Sharpen the mind and the blade

[Varian]

Luke dropped into his seat next to Natris on the PeaceMaker, setting his helmet down next to him, as they flew the ship closer to their location.

"What's up today?" ​The S'kiss asked flipping upside down in her chair so her legs were over where the shoulders would be. He raised his eyebrow looking at her and all she did was smile back. She just could not seem to sit still.

Luke finally answered, "Well, you'll be meeting someone important. As to what I'll be doing, we'll see. Sometimes things bring a bit of surprise with them." he answered, "Now put you're legs down," he shoved her feet over to one side causing her to slip and fall into the side of the wall, popping back up and sitting down just as quickly as she'd fallen.

He shook his head with a chuckle. A daughter, adopted from the parents he killed by his own hand. If only she knew what had happened, she would perhaps not be so cooperative. But she couldn't know, he wouldn't let that happen. He had hidden it from her, within her own mind. For her own good, the girl could never know it all.

Natris stood up and leaned against the dash looking out the window as they approached, she could sense it too, but it didn't scare her. She was too hyper for that. "What's that?" she asked. She'd learned about her force sensitivity from him after a short while. But she hadn't learned much just yet. "You'll see, just have some patience will you?"

She thought her life was normal mostly, she thought she'd been an orphan already, she thought her parents had died in some accident when she was young. And that Luke had taken her in recently. If only that were the case.

As they approached Luke put back on the helmet of his armor and they left the ship when they landed.
[member="Orex Mauda"] the man who they were going to meet. Superiex of the Emergence Empire, and Luke's teacher in the ways of the Force.

 

[Mauda]

The Rupture
Skism

Inferiex Varian's final test of strength

____________________________________________​

Lava fields stretched for hundreds of miles. The ground was black as space and hot as a fire. The Dark Side ran rampant in this region. Its existence birthed from a violent coalescence of the purest dark force. It was here Orex's grey figure, now covered in dashes of black ash, sat bolt upright. Hands on his knees, eye closed, in meditation. Deep within his being, Orex gazed upon his core. His usual methodology. He would sit for hours on end and recede from the Universe, falling deeper and deeper into himself until he was surrounded by the noise of his soul. Like astral projection, but into himself, he would hear only chaos, and stare at that ball he knew too well. The oscillating sphere that tore away from itself, only to find itself bound without relief. It was his purest form, and it was that which he waded in.

Lava spat and convulsed in a nearby river. And yet through all the noise he heard the voice. The chatter that whispered around something attuned with the force. It grew louder and more intense as time went. Varian was coming, and so it was time to return. Slowly, Orex wrenched himself from his soul and brought his conscience back to reality. The chaotic noise of his being was slowly replaced by the myriad acoustics of The Rupture. Lava flowed, wind howled. He got to his feet and slowly stretched. His muscular figure contracted and shuffled the building ash. As he turned, his Armour came together, dragging itself through the air and forming around his body. As the Peacemaker came to a landing, his forearms were smothered in Duraflex. The final piece, his Mask came drifting out of the ash and placed itself upon his ruined half, clasping and hissing as it pressurised his sacrificed flesh. Completed, Orex approached.

[member="Varian"]

 

[Varian]

Luke's beskar boots hit the ash of the planet yet again, he remembered this place well from the first time he was here. Not something he had elected to inform Natris of. Luke was followed by the S'kiss close behind him who had her head cocked. Unlike him she was not adorned in Beskar'gam, although, Luke intended to one day make her one. Or give her his. But she'd not exactly been his daughter long.

As they exited Natris caught sight of [member="Orex Mauda"]. While Luke nodded his head patiently walking forwards to make a proper greeting, Natris practically skipped ahead, "Oh my look at that." ​she gasped pointing at the mask before Luke lifted a hand yanking her back to his arms and leaning over holding her back, "Natris! Stop that! Slow down," he said holding onto her shoulder with his left hand as the two of them approached, "Oh but you can sense it to right, that's gotta-" She tried to speak.

"This is Orex Mauda," He interrupted, she stopped speaking and turned her head to look over the man quicker before it dawned on her just who that was, she wasn't afraid still. But she clearly got that he was a much more important person now. This was a man who dictated power over Skisst. He squeezed her shoulder once more, "Try and be respectful ok?" he asked.

The girl groaned before nodding as he let go and stepped slightly in front of her as he approached the Superiex, "Greetings." He said, Natris bumped him and he sighed, but there was a smile under the helmet, ​"This is Natris, my daughter, since, well not long."

"Hi!" She exclaimed.

 

[Mauda]

Orex’s eye passed over the young S’kiss. Bounding and excited, he was perplexed but curious. Always curious. He could see Varian was keeping her roped in, whoever she was.

The pair approached each other. Varian spoke first with a simple greeting. Before responding, Orex looked down to Natris. Her ecstatic Hi was met with a questioning gaze and a, “hm”. He looked back up to Varian.

“You’ve come very far, very fast. You have remained steady in your convictions, while having changed your deepest values. Soon your months of training will come to an end. But not without challenge.”

Throughout the deadly region were thousands of miles of caverns and cave systems. These subterranean networks were populated by a very unique form of Kyber Crystal, Skist Kyber.

“The two pillars of a being that carry the greatest weight, Strength and Power. The former grants simple victory and linear superiority. It’s a tribal thing but one that has continued to shape this Galaxy. With strength comes the ability to destroy. Beat those below you into submission and grant conquest to those with the mind to wield it.”

Orex began to walk across the Ashland’s. The immense heat underfoot was enough to roast any bare flesh given enough time, making The Rupture the deadliest feature of Skism. But also an extremely valuable testing ground.

“Power however, is a much more versatile thing. Power contains many values. Knowledge, maturity, strength, among others. Power is what put us both here. Power is not just Conquest, it is dominion. It’s not just destruction, it’s complex purge. It brings long term benefit and provides those who wield it with legacy and preservation. Both will be tested. This is the first. A test of your strength.”

He stopped and turned to face Varian and Natris.

“Under my feet is a vast network of caverns. Some merely as shallow as a hole in a mountain. Most stretching as far down as the Rupture itself. These caverns are inhabited by dark creatures that preside over a very unique material. Skist Kyber. Unlike natural Kyber, Skist Kyber is deeply attuned to the Dark side. And unlike the inert nature of natural Kyber, Skist Kyber is feeds on life.”

Besides the challenge of simply surviving a journey across The Rupture, attaining a Crystal would likely prove the hardest. The caverns inhabited by this Kyber are dense in draining energy, as is the nature of Skist Kyber. If an individual was not killed and devoured by the crystals, a solid resistance and great strength would be attained in the process.

[member="Varian"]

 

[Varian]

Indeed, he had come far. In power, in conviction, but his path was certainly far from over. His training was just one piece of a much larger puzzle. One that would extend beyond his own lifetime and into those of others. So long as he made it through, so long as he played his part. He was only a piece. He knew he was not the most powerful, and likely never would be. But he didn't have to be. He just had to be enough to make his part work, and pray that everyone else did the same.

Natris turned out a lip as Orex mostly ignored her but quickly giggled again returning to her usual self. She didn't necessarily expect to be noticed, she just wanted to see. She looked between Orex and Luke as the Superiex explained and furthered his statements. Meanwhile Luke paid attention in full, as Orex walked, so did Luke.

Eventually, as Orex explained, they stopped over a crystal mine. Luke leaned his head back as Orex further explained what it was, Natris merely furrowed her brow in thought. She knew some of what they spoke, but she didn't fully understand it. Not in the same way.

"So then, I need to be in and out quickly yes? Find what I'm looking for, and depart." He said, Natris elbowed him, "Uh, that really doesn't sound so much like a good idea. And anyway what about me?"

"It'll be fine," Luke answered, however, her next part gave him pause. He wasn't so sure what would happen leaving Natris with Orex, he looked at his teacher the Superiex and back at the adopted daughter, before finally facing Orex again, "Would you make sure she's safe while I'm gone? She can be a bit rowdy but," He placed a hand on her shoulder, "She's my family now, and harm to her is as much harm to me as the rest of my family."

[member="Orex Mauda"]