanced up at the ceiling and began to ponder on the question he had posed to her. It was a difficult one, truly, she had seen first hand men go corrupt from power until it consumed them. Ultimately it was their undoing.

"I think it means I still have a lot to learn, I think it will open up a lot of new avenues, My Lord. But I don't want it to become all that I am. I always knew I was Force Sensitive, My Lord, I could have gone to a Force User Academy, I could have trained amongst the True Sith before the people who rule this planet even existed... But I didn't."

Slowly, the woman lifted a hand up through her hair and closed her eyes, taking in a soft breath of air.

"I will learn, if that is what you wish. It might give me a better understanding of the Galaxy. But I will not allow it to consume me in the way the Sith do."

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Maelasi Eramar"]

"You certainly seem concerned for your identity. Touching, truly."

Darth Adekos considered asking her why that was, but he wasn't here to do a psychiatric evaluation. Those had already been carried out by actual physicians, or at least the paperwork claimed as much had taken place. The One Sith weren't exactly picky in their recruitment methods, much to his displeasure. He sniffed the air. There wasn't any sense of terror rolling off this one, or rage. More like anxiousness. Again, probably over this percieved thread to her identity.

"Suppose, then, that I offered you the opportunity to secure the training you without turning you into... Whatever it is you fear being turned into. No Sith, no codes, no indoctrination."

 

[Lief]

Okay, so this one enjoyed sarcasm it seemed. With another small frown she stared at him for a moment, waiting until he was finished. Part of her was frustrated by him, yet what he said next completely blew that out of the water. He would do what? But wasn't he a Sith? Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly, trying to deduce if this was some ruse to try and see if her loyalties lied elsewhere. She wouldn't put it past the Sith to do that, after all...

"Why would you do that?" she asked, before she could bite her tongue. It was a strange proposition, yet the fact she hadn't shot him down immediately led to some sort of consideration from her. Could the Force be useful to her? Of course. Did his offer sound appealing? Most certainly. She just had to make sure, first. She couldn't throw all of her eggs into one basket, after all.

Maelassi really wished she had her weapons on her at that moment in time, not because she had any intentions of using them but because they helped her to focus. Damn Sith, thinking they owned everything. "And what would such training consist of, My Lord?"

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Maelasi Eramar"]

Adekos nearly rolled his eyes, but stopped short. He gave her a look as if she had just asked a question with a painfully obvious answer. Why do things fall down instead of up? Is it safe for humans to drink arsenic? Where do babies come from? Is the Force real? Why is democracy a poor system of long-term government and generally inferior to government systems that employ a strong, centralized authority? Why are droids superior to the tactless, depraved Yuuzhan-Vong legions? All questions. All had clear answers to those with the rudimentary mental faculties to figure them out.

"Because I want to. Obviously." He made a sound somewhere between a tsk and a chuckle. "As for your training, that remains to be seen. Given your obsession with soldiering, I imagine you'd want to draw on the Force as it pertains to battle. Precognition, speed, enhancement, and so forth."

He could only hope he could inspire in her some interest in things beyond being a warrior-pawn, but that was a topic for another time.

 

[Lief]

She knew the question had been stupid, she knew he thought as much, but she also didn't care. If she was going to commit to something, she certainly wouldn't do it on a whim. That wasn't how she ran her life, everything had been carefully planned and thought out, she had paved her own path and that wouldn't all end up for nothing. She narrowed her eyes some, before sighing... Almost in defeat, but not quite.

"I suppose I can give it a try, My Lord," she began, raising a hand to rub at her neck the way she always did when making a tough decision. "But you're only seeing one half of me if all you think I want is to be a soldier. That's simply a means to an end." She shrugged her shoulders, before chewing on her lip, recalling what he had said earlier about leaving the philosophy at the door.

"I also rather enjoy more scholarly pursuits, so feel free to throw it at me. Just, don't expect me to swallow it, alright? It's one thing to study out of interest and another to be indoctrinated."

Maelassi was certain she would be annoying the man by now, and decided perhaps it would be best if she was quiet for a while. It had been some time since she'd had to make a decision like this, in truth she was feeling rather intimidated by the whole thing, which had her losing her nerve and in turn her vocalisation. But such was the way of things.

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Maelasi Eramar"]

There was an innuendo in there, somewhere, but Darth Adekos was far too high brow for such uncouth observations. Instead he merely shifted slightly, folding his hands behind his back. Her body language was a clear indicator of her being unsure how to continue along. It wasn't as if he expected otherwise, he hadn't given much in the way of information concerning what was to come next. Honestly, Adekos hadn't even expected her to agree. Yet, here she was. Agreeing. Marvelous.

"I'm aware of both sides of you, rest assured. I read your records. Very prestigious academies you went to, which makes it all the more fascinating to me you would choose to be a soldier."

This wasn't the first person Adekos met with such a strange demeanor. The head engineer he employed at Hegemonic Automaton, the man he had practically stolen the company from, held a similar status. Educated richly in the field of droid engineering, wildly intelligent, now making enough off royalties to retire fifty times over. Yet he insisted on a hobby as dangerous as bounty hunting. It made little sense to him why people who could afford not to go out and suffer in the field insisted on going out and suffering in the field.

And at that moment, Darth Adekos realized a bit of hypocrisy on his part, as he frequently fought in the field... Despite having no need or desire to. Fancy that. He would need to meditate on it later.

"I don't intend for you to... 'Swallow'... Anything." Oh, there was the innuendo he almost missed. "Except perhaps the finer points of Sith philosophy. And, more importantly, my philosophy. Nothing you'll be forced to adhere to, I promise."

 

[Lief]

She stared at him for a time, not wanting to push her luck if truth be told, before inclining her head ever so slightly. "I don't doubt that you were already made aware of it, My Lord" she carefully began, before chewing on her bottom lip for a moment or so whilst pondering his observation about her schooling.

"I did not choose this path, My Lord, it was chosen for me long before I was of an age to make decisions. I know it is what is expected of me, is all."

With a small shrug of her shoulders, she tried to make that part casually disappear but internally the thought stewed all the same. Would things have been much different were she not attempting to please her parents and do them proud?

"I look forward to learning from you, none the less." And that wasn't a lie, Maelasi had a genuine intrigue when it came to differences in philosophy, warrior-heritage or not.

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Maelasi Eramar"]

The absence of choice in paths was something Adekos could sympathize with. After all, no one had asked little baby Tyrin if he wanted to be born a Force Sensitive, kidnapped, and then raised to be an assassin by a middling family of Umbara's lower castes. But he had plotted his own course from there. With any luck, Maelasi would eventually rise to do the same. Until such a time came, she would be his pupil... Semi-willing or otherwise.

"Few people choose their paths these days. The trick is to plod down it until you can." Adekos had to physically restrain himself from shutting his eyes and nodding in a sagely manner as if he had just said something profound. He very likely hadn't, but it felt like he did, and those feelings were often the most deceptive.

"I look forward to instructing you. You may also dispense with 'my lord.' Master Adekos will be a much more apt for the current nature of our relationship. I train others in the hopes I might one day call them an ally. Rest assured, you will not be my servant for any longer than you are my pupil."

With this made clear (as Adekos felt it a very important point to make), the Umbaran turned around and exited the dormitory. The door slid open at his approach, and remained so long after he cleared the doorway, held open by his own command.

"Shall we?"

 

[Lief]

Maelasi stared at him for a moment, unsure on whether she should be glad his focus would not be entirely on her where training others was concerned - after all it enabled her to still continue on with her own training regime -- or perturbed by the thought of it. Then again, she had always been one of many, a faceless member of a group, that was how she had wanted it right?

It didn't matter, and instead she feigned indifference and nodded her head some. "As you wish, Master Adekos."

She watched him handle the door, so to speak, before stepping into stride in preparation to follow him from this dingy cell-like dormitory and back out into the lifeless halls of the Academy.

"Is there any chance that my things might be returned to me?"

Mae didn't have much in the way of possessions, but her vibrosword had been with her for as long as she could remember, and she needed her commlink to communicate with her family back at home. It just would not do to suddenly lose all contact. That would be rude of her, and Mae was never rude to those she respected.

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Maelasi Eramar"]

Adekos led her through the barren, labryinthine halls of the academy. It would have been easy to get lost if he hadn't been here so many times to drop off those Force Sensitives he scraped off the bottom of the underworld. He wondered if any of them had made something of themselves. Probably not. If it was in their means to amount to something, they wouldn't have been living like vermin in the first place. The Umbaran gave a bemused snort when she asked if her belongings would be returned to her.

"I'll have to send for them later before we leave the planet." He replied. "Though I can't personally vouch that they haven't already been incinerated by the quartermaster for your insubordination."

Light footsteps continued to echo about the hollow halls as Adekos led her about. He was about as apathetic to her objects' well being as a perfect stranger could be.

 

[Lief]

Following him through the winding halls, Mae actually bothered to take in her surroundings this time; it was another feeling all together, leaving this Academy, in comparison to how she had entered. Perhaps assaulting the one who had brought her here hadn't been the best of ideas, maybe she would still have her things by now. Then again, maybe not. These didn't seem to be the people who very much cared about a persons heritage or belongings, everyone she had seen save the man before her had been lifeless clones of one another, hollow husks of subordination.

So it was that honestly the Sith's words came as no surprise to her. She was not foolish enough to simply expect that she might be handed everything as if she had done no wrong here, but still... Frustration bubbled forth when she thought that they might have actually burned everything - they had no right to, after all.

"Thank you, either way," the girl murmured, as she snapped from her thoughts. I wonder where it is he is taking me; I hope for my sanity that we will not be remaining on this world for very much longer.

[member="Darth Adekos"]