(OPEN)Hate That Voodoo You Do So Well

[Vexillar]

Why did he subject himself to this? This torment was simply unbearable. He could level anyone here without so much as a thought. He could break their wills and rebuild them as his own. He didn't need a blaster. He worked better alone or with one other person, someone he knew and who he could trust not to leave him for dead. He knew the Troopers were loyal to each other. But him? He was a Sith. And not even a Sith Acolyte. He was a freaking Arcanist. Mayhem and discord were his kind's M.O. and he knew that they knew that.

So why was he here?

Because he could be.

Relating to people built bridges. He wanted more. More connection, more bridges, and he would have that. He could have that. For the low low price of forsaking the use of...his more elaborate powers. When he marched with the soldiers, he was one of them and expected to act like one of them. So that meant none of his fancy space magics. Or at least not the majority of them. He tossed some things in his locker and sighed. He missed Vallo, but having a Tuk'ata around here wouldn't be...smart. Especially not Vallo. He wasn't keen on strangers. At least he had Eezeo with him. Looking down at the golden spider he smiled.

His time here wouldn't be that bad.

That is...until he got to his first class. Shooting.

Raith had a history with blasters. It wasn't a good one. He couldn't shoot a blaster. He tried once. When he was a slave to a Hutt. He smacked himself in the face with the recoil and damaged one of the protocol droids. He tried a few years later and couldn't even hold the thing straight. No. Close combat weapons, or magicks, that was his preferred tool of chaos and and control. Guns? No. But he had little choice here. He was to be a trooper. And troopers could use a number of different weapons and gear. So...time to get to it.

With another sigh and a bit of a mumble, Eezeo spoke up in Binary to remind him that he was due shortly and that his rank in the Sith would mean little here. Eezeo was so helpful...

 

[Phoenix]

Vin came strolling into the training room that he was going to practice in today. His attention was immediately drawn to the most out of place thing in a room full of soldiers. He had heard rumor that there would be a Sith joining them and, although he had dismissed it as a rumor, he could now see it was in fact a reality. It was pretty surprising that an Arcanist was going to come into train with a bunch of Stormtroopers. Vin couldn’t quite remember what an Arcanist was save that they were Sith Masters and, he thought they were supposed to be the “wise ones.” Guess I’ll find out soon enough.

If the man was trying to blend in he was doing a pretty lousy job. He was accompanied by a spidery droid that was either cute or really creepy, but he couldn’t quite decide. Add to that the fact that the man appeared to have his eyes covered with – something – meant that he definitely wasn’t a Stormtrooper.

He watched as the other troopers prepared their weapons for the firing range and Vin decided to take the moment of down time to approach the Sith. Now, he wasn’t a huge fan of the Sith as an organization, and to be frank he was a bit suspicious of this Sith and his sudden, and seemingly random, appearance, he was always willing to give individuals a fair chance before he decided to categorize them as friend or enemy.

I guess the best way to treat him is how I would anyone else. “Hello, I’m Vin. I’m just going to state the brutally obvious and guess that you’re not a Stormtrooper. What can we do for you here?” he said starting to extend his hand but then realizing that the man didn’t have eyes he stopped halfway up. How does he see? he wondered to himself.

 

[Vexillar]

He looked over at the man who approached him. With a small bow of his head he introduced himself.

"Well I'm not yet a Trooper. Soon enough though. I hope...Oh my name is Raith. Raith Vi'kaar. And yes. I can see." He offered a friendly smile and extended his hand. He then quickly withdrew it and furrowed his brow. Reading minds was something he just naturally did. Picking up stray thoughts and such. He couldn't help it. He wouldn't force his way inside an unwilling mind, under normal circumstances, but he always danced along the edge picking up what thoughts weren't contained. He liked to be in the know.

"Apologies. An old Sith habit. This is...strange to me. And so are those." He gestured to the rack of training blasters. He wanted his saber. His hips felt barren without them.

 

[Phoenix]

The man seemed friendly enough. Although Vin had the vague and uncomfortable feeling of someone looking over his shoulder or watching him, like a soldier’s sixth sense for when the enemy was watching, but shook it off as paranoia and tension. After a moment though he discovered that it may not all have been just paranoia and it may in fact have been this Sith – Raith, he said his name was – reading his thoughts. He raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Did you just read my mind? I’d appreciate it if you didn’t do that again.” Vin didn’t particularly care for the idea of having someone else poking around in his private thoughts. He wasn’t angry with the man, as he had plenty of old habits himself that were simply reflex, but he wouldn’t be exceedingly happy if it continued.

The man motioned to the blasters and stated his discomfort with them and Vin began making his way over to them. “Well I’m not very well versed in your Sith ways but those” – he pointed to the rifles – “I’m comfortable with. Perhaps I can show you a bit. Also, if I may ask, why do you cover your eyes? And how do you see without them? Is it some Force ability or something?” he inquired of Raith as picked up a rifle and inspected it to make sure it was in working order.

 

[Vexillar]

Living among Sith one would except that Raith almost never had to deal with these kinds of questions.

Wrong.

It was the most common conversation he had in those halls. Miraluka were not a secretive people, but they didn't exactly like the ides of leaving home. As a result many people only knew of them in name alone. Their talents, their traits, their physilogy was wildly unknown to many people. Vi had become more than used to such lines of questioning before, so he simply offered a friendly smile as he answered.

"My people are indeed highly Force Sensitive. It is because we are born without eyes. The planet my people come from was highly poisonous. It destroyed our eyes, and our children began to be born without them. The Force took over, however, and blessed us with a way to see. We, as a people, are not ashamed of our...deformity. However, we understand the galaxy might not like eyeless beings wandering around." He chuckled. He could sense Erchitu's displeasure of being here, but pushed her further down in his mind.

Her opinion of this situation was of no concern.

"Perhaps we could aid each other? You could aid me in helping me fire...that --he gestured to the rifle-- "And in return I can show you how to protect your mind. "

 

[Phoenix]

Vin was struck by the wide diversity of beings in the galaxy. One could travel from one side of the galaxy to the other and there would still be thousands of species they never saw. So diverse in beliefs, abilities, size, shape, and more. Here he was confronted with a species that had no eyes, yet still managed to see. It was fascinating.

“Well I can’t speak for others, but I have to respect a person, or people, who find ways to adapt and overcome incredible difficulties or hardship.” That was his opinion on the Miralukan plight. People that had to come back from something often came back stronger than those whose lives had been easy.

As he finished giving a short explanation of his species, he proposed a bit of a trade of skills. He could show Raith how to shoot and in exchange the Sith would teach him to keep others out of his head. Seeing as he found himself increasingly working with Sith, he decided it would be a useful skill to have. He didn’t fancy the idea of others poking around in his head, even if they did call themselves “allies.”

He took a moment to consider the proposal. After a moment he took a sucking breath, nodded his head, and spoke. “Deal. I can definitely help you with that, and I’d certainly appreciate having a way to keep my will my own, and my private thoughts, well, private.”

Since he already had a rifle in his hand he decided to begin. “Alright, first things first. Gun parts.” He went over the parts of the rifle – safety, power pack, trigger, collapsing and expandable stock - slowly enough so that Raith would be able to follow. He didn’t seem like he had a slow mind by any means, but sometimes it was a lot to take in.

“That’s all kind of the, shall we say, less exciting stuff. Shooting’s the fun part,” he gave a small wink to his slightly hesitant looking new training partner, an unstoppable smile creeping across his face. There was no denying how much he liked guns and he genuinely enjoyed shooting them. “You Sith use sabers as an extension of your body, yeah? Never leave home without them, so to speak. Well, save perhaps today,” he said nodding to Raith’s empty belt, “well this is my saber,” he haled up the rifle, “never leave home without a gun.”