ALOYSIUS KALLIG
Aloysius was travelling through the dunes of red sand, trying to find his target in the wasteland surrounding him. He was walking steadily even as the violent wind was trying to hinder him at every step, doing everything to make him fall into treacherous sands,ready to swallow him whole. He paid it no mind, as he was infusing himself with the force, making the planet's active attempts at killing him useless. In fact, he considered it quite an exercise.
There was nothing better than a morning jog after all.
He was currently on Korriban, scouting for potential tombs and monster lairs. He wanted them to be used by his future students, who would have amazing adventures there. He also checked the state of the Sith academy building, to know if it was suitable for his new school.
Unfortunately it wasn't in good shape, devastated by some sort of battle that had taken place there in the past, with most of the structure on the verge of collapse, with missing pieces, sometimes even whole ceilings and walls.
Aloysius was always an optimist though, so he already saw an opportunity.
The fact that most of the structure was gone only meant that he would be able to build something even better there. Most importantly, he would order workers to put a big stained glass window in the main hall, descripting some famous scenes from Sith history. There was nothing more important for the school's prestige than the size and detail of the stained glass window.
He could also make a huge field outside, so that his students could play some sports among each other. Youngsters needed exercise after all. Aloysius always suspected that the most psychotic of the sith were the ones who weren't able to have fun outside while being a kid.
Speaking of entertaining youngsters, maybe he could build a really fancy interrogation chamber? There would be a lot of tools and cells so that every frustrated student could come there to vent. Yes, Aloysius liked that idea. When he was a lad he had to manage having only his own lightning and a rusted screwdriver, so he knew how much joy this simple change would bring to the new generation.
Having to rely on his own skills probably made him more imaginative, but children were supposed to be nurtured, not left on their own. He was a responsible adult and he would take care of his students.
Yes, the longer he thought about it, the more he was sure that he would be able to create something amazing there.
After all, Korriban was a paradise for academic pursuits, making his job so much easier. Ancient tombs, aggressive monsters and the environment that actively tries to kill you? Children would learn so much there!
Right now he was travelling to one of the tombs located some distance away from the academy grounds. It was a little far and the path quite dangerous,as he was quite sure a least part of every group travelling there would die during the journey, but Aloysius thought it would make a good place for students to take trips to. Danger was great as a motivation for self-improvement after all. If he was lucky, this place would even be inhabited by some monsters, maybe it would even be cursed.
Aloysius was able to see the stihulette of the tomb, barely visible through the red sand floating in the air. As he was approaching it, he was able to see more details. It was a massive structure, carved into a mountain, made entirely out of rock. It was made in classic sith fashion, ominous and oppressing, with sharp shapes and ancient runes placed on the walls. There was a large entrance in the middle of the structure, in the shape of a triangle.
Aloysius wasn't exactly sure why triangles were so favoured in the sith culture. He had nothing against them himself, but he would like to see a square or circle once in a while. Rectangles were swell too. But the best geometric figure was the rhombus. It would look great anywhere. There wasn't a place where it wouldn't fit. He could think of many great…Wait, what was he thinking about again?
Ah, yes. Sith tomb. He finally reached it, now looking in quiet wonder at the place before him. He could already feel the potent dark energy coming from inside. It was a sign that someone extremely powerful was buried there. It would probably be a little too much for some of his students.
Maybe he should make the trip there only allowed for older students? He thought about it for a second. Yeah, it would work. That way the youngest students would know that they would be rewarded for surviving until reaching a required age and the older ones would have some challenge.
Aloysius was so proud of himself. Lately he was full of great ideas. He would be a great principal.
He entered the tomb. Feeling that the dark side was the most powerful in the back section of the tomb, he started walking in that direction, eager to find the source of it. His journey was pleasant, as he was able to see many interesting sights on his way there. The most memorable was an ancient execution chamber, used for sacrificing Jedi prisoners. It brought back some amazing memories from his youth. Ah, he remembered coming to the very similar place as a lad. He was so ambitious and eager then, taking pleasure in even the simplest sacrifices. Good times, good times.
Eventually he reached the back section of the tomb. Before him lay a grave, made entirely of grey stone. It was covered in some sort of ancient runes, giving it quite an ominous look. Aloysius looked around. It appeared that it was the only object in the chamber, as the place was empty otherwise. It was emitting a huge amount of dark energy, indicating that whoever lied there was a powerful sith lord.
Aloysius didn't know who it was buried there, but he was sure he would find out soon. After all, the owner of this tomb was still there, making it much easier. He could feel the owner's presence in the grave. Aloysius just stood in front of the grave, waiting for the spirit to come out.
He didn't want to rush it after all. He was a spirit not long ago and he knew it would be rude to just force it out of the hiding. Evil ghosts had feelings too.
A few minutes later something finally happened. Dense, black smoke started to come out of the grave, covering the entire floor of the chamber. It looked quite impressive. He knew it wasn't a real smoke, just a manifestation of the dark side, but it looked quite swell, so Aloysius approved. Whoever lay there knew how to make a first impression.
A figure slowly revealed itself from the smoke, finally becoming visible. It was a muscular humanoid, covered from head to toe with…
"You…" Started the spirit, looking at Aloysius with obvious hostility. It was talking, becoming more furious with every second "I know you! It was…"
Wait, wait, wait!" Shouted Aloysius, waving his hands, interrupting the spirit's tirade before it even started. He knew that what he was doing was rude and it was against the sith code to interrupt in the middle of another sith's speech, but he had to know something.
"Young man" He said, looking at the spirit intensely. The spirit was glaring at him, furious at the interruption, but interested in the reason. "You know you are actually covered in bugs, right?" Aloysius said, voice completely serious.
This man had an unknown amount of insects on his body, covering his face, torso and limbs. He didn't know if the man was aware, but he knew what would happen if he didn't. It would be really embarrassing for the man to find out about them and realize he had them on himself during the entire talk with Aloysius. That was why he decided to make it clear from the start.
It would be a little embarrassing now, but Aloysius always thought that it would be better for someone to tell you that you have something on your face than for them to stay silent about it.
The spirit looked at him in disbelievement, as if it wasn't able to understand what he was saying. Did he really not notice it before? These bugs were so obvious! How scatterbrained someone had to be to not notice them?!
"How dare you mock me!" Screamed the spirit, thundering voice filling the entire chamber " I know you. It was your progeny's fault that all my plans failed! Thousand years of schemes only to be thwarted by some ancient lunatic! At least I was able to escape, but I ended up here, unable to do anything!" His voice was full of rage, echoing through the tomb with intensity.
Yes, it was a really powerful voice. Something like that could be really useful. Very, very useful. Hmm…
"And now you come here, acting as if nothing is wrong! How will you repay me?! How will you pay for the sins of your blood?!" Screamed the spirit, watching Aloysius with eyes full of hatred, apparently waiting for his answer.
Instead of answering, Aloysius stared back at the spirit, coming to the conclusion. He knew what to do in this situation.
"Say, would you like to become a teacher?" He asked. Such a powerful voice shouldn't be wasted in this forgotten tomb.
ANAKIN SKYWALKER
Anakin was looking at the wares placed on various stands located in the market in one of Onderon's recently liberated cities. So far nothing caught his eye though. He doubted he would be able to find anything valuable there, not so soon after the battle taking place in the city, but he had some time to spare, having nothing better to do.
He could talk with his padawan, but she was probably in the middle of reading one of these mysterious "ancient jedi texts". Ahsoka was really into them, hiding somewhere to read it at every available opportunity. He tried to learn more about these texts, interested in what his padawan saw in them, but Ahsoka was surprisingly hesitant about lending them to Anakin. He didn't however feel it was because she was afraid he would deem them forbidden, heretical or something like that. It was almost like she was...embarrassed?
Anakin didn't really understand why she was feeling like that, but he decided he wouldn't press her for now. She returned to her own self after finding these texts, no longer as distant as she was after their mission on Odessen. He was just happy she was feeling better.
He was in the middle of looking at some mechanical parts, pretending to believe the vendor's assurances about the quality of the products displayed, when he felt someone's gaze on him. He turned around, trying to see where it was coming from. He didn't want to get into some trouble after all. The market was crowded, making it difficult to find the person responsible. He was however quickly able to find the ones looking at him.
There were two people on the other side of the street, sitting quietly on the bench. There would be nothing suspicious about that if not for the fact that these people looked extremely out of place, in addition to how different they looked from each other.
First was the middle-aged human woman with a black hair. She was wearing some sort of sleeveless, green suit. She had a piercing gaze, though it didn't feel hostile, more like intense. She was looking a little unusual, but he wouldn't see her as suspicious if she were to be alone. She wasn't though.
Next to her sat a man in an ominous set of heavy red-black armor. He couldn't look more intimidating even if he tried, with spikes on his shoulders and a hood placed on the metal helmet. He couldn't see the man's face as it was covered by some sort of very unusual mask. Even when sitting on the bench, he was surrounded by the oppressing aura. All in all, this man looked extremely suspicious.
There was also a fact that both woman and man were staring at him, without even trying to hide it.
Yeah, not suspicious at all.
Well, he should probably approach them if they were so interested in him. Maybe they would tell him about their intentions.
He crossed the street, ending up standing in front of the mysterious pair. They didn't react after seeing him move, just quietly waiting for his approach. Probably not spies then.
"Hi, can I help you?" said Anakin, deciding to not dance around the subject. They all knew why he was talking to them, so it would be a waste of time.
"We apologize for troubling you" Said the woman calmly. Her voice had a nice, stern tone, making her sound like some of his teachers in the order. She didn't look hostile, calming Anakin a little"We are not on this planet for long and you look like someone who could help us" Oh? So it wasn't about him? Well, he had a dependable face.
"I am not from this planet myself, but I will certainly try. What do you need help with?" Anakin asked. A request for such a unique duo probably would be quite interesting.
"We are looking for someone" Said the armored man, surprising Anakin. Stranger's voice was hard, befitting such an intimidating man. It was full of confidence, as every word was said with precision and certainty. It was a little distorted by the mask, giving it an unique tone.
"And who are you looking for?" It was a surprisingly normal request. Maybe he would ask some clones to help him. They were probably getting quite bored by sitting in the base with nothing to do.
"Our problem lies in the fact that we don't really know" Said the woman, surprising Anakin. That...made things more complicated "Are we looking for someone calm, at peace with himself?"
"Or maybe we are looking for someone angry, a person full of emotions and passion?" Said the armored man, in sync with the woman." We will only know the nature of this person after they would be able to realize it themselves"
"...I don't really understand what you are talking about," said Anakin. It was really cryptic. Couldn't they just speak plainly?
"Apologies, we probably sound incomprehensible to you. You might say that we are looking for a student. And we have differences in opinion on where to find them" student? Were they some kind of force users, or was it something more mundane in nature? Their cryptic words suggested force, but there were a lot of weird people in the galaxy. Most of them were mundane."To be entirely honest, it wasn't my idea to come here. I was however dragged against my will, thanks to creating a bond with a wrong person" she looked with slight admonition at her armored companion, indicating it was his fault. The man just shrugged, apparently unconcerned by her accusations" I however decided to make the best of the bad situation, waiting for my companion to find peace again"
So she didn't really want to be on Onderon or find a student there, but since her companion (husband?) decided to stay there, she thought she could teach someone in the meantime? It sounded quite complicated. As were most of the relationships.
"So, what kind of thing are you teaching?" he said, deciding that this subject was better than asking about their personal affairs. Everyone had the right to their privacy. He knew that better than anyone.
"I guess you could say I teach people to be more open minded, though I fear it might be a gross oversimplification" said a woman with a slight smile, suggesting that there was more to it then it seemed.
"But you can't teach someone to see many paths if that person wasn't even able to find one, constantly undecided between two possible choices. To find a third option someone has to take at least one of the first two. And we can't come to an agreement on which path is better for our student to take" continued the man, apparently being quite close with the woman to finish her sentences like that. Okay, now he was sure that this conversation had some serious subtext, though he really didn't know what it was.
He then noticed that he spent more time in the market than he planned to. He was already late for the meeting! Damn it!
"Sorry, it appears I am out of time. However if I were to see someone fitting your description, I will tell them about you" Not that he really knew what to look for.
"I am sure that by the time you find someone like that, we will already have our student, but thank you nonetheless" responded the woman with a smile.
He hoped they would be able to find their student. He didn't envy a person who would be chosen though. He wouldn't be able to handle all these cryptic speeches and metaphors.
And that's the second part of echoes of the past. There is one more spirit planned for now, but he will be...busy for a while, so no parts about him for some time.
I am also not sure about the quality of Anakin part, as apparently it's really hard to write cryptic conversations with a lot of double meanings. Who knew?
Yes, I know Bane lost his orbalisk armor after a while. I just have always thought about Bane as a bug guy, ever since reading his trilogy.
Also Wrath personality was changed because of the poll I conducted on , so don't forget to read Cal's part again.