Darth Gredion had become quite fond of his apprentice. Fawkes had trained well, learning quickly from his master and then perfecting any faults. Gredion noticed, however, a subtle but, with time, noticeable weakness. The boy had an extremely powerful connection to the force, especially with lightning and stamina, as well as the ability to multiply his stats and other abilities by tenfold, become immune to pain, and feed off the negative energy of others, he had a low durability. Not in stamina: he could keep up a lightsaber duel for hours. But when using the force too much, it drained him dry.
Deceitus had a noticeable incline in progress through the 2 years he has spent with Gredion. An incredible incline. He had developed Flaming Lightning, a red lightning with a significant higher intensity than the regular kind, a brutal strength hidden behind hatred, and yet still he felt good in the boy, a sense of chivalry, justice, and what he had stored away due to recent events: lack of prejudice and his love for animals. Obviously, that changed a bit thanks to what happened over the course of two years. His dueling abilities were infinitely gaining height, and he was well versed in all of the force as well as how to be underhanded, especially with mind tricks. However, against a Jedi Knight, he probably would lose after a decently lengthy battle. Luckily, Gredion knew of a place this young apprentice could further his training.
…..
"Rise, my apprentice."
Deceitus rises to his feet, and here we see his outfit...a cloak, black as the night, very oh- so-lightly lined with cortosis and invisibility technology, as well as matching clothing, and a strange mask. The Guy Fawkes mask, colors inverted, with metal bands around the mask reminiscent of Kylo Ren's mask. This mask also has visors on the eyes, and Fawkes calls this his Mask of Cybernetic Resentment, no real reason why he calls it that. His lightsaber is unique, very unique, but more on that in a bit.
"It has come to my attention, that there is an institution, not too far from the Capital Envoy, that happens to house a multitude of Sith, Jedi, dark Jedi, assassins, and sorcerers. This institution can teach you far more about how the dark side and the light that I never can, for my age leaves me far past my physical prime. I must say, it's quite a very nice place. Let me detail it for you, but let me also detail for you one rule: complete your objective. Now…."
"This school was made from three force ghosts, one a scoundrel leader, one a Jedi master, one a Sith Lord. It has magical properties that allow it to build upon itself if need be, for new classrooms, dormitories, the like. It is very well hidden behind a shroud of the Force, many staff being the master of their craft when it comes to concealing other aspects as well. The staff, speaking of, is mostly experienced or aged Sith, Jedi, scoundrels, observers, or standard teachers. They all outclass some of the Sith and Jedi lords and masters we have around this area of force sensitivity, including me. I believe such a place will do well to finish your training, and recruit more to your cause. I have also noted the beauty of the school itself and its resources seem never-ending, yet all of this comes at quite a price. It is a high-ranked school, only known by insiders or powerful force users, such as I, though not powerful enough to finish your training. With such high-quality, it requires a high price, just so happening to be 75,000 credits to join (much like 750,000 today, in American dollars.), and speaking of it to commoners results in less than savory punishments. I will provide you the necessary credits and transportation, for getting the credits is one challenge, finding it is the hard part. Luckily, I have obtained data on it. A transport bus will carry you. Make sure to be the last one on, give these coordinates to the driver, and repeat this code: "To the Order, Renewed, to which I pray to the brings that support our abilities, Please Do remember me from my perishing breath.". With this, the driver will transport you. You will need to gather your belongings, and we must part ways formally. You have three hours."
Fawkes nods and heads off.
Two hours later, he returns, two duffel bags packed. It's all he needs, really, clothing, and the rest can be built by himself or aren't necessary.
"Good. I see you remember the preliminary hour rule, and you are truly ready to leave with that in mind after two years since I made you promise to that, and this is the first time you've used it since. I have a few items to give you." Gredion hands him a small sack with 4 items. "These are, as follows: a holoprojector; a few crystals; a credit check of 50,000; and a Chromo Cube. You may be confused of 2 and 4, yes?"
"Yes indeed, master."
"Those crystals are for lightsabers, since I know you have a passion for making them. The chromo cube contains many things, all shrunken down into a container. It holds a stun baton, a thermal detonator, a light blaster, a few hundred pounds of metals from this facility, and finally, a ZetaTransmitter 7 (basically, galactic iPhone 6.). With these items, you will defend yourself, attack others, build as you wish, and stay in contact. The holoprojector is meant for contacting me. Now, to obtain something, simply press the button in the side and say the item you wish and how much you want of it, such as.."
He clicks the small, chrome cube's red button on the left of where he holds it.
"One pound of Mandalorian Iron."
The button glows, and into existence comes out one pound of the metal spoken.
"To retrieve the item, do the same thing, but simply add in 'Retrieve unusable' to the first part. If you forget unusable, it assumes you mean everything that has one pound of Mandalorian iron. Unfortunate glitch, I know. Now, you must be on your way. I hope you have learned well, and remember to stay in contact with me." Gredion retracts the metal back, hands Fawkes the cube, and waits as he puts it away. He then offers his hand out the same time Fawkes does, and they shake hands.
"Godspeed, my apprentice."
"Godspeed, my master."
And with that, Fawkes leaves.
….
It's been 3 years since then. Senior year has just started at the Intergalactic Educational Institution, and Darth Deceitus has become anxious. He's been here 3 years, and is known for three things by the staff and younger students: his outstanding intelligence, his brutal power coupled with raw energy, and a strange invertedness. He interacts just fine if in public and likes to spend time in public areas, but avoids company when alone, at all costs. Fawkes has kept relations with his master for the entire time, and has recruited 63 students to his cause, the Entertwel Anonymous United Society (EAUS), a group focused on taking down high-tech terrorists, all of the members were Sith graduates of the IEI.
He has developed quite a superior living quarter situation as well. Each form has three rooms: presumably two bedrooms and a living room, which houses the kitchen and one of the bathrooms right next to it (if you're a glutton, you could make this room yours.), the other being connected to the rightmost bedroom. He uses one of his rooms as a living room, one as a relaxation room (this one has the kitchen), and his bedroom is in the middle of these. He has no dormmate due to paperwork issues upon his arrival (and there are only 176 students at the school currently, with a magic school that can grow at will.). He also has managed to gain a few amenities others in lower grades haven't yet obtained, as well as a vast collection of books, so due to his time off sometimes being spent in the library, as well as his own little personal library, many have nicknamed him "BookMan Black", the latter being a reference to his color of choice when dressing, anywhere. Those people are now corrected, especially after Fawkes decided to duel them.
Fawkes uses a mixture of Form V, VII, and II, to form an erratic, unpredictable, and brutal style. He uses one lightsaber more than others, his own and personal favorite: The Sai Saber. Made with a synthetic, crimson red crystal, this saber has a sleek yet bulky hilt, much like normal, but with an attachment of sorts: a crossguard of a metal sword, the one that usually is seen directly below the blade. From this extends a single blade from the middle, and to the left and right; two smaller blades extend as well, about half the size of Shoto lightsabers. He uses this on its own or with many others.
Whenever he had free time and was bored, he would travel elsewhere in the galaxy and perhaps kill a Jedi or scoundrel or rival Sith, take their weapon, and craft more. With this, he has made upgraded War Rider-like sabers, sabers with enhanced cross guards, ornate sabers that look better on a mantle than in your hand, cutlass sabers that have curved blades, and others. His second favorite is a chromium hilted saber, one with a black crystal he stole off of an obscure Jedi miner, and it has golden flames embroidered on the bottom with a soft grip to his palm side. It is slightly curved at the hilt, and the blade itself spits fire when hitting a solid object, inspired by Darth Infernus' saber. He may use this rather than force powers for dirty tactics, especially known when fighting a female Jedi, with lightsabers locked, he force-grabbed this saber to impale her. All his sabers are connected to his belt, for a more convenient form of quick reaction, but a sudden fight can be staved off with the massive damage the flaming lightning Fawkes can use does.
Fawkes was ready to start his first day. All honors classes in the regular courses, plus the courses for his Sith mastery, namely lightning, choking, manipulation, and dueling. Each class was about 1 hour long, and lunch was after 4th period. After today's fourth period, he went to his dorm to skip lunch, like half of his usual days, when he hears a knock on the door. He walks to the door and opens it to see the Student Advisor, a Twi'lek, standing there.
"Afternoon, Minnei. Is there something I can assist you with?"
"Yes. We gave a few new students, and we're trying to stregthen the bonds between students, so, you'll probably have a dorm mate this last year."
"Hm. Sounds like an interesting senior year. I'll be back."
Fawkes closes the door, packs up everything in the living room into the Chromo Cube, and returns.
"So, when do those students arrive?"
"They should be here in an hour or so. Why don't you try and find someone? You'd be a great….uh..roommate…" Knowing his often social behavior being little, what little it was usually was just small talk, and his intimidating 6"3 figure and known reputation of skill didn't help some of those smaller or younger students. He was 19 now, starting this school late at 15 years of age, but some others starting this year were as old as 26 or older.
Something curious about anthros is that once the first four were created, they could be changed to suit the needs of the scientists, and more could be designed, and so a wide range were created from the original. The originals were made the same ages as their essential creators, the two young children, with a few adjustments, and others could be made differently. Old, young, sickly, disabled, healthy, immune, tall, short, the list goes on. The possibilities seemed endless, and technically were only held back by physical limitations. Many anthros around Fein's age also attended the academy, only around 43 though. 4 new ones were his age, the other 6 were younger, with one being older than him by about a year.
"Oh? Is it my charming charisma or brutal attitude? At least one of those statements was sarcastic."
"No, well, it's just that you keep to yourself a lot, but people say you're helpful...so you being a roommate can't be too bad, right?"
"I thought you lived in the Student Advisor's office/dorm."
"You get my point, Fein."
"Yes, yes. I suppose I'll try to interact, if I can. I'll sense their weak abilities, or at least their unfamiliar aura. I'll try."
"Thanks for being open-minded about this, Fein."
"Only for the greater good. Goodbye."
Minnei leaves, and he sighs. He'll have to be socially active eventually..so, he grabs a book and heads to the library. The grass is beautifully tended to, thanks to the school's magic, and due to the shroud and, you know, being in space, it's about the same brightness as midnight during a full moon, the sky full of stars.
There are noises everywhere..a gentle, artificial wind breezes by (the shroud supplies the same atmosphere that allows most to live, but can't protect against meters or powerful sun blasts), rustling the grass, with a few afternoon students enjoying their lunch outside, at least until the period is over. Of course, there's also the clattering of lightsaber hilts bumping against each other as Fein walks, currently wielding only 2 max, but keeping 19, from all the Jedi and Sith he's defeated and decided their blade was unique enough to be added to the collection. He's defeated nearly 6 times that number, half for a bounty, ¼ because they were nuisances to many others, ¼ because of a personal vendetta. He didn't have all too much remorse, but it was there. You see, you can leave the place, but only by teleportation and untraceable locations, because the place is by all trades illegal. The New Order, the group all Sith and Dark Jedi reside in, has a different set of values than the old group, the Sith in general. And they'd agree with about half of the school's teachings and such, Jedi probably wouldn't at all, and the Dark Jedi are most likely 100% ok. It also wouldn't be a big secret.
Anyway, info aside, Fawkes reached the library without issue and plans to spend 40 minutes reading, and 5 minutes getting to his next class, Lightning IV honors. He's known as the most skilled student in the class, as well as the dueling class, where he's often known to fight opponents with two lightsabers or more with one hand behind his back. Darth Gredion had always liked the style of dueling in a fencing manner, and reflected this on his apprentice. He was on his way to a table when he sensed incoming danger, and caught w book that was thrown at him that nearly hit his head. Seem to have been the book return slot failing, again, which was common. What he didn't sense was what was beside his head, and something large yet decently soft rammed into his entire head.
He stumbled a bit, attempting to uptight himself, before falling to the ground, only to feel himself not hit it, but rather float. He looks to where he was hit to see quite a sight. A 12 foot tall Komodo dragon anthro, dressed in a normal shirt and strange pants. They were purple and seemed a bit thick, but had the appearance that they had a liquid substance constantly moving about inside them, with the appearance of plasma, an electric sort of movement. Striking as that was, there were other things striking about her. Notably, a startlingly large figure, to the point where he pushed the thought from his mind if there were bra cup sizes for breasts bigger than 10 inches, to which he reminded himself since anthros were created, yes, yes there were. She also had an overly voluptuous figure and an aura that was meant to attract him, yet he could resist this aura. He knew it was from the force often used by some as defensive measures against the weak-minded. Given this aura, he also suspected she was quite persuasive, as a lot of persuasive people often used this rather than regular force users. She appears apologetic in facial expression, with a pretty face may I add. Overall it looks like she was engineered for purposes more behind the scenes of things for scientists but somehow managed to get the hell out of dodge and manage to be trained as a Sith. Fein was quite a tactician, and he could see that she was holding him up, using the force.
"Oh, I'm sooooo sorry about that! Did I hit you?" Around this time Fein also realized that at her height, the only way for the kind of impact was A., a ball of force energy, or B., she did a Wario and butt slammed him, and he was going with option B. from how her rear seemed large enough to be soft.
"Yes. No issue, my fault."
"Nonono, I didn't pay attention, I'm sorry…"
Fein rights himself to his feet and she stops holding him up.
"You must be new here. Your presence is unknown to me as of yet."
"Oh! Yeah, I'm new this year. I was originally going to not go here, but my master decided it was the best option for me to complete my training."
Fein was inputting her presence into his memory while she said that until she noticed the book he was carrying that he had caught, and the one that he had been carrying beforehand. "The Chosen One: Story of the Fallen Jedi" and "Old Ben the Jedi Master of Ol'." He had caught the latter, yet the coincidence seemed strange enough to be almost on purpose. The girl seemed to be interested.
"Oh, you like the stories of those two?"
"I suppose so. Interesting enough to know the history and contradictory natures that eventually found coexistence in death."
"Nice :3 I'm Silina Exltra, by the way, but my master gave me the title Darth Atria. Who might you be?"
"People call me Fawkes, or Fein. Currently named Darth Deceitus as well."
"Well, Deceitus, it's nice meeting you, and again, sorry about bumping you…"
"I've had worse. I wear a mask for a reason."
She eyes the many lightsabers on his belts.
"Duelist? Injuries from a lot of lightsaber battles?"
"You could say, but those are more abdominal my centered. I have deeper scars that require a shroud. Good guess though."
"Just thought you liked dueling, you have a lot of lightsabers :P"
"Trophies can be useful if they're unique enough."
"Oh, Jedi Hunter, are we?"
"Half the time. Only those I feel justly deserve it, because some bounties really are just ridiculous."
"So what's the other half?"
"Opinions."
"Right. Kinda new to it, hm? That's about 9."
"There's more in the back, and I let some lightsabers stay with the dead. Not all of them are interesting."
"Which ones are?"
"All the ones I keep."
"So, which is yours?"
He pulls out his two lightsabers so they face down diagonally, slightly menacing manner, and activates them. She seems impressed enough. "Nice! Mind if I show you mine?"
"Knock yourself out."
She force grabs hers from presumably her back pocket (he wonders if he was hit by the other side if he would be inhaled by the lightsaber), and activated it. The beam is a lighter shade of red than others, and it seems jagged, like it's incomplete, many ridges and edges to it. The hilt is smooth and pearly, with a circular grip and straight hilt with a few marks on it: III and CIV. She smiles. "Pretty hard to defend against, hm? All the surprises, all the surprises. I've defeated a few Jedi myself, but they were all attackers trying to 'defeat the Sith'. How many have you killed overall? I've done 56."
"Neato. I've lost count. I think somewhere around 100, but if I did, I would've given myself cake, and I haven't had cake."
"Can you eat with whatever happened to your face?"
Well, to prove a point, he takes the mask off. His skin is decently pale from 3 years of nighttime, but with a fair time to it, and there are a few visible scars around his nose, but none too bad. His eyes are green, red, blue, yellow, and orange, to which she gasps. "Your eyes are so pretty...uh, um, how'd you get them, I mean, hehe…"
"Born that way."
He puts the mask back on.
"I didn't see scars that bad for anything to be hidden."
"I have two masks on. You can't see the other."
She opens her mouth to ask another question, tongue flicking out quickly, before she smiles in a sultry manner.
"Want to duel, Mr. Sith Lightsaber Collector?"
"Can't see why not. Let's take this outside.
He puts his books on the table, neither were his and would either remain there or be turned in by someone else, which was fine by him. She followed him, and once going outside, taps his wristwatch. It, like all wristwatches at the school, can set a school destination and teleport him there. "If you don't want to walk, hold my hand." She does so, blushing slightly that this boy she thought was pretty cute was holding her hand already. He wore gloves, but still, it's the thought that counts. They teleport to the dueling arena, a large circular area in a gym that's made for dueling, with boundaries and a few spectators at times, but not now. He pulls out his main lightsaber and she pulls out hers. They both set it to the lowest setting they can, so it can only cut through muscle a bit, not severe, and essentially can't kill unless you hit somewhere vital.
"Ladies first."
She leaps forward and attempts a fake swing to trick him, which he doesn't fall for, instead rotating his body to the side to receive the resulting blow easier, and that he does, able to parry it effectively before striking at her, blocked by one of the many jagged ridges. He puts an arm behind his back and advances forward, making jabbing motions and sweeping arcs, and defensively parry attacks. She stops her attacks momentarily before drawing him closer using the force, and he uses this to start spiraling forward, , twirling around and causing her to dash away, as he recovers she attempts to end her dash with a flurry strike, but is stopped efficiently by a blast of force lightning, which forces her to block using her lightsaber. He walks closer while using it, striking at her blade a few times as well, before winding back and striking the blade into the air, retracting it using the force.
"Nice grip. Feels nice."
He tosses it to her, to which she catches but he also catches the surprised look on her face.
"How strong are you exactly? Most people would be lost their lightsabers or been fooled by a few of those tricks, but, what, you've seen it before?"
"No. I adapt. I think I'll head back now." He sets his lightsaber back to its regular power setting.
"Well, good job then, I guess...suppose strength isn't everything when you're facing someone strong with the force, right? I can feel your aura, it's very strong.."
"I do suppose that's a deciding factor. Have a nice day."
Before he finishes walking off, he hears her behind him.
"Wait!" He turns around. "Uh...do you have a dorm mate yet? I don't."
"Well, since you're new, I expect that. No, I don't. Minnei the Student Advisor can help you find one "
He turns around and starts walking off again, and he doesn't even have time to react before she dashes to his distance and gives him a crushing hug that basically binds him, his arms stuck to his side and his feet pulled off the ground, his head at her stomach, about at the 6.5-7 feet point.
"Will you let me be yours? Pleaaaase?"
He could feel the force trying to enter his head, she was trying to persuade him. In truth, she seemed ok. Didn't seem too aggravating to have around constantly, and she was quite good at brute force and a few tactics. Perhaps in time she could become a lot stronger, and once his aging master perished, a new symbiotic relationship could be formed.
"Ok, ok. Won't hurt, I guess."
"Yaaaaaaaay!" She tightens the hug and nuzzles his head a bit. He can almost feel his bones fracturing. "You seem pretty awesome, and that means I get an awesome roomie :3!"
"Glad that you're excited. I already renovated a room so it's empty, aside from a welcoming gift. I'll help you with your things. Understood?"
"That sounds cool to me! I'll do most of the stuff on my own, but I'll appreciate your help. Can you, uh..lead the way there though? That's probably the best help of all, because, I don't know where it's at...kinda obvious though :p"
"I will gladly do so, once I can walk again."
"Right, sorry. Just got excited."
She sets him down and he lets her enjoy the feeling of a successful persuasion, and he thinks to himself, well, force persuasion no, energetic and possibly formidable adversary and ally, yes.
….
Once she was settled in she went to her class, and now Fawkes had 10 minutes left until class, since setup was pretty quick. He pulled out his holocommunicator and contacted his master.
"Ah, my apprentice, the great destroyer of enemies. What do you have to report?"
"I'm afraid I was to be forced to gain a roommate, given the way the Student Advisor had been speaking, yet I willingly took one in today. She seems rather capable of great things, with better strategy, and she's very strong with the air of the force."
"Most applicable to your group. She is not your apprentice, is she?"
"Not yet. That will remain so until you perish, master."
"I see. I'm afraid that might be rather soon. A few Jedi are closing in on my location, specifically…the Raven."
Fawkes sneers.
"Oh joy. More fun."
"I can no doubt take on that pitiful bird, but that bird and supporters? Well, you know o must relocate, but I am currently in the residence of another Sith, as well as 5 others. It should be a more even fight now. Of course, we won't play fair nonetheless, since they'll know we're here."
"My master, attempt using the Storm."
"Ah, yes. Good suggestion. Anyhow. Keep your profile low, with another Sith in your presence, your own presence will be more noticeable. And above all, do not take on an apprentice before I die. We wouldn't like a traitor, and you know perfectly well that you hate both traitors and hypocrites."
"I do indeed. The New Order prevails, master."
"The New Order prevails..my apprentice."