Grip and Wound

[LadyM]

I walked around the perimeter of Master Volitu's residence waiting for her to conclude her business with some of the local merchants. I knew whatever business that was being done was one that would result in some sort of peaceful outcome. Had a different outcome would have been needed, Master Volitu would have sent me to deal with the troublesome parties involved. For I served her now and in doing so earned the title of Hand of Chaos from her.

I heard the doors of her residence begin to open followed by several members that made up this regions Council of Merchants. I had no need for politics or governments so I left that to Master Volitu while my talents were utilized for dealing with those that refused to cooperate or posed a threat to the profits of the Council or Master Volitu. When the last member embarked on his landspeeder and was now moving away from the residence, I walked toward Master Volitu where she was waiting at the entrance.

"Master Volitu, it seems the meeting went quite well. You called for me Master, so I must assume my training is to begin again," I said. I learned what I could from my former Master but in order for me to grow strong, truly strong in the dark side I needed to learn from a powerful Sith Master. So I sought Master Volitu and she obliged me. I had pledged myself not only to her teachings, but also pledged myself to serve her until either my death or I rose through the ranks of the Sith Order and became a Sith Master myself.

 

[Negative Blessing]

Grima motioned for Ghenna to walk with her through fields that ran behind her residence but were not only fenced in to keep out unwanted visitors but was heavily patrolled by her guards. Grima enjoyed her privacy away from both prying eyes and demanding fools, such as some of the members of the Council of Merchants were now becoming; demanding fools. Without turning her head or eyes to the Sith Crusader but kept looking at the various plant forms taking up residence in her garden, now tended by servants, she said, "You are correct Ghenna. It is time to continue your training once more. You are showing remarkable progress and now I believe there are two powers that will serve you well; Force Grip and Force Wound."

Grima continued their walk in complete silence and she learned to appreciate how Ghenna would not seize the moment to break the comfortable silence with questions that were both daunting and needless. So after they made one complete revolution around her fenced in fields, she added, "Force Grip is a more advanced technique of Force Choke, and once you learn this power you will have no need of the basic form of Force Choke ever again."

Grima now led her Hand of Chaos through her garden. Once inside, Grima bent down to examine one of the orange exotic plants and without standing up she continued. "Force Wound is an umbrella power associated with Force Choke but rather than focusing on the throat and air passages, it focuses on the internal organs of a target. I sense you seem famished from your last mission. Go and find nourishment and in the morning, we will continue your training."

 

[LadyM]

The morning sun rose in the east but I was already awake, refreshed, full on breakfast, and now ready to continue my studies under Master Voiltu. I exited my newly furnished quarters and moved through the halls of her palace being led by one of her servants until we reached the outdoors. The moment I stepped outside, I saw Master Volitu standing with her back to me and staring out into the morning horizon.

I took up a position on her left. "Greetings Master Volitu," I said staring out across the plains then added, "I am ready for my training. You mentioned two new powers yesterday and I am eager to learn Force Grip. I spent most of the night meditating on today's events and I feel more stronger now. I can't help but commenting that this planet, though it is quite beautiful, it is rich in the dark side."

 

[Negative Blessing]

"This planet is beautiful but dangerous. Dantooine is riddled with various animals corrupted and twisted by the Dark Side and over the past few months has become a haven for those seeking refuge or a place to hide out from the remnants of the war," the Sith Witch said without taking her eyes off the sun looming over the green hillside. Making a gesture with her hand for the Crusader to follow her she added, "It is these animals we will demonstrate on."

Grima led Ghenna out into the plains and stopped atop one of the green covered hills. Below them where a few Kath hounds sniffing around the area, searching for prey. Turning her eyes from the creatures below and resting them on the Hand of Chaos, Grima began the lesson. "Force Grip is a very powerful technique. Like the basic power Force Choke it requires you to use the Force in a manner to make one suffer but the difference, Force Grip can do more than just choke. If one is powerful enough in the Force, such as you and I, you can lift your target off its feet increasing their pain. Or, if you are as powerful as I am, you can literally crush their organs or bones causing more pain and in some instances, even death."

Grima turned back to the animals below and singling one out, she Force Gripped it and began to lift it off the ground. The creature's four legs began to kick violently through the air as the Sith Master slowly and methodically began to apply more pressure to the power. Grima could feel the animal's organs and bones begin to shatter one by one. When the animal laid limp in the suspended air, she released her hold on it and it dropped to the grassy floor. The other hounds sniffed at the dead hound and then began to feast on their dead comrade.

"Now Hand of Chaos....pick out target from below and demonstrate for me that you have a understanding of what I just taught you. Focus your mind on the task at hand....shutting out all distractions for the time being. Once you have a grasp on the power, you will be able to do this seemingly at will."

 

[LadyM]

I reached out and felt the power the Sith Master was exhibiting when she used the Force power to first grip the beast then raise it off its legs; then crush the internal organs and bones of the beast. As the other beasts began to eat the dead animal, I listened to what Master Volitu said and readied myself to attempt the power. Pulling the energy from the dark side of the force to my body, filling me up with its power, I began to look for my selected target.

Seeing one of the Kath hounds, having his fill of the dead beast, move away from the rest of the pack I reached out through the Force and gripped him by its furry neck. The more malice and anger and hatred I poured into the Force, the more I was able to do the ability. Before my eyes I saw the creature lift up off the ground and suddenly it went limp as I crushed its windpipe. I let the beast fall to the ground. Of course, the rest of the pack now saw the two Sith standing on the hillside and charged toward us.

"I'll handle them Master Volitu," I said unclasping Serpent's Breath from my waist sash and ignited him. I charged toward the rampaging pack and cut through them quickly leaving them all dead by my hand. Powering down my weapon and returning it to its resting place I moved back up the hill.

"Threat eliminated Master."

 

[Negative Blessing]

Grima's eyes merely observed first how Ghenna utilized her powers of the Dark Side to kill the singled out Kath hound just as she had instructed the girl to do. Then she watched as the Hand of Chaos unleashed a torrent of attacks on the charging horde of hounds that, at one time, the two female Siths would be there next meal. When Ghenna returned to Grima's side, the Sith Witch commented, "Impressive display of swordsmanship...however, killing hounds is no true test of your ability. In fact, you have given me a grand idea Ghenna."

Grima turned to her left and with her left arm raised and the index finger on her left pointed to the horizon she said to Ghenna, "Before we continue with your next lesson, I feel you have some energy to spend since you were quick to kill the hounds. Yes, they seemed to want to make a meal of us...or did they? Perhaps they wished to attack us for killing two of their pack mates....or thank us for providing them with fresh meat? Either way, you chose action over thought. The truth is, those beasts posed no real threat to us and as Sith, we have the ability to subdue our enemies rather than just eliminate them."

Turning her head to face Ghenna, Grima concluded by adding, "Over those hills you will discover a untenanted house that once was but now occupied by raiders that have set up shop there. According to some of the Councilman, these raiders have been terrorizing some of the caravans leaving the farms on their way to the city. Deal with this problem and return to me with the thirst of killing quenched!"

 

[LadyM]

Once again I was reprimanded for not thinking things out first and instead, I resorted to violence against creatures that were no threat to me or Master Volitu. She was right, like always, that being Sith we could easily subdue lesser creatures with the Force than simply eliminating them. Now a new task has been laid out before me and I was eager to get in the good graces of Master Volitu again. "I shall leave at once Master," I said moving toward the hills.

The journey was short and in no time I saw the house that was positioned in a valley surrounded by numerous hills and standing in front of the house were two raiders either on patrol or engaged in some conversation. They would be the first to fall by my hand. I moved down the hill toward the house in plain view and the two raiders quickly saw me and moved to intercept me. Calling on the dark side to fill my body up with its energy, I quickly unleashed a Force Spike in the direction of one of the guards and watched him drop to the ground dead. The other raider tried to react but I quickly gripped him by using the Force and lifting him off the ground as he reached to pull away the unseen hands from his throat, then broke his neck followed by dropping him to the ground.

At the front door now, I removed Serpent's Breath from my waist sash and ignited him. Through the Force I could sense at least two more raiders inside and not wanting them to feel left out from what I did to their comrades, I kicked the door open and stepped inside. The two raiders, who were inventorying their stolen goods, looked up at me with shocked expressions. Before they could reach for their blaster pistols, I fell upon them killing them quickly.

I returned to where Master Volitu was waiting and told her that the task had been completed and the goods stolen from the caravans were ready to be retrieved by the Council of Merchants.

 

[Negative Blessing]

Grima watched as Ghenna, the Hand of Chaos, was returning to her as she stood atop of one of the hills. While the Crusader was out handling the task given to her, Grima had ordered her servants to remove the bodies of the dead hounds and have them transferred to the Council of Merchants for a few of the merchants dealt with fur trading. When the Crusader told her the task was now complete, Grima thanked her.

"Since you killed the last batch of hounds, we must move into the plains to find ourselves more volunteers so that I can teach you the ability Force Wound," the Witch said as she began to walk deeper into the plains in search for more hounds.

After some time they came across two hounds feasting on a dead animal that Grima could not decide what it was. The beast in question had suffered greatly at the jaws of the hounds. "Force Wound deals with the organs of your target. Unlike Force Grip where you can at one pointe crush organs and bones only if you are powerful enough to do so, Force Wound goes for the bones and organs. Why am I teaching you these two powers that are almost similar? Because knowledge is key. Also, there are times when you want to make your opponent suffer to extract information for one and there are times you want to simply eradicate them quickly and painfully. I prefer to use Force Wound as a means to kill those that have betrayed me."

Looking at the two targets now, Grima reaches out and takes hold of one of the hounds internal organs through the Force, pouring her malice and anger and hatred into it strengthen her hold on the Dark Side. The animal begins to howl in pain that is eerie to the ears and shudders violently until it stops abruptly and falls to its side. The other hound looks at the two Sith and tries to flee.

"As you did with Force Grip, focus and concentrate your mind on seeking out and taking hold of the bones or organs or both. When you have them in your grasps, pour all your darker emotions into the Force feeding the Dark Side until you begin to feel the organs explode....the bones splinter."

 

[LadyM]

I shut my eyes once again and pushed away all the distractions from my mind. I knew I was about to attempt something I had never done before and this required digging deep into my dark side energies. Once I felt ready and my body and mind were in tune with another, I raised my hands out in front of me and concentrated on the fleeing Kath hound.

I caught the beast through the Force halting its retreat and in doing so, began to scan through its body for its organs and bones. I found two organs, its heart and liver, and began to apply great amounts of pressure to them. I could feel the animal's pain inside the Force and to quickly end its misery, I began to break its bones.

Suddenly I could feel nothing from the hound as it now lay dead in my grasp through the Force. Releasing the hound I looked over at Master Volitu. "I struggled at first and felt my energy begin to wan but I was able to concentrate harder and get a hold of what I was doing. With more and more practice I will be able to do this ability with greater effect and with better results."

 

[Negative Blessing]

With Ghenna proving to Grima that she could in fact use the power and after the demonstration, Grima patted the Crusader on the shoulder. "Yes, the more you practice and use this power the more confidence you will feel in using it. This lesson is now over and I feel it is time for you to rest...then meditate...and then practice. Our work is never done."

Grima turned around and headed back to her palace.