Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...
Nodding softly, Maize said simply, "You're welcome."
He retreated to the kitchen area of the studio apartment and found ration bars that were still fresh enough to consume; besides them, he returned with two bottles of flavored water. Maize handed one of each to Shakti, keeping the other for himself.
"There's a bit to my political schedule that will keep me busy the next few days," he said casually. "During that time, I'd encourage you to study Sith lore, the Code that the Council insists that apprentices know and any other academic interests you'd like to pursue, Shakti. When my business is complete, we'll continue on with your Force skills. Have you been to The Works here on-planet?"
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(7/29/07 8:20 pm) Reply
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Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...
Shakti accepted the water and rations gratefully. She could have eaten a dewback. By herself. And then gone after the rest of the herd. With mild amusement she noted Maize's directive to study... things. Considering how we met, I'd think he might assume I'd at least checked over the basics like the damned Sith Code. Ah, well.
She also noted that he hadn't said 'the code that I insist you know.' Some of his orders were plainly formalities, but at least he didn't seem interested in hiding which formalities he cared about and which were simply imposed by the Council. It was a degree of honesty that Shakti valued highly, and she was really beginning to believe that she'd been right... Maize could be more help to her than any other teacher she'd find right now.
Sometimes, though... sometimes he seemed to jump from topic to topic, only to reveal seconds later that he'd simply jumped ahead. Shakti tried not to question the random mention of The Works, assuming that she'd find out why he felt it was worth mentioning. Just answer the question, I guess.
"No, I haven't. I got here fairly recently, and saw more of the planet itself today than I had since the first few days I was here." She didn't need to add that it was because she'd been busy finding out about him, trying to learn enough to be certain of him. "Why? Something going on with them?"Edited by: Darth Shakti at: 7/29/07 8:22 pm
Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...OOC: I guess its worth noting that I toy around with the SW timeline a lot - Maize could be a way old-style Sith or he could be post-ROTJ. Doesn't really matter to me - I just work with whatever works for the posts at the time.
Maize shrugged, taking a seat on one of the few items of furniture in the otherwise spartan residence.
"The Works is where Darth Sidious spun his efforts to dominate the galaxy once," he replied. "Well, there and in the Senate as we know..."
He smiled thinly at the geographical association that could then be drawn between he and Emperor Papatine. Maize was intending on taking Shakti to The Works for part of her training and he was Governor of Coruscant, housed in the Senate district. If only I had that sort of ambition...
"Anyway. It would seem like a fitting place for us to visit and to see what we sense. In addition, it would be a good terrain for lightsaber combat and Force use in general." Maize happened to be a big fan of varied and wild terrain; he wouldn't find the jungles that he preferred, like on Ziost, at Coruscant but The Works was its own sort of wild. "When you were among the Jedi, did you have occassion to build a lightsaber yet?"
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(7/30/07 4:00 pm) Reply
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Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...
Shakti shook her head. "No. I did a little research on my own, trying to figure things out. Couldn't find much myself, and they didn't seem thrilled at the idea of arming me any further." She chuckled. In hindsight, it was actually pretty entertaining. So many Jedi, powerful servants of Light and Righteousness and Justice and Peace and other assorted important Ideals... scared of a girl because she didn't share their fear. Fear of what lay within their own hearts.
Sometimes Shakti thought they were most afraid of Sith because they envied them. There was certainly more than fear in the eyes of other padawans when they realized what kind of person Shakti was. After all... why should she get to do anything she pleased when they all had to work so hard to be something they weren't?
"No... no we didn't get that far."Edited by: Darth Shakti at: 7/30/07 4:02 pm
Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...
The corner of Maize's lips twitched with mirth. The Jedi had certainly lost out on a prized student with their ignorance... if he'd had any idea where Spark Vallen was these days, he might have harassed his old friend about her loss, his gain...
"Very well. I'll ensure that those records are also available to you for your research. By the time we head to the Works, I want you to have an assembled, functional lightsaber."
In the back of his mind, he ticked off a progression of sorts for things they'd accomplished quickly and had yet to work on. Fighting spirit, will to live... good. Force skills... growing and on-going. Good. Lightsaber combat, to be seen.
"If you want, you can rest here. Or if you're up to walking, we'll return to the residence."
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(7/31/07 12:27 pm) Reply
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Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith..."Yeah," Shakti replied, after a brief moment. "I'll... do the thing with the lightsaber. I'm not nearly as good with one as I am at breaking things. It'd be fair to say I really have no idea what I'm doing with a lightsaber, and if I'd had one back there I wouldn't have used it." She frowned. Lightsaber combat had never been her strong point. All padawans were told the basics. Lot of vague insistence about it being part of her and "using the Force" for all the help that directive was. The fact was, a lightsaber had always been a thing to Shakti, no more a part of her than her clothes or the bottle of water she was holding. When she wanted to use the Force, she'd just used the Force, and lightsabers tended to frustrate her somewhat.
I mean, in a fight you may as well hand me a folding chair as hand me a lightsaber. "Go! Shakti, this will save your life! Just use the Force!"
Nonetheless, Shakti needed to learn it. Part of her knew that it was a useful and practical thing to have some skill with, but for the most part Shakti was just bothered that other people knew something that she didn't. Grabbing the overshirts she'd cast aside, Shakti considered putting them back on. Didn't matter, though. Neither she nor Maize actually gave a damn what her skin looked like and these clothes were ruined anyway. Damn blasters. Hurt like hell and wasting her money. She didn't know which one annoyed her more.
Shakti stood and blinked a few times as her head swam a bit at the sudden movement. "Yeah, I can go back, I think."
They were halfway out the door when something occurred to her. "Oh, and while I remember. Where'll I find the crystal component for the lightsaber? I mean, unless you happen to have a pocketful on you right now, I'll theoretically have to track one down, won't I?"Edited by: Darth Shakti at: 7/31/07 12:30 pm
Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...
Maize chuckled, patting his pocket. "Just kidding. Yes, that too will be a part of our visit to The Works... A wise question to ask though."
Maize had learned in his time traveling around with the Legion of Darkness that Palpatine had left any number of caches and surprises across the galaxy. They'd already uncovered one on Coruscant, another on Vjun. He had little doubt though that they'd find yet another in The Works.
The Sith Master yawned and stretched as they walked back to the cleaner, friendlier district of Coruscant. Maize scanned the area with the Force as they moved about and was glad to find no one looking to harass them. For that matter, they went largely unnoticed again. As before, Virgil was present to accompany Shakti back to her quarters and attend to any of her needs. Maize paused in the foyer of the residence, eyebrow raised.
"As I said, I'll be saddled with political duties for a short while. If you need to get in touch with me though, there's a comlink in your quarters that has my frequency stored. Contact me if you need."
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(8/4/07 1:32 am) Reply
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Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...
((OOC: Sorry for the delay. I needed a montage. Even Rocky had a montage....))
After arriving back at the Wayne residence, Virgil escorted Shakti back to her room, and when she asked him where she could do some shopping on a budget, he informed her that Kassandra Wayne was willing to let the girl use her account at her favorite boutiques. It was... odd. Shakti hadn't actually known quite how to respond, and she got the impression Virgil noticed.
She supposed that considering the Wayne family's wealth, it was highly unlikely anything she bought would make a difference. Just the same, there was a certain significance to walking the streets of Coruscant in clothing her master's family had provided for her. It was a significance that she found she didn't mind, though she had to wonder... what would be expected from her in return for this generosity?
Shakti bought an odd assortment of clothing in varied colors and fabrics, fully intending to mix them rather crazily in an eclectic style she'd never been able to afford on her own, not on a scholar's income. She noted with some amusement that in all likelihood, everything she'd bought in two days' worth of shopping probably didn't equate to a single article in Kassandra Wayne's wardrobe.
I guess I'm just not used to spending like I have money, Shakti thought.
Finally Shakti sat cross-legged on the floor of her room, bent over a text on lightsaber variations in an outfit that could only be described as green. The mix of shades and fabric textures wasn't correct by any standard school of fashion except that they more or less matched by color (except for a pair of purple socks). Her hair topped it off, pinned crazily behind her head, the ends spiking out in fierce defiance of their subjugation.
She supposed that if she were going to be dealing with one opponent, she could just use telekinesis, but against multiple opponents (particularly opponents with lightsabers) it might serve her well to focus in lightsaber Form V. It was a choice that required some advanced preparation while she set about constructing the saber, because with luck this would be the only lightsaber she would ever own.
As a child she'd been at least as good with fine detailwork as her older brother, but it was a talent that she'd only regained with long and hard concerted effort in the aftermath of the damage done to her body years ago. It was only with great reluctance that she stopped occasionally to shake out her fingers and give her eyes a rest. Even using telekinesis for the tinier, finer, work hadn't totally eased the burden on her palms and fingertips, but she'd complete it. This was something other apprentices could do. Her brother could probably do it. There was no way she could fail at something if it was important enough to her, and this was. This wasn't just the forging of a weapon. This was a test and a rite of passage, one she would not shrink from.
On the last night Shakti had been working on the saber, she'd been awake until Coruscant's blazing dawn came searing through her windows. She blinked several times, pressing her fingertips into her aching eyelids before looking down again at the current result of her efforts. It wouldn't truly be finished until she had the crystal component, but that would come soon.
She'd felt some pressure to create a saberstaff, seeing as it was "traditionally" more... Sithly somehow. However, the fact that Sith used lightsabers at all instead of the old Sith sword was something of a break from tradition, and one that brought them closer to Jedi methods. So be it. If they could do it because it worked for them, so could Shakti. She was more comfortable with a single-bladed saber, and what anyone else thought about her choice meant nothing next to that.
If she'd known more about Maize's own saber she might have done the traditional student-master homage in her own design, but he hadn't seen fit to go that route. Perhaps it had been an accident of timing that she'd built this in his absence, or perhaps it had been an intentional effort to discourage such ties.
So many things to consider with a weapon so charged with sentiment and tradition.
Despite the difficult detailwork involved in the mechanics of a lightsaber, the most mechanically tiresome (and rewarding) process had been the outer casing. That required actual mechanical aptitude, for which Shakti found she had little. Where she was from it hadn't been considered seemly for ladyfolk to work with mental and other such manly materials, so it was something of an uphill battle to get done what she needed to get done.
When her comm chirped, Shakti looked over and found that she'd fallen asleep with the near-finished saber in her palm, like a child with a new toy. The main body of the blade was polished folded alusteel, giving it a watery Damascene pattern. Near the head of the saber, it tapered in above the stabilizing ring. Around the final crowning lens, the saber flared out from that narrowest point, the bowl around the lens covered in flattened but richly-colored red and orange lotus petals, so that the lightsaber blade would seem to burst forth from the depths of the design.
It might have been needlessly frivolously ornamented, but if Jedi were allowed to fashion lightsabers after their own disposition and approach to the Force, then damn it Shakti could, too. Force help any Sith who told her she was wrong, because to her it was crucial to have that symbol there. The Force was more complex than light and dark, good and evil. These were distinctions for people who couldn't accept that the Force was larger than the narrow simplistic dogma of the Jedi.
Distinctions for people like Sal, she thought.
No, this was best. There was beauty in the complexity of things, in the details. Crippling Force users with such repressive and narrow dogma was no less a tragedy than tearing the myriad petals from a lotus.
Shakti wrapped the lightsaber in her fingers, pressing the heavy grips on the end into her palm. It was odd. She'd never had the patience for lightsabers, and had never thought they would be worth her time. But, like some women who never want children until they have them, Shakti found that she didn't want to be parted from the tool now that she'd made it. It was hers, and it was a shock how deeply that attachment ran.
She'd been told to expect Maize back sometime today, and wasn't sure whether he'd want to leave right away so soon after dealing with the political nonsense he seemed half-sarcastically devoted to. Not sure what he'd have her do, Shakti settled on a pair of black jeans for the day along with a long-sleeve rust-colored shirt with a high collar that she rolled down under her chin and her hair pinned back securely with polished boa-wood sticks. Only thing now was to wait. When Maize had the time, he'd take her to finish this lightsaber, and teach her to use it properly.
Edited by: Darth Shakti at: 8/4/07 1:39 am
Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...OOC: Nice work & no problem. A saber staff is like Darth Maul's right? Or am I mixed up? If it is, Maize does have the same kind.
Being Governor of Coruscant was sometimes a greater job than Darth Thanatos had reckoned. At times, it seemed all he did was weigh in on the most ridiculous claims and issues! He often wondered if people literally sat around in their offices and homes dreaming up these petty and foolish concerns!
By the time he returned to the Governor's mansion, he was exhausted. Maize spent several hours of quality time with Kassandra and it was known that they were not to be disturbed. When he did emerge from their private quarters, his demeanor had improved considerably.
Garbed all in midnight black with his cloak - a gift from long ago - about his shoulders, though the hood was drawn back, Maize approached Shakti's chamber. He'd heard previously from Virgil that his pupil had been studious in his absence. That was good; Kass had been right that this one would impress them greatly.
He rapped on her door, not wishing to simply barge in.
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(8/4/07 5:53 pm) Reply
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Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...
From behind Shakti's door was the sound of a book fluttering to the carpet as she slid off her bed to answer the knock. She opened the door in her stocking feet to find that it was not in fact simply Virgil letting her know that there was food available if she wanted it.
"Oh! Afternoon," she said, stepping out of the way to let him in. Her bed was covered in open books, most of which were held open at page marks by scraps of flimsy, pencils, or her datapad stylus. One had been propped open with her hairbrush. Presumably she had to put those away when she slept, but apart from a pile of clothes folded in the corner those books were the only things here.
"I was told you might be back soon. How was work? Whirligig of zany political fun?" she asked.
Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...
Her wording reminded Maize of Keir and Aurelia at a much younger age. Now, the former had children of his own and Aurelia... well. Still, Shakti took him back to an age when his eldest children were far more youthful in their own way. He quirked a smile at that, and at her.
"Something like that. Driveling idiots. But, at least the planet is being well-tended, even if I have to force myself awake for such business," he replied. "I understand you've kept busy in my absence. You have anything to show me?"
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(8/5/07 1:02 am) Reply
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Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...
The sober demeanor of a determined scholar dropped away for a moment as Shakti remembered the project that had hardly left her fingertips since she'd made it. Her face broke into a smile and for a moment she was almost like a little girl determined to show her father that she really really could finally ride the pony he'd bought for her birthday.
"Yes!" She looked down to the saber in her hand and brought her palm up to chest level so that Maize could see it. It was so weird how territorial she felt about this one little possession! A week ago he could have asked her if she even wanted one, and she'd have said no. Now she didn't want to let it out of her sight.
Shakti opened her fingers to let the saber rest on the flat of her palm. If Maize wanted a closer look, she was offering it. "It's... it's not complete, of course. I didn't have the crystal component so that'll have to be put in once it's available. But... yeah. This is... what I've got done."
Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...
Maize lifted the intricately designed single-blade hilt from Shakti's palm, turning it end over end for a thorough inspection. Her craftmanship was good. With a lightsaber crystal intact, Maize was certain that the weapon would perform beautifully.
"Very good. If you're ready now, we'll travel to The Works as planned. I'm sure you'll find a crystal there to your specifications, and we'll work through lightsaber and combat training," Maize remarked.
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(8/5/07 6:30 pm) Reply
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Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith..."Very good."
Shakti took pride in the fact that Maize seemed pleased with her work. After all, she'd told him she would make a good apprentice, and it always felt nice to be right. It had been a long time since Shakti had really been a student, and as much as she occasionally enjoyed being able to bludgeon others with her intelligence... it was nice to have a chance to earn that right and reputation by expanding her own knowledge and her own abilities.
"Yeah, absolutely," Shakti replied. "Just let me get my shoes on." Grabbing her old pair of beaten-in walking shoes, she yanked them on and nodded to her master that she was ready to go.
Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...
There were twin speederbikes in the garage level of the residence. Though fast, they weren't as zippy as those he and Kass maintained on Corellia; however, they would do for the purposes this day to travel to The Works. Maize climbed aboard one and obviously expected Shakti to use the other bike.
"Follow my lead," he growled softly, "and trust your instincts."
The Wayne's all had a penchant for speed, and that was exemplified in the racing 'bikes that they used to depart the Governor's residence. With his cape billowing behind him, Maize accelerated the speederbike into the traffic lanes rapidly, whipping around slower moving vessels with ease. As before, he simply trusted that Shakti would keep up and keep herself from being splattered.
Suddenly, he dropped the 'bike out of the traffic lanes, descending rapidly and veering off to the West. The engine screamed to keep up with his demands as they headed toward The Works. Though it was an industrial district, to Maize, it pulsed with a life of its own. The Darkside was almost palpable there. He knew they'd find what Shakti needed for her lightsaber there.
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(8/7/07 10:23 am) Reply
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Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...
Slinging a leg over the bike left for her, Shakti got it started just in time to see Maize rocketing off ahead of her. She slipped her fingers over the hand grips and even stronger than the sight of Maize tearing down the street was the sense of how fast this bike was, an impression of the exultation and daring its riders had left behind.
Without thinking Shakti followed their lead, and Maize's. Spurring the speederbike faster to keep up with Maize in traffic, she started in alarm and annoyance as she was nearly clipped several times by other, more sensible, vehicles. They didn't hit her though, and once Shakti was used to that fact she stopped getting so spooked by the close calls. Pushing the engine harder, Shakti laughed as another vehicle made a panicked swerve to avoid her. Of course she wasn't going to hit them.
Only question is, Shakti thought as they turned another corner at breakneck speed, Are we still in one piece because this isn't as dangerous as I'd thought it would be, or is this just yet another way of tapping into the Force I had never thought of? Either way, by the time they reached The Works Shakti had a better understanding of why Maize rode like a crazy person. This is actually kind of fun.
Once they were out of traffic, Shakti was able to start keeping track of where precisely they were. Wow. It feels... amazing here. The Jedi temple where she and her brother had been for a time had been a powerful place, but it felt weak and watery compared to this. This was raw power, charging through her bones and begging her to ride faster, laugh harder, find and take more and more of whatever she wanted to fight more viciously for anything she pleased. The temple had never been right but this was a place for her.
Shakti kept an eye on Maize, waiting for him to decide on a location. For now it was all the same to her and one place was as good as another. Hopefully he would have a better idea of where they needed to be.
Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...
Warehouse after warehouse, loading zone after loading zone, the Sith duo continued their speederbike journey. Maize was certain that if Shakti honed in enough that she'd also feel the glowing, growing power in the Darkside that he was tracking. It beckoned to him. Maize knew it was just a matter of following the right route to it. And at last, like a lock springing open, they'd followed Palpatine's Force trail to the cache Maize thought existed.
The Sith Master killed the engine to his 'bike and slid off gracefully. He drew the hood of his cloak over his head, partially obscuring his visage. He nodded to Shakti as she pulled up beside him.
"Stay sharp. Palpatine was full of deadly surprises and traps in his secret locations," Maize warned. "Be wary of physical and Force traps as we proceed..."
The storehouse, from the exterior, looked like any other along this route. It was only to a Dark adept that it stood out in the Force. Maize stepped toward the obvious entry point and half-closed his eyes in concentration. He could feel that it was booby trapped, but wanted to know that Shakti could tell that too.
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(8/8/07 6:21 pm) Reply
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Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...Do the honors, huh? She thought. If it were anyone else I'd suspect he wanted me to find the traps by stepping on the damn things. But I guess he's kept me alive this long. Be kind of silly to deliberately get me killed at this late stage.
Her senses weren't as sharply tuned as Maize's, but she paused to take a more careful appraisal of their surroundings at his suggestion. For some reason Shakti had always received stronger emotional impressions from objects than people. She'd often joked that people weren't her area: too recent. As a result of that, Shakti had learned to depend on her observational skills when dealing with people, and gotten used to accepting information from seemingly inert elements of her environment.
Shakti reached out her hand and froze when her fingertips touched the doorknob. A slow chuckle escaped her: smug, self-satisfied, and utterly unlike her. "This one's just for fun," she mouthed silently. Suddenly she blinked and pulled her hand back. Had she said something? Probably just imagined it. Just the same... "Yeah," she said. "No getting in that way." She stepped back and craned her neck to look up the doorframe and over underneath the boarded warehouse windows. "Turning the knob. No good," she added distantly.
Something that doesn't fit, out of place. Something... added later.
Her eyes passed over corrugated metal, some rusted and pitted with time. Plastic discolored from exposure and sometimes melted into twisted deformed shapes. Everything seemed long-forgotten, waiting to be buried under the next stratum of Coruscant. Except for a keypad hidden under the sill of one window. The keys weren't lit up, and they were covered by a thick smear of dust and cobwebs. It hadn't been touched in a while but when Shakti touched the keypad a sudden thrill of fear ran down her spine. Dangerous.
Tracing her fingers across the keys, she only found one that didn't make her want to back off and walk away from this whole area. Bracing herself for an avalanche of rocks, boxes, or assassin droids, Shakti pressed the number six. Nothing happened. She pressed it again. The door pulled back into the wall until the knob rested against the doorframe.
Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...
Maize half-smiled. "Indeed."
The warehouse was impossibly large with shelving units and cargo containers running the floor and stacked nearly to the high ceiling. As the exterior had been, it looked like a non-descript storage facility and not the sort of place one would expect to find a Sith Lord's relics.
But then, who would've expected the old Senator to be a Sith Lord? He was indeed a genius.[/i]
"You're seeing a sight that few would see, Shakti. Remember this."
Maize stretched out with the Force trying to get a sense of the objects in containers before them. The strongest sense was simply darkness.
"What you seek will be here. Trust your feelings."
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(8/10/07 6:57 am) Reply
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Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...
Every now and again it occurred to Shakti that it'd be nice if Maize gave her more to go on, but if he was going to force her to prove she could handle things on her own... fine. How often had she wandered by herself through old neighborhoods, trailing her fingers along ancient stone walls to soak in the memories and impressions of the residents? Some neighborhoods resonated determination, the determination to do better, be more, build better. Some stank of fear, fear of the outside and fear of each other. Some places, like this one, seemed to ooze greed along every surface.
A trace of a smile played across her lips. What Palpatine had hidden here had been stashed away from the prying eyes of enemy and ally alike. Coveting his legacy even from the people destined to carry it on, Palpatine had left it here. And here Shakti was, coveting the very same little pile of forgotten objects, her sharp eyes sweeping the room, fingertips spread out as she tried to take in any information the warehouse had to offer.
Crystal. Where are you... I'm going to find you. Vague, vague impressions. So little to go on. It was frustrating. The information was there, so close, like having a word caught on the tip of her tongue. Tell me where you are.
She took a step forward, and her shoulder seemed to pull back of its own accord, jerking her to the left. There was a little tnnnng noise and when Shakti glanced over a tiny silver needle was quivering in the edge of the crate behind her.
That was clo-- There. Her eyes travelled down her arm to her palm resting on the top of a crate. She hadn't even seen it, hadn't noticed it until she touched it. Find me. Here, it seemed to say.
Shakti looked from her hand over to Maize again, second-guessing herself for a moment. He told me to trust my feelings."Let's see what's in here," she offered.
Edited by: Darth Shakti at: 8/10/07 6:58 am
Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...
Maize offered a bow from the neck to Shakti. He stepped forward, testing the crate with the Force. It didn't feel 'enchanted' to him in the way that would require one with Sorcery to manage it delicately. Nor did it seem to require the sort of brute Force that Maize was good with in the Force.
All too easy.
He narrowed his eyes at the locking mechanism, willing its durasteel to crumple under his mental 'touch.' It made a satisfying pop! as it imploded, shards dropping onto the duracrete floor. Maize lifted an eyebrow at Shakti as he stepped out of her way; the crate was her find, after all.
"You see? You can do it. I'm much more along for the ride than any apprentice seems to understand."
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(8/12/07 8:44 pm) Reply
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Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...
Shakti pulled the lid from the crate. She set it down on the floor, leaning it on the wall. She looked down into a nest of fuzzy red and green and yellow striped knitted fabric. Her expression was something between a frown of confusion and a desperate battle not to laugh. "Mittens." A little snort of laughter escaped despite her best effort. "Maybe they're Dark Side mittens," she muttered.
Pulling the bizarre and unexpected handmade outerware from the crate, Shakti left the mittens in a small pile on the floor. Beneath that was a layer of old-fashioned paper books. On the covers were shirtless men holding swooning women in their arms. Romance novels. Shakti laughed into her hand and looked away from the crate, needing a moment's respite from this silliness before she could continue. Whoever was trying to divert her attention from the relevant contents of this crate had a twisted sense of humor.
"I'm good," she said, dropping the novels onto the floor. "We're serious now. I'm putting the smut away." When she'd sobered herself enough that she could continue digging, she found that beneath the romance novels was a layer of packing foam. Lifting that away Shakti found her real prize, nested into fitted pockets in the foam.
Shakti's eyes widened and her whole body tensed when her fingers brushed over a tiny, pointed shape embedded in the crate's padding. Reaching in to pull out the tiny pyramid-shaped object. As she removed it, a set of blades flicked out that were so sharp she couldn't even feel them biting into her fingers. She shook her hand at the sight of blood and sudden sting, stupidly flicking blood across the packing foam.
"Well that was mean," she said, her voice a sarcastic mockery of a child's whine. "But totally worth it," she finished with a grin. She passed the holocron to her uninjured hand and stuffed her fingers in her pocket to let the fabric stop the flow of blood.
Also in the crate was a tiny suede pouch pulled shut with a drawstring. The phrase "once bitten, twice shy," ran through Shakti's mind and she lifted the pouch from the crate using the Force. Sure enough, the tiny scythe-like blades flicked out into the open air before sinking back into the foam. "Damn thing," Shakti grumbled. "Like I'm sticking my hand in there again after that."
Shakti pulled her bloodied fingers out of her pocket to better examine her latest find. The blood flow had slowed, and it was no longer quite so gruesome to force her stinging fingers to work for her again. Tilting the contents of the bag out into her palm Shakti watched the light from the door flicker and catch in the facets of a glittering golden crystal. For several long seconds she simply stared at it, her gaze and her awareness caught inside a shard of rock resting warm against her palm.
"Maize," she finally whispered. "I want this one."
Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...
As he watched Shakti unpack the crate and bring forth its random, peculiar contents, Maize had to wonder if Palpatine knew his lackeys had used such items to pad his possessions? He'd never heard of the Emperor having much in the way of a sense of humor so seeing these items was... odd. It was something more like Maize himself would do (or have done) which amused him.
"Maize, I want this one."
Yellow. Topaz. Hmm. He lifted an eyebrow, then nodded.
"So be it. Let's find a workspace where you can assemble the crystal into your lightsaber..."
Easily amused
and determined
to understand it all.
Posts: 81
(8/15/07 12:44 am) Reply
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Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...
Shakti frowned, barely registering her master's words as she continued staring at the crystal pressed against her skin. It was strange. She was accustomed to receiving emotional imprints from objects, particularly ones so plainly relevant. Not this time, though. Part of the mystery was that she felt nothing, nothing at all, except herself. It was as if, from the moment this crystal had coalesced out of the soil... it had belonged to Shakti.
With a brief shudder she snapped out of her reverie. "Yeah. Yeah we should do that." She put the blood-slicked holocron in one pocket, and slid the crystal into her other. She looked around toward the doorway. This was an industrial area. If they couldn't find a single workbench in this whole sector Shakti would eat her left shoe.
The problem was, so many of the warehouses had been abandoned for years. That meant no power. No power meant very poor light. Very poor light meant that attempting to assemble a lightsaber under such conditions would quite probably turn Shakti's poor eyeballs inside out from the strain.
Finally she settled on an open span of pavement. It wasn't cracked or pockmarked too badly so she wouldn't lose any parts. Figuring Maize's presence was more than sufficient deterrant to anyone who might choose to meddle with them, Shakti pulled her nearly-finished lightsaber from the deep pocket next to her knee.
She crouched cross-legged on the sidewalk only to remember that this required fine motor dexterity, and getting that damned holocron had cost her the temporary use of one set of fingers. With a sigh, she pulled her newfound crystal from her pocket and laid it next to the lightsaber. This was somehow more appropriate anyway.
Shakti held her hands open to each side of the handle, and after a single deep breath she began the last phase of her work on this saber. Tiny components and panels began to slide away and fall open. Soon there was a cloud of wires and miniscule screws floating and drifting through the air in her workspace. Her anxiety melted into her concentration, and her concentration quickly melted into a trance that limited her awareness of the universe to this tiny system of rotating objects before her.
When the final piece slid back into place, Shakti jolted back to the reality her hands flew to cover her eyes. It was quite likely she hadn't blinked in over two minutes, and her eyes felt like they were going to peel and flake like onion skins. "Ow, shit," she muttered. When she'd pressed the heels of her palms against her eyelids long enough that she could bear to look at the world again, Shakti slowly opened her eyes to look down at her lightsaber.
Her lightsaber.
But, like anything Shakti laid her hand on... there was always the possibility that she'd made some critical error in her calculations, that she'd done something subtly wrong that could quite truly cause the whole thing to blow up in her face. She reached out and curled her fingers around the cool metal of the handle. Hers.
She stood with the saber and took a step away from Maize in case the thing did choose to explode and take Shakti with it. You're not going to detonate on me, are you? Shakti asked it silently. You like me. I know you do. I'll give you a chance to be beautiful, and you lend me your power.
Her fingers shifted and her thumb moved over the activation switch. We have a deal?
Shakti winced a little, closed one eye, and switched it on. A blazing yellow blade with a fierce white core leapt forth from the heart of a deeply-colored lotus blossom, charging out into the air and announcing to the world that it existed, and soon everyone would know that it belonged to Shakti and Shakti to it.
For a moment Shakti stared dumbly at it before a great and exultant smile spread across her face. This was it. This was hers. She'd done it. After being nearly burned alive for the power she wielded, after being turned away from the Jedi who'd promised her a new chance, after being estranged from the last family she could claim... Shakti knew now that she was on the path she'd chosen, and the road was rolling out behind her faster than ever.
But now she truly did need Maize's help. Lightsaber combat had never been her strong point. Now that she'd built it she ached to master it and be the expert this blade deserved, but that would take time. Time and instruction.
She switched the blade off and turned to Maize. "So what now?"
Re: Shakti's tale of sweets, speeders and the Sith...
Maize had smiled quietly while he observed Shakti in her work, and then again at her triumphant completion of her lightsaber. He tended to consider that moment a rite of passage as the Jedi often did; Maize thought that way because he'd always been given lightsabers. He had yet to ever create his own. Ironic as ever.
"What now? Now, we train. I'll instruct you in the style I use: namely none. You'll learn to rely on all of your talents in the Force rather than the fuss of strength with the blade alone," he said. "You'll be unorthodox."
He led Shakti out of the cavernous warehouse, glad to leave Palpatine's secrets behind. This was a place Maize would surely return to at some other point and time to divulge the old man's secrets, but not now. Outside, Maize calculated the distance to the warehouse's rooftop and leaped with a hefty Force Jump. As his boots crunched on the gravel surface above, he glanced down at Shakti, beckoning her onward.
Just like how Sophie had been trained on the rooftops and catwalks of Nar Shaddaa, Shakti would find her combat instruction on the rooftops of The Works. He drew his lightsaber from his belt at last and ignited one end of the dual-blade hilt. A violet-crimson blade shot forth.
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