The Withering Touch

[Salem Ave]

Some time ago, just before his promotion to Sith Knight, Salem had undergone a brief training session with Jeseth Cloak (http://www.swforums.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22855). The idea of the session in question was to essentially choke living cells. It was like depriving a human being of oxygen, up to the point that they were incapable of retaliating, but was not in any real danger of dying. Up until now the training had slipped from recollection, but his return to Corellia had imbued him with a new thirst for knowledge.

He had decided to try and practice out in the grounds surrounding the Sith Palace. There were a few indigenous breeds of plants littered about that would serve as good targets. His original focus had been a gargantuan thing, but he was sure that some of the power needed to defeat the creature had been given to him by Cloak. Whatever the case was, he thought it best to start from the ground and work his way up – literally.

Salem waited for night to creep in before slipping out and finding a suitable spot. He sat down by a small clump of creeping vines, entangled around a sprig or two of nebula orchids. He inhaled deeply and began to focus upon the Force, beginning to draw on the Darkside to prepare for the task ahead…

[Southstar]

In the darkness Southstar crept. He had seen Salem was in the training grounds earlier that day and after supper as well. The question nagged at him, what was he doing? The time had come to find out and make that annoying nagging go away. Southstar stood directly behind Salem now, surely he ha drealized Southstar was there. He was a Sith Knight as well.

"So what is it that you are up to?" He asked.

[Salem Ave]

The orchids once in bloom now withered. They looked black and lifeless, almost as if the smallest squall of wind would cause them to fade to nothing more than dust.

“Trrraining,” the vampire replied, without looking up.

His cloven hand was directed towards the small crop, claws spread as he focused his mind upon channeling the darkside into the roots; attempting to choke the source of its life.

[Southstar]

Southstar watched as the orchid wither and die. Killing from the inside as opposed to hacking it to bits, Southstar had never thought of that. It didn't seem to be the same technique Darth Vader was infamous for, that was choking it from the outside.

"That's impressive. I wonder what would happen if you tried in on an animal." Southstar wondered outloud. "A bit more challanging than an orchid..."

[Salem Ave]

“Quite ssso. I will in time test it on more complex organisms, but for the time being I am confined to playing at weeds and shrubs.”

Evidently, Salem was displeased that he had to spend so much time doing such pathetic tasks to achieve what he wanted.

[Southstar]

"Practice, practice, practice..." Southstar said quietly. Now he just watched Salam focus on killing the plant. Perhaps he would try it sometime. "I expect you need some knowledge of science to preform this task. How to kill a cell exactly, how to find them, ect." He stated.

[Salem Ave]

“No. Not at all. It is possssible to choke someone with the Forrrce without knowledge of their speciesss anatomy, and the sssame thesis can be applied to this tasssk. It is simple and takesss time in prrractice only due to the amount of sheer focus rrrequired.”

[Southstar]

"True." Southstar said and pndered the technique that Salam was practicing. He decided he would give it a try sometime, it could prove to be useful.

"Well then, I'll let you get back to your practice." He said and turned to leave.

[Salem Ave]

“You’rrre welcome to sss-tay and practice. We arrrre more likely to overcome any problemsss as two minds than one.”

[Southstar]

"Perhaps I will stay then." Southstar said and took a seat a few meters away from Salem. For a moment he pndered Salem's description of what one had to do in order to preform this task. He concentrated and with the Force he held the flower before him. Slowly he began to kill it, red to brown to black spots appeared on the stem as groups of cells began to die.

After the spots appeared, they did not grow. For some reason Southstar could not get the bloches to connect and completely kill the flower. "Hmm..." He said and wondered what he did wrong.