The Testing Begins

[Darth Malfius]

Silence. This was something that filled the halls of the Sith Temple that afternoon. In 32 seconds, it would be exactly 24 since Darth Malfius had closed those doors and bolted them shut. In those 24 hours, much had transpired, and many people had become anxious. The corridors were not so empty now, as many unsuspecting ships had passed by the planet recently, and much to their misfortune, were shot down, where the survivors were made slaves to the Sith. Through mental instructions and brainwashing, they had been repairing everything that did not work perfectly, and tending to matters such as food preparation and other various needs of the prospective students.

The time had finally come… Pandoras opened the doors as instructed, and they all bore witness to something that even the most twisted mind there would find hard to comprehend. Shapeless entities filled the room… Blackened voids that seemed not to exist, but were most certainly there… But the one undeniable fact, was that these things were watching them. Peering through their very essence…

“This… Is the true power of the force…” The dark one spoke finally. “These things you see before you are all your dark energies given form… And enhanced by me…” The shapeless forms seemed to sway in and out of time and space, making a sight that any normal person would be driven mad by. “To become stronger than the Jedi… You must fist be stronger than yourself…” This term was dangerously similar to the sort of things that a Jedi would say… However in this instance… He meant it literally… All the entities slowly became more defined… Their edges started to solidify in the students sights… And finally, take on the forms of those they embodied. “Fight yourselves… Kill yourselves… Only then, will you be able to appreciate the true power of the force…” Each of the figures approached their perspective hosts, and took on a stance identical to that of what the Sith themselves had taken. These weren’t just going to fight them… They were going to mimic them… This would be their first test… To beat something that matches your every move…

[Darth Pandoras]

Pandoras was the first into the room, in equal parts due to knowing when the door would unlock and frustration growing from the extended time he spent in the halls waiting for training to begin. Arriving at the door, undoubtedly soon followed by others who began to note the rising force emanating from the room, he pulled out a remote from his pocket and pressed a button on it. The door slid up into the ceiling, disappearing into the temple itself.

Pandoras walked in, not saying anything as he was eager to get things started. His patience had been growing thin with the more arrivals that came. Most of the slaves were busy performing tasks that were of no consequence to Pandoras. He had fixed everything he used already, made his own food, and kept his quarters locked at all times. He just wanted to start his training so he could be rid of them sooner.

As his Lord spoke, Pandoras payed close attention to the wording. As his figure moved forward, Pandoras noted the similar stance. He slowly tested his theory that it mimicked him, which proved to be correct. Pandoras eyed as several candidates began to fight themselves. It was suicidal, as any killing blow they landed would be their own demise, such was the nature of the conflict. The Master also mentioned he enhanced them, which meant that they would more likely hiding something the other were not aware of.

Pandoras decided that combat was obviously not the goal in this....his Master was burning out the weak, and he was starting with the foolish. No one who couldn't overcome such a problem would be unable to truly grasp a mystery such as the force. Brains would win this, not brawn. With the heavy number of marauders, this would be take most of their lives.

Pandoras pondered for a moment, then began to circle his opponent who in turn did the same. When they had switched positions entirely. Pandoras began to step backward while keeping his eyes on his double. he maneuvered slowly watching where his double moved rather than himself. After getting the doppleganger into the position he wanted, he turned to Malfius for a moment.

"I do believe this is something that the slaves should refrain from watching."

With that quick phrase to his master, Pandoras lifted the remote he used earlier, pointed it at the door, and pressed the button. The large door came crashing down, the heavy weight of the ancient crushing his mirror image under it's great weight.

"Well that was easy....."

[Darth Nexus]

It was finally time, finally time to go and get the training he had waited almost 20 hours for. Yes he had waited, slept, eaten, studied, and even found time to do some research. In that research he had stumbled across something that he would have to delve into later, a certain planet that needed to be looked at. However, that would have to wait, for now Nexus was going to set out to reach the main doors. By his guess they would be opening soon and over the past hour he had felt the dark side building above him, it was amazing. So much energy was flowing threw the building now, every time Nexus took a step he could feel it course up into him. This is what true power was, this is why he respected the man in the main hall.

He made his way threw the halls, slaves parting before him as the Dark Lord made his way into the main hall, his eyes darting back and forth, noting which ones would make suitable experiments. Yes that human male would do nicely, probably mid twenties, fit, yes perfect. Nexus waved his hand and used the Force to pull the man to him, he would be needed later.

"To my quarters, wait outside the door."

He let the man go and then proceeded off again to make sure he wasn't late. He wanted to be there when the doors opened and he was given his first task. He hoped it was something worth while and not some stupid Jedi tricks like floating a book or something, anyone who couldn't do that didn't deserve to be here. Hell he would kill them himself.

Soon he was entering the doors to the main hall and he noted the several black entities along the wall, it was beautiful in the dark lords eyes. Yes this was power, this is what he had been feeling for the past hours, it was a glorious sight indeed. He proceeded forward and stood as he always did, draped in cloaks so his actions would not be seen.

As Malfius spoke Nexus listened intently, ever mindful of his words and his manner of speaking. A lot could be told from the way a single word was said, and in the Sith you listened to EVERY word someone said.

He was surprised, a bit, when a duplicate of himself appeared, both peering back at each other threw hollowed yellow eyes, both wondering what the next would do, well one was at least. He took a step left, it stepped left. He stepped right, it stepped right. They both turned to watch Pandoras easily kill his clone. Nexus however had a better idea, one that would not only get rid of the clone but get rid of some competition as well.

Carefully moving he positioned himself so him and his clone were back to back, then lined up so he would walk to safety, but the clone, oh no it would walk right into a light saber battle. Taking a few steps forward he was rewarded with the sound of of searing flesh, and his clone died. At the same time he turned to look his clone did and was beheaded by a marauder and his clone.

"Done."

He simply stated as he was now only a few paces away from Malfius.

[Darth Malfius]

Malfius watched silently as each warrior fought their counterpart, some killing them through force, others through simple trickery. By far, the most interesting tactics were taken by Nexus and Pandoras, who used their environment to defeat their foes… And by the end of it all, the ranks had thinned considerably. “Very good…” He breathed. “The Jedi are a smart breed… You must learn to think, and not just use your strength… Power without knowledge it useless… However…” He stood, and very slowly began to descend the stairs to his throne. “Knowledge without power is just as useless… And emotion is what triggers that power… Anger… Greed… Lust… Revenge… Use these emotions to fuel your strength in the force… And with that strength, strike down those who oppose you…” His feet hit the floor silently, gliding off the last step…

Suddenly, and without warning… He struck his arm across his body hard and fast. The result of this was that a huge force push thrust all the trainees against the walls hard. “Hate is your tool… Your strength and your very essence… Without such powerful emotions, you are nothing to the dark side…” His head turned slowly towards one of the Marauders who slowly stood again from crashing into a pole. “I can sense your feelings… Some of you want revenge against the Jedi… Some of you want to kill and overthrow me…” He gazed back across the others. “This… Is good…” His head suddenly snapped back to the same Marauder, and this time thrust out his arm, gripping hold of the student’s neck with the force. “However… Some of you possess no such strength… Some of you have turned to the dark side simply because you have been outcast from your societies…” the student rose up, gasping for air and grasping at the invisible hand around his neck. “If that is your reasoning… You are useless to me…” Then, rather than simply continuing to choke him, he thrust his arm to the side, slamming the student against the wall with bone breaking force. He pulled him back and slammed him into the stone again. He repeated this several times until the body fell limp, and blood fell from his skull…

“And I will not tolerate useless peons…” He released the corpse, letting it fall the few meters to the ground with a sickening thud. He turned to the others, and just stared at them a moment. “Your next test… Is to survive a scream… A force scream… An attack that has the capacity to rend flesh from bone… Burst eardrums… And turn someone’s brain to goo…” He slowly advanced on the crowd, menacingly and dangerously. “If you are truly worthy of the title Sith… This will not kill you… But the chances of you staying conscious are minimal… And if you believe that you shall not survive the attack… Then I’m afraid that you realized you’re lot in life far too late…” There was a pause, and then suddenly, a scream of pure rage emanated from the dark lord. He did not move, did not arch his back. It was as though he simply willed that the scream be. The force of the attack caused the stone under his feet to crack, and a few of the weaker Sith nearby fell dead on the spot… What would happen to those who were strong enough to survive? They would feel pain they had never felt before… Pain that would mentally scar them for the rest of their lives… But they would become stronger because of it… But the question was… Who would live?

[Darth Pandoras]

Pandorases eyes went wide as the Master mentioned his attack. He had to react quickly, or he would be hurt badly. He knew from the start he would live, but if there were anymore tests afterward he would likely be challenged to survive. The sheer force of the blow was not the Lord true power though. It channeled the force through sound, letting it dissipate in every direction. This move was powerful, but it lacked focus. Since Pandoras was able to focus on one thing, himself, rather than everyone in the room, he could effect of the move.

Pandoras moved his arms around him, stepping forward as he did so. He was using Echani martial techniques to focus his mind, and push out his surroundings. Thrusting his arm forward, only two fingers extended from his fist, he braced himself on the ground as he used all his power over the force to shoot forward at the Dark Lord as he started the attack. There was no way it would ever effect the Lord, but it would weaken the force of the move in a cone in his direction, acting as a buffer against the attack. As the walls around Pandoras shook with the Masters might, he was tossed back off his feet.

He quickly stumbled back to his feet, lungs gasping to get air in them while getting blood out. He would have fared best out of the initiates physically, but he would pay another price for it. None of the initiates could have resisted the emotional effects of the blast, Pandoras included. He did, however, no how to effect the physical part, and considering he was not showing any signs of madness he had seemed to simply take the emotional. that was not the knowledge one got from text books alone, and his Master would figure it out. This was a clue to a matter Pandoras wanted to keep to himself.

Pandoras had been hit with a Force Scream before.

[Darth Nexus]

Nexus watched as the Dark Master proceeded to explain to them the finer points of emotions and their use to a Sith. Ah yes, rage, hate, anger, passion, and all the others that could focus one to do great things. Nexus of course didn't show his emotions outwardly, nor did he appear to have any aside form hate and malus at the galaxy.

Watching as Nexus then proceeded to step down and make his way into the lesser Sith below, yes they were lesser Sith. Nexus could already feel those that stood out. Pandoras, Malfius, Himself, a couple others who would likely survive the trials that their master put before them. Yes this would whittle down the numbers, it would let the strong rise and the weak fall, and all that would be left was power.

Soon a Sith was being strangled with the force, Nexus knew that was a power he would find useful in the future. It would take time, and practice, but learning such a skill would be far more useful in the end. Nexus imagined Pandoras would find it useful as well, what better way to kill someone than slowly and painfully, their lungs beginning for air as they were suspended mid air. Ah what a feeling that was. The Sith was pummeled into the wall and Nexus could only let his eyes flicker over to Malfius as he spoke. Whatever this next attack was it was going to test his will, and his physical strength.

No sooner had Nexus started to think out possible survivalist kills than his ears were assaulted with the most unholy thing he had ever heard. It was like pure rage was being pounded into his skull with a hammer. The pain was intense, he was already down to one knee. His hands came up to grip the side of his head, his own rage was building at his master. This was insane, the assault ion his mind and body were continuing for what seemed like eons. The pressure, he had to relieve it somehow.

His rage boiled over and he closed his eyes, screaming in his mind for the shrill cry to leave. He was fighting it now, trying to concentrate on something else. He finally found his out, he brought out his right hand and began to press it into the solid stone floor beneath him. He was pressing down so hard he could feel his muscles strain to keep up the pressure. He gritted his teeth and bore threw the pain the the floor, trying desperately to find relief. It came when he felt his middle finger crack, the pain flooded in and he used it as a catalyst to take his pain off the scream. It helped slightly and he was able to get back to both feet, shakily one might add.

Nexus waited, waited for the pain in his mind to end. The finger could be fixed later, right now he used it's pain to help him focus off the pain.

[Darth Malfius]

The scream lasted only moments, but to those hit by it, the sound would seem to go on forever. The floor was covered in the blood of many dark Jedi, and a number of them lay dead upon the floor. “The survivors now have a task…” He said, only allowing a few seconds of silence to pass between the attack and his next ask of them. “To become worthy of the title of Sith… You must accomplish something… A task that will further our efforts against the Jedi…” Malfius cast his hand to a nearby wall, which with a flick of his wrist, extended two giant slabs of stone, sliding them to each side, and revealing a large monitor. “The Jedi are not alone… They have the aid of many warriors of many planets…” Suddenly, the monitor lit up to show a map of the entire known universe. The technology was old and not as effective as a holographic machine, but it was simply something that would need to be updated once their numbers had increased. “With this aid, they can easily crush the small group of you…” He waved his hand at the screen, and it lit up to show a fleet of star destroyers and other various ships. “This fleet is a small group of ex-imperials who still remain loyal to Sidious’s way. You will take the transport ship in the hanger bay that Nexus arrived on… And you will contact the fleet. Be prepared for resistance, as they will not believe you when you tell them that we are rebuilding their precious empire… And they are right to be mistrusting… But it is not a matter of right and wrong…” He waved his hand once more and the screens closed.

“Pandoras…” He said turning to the dark Jedi, seeing that he had not been affected quite the same as the others had been by the attack. “You will lead the mission… Kill the minimal amount of ex-imperials possible… I want to use their talents to operate my fleet…” He turned his heel and returned to the stairs leading up to his throne. “Do this… And you will win my favor… Fail… And there will be no corner of the universe in which you shall escape your fate…” Ascending the stairs, he finally reached the top, seating himself in his throne. “All of you will follow Pandoras’s orders while on this mission… Anyone failing to comply will be killed on the spot… Now go and retrieve me that fleet… Once it is in orbit, I will meet you all on the flagship…” And so, Darth Malfius fell silent, his mask seeming hollow, his body not even appearing to breath. His orders had been given, and his will would be done…

ooc: Make your exit posts. You are free to engage in other threads for now, though I sujest that these take place on the way to the fleet. I will post in the ooc when the fleet event thread is to be created.

[Awards: Pandoras and Nexus receive one basic Neutral power of their choice for participation of the event.]

[Darth Pandoras]

Pandoras eyes widened when he was chosen to lead the mission. It seemed that for the moment he had avoided his Master scrutiny. His Master no doubt wanted to know eventually how he managed to fare so well, but it seemed for now he planned on testing him.

After all, he seemed to favor Pandoras as his candidate for apprentice.....but he was testing him to do so, but this one was a little extreme for even Sith standards. Sith usually had to defeat a powerful rival, either that of the temples enemy or one of his own....but this case was both. He had to take on an armada of Star Destroyers while surviving among his fellow Sith. It would be no easy task.

"Yes Master....as you wish."

Pandoras bowed before heading to the exit, opening the door again with his remote. He had some preparations to make, and would have more business to attend to if he managed to return. Still, this one his chance to gain the masters favor, and a good way to quicken his training. He would achieve his goal, even if he had to kill every other Sith who came with him on the mission. He quickly turned, his voice echoing inside his Masters throne room.

"We leave at dusk, those of you who can hear me and are able to walk to the hanger I expect to be there."

With another turn on his heel, Pandoras walked back into the dark corridors of the temple.