RPlog:The Making of an apprentice

Stormtrooper Training Center -- I2SD Inquisitor One of the Inquisitor's deep storage bays has been sectioned off and turned into environmental training for the Stormtrooper Corps. The bay composes several hundred square meters of space and the walls, cieling and floors are made of ferrocrete plates that have been coated in a black material designed to withstand extreme temperatures. The back of the bay is occupied by several prefabricated structures built on movable electromagnetic bases. Massive cargo containers filled with sand and debris sit in the staging area as well Large industrial grade cargo movers are strapped down by the movable buildings and obstacles. Two dozen clone war era battle droids are shutdown and stored in charging racks in the area as well. They carry specially modified blasters that only emit light rather than fully charged shots.

Perched up near the ceiling and fully contained, transparisteel encased control center. The center is large enough to hold four operators and protect them from whatever environmental hardships are put into place in the room below. Built into the ceiling and floors are a mixture of nozzles, drains and climate control devices. These allow the temperature to fluctuate from -150c to 150c and to flood the bay with water, ice or drain it completely to simulate the vacuum of space. Also it is possible to control the ships gravity generators to the area to allow zero-gravity training in the confines of the ship.

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Korolov The imposing man before you stands tall, exactly 1.83 meters tall, with an average build, powerful, maybe 82 kilos. His bronzed skin hints at his heritage. He has recently let his hair grow, it now reaches to almost his ears, the once solid black now marked with streaks of gray at the temples. Dark, shadow pools of eyes study everything around him carefully, his face showing no hint of what lies within his mind most of the time. His face is all smooth planes, clean shaven and fairly handsome, though not stunningly so. He seems to seek anonymity of features. He is currently clad in very comfortable looking attire. He wears a collarless long sleeve shirt made out of a cotton type material dyed to be ebony black. It is very loose fitting, seeming to allow for ease of movement rather than any particular style. Over the shirt he wears a military surplus black blast-vest. His pants are loose fitting as well, made of a heavy woolen material, and a dark green in color. They are tucked into a pair of knee high leather boots. The boots are not polished to a shine, but seem to show no signs of scuffing or excessive wear. Around his waist he wears a black leather belt, a MX blaster slung into a holster on the right side, the bottom straps tied around his pants above the knee. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gravity has been disabled in the training room and several dozen star-like objects with handholds are floating in the room. Several of the battle droids have been activated. They are crawling over one of the objects, readying their blasters as they search for their target. The Warlords mind is either in this room or 1000 miles away as he just floats, alone in the center of the room. He is clad in a suit of lightweight black armor. A breath mask covers his face allowing him to survive in the cold, thin air of the training area. A meter long vibro-sword is clasped in one hand and a smaller vibro-knife is attached to his belt. He has a blaster pistol as well, but seems to favor the other weapons almost exclusively.

It had been a long trip back from the remote world, light-years away from Selene, and it felt like a life time ago. Still, she had been granted access to the docking bay with no issues, it was almost as if the Communication officer had expected her. No one even asked why she was returning, she was just escorted to the Training center. And that's where Arissa Kiiko stood, looking into the room from behind the transperisteel wall that separated her from the man inside. She could almost feel his emotions, even this far away. It was something she had been experiencing more and more of late, the feeling only stronger since the planet of the Nightsisters. It was that growing burn that had drove her back, she would deny that part, but her would know. The Lord Korolov always knew something, if not the full measure. She was here to swallow her pride in order to find her revenge, she was here to submit. He had offered help, an open hand in a land of fists. No matter what the price would be, she would grab onto it.

The Sith could sense a change in the woman. His lips curling into a smile as his attention flicks between the battle droids and the observation room. Reaching up, the Sith presses his fingers to the comlink around his neck, holding it firm to his throat so his vocal chords could sub-vocalize and the recipient would better understand the transmission. "Sergeant, terminate program and clear the bubble." The Stormtrooper NCO nods once and flicks a button, the battledroids immediately go silent and several lamps built into the cieling illuminate, taking the room from it's near dark state. He then puts his headset down and leaves the bubble through the back door. The speakers in the control booth spark to life, as the Sith speaks, "Arissa Kiiko, You have come back so soon. I did not expect to see you after you left the other day. Suit up and get out here, if you want to speak with me." Looking towards one of the asteroid like objects, the Sith forgoes using the hand thruster lashed to his belt and pulls himself to the object with the Force. Moving to stand on it, he watches the command cockpit with rapt attention.

Grunting slightly, the normal level of indignation that Arissa would have felt was muted, though a fire burned in her violet eyes. So, this was how it was to be. He was going to toy with her. Submit the strong willed woman reminded herself as she slipped off her coat an allowed a Stormtrooper to help her slide on the suit. It had been many years since a Trooper helped her put on her armor, but the memory came back as fresh. Again, this was smoothing that had been happening more frequently since her last mission. Tying back her hair in a ponytail, Arissa stepped into the room. A chant kept repeating in that back of her mind, almost subconsciously, the words holding meaning yet not of her language. Try as she might she couldn't push the away, Looking to Korolov, "I have come to see, you" The pride in her voice fighting to be humble.

He could feel her dealing with the issues of pride and submission and that causes him to smile as he sheaths the blade. as the trooper helps her get ready, Korolov smiles, "Once you are finished, leave us." He says to the trooper who bows his head in response before making the final adjustments on the woman's armor, "Remember to breath normally, while the gravity is turned off, the ship is still regulated by internal pressure, if you hold your breath and change pressure zones, you can embolize and stroke out. If that happens, I am sure the warlord will keep us both alive long enough to die." He powers on the oxygen pack and taps her shoulder three times when the check is completed, "you are clear for EVA, Ma'am."

The silver skinned woman can help but smile at the trooper. Even through the voice emitter he sounded young, the way she used to sound. "I'll do my best Trooper" she replies, before her mind refocuses on task. Stepping into Korolov's little world, she again flashes back to her old training. "Think when you're dead. React" The Instructor had told Arissa. If the Warlord though this was going to make what she was committed to doing any harder, he was in for a shock. Not since the failed raid had she submitted to another's orders, or asked for help. Now, she wondered would she be a puppet again, or a loyal servant.

"This world is so freeing, Arissa. Don't fight it, become one with the world around you and you can become unstoppable. to prove his point, he pushes himself off towards one of the other rocks. His body moving and shifting in the weightless environement almost as if he were raised by verpine, before landing quite gracefully on the next obstacle over. "In time you will unlearn all of the bad habits you have picked up in your time away. "

Watching Korlov moving around like a giant slug, or a snake did little in the way of reassure her. "I'm not looking to unlearn anything, Lord Korlov I'm here learn. You offered me your help, yet have never named you price." Arissa pushes herself up, twisting as she does and then bounces down landing on a level platform, she missteps slightly, but corrects herself, finishing the maneuver. "I don't care anymore….just tell me what I must do" There is a desperation in her voice, a subtle undercurrent to the vengeful desire. She can feel his smugness, his control.

"I have never told you the cost because it is something that would cause most to cower or run as fast as they can. What I want is you. " He shrugs his shoulders as he steps over a bump on the asteroid, "Because few would understand what that statement truely means, but I think you do. Despite your completely rejection of the ...offer... last time I made it." He slips his hands to the small of his back, "Yes what I require is you, the completeness of your being, come life or death. What you will get in return is me and through me, the power of the Galactic Empire." he smiles, " And more...."

The Firrerreo blood that coursed through Arissa's veins screamed out to reject this to accept such a price was to become a slave again. It was a belief bone from her mother. A woman she barely knew, for her mother believed that one could 'own' another's name, and therefore would almost never give out their name to another, unless it was their mate or close friend. Speaking another's name was considered a form of power, and so would do so at any chance they had. It was not a name but a pledge Korolov would hold over her.

The Echani in her fought the other side of the internal debate. Submit to the power of another, for he had bested her. Though him she would fix her flaws and become perfect. This was all moot however, for what her heart wanted most, dreamed about was righteous vengeance. And in the end, that was what made her choose.

"I give myself to you." The words were croaked out, but spoken none the less, "I accept your offer, and submit to you" The Violet eyes never blinked.

The Sith's smile broadens, "As I give to you my wisdom and power. I will help you with your revenge and teach you to become better in just about every capacity than you thought you could become." His smile fades, "However that means I demand unquestioned loyalty and trust. If you cannot provide me with both or ever fail to deliver both, you will be dead where you stand. Mastering the things I am going to teach you will give you power that you cannot believe. Do you understand the seriousness now?"

"I understand" Arissa answers. What she wants to add is that should he betray her, with her last ounce of strength she will choke the very air from his lungs. What comes out is a choking of her own, a bitter taste that will lessen in time as she calls him ,"Master" The prize of revenge is what she has search for, this is just another step, maybe the last, perfect step into success or oblivion. Either way, it is the first step down that dark path that had been started years ago. "Now what?" she asks, not sure where she goes from here.

The Sith smiles as he reaches out and places a gloved hand on her shoulder, " I would say it would be time for your first lesson, but I imagine that you would rather rest or at least time to recover and get refreshed from your journey." He laughs a bit darkly at that, " I will say that the journey you are going to embark on will be frought with danger. Failure is rewarded with death, as we do not suffer weakness, lessons I am sure you remember from the Squall. That will be childs play, you must also learn to channel your emotion, do not inhibit it, let it flow, bind it to your will."

I have died a thousand times since the Squall, Master" Arissa keeps trying the phrase out adjusting to the words. A Royal Guard never even had to speak that phrase, it was a given. As a Pirate Captain she had never been called master, it was just her position. But now, now in the harsh lighting of a Stormtrooper training center, she felt as if she was stripped bare. Standing naked before her new /master/ the woman still wasn't sure what he was talking about, not fully anyway. Not really accepting. The chant in her head growing stronger, was it a warning or a welcoming? A new sister to the clan? What was she to become? "What am I?" she says, almost a whisper, not meant to be spoken aloud.

The Sith leans in close to whisper into her ear, "You have the blood of something great in your veins, the ability to shape and tear worlds. I can sense it in you, perhaps more than you can sense in yourself. What you need is to go to your quarters, take a shower. I will have my stewards prepare a meal for you and then you should relax and open your mind to this new reality, focus on your revenge if it gives you power. I will keep an eye on things to make sure you do not hurt yourself or anyone else, okay?"

A deep breath and a then a nod is the responses Korolov gets first, as he leans in the chanting grows louder in Arissa head, making it hard to think. "As you wish, my lord" That was easier to say than master, but there was no questioning that for the half breed. Vassily Korolov, the de facto leader of the visible Empire was her master. Turning and slowly walking towards the exit to the center, Arissa's mind races. Victory or Death awaited her, or maybe both. Only one person had that answer now, and he was just as insane as Arissa though herself to be. Then a more dangerous thought, maybe neither of there were.

The Sith steps back onto the battle obstacle. He drops down to sit on the floating object. He too would have a lot to think about, until now he had been almost alone in his little bubble, now he was pairing his sould with another. She would find the dark recesses of his existance as he would the dark in hers. He smiles slightly at that, pulling the mask off to breathe in the shallow chilled air. He grabs the hand thruster and aims it at the deck, firing it to pull himself back to solid ground, "Sergeant. Return to your station, and reset this area for the training groups. I will be in my quarters if anyone needs me."