Jedi Insurgency 296

Enroute to Illum, the Falcon was just an hour away from entering the system. After the navicomputer completed another set of calculations, the ship would be all set to voyage towards Kuat. 

Ending his call with Clip, Corvus didn't feel like grinding mines for exp, nor did he wish to meditate. To kill his boredom, he exited into the main room, where he saw Wrecker making a mess of things. 

“Oi, ya bugger, stand still, will ye?!” The big man swore as he swung the training blade around like a Rancor swatting at a fly. 

Wearing a big helmet blocking his vision, Wrecker was currently being accosted by the floating drone droid. 

“It's not as easy as it looks, does it now, ya bloody wanker.” Echo jeered from the side. 

“Argh. Watch that tongue oh yours, Echo. Eva since ya got yer bits back, ya've been actin like o prim on payday'bout ta get his feathers ruffled by a Twi'lek dancer!” Wrecker jeered back, catching another painful-but harmless-stun bolt to the chin. “Bloody ‘ell, mate!” 

Echo, meanwhile, clapped and laughed, with Hunter and Yon joining in. 

“Try calming down your heart rate by 45%, by this rate, you're liable to tap into the Darkside.” Tech chided from the comfortable Alderaanian couch stolen from Bail's office, a datapad in hand. 

“Sod yer Darkside, ai'm a man with passion. General's right here, ee can tell ya hisself ee can!” Wrecker exclaimed even louder this time. 

Everyone else had been focusing on making fun of the big man, and only now did they notice that Corvus stood amongst them. 

“Crickey, I didn't even hear your door open, General.” Hunter said in embarrassment at being caught unaware. His nose was twitching, and he seemed pissed with himself that his greatest genetic gift didn't seem to warn him. 

“Master.” Yon nodded from on top of the rafters, and floated down a plate with a slice of cake from the Knighting ceremony several days ago. 

The skinny short, eighteen year old kid seemed to be fighting with Crosshair for who could be most sneaky/edgy, as the bald man was hanging out at a deliberately darkened section of the room. 

Taking the cake, Corvus realized the kid must've held onto this specially for him. He had been in such a rush to promote, train, and plan with the council, that by the time they saw one another again on the Falcon, he had practically locked himself in his room, meditating and ruminating on his abilities. In fact, this was only the fourth time he had left his quarters since setting off. 

‘Poor kid is starving for attention.’ Corvus thought, clucking his tongue. 

With a wave of his hand, he [Reverse Shadow Hopped], pulling Yon through the ether, and depositing him directly in front of Corvus. The short, black haired teen opened his slanted eyes wide in surprise. “Y-you can do that?!” 

The kid was practically salivating at the prospect of learning a new technique. In fact, Corvus did indeed spot the kid smacking his lips in anticipation. “Master, when can I learn!” 

“Oh, kickass. I agree with Ragebar over there, when can we learn how to do that? No offense, General, but all this pussy footing around with sticks isn't our style. We were born commandos, and spelunkers of the dark. Teach us how to go invisible, and move stuff with our minds.” Hunter said with a big grin on his face. 

“The lightsaber is the weapon of the Jedi.” Yon airily declared, crossing his arms. 

“And we are no Jedi.” Crosshair whispered from his dark corner. 

“Heh, get a load of this guy.” Echo joked, pointing a thumb behind his back. “Glummy here has been trying to absorb the darkness for the past 48hrs. Don't believe his tripe.” 

“I've witnessed how Revan trains. Immersing oneself within the proper environment appears to be critical to the learning process.” Crosshair maintained an acerbic attitude, refusing to rise to Echo's bait. 

“Crosshair is correct, Echo. I have thoroughly monitored General Revan several times throughout our journeys, and everything points towards environmental factors…and curiously, walking in and out of a room repeatedly? I have attempted such training myself, but I have yet to replicate any special feeling.” Tech said in a scholarly tone, correcting Echo, whilst also expressing his own doubts & dissatisfaction. Yet he was chipper, and eager to disprove his hypothesis until he found the correct path forward. 

“Oi, do ya really not want ta learn the lightsaber? It's cool, glowy, and can cut through almost everything! Bzzz! Kshh! Zzzzz! Zuorrrrr, waaaaaahhhhh.” Wrecker boomed, then began to make lightsaber noises with his mouth. 

The Force responded to his powerful emotions of childish joy, and momentarily aided him. Much to the shock of his brothers, Wrecker ‘effortlessly’ deflected the next ten bolts, clearing stage one of the droid's training module. “Haha. See? Easy!” 

“I don't believe it.” Echo slowly stated. 

“This proves nothing. The way of the shadow is clearly to remain hiding in place.” Crosshair stubbornly said, yet the barest hint of longing seeped out of him in the Force as he glanced at the training blade. 

“Alright you big oaf, don't get cocky just because you're the first one to pass the course. It was only level one, so hand over the blasted helmet, and let me have a crack at it again.” Hunter demanded with gritted teeth, determined not to make a fool out of himself. 

“Hunter tried three separate times, failing to clear level one each time.” Yon said to Corvus directly beside Hunter as if it were perfectly natural. 

Corvus winced at the kid's lack of social decorum. He knew he wasn't being malicious-he hoped-but at least Hunter wasn't the soft type to get riled up by that sort of thing. 

“Say that Bantha shit one more time, Ragebar, or put your creds where your mouth is!” Hunter said with a raised voice, clearly peeved. 

Glancing down at the self-satisfied smug smirk of his student, he couldn't help but reappraise the kid. Forget lack of social etiquette, Yon's gaslighting Hunter on purpose! 

Corvus didn't know if he should pat Yon on the back for doing a good job following in his Master's footsteps, or if he should pull him aside, and act like he-Corvus-had absolutely never done such things to others in the past. 

“Even better. If you can't pass this, I'll tell everyone what I saw you whisper to Master-” 

“Boy!” Hunter desperately got out, looking like he might lunge at him. 

Yon stuck out his tongue, and gave the super commando a cocky grin. “Go on, Hunter, make my day.” 

“We never should have agreed to this. Remember, we are not Jedi.” Crosshair mumbled to himself from the back. 

Hunter took a deep, impassioned breath, staring murder at Yon. “Fine. Fine! When I beat this challenge, you will never threaten to reveal what was said that day, on your honor as a man.” 

Yon, wriggled his eyebrows at Corvus as if to say ‘see, I've learned so much from you, praise me~’ 

“On my honor as a man, your fellow Jedi, and the best duelist Master Corvus has taught, you have my agreement.” Yon solemnly stated, shaking Hunter's hand. 

“Roight. Let's rock.” Hunter grimly whispered to himself, then slammed the big helmet down over his head, blocking his vision, and held the training saber up. 

The super commando's aura in the Force was all over the place, and he very clearly had some difficulty focusing upon it. Frowning to himself, Corvus closed his eyes, then unleashed a powerful [Mind Trick] on the Captain. 

‘Focus upon the General. Open yourself to his aura. Feel the subtle melody, the thrum of the hull, the passing stars, the ripple of his shadow, the light within the dark, then…ACT!!!’ 

Pausing as if he were in a trance, Hunter then began to shiver as if he were a recovering addict. Everyone-save Corvus-looked at him in worry, and Tech was about to step forward to check his condition. However, Corvus saw he was actually in a special, hyperfocused state, and with the clench of his fist, held everyone perfectly still. They couldn't even open their jaws if they wanted to. 

Over the next five minutes, Hunter dodged, swayed and deflected the oncoming bolts like he was a dancing drunk moving about on an old sailing ship. He looked incredibly goofy, but the results spoke for themselves. By the end of the exercise, the droid hovered in place, waiting for the next command to be executed. 

‘Everyone, be silent as Hunter digests his gains.’ Corvus commanded, sending the message into their minds. 

Before, such casual telepathy between multiple minds not linked by a [Force Bond] was extremely difficult for him. However, Corvus had always been skilled at [Mind Trick], and using a similar route for communication-rather than domination-was not too difficult for him. 

About ten minutes later, Hunter rose from a meditative pose, removed his helmet, and bowed towards Corvus. “Appreciate it, General. I think I could challenge several more levels now.” 

“Think nothing of it, my friend.” Corvus smiled from behind his mask. “However, I advise against it. You have only just now caught a glimpse of the basics after I inundated your mind with so many complex topics.” 

“Shadows, the hum of the ship, light & dark, these things are complex?” Hunter asked, thinking Corvus was messing with him. 

“Yes and no. Broadly speaking, these are good things for a Force Sensitive to focus upon. They are observable phenomena, helping ground oneself within the wider context of the Force. However, the deeper one goes into these concepts, the more convoluted it becomes. What I did was the equivalent of injecting high level math formulas into your brain so that you could understand addition. Focusing upon this too deeply at your stage would significantly harm your foundation. Imagine, for example, attempting a complex equation, and not understanding addition? Or generating electricity…” He said, spawning [Force Lightning] in his hand. “But not understanding the Darkside?” 

“Master is correct. Thank you for the lesson, Master.” Yon seriously bowed, as if his words had triggered an epiphany. Then, Yon immediately [Shadow Hopped] away to his room to meditate…and [Shadow Hopped] back with a clean fork for the cake, shoving it wordlessly into Corvus’s hands, before retreating once more. 

‘That kid.’ Corvus sighed lovingly, and began to take several large bites. 

“The theory is sound. Hunter, come this way, if you would. I must query you about your experience. You too, Wrecker.” Tech said. 

“Awe, do I ave too?” Wrecker pouted like a giant puppy, and hung his head like a kid. 

“I'm afraid so. Come you two, this is for science.” Tech smiled, adjusted his glasses, then dragged his two brothers to his quarters. 

“So, General, mind giving me one of those magical experiences too?” Echo embarrassingly asked, scratching his head. 

“Go for it, tiger.” Corvus said, blasting Echo with [Valor] & [Inspire Follower], instead of those conceptual level things. 

“Alright! I've got this!” Echo-pumped up on his own hype-initiated the droid, aaaand promptly got shot the fuck up. “Uagh! I almost had it that time, this one's it!” 

Echo then went three more times, eventually succeeding due to sheer grit and determination. And of course, a little boost of magic. This was a relatively safer approach, and one Corvus would've preferred to do with Hunter, but Yon, that little devil, was liable to spill that secret or continue to use it as leverage. He assumed the hellion planned to use it here to spurn Hunter on towards greatness. In Yon's own way, that was how he showed he cared. But Corvus didn't want to chance that, so he hit Hunter with something a little more potent. 

“Hah.” Crosshair silently scoffed from his alcove. 

“You'll eventually learn stealth following this method, but it will take you ages, and isn't good for your foundation.” Corvus-rarely did he interact with Crosshair 1 on 1-shared his heartfelt observation. 

“My brothers can cover my weaknesses, they always have.” Crosshair simply stated. 

“And the shadows?” Corvus asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Teach me.” Crosshair simply responded, neither servile, nor arrogant. 

A Jedi robe to the face was Corvus's response. 

“Wear that for a month, then we'll talk.” Corvus said, before departing to his quarters to ruminate further on the Force. 

~~~~~~

Deep within the shadows of the Falcon, a sour, surely bald man had been holding onto a piece of cloth grimacing to himself for several hours. Then, breathing in the darkness, he intently stared at it, willing himself to blend in. 

Aaaaand nothing. 

Nothing happened. 

Gritting his teeth, he gripped the cloth once more. This time the grumbling became soft swears, and curse words directed at Revan's mother. 

~~~~~