Chapter 14
AN: Another day, another update. Hope you readers enjoy it and leave a review.
Messorem-Dust: Yeah Triz is similar to Anakin in some ways and has trauma but will learn how to deal with it in better ways than he did. Obi-Wan cared for Anakin but the Jedi did not know how to deal with an actual kid with trauma, just telling him to ignore it. Yeah, Triz is getting heavily attached to Shmi due to not only saving her life but also being a parental figure, she is still a kid after all. With a responsible adult who has experience with children, Shmi will help Triz, she might not remember yet but she will. There will be enough discoveries on Yavin 4, mostly Sith related, maybe a Jedi one, Im still hashing that part out.
The Dynamic class freighter dropped out of hyperspace at their intended destination the planet of Yavin. Yavin Prime is an orange gas giant which was orbited by dozens of moons. After a brief scan, the ship's systems showed them that three moons were able to sustain life, Yavin 4, 8, and 13. The first one of which was their true destination.
"Woooooow," Triz said, eyes open wide and mouth agape at the sight of the gas planet and its many moons.
"Beautiful isn't it," Shmi said with a small smile, piloting the ship.
"As nice as it is to look at its clouds provided good cover in battle, but death awaits any pilot too stupid to dive too far," Acina commented.
"Well we aren't fighting any space battles are we?" Shmi replied back.
"Never say never my apprentice," the sith added.
"So what's so special about this place?" Shmi asked.
"The gas giant, nothing, the true place of interest is it's the fourth moon. Yavin 4 was once the home to the ancient Massassi worriers. Despite being remote and unheard of, it has played an important role in galactic events, including where Exar Kun, a powerful Sith, first joined the order and the destruction of Sith Lord Freedon Nad during the Great Sith War, and the site of the eventual final death of the maddened Jedi Revan in the waning days of the Galactic War. The scars of those events still linger in the force around the moon. Its history is deep and it hides many secrets among the thick jungles. The moon is strong with the force and a perfect place to continue the training of a Sith," Acina explained.
"Any dangers I should be worried about?" Shmi asked.
Acina thought for a moment. "If nothing has changed from my time, there is little you should be worried about."
"Three thousand years is a long time you know," Shmi pointed out.
"I'm aware of that my dear but don't worry yourself, if there is truly something that can pose a danger to us there, it is my firmest belief that you will be able to deal with it without issues," Acina said. "And if you cant, then I will just take over and fix the problem as usual," she added in a sassy tone.
"I'm just going to focus on flying us to the right location and land," Shmi said to her master, ignoring the comment. She flew the ship through the atmosphere of the jungle moon, passing the flocks of colorful Whisper birds that soared through the air high above the lush green canopies of the jungle. After some scouting, they decided to land in front of one of the large temples. The teen sitting beside her in the co-pilot seat just kept looking at everything with wonder in her eyes. Shmi had not told Triz that she knew about her little adventure on the station, Acina wanted to reprimand the teen in some way but Shmi chose otherwise. Triz had gone through who knows what trouble to get that holocron back and that was enough. Not to mention that Shmi did not want to upset the poor girl any more than she currently was, the sight of Triz crying in her sleep still fresh in the former slave's mind.
As they landed in front of a large stone structure all wildlife that was in close proximity scattered, running away further into the jungle in search of safety. The ship touched down on the ground smoothly, allowing Shmi to shut down the engines.
"So what do we do now?" Triz asked, eagerly expecting the reply from her mentor.
She hummed, lifting one hand to rest it under her chin, thinking. "First things first, we should make sure the area around the ship is secure, we don't want any beasties surprising us and we should probably take a look at the temple while at it. After that, we could rest for a bit and then commence with today's training."
"Sounds good to me, master," Triz replied with a nod. Shmi turned her seat towards the teen.
"If you are going to go out there with me, you would need something to protect yourself, that's why I'm giving you this," Shmi said and pulled out her blaster from its holster, handing it to Triz. The teen took it from Shmi's hand carefully, eyes fixed on the weapon. "How's your aim?"
"Good enough," Triz replied. "My grandpa used to teach me how to fire a hunting rifle."
Shmi hummed in acknowledgment. "The fire mode is on stun, you can switch it to lethal by flicking the switch to the side. If you see something charging at you do not hesitate to use it, understand?" Triz looked up from the blaster and gave a firm nod. "Good," Shmi added with a small smile.
"What about you? What will you use?" Triz asked, a small hint of worry in her voice.
"My lightsabers," Shmi replied. "I should start using them more outside practice anyway. Now come on it's time to do some exploring."
The duo went through the ship towards the cargo bay and once the ramp lowered, exited the ship. The first thing they noticed once they left the ship was the smell, not a bad smell but a smell of untouched wideness. The combined aroma of vegetation, moisture, soil, decaying plants, and wood.
The second thing they noticed was the humidity, the air was warm and sticky. The sounds of the jungle's inhabitants filled the air around them, the constant buzz of millions of insects and other creatures going about their lives. Loud calls of birds sitting on tree branches could be heard, those trees reaching towards the sky.
"It's similar yet different from Selucami," Triz said as she looked at the jungle surrounding them.
"No two places are ever the same," Shmi said. "That does not mean that it's not as if not more dangerous than Selucami. This place has been uninhabited for who knows how long, there's nothing to keep the wildlife in check. This is their territory so be careful where you trudge."
"Got it," the teen responded. The woman and the teen proceeded to have a look around the exterior of the temple and the plaza they landed on. The plaza was mostly clear of vegetation as was the temple. The temple itself had beautiful carvings of blueleaf shrubs leaves carved into its outer surface.
"Do you know anything about this place?" Shmi asked her ghostly master.
"Truthfully no, I have read reports on the Great Temple, the Temple of Exar Kun, and a few others but nothing that matches this one. What I can say for certain is someone took a lot of effort to carve those images into the temple walls, not to mention the design of the building," the Sith replied.
"Anything we should be worried about?" Shmi asked warily.
"Your senses have developed, I think you can answer your own question," Acina replied. "But just to ease your worry, no, I sense nothing of danger inside or around it."
Shmi did not respond, she just continued to scout around the temple before she and Triz decided to enter it. As they walked through the main entrance Triz gripped the blaster firmly, watchful eyes looking at every shadow, she could not help but get an eerie feeling about the place. The majority of the temple was taken up by a single vast opening, with stairs leading up and down to levels of alcoves carved into the walls. But what truly caught the duo's attention was a large blue energy crystal in the middle of the large room.
"Wow," Triz said eyeing the large crystal.
"Yeah, wow," Shmi replied, sharing the teen's sentiment.
"Fascinating, I have not read anything concerning this. Either no one truly knew about this when I was alive or someone had purposely kept the knowledge of this place for themselves," Acina commented, suspicion now evident in her voice. It wouldn't be the first time someone in the Empire opted not to tell her something, keeping it instead for their own gain.
"What do you think the crystal is for?" Triz asked.
Shmi shrugged. "I don't have a clue, I don't see anything around here that it could power," she responded. "Your thoughts?"
"I'm perplexed as you are my apprentice, this is new to me as well. It is possible that the Massassi found it and decided to put it here for no other purpose than to worship it," Acina answered, although she doubted it, there must be a purpose to the crystal.
"A mystery for another time then," Shmi said. Shmi and Triz gave the temple a look over, not finding anything truly of interest to them or danger. After exiting the temple they headed towards the jungle. As they walked through the rainforest, they were surprised by how dark it was. Because of the dense canopy of leaves and tree branches above, only a tiny amount of light actually reached the forest floor. Consequently, plant growth on the forest floor in undisturbed rainforests was often limited. The landscape is instead dominated by large tree trunks. Many of the trees have "buttress roots", which help give them stability and enable them to grow to great heights. Animals who saw them made themselves scarce. As they walked through the thick jungle they came across a stream.
"You think it's drinkable?" Triz asked as she knelt down looking at her reflection in the water.
"The data said that the moon has drinkable water but we got a scanner on the ship, we will check to be sure later, better not get any unwanted diseases," Shmi replied. A strange glint near the teen caught her eye. Then she saw what looked to be deep blue orbs moving toward the girl. Acting on instinct she pulled and ignited her lightsaber striking at the creature as it attempted to bite Triz. The blade cut the animal in half, killing the creature. Triz was left shocked at what just occurred.
"W-What was that?" she asked confused as she got up and stumbled backward.
"Crystal snake," Shmi said pointing her blade at the two barely noticeable pieces of the animal. "Almost completely translucent."
"Not to mention its venom is rather potent, even if it isn't lethal it can still throw a person into a coma-like state for hours and in a place like this that would mean..." Acina said, what she was implying rather obvious to her apprentice.
"That whoever gets bit ends up as dinner for the other more dangerous creatures of the jungle," Shmi finished. "I get the point," she looked back at Triz. "Let's get back to the ship and keep your eyes peeled."
"Y-yeah understood," Triz replied nervously. "Sorry."
Their walk back to the ship was uninterrupted, apart from those damned woolamanders who thought it was a fun idea to use the two of them as targets for throwing fruit. Shmi was not hit, using the force to stop the barrage of fruit and return it back. Triz on the other hand, wasn't so lucky, getting hit in the head by a strange orange fruit, the juice smearing all over her hair and face. This got a chuckle out of Shmi and an angry frown from Triz.
"You wouldn't be laughing if it was you," Triz grumbled.
"Come on, you will wash up on the ship," Shmi said with a smirk on her face.
"Ah, it's so sticky," Triz complained as she tried to wipe it off her face, getting another chuckle from her mentor. Deeming the area secure enough the two opted to take a break to eat and refresh before leaving the confines of the ship once more.
"What will you teach me now? More force teachings? Meditating?" she asked expectedly. Although Triz did feel slightly bored with the meditating and more theoretical studies she was determined to succeed and that meant doing her best at anything Shmi decided to teach her.
"No, not now, that will come later," Shmi said, pulling one of her lightsabers from its place on her belt and offering it to the zabrak. The teen's eyes went wide with surprise as she tentatively took the cylindrical object from her mentor's hand. "I was thinking that we would start working on the basics of lightsaber combat."
"Y-You think I'm ready?" Triz asked, nervously looking at her master.
"Ready? Maybe yes, maybe no but you are eager, I can practically sense it all the time," Shmi said, Triz lowering her gaze from embarrassment. "And as the saying goes where there's a will there's a way. So I will start teaching you what I can, my own skills might not be that great but they should be enough to commence your training."
Not great, Triz refused to believe that, she had seen what Shmi was capable of, how powerful she was. Triz thought that Shmi was just acting humble for her sake. She will not disappoint her master. Triz gave a firm nod.
Shmi's lips curved slightly upward at the teen's determination. "Good, let's begin then," she said and pulled out her other lightsaber igniting it, the red blade coming to life. Shmi took a form I stance. "The basic rules of attacks, parries, and body target zones were established by Shii-Cho combat. The body target zones were numbered as follows; 1- head, 2- right arm and side, 3- left arm and side, 4- back, 5- right leg, 6- left leg. Look closely and observe, try to memorize the movements."
Shmi proceeded to demonstrate and explain the basic movements of the form, like the horizontal slash, a move called "Sarlacc Sweep", a wide sweeping attack in which the duelist struck against multiple enemies, the "Disarming Slash", a move consisting of a strike directed at the opponent's weapon in an attempt to rip it out of their grasp and so on. The movements were simplistic in nature but that did not mean the young zabrak wasn't mesmerized by them. She watched every movement of Shmi's body with great focus, not wishing to miss any detail. Then came the time for her to try for herself. Triz ignited the blade she was given, feeling the heat coming off the blade for the first time, she was awed by it. After a moment she took a stance as close as she could to one Shmi was currently in and followed her teacher's movements as closely as she could. Shmis movements were deliberately slow so Triz could keep up with her, to make it easier for the young acylate to copy the movements. This went on for more than an hour and at the end of it, Triz was more than just a little bit tired.
"Take a break, go drink some water. Once you regained some energy we will continue for a bit more," Shmi said, looking at the teen.
"I-I'm fine...we can continue," Triz said while gathering her breath.
"There's no point in continuing if you can barely lift your arms," Shmi said in a firm tone. "Deactivate the blade and take a quick break, if we got anything it's time."
Triz nodded and deactivated the crimson blade, handing it back to Shmi, who deactivated her own and placed the two silver cylinders back on her belt. The teen walked up the ramp heading inside the ship. Acina chose that moment to pipe in.
"Not a bad start I must say," the sith said. "But it will take a lot to make her into a competent duelist."
"As I said, we have time now that we are here and there is no one to bother us," Shmi said.
"Indeed, but do not let your own studies suffer because of her, you still have a long way to go," the ghostly Sith said. "I have plenty to teach you still."
"Once we finish up here and she continues with her force training we will continue our," Shmi told her mentor. "Got anything interesting for me?"
"You have no idea," the Sith said with a hint of glee in her tone. Time passed as Triz returned and completed her first-ever lesson on combat training with Shmi. After finishing the teen returned to the confines of the ship to take another break and then continue with her force training. Shmi on the other hand remained outside of the ship, ready to commence her own training.
"I'm all ears master. What do you have to teach me today?" Shmi said, showing her own eagerness. The zabrak teen wasn't the only one ready to learn more.
"A technique essential for any Sith to know and master, a signature technique of our order you can call it. One is called Sith Lightning. Force lightning is an almost purely offensive and energy-based power that channeled Force energy down the user's limbs, hurling arcing bolts of electricity from the wielder's fingertips or palms. It takes focus and channeling the dark side through your body to achieve it. It consists in focusing on one's hatred, desire to break, maim or destroy and magnifying it through the dark side. Through the Force link with the target, those feelings are transformed into an energetic manifestation of themselves, the more intense the hatred, the stronger the lightning," the Sith ghost explained.
"It's always anger, why is it always anger?" Shmi asked her mentor. Almost every technique she had learned from Acina required anger to some degree. She understood that the dark side used emotion as a source of power but why was anger so prominent?
"As I have explained before, anger is a powerful emotion, one often felt and especially during combat so it is an emotion that allows the easiest access to the powers of the dark side. You can love, you can feel happy but anger allows a stronger bond between the user and the force, especially if your anger is directed at a target. As you have experienced yourself with the Zygerian slavers and your visions of the past," the Sith explained, and after a moment of thought Shmi had to agree with her master's explanation. Thinking about what she felt during her culling of the Zygerrians on Culumex and memories of her time as a slave confirmed that.
Shmi sighed. "Alright, explain again how I do this."
"Again, as I said, you have to channel the force energy through your body towards your hands, and use your raw emotions as a source. That boulder over there will serve as a perfect target," the site said. Shmi looked at the nearby rock that was covered in traces of vegetation and wines. She took several steps towards it. "Lift your hand towards it and focus your power. Focus your anger, think about what you want to do, how you want it to course through your body."
Shmi did as told, lifted her right hand towards the boulder, closed her eyes, and focused. She drew upon her emotions, especially her anger as Acina told her to do. Thinking about the most recent events was enough to light up the embers of hate inside her. She felt the force coursing through her, the dark sides call. She tried directing it through her body, over her arm towards her finger but after a while nothing happened. Shmi tried to do the process again but again nothing happened. She gave out an annoyed sith.
"Patience my apprentice, no one has done it on their first try. Now try again," Acina said, encouraging her pupil.
Shmi listened to her master and tried again. She once more pulled upon her emotions, moved the power she felt to course through her body down her arm towards her fingers but just like the first try nothing happened. She kept trying again and again, and with each failed attempt her frustration rose all so slightly. After the eighth attempt, she opened her eyes and cursed.
"It's not working," Shmi uttered, aggravation evident in her voice.
"Discouraged after mere eight attempts my dear apprentice?" Acina asked, there was amusement in her tone.
"Yes," Shmi replied hotly.
"And how many times did you fail in our previous lessons huh?" Acina asked but did not give Shmi a chance to answer. "I will tell you, much, much more. You still lack patience when it comes to learning, fortunately for both of us, I have plenty of patience to spear. Now try again."
Shmi lifted her arm once more and called upon her anger, her fury as she felt the force flow through her. She used the memories of the things she had seen the Zygerrians do, she thought about all the people she could not save, all those the slavers had already taken to their markets to be sold like livestock. She thought about the memory of her being punished by her former owner, then suddenly her mind flashed as another vision of the past came to her. It was a vision of a small blond boy, he could not be older than four or five looking at a Toydarian with a terrified look in his eyes. All she could see were shelves with random junk around them, the boy laying on the floor with a bruise on his cheek, and the flying alien hovering above him one hand raised to strike once more.
She did not know who the boy was but the image of him in pain brought a wave of anger she never felt before. That anger turned into hate, pure hate for the Toydarian who dared strike a defenseless child. Before she knew it the vision had ended. Instinctively she continued to draw upon her newly found anger and hate directing them through her body, down her arm to her finger. Then suddenly a powerful wave of lighting erupted from her fingertips, shooting straight at the rock, shattering it into pieces. Shmi did not know how long she went at it, allowing her emotions to guide her but once the lightning ceased, her hands felt warm and some smoke was coming of her fingers. Shmi looked at her right hand with amazement. She had just done it.
"Congratulations apprentice, if I could clap I would," the Sith ghost said. "Now this is only your first time using such a power, you will need to master it so you can use it at will. Don't worry it is not hard to do so, just remember that feeling you felt at that moment she the lighting started and next time replicate it. You will be sure to succeed."
Shmi was too preoccupied to notice the young zabrak standing on the lowered ramp with an expression of shock and awe on her face. Triz had been practicing her telekinesis when she felt something stirring outside. It felt powerful in the force so she decided to check out what it was, having a good idea what it was in the first place. What she saw only cemented her decision to stay with her new master, she wanted to be able to do that, to shoot lightning out of her hands, she wanted that power. And she will do anything to have it.