Welcome to the Obsidians

[Corey's OOC]

Extensive.

This was the word that came across from the Techno Union’s organic military corps to the members of the Obsidian Order when Master Roderick signed up for training within Network Bha’lir. The word had several meanings. From military training (armor division) to cybernetics, Roderick was almost a walking machine. Half his body in certain areas were all the result of Net Zillo and iBorg assisted in making him the man he was today. Granted, the Mobile Infantry would do that, but there weren’t bugs to fight here, just Vong. The Master had been working with the Obsidian Order since its inception, at times he felt he was around long enough to become the leader of the Network, but that was not a job he really wanted. It involved paper work. What he didn’t mind doing was one-on-one drill instructing.

The Obsidian Order was pretty loose compared to the way the Jedi or Sith Orders performed. Sure, there were certain Master-Apprentice relationships, but there were so many people that just hopped between teachers and teachers that didn’t take full time students. Then there were the ones, like Marek Starchaser who just didn’t teach. Granted, that man had a lot else going on.

Roderick was told of a new student, one that had arrived by way of the business side of the Union. Roderick, though, was from Tatooine, this was his home nation. And he was going to defend it to the best of his ability. He was in the rifle range off of the training room. The sounds of blaster shots would come to anyone who entered the room. They’d get to the Force, but he wasn’t going to just jump right in. He needed to learn his student.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I walked in to the rifle range as instructed to by the priority message I had received. It asked me to meet a Roderick here, where we would discuss my Force Training under the Obsidian Order’s Bha’lir Network. I didn’t know much about the network, the Obsidian Order, or the Force for that matter. I had never trained in it, and only learned I was capable of wielding it very, very recently. Now that I knew where I stood within the Techno Union I didn’t mind joining their Force order though. Not like the Jedi Order, bound by so many codes and traditions that didn’t appeal to me.

What little I did know was that the order itself was neutral while individuals could vary from light to dark and every shade in between. That appealed to me and so I was actually looking forward to training with the Obsidian Order. In fact I was looking forward to training at all. I kept the pressure on myself, and I liked to learn from multiple sources. I had learned combat on Eraidu, then with the Republic Special Forces, then finally with the Mandalorians. Now I would start Force Training with the Obsidian Order.

I walked up to the man Roderick and nodded, no salute, I had left the military doctrine behind when I became a millionaire. “I’m Draco Vereen, I was told to come here to be trained.” I told him.
[member="Marek Starchaser"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

The Obsidian Order was free of a lot of issues. They were so much more than just a Force order. They were defenders and watch dogs of the Techno Union, yet they operated on their own accord. Learning, constructing, and becoming the best that any one person can. The Order trains its Knights to be elite soldiers, using every trick and tool at their disposal, from the Force and the power that is created from that, to the suits of armor they all construct and wear, which fill in the gaps and provide them with technologic solutions to every day issues. There is the credo of the Order, and that is what keeps the Knights on task.

So long as they defended the Techno Union’s interests when it counted, a member of the Obsidian Order could do what they pleased. That was what put them apart. They collected paychecks and avoided religious dogma. Almost Mandalorian in nature, a warrior caste of the Techno Union, Net Bha’lir focused on being effective killing machines, set up to defend the innocent of the Union’s worlds.

Looking down range, Roderick took another shot, as Draco entered the rifle range. Switching the safety on his rifle, he laid it down and remove the power pack. Roderick gave a nod to the new comer. “Welcome, Initiate.” After the day, and some bit of training in the ways of the Force, [member="Draco Vereen"] would be an official Neophyte, able to do what he wished and find his own path in the Force. Roderick motioned for the main training room again. “So, what is it you’re looking to learn? Have you put thought into what Force skills you feel will do you best?” Straight to the point, really.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I let the man finish his question before responding. “Yes, I did some research. Mainly this is very new to me so I would like to learn defenses like Protection Bubble, Tutaminis, and Force Deflection, while specializing in Force Sense. Getting the basics of Telekinesis wouldn’t be bad either.” I said to him. He was supposedly a Master, and that was beneficial. Learning from a Knight would have been fine, but from a Master was an honor and a gateway to a higher understanding.

I was leery about learning the Ways of the Force. To me it was a weapon and a shield. Not something to be contemplated or meditated on. It didn’t have a mind or sentience. It was a tool for those who learned how to. A tool many people over relied on in my opinion. Even still I didn’t mind studying it under the neutral teachers. I had intended to learn from the Witches of Dathomir and even some from the Silver Jedi Order later on. Many masters were preferable to one, but that was long term. Short term I needed a master to help me learn the basics of everything, to gain at least a competent use in the force. It would take time, but it was time I was willing to dedicate to the process.

[member="Marek Starchaser"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

At least he understood how this worked. You spoke when it was your turn. It wasn't that Roderick was that much of a 'respect your superiors' type, but he knew that military protocol carried over, especially into Network Bha'lir. Sure, the Zillo Network was... they were different. Learning new things, and working with a variety of equipment, explorers, both in the Force and beyond. This one, [member="Draco Vereen"], had done his research. That was good. Roderick nodded when the initiate spoke.

"Looking to keep yourself alive, and get a leg up on your opponents. No offensive powers, however. Past in the military? Prefer fire arms and their measured affects?" Was an honest question, and to Roderick, it made sense. He was not going to argue against the point. "I can point you down the path, teach you a bit about the Force and how we in the Obsidians view it. There won't be any dogma from me. But we'll get you out there showing the battlefield your full potential."

Could you say biotics?

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I nodded, “Yes sir, and my fists and their effects. I’ve found that when in combat with Sith I was able to hold my own and win with just those. I just want to supplement my defenses with the Force and maybe also adding some tricks to my repertoire.” I told the man, ready to begin. No dogma was best, mainly because I didn’t believe it or have the desire to believe it in the first place. Battle was hectic and chaotic, and most of the Force Users I had seen in combat, or had fought against had been fairly calm and centered until I started hitting them.

“My effectiveness in combat is what I am looking to improve. I figure with some competence with the Force I can handle myself against some of the nastier things out there.” I said to the man, now ready to begin whatever training he had in store. I figured that unlike the Mandalorians he wouldn’t press down on physical training and non-Force Training. I knew having a good mix was probably the best bet, and so mixing masters would be the best way to do it.

[member="Marek Starchaser"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

This one was a fighter. Mando by the way he acted. Roderick had been around the galaxy a spell. He could point out origins of people from certain groups. Mandos were easy, Corellians were easy. Jedi, the ones with the stick up their ass, those were too simple. And the power hungry Sith? They were around his space as well, an ally of the Union, but yes, he could identify them from how they behaved. Roderick would let out an almost overzealous chuckle. This one he liked. "The first piece of advice I'll give is to always keep learning. Expand your tricks, even when you think you can't. Approaching a conflict in different fashions keeps you unpredictable. That's why the Obsidians meld tech with our Force powers." That was the most dogmatic Roderick would get. Sort of similar to the only time he got romantic was with his rifle.

"A great way to look at it. We use the Force to expand what we can do, and take advantage of the opponent's lacking skills. Let's get started then, shall we?" He was going to go for his side arm but first, he wanted to make [member="Draco Vereen"] feel comfortable. "You say you want to learn protection powers. Those are pretty simple, but first lets get you adjusting to the Force. This'll sound all sorts of odd, but it works. Want you to keep your eyes closed. Watch your breathing, you've touched the Force, right? Do that. Extend how much you touch it to this room. Don't worry about anything else. Just find everything in the room." Assisting in visiualization was not something Rod could do. But he hoped that Draco would feel the Force however it came to him.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I did as he asked. Opening myself up, closing my eyes and taking a few deep breaths. I focused on expanding my awareness as far as I could, trying hard to sense the connections between myself and everything else in the room. They were faint, but I could see the lines in my mind, a weave of energy moving through everything. The more I focused and stayed at ease the clearer they became. Then I began expanding my awareness, my sense. Slowly it expanded to about ten meters. It seemed like it took several minutes to reach this level of awareness, but the bright beacon of energy before me, muddled them, at least for now.

I kept my attention trained, eyes closed. Then I spoke softly, “Alright, I can sense out a few meters clearly. Beyond that is faint and murky.” I told him, letting him know what I saw in my mind. I was ready for the next step to this, but I suspected that this training would be continuous. Always seeing how far I could expand my sense. That was good. It would mean I would always be getting a little better each time. Even if only by a fraction of a meter, it would still be better than the last time.

[member="Marek Starchaser"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

This was always the tricky part. How to help people with this? Roderick nodded as he looked at [member="Draco Vereen"]. "Thats fair. Its one of the bread and butter powers for anyone who wants to avoid contemporary detection, it'll get easier. You'll be able to sense large parts of the battle field in no time. For now, keep where you are." Roderick stepped from the trainee's 'field of vision' into that lovely fog of war. He wasn't going to be doing anything.

But that didn't mean something else wasn't. He tossed Draco a blaster. "Catch." Next, without a word, he activated three remotes. Stun shots, it'd sting but not really do any damage to Draco. One went to the man's left, another high and to the right, and one behind and low. They all moved out at the same time, but they would start to fire in a pattern. The trick was, once a shot was fired, they would move. Simple training exercise, but Roderick wanted to see how Draco would respond. He was going to guess it'd be with the blaster, but he'd been surprised with newbies in the past.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Roderick tossed me a blaster and for a second I thought he was just messing with me before it hazily appeared in my field of awareness. It was hazy and flickered around, but I guess that was because I was new at this. Even still I caught the weapon. It felt natural to have a blaster in my hands. I was one reason I wasn’t interested in lightsabers or swords really. I had played around with a smashing weapon, but I had not yet worked on that.

Then the blaster bolts started. The first three I took all to the body. I didn’t hardly see them coming, but I had felt them, I just hadn’t had time to react. I fought the instinct to open my eyes and blast them down in rapid succession, keeping focused on the task at hand. My field of awareness shrunk, by about half at first, but I was able to get it back to normally before they fired again. I focused on the probes. They hardly hurt, and I wanted focus on how to predict them. It came in flashes, an instant before they fired. Even still I was able to dodge two of the next three bolts, taking one to the knee. I raised the blaster and fired off a bolt at one, but I could already tell I had barely missed it.

[member="Marek Starchaser"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

There, the man was responding to the non-visual. It was good, because Roderick really didn’t feel like doing the sensory deprivation techniques. It wasn’t going to do well. But the probes, they were silent, and so long as he responded without opening his eyes, he’d be able to predict them. It took a while for a Neophyte to be able to use his vision and still sense things in the Force. He knew Marek Starchaser, one of the Net Zillo’s could do that, he was a natural with a rifle and telekinesis, and avoiding fire, but he was wasting his talents running a casino. Rifles and blasters were so much more effective than lightsabers, still, having the melee option was nice in case someone was closing in.

Or you ran out of ammo.

Standing back, Roderick watched [member="Draco Vereen"] with a bit of a pleased look. Seemed there wouldn’t need to be any form of punishment for not staying on task. Most students just opened their eyes and took the shots, some still were able to call upon a bit of emotions to throw the targets away, and a few managed to protect themselves. It was instinct to fight back.

“Close. Better than most do. Keep at it, you can get them. Three out, they fire in succession. Its training, but the pain is to remind you what can happen.” The remotes had stalled when Roderick was talking. “Clear your mind. Take them down, and we’ll move on to something a bit more fun.”

Because shooting at each other was fun.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I continued trying to sense and predict the motions and fire vectors of the probes, slowly getting a better grip of it. The weave of energy translated almost like a sonar device, gathering the information and translating into a visual effect, even with my eyes closed. I kept moving, keeping on the balls of my feet and then reacted, right after the first on fired I adjust dodging the shots and taking a shot of my own at a different one, hitting it and disabling the probe. I waited for the two remaining probes to fire again, repeating the process, keeping my focus on trying to expand my awareness.

Again I took down the second probe. And then the last. Once all three had been disabled, I opened my eyes, slowly taking in everything I had seen through the Force and seeing how it had translated in the visual spectrum. It was certainly different, but I could still see the faint, almost invisible weave of the Force if I tried hard enough.

[member="Marek Starchaser"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

The way Roderick saw the Force was a lot like a droid soldier saw its environment using heat vision. A wire frame of depths and shapes but a variety of heat signatures, each basing itself off on the amount of energy, both Force and electrical, as he was part of the Obsidian Order and that was a trick he had learned, even if it wasn’t a legal one, but droids were part of the Force as well. Roderick disliked the Vong and preferred to hit them from orbit.

No need to get close to those bastards.

He was keeping track of [member="Draco Vereen"]’s progress, watching the probes fall. One, then two and three. Good. Very good. The larger man, the former soldier turned Knight was pleased here. Draco was keeping himself in the Force during the whole exercise. Nodding to himself and to Draco when he opened his eyes, Roderick spoke. “Very good. Step two? Try to shoot me.” Roderick was not a fast man, and that was obvious.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I had just finished the first task, and he already had a second for me. He wants me to shoot him. Alright, I thought. Either he does something crazy like one of the various forms of Force defense or I get a different master and can say I killed one… Sounds like I come out neutral worst case scenario. I took aim and snapped off a round in quick order. I was a trained soldier, it was a quick process. Even as I did so, I tried to focus on his presence, keeping track of what he was doing with the Force, doing my best to concentrate on the faint web of energy.

As I fired I focused on that web of energy. I was going to study what he did and do my best to duplicate the process on my own once we concluded for the day. I would probably spend the next weeks working on my own just as much as I worked with him.

[member="Marek Starchaser"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

Roderick wasn’t one for reading thoughts, but should he be able to, or at least make the effort, he’d merely grin at [member="Draco Vereen"]’s thought process. The Neophyte knew his chit. Roderick was ready for the shot before he even gave the order, feeling the determination of the shot and the energy coalescing and being released from the blaster. He could feel the Neophyte watching the Force. Good, he didn’t need to have this exercise again with the suggestion to feel what he was doing.
The blaster bolt sped towards him and he merely stuck his arm out, cocked at the blow, straight across where the blaster bolt would hit. It wasn’t absorbed, but it did hit. And Roderick was still standing, the Force catching it in a web that dispersed the energy around him, rendering it harmless. “Again.” Was all the Master said as he readied himself. Should the Neophyte get a grasp of it, or even not, he’d be returning fire in a few shots.

And since this was training, he was not hiding that thought process.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I watched the web of Force Energy catch and disperse the low power bolt. I had heard of it being done with things as powerful as Turbolaser strikes, but this was training. I watched carefully as he utilized the Force Power. It enveloped him in energy, stopping the bolts disrupting their magnetic fields and spreading out the energy around him. It was taxing I could tell, but not at this low power. I knew by the smallest touch of the Force that danger was imminent. That could only mean one thing. He was going to return fire any second and I needed to be prepared. I started focusing less on sensing, more on drawing the Force around me and creating the protective bubble. Even still I couldn’t just yet make a full bubble. It was more of a shield, sitting out between him and me, less of an encompassing bubble. I worked hard, concentrating through it and finally created at least most of a bubble. Most of a weak bubble, but it was a bubble. I fired again. And again I fired the weapon into Roderick, who kept dispersing the stun bolts, the creeping sense of danger rising in the back of my mind.

[member="Marek Starchaser"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

Roderick was liking this trainee. He was a good little maggot. Well, that was what this character was based on, a trainer of gunslingers many years ago and many, many wheels away. But if [member="Draco Vereen"]’s writer got the reference, it’d be a good thing. Catching several more shots, Roderick started to pull the energy towards him, converting it from electrical and blaster energy into Force energy. That was the feeling he needed. It was what could recharge him. Moving straight from protection to absorption of the bolts, the trainer grinned.

Rolling, a clumsy combat roll for someone of his size, Roderick, pulled the blaster from his belt and squeezed off a shot, high and towards the side of Draco’s head. No need to hit with a direct shot right away. And it was a high energy stun shot. Enough to make sure Draco was really responding with the Force and not just visual cues.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

The Force prickled the back of my neck, raising the hairs on it. Here it comes. I turned all of my focus into the weak bubble, pushing all of my energy into it. He rolled off to the side, I turned with him, but I stopped shooting. I figured we had moved from the demonstration portion of the exercise to the practice portion anyway. Even still I needed to continue this lesson as it happened. He came up with his pistol in his hand. I pressed more of my limited control over the Force into the bubble, ready as I would ever be given my limited control over the Force. The bolt snapped for the side of my head, I closed my eyes. Somewhat out of habit, somewhat trying to focus on the bolts connection to the Force to disperse it.

The bubble caught the bolt, not all of it, but most of it. Enough to where I just got a headache not got knocked unconscious by it. I groaned from the sharp pain behind my eyes the bolt gave me. My focus drifted and I struggled to regain control of the bubble. It wasn’t as strong as before, but it was still there.

[member="Marek Starchaser"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

OK, Roderick was a little more accurate, or less accurate, than he thought he was. He had attempted to miss [member="Draco Vereen"] to the left, but the man moved and the bolt wasn’t going to move. But he caught it... mostly, with the Force. Good! That was good. Great bit of work there. Roderick looked at him and nodded. “Nice move. Got most of it. It will come in time. Higher energy shot than normal. Just to give your danger sense a bit of a thrill.” All Forcers knew that their impending doom was coming.
The Force was a living thing, and lived within everyone. It wanted to keep living.

“How are you feeling? Keep going? Or break?” Roderick was not going to judge. This was like learning how to walk again. Of course, when he did it, it was like learning to run when you can barely crawl. Kept people alive, though. That was for sure.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Roderick asked me how I was doing. Well I wasn’t in the best of shape, but I was doing alright. Well enough. In order to train your body you had to push yourself to your limits and stay there until you pushed through them. I assumed that was also how you trained in the Force. Screw all the meditating and contemplation of the Force, you had to keep testing your limits. Only the man that could surpass every limit they came upon could ever hope to reach the highest tier of battle. It was necessary in that aspect of training. “No I’m alright. Let’s keep going. If we can I’d like to train my mental defenses. I’ve had to deal with Illusions before and they aren’t fun.” I told the man. He was a master and I could only assume that in order to build up my defenses he would batter them down repeatedly. That was the best way in my opinion, but I wasn’t an expert in the Force, nor was I good at it yet.

[member="Marek Starchaser"]