Private The Holocron of Cognus

[Alina Tremiru]

After a trip to Zakuul Alina had gotten what she needed to continue her training. The Holocron of Darth Cognus. It had been an interesting find, given she had to swim through the swamp. And deal with some kind of smoke demon. Darth Strosius had been of invaluable assistance during this artifact hunt. Alone, she'd likely have been overwhelmed by the creature. And it showed her how to better use her ability. She returned to Kaas city, though didn't immediately head to her master's office. She stank. She knew she did. The swamps weren't very forgiving in that regard. The young Acolyte stood under the running water, letting the warmth try and wash away the smell on it's own.

She could feel it. She'd gotten stronger. Alina flexed her fingers, letting herself smile for once. Maybe she did have reason to let herself be confident. She went about actually cleaning herself then, washing away the stink of the swamp. She stepped out of the shower and glanced to the pyramid shaped holocron as she dried herself off. This was everything she needed to truly get stronger, huh? Alina reached out to pick it up, lightly tossing it in a hand. Right.

She sent a message ahead of time to Taeli Raaf to let her master know she was on her way with the holocron. She put on a simple outfit this time, black robes of the Sith, before heading out. Through the streets of Kaas city with a smile on her face. She'd done well. She knew she did. Alina halted just outside her master's office and awaited her permission to enter.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

She had done well, Taeli thought as she looked at the advance message from Alina. Recovering an artifact as rare and powerful as the holocron would help her confidence, and would be the key to unlocking her innate talents. Once that was done, it would be time to shape her into a truly terrifying agent of the Sith.

Alina Tremiru would be a fascinating student that was for certain.

She had personally never studied Cognus, had always been much more interested in the Iktotchi's Master, Zannah. Zannah's holocron was safely stored away in Taeli's personal collection and it had done much to show her the secrets of Sith sorcery and how to develop her own spells. Cognus' holocron, she was sure, would provide far different information. But it would be lovely knowledge to have for herself as well.

Plans were moving forward well, regardless of the renewed hostilities launched against the Empire. Soon, very soon, it would be time to start striking out... to distract from the real plan between her and Kaine.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina would head inside of Taeli Raaf 's office after a couple of moments waiting outside it. She'd bow her head immediately, but not for long. She couldn't hide her excitement as she lifted up the holocron with a slight grin. She'd done exactly what she'd set out to do. "I've brought back the holocron, master. When do we start unlocking it's secrets?"

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"I am impressed Alina, and a congratulations should be extended to a hunt well done," Taeli said, her eyes on the holocron in the girl's grasp. Yes, very impressive to have tracked it down so quickly. The girl might have a knack for the hunt, just one more piece of proof that she would benefit greatly from following Cognus's example.

"And we can begin once you activate it yourself," she continued. "I'm not sure if your mother ever mentioned how a holocron works, especially one of the Sith. Turning it on is the simple part, just a touch of the dark side to the capstone," she pointed at the dark stone in top of the pyramid, "but it is the gatekeeper that will be the challenge. When a holocron is created, the Sith who made it imparts part of their personality into the holocron that determines who is worthy of accessing the information stored within. The holocron will emit a small hologram of the Sith in question and then, my dear, you will have to pass its test."

Taeli could access the information if she wanted, either by imparting her identity to the gatekeeper or forcing the issue, but Alina needed to see she was worthy of the power Cognus was a master of.

"Activate it at your leisure, Alina."

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

The young woman let herself grin at Taeli Raaf 's praise. It felt good to have it. To know she'd done something write and worthy of being called Sith. Though the smile was short lived as her master went on to speak of the holocron's guardian. Another test? But she'd gone through and dealt with a guardian of some kind when she was trying to get the holocron in the first place! Her gaze fell to the pyramid as how to activate it was pointed out. She hesitated. The doubt was always there. In the back of her mind. Taeli bringing up her mother only brought that back out.

No. She'd claimed this holocron. She would get it's secrets.

She took a breath before reaching out to activate it. The pyramid shifted immediately, twisting and opening until, it floating, activated fully. An image flickered to life, that of the hooded visage of the Darth who had made it. Her mouth moved, as if speaking. But Alina heard no words. Instead she saw flashes of a scene. Like a movie that skipped through parts. Of her mother. Her brother, older. Her. There was pain. Hate. Death. Her death. Alina's eyes widened as she realized it was a vision of her future. Of her death at the hands of her brother.

Fear was overwhelming. Unnaturally so. The acolyte clutched at her head as the visions intensified. The pain of her death replayed again and again and again. "Enough!" She screamed, and the pain stopped. The visions stopped. Around her the Force deadened. Muted. The image stopped moving, then smiled.

"You are worthy."

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Alina Tremiru

Taeli would do nothing to intervene as the holocron was activated. It was a test for Alina, and Alina alone, to face whatever the gatekeeper wanted to bring forth on her young apprentice. She could feel her fear, and a mutter in the language of the Sith allowed Taeli to see what visions the holocron had unleashed... and she smiled to herself. Darth Cognus' gatekeeper had sensed immediately what the girl's deepest fears were, what kept her chained. The vision, brought to life by the dark side, would be something the girl would not allow herself to succumb to.

And then everything became muted at the scream, the Iktotchi hologram smiling and passing the girl before winking out and a display of images and symbols appeared instead.

"You passed. Well done, Alina, I knew you could do it," she said easily. "The lessons the holocron gives can be both scribe work, such as this, or even lectures by the guardian in its teachings and abilities of its progenitor. You will need to decide how best to protect this font of knowledge, for it is yours by right of retrieving it, but others might want to steal it away for one reason or another."

Her fellow apprentice would certainly be one such individual, and Taeli suspected Quinn would do it more out of spite than wanting to learn from Cognus.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina had fallen to the ground at some point. Eyes still wide. Body still trembling with that left over sensation of fear. Her yellow eyes snapped to Taeli Raaf as she heard her master's voice. Good job? Once more the grin returned, the little bit of pride she felt growing into some kind of self confidence. Time would tell just how long that would last.

"So.. I can.. Well. How does this work exactly?" The acolyte lifted up the holocron, looking it over. Asides from the projection, she didn't see a way for her to actually learn anything. Was the projection going to show her words or give her a lecture? How did she activate that? There were so many questions, but she didn't dare burden her master with all of them at once.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Alina Tremiru

A gentle smile came to her lips at the question. Did Lady Tremiru not have any holocrons of her own or perhaps, more likely, she had never allowed her daughter access or even taught her how to use if she one day came across it. Probably assumed the girl would never be so fortunate or would be dead. Regardless...

"Visualize the image like a book, using the Force to turn the proverbial page," she explained. "If you reach a little deeper into the capstone at the top of the pyramid, you can activate the guardian to obtain a lecture that will respond to questions you have. I could go more in depth at how this actually work, how using the Force to turn the page minutely alters the crystalline structure of the internals of the holocron to display the images, but that would get highly technical for this stage of your training."

When she was ready to create her own holocron, if she ever did become that ready, they could have that discussion.

"As for words, we are Sith. You must determine the language they are written in and translate the images yourself. There are no shortcuts. It can take years to obtain all of the secrets hidden in a holocron, and it always studious work."

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Using the force to turn a page in her mind? Alina grimaced. Thus far her power only broke connections to the Force, disrupting the natural flow. As simple as it sounded, the reality she was facing was far harder than that. Years to obtain all the secrets. The acolyte let out a sigh as she relaxed and took a seat. If she was going to do this, might as well do it now. She closed her eyes, focusing on that image.

It'd be a while before she could even connect with the holocron. When she did, a giant smile formed on her face. It was like a wealth of knowledge had been opened for her. Which it had, literally. "It's.. A mix. Of ancient Sith and a more modern style." The excitement was obvious in her voice. "I should leave. I.. Shouldn't bother you with my transcribing. Thank you master."

Taeli Raaf