Building Over Burnt Bridges (complete)

[Vega Van-Derveld]

It was early in the afternoon. The sun was peeking out from behind heavy clouds and a cool breeze was slipping through the trees. Vega stood at the exit of the Sith Palace, silent. Not long prior to his arriving on the steps, he had send a communication to one of the Order’s members, a Sith Knight, asking that he come to where the Lupine stood now, so that they could talk.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

Je'gan appeared abruptly, and promptly, at the same door. The breeze hit him square in the face, and he took a much-needed moment to take a deep breath and relax.

"Good afternoon, milord."

[Vega Van-Derveld]

“No need for formalities or ceremony,” Vega waved a dismissive hand.

“Do you have time to talk, Je’gan? It’s a good day for a walk.”

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"My apprentices are working on their own, and I'm done my latest set of experiments. I've got nothing but time."

[Vega Van-Derveld]

He nodded, and so they began to pace away from the castle, with Vega folding his arms neatly behind his back.

“Tell me... do you recall when first we met?”

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"Right after I learned physical enhancement," he replied promptly. "I didn't have a lightsaber, I didn't have anything approaching skill. You, on the other hand, were a full-fledged Sith Lord. Not a member of TSO; fighting against us, I think.

"So what do I do?" He barked a laugh. "Why, I up and attack you, of course. Me and my dirk, and an iron bar, and a rocket launcher that some idiot left laying around. I remember feeling quite proud of my performance. Now...well, you really took it easy on me."

[Vega Van-Derveld]

“Nonsense,” he shook his head. “That is what I told myself at the time, however the truth was quite the contrary. You vexed me to no end because you had gotten the better of me. I made petty mistakes that, had I been still a mere apprentice, could have cost me my life.”

For a moment, he paused, thinking and allowing his words to settle. “That’s not to say, however, that your performance was by any means simply a result of my errors. I don’t know whether it was through courage or blind-fear, but the fact alone that you challenged me as you did made clear that the Force had much planned for your future.”

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"Such things aren't anywhere near my specialty, I'm afraid. I'm not much of a philosopher, mil-Vega." Force, but it felt odd to call a Sith Lord by his given name.

"All I know of that time is that I was the most reckless little Apprentice alive. I tangled with, let's see, Satine Capashen, Sorsha Kasajian, Gav Mortis, Videl and the Vore." The Sith Knight snorted. "I've got more scars than I know what to do with. I thought I was invincible."

[Vega Van-Derveld]

“You must have been, to come out of all of those fights alive. I don’t know a man alive who would challenge the Sith Witch without having a death wish,” he said, then thinking that he knew full-well of one man, one old man…

“But,” he righted himself, continuing, “You’re here today and from what I hear, your training is progressing well. I am curious, though – have you not yet managed to exhaust all that your tutor has to teach? If I remember correctly, he too is only a Knight.”

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"He can still do a lot of things that I can't," Je'gan admitted, "but I'm pretty sure that I've surpassed him in other areas. I don't see him too often, though. We haven't really trained since I was knighted."

[Vega Van-Derveld]

“I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to know that you may be more than capable of defeating your own Master,” Vega replied, off-hand. While he seemed completely casual, his request to speak with Je’gan had not been without its motives.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

A slow blink covered momentarily unfocused eyes.

"I...can't say the thought hasn't occurred to me." He hadn't considered that in a long time. Really, training his Apprentices and himself had left little room for that kind of thought, ironic as that was. He'd simply been too busy most times, and when he wasn't, he simply forgot.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

“There would have been a time,” the Lupine began, “long before we fought that, in a situation like this, the apprentice would finalize this power shift by taking the life of his mentor.” Vega stifled a laugh at the thought, and how ludicrous it seemed now, outside of the court of Chaos and Vicet’s children. He turned his head, looking directly at the Knight. “How strong would you say your loyalty to your master is, Je’gan?”

[Je'gan Olra'en]

His first, unspoken thought was that loyalty to one's Master was an important part of loyalty to the Order. He was loyal to TSO, and casting aspersions on that might hinder any number of things. Spectres of his early transgressions rose to the forefront; ruthlessly, he clamped them down. He wasn't about to insult Vega's intelligence by giving him a skewed or thought-out answer.

"We saved each other's life on several occasions. I consider him a friend and a capable ally, and I am loyal to him as such.

"But I'm sad to say that it's been months since I've really considered him my Master."

[Vega Van-Derveld]

“I see,” he nodded. The answer had been as good an answer as any. It showed that Je’gan seemed to have grasped the essence of being a Sith, such as the word was used now – that brotherhood and loyalty were key, but that in time all students would come to surpass their Masters, and there was no shame in this.

“Have you considered requesting further training, from one of the Elders perhaps?”

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"They seem...busy. Even if they aren't, I'm our Order's most junior Knight. Southstar and Rivin could use further training - I'm not sure if either has had the benefit of a mentor since they were knighted."

He shrugged. "Don't get me wrong, I'd love to further my training. I just don't see myself as high enough on the list to merit our Elders' attention."

[Vega Van-Derveld]

“The list?” he couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yes, that fool of a mayor is keeping them quite occupied, isn’t she? What good will a throng of Sith planets be, I wonder, when we have so few competent warriors to occupy or defend them with?”

For all Vega was supportive of political machinations – he had been a part of a great many under the Hobgoblins vigil – he failed to see how they would benefit the Sith Order, in its current state. It was not the behemoth it had once been, and would do better to strength within its borders rather than turning its gaze without. Absently, he slipped his hands into the deep pockets of his coat.

“Do I strike you as being busy?”

[Je'gan Olra'en]

Je'gan met his gaze squarely.

"You strike me as...bored. And impatient." He cocked an eyebrow. "Hopefully not due to me. If you've got an Apprentice opening, consider my name on the applicants' roll."

[Vega Van-Derveld]

Again, Vega laughed, nodding slightly.

“Bored and impatient. Accurate. I’m not particularly shrewd, am I,” he said to no one in particular.

“Yes, unfortunately my only apprentice has a tendency to loose himself. I wonder if, perhaps, he feels that he has tired me of everything I can teach.” It was now that he stopped walking, and turned to face the Knight head on. “I would be honored for you to take his place at my side, Je’gan. I see many great things in your future… your innate talent is simply being wasted idling here, teaching children how to play at games of perverting the Force, making of it some mere toy, unsanctified and trivial.”

[Je'gan Olra'en]

He blinked, a bit stunned.

"What can I say, really? I'd be honoured to learn from you, Vega. Or is it 'Master' now?"

[Vega Van-Derveld]

A thin smile pressed Vega’s lips, though he made no reply to Je’gans question. “I know very little about you and your past, Je’gan. We cannot do with that. Tell me about yourself.”

[Je'gan Olra'en]

Judging by his other experiences with powerful Sith, there was a decent chance the lack of answer was a test.

"I've got a little brother, Baracc, who's also a member of TSO. No other siblings. Our parents have been dead for a few years now: speeder accident." He grimaced. "I was driving. That my parents, and every Olra'en for centuries, have died so insignificant kinda drove me to try to be something better.

"Since I was ten or so I've been interested in fencing and martial arts. My parents managed to find one of the few remaining Teras Kasi practitioners and convince him to give me lessons. I wasn't the best student, but it all worked out, and I won a few competitions. On top of that, right around the time my parents were killed Baracc and I discovered that we had Force potential.

"I took care of my brother, even when he dropped out of school and started working. The whole time, I was reading everything I could find about the Force. Turns out that about fifteen years ago, a few Dark Jedi came through the Varunda system - my homeworld's Varunda Nine - and there were some interesting eyewitness accounts that taught me a lot of what a Forcewielder could do. I didn't try anything beyond the most basic skill of connecting to the Force; didn't want to screw anything up. So I came here.

"My first Master was Jodah of Giva, with instruction on the side from Oolana Taine. They both disappeared and I was left to my own devices. Bad mistake on my part." The young Knight cracked a smile. "I ended up in entirely the wrong circles: Jedi and so forth. Did some things that reflected badly on TSO.

"The Elders found out and cured that fast. I was told to make friends with a Jedi and then betray them. The first target of opportunity was Ceres Duvall, a Jedi Padawan. Don't know if you knew Zatania Duvall, but she sure did hate Ceres, and she knew nothing of what I was doing besides the fact that I, a friend of hers, was hanging around with her nemesis. So she kidnapped the two of us.

"I got us out and, while taking Ceres to safety, murdered her. She didn't have a clue." A deep sigh. "I don't regret it, but I did love her.

"Anyways. I ended up taking part in a TSO op a little while later, and caught Southstar's attention. We took on Hutts and a Dark Side cult, and overall we had a very fruitful relationship.

"When he knighted me, I started picking up Apprentices. Kes'la Bardo, Damon the Shade, Prometheus, Drake Shadowstalker, Phoenix Whyte, and most recently Zereth Lancer. Damon and Prometheus didn't last long, but the rest have kept me fairly busy.

"What about you, Master? What's your history like?"

[Vega Van-Derveld]

He listened to the story, noting a few similarities with his own upbringing and even his career, if you could call it that, with the Sith. Here and there he nodded, to show he was still listening. When Je’gan finally concluded with the explanation of his Knighthood and acquisition of apprentices, he spoke.

“It’s good to here a tale, for once, that isn’t full of bids for revenge. As for my history, it’s a very long story.”

If Je’gan wished to press the issue further, Vega had no qualms with waxing lyrical on his past, but he didn’t want to talk the boys ears off without him knowing full well what was coming.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"I don't think getting my question answered just now is worth wasting valuable time," he agreed.

"And yes, there does seem to be a lot of revenge out there. Practically all my Apprentices eat, sleep and breathe the stuff. Kes wants to avenge her mother and sister...Zereth wants revenge on his creator...Drake wants revenge on the galaxy in general. Whyte, though, he's like me. He's in it for the power."

He shook his head.

"So what's lesson one, Master?"

[Vega Van-Derveld]

“Your first lesson will be more of an examination, really.” He spoke with a hint of a smile, “We’ll be leaving for the Arkanis Sector tonight, after dinner, so eat well. You’ll have a two day flight ahead of you, and the food onboard isn’t up to much at all.”

The Palace grounds were all much of a muchness. The pair had wandered around them for quite some time now, simply following the perimeter of the outer-wall. The area was oddly lush and green, something quite abnormal given the high-level of dark energy that engulfed the citadel. “Perhaps I’ll tell you my story on the way, to pass the time,” he added, only half-serious.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

He shrugged.

"What's in the Arkanis Sector that could pose a decent test?"

[Vega Van-Derveld]

“A good many things. Some more trying than others, I suspect. Suffice to say, the test will be decent enough,” he replied with a smile. “Any questions?”

[Je'gan Olra'en]

Several moments passed in silence before he answered.

"No, no questions off-hand."

[Vega Van-Derveld]

“We leave in three hours time. Inform anyone you need to...” Vega turned on his heel, so that he was once again facing the Sith Palace. “… and then start packing. We will be away for a week at most.”

[Je'gan Olra'en]

The Sith Knight turned to follow his new...Master. Master. It had been a while since he'd used that title with anyone.

"A week, hm?" He'd notify Baracc, Jan and his apprentices. That should do it. "What should I pack for?"

[Vega Van-Derveld]

“The system is a cluster of forest worlds. The climate is fairly temperate, so you needn’t worry about snow. Just make sure you pack light. We’ll be on the move a lot. Vega nodded to himself in thought, quickly adding, “Oh, and any weapons you’d like. Ranged or close-combat, both should be useful.”

[Je'gan Olra'en]

He nodded, assembling a quick list of gear to bring along. Magor, the rapier, the dirk...that should be enough. The only ranged weapon he was any good with was his mind.

"See you after dinner, then." His eyebrows wrinkled. "I'd better head off now...I've got a lot of Apprentices to flip schedules for."

[Vega Van-Derveld]

Vega gave a nod and turned back to face the woods, as the pair parted to prepare.