Lessons in the Dark [ Jagd & Bear ]

Jagd

Jagd

Planetoid
Joined
Aug 19, 2015
Location
West Coast
It was the third year of the war. The Sith had once again come out of hiding from somewhere in the Outer Rim. Their forces were cruel, striking fast, taking out large targets and then demanding the surrender of the general population. Some worlds had joined voluntarily but most were brought to heel by the vicious reputation and devastating tactics of the Sith war machine. The Republic and Jedi Order were traditionally slow to act though they were sure to cover any and all atrocities the Sith committed in their new sweep to conquer portions of if not the entire galaxy.

It was the third year and the war was not going well. It was better. The Republic and Jedi forces had retaken some worlds, gained new allies, struck out against the Sith menace but the fighting was fierce and the Sith sphere of influence was still expanding. It had expanded to Lorahns within the past year. Word was the Sith had corrupted the local theocracy and had begun using the planet as a staging ground for attacks into the Core worlds. A significant fleet was to make landfall within the next two days and it was up to two Republic regiments to stop them. The Jedi had sent one of their own, Master Rultan and his padawan apprentice. Master Rultan had worked closely on developing the strategy for taking the city and most importantly the starport on the Lorahns city of Khwyr. While air attacks would be used as a diversion and significant forces were to be sent at the power stations as a diversion he and a small force would attempt to go in and sabotage the starport.

The day of the attack was punctuated by the smell of ozone as blaster fire ripped through the air and the screams of the civilians running for shelter, running to get out of the combat zone, running to save loved ones or just themselves from the horror that played out over the city. As it battle wore on the smell of the burned flesh from blaster bolts, flame throwers and explosions began to permeate the area around the platoon and yet they continued to strike forward finally making it to the massive starport which stretched up into the clouds.

The building itself was a work of art and it was a key financial piece to the city. The outside glittered despite the battles which had been waged within its shadow. The tower glistened and within those glimmering glass panes were etchings of artistic motifs which once inside played out across the architecture as the slowest form of shadow play. It was an edifice designed to show the glory of the culture, to exalt their deity and to provide an opulent display to foreigners that despite their theocracy these were not back water fanatics they were dealing with.

Little of that mattered though as the platoon met the first defense squad which it easily dispatched but as they began to make their way through the complex the defenders became better organized and their tactics, their ambushes were better structured. Yet the Republic forces with the aid of Jedi Rultan and his apprentice were able to keep pushing in deeper to their target.

Once deep within the complex, no longer able to see the artistic outer walls they were once more pinned by a small group of soldiers loyal to the Sith. The massive room, a loading area which only possessed a few crates and other containers within it. There was a walkway around where a second story could have been built if it hadn’t been designed for storage. There were two massive doors and two other entrances on the main floor. All the fighting was going on the main floor so Rultan ordered three troopers up onto the walkway. As the second one mounted the stairs some idiot launched rockets within the confined room. It wasn’t one idiot it was like four idiots as incredible explosions rocked the building. Crates and the walkways crumbled down crushing some who hadn’t died from the explosions. Neither side had been spared and yet their desire to kill one another meant that a smattering few from each force who had survived or were currently in the process of slowly dying from internal injuries had lifted their blasters to shoot at each other again.

Master Rultan though had managed to throw his apprentice behind him and using the force shifted several crates in front of them to protect them from the blast. It meant that for a few minutes they were not part of the fight as they had to use the force to remove the rubble which had been their protection. Yet there was a shift in the Jedi. New sounds began crackling outside their impromptu bunker, a new presence and Rultan was visibly agitated. A sight most rare for his padawan. “As soon as we are out, attack. There is a great foe outside.” He warned in a harsh whisper.

Rultan could be described as an absent teacher. He told her what she needed to know but not why. Took her on missions but didn’t include her in the planning. Showed her how to use the force but not how to feel it. It was important not to feel. That was his lesson, that was key. Emotions were the enemy and maybe that is what made Rultan seem so milquetoast as a Jedi Master, he was almost automaton like in his lack of affectation, his lack of displaying or seeming to show emotion. So it was uncharacteristic at least that now he should show such feelings. Such a rare sight made it hard to determine what it was her master felt. That is until he made a hole in their barricade and lept forth to face this new foe.

Outside of their bubble of debris was a hellish scene. Metal, ceramic, bodies twisted, crushed and intertwined with each other while the floor was now slick from fluids held in various containers and the blood of so many lost solders. The moans, screams and pleading of the injured and dying was broken up by the sporadic blaster fire of the few who were still able to fight. Yet there was still motion, life in some of the soldiers who were caught in the struggle before the explosions ripped through and now new life was pour in. There were new Sith soldiers jumping down from one of the upper story doors and rushing through fighting the remnants of the Republic force but leading the way was something else.

A Sith.

Like most of his ilk he wore black robes, in this case over armor or at least a helmet and breastplate his legs were obscured beneath the heavy long black skirt with multiple belts crossing over the upper half of it. His clothing had seen battle. All but the left bracer which was probably a replacement for one too damaged to remain of use. Holes, scorch marks pocked the robes and skirt. Chips of armor were missing from some battle heretofore unseen. The mask over his face was simply decorated but even there was evidence of attacks which had gotten too close. Then the Sith moved as if no force could stop him. There was no hesitation, no carefully picking his way over the debris. He strode forth as if this moment was his.

Twin crimson blades arced through the air, descending one after another through a Republic soldier. They were raised again this time to block blaster fire. The battle waged, meager as it was at this point and the Sith moved through it as if waiting for a party to actually begin. He wasn’t the most skilled with the lightsabers. The padawan had seen better, several in fact. Yet he was effective enough in dispatching the few remaining soldiers that had come on this mission with her master and her. Still there was a quality to him, something in the force, in how he manipulated it, how he coexisted with it meant he was not to be taken lightly.

The Jedi master certainly did not take the Sith lightly. His padawan witnessed something she had never seen before on Rultan. Malice. He wanted this Sith dead, not because he was the enemy or that he was Sith, it was something else and it was primal. The Jedi launched himself at the Sith giving a one word command to his student, “Attack.” The word was growled. Rultan growls?

The room suddenly was alive again with movement, with action, fighting, imminent danger and yet the soldiery had more or less finished. They did not engage any of the force wielders. Instead they had focused on finishing off the remaining Republic soldiers who had come here with their explosives to deny this strategic asset of the enemy. Their job done they moved to the outskirts and bore witness to the light show.

The Force was manipulated by both sides, to discern the enemy’s next move, to shove them, hold them, to jump impossible distances, to run faster then most any sentient species, to launch their vicious attacks on one another. Lightsabers clashed and swung at each other. The two red blades against the blue and green blades of the Jedi. In a fit of relentlessly driving the attack Rultan managed to disarm the Sith of one of his blades. This turned out to be a mistake, for while there were many Jedi who were better duelists than this Sith what the Sith then was able to do by manipulating the Force. Lightning arced from his fingers. His control of pushing, pulling, choking one or the other of the Jedi was cruel and excessive.

Yet he was still facing two duelists. He back his way under their driving assault out of the storage room and then out of that room to the next. After fighting yet giving ground for four rooms he lashed out once more and this time caught the padawan and threw her into the air, smashing her against the pitched corner of where the ceiling and wall met. Her head smacking into the plasticrete ceiling before falling and landing unceremoniously on the floor. A blow which which led to the uneasy black of unconsciousness.
 
Lina couldn’t count the number of times that Rultan had lead her into battle in the very brief two years that she had trained with him, but there was no amount of violence and no amount of admonition that seemed to break the one thing that he reminded her held her back from her true Jedi potential - her exuberance. Try as he might to make his padawan apprentice every bit an automaton as he was, there was a spark in her that kept the coals burning deep in her soul, a piece that could be cherished and nurtured into a great roaring flame or died down until she was an almost passive thing.

And for now, that was how she would appear. There was a certain pleasure to dimming down the flames of passion that burned inside of her, a certain excitement in its own in playing the part of a padawan that obeyed her master and was able to control her emotions. No, she wasn’t controlling them, but merely controlling how her master saw them. Lina viewed it as a use of her wit rather than using the Force, as her master could surely see through any hypnosis or illusion that she may try to spell upon him.

For the most part it was easy for her to concentrate on keeping herself calm and collected externally as they fought their way through seemingly hordes of the Sith scum, but if there was anything that could shake her and break her, it was one thing. Rultan broke his own character. For the first time in the years that she had known him, Rultan displayed an emotion and it was enough to almost stop her in the heat of battle. Irritation. Anger, even, maybe.

It was enough that her blood ran cold and her anger pulled through to the surface, as there had been nothing before that would unbalance her master enough to break his resolve of displaying the entire spectrum of non-emotion that existed. From there on out, she lost her own self-control. The adversaries passed in front of her in a blur, her memory hazy on the chain of events. There was a piece of it missing, she knew, because her memory skipped and there was suddenly a face (or rather, mask) that was completely unfamiliar.

A Sith, undeniably so from the dress and his blood-colored lightsaber. He unsettled her, but she couldn’t stop and think about the situation. She fought from a place that Rultan had warned her against - her heart. Again, her memory went hazy before she was thrown, her memory going back from what she was now positive was a blow to the head.

Lina had run through the chain of events several times before she decided to lift herself off the ground and evaluate where she was. There was a gentle rumble that told her she was no longer on a planet but instead a ship of some sort in a sparsely decorated bedroom. She rubbed at her head, which had a dull throb in it that was slowly dissipating, her eyes catching sight of movement.

She jumped to her feet, grasping in vain for her lightsaber that wasn’t there to fight the most frightening adversary - her own reflection. Her adrenaline was pumping heavy through her veins and her heart was racing, though danger was not in this immediate vicinity. Lina took a moment to assess herself in the mirror, able to see that her robes were - for the most part - in good condition still and she’d suffered only minor injuries, which had already been bandaged. Her brows knit slowly in confusion, because why would the Sith capture and keep someone as unimportant as herself?

Speaking of…

Lina fought herself to a calm, closing her eyes as she concentrated her use of the Force to feel for any people in the near area. It didn’t take long for her to feel what was undeniably him - the Sith - her hands clenching into fists. She approached the door to her room cautiously, tapping it lightly so that it slid open to reveal a common area that was neat and orderly. He stood across the room, staring out at the other starships that were passing by in the window he stood by.

There was no point in trying to sneak, as he quite obviously had kept her alive for a reason, but she didn’t feel safe without her lightsaber. It sat between the two of them on a table, laid out as if it were nothing more dangerous than a butter knife. Her eyes narrowed at the man, her teeth biting into her lower lip.

“Where is Master Rultan?” She demanded, approaching the man cautiously and keeping her attention on the Sith without making it obvious she wanted closer to her weapon.
 
The Sith stood there, a silent edifice of all that was evil according to her master, the Jedi Order, the Republic, basically everyone she ever knew. Made no motion to stop her in her exploration of the room, not that there was much to see really. Someone had left a wrist computer behind. It was nearly impossible to discern much about the Sith besides that the physique and style of the armor indicated the wearer was most likely male.

The ship was of solid design and given the lack of amenities was probably not for leisure or personal transport. Instead it was probably more militaristic in intent. The walls were a gunmetal gray though with lighter gray accents. It desperately needed some color. Yet it was not entirely made for boring efficiency. The common room had significant open space and the curved walls along one side must have been stylistic and not practical. The food dispenser was also of a more high end model. It certainly seemed a lot better then the one on the spartanly monastic Jedi ship.

He stood there in silence but within he was busy listening, listening to the young woman’s heart rate, to her breathing, to the emotions that coursed through her louder than it did through many Sith he had fought with. She telescoped her very soul through the feelings that welled up within her. It was intoxicating. Rultan had chosen poorly as a Jedi. It amused the Sith greatly. In time this woman would learn her place was not at her Master Rultan's side but at his.

The voice that finally answered her was muffled some coming through the mask he still wore. It was evident that the Sith remained in his armor from the silhouette he made there near the exterior wall. “I do not know where Master Rultan is. I assume he is currently seeking you. If you wish to use what little knowledge you possess and the Force to call for him, you may. I will not stop you.” A gauntleted hand waved through the air dismissively.

He shifted slightly, only so much as to look off at something to the right yet still kept his back to the woman. “And if you are going to take that lightsaber and strike me down, do so quickly. We have much to talk about yet if your decision is to assassinate someone from behind be quick, decisive.” The Sith hadn’t been sure but it turns out this will be her first lesson. In battle be quick, decisive was a good lesson and was not what the Jedi taught. Of course everything he suggested went entirely against the Jedi Order and was touted within the Order’s hallowed halls as a gateway to the Dark Side. One needed to face their opponent, if possible give them the opportunity to surrender, fight with honor or some trite drivel like that.

It was not part of his teaching though. This woman would become his student as well. Yet she needed to be awoken into it. She had potential. Incredible potential as a Sith. As a Jedi… she was terrible and the Order clearly had its work cut out for it to suppress the emotions which stewed within this woman so easily. They probably kept her as a student just to ensure she didn't become a follower of the Sith. The idea amused him. Behind the mask he even smiled.

It was time to begin though. Sith lessons are not taught through silence. That was foolish Order thinking. Just the idea of meditating at someone when they were right there was ludicrous. No, the Sith taught through lessons steeped in the fabric of who people are, not a rigid cage to bind ones very existence, ones soul. “If you are going to kill me and even if you are not, would you share with me your name? If you are to kill me, think of it as a request to at least know the name of my murderer. If you instead are willing to talk or at the very least listen it will make addressing you easier if another walks in this room.”

His head turned more. Not yet enough to have her in his peripheral vision but enough that she could see the mask once more. His armor was a variation of a common motif among Sith Lords whom pictures and holograms of had been plastered about by the various news agencies of the Republic. Of course it was mostly in the colors of red and black. Yet his was relatively simple design, not as ostentatious as other Sith. Yet behind that mask an eyebrow cocked as he waited to see, searching the Force, searching for her emotions to see if she would channel her anger rage and attack someone from behind or if curiosity would conquer. Or perhaps she would surprise him.
 
The Sith was a patient man, waiting as she examined her surroundings and seemed unbothered that she was closing the space between herself and her lightsaber slowly but surely. Her eyes moved from his figure to the weapon on the table, unsure of whether she should break the codes that had been drilled into her mind or follow the instincts that screamed at her to close the space and exact her revenge. Though he was likely quite a distance from her, she could still feel Rultan’s voice in her mind, cautioning against the rising tide of emotions in her chest.

As delicious as revenge would feel for her, she knew that her master would look down on her following such vicious emotions through. He would want her to remain aloof in this situation and to think of things from every angle possible, so that’s what she tried to do. For now, the Sith was no seeming source of danger to her other than the fact he could choose to attack her. When she was at her weakest, he had chosen to take her, nurse her, and set her in a comfortable enough room. He wanted something other than to kill her or harm her.

Lina tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at him, looking over his body as she tried to discern anything from him that she could. Her use of the Force was still rather limited, as Rultan was an excellent man but a poor teacher. He had only taught her the very basics, and much was still outside of her realm of knowledge. But she had spent many years in learning how to discern things about people without the use of either the Force or physical force - there was still much use to the old arts of reading body language.

It was obvious that he didn’t plan to attack her or torture her for information, or she would have woken up in a completely different scenario. What was his game? She opted out of calling for Rultan, because though she was sure that she would need his help to get out of the situation, she didn’t want to seem so weak as to need her master to save her from everything. She was no damsel in distress, she was a young padawan and she needed to act like it.

The decision was tough to make, but she also decided against stabbing a man in the back - there was no honor in killing someone who wasn’t facing their opponent and that was her own code. But she didn’t like the feeling of her hip being empty, grasping her lightsaber from the table and holding it close to her, enjoying the security that it gave her of being able to protect against attacks, even if it the feeling was more in her mind than in reality.

“I won’t kill you.” She stated, but she did back away from him, as she didn’t want there to be a close proximity. “Why didn’t you kill me?” That was the question that was begging to be asked, her eyes narrowed at him in distrust, her heart heavy with it. “And what do you want from me?”

Lina let her hand remain close to her lightsaber, ready to draw it should the situation change, as her ability to trust the man that was the embodiment of everything that she was told to be wrong with the world.

“Take off your mask and I’ll tell you my name.”
 
“Good. You are beginning to ask meaningful questions.” Intones the Sith appreciatively of the young padawan. Again his head turns a little more. Enough so that she is in his periphery not that it was necessary. He could feel the struggle within her, that desire to kill. It was enough to tell him all he needed about where she was. Then he went back to looking out the window. “Your first question is poorly chosen. Why should I have killed you? What difference does it make? It is a poor question because all that matters is that you are not dead.”

The Sith nods sharply once and finally turns around. The long black heavy skirt swirls only slightly due to its weight and the accoutrements adorning it as he turns to look upon the padawan from behind his armored mask. A hand gestures towards the table. “You may sit. I will not kill you either. Unless it is your wish to stand so the option of leaping forward and attacking me remains possible. Fair. I am at least facing you now. There would be some honor in it.”

Still the armored Sith who had set up a trap which ended up costing the lives of some of his own soldiers made his way closer to her but stopped a short distance away. There it stands and regards her in silence. She was taller than he expected and had modified her robes from the standard Jedi blah affair. Yet what mattered lay within. She had impressed him though. Her fighting style back on Lorahns, her poise now. She was a good person but a terrible Jedi.

When he spoke it was with such sharp precision. The words were not minced. He didn’t look for politic ways of saying what he clearly believed to be true. Despite the armor it rang with clarity. Not the ramblings of a mad man whose mind had been devoured by darkness “You have been lied to. Told a story based on purposeful ignorance, half truths and political expedience. Today is the first day for you to learn the other half. To see which truth you believe is real and which lie you will wrap yourself within to suit your own needs.” The helmet inclined downwards to regard her. “What I want is to open your eyes to the possibilities of the galaxy. What I am offering is a dialogue that if you employ correctly will make you strong.”

He raised his hand but instead of him channeling the force, it was a simple gesture for her to withhold her comments for now. “No, I am not abducting you to be my student at least not in the traditional sense. Yet I am telling you there is an opportunity before you to learn.” The hand lowered in measured state. “More so it is as I said a dialogue and you have already made several inquiries of me while I have only made one of you and you responded with terms for an answer so allow me to ask a different question. A more meaningful question.” In a sense he admonished himself for asking for something so superfluous as a name. Time was precious and spending it on poorly worded questions was a waste when there were much better things to do.

“Tell me what are the attributes that make up the Light Side and the Dark Side of the Force? And if that is a touch esoteric simply then the guiding principles of the Jedi Order and those of the Sith as you know them?” He gestured to the padawan and back to himself as mention of the two warring factions of force users were named. “When you are done then you ask the meaningful question.” The statement held gravitas as if there was one true question to be asked. This was not the case but as Sith he had certain image to uphold.
 
The man didn’t seem keen on answering any of her multiple questions that she had, instead he seemed more interested in analyzing her and her movements. He was a talker, that much she was sure of, but his words were only halfway getting through to her at the moment. She was having a hard time paying attention to his words when she was so antsy, her attention switching between him and focusing on her basic use of the Force to attempt to locate her Master.

From all that she could feel, she was too far from her Master to be able to reach out to him if the situation turned on her, but that was becoming increasingly hard for her to concentrate on. She instead turned her attention back to the Sith’s words, her teeth chewing on her lower lip slowly as she fought to understand where he was going with all of this talk. He wasn’t making any sense based on all that she knew of the Sith - her assumption was that they were wild like beasts and had emotions that flew off the handle at any tip.

This man spoke very deliberately, almost as automaton as her Master would speak but with more emotion than the man had ever used. She didn’t like that he remained calm and collected while she was still so uneasy. Her veins were still singing with the adrenaline left over from battle and that from being in the close proximity of someone so dangerous. His invitation to sit took her a long time to accept, but accept it she did.

Lina kept her hand on the hilt of her lightsaber, but she took the chair the farthest from him, sitting with her legs to the side so that she wouldn’t be stuck beneath the table by any chance. Even with how relaxed the man was, she wasn’t going to let her defenses down until she was sure that he wasn’t going to attack her, because that was what she had been told about the Sith up until now.

His line of conversation kept getting stranger, and he seemed not to care much about the fact that she was about as relaxed as a meth addict. He was talking about her becoming his student, and offering an ‘opportunity to learn the truth,’ but she wasn’t sure what type of truth it was that he was offering. The Sith were dishonorable, that much she knew, so what - if any - could she trust of what he had to say?


“The Order is built on the principles that are most important. We give up all of our worldly possessions and give up our sense of selves so that we can serve and master the Force as it was meant to be. We give up everything that gets in the way, especially emotions, which can cloud our judgment.” She was staring at him with narrowed eyes, but she had relaxed just a bit, “The Sith are built on the principles of serving oneself and giving into your emotions. You are ruled not by the cold truth of what needs to be done but by what you want done.”

She was speaking with distaste now, not disguising that she had been taught to hate the Sith, though hate was also looked down upon, in its own way. “The Sith are reckless and evil. You should know, considering you’re one of them.”
 
Good, good. She was beginning to relax, yet agitated and more significantly she was answering the important question. Her answer was childlike thought the Sith bemusedly. Then again she was clearly agitated.

The Sith moved closer but did not move up to the table or take a seat. Providing her a safe space. Behind te mask his gaze kept track of her. She was like a trapped gundark, ready to strike out. Yet with his armor she could not see the amusement he took from this situation and honestly it provided a very appropriate atmosphere for Sith training. Her emotions, her senses were heightened. Not in the usual way through Sith apprentices competing with one another where pranks, attacks and sabotage are acceptable which keeps each student in a state of near paranoia at all times. This was certainly different but the mental and physical stress seemed comparable.

“Self sacrifice, that is most important. It is important for you to sacrifice for others. For you to deny yourself, your emotions for others. I assume so the lives of others are better? Hm.” He tried to encapsulate her answer and reword it for the lesson at hand without losing the intent of her answer. It was a decent answer. The Sith actually wished he had some Sith apprentices to hear that answer. These are the sorts of fanatical tools you will be fighting against. Those who sacrifice themselves without concern for themselves.

Then he mulled over her definition of his side. “Yet I am just evil and self serving. I see.” The Sith nods his head slowly stewing over the meaning of this. There wasn’t much there honestly. His side is self serving assholes. A fairly easy and blunt message. He could see how that would sell well with the media.

Yet now it was time to get back to the lesson. What does her definitions mean. “These emotions which you must not have so you can serve others and presumably be good as opposed to evil.” Oh, he’s one of those teachers who paces. This was another reason why he didn’t sit. “Is not emotions how people, normal people, people who are not Jedi connect with one another? When a non-Jedi sacrifices part of themselves for another is not that due to an emotional connection with others?” A pair of rhetorical questions meant to punctuate the lesson before he asks the important question, “Then dear Padawan, why is your sacrifice be different?” There were a lot of potential reads of this question and he hoped her mind could see that with clarity but probably being stuck in an enemy ship with a powerful enemy pacing back and forth like a caged beast was not the place where this woman would be able to find clarity. How to do so was a lesson for another time.

“You see I do feel. So when I feel for another, whether that is sadness, anger, passion, desire I am connected to them, but you, Jedi, never are. You help for the greater good. Not because you know and care for that person. You strike down Sith soldiers because you are told to. Not because you hate them, that they are in the way of your goal. When you bed another … Oh… you do not do that. But if you did it would presumably be for the greater good, yes? Not because when you see your lover or hear your lover’s voice that your blood boils with desire to claim them and share in pleasure with each other. No, you do these things for the greater good.” As he spoke about why one does what they do, the drive behind it he kept a strong connection to the Force to keep tabs on this woman's emotional reaction to his words, his view on how the Jedi fail to live up to the ideals by cutting off those who matter.

“Or to flip it around when I sacrifice for another it is due to a connection, it is my choice. You never connect with another. I would argue Jedi never connect with themselves either but we have not gotten there yet. But the important question is when you sacrifice for others are you connected with them? Does your sacrifice mean something within their lives or yours as a Jedi?” He was wordy and verbose, prolific and prone to prose. He was a teacher and this nameless padawan was his student. After all what else did she have to do while waiting for Rultan to come save her. Sure, the Sith could just tell her this but it was more satisfying to tease the information out naturally.
 
There was something unsettling about listening to a man in a mask try to tell her all the ways that she was wrong and her upbringing had been wrong, especially when the man had been part of the group that had been just hours before attacking her and was now pacing like a trapped animal. He was setting her teeth on edge by his constant movement, her eyes following him as he made yet another round across the room. He was wise enough to keep a respectful distance from her when she was still sitting on the edge of her seat, but he wasn’t making the situation any better.

His words were sinking in but she was only halfway listening to him as he spoke, her attention less focused on him and more focused on what she was trying to do as far as escape. If all he wanted to do was talk then she didn’t want to have any part of it, as she had been warned that the Sith were the type to want to taint a young and naive padawan such as herself.

To make the situation worse, she was already struggling so hard with what Rultan had been trying to teach her about emotions and restraining herself. Even now, she could feel her irritation bubbling up slowly into rage as he continued to drone on, her fingers rapping in a rhythm on the table in front of her.

Lina couldn’t take it anymore, the anger bubbling to the surface, “What is your point with all of this?” She snapped finally, the tapping fingers clenching into a fist, her mouth almost pulled into a growl. She couldn’t stand it, with his pacing and the non-stop moving of his mouth. He was trying to teach a student that was by no means in a position to be receptive to learning yet, as she was still so uncomfortable with him that she could hardly keep still. Even now, she was still restless in her chair.
 
The Sith was disappointed. Gently he shook his head and let out a quiet sigh. She had potential but was a poor student. He wondered how Rultan’s lessons with her went. He could not imagine this emotional high strung woman being able to cut it in a Jedi lesson given how she appeareed here. If she did learn any better then than she was right now he was curious what methods were being used. He paused for a moment in his pacing and then it seemed to begin again but this time just went back to where he had stood before, near the table but not too near. Regarding her through that passive cold mask. There were many ways to answer but it was clear she was unready for a true lesson which was unfortunate.

“I would ask why you are a Jedi but given your agitated state you probably could not answer. Then let me do so for you and save us time. You are Jedi by happenstance. They found you, a person connected to the Force before some other group of force users. That is all.” In his mind it was definitive that it was simply luck. There was no destiny in this world. “You are learning their ways yet here, now you struggle with upholding them. You wish to strike me down, to use your anger. Your emotions are clouding your ability to call to your Master. Your emotions rule you so thoroughly you can not listen, focus, contemplate and respond. Basic building blocks of Jedi training. Meditation, contemplation, measured thinking and responding with clarity.” He just quoted a Mon Calamari teacher from the Jedi Temple whom she’s heard in a seminar.

“You are a terrible Jedi.” The Sith passes judgement upon her coldly.

There is a beat of a pause as he lets his admonishment set in and any litany of angry things she wishes to curse him with. It did not matter. “The point with all of this is to show you there are other ways. You no doubt have been warned a Sith might do this to you. Tempt you to the Dark Side… and in time I might. For now what I desire is for you to think. To examine your teachings, this war, not just what your teachers and the Republic say but why and is it the whole truth. The point, girl, is to make you stronger.” An armored finger pointed at her as he finished his explanation.

The large suit of armor stood there for a moment. Still with its passive gaze. Its black and red coloring, the colors of the Sith. The moment stretched on and then the Sith lifted both of its arms, as it did so she could see that he didn’t have any lightsabers on him so he was unarmed as opposed to her. If she had attacked and killed him it would have been murdering an unarmed person from behind. Very bad according to the Jedi Order. His hands took hold of his helmet, giving it a slight twist before removing it revealing the face of the Zabrak who had worn it this entire time. “Let us try a different approach. Ask another one of your questions. Then we will return to the lesson.” His voice remained calm. More calm than hers.

In truth it was nice removing the helmet the air recycler was good but a bit stuffy, unlike the industrial strength ones on starships. Seeing people with ones own eyes rather than with all the data of a combat HUD over it allowed for more clarity.

The Sith motioned with his free hand as he moved over towards the bench seat, still staying a fair distance from the Padawan. "If you need to get up and move, do. I find it helps me think and you look like a cornered animal sitting there on the edge of your seat." Once near the seat he put down the helmet as carrying the damn thing was absurd. It was not as elegant as other helmets since it had to make room for the crown of horns upon the tattooed Sith's head.
 
The man was exposing a truth that she had hated within herself, something that Rultan wouldn't’ dare outright tell her, but something that she needed to hear. She was a terrible Jedi. And him telling her that wasn’t the worst part of being berated by his near constant flow of words, the worst part was the fact that he was absolutely true. She wasn’t a Jedi because she had been chosen at a young age or because she had shown great potential. She was a Jedi, barely so, because Rultan had seen something in her that had made him feel she was something special.

But Rultan had always told her that she wouldn’t ever learn to be a Jedi until she could get her emotions under control. In their own way, the two of them worked well with each other - Rultan was a terrible teacher and Lina was a terrible student. She had spent her youth living under the constant stress and use of emotions that helped her survive, and it wasn’t so easy for her to just abandon the fire in her heart as he had. She was almost positive that Rultan had been born without emotions.

She was listening a bit better now, at least not half as sulky in her behavior, but also was intrigued as he removed his mask. Lina was surprised to see that he was not a human, his head covered in spikes and his exposed flesh tattooed as was the fashion of his people. Her eyes narrowed at him as she took in his appearance, searing it into her memory so that she wouldn’t forget it should she get loose.

With him exposed, she did ease up at least a little bit, her body less tense though she was no less apt to bolt than she was before. Rather than spout out questions at him she mulled over what she wanted to ask, chewing at her lip as she tapped a rhythm on her lightsaber slowly.

“Fine. If I’m a terrible Jedi, why bother trying to convert me to the Dark Side? I’m sure your time is better spent on someone with potential.” She almost spat the last word, a mix of the injury to her pride that he had dealt as well as the fact that she knew it was too true, causing her to feel bitter towards him.

Lina did opt to move from her seat, her arms crossing over her chest as she paced by the window he had been standing at, glancing out it every time she passed, her eyes returning to him each time he was in her line of vision. She didn’t like it that he was trying to teach her, didn’t like it that he was talking to her about the Dark Side. His motives were suspect and she didn’t want to put herself at risk for being tainted. What would Rultan think? What would he even do? He surely wouldn’t sit here and wait for someone to rescue them.

But he hadn’t properly equipped her to escape a situation like this… Hell, he hadn’t equipped her to escape any sort of situation without him, really. It made her uneasy to think of that, a harsh truth that he had been severely lacking in teaching her necessary skills for survival in the world of Jedi, but she couldn’t do anything about the past. Those questions could only be answered by Rultan himself.
 
That was actually not a bad question. There was purpose behind it, a desire of clarity and specifically clarity of his emotions and where her own emotions fight into the overall scheme of things. This was good. He took a deep breath through his nose. The breastplate of his armor rose and fell. “Because for us… to me, you do have potential. You feel and you feel strongly. That is something we cultivate. We do not chain our emotions to a sense of justice. We do not cover them with a cloak of honor. We do not beat our passions into self reflection. We do not hide who we are.” There was a lot of pride in ‘we’. This Sith was very sure of his path but so were the Jedi of theirs.

The Zabrak stood there keeping watch over her. “You have hidden yourself every day since you joined the Order.” It was a simple observation. He knew nothing of her past but her body language and the struggle that wore away deep within her gave away who she was. Not the particulars but an overall sense of the woman’s nature.

The Sith watched her with interest. Taking her in. The battle damaged robes. The way she held her lightsaber. Her inability to focus, which given the circumstance only made sense. The way the tension played out on her face or when she balled her hands into fists. The Sith watched and took note.

Yet he needed to get back to the lesson. The Sith spoke with the haste of one recapping until he got to new information. “To go back to an earlier thought, an earlier lesson. Emotions is how we connect with one another and your Jedi wish to not connect with others but only the Force. The Force to them is a proxy through which they connect with others.” He gestures to the padawan since she is the only Jedi here. “We Sith connect to our own feelings which may be selfish, many races are selfish by nature, but it doesn’t have to be. It could be with another or a community. We use those emotions and in a way those connections to use the Force. So your answer about what defines the Sith is true but is only part of the answer.” He allowed that to settle in going silent for bit.

Space whisked by at dazzling speeds as they traveled in hyperspace. Given the war each of them had spent quite some time aboard a spaceship of one sort or another. While in the midst of a hyperjump it clearly wasn’t going as fast as other ships Lina had been on.

A military officer walked into the room from a back hallway. He nodded in an official manner to both the Sith and the Padawan. Walking over to the Sith a datapad was handed over before the officer continued on towards what was presumably the front of the ship given the direction the stars were moving. The Sith spent a moment looking over the datapad before putting it on the bench next to his helmet.

“Pacing helps doesn’t it. When there is too much inside.” A rhetorical question stated with kindness as he was enjoying watching the young woman do exactly as he had. Was she subconsciously following his actions to be more like him? Whether she thought his path might have merit or that he made a better Jedi than her, despite playing for the other side.

Speaking with some concern he offers the Padawan a challenge. “You do not need to answer this to me padawan but answer it at least for yourself. Have you ever felt an emotion deep within you; an emotion so strong it threatened to crumble your resolve; a passion, a fear so strong you feared you were flirting with the edge of the Dark Side? If so what kind of emotions were they.”

Yet as soon as the request was given he changed the topic with a simple reminder. “However I do believe you owe me something.” The tattooed alien reached down and tapped the top of his helmet which no longer wore hiding his features. Then distractedly his eyes fell to regard a display upon his gauntlet before looking back to the furtive padawan. At least now it appeared she was beginning to think, to question, to learn. He fretted some of the nuance was lost on the woman but there was time.
 
So, the very thing that had made her be a terrible student in the eyes of Rultan was the thing that the Sith had taken interest in with her. She had been an emotional girl and had always let it consume her when she was in her training and the beginning had been the hardest. She had to stuff all of her wild feelings down into a box in the back of her head to concentrate on the use of the Force, a thing that she hadn’t even known she was capable of using until Rultan had opened up her potential.

It brought up mixed feelings about it when she thought of what the Sith would allow her to do - she would be trained in the use of the Force without having to shove all of her emotions as deep into her body as she could to do so. They would teach her to use her rage and her fear as her friends, to wield them like dual swords and battle against anything. Lina had been told enough of what the Sith were capable of and why there were so strong, but she had been warned that nothing was given for free. After all, what else could come from people so selfish and so uncontrolled? If you couldn’t even control your inner self, how could you control the Force?

His observations only continued to be correct and it bothered her that he could read so much from her body language, perhaps because she was letting her mask slip. This wasn’t good - Rultan would be extremely displeased if he ever learned about this and it wouldn’t do for her master to know she had backtracked on all of the progress that she had made in their training. Lina forced herself to take a long, slow, and controlled breath to steady herself, her eyes closing for a moment as she rubbed at her face and eased herself. Her emotions came to a lower level of what they were running at, her anxiety calming down steadily.

An emotion deep enough to make her feel like she was on the verge of the Dark Side? That one was something that bothered her because there was an emotion - fear. Before Rultan had found her, she was living in the streets and had made a life for herself in the only way that she had been able to. At her young age, she had only barely shown the chest of a woman, which could easily be hidden with bandages, and cut her hair short to make herself look more like a man. She’d entered herself into street fights to find a way to earn money for food, for clothing.

It had started out as a way to feed herself and turned into the only way she could survive. Her paid fights turned into just plain street fighting and mugging because the money was running dry in her area. At that time of her life, the fear of going hungry had ruled her, the fear of not winning a fight and having to deal with a stomach that ached and growled all night, possibly for multiple nights. Begging had done nothing for her.

If Rultan hadn’t stumbled across her in the middle of her fights then she would possibly still be binding her chest with bandages and have hair cropped close. In the time she had been with him, he had helped change her from the almost feral beast that her poverty had made her become before she was found by him. He saved her from the fear and told her that she wouldn’t have to struggle like that if she became a Jedi. It was the fear of risking going hungry ever again that made her accept.

“Yes. I have.” She murmured, but she didn’t care to elaborate. He wouldn’t know the world that she had lived in, wouldn’t understand her fight to survive and her will to live. That piece of her history was too personal for someone like him to know about her and something she was barely comfortable with Rultan knowing, though he would never pass judgment on her.

The Sith’s next comment confused her for a moment, her mind still wandering in the land of when she was still a beast, her eyes moving from his mask to his face for a moment. Oh. Right. She had offered him a deal. Her nose wrinkled that he remembered, like she suddenly had an awful taste in her mouth. “Lina. My name is Lina.” She said after a long moment, her voice resigned. “And you are?”
 
The Zabrak Sith did not inquire further to her answer about her feelings. He let her stand there and feel the weight of her own emotions. That was her issue that had to be sorted.

“Sunage.” The Sith replied simply. The first have was pronounced as one would imagine but the second half was pronounced as it would in the word ‘fromage’. “It is a pleasure to meet you.” That was a difference. The Sith used words for feelings much more freely, while the Jedi referred to things as good, bad, troubling, concerning, pleasant or perhaps as strongly worded as nice they did not use words to express emotion. So having a force user use a word like ‘pleasure’ could appear to bring much more baggage with it whether that was intended or not.

What was also notable was that this did not appear to be his Sith name. They often took names with dark ominous meanings. Things like Nihilus, Tyranus and such. Though some had more mundane names if said in Basic yet if translated to that Sith's original language could be equally profane. Sunage might be one of those or his original given name.

Picking up the datapad and helmet he slipped the former into his belt, one of the many belts and the helmet tucked under one arm. He stood there in silence regarding the young woman. A new student who was now taking lessons in both Jedi and Sith even if she had a deep seated bigotry against one of the classes, its curriculum, its adherents and its teacher. At least he hadn’t sensed her desire to kill him as much since she was the one pacing. That was progress. Though as a Sith he kind of wishes she were thinking about killing someone or doing something extreme.

This would prove to be interesting. This first stage had gone surprisingly well all things considered. Both of them were still alive after all. Yet he was curious and excited due to the anticipation of the journey this would take them on and how it would end. There were multiple paths and he could not discern the true one but already he was whittling away the paths that not seemed unlikely. This would be an interesting war.

The armored Sith glanced once more at his gauntlet before looking up at the Padawan. “Lina…” He starts, his voice oddly kind almost sweet, as if he were waking up a child or reminding a friend they had an event to get to. “...this lesson is almost at its end. You have done reasonably well. It is time to ask your final questions.” He raised a hand to pause any potential immediate response as there was at least one more thing. “You do have homework.”

While Sunage did not think of himself as her teacher yet he certainly was speaking as one. In time he hoped she would accept him as her teacher. It was important she does for without that his revenge will never be so satisfying. Revenge was an emotion he knew well and it was just one of many that fueled the plan that led to this meeting between him and this girl, Lina. Kind of a boring name, Lina. It fit her in a sense. She was a boring force user but clearly a conflicted woman. Yet people with issues come from all walks of life and have all different manner of names. Perhaps he could make her a less boring force user in time.
 
A pleasure to meet her? Now that was an odd thought for her to think over, not simply because of the casual mentioning of emotion and the easy way he talked of them, but also because he genuinely seemed to mean it. There was something about her that he saw, perhaps the same something that Rultan himself had seen, that made him want to try and convert her to the Dark Side. She didn’t understand it, couldn’t even begin to fathom what it was that they had seen when she felt her own use of the Force was now and only ever would be very rudimentary.

Lina’s problem would most likely always be the fact that she could never clear her mind to concentrate fully on the Force - whether it was the focus on stifling her emotions or was her emotions themselves she was too distracted to focus. She wasn’t any sort of student that anyone would even want to have.

Sunage caught her attention from her wandering thoughts again by saying her name in a tone - one that was surprisingly gentle enough that it confused her - her pacing stopping as she directed her entire attention towards him. One more question - but also ‘homework’.

Did he think that she was his student? Her master was Rultan and she wouldn’t betray her master so easily. Though Rultan was not the most caring teacher she could have wished for and was at times a very frustrating person to learn from, he was still someone that she had grown a sort of bond with. She couldn’t consider it love, but she felt a kinship to him. If nothing else, she owed him her life. Death would have been certain if he hadn’t picked her up off the streets and offered an alternative to the life she had been living.

“One question. Fine.” She glanced at the window, chewing at her lip as she thought it over before finally coming to the question that she found to be most pertinent given what the ship had just done, “Where are we going?” It was a simple enough question, and would likely help her figure out part of his motives. Perhaps he was taking her to a Sith hideout of some sort, or perhaps he was going to drop her off on some foreign planet whose name she hadn’t heard of before and leave her there to attempt to contact the Order.
 
The Sith looked at her with a touch of amusement. “I did not say one question.” And then he chuckled. It was a brief bout of humor at her deciding to interpret his words but she did so fairly as he knew he was coming off like an authoritative ass even if that wasn’t his attention his tone, the way he spoke, just the fact he was Sith all he imagined colored her view of him and anything he said.

Well it was time to prove her right again. “Hm. That was a terrible question. Not that such is your fault as the destination can often be extremely important to know of before hand. It just turns out where you are going and where I am going are two separate places. You are going to the escape pod.” As he says this he gestures down the hall, the one she’d seen the officer come in from. “Republic ships are in pursuit, I am assuming with Master Rultan aboard. There is no need for more lives to be lost in this small corner of the conflict so I am going to return you while my soldiers and I continue on our way. As for where I am going…” A smile creeps across his lips as he shakes his head ‘no.’ Those eyes flick back to hers. “I would tell you, if I thought you would not tell Master Rultan or the Republic. So I am going to keep that information to myself. I hope you understand.”

Sunage spoke simply with, “Again, no one else needs to die today.”

He showed her the way down the hall. Being some boring spaceship nearly every door looked identical. The only indication of what was behind was either room numbers or words written in the Sith language.

“I notice you do not like the idea of homework. I am guessing that this is specific to me and not simply of work in general.” With a hand wave he dismissed the malicious intent of her feelings if this was true. He wasn’t going to take offense at this moment from it. “Still, it is in your best interest to do it anyways.”

Sunage gazed at Lina making sure she was paying attention and not just focused on how elated she was that she’d be leaving his presence. All things in due time. “It is rather simple. Take notice of your feelings, especially before you have to suppress them to complete your actions as a Jedi. As well investigate Lorahns. I can tell you that you were lied to but why believe me. I am a temptor, an agent of evil according to you. To some extent I am those things by the standards of the Order and of the Republic. Yet still you might find it worth your time to investigate your battle.”

He came to a stop by a door. This one was different then the others, heavier, thicker looking. Sunage gestured to it. “This is where you exit as it were.” There was a pause, curious if she had any other questions or comments. “Thank you for speaking with me, Lina it was an interesting time and I hope you feel as if you’ve learned something even if it is something you also believe you must forget being that it came from a Sith.”
 
He was right. He hadn’t specified just one question, but that was what she had taken from what he’d said. Her mind wasn’t working at the best of its ability and the fact she was still distracted was to blame. There was so many things that she had to think about now that she’d had this conversation with him, so many questions that were swirling that she still dared not ask of him. He had definitely opened up a pandora’s box in her mind and the door was starting to pop open slowly and let out more and more hesitant doubt.

There were some things that she didn’t need to think on to know that they were undeniable truths - Rultan, though a dutiful master, had been severely neglectful in teaching her things that she needed in order to be a good Jedi. He had been terrible for her as a teacher and had concentrated too hard on the suppression of emotions without teaching her why. He told her so many things but never explained why. He was a good man, but a poor example to follow by.

Lina was still tossing things over in her mind as he lead her down the hallway, her eyes glancing over the Sith writings that marked what rooms were, her mind taking note of things so that she could ask Rultan about them later. Again, he mentioned homework. Homework left a bitter taste in her mouth, made her think that she was actually working for him.

But she was still listening, still paying attention to him and letting his words sink in.

HIs homework was to go against what Rultan had ever taught her, something that she didn’t want to do. But there was something that made her curious to listen to him. Though the Dark Side was the wrong side for her to take, they were also more like what she was as a person. They were emotional, they were selfish, they were more… Human. Lina wasn’t a walking robot like Rultan.

As Sunage motioned towards the heavy door that was the escape pod, her eyes moving between him and the door. Her arms crossed over her chest again and her conflict was apparent on her face. She could easily step into the pod and never cross paths with him again, she could so easily turn her back on him and run so far that she would never have to worry about the Sith or the Dark Side.

But she could also so easily take a path that he wouldn’t expect.

“I have another question.” She stated, her eyes finally settling on him instead of the door, “What if I don’t get in this pod?” Her brow quirked just a bit, heart rate picking up in adrenaline because this was something so against anything she would never normally do, “What if I chose to stay here instead?”
 
The answer was sudden and bleak yet delivered as just fact. “Then people will die.” There was no doubt in his mind. It wasn’t that Sunage or Rultan or Lina would do the killing or necessarily the dying but some people would. “I can inform the captain to increase speed but in the time it takes us to get up to speed the Republic ships will catch up and we will have to fight.” It was all rather simple but the math was plain. They would not be able to avoid a battle. This didn’t seem to bother him too much but he figured people dying due to her decision would bother her.

However this new question of hers wasn’t just good, it was surprising. He had not expected her to potentially switch sides so quickly. Her being a terrible Jedi might have been a tipping point. Yet he wasn’t going to hide his own truth. Sunage was impressed at the yout surprising him. That wasn’t terribly often.

Settling into his stance as clearly she wasn’t leaving yet. There was more to it then just death and so he outlined a few other issues that came with her choosing to leave now. He would not allow her to make this decision without the information she needed to do so with context and some facts with which to base it on. “You would also be making a choice to join me. Promising to learn the ways of the Sith and know that Master Rultan will hunt you forever seeking to destroy me and if you have joined us, come to the Dark Side then he will seek to destroy you as well.”

She was an interesting person, more so than Sunage thought she would be. Still she had much to learn while he had a war to fight. Yet so many were training their students as they fought alongside them. In time this should be Lina. It was doubtful though that this was that time.

“Any questions you now have for Master Rultan will go unanswered.” While he’d clearly begun driving a wedge between her and her Master it seemed important to point out the confusion within her wouldn’t go away just by switching sides. He was clear that each presented their story and she’d received one but she received it with blinders on, unable to look at it critically and if she just joined the other side she may not have the chance to process it all. Clearly learning, knowledge was important to this Sith.

“From now on you would know one side of things as opposed to two if you return to Master Rultan now and allow me to find you again, Lina.” When he said her name he reached out slowly yet steadily to teacher her cheek with his gauntleted hand. If she pulled away or looked as if to strike he would take his hand back. It was a touch that was but one possibility of many in this galaxy.
 
Her choice weighed heavy in her chest as she weighed out her options, the gears almost visibly turning in her mind as she thought over the situation. Lina wasn’t the person to condone the loss of innocent lives, nor was she one to make rash decisions that were so large quickly. She hadn’t even accepted Rultan’s offer immediately because she didn’t know if she could trust him, and now she had another offer on the table - the offer to become a Sith in training.

As tempting as it would be to gain the information, she didn’t want the blood to be on her hands -- she might not agree with the suppression of emotions in sake of other people but she did agree with the concept of the greater good. It would be a great good for her to leave so that there wouldn’t be a fight on their hands, and she firmly believed that Sunage would at least attempt to make contact with her again. After all - what was the point of giving homework if you didn’t fully intend to collect it and see your student’s progress?

There was another issue at hand that was far more selfish - she did still have questions for Rultan, questions regarding her poor training and the fact that he had left her so illl prepared but still brought her to battle anyway. He may as well not even armed her with a light saber if he was going to leave her this exposed.

She couldn’t deny the bitterness that was starting to fester inside of her towards her master as the thoughts reproduced in her mind, creating new and worse scenarios that could have just as easily played out as this one. It was a grim thought to think that he either didn’t trust her or didn’t think her capable. It didn’t cross her mind that he perhaps was just a terrible teacher.

Sunage’s touch to her cheek was not met with her pulling back, as she had been far too distracted to react that way, but she did flinch as if he were going to strike her, eyes narrowing as she felt the warmth of his digits. The touch was soft, almost affectionate, and something that was completely unknown to her in any aspect. There was a series of emotions that played out on her face - first mistrust and suspicion, followed by confusion, then irritation as she decided to stamp out all of the previous ones.

Lina decided to take a step away, unsure of how she felt about the touch and unsure of everything now, “It’s best I leave then.” She stated, stepping past him into the door that he had previously gestured to her, “And I’ll think about letting you find me again.”
 
“Unfortunately it is.” He agreed with her leaving. “But yes, please consider making it easy for me to find you again, Lina. I am curious to learn how often you hide your true self to be a good Jedi.” Given that he called her a terrible Jedi who knows what he means by this.

Turning to the side he punched in a sequence into a keypad. Given there was no signal to abandon ship the escape pods were locked down. So once he was done the door opened allowing the Padawan inside. “Until next we meet.” Intones the Sith before hitting a button and the door whooshing shut quickly. A second and a half later the escape pod launched out of the Sith ship and out of hyperjump and back into normal speed.

What an interesting young woman she was. Sunage reflected on their conversation wondering what he could have done differently so she was more attentive earlier on. There were certain obvious physical notes she responded to. When he stopped pacing and when he removed his helmet. Using elements that kept the pressure up on her, in a state of stress was him holding to certain Sith training techniques. In the end though the conversation proved useful for him and it seemed for her as well.

Lina asking him about the potential of staying continued to amuse the Sith. He retired to his quarters to consider the implications of. After all his revenge would not be fully realized if she converted too quickly. Either she was miserable as a Jedi or he had been more convincing that expected. No it had to be the former. Which in a way was unfortunate, not only was it making his plan more difficult but it also must affect the poor young woman terribly. He would have to consider his plan carefully but also figure out how to assist Lina even if she was still the enemy for now.

This had been a fruitful first meeting.

==============

Lina was in a spacious escape pod designed to carry six or seven. Tumbling in space no longer in a hyperjump. There was no chance to see what the ship was that she had been in as it continued going many times the speed of light. So it was she had a good few minutes of quiet alone time there within the pod. It was well outfitted for survival. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Then three Republic ships zipped into view, almost appearing out of nowhere but for a trail of light that quickly dissipated behind them. “We have received your signal and are here to render assistance.” Came a bland comms officer voice over the communications system. One of the ships peeled off to come over to collect the escape pod. This tedious and meticulous process takes much longer than anyone wants but when you wish to get it right time is the price you pay.

When the door finally whooshed back open there were two Republic soldiers and the placid but tense with annoyance face of her Master Rultan. The soldiers quickly scanned the insides with their eyes to confirm what he already know, that his Padawan was the only person in the pod.

“Padawan.” The Jedi Master greeted with lack of affect. “Please join me in our rooms and explain what just transpired.” While he was typical Rultan there was a tension, an edge that he did his best to hide but here it was on display, as muted as it was because his Padawan was just returned to him by the vile Sith. There were motivations and plans going on that he did not know and it was pissing Rultan off.
 
As their encounter came to an end, Lina was left with even more questions than she’d had at the beginning, her mind swirling as she fought to figure out the new information that she had been given. Without thinking of the why, her hand was returning to her cheek where he’d touched her, confused and still pondering over why he had done that. Touch was such an intimate thing and he had dared to cross that line with someone he barely knew. Even more than that, he had used a touch that was… Affectionate. It was strange. Foreign.

She seated herself in the floor of the pod rather than anywhere else and crossed her legs neatly as Rultan had taught her, taking on a pose of meditation to help her thoughts clear. Lina forced all the thoughts from her mind and instead concentrated on making there be silence inside of her, quelling down the questions until she was able to stabilize herself. In the silence, she sought out through her use of the Force, attempting something that she had not been properly taught.

And through pure luck she found what she had only heard of others doing - she sought out Sunage’s presence through the Force, able to feel him of sorts even at this distance. It was an odd connection, something that she felt down to her core. The connection broke when her mind wandered against her will, brought back in a circle to the same thing as before - the Touch. It was something that would continue to bother her until she figured it out. But now was not the time for that.

Instead, she was preparing herself mentally for rejoining her Master, who was probably sick with worry about his young padawan. She was still of the age where she could easily be influenced and she was certainly someone that would be easy to turn over to the Dark Side, given her history. The man wouldn’t think that she would remain steady against Sunage’s urging, though she had to admit privately that the Dark Side was becoming… Tempting. They, at least, gave her the entire truth.


By the time the doors had opened again to reveal those that were on ‘her’ side, she had gathered her composure and gotten back to her feet, her robes straightened and face blank. Rultan greeted her with the same lack of emotion as always, her head bowing to him respectfully. “Yes, Master.” She commented softly, lacing her fingers behind her back as she followed him away from the pod and towards their rooms.

“I would like to do more than simply explain, Master. I have questions that I believe you owe me to answer.” And though her face had remained without emotion, there was irritation in her voice, a hint of anger that could not be denied. If he owed her nothing else then he owed her the truth, which was something that she should have gotten from the beginning. She needed to know why he had done what he did, and why he felt like putting her life at risk. She wanted things to make sense, for once.

Her mind wandered from Rultan back to Sunage - once again another person that didn’t make sense, though he wasn’t a liar from what she could tell. She tried again at forming the same connection she’d done before, concentrating on that and letting herself reach out to feel for his presence. It wasn’t there anymore, but she could feel herself growing more confident in her ability to try… And frankly the idea of letting him find her was becoming more appealing.
 
The Republic soldiers left Rultan and Lina alone, instead going inside the shuttle to see if anything could be learned from the Sith lifeboat. It was all quite by the numbers.

That was an odd way to be greeted. Rultan tilted his head curiously but showed no affect at the almost accusatory request. With a sweeping gesture the Master showed the way to his Padawan. He took a steadying breath before walking along with his student. The human Jedi walked in silence with his Padawan until they made it to the rooms. Once inside he took a seat upon the floor, cross legged as the Jedi tended to prefer. “Ask your questions but know that I too am curious what was told to you while you were with the Sith. This is not like you. I can sense a disturbance within you, Padawan.” He spoke clearly but calmly. Always calmly, always that nearly monotone just above a whisper.

Rultan was a solid individual, a simple man of simple ways. The decor of the room showed that as well. A poem wall scroll from some backwater planet that was like a Jedi affirmation. The Master watched his student with distant curiosity and concern. Even though he was worried she may have been corrupted he didn’t allow that to press to the forefront of his mind until she confirmed what had transpired.

Hands resting upon his knees, his robes spilling around him, Rultan gazed at his student seriously. This was a curious situation and while his face remained fairly placid he worked to calm his mind. His student had just gotten much more caught up into this war, these conflicts then he had ever wished for her. Protecting her had just become a near impossibility.

===============

What was that? Ah… Lina. The Sith aboard his own ship smiled as he stood on the bridge. He’d felt little in the way of the Padawan using the Force outside of the initial fight but he could feel her reaching to him. He did not reach back. Not now. It would endanger the plan and her. Still it was a welcoming sign from the young woman. Sunage did wish to reach back, to touch his thoughts to hers, to feel her connection with the Force and for her to feel his. Restraint is an ugly word to most Sith and to him it was a torturous word at this moment.

How he wished that the plan was unneeded or that she was brighter or more questions or … more Lina. In time he would have greater amount of time with her but for now it was a disappointment that Sunage unfortunately had to live with. Yet Sith are not known for their patience. For the plan to pay off in full though patience had to be practiced, something he knew when this all began.

It was time to ensure that his work with the Sith forces is going forward smoothly but also that the next step of the plan would unfold. He had people he needed to speak with.
 
Lina took her time in pacing the modest room, her arms remaining behind her back as she tossed over what question she wanted to demand of him first. Which of them was so pressing that they would pull through to the surface? She wasn’t doing as well as she normally did to keep her emotions down, her frustration bubbling over the rim of her mask to show on her face as she struggled to find the right words. So many questions for him, but so little time it felt like.

Rultan’s words furthered her agitated state and turned her from merely irate to nearly hostile, her pacing stopping so that she could stare at him. “Yes, you can sense things, can’t you?” She asked it but it was rhetorical, and she already knew the extent of his abilities - abilities which he hadn’t cared to teach her how to do, “And when, precisely, were you going to teach me how to do anything?” That question was almost spat at him, her tone bitter.

She barrelled on without waiting on his response, the flow of questions that were begging to be asked coming to the surface, “What did you expect would happen if you took me into battle knowing nothing? That you would protect me?” She scoffed, even considered letting her emotions best her enough to grab the man by the robes and shake him, “What is the point in taking me in as your padawan if you’re not even going to teach me, ‘Master’?”

And that was the question - why didn’t he teach her? He had seen potential in her but he was letting it go to waste by teaching her so much how to control her emotions, to suppress everything that made her… Lina. He was fighting a battle that was unwinnable - Lina might not be the best at being a student but when it came to being an actual person, that she excelled at. She’d lived a life of passion and had felt her emotions deeper than she was sure Rultan even had capacity for.

“What was the point?”
 
Rultan watched with growing concern. Here Lina was pacing, she was not sitting and centering herself, but flagrantly casting aside the training which he had spent with her. That which had not focused upon the use of a lightsaber. Her mind was chaotic it appeared. Perhaps even upset. This was troubling news and he knew why it was the way it was.

When she finally began to speak it was odd at first, an accusatory rhetorical question? Where did this all come from, besides the obvious answer. The Sith had a few hours with her, since they had boarded the ship and left. Obviously they woke her instantly and started to brainwash her. The follow up questions were not any more heartening. Instead the Master waited for her to get the issues that were dwelling deep inside her out before beginning to tackle this problem which was growing by the moment in front of him.

When it seemed her questions were over Rultan nodded slowly as a sigh exited through the nose. He gestured for her to sit as he had taught her. “We are at war, dear Padawan with a dire foe which can not be underestimated and it appears I have in several ways.” He spoke in that calm clear voice of his. What emotions he may possess were locked away and under extreme guard. Except… Except for that one time, when the Sith, Sunage appeared before him. Then Rultan transformed like no other instance.

“Because we are at war I taught you the warriors aspects of the Force first. The lightsaber. You have been admirable student in that. I have also taught you to control your feelings…” Which Lina was not doing such a good job of currently. “...to center yourself and meditate. These are the building blocks of using the Force. It was my hope to start training in more visible effects that can be caused with the Force soon, but I wanted to make sure you could defend yourself and take the attack to the enemy first. Perhaps I was wrong in my order of intent.” The Jedi self-reflected on this issue as he continued. “What I expected was for you to handle the soldiers, to prove an admirable distraction to any true Sith thereby giving us the advantage.”

Then he locked his gaze upon his student. “The point as you put it is to teach you in steps. Unorthodox steps because of the times and events we find ourselves in but with a progression of learning.” His nostrils flared just slightly but that was all his body betrayed of his emotional state. “Remember the Sith started this war. They are masters of lying and intrigue. The Sith seek destruction to satisfy their fear and anger. Their words sound pleasing as the seduce you with quick access to power but we, the Jedi Order are the path to balance and creation.”

“Do you have any other questions? As I would like to know what transpired during your time with the Sith.” His voice remained even, a testament to Rultan’s sense of self control.
 
Though she was in all truth still too irritated to sit comfortably, Lina made herself to sit as her master silently instructed, her arms crossing over her chest as her legs crossed in front of her. It was a pose for meditation and it did help to soothe the broiling anger somewhat, but the fire still burned inside of her, the emotions still too raw inside of her mind to be pressed back. It was almost like the Sith had opened up the pandora’s box for her and now she was having difficulty shutting it once again. It had been easier before but now it was a challenge to hide what she was feeling.

Rultan’s explanation made sense - he had, after all, found a student that had already been trained how to fight. It would make sense for him to put her to use in sword play, something that would be easy for her to pick up and make her quite a formidable opponent even without the proper use of the Force. But, that still didn’t explain why he’d lacked in so many other ways. She hadn’t even been trained how to call out to him for help if she’d needed to. He had planned for her to fight but perhaps had trained her better on how to die than anything else.

“Yes, actually,” Her voice was calmer and much less stressed, but that didn’t mean that he was anywhere out of the red zone with her, as her mind was still rolling with the anger and ready to take it out on him, “Don’t you think you should have taught me at the bare minimum to be able to call for help?” There was a bit of hurt in her question, partially because it was hitting her that he probably couldn’t care any less about her if she had been taken and killed. Sure, he’d gone in search of her, but that was more to prevent the SIth from having her than anything else.

After all, Jedi were not supposed to have attachments to anyone, which would include their own padawan.

Control emotions. Control. Lina forced herself to use the breathing that her master had taught her in order to steady herself to a point in which she could actually communicate and get answers. She almost regretted having left the Sith, because she had already known that the answer wouldn’t satisfy her. She had known that the damage was already done and that the hurt would last even if he had a perfectly good explanation for what he’d done.

“Ask your questions.”
 
Rultan was a sea of tranquility in the room. Everything in the room was in its place except for Lina. Even once she had settled down and sat her energy, her emotions were out of place in such a placid environment such as that which Rultan cultivated.

“You are right. I should have.” How was he to phrase this. She was a difficult student. Training her to hold back her emotions and take lessons had not been easy, especially with a war going on. “Your safety is important to the Order and being able to call for help is one of the ways to keep you safe. Yet to call you first must be able to listen. Your ability to feel and listen to the Force. To follow it, to center yourself within its embrace has not gone as smoothly so we have yet to be able to advance towards calling out. I apologize. You should have stayed in the Jedi Temple to train further before being brought out.” Rultan speaks in his usual calm voice, describing events with clarity born out of a tranquil place. “I had hoped that the … loudness of battle would match your temperament and aid you in learning but that loudness is conflicting with your ability to find your calm.” He nodded his head in a slow apologetic fashion.

He took a long breath in and then released. He did this two more times as his eyes fell upon his student. “Padawan, please know that I want the best for you. I realize now that I have not been so successful as a teacher and will myself do better in the future and find those who can help you grow into your potential.”

Rultan smiled as Lina used proper breathing techniques. Then she brought up his own inquiries and the human Jedi now had to control his own emotions, admittedly something he was very well practiced at.

The gaze was steady, flat in affect, controlled. “Who were the Sith that captured you? What did they do to you?” The next question was more difficult to say aloud, “What did they do to tempt you to their side?” Perhaps it wasn’t entirely obvious there was true temptation but her resolve had clearly been fractured and after all it is what the Sith do.
 
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