Ready are you? What know you of ready? (Kaden)

[Jorus Merrill]

AURATERA

Wasn't often that a Jedi asked for Jorus' guidance; even rarer that the request come from a Silver. Sleepy Auratera, near Vorzyd, formed a decent meeting place. Two ancient temple ruins - one Jedi, one Sith - looked down on a deep cenote. The good ship Wretched Hive had parked near the Jedi ruin; the noise of a mechanic's shop issued from the open hangars. Auratera's still, heavy air muffled the sound.

Jorus sat by the cenote's edge, feet dangling over distant water. Dew had soaked through the legs and bottom of his coveralls. Only his battered lightsaber suggested that he was a Jedi.

[member="Kaden"]

 

[Kaden]

AURATERA​

Millennia carried with it advancement. Knowledge had grown leaps and bounds since the days of the Old Republic, knowledge that Kaden had spent sleepless nights and countless days catching up on. His studies centered primarily on the force and its two groups of proponents; the Jedi and the Sith. Through these studies, the pureblood stumbled across a form of Jedi combat -- the seventh lightsaber form; Vaapad.

Despite its age, it still remained shrouded in obscurity - mostly due to the limited number of Jedi who dabbled in its dark temptations and didn't succumb to it.

From what the pureblood had read, it complimented his alignment - his own internal harmony of light and dark - perfectly.

So, he'd reached out to anyone he could find with any inkling of knowledge about the rare and frowned upon lightsaber form. Only one responded.

---

The roar of sublight engines quietened to a rumble as an Aurek Strike Interceptor landed in a clearing between the two temples on Auratera. The irony of a Jedi Pureblood being lodged between the two temples, light and dark, was not lost on Kaden as he climbed out of the cockpit. Heavy air filled his lungs as he set out towards the cenote; the planned meeting place.

"Jorus Merrill?" Kaden called as he exited the forest and neared the cenote. His amber eyes assessed the man, carrying slight surprise in their irises. "You're not what I expected."

[member="Jorus Merrill"]​

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Kaden"]

"I get that a lot," said Jorus blandly. "I'm not like any Jedi Master you'll ever meet. For starters, I work for a living." He took in Kaden's appearance without comment, and gestured to the precipice beside him. "Have a seat."

The cenote could have fit a heavy cruiser - a very long fall. Lacking any relevant telekinetic or physical enhancement abilities, Jorus tended to wear an emergency repulsor belt. It gave him a decent amount of comfort as he watched the water move far below.

"So you're looking to know about Vaapad. Couple things. Classically, Vaapad only ever got taught to Masters who'd, uh, mastered multiple saber styles. And most of them fell. Anyone who tries to teach Vaapad to a Padawan or a Knight is a moron or a Darksider in denial, and don't ever let them tell you otherwise.

"But I can definitely answer some questions. I'm no great shakes with a saber, but I was Master of First Knowledge for six or seven years, and I've known the two best Vaapad stylists since the Dark Age: [member="Darron Wraith"] and [member="Kiskla Grayson"]. Some of the best Grandmasters since the Order got re-founded. So yeah - ask away."

 

[Kaden]

For some reason, the pureblood took offence to Jorus' opening remarks and retorted rapidly, "Jedi work, too," with a twitch of his chin tendrils.

Despite the struck nerve, he took a seat on the precipice, making sure to keep his feet away from the opening of the cenote. The Sith admired its beauty, but dangling body parts over a drop so deep was, to him, foolish without precautions.

He listened as Jorus spoke, though his attention seemed fixed on the water below. A light breeze pushed through the thick air and ruffled his hood, which the pureblood finally took down.

"First of all, thanks for meeting with me. Not many people know about Vaapad. Fewer, still, wish to discuss it," Kaden began. He was surprised to hear about the man's run as Master of First Knowledge; he didn't strike Kaden as the conventional Jedi type, nevermind the master type.

"Why can't Vaapad be taught to a knight, or even an apprentice? What really makes it so dangerous? Surely anyone with aptitude and a strong will can be taught the form."

[member="Jorus Merrill"]​

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Kaden"]

The first remark got an amused crinkle around the corners of Jorus' eyes. The second got a nod of acknowledgement. The third got an answer.

"When Windu first started teaching Vaapad, he picked his students based on aptitude and willpower, just like you say. Sora Bulq and Depa Billaba, both Jedi Masters, both blademasters, both close friends of his. Billaba sat on the Council and was Windu's Padawan. Windu knew their quality, and it was sure as kark better’n what a Knight could bring to the table.Vaapad still got under their skin and they both fell to the Dark Side. Fell hard. Never recovered."

The old holocrons weren't all sweetness and light. Jorus found himself tracing the Sith temple's angles with his eyes.

“What you've gotta understand is that the Force is a drug. It's a mood-altering substance. Get serene, reach out, and it'll magnify your serenity. Get angry, reach out, and that'll bounce right back to you too. Feedback loop. It's one reason why Jedi tend to have trouble with compassion and empathy and I-know-better arrogance, and why Darksiders struggle with impulse control. Vaapad’s a lot of things, but one thing it is for sure is a Force ability that affects the user’s emotional state in a really fething complex way.

“And even if you manage to do it all right, have a whole career of killing folks with Vaapad - and don't kid yourself, Vaapad's about putting bodies on the floor in a way no other Form is - feth.” Jorus closed his eyes, shook his head. “Darron Wraith did everything right, never fell far as I know, and Vaapad still chewed him up.and spat him out. Last time I saw him, just a few weeks back, he didn't even carry a saber. Spends his days gardening and helping the locals with the odd jobs he's qualified to do. And that ain't much.

“That's why I talk about working for a living. You break the Jedi life down to core competencies, down to things you could talk about when trying to get a job, and what’ll the Orders really give you these days? X years’ experience in meditation and bodybuilding and living on a guaranteed stipend and going to meetings on call, and every once in a while you get shot at. Only real career they train you for is fitness instructor in a war zone. Would you give your armed and lethal yoga teacher a button to push to trigger the next best thing to a psychotic break? Or would you save that button for the best of the best of the best, and know that it would break them one way or another no matter what?

“Now maybe you know why the modern era’s had exactly two real masters of Vaapad: Grayson and Wraith. And why they weren't in the habit of teaching folks.”

 

[Kaden]

The pureblood listened intently, his own eyes following Jorus' gaze to the Sith temple. Kaden hadn't realised to the fullest extent what Vaapad was capable of. Not just in terms of raw power, but - like Jorus had said - the feedback loop. From what the pureblood understood, you had to pump your own darkness into the form. You also had to be strong enough to withstand it bouncing back.

So far, he'd understood everything that the man had said. At the same time, he had registered some semblance of pain within the estranged master -- though he couldn't tell if it was from personal experience or simply sympathy with the victims of the dangerous and rare form.

"So, if those with a strong will and natural aptitude still fall when learning Vaapad, what's the trait that allows some to wield it without falling?"

[member="Jorus Merrill"]​

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Kaden"]

"Beats me. Windu, the guy who invented it, never figured it out himself. Sure wouldn't be any of the usual suspects: neither he nor Wraith had a drop of humility, and both of'em struggled to keep a sense of proportion, but Grayson had those qualities in spades. Pick any good quality or experience you can imagine, and there's no correlation between it and using Vaapad responsibly. Not based on the six decent case studies we've got, anyway - Windu, Billaba, Bulq, Quinlan Vos, Wraith, Grayson.

"Well, that's not all true, come to think of it. Windu, Wraith, Grayson...they had doubt. Kept questioning their own motives, reexamining their own decisions. They watched themselves, their thoughts and feelings, and never totally trusted themselves."

 

[Kaden]

Breath was inhaled sharply through red nostrils before Kaden sucked his teeth and reflected over what Jorus had just said. Thus far, information on Vaapad was as illusive as a Selkath on Tatooine -- now it was being revealed that its mastery was even more so. He found himself wondering how, and why, a man like Jorus had ended up where he was now, relaying information about a near-dead lightsaber form to a Jedi Sith Pureblood. Kaden concluded that the galaxy was a strange place, full of endless possibilities.

"So," he began again, after cataloging this new information and storing it within his memory, "How did Windu create Vaapad? ... How does one even make a new lightsaber form in the first place?

Could you, or I - or even both of us - collaborate to create a new form?" He paused briefly, his amber gaze returning to the depths of the cenote. "Sorry, I'm here to ask about Vaapad, not discuss lightsaber theory.

How did Windu create Vaapad?" He repeated, pulling the focus back to the original topic. His eyes flicked back to Jorus.

[member="Jorus Merrill"]​

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Kaden"]

"I'm not the one you'd want to ask about making a new saber style, Kaden. Any combat form I dreamed up would involve a lot of punches, joint locks, knives and blasters - not a great fit for the lightsaber. Truth be told, only style I use is Niman, the Diplomat's Form, and I'm not great at it. Had some good teachers, lived through some fights, that's about it. If Quorl or Wraith or Ben Watts was still around, I'd say talk to them. Maybe Voidstalker and Korr over at the Alliance. Not sure who the Silvers have for reigning blademaster.

"As for the Windu thing, we don't have those kinds of records. What we've got tells us that he took Juyo, an old unfinished style, and refined it. Added the psychological component along the way. The physical and mental sides of it are kind of a nuna and egg situation. Which came first? Both, neither."