The Dark Road Continues (Joshua Drake's Training)

[Keinushi]

The slave walked up to Katarn and whispered something into her ear. Katarn nodded as she listened. "Not unexpected." She responded to the slaves words.

Turning back to the acolyte she said. "I understand you had to enter a meditative trance to complete the task?"

 

[JMocks]

"If that's what you want to call it, yes," Josh started, "What else was I to do?"

 

[Keinushi]

"Please," Katarn motioned to the floor in front of her. "Show me how you did it."

 

[JMocks]

Josh didn't know if she was joking or not. Regardless, he stood up, cleared space, then sat down. "This is bascially it. I then called upon the angry, painful memories of mine for more power," Josh said, looking into Katarns' eyes.

 

[Keinushi]

"Do so again." Katarn instructed. "Use that pile of datachips in the corner instead of pebbles."

 

[JMocks]

Josh looked from Katarn to the datachips. He then concentrated, calling upon angry, painful memories for more power. The datachips began to rattle. Then, all of a sudden, the datachips began to rise. The pile stopped an inch from the ceiling. Josh opened his eyes. He then looked at Katarn and said, "See."

 

[Keinushi]

As he first entered the trance Katarn released a wave of force energy upon him.

 

[JMocks]

The wave hit Josh and he tried his best to hold the datachips up. But he couldn't do it. "I guess this is the next step in regards to training," Josh said.

 

[Keinushi]

"I'm afraid this is the same step." Katarn smiled, but there was a note of sadness to it. "The enemy will let you enter meditation every time you want to attack. You need to be able to do it without meditating. I gave you a week to practice because you need a week to learn the technique."

 

[JMocks]

"Understandable," Josh said as he stood and left the room. He went to the library to collect himself. He sat at one of the many tables in the library. And just collected himself, calming himself down. He then remembered when Katarn said about being able to control every single piece instead of a whole. Josh looked at the bookshelf in front of him. He concentrated.

A book began to rattle and slowly slide out. The book made its way slowly towards Josh and landed softly on the table. He then looked at another book and started to pull that one out then looked at another book and began to pull that one out. Josh controlled both books separately. He made one turn clockwise, and the other turn counter clockwise. He then brought them to the table.

Josh smiled. He was starting to get the hang of controlling two things separately instead of one. Josh then picked up the books in reverse order of them landing on the table, making one turn clockwise, one counter clockwise, and one going end over end. Once he was happy with the results, he put them back in order.

Just returned to the cafeteria to snag a quick bite to eat before turning in for the night. The whole pebble process tired him. But he knew as the more he trained with the force, the more stamina he would build to use more without tiring so quickly.

When Josh awoke the next day, he did a quick meditation to collect himself. He then returned to the library. He used the force to move all the tables against the walls. He controlled all of them separately, staking them two by two. Once he had enough space, he began.

Josh looked at the bookshelf while pulling two books out, then he looked at the tables and pulled one towards him. The three objects slowly made their way towards Josh in the center of the library. He began to turn each object in its own way. He began to feel more comfortable. He pulled another table in, controlling the four objects. He began to laugh. His confidence was building with every item he was able to control. After Josh had his fun, he put everything back in order.

He then figured he would read upon the Bogan. He knew nothing. And it was stupid to learn about something, with not knowing anything about the organization. Josh pulled a book called, "Dark Jedi Beliefs". He put the book down on the table, and opened it. On the first page was the Dark Jedi code. Josh began to recite it, "No peace, only suffering. No knowledge, only instinct. No serenity, only passion. No harmony, only chaos. No life, only death," as Josh read the code, he could feel an eerie presence grow around him. He grinned.

He then looked over the ranks of the Bogan. Dark Master interested Joshua. But, the rank of Bogan, is what he was going to shoot for. Controlling the darkest, cruelest, heartless organization in the universe, is what he had his sights on. Josh knew he could fulfill the role. He would just have to lay in the dark to await to strike. Just like the Bogan act themselves. Striking when their opponent is weak.

Josh read every book he could find on "The Bogan". The more and more he read, the more and more he felt that eerie presence embrace him. He felt empowered by it. He began to laugh. Then he snapped back to. He went to the cafeteria to eat. That's when he realized how late it was. After eating his meal, he turned in for the night. Tomorrow, he would push his self training even more.

When Josh awoke, he made his way to the cafeteria to get something to snack on. Since Josh has been here, he's found his appetite go up. No matter how much he eats, he's still hungry. This could be due to his lack of food before he found the Bogan. And he's eating all he can. Because he doesn't know when his last meal will be.

Josh made his way to the library and cleared the room with ease. He then started his self training. He was going to pull the bookshelves to the middle of the room. He began. He looked at the first bookshelf and it began to rattle. He then moved on to the next, then the next, then so on and so forth. Soon, Josh was surrounded by bookshelves. He began to raise them. Slowly. He had them an inch from the ceiling. He made his way through them, and walked on the outside of them.

He used his suffering as motivation. Like in the book he read the day before. He let the eerie presence cover him. Josh then immediately stopped. He looked up, grinning. He then shot a bookshelf back against the wall. Then another. Once the bookshelves were back where they belonged, Josh stood in the middle of the library. He took it all in. During these three days of self training, he's taught himself alot in controlling multiple objects at once. Josh spent the rest of the day reading up on the history of the Bogan and the Hutt War. Josh was getting tired and turn in for the night.

Josh awoke around noon the next day, and made his way slowly out of bed. He was in no rush. He was given a week. Once he was ready to return to the pebbles, he found the slave who was been with him through pretty much of all this. He found out she wasn't a one for words.

"So where are you from," Josh asked her. She just started into oblivion. "Okay then," Josh said taking his spot towards the pebbles.

"We should begin. I have other stuff to do," she said.

Josh took his spot and began. He recited the Dark Jedi code to himself, and could feel that dark prescience surround him. He began. The pebbles shot into the air, and Josh could only help but grin. All was going well. Josh had eclipsed four hours when disaster struck. Memories of his mother, good memories, came flooding in. Josh broke the concentration, the pebbles landed back on the ground.

"What's wrong," the slave questioned.

"Nothing. I'm done for today," Josh said as he left the temple returning to his shuttle. Josh sat in the cockpit. He didn't know what happened. He was in control. Then in an instant, it was all gone. Josh fired up the shuttle and headed towards Tatooine. Once he arrived at Tatooine, he made his way towards the house he grew up in. The house was boarded up. He went to the back, and used the Force to rip the boards off the backdoor.

Josh entered, and was immediately hit with memories. He could see himself running through the house as a kid. He could see his mom in the kitchen, cooking. Then his dad busting in through the front door. Reacuring memories of his mom being beat came to. Josh was getting angry. He then exploded with a force push. The house rattled. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," Josh yelled. Collapsing to his knees. Josh then passed out.

When Josh came to, he was tied to a chair. Two masked guys were in front of him. They were humans. Josh thought he was in a dream. He kept shaking himself to wake up. But it wasn't happening. He realized he wasn't dreaming. "Who are you guys," Joshua asked.

One of the males stepped forward and spoke, "Do you not remember us Josh? We remember you. Quite clearly," the man said.

"Its pretty obvious I don't remember. Since I just asked you who you were."

"Same ole smartass," the man said as he took his right hand and sent it across Josh's face.

"If you want money, I don't have none."

"Hahaha," the man chuckled. "We don't want your money. No no. We want.... We want something more than that. We want..... your life."

"Get in line then. There's alot of people I wronged and killed. Alot of people want me dead. What makes YOU any different?"

"See. We had something in common. I say had, because you killed him. You see, my grandfather took you in. Then you turned on him, killing him, his two sons, my uncle, my father."

"I wasn't aware he was a grandfather."

"Well you are now. And we're getting our revenge. See we knew you'd come back here Josh. You're predictable."

"Things have changed. I'm - different."

The man chuckled, "How's that Josh?"

"I'm a Acoylte within the Dark Jedi of the Bogan."

"Hahahaha! You can't scare me Josh. Now please, shut up. It will make it easier on me."

"Don't worry. I don't need my mouth to do what I need to do," Josh said as he picked up two knifes from the kitchen while using the Force. He sent the first knife into the neck of the guy in the far back. The guy doing all the talking turned back, bad timing for him, as he took the other knife to the internal jugular vein. Blood squirted everywhere. Josh then used the Force to bring another knife over, cutting free of the ropes binding him.

Josh returned to the shuttle he arrived on and fled back to Ando Prime. When Josh touched down, and went to the temple. He found the slave, and they started the pebble training again. He used the new aggression just acquired on Tatooine to fuel his energy. The pebbles lifted, and started moving. Josh stood there, controlling the pebbles with his mind. Seconds passed. Minutes passed. Hours passed.

The slave spoke, "You've reached eight hours."

Josh set the pebbles back down. He looked up in the sky and took a deep breath. He felt different. He didn't even feel drained. When he looked back down, the slave had disappeared. Josh turned in for the night. And would tell Katarn about his accomplishment tomorrow.

 

[Keinushi]

The slave entered Katarn's bedroom that night and whispered the acolyte's success into the Assassin's ear. "Thank you." Katarn muttered.

The next day Katarn returned to her office after a stop at the Caf for a bowl of noodles. She sat down at her desk and began to work on Joshua's profile for the database. This paperwork was boring, but necessary. If they let in the wrong kind of people, it could destabilize everything they had worked for. So every acolyte was pushed to their limit and then a little bit farther. After all, if they could not control themselves here, they would be hopeless in the field.

 

[JMocks]

When Josh awoke, he sat on the side of his bed. He then put his face in his hands and just sat there. Yesterday was the first time he had killed anyone in years. It wasn't a reaction. It was an instinct. Josh was threatened, so he neutralized the threat. Once he was ready to start his day, he stopped by the cafeteria for a quick bite. He then made the all too familiar trip to Katarns' office.

"I'm sure by now you've received word on my success yesterday," Josh said as he sat down. "What's next?"

 

[Brandon Rhea]

"The other option is you can be a Dark Master. You will travel from planet to planet destroying all in your path. The very ground will shake at your presence. Nothing within a hundred meters will be able to ignore your presence. A mere flick of the wrist will send any foe flying."

OOC: Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to clarify something. Dark Master is a rank, not a specialization. What you're referring to is a Marauder. Assassins, Instructors, and Marauders are ALL Dark Masters (as only Dark Masters can officially be granted those specialization - nothing wrong with learning about them early, though). Anywho, carry on!

 

[Keinushi]

OOC: Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to clarify something. Dark Master is a rank, not a specialization. What you're referring to is a Marauder. Assassins, Instructors, and Marauders are ALL Dark Masters (as only Dark Masters can officially be granted those specialization - nothing wrong with learning about them early, though). Anywho, carry on!

((Sorry about that, I forgot the specializations name. thanks for the assist.))

"I have been informed of your success. This is good. Normally I assign this task halfway through your training as an amplification to your current powers, but since your starting out with this advantage, you'll be able to build up from here." Kartarn explained. "What really interests me however is where you disappeared to for three days in the middle of your training."

 

[JMocks]

Three days? Josh didn't know he was knocked out that long. He maybe thought a day, day and a half at most. He wasn't going to lie to Katarn though. He had to reason to. "I went back home. To Tatooine. You could say, to face my demon - my father," Josh began, "I then ran into some roadblock impeding my way back. I was able to dispatch them in a timely manner," Josh finished with a grin.

 

[Keinushi]

((Remember, hyperspace travel is not instantaneous. It can take weeks depending upon how far your going.))

"Very well." Katarn smiled. "Now as part of your lessons I do a mental evaluation. Part of this is that I allow you to choose your own curriculum in order to judge which way your subconscious leans. So I want you to choose which technique I teach you next."

 

[JMocks]

Josh thought for a second. He wanted to be strong within the Force. But he wanted to be even stronger in combat. Hand-to-hand, and the most important, lightsaber technique. Josh looked at Katarn, "I want to learn how to wield a lightsaber. And I want you to teach me everything you know abut the forms."

 

[Keinushi]

Katarn nodded. "I have actually studied all the various techniques in the process of learning my own Niman. Please follow me to the training halls."

Katarn lead him to the turbolift where they went up 4 floors. She approached the Training room check out desk and booked a room for the next couple of hours. They entered a 20 meter cubed room with a large rack of various blades on the rear wall. Casually tossing aside her own weapons, Katarn called 2 from the rack to her hands. Tossing the one in her right to Joshua.

((cue off screen teaching of every technique because it would take way to long and to be honest I don't actually know them all. If your really interested, look them up on wookiepedia.))

 

[JMocks]

Josh caught the weapon and wielded it. Twirling it in his hand. "I'm familiar with using a bladed weapon. So my ability to use the lightsaber, will be manageable. I understand half the people have never wielded a weapon. I've wielded all sorts from a young age. The only thing I need to know the forms in a sense. Excuse me if I'm sounding too knowledgeable. I just know some stuff about weapons, Katarn."

 

[Keinushi]

"I was an assassin on the streets of corescant before coming here, and had learned to use a vibro blade from one of my partners, so I understand. Shall we begin?"

((Seriously though, there is no way I'm going to IC teach you every form. Its time warp time!))