Chapter 5. Training
The Academy is bustling with activity several hours before sunrise. Syrah and Gyllan are placed under the tutelage of Sith Master Kyan. "The Force is fueled by passion…So my young Sith…The Question becomes…What are your passions…Learn this and you will fuel your power…" This is how their lessons begin with lecture. Gyllan pretended to listen as much of what is said he had already been taught. Syrah as she calls herself divides her attention between training and looking for weaknesses in the brotherhood.
In the Academy there is a pecking order, the most gifted students get one on one time with the Masters. The average Sith students are trained in groups. There are gangs in the academy most are run by the most powerful students. Everyone eats in the commissary at the same time. The Masters sit at a table and only the most prestigious students are allowed to sit with them.
"May we join you?" A young girl asks to Sylah.
"No!" The girl and her two companions stand there staring at her. Syrah pauses in her eating, "Is there something else?" The girl just walks away.
"Is that wise?" Gyllan asks in a whisper.
"We are not here to make friends…" She coldly says getting stares from all over the commissary. After lunch they meet Master Kyan in his private meditation chamber. "So my young Apprentices have you discovered your passions?"
"My wife…" Gyllan replies with a smile.
"This is no time for jokes young one…"
"Sorry Master…Freedom…My Freedom…The freedom to do as I will…"
He nods in approval, "That is a start…" He looks at Syrah, "And you apprentice?"
It is annoying to be referred to as an apprentice, especially since Syrah knows more about the Dark Side than any of the fools teaching in the academy. "Power!"
"Interesting. Why power?"
"In the consortium I always served those with power and those with power betrayed me…I swore that one day I would have the power…"
"I feel your anger…"
("I doubt that…") She says mentally.
"Anger will give you focus…and it will make you strong…There is also fear…instilling fear in others and mastering your fears….Hate using someone else's hate against them or harnessing the hate you have inside you…and finally anger of the three it can make you strong…"
"Master can all three be used at the same time?" Gyllan asks after receiving a signal from Syrah.
"Very good apprentice…Yes when all three are one the force serves you best…Come let us meditate…" They meditate for an hour then they go to a private dueling arena and begin lightsaber training. "I am very impressed with the both of you…Your form is worthy of that of a Master…Our lessons for today are over…Go and practice privately what you have learned."
Syrah and Gyllan explore the academy and visit every area. They stop at the advanced training arena and watch as the more seasoned students duel each other or combat droids on Master level. They leave the advanced training arena and go to their room. "You seem aggravated…" Gyllan says playing with her hair.
"You know what I am and to demean myself like this…"
"This is your plan…"
She sighs, "Right…I want you to build a lightsaber after a month has passed…"
The days passed by slowly and slowly Darth Syren as Syrah Cage infiltrates the new brotherhood. The first month passed by and Gyllan builds a lightsaber. He became the envy of students below, on, and above his level. Then two days later Syrah built a lightsaber. "Impressive…No apprentice has ever mastered the skills so quickly for building a lightsaber…" He hands them their weapons. "Well done…"
"Thank you Master…" They reply at the same time. The next day Master Kyan is joined by another Sith Master.
"Apprentices…This is Master Vai…The best swordswoman in the Academy…Many Sith have trained under her including the Emperor…"
Vai is old, but her power is strong and her skill with a lightsaber is incredible. They start Syrah and Gyllan with practice blades using the Shii-Cho style. Within a week the couple has mastered form I and is now on form II. Masters Vai and Kyan watch as Gyllan and Syrah perform their practice moves.
"I have not formed a bond with either of them…They have a bond between them…" Master Kyan says to Vai.
"I see it…and their form is perfect…"
"Both have a background in sword fighting so…"
"Their strength in the force is growing stronger…Perhaps we should increase their training and push them harder…"
Syrah's plan is taking shape and Gyllan is receiving the training he needs, but she augments his training by lecturing him privately pushing the philosophy rule of two. Soon they join the other students in group sword challenges. Gyllan receives his first challenge from a Noghri. He defeats the Noghri apprentice using the force to overpower him. As the other students congratulate him Syrah turns her eyes on Lorn Voat the most powerful and skilled student at the academy.