The Road to Dawn (Part I)

[Darth Metus]

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Castle Ne'tra - Residence of Isley Verd​

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Within the boundaries of Confederate space, upon the soil of the world Krant, stood a structure with a history old and dark. Centuries upon centuries ago, it once stood as a Temple, dedicated to the worship of and training in the Dark Side of the Force. However, with the fires of war and the passage of time, the Sith Temple faded into obscurity...until an ambitious individual began to breathe new life into its charred stones. His name was Isley Verd, and with his recent ascension to Viceroy over the planet Krant, he began to allocate funds for the construction of his personal estate. The process took several months and careful planning on his part, but the end result was a menacing citadel that he simply officially named Castle Ne'tra.

This day, only hours before the break of dawn, the Mandalorian awoke from his chambers within the citadel and strode forth throughout the corridors. His destination was the training fields; for this morning he had set aside for the tutelage of one of his students: Marek Starchaser. The young man possessed within him a phenomenal sum of promise, but there was still very much for him to learn. As such, Isley would be utilizing this opportunity to impart upon him a skill that he regarded as vital for any marksman. To this end, the beskar-clad warrior had seen fit to bring with him a duo of CZ-835 Machine Pistols, crafted by Czerka Arms, and a multitude of BASIC slugs. It did not take long for the Mandalorian to descend from the heart of his citadel to the training fields below.

And of the four, each named for a cardinal direction, he selected the North field.

As a whole, the North field was characterized by a dirt floor with a number of pillars strewn about its white sands. These pillars stood high and were numerous in count. Their purpose was, primarily, acrobatics training; for the Mandalorian would leap to and fro from the top of these pillars in order to augment his physical condition. However, today they would serve the purpose of obstacle. With but a wave to one of the numerous training droids standing about, Isley commanded the automaton to stand at the very rear of the North field, where there was at least five pillars in the way between it and a clear shot by the Mandalorian. For any other marksman, this would be an impossible shot...but today, Isley would show his apprentice how to turn the impossible into the very possible.

However, in order to do so, Marek would have to show up.

@[member="Marek Starchaser"].

 

[Corey's OOC]

Marek Starchaser was just the personification of his surname. The man was a vagabond, he walked the path of a gypsy. It was not like him to belong to one place or another. He had his purpose. He was here to learn what this world would teach him, and he was going to find all the forgotten idols, and ideals. Just like his parents had him doing. Do that, and survive. Not fall under the prey of the Jedi, nor the Sith, but be better than both.

Finding the Templar, and the CIS was something new for him. He was going to see where this life would bring him. It could bring him a lot of good, or it could backfire. But whatever it would end up doing, he was going to learn where he belonged in the Force, and wasn’t that sort of what his parents taught? Kind of, they always mentioned there was a place for everything. And knowing he could use the Force, that was how he was going to find himself.

He knew he was having training with the Mandalorian Templar. And that was exciting. Marek was not a stranger to weapons, and he was going to be excited to learn what he could from one from a warrior race. The Zeison Sha had taught him a lot, but there was more he needed.

Showing up to the designated area in typical guise for him, a worn Henley shirt, jeans, boots and a vest holster with his blaster pistol in it, the wanderer nodded to Isley. “Greetings… sir?” He wasn’t sure where the line was here.

@[member="Darth Metus"]

 

[Darth Metus]

At long last, his student had arrived and had greeted him with...just a hint of apprehension in his voice. This was to be anticipated, for the young man had only just joined the Templar Order a short span of time prior. As such, he would not be accustomed to the addressing others by their titles or rank, for he probably did not know them. Based upon this, the Mandalorian accepted "sir" and moved on with his thoughts, regarding the young man with a nod of acknowledgment. "Good morning, Marek." he began, reaching for his utility belt, "I am Master Isley Verd, a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. Today, I am going to teach you how to make the impossible, possible." Isley then allowed his words to linger in the air whilst he produced the first of his duo of machine pistols and presented it to his new student.

"I am sure you say that training droid on the way in, the one located behind these pillars? From where we are standing, it is an impossibility to get a shot into that droid; unless your weapon is powerful enough to penetrate stone. However, today, I will be showing you how to make this impossibility obselete. Observe." With that said, he turned on his heel as quickly as he possibly could, loosing from his utility belt his second machine pistol. As the weapon entered his grasp, he reached out with the Force, guiding its presence through his fingertips and into the pistol itself. The enigmatic energy found and saturated the slug in the chamber, and once this had been accomplished, the Mandalorian fired. This entire process had taken place in but the blink of an eye; for one, quick motion resulted in a slug being fired off...

Instead of penetrating the pillar in front of them, the slug straightway curved to the right, then zig-zagged around the pillars without losing any speed at all. It then lodged itself square into the chest of the training droid. "Projectile Guidance is the name of the game, Marek. Are you ready to give it a try?"

@[member="Marek Starchaser"].

 

[Corey's OOC]

See, the whole new training as a Templar thing was new for Marek. Was he supposed to say sir? What was he supposed to do here? His older cousin was a military man, and he knew how that life worked. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Marek spent some time on that ship his brother flew with. It was one of those things, surviving and reaching out to those that might care. Or feel they had to. The whole misinterpreted blood is thicker than water, really. The impossible, possible, though. That was something else and quickly moved the vagabond’s attention.

Right, he’d seen some weapons that would tear apart that chunk of stone like it wasn’t anything and still make it hard to identify the brand of droid. Then there were EWEBs that would just keep firing until everything was melted. Taking a step back to give Master Verd room, he quirked up an eyebrow.

“Projectile Guidance, eh?” Marek nodded. That was something he could’ve used way too many times. He’d seen nothing quite like this before, even the bowcasters with their magnetic casing shots didn’t come close. “So, the Force around the slug, yeah? Blasters aren’t going to cut it here then.” He took his blaster pistol from his holster and dropped it on the ground. “I borrow one of ‘em?” He nodded to the machine pistols. He had his slugthrowing pistol, but that was back in his quarters.

@[member="Darth Metus"]

 

[Darth Metus]

"That's correct," replied the Mandalorian as he provided his new student with a proper machine pistol for the sake of the lesson. "At it's Apex level, Projectile Guidance can be utilized to guide an entire, fully-automatic burst of slugs to their mark. Through this, you could easily overpower any opponent who wields a lightsaber: a fact that I'm sure will come in handy at some point in the future." He paused, before stepping back so that Marek might give it an attempt. When he came to a halt, he began to speak again, this time offering specific instructions as to how to accomplish the technique.

"I won't lie, the most difficult part of the technique is the speed of the slug. As you are well aware, these things fire at an immense velocity, and telekinetically concentrating on them without practice will slow down the shot to a non-lethal level. For today, that's perfectly fine, as you're just learning the basics. However, with practice, you'll be able to place a slug wherever you want without any fear of speed reduction. Now then, in order to guide the slug, concentrate the Force about it. Then, influence its flight path as you would anything through telekinesis. Right now, I want you to fire straight forward at this pillar and attempt to curve the bullet out of the way. We'll work on hitting the droid in the back later."

@[member="Marek Starchaser"].

 

[Corey's OOC]

Marek was one for weaponry, but rarely did he use full automatic slug throwers. They got out of hand a bit, and maybe one shot of the burst were going to land on target with the weapon’s recoil throwing it off. That was why he preferred single shot rifles, or semi-automatic pistols, if he was using a slugthrower at all. Nodding to his Master, Marek was ready to give this an attempt. “Well, that will become invaluable.” Imagine it with a scattergun.

Taking the machine pistol in his hand, Marek did a quick check over the weapon, just to get a feel for its weight, and what it was going to do. Being around weapons as much as he was, it was easy to gauge a weapon. The big trick, as he was hearing, was the speed. Marek wasn’t exactly well versed in the Force yet. He knew a little, but not enough to make him feel confident yet.

Aiming the weapon at the pillar and extending the Force out, he had two ideas in his head. One made more sense than the other as this wasn’t some billiard hall trick shot. He could picture the inside of the chamber, the slugs ready for firing. Grabbing them in the Force, he pulled the trigger, letting out a burst.

It all happened so fast, but there was the effort he put in, a bend with the Force, and he was pulling on the bullet. The first shot hit dead center with the pillar, with shots two and three making considerable progress to the right, the last shot nailing the edge of the pillar and bouncing off to the side. It was something.

Lining up another shot, and firing another burst, two of the three made it right of the pillar. The path not a really good one for a recurve back around the pillar. Still, progress.

@[member="Darth Metus"]

 

[Darth Metus]

"Good." commented the Mandalorian as he saw the progress between the two bursts. "You are making progress." He then stepped forward and inspected the stance of his apprentice. Marek was holding the slugthrower properly, yes, but there was something a bit off...Isley then looked at the pillar again, then back to his student and came to a silent conclusion. With a nod, he folded his arms across his chest and stepped back, motioning for the young man to take another shot at the pillars. "Fret not about the speed of the Slug," he commented, taking note of that which was "off", "concentrate at the task at hand and the desired effect will come. Do not worry about how fast the Slug goes, simply follow your instincts."

With that much said, Isley awaited Marek's third volley, anxious to see how much progress he would make this time.

@[member="Marek Starchaser"].

 

[Corey's OOC]

Marek did know his way around firearms, well, blasters. But the recoil on them were a lot less than on slugthrowers. He was going to take some getting used to these as he did depend on the former much more in the recent years. Still, it was that and the Force that could be screwing him up.

Watching Master Verd, and holding still, hands off the trigger and everything until he was certain everything was set, he waited. The speed? Right, trying to grab it rather than direct it. Made some sense to him. Without a word, Marek nodded before continuing. Taking a breath in and imagining a path for the slugs rather than trying to grab them, he held onto that, making the slugs bank around the first pillar and into the droid. Squeezing the trigger, he fired a burst, and held strong to his trajectory.

Was that metal on metal he heard?

@[member="Darth Metus"]