No One Really Gets Used to Nightmares

[Cryax Bane]

Location: Coruscant, Kaine Zambrano’s Penthouse Apartment

Cryax Bane wasn’t sure what to expect when he entered the security code on the terminal next to the door of Kaine Zambrano’s Coruscanti penthouse. So when it opened with a hiss, the Chiss slicer couldn’t help entering with an edge of trepidation, that soon subsided to make way for curiosity. The Sith Lord’s heavily guarded penthouse was a lavish and sprawling space filled with glorious antiques, such as busts of infamous Darths, oil paintings, and tapestries, many of them depicting everything from tasteful nudes to macabre scenes straight out of the Netherworld itself. Servants and butlers bustled around, obsequiously hugging the walls as they moved through the place, and guards maintained a watchful eye from every doorway. They hardly batted an eyelash at the Chiss, which meant that Kaine had likely briefed his staff on who he was.

On the surface, the two men did not seem like the likeliest of allies, but Cryax Bane and Kaine Zambrano had a complicated relationship, one that involved Sith magic, birthed by Zambrano and forever imprinted inside every cell of the Chiss’ genetic makeup. To his dismay, time and time again, Bane found himself inexorably drawn to and entangled with the Sith Lord, even though the two of them made a ridiculously irrational pairing, especially given his past torture under the other man’s knife.

Dressed in a tank top and loose pants, his feet wrapped in combat boots, Cryax came bearing no treaties or gifts. The reason for his visit: to learn hand-to-hand combat arts with the former military man, the youthful, more handsome Kaine who had just been raised from the dead in a bloody ceremony on his Harbinger-class Star Destroyer, Apotheosis.

The Chiss bit his lower lip and looked around Kaine’s foyer, but there was no sign of the broad-shouldered, behemoth of a man. Looking as uneasy as a rabbit entering the den of a fox. Cryax cleared his throat and took a servant aside.

“Please tell Lord Zambrano that Mr. Bane has arrived. Go at once.” he ordered.

Zambrano’s servant eyed him warily, but surprisingly, scurried off to do his bidding.

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The roaring bustle of the commoner streets were a quite buzz in Kaine's ear as he sat, contemplating, in the inner sanctum of his Coruscanti penthouse, alone save for his two immobile Imperial Sentinels who served as his most powerful guardsmen. They were artificial beings, a product of a bygone age that had proven extremely effective in their duties, and after much research Kaine had brought them back into service, his service. Many of them guarded his facilities across the Empire, alongside the infamous Blackblade Guards, of course; and they had not yet faced a challenge that had caused them to falter, but then again their charge was to safeguard, not to charge into the thick of battle like an engine of slaughter. Still, he had other tools to serve in that capacity, and so long as the sentinels guarded efficiently and served him wholly, then he had nothing else to have them to do.

He was roused from his musings by a light rapping at his chamber door, and with a flick of his wrist the door opened with a deep hiss, allowing the servant entrance into the Sith Lord's personal sanctuary. The door itself had no opening mechanism, and was operated entirely through the Force, and was hidden in the center of the sprawling penthouse. Only a few choice servants were privy to the knowledge of it's exact locations, this servant included, and such servants were regularly extinguished and replaced on a monthly basis. The inside of the chamber was nothing overly special, it feature the high durasteel walls of Imperial design and was decorated in ancient and esoteric Sith art that would bedazzle the mind of the less-knowledgeable. The real treasure hidden within this chamber was Kaine's own holocron, the pinnacle of his recorded knowledge, and the item to which he bound his own soul after escaping the Netherworld of the Force in the wake of Akala's attack.

"Cryax Bane has arrived as you had requested, milord. He is currently waiting for you in the foyer."

"Excellent news." The Sith Lord breathed, "Remove yourself from my sight, I shall see to him shortly."

The servant bowed and then quickly departed without a further word, the Sith Lord did not like those servants who lingered well beyond their welcome, and after many spectacular on-the-spot executions his servants had quickly adapted to Kaine's mannerisms. Once the servant had gone, the Sith Lord rose from the sitting position on the intricate carpet sprawled out over the chamber floor, and quickly donned his robe and left the sanctum under the watchful care of his mute sentinels. With quick long strides, the Sith Lord made it to the penthouse foyer in mere moments, and stood atop a grand staircase very reminiscent of the one he had in his castle on Thule, and smiled darkly down at his blue guest.

"Ah, Cryax, my good friend. Welcome, welcome... I was eagerly anticipating your arrival."

[member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

A deep baritone rang out from the staircase and there stood Kaine Zambrano, looking vibrant and youthful, just like the day the Sith Lord was reborn on the Apotheosis. Cryax blinked with surprise, still unaccustomed to the sight of younger, rosier man. The Kaine Zambrano that had spent many sleepless nights in his head, playing the starring role in many of the Chiss’ revenge scenarios, was a gnarled and bearded elder, not the handsome brute that welcomed him into his penthouse with open arms. Strangely, Cryax’s mind wandered to another ghost from the past. He found it ironic that the two men who had influenced his life so greatly had suddenly came back from the dead. First Kaine Zambrano, then Lysle Rigger. Resurrection was the new black.

Kaine greeted Cryax with an affability that was also foreign to the Chiss. Intended or not, something about the way Kaine used to look at him had always made Bane feel like an insignificant mote of dust in an infinite galaxy. Oh, there was still something very wicked in the Sith Lord’s emerald-green eyes, but thankfully, the oppressive disdain seemed to have left them. Cryax felt a flush of panic as a fragment of a memory fired through his synapses, those same eyes narrowing as Kaine sewed his mouth shut with a needle and thread. Uh oh, feelings, feelings. Quick, bludgeon them to death. With a deep breath and an audible swallow, he composed himself as he addressed his waiting host.

“Hello, Kaine,” Bane said crisply, dispensing with any of the sycophantic fawning that he might have shown a few years ago when his life depended more heavily on a successful dog and pony show. Now he reigned over the Coruscant Underworld, his blue hide protected under the watchful eye of the One Sith. The Chiss spread his hands, indicating his workout clothing, and let out a deep chuckle.

“I never thought I’d be saying this, but I’m ready for you to do your worst.”

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The Lord chuckled, "No, you're not." The Sith crossed both of his arms in front of his chest, and shifted his weight ever so slightly from his center to his right, his hip becoming more pronounced beneath his robes as his body shifted. There was an awkward moment of silence between the two as Kaine stared the Chiss down, his emerald eyes boring into Cryax's bright scarlet orbs, and his mouth curling into a cruel smirk. Then, suddenly; he spoke: "Well, if that's the best welcoming I'm going to get, I suggest we move onto the tour then." Uncrossing his arms he gestured to the chamber that they both occupied, a massive foyer filled with macabre art and marble busts of past Sith Lords from Naga Sadow to the illustrious Darth Krayt himself, whom the One Sith regarded as the forefather of their religious organization, and whom Kaine considered his patron saint in a way.

Leading the Chiss up the stairs and through several winding corridors, he revealed to him the various rooms that dominated the penthouse. There were kitchens, guestrooms, refreshers, lounges, business offices, a library filled to the brim with tomes and holos, and even a theater. However; the most impressive chamber, besides Kaine's own private bedroom, was the training hall. Being the largest room in the penthouse it was wide enough, and long enough, to fill two entire companies of soldiers shoulder to shoulder and still there would be elbow room. The chamber was of a sleek, military design, with a square-pattern along the floor, walls, and ceiling along with an armory adjacent to the chamber filled with weapons of every kind and caliber.

"When I am not fighting in the war, or busy with other affairs outside of the Empire, I come here to train as much as I can. A Sith should never be content with their current power limitations, and should always try to strive for better. I constantly kept myself in peak physical condition despite my failing health... but now that I have been reborn, as you have witnesses, I feel more powerful than I ever did. And this is where I shall teach you, Cryax, where I shall forge you into a fighter."

[member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

As emerald eyes pierced right through him, Cryax momentarily averted his glowing red eyes, shielding them from Kaine’s withering gaze. No, face him. If he were to kill you, he would have done it a long time ago. You are useful to the Sith, and to Kaine. Why else bother with one who knows nothing of their precious Force?

“What kind of welcome were you expecting?” he said with a sardonic shrug. “If was a repeat performance of the Morgue…”

Here the Chiss trailed off with a frown. The memory of Kaine’s visitation at the Happyland Morgue sent a violent shudder down his spine. What they did. What he did. It was abhorrent and unnatural. The possessed flesh of the mortician melting over his, as his hands explored the atlas of skin. Violent beams of light pushing out of the vessel’s skull as their bodies were entangled. The difficult thoughts marinated in the messy stew of his psyche until he pushed them out. Then he continued his earlier thought.

“I came here to train, Zambrano. Nothing more, nothing less.” Bane’s words said one thing, but his eyes told a completely different story.

Cryax followed Kaine up the winding stairway and through the seemingly endless corridors of his penthouse. All of the interiors were deep and lush, filled with art and historical items. Zambrano’s domicile felt oddly comfortable, despite the fact that the man himself made Bane feel anything but. Well, what were you expecting? Murder rooms with plastic sheets on the walls?

Finally the two men came to Kaine’s enormous training hall, which looked as if it could fit a whole squadron of Imperial Stormtroopers. His body began to surge with adrenaline and a small bead of sweat formed on his brow. Despite his nervous energy, Cryax had learned to enjoy the physicality of hand-to-hand combat, and he was eager to get started. The Chiss inhaled deeply and with a lingering smirk, gave the Sith Lord a mock-bow.

“I am your humble pupil, Kaine. I only hope you won't be dissatisfied with my performance."

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"I will only be dissatisfied should I have to pry your broken corpse from the floor of my abode if you prove to be too weak to carry on." The Sith Lord's voice was suddenly bereft of the coy teasing that had thickly laced it just prior, and his eyes were as cold as hard-cut gems chiseled right from the rock. The Lord of the Estate strode across the chamber in a few long strides, his tall frame allowing him to cover the distance much faster than his shorter blue companion, and with a nonchalant wave of his hand the door to the adjacent armory opened shortly before the Sith Lord reached the door's threshold and disappeared inside. He returned later with a satchel full of weapons forged with orichalcum, which gave the weapons a dull golden sheen, but they were even stronger than durasteel weapons of the same make. He then tossed the bag of weapons on the ground, and reached down to pluck only one from the cloth sack.

It was a weapon similar to a steel machete with a single-edged blade forty centimeters long and a hilt made from polished wood harvested from the jungles of Panatha itself, and the blade was decorated with ornate carvings and inscriptions in Kaine's native language. He swung the blade around and around for a time before holding it aloft before Cryax. "This is a rvalk, a common weapon among the native people of Panatha, and a weapon that I learned had been incorporated into the Teräs Käsi martial arts by the Followers of Palawa, who had migrated from their doomed world to Bunduki many thousands of years ago." He handed the blade to Cryax, flipping the weapon up to catch it on the blunt edge of the blade so that Cryax could grasp the wooden hilt. He then made a quick gesture with his free hand, and a similar blade flew from the discarded satchel to land in his outstretched hand.

"The weapon must be an extension of you, do not think of it as a tool to hack and to butcher, but as part of your arm. Anyone can pick up a blade and swing it like a wild animal, but it takes true talent to wield a weapon such as this, and I will show you how. The training begins now, Cryax, show me what you know."

[member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

Cryax took the wooden hilt of the rvalk in both blue hands, weighing it carefully and finding himself oddly transfixed by its beauty. Bane had managed to eviscerate an Orrazerus warlord with a vibroblade once, and he knew how to cut through prone flesh with a scalpel, but the Chiss had limited experience with blades, much less an obscure martial arts weapon from Panatha. He gazed at the blade with an edge of awe in his luminous red eyes, holding it far away from his body, as if it were about to come alive in his hands.

Cryax suddenly felt very out of his depth. He was still just a slicer whose weapons were ones and zeroes, a man who was generally surrounded by droids and CRC lackies. The Chiss could barely even shoot a blaster himself, and most of the time when he hit something, he had pure, dumb luck to thank for it. Sure, his inexperience in the battle arts was a bit pathetic, but hey, he wasn’t dead yet. Still, he had to give it his best shot, if not simply just to save face in front of the handsome Sith Lord. Here goes nothing.

Kaine Zambrano, all two-hundred and some pounds of him, looked as enormous and imposing as a bull rancor. He let Zambrano’s words sink into his mind. The weapon must be an extension of you. Standing with his feet shoulder-width apart, Cryax threw his body weight into a forward lunge, and with a loud grunt, struck out at Kaine with the business-end of the blade.

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Kaine, being an all-powerful Sith Lord with reflexes that went beyond the clumsy movements of the mortal man, easily parried the blow with the dulled end of his blade, and with some slight pressure applied with the Force he would send the equivalent of a punch right to Cryax's gut to send him sprawling backwards. "A good effort, but you will need more than effort. Now, again." The Sith Lord crossed his hands this hand, letting the rvalk rest gently against his chest and stomach. "The fatter top-half of the blade allows for more momentum when swung, you must allow the weapon to swing fully and use the joints in your arms as fulcrums for which you can channel the blade's motions, momentum, and direction before finally delivering the killing blow. But never let the blade leave the center of your body for too long, as you can leave yourself exposed to counter by a more skilled practitioner."

He uncrossed his arms and assumed a defensive stance, waiting for Cryax to come and test himself again.

[member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

The dark-sided Force energy that burst from Darth Vornskr’s bulking frame hit the Chiss with a blow like a freighter crash-landing on his chest. Cryax stumbled backwards, lost his footing and landed flat on his back with an “oof." Narrowing his eyes, he gingerly climbed to his feet, his hands pressing into his ribcage to make sure it was all in one piece, and stared down the Sith Lord with murder in his blood red eyes.

Using Force powers wasn’t exactly fair play, but then again, his sparring partner was Kaine Zambrano. The idea of “playing nice,” simply wasn’t a concept that even existed in his labyrinth of grey matter.

Fine. If Vornskr wanted to play dirty, he would play dirty, too. Bane swung the blade gently back and forth in front of his body, testing out the method that Zambrano spoke of. Lifting his arms high over his head, his lean muscles bulging, he swung the rvalk back and brought it back down to meet Darth Vornskr’s blade. As his blade met Kaine’s, he pushed against it, and sidestepped in closer to the Sith Lord. His knee shot up as he attempted to connect it with his trainer's groin.

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

He had moxy, Kaine was sure of that, but he didn't yet know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Still, he could sense that Cryax was adapting to his very unorthodox teachings, and that pleased the Sith Lord to a certain degree. But Cryax would have to work hard, and diligently, if he wanted to actually become good at the weapon Kaine had gifted him. The pain inflicted upon him now was nothing compared to what could happen if he was unprepared in the real world, so he concluded that Cryax would learn from such pain, and that gave Kaine satisfaction. The Chiss came at him with the rvalk in a manner similar to the opening sequence of Form V, the blade held aloft above the head and brought down at the opportune time for maximum carnage, but Cryax's body didn't have the muscle density of strength to effectively use such a tactic. Kaine, however; was a massive mound of muscle hidden beneath scar-kissed flesh, and with a single hand he raised his own rvalk in defense...

And blocked the blow effortlessly.

But the Force thrummed in him, and he sensed what was coming next. The free hand shot out and caught Cryax's knee only inches from his groin, and with a heave he suddenly pulled the Chiss closed to him, the offending leg suddenly pulled out to the right and around the Sith Lord's waist, and Cryax's weapon pushed out of the contact zone. Kaine's face was now centimeters away from Cryax's own, and he breathed the words: "That wasn't very nice, I thought we were all friends here?" Then he gave a great shove, and literally flung Cryax into the hard ground of the training center, and stood above him triumphantly.

"Still, I applaud you for using a dirty tactic, it's what I would have done. In a battle there can be no honor to shackle you from victory, as a true warrior would use everything in his power to win, and would not hesitate to fight with unsavory methods."

[member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

Their weapons clashed with a thunk, and again Cryax was shoved down to the ground, this time from Zambrano's might. The man's muscle mass was probably four times the size of his by the looks of him. The Chiss' body smacked against the floor, and his weapon went flying out of his hands. With a knot in his brow, he glowered up at Kaine. Despite being rewarded for his attempted low-blow, he was beginning to feel like Darth Vornskr's punching bag, and he didn't like it one bit. His face spread into a dark smile, his tone laced with sarcasm.

"Friends, eh? You could have fooled me back at the morgue."

Cryax slowly rose to his feet, rubbing the bruises that were beginning to mottle his blue skin. He examined his own arms, which were thin and in dire need of some weight-training. With a sigh, the Chiss rescued the weapon from the floor, and raised his gaze to the Sith Lord.

"Are you sure that the rvalk is the right weapon for me, Kaine?" he wondered, turning the weapon over in his hands. "I can barely lift it, much less swing it."

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"That is because you are weak, untrained, undisciplined."

The Sith Lord gestured to the Chiss' skinny frame, which seemed absolutely minute compared to Kaine's hulking stature. Still, that could be remedied in time, and if Kaine's own training said anything it would work perfectly fine for someone like Cryax. Still, perhaps a different weapon would work better for the scrawny man, and thus Kaine gave a shrug and a grunt of indifference, and extended his hand to bring forth a smaller sword called a Doa from the sack of weapons. It was a single-edged sword whose blade was as long as the average man's forearm, and featured small crossguards that protected the wielder's hands from the blades of the enemy, and were small enough to conceal in loose sleeves and boots. Kaine flipped the blade up and down as he sheathed his own Rvalk, and then with a single movement he tossed the blade down at Cryax's feet, and the blade embedded itself several inches in the metal floor.

"This blade is called a Doa, and is a common weapon in Epicanthix society even today. A staple of the Panathan military worn by Officers and those of similar rank, be honored that someone of your race would get the chance to even hold one, let alone wield it." Kaine then unsheathed his Rvalk, and flourished it before assuming an aggressive stance. "The Doa can attack and defend just as well as any other weapon, the blade is only sharpened from the middle of the blade to the tip. The bottom half of the blade is left blunt so the sharpened edge does not get damaged when blocking, and the crossguards can hook the enemy's blade. Usually you would wield another one in your off-hand, but for now you only get one."

Now Kaine waited for Cryax's attempt.

[member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

"Weak, untrained, and undisciplined. Kaine, you say the sweetest things." Bane rolled his narrowed red eyes at the Sith Lord. Why did he put up with this brute of a man who seemed hellbent on abusing him at given chance?

The Sith Lord showed the Chiss a blade he called a Doa and flung it at Bane's boots, where it stuck in the floorboards with a thunk. Cryax bent forward and hefted the blade out of the floor. The Doa was light and felt much more natural in his grip than the Rvalk did. The Doa felt right for him. Kaine gave him a little history lesson about the weapon, and...wait, did Kaine just insult his race? Cryax blinked. That Moactan Teel bastard. Soon, Kaine instructed him to attack again, and he took a deep breath, and bounced on the balls of his feet.

Channeling all of his growing irritation with Vornskr into one big ball of fiery rage, Bane launched himself at the Sith Lord. In order to be less predictable, he feigned right and then struck left, with a chop that if Vornskr didn't parry, would lodge the blade in his pectoral muscles.

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

They danced the dance of blades, moving back and forth, thrusting and perrying with the loud clang of steel upon steel as Kaine expertly blocked and countered every one of Cryax's strikes (his superior knowledge of the weapon and the fighting style giving him a superior edge against the novice Chiss). Still, he did not overly press the assault, but rather allowed Cryax to fall into his own style of fighting with the blade. They went on like this for some time until Kaine finally moved in and disarmed Cryax completely, knocking him onto his rear-end and angling the blade so that the point grazed the tip of his chin with enough force to draw blood. "Good, you are learning. But there is still much to be learned, but I shall teach you and I shall mold you." He allowed Cryax to get back up and pick up his weapon, and then for the next several hours they went back and forth, Kaine instructing Cryax in Form I: Shii-Cho.

While Shii-Cho was a lightsaber form, it's basics and applications were perfect for swordfighting, and so using his knowledge of the base form he taught Cryax all that he knew of the form. It would be a ruthless, grueling training session that would leave Cryax bloodied and bruised, but with enough time and effort he would eventually begin to master the form as Kaine taught him. They would spend the next several months practicing the form, while Kaine allowed several respites in between training periods for Cryax's body to relax, and to partake in his own twisted pleasures before returning to the grind. By now they would have transitioned through several different weapons; daggers, shortswords, longswords, falchions, and even axes and spears as Kaine taught him the fighting styles he learned in his youth and from the best Epicanthix swordsman he encountered during his reign as King of the Epicanthix. He also taught Cryax various hand-to-hand martial arts to be used in conjunction with his bladed weapons.

During one of the later days of training, Kaine brought an end to the current session and said: "You have grown strong, you have learned much. I have taught you how to fight, and you have adopted my fighting style. It has made you a better servant."

[member="Cryax Bane"]