Taim

((I don't have long to post...extreme apologies for not doing so already, I was very busy since monday, and I had a nice post ready to go, but time went against me, and now since apparently I failed the post won't work.)) Taim's dreams were maddening. He smelled the ocean, felt the spray of water against his rough skin, could taste the salt in his mouth, but saw nothing. His mind struggled, but was just not powerful enough yet to have full control over itself even when unconscious. It was as if someone were holding a black plastic bag against his face. He awoke, a tremendous pounding in his skull, deafening compared to the clatter-clatter of assassin droids that rolled up to attack, possibly kill him. Only one thought blazed through his mind: His master had betrayed him for his failure. Rage sparked through Taim, followed by extreme anger, fury in epitomy. He rose slowly, the weapons on the droids tracking his every movement, a look of pure hatred adorning his facial features. They never got a chance to hit him, his body recoiled, launching him at the first droid, seven shots (including one that whizzed under him, nearly hitting him) simultaneously converged in the spot he once was, exploding into a small fireball. His arm lashed out, snagging the first assassin droid on it's head, swinging his lithe form around and snapping the CPU connectors simultaneously, landing him between another two. He ducked, they fired, and two more piles of slag hit the floor. He wa too fast for them to track, but his movements gave him away. These weren't extra-military grade, luckily, with the extra armor that made them all but unbeatable. A droid arm smacked him to the floor as he turned towards his next victim, and the other three droids closed in for the kill, the first one and another pinning him to the floor. Angst was all he felt, and it swept through him like a terrible tidal wave out on those seas, deadly to anyone that dared stand against it's might. "YOU WANT TO KILL ME??!?! THEN KILL ME!!!!" His hands shot open, his whole body arcing as an incredible burst of energy launched all four droids away simultaneously, taking Taim with one of them. It's head went like the first droid that Taim destroyed, disconnecting the CPU and shutting down the entire droid. The remaining three circled, now wary of the being they tried to murder. But Taimkhal wasn't about to let them finish, either. He drew the mighty Sith sword, holding it at an angle to his back. An unorthodox style, to be sure, but also one of the most powerful and most offensive Taim knew. It sacrificed defense for sheer strength, but the outcome was usually worth the risk. He was a grey blur to the droids, as two droid half-torsos hit the floor, and another crumpling as the blade buried itself in the neck of the last assassin droid. For a few seconds, it was allright, and then Taim himself fell to the floor, blood gushing out of his side. One of the droids had managed to catch him point blank, even as they short-circuited, and the shock had finally set in. The pain wasn't the problem. Taim relished pain, it was what let him know he was still alive. It was the loss of blood, and Taim tried to stop it as best he could, vengeful thoughts of his master passing in his mind until he realized it was all a harsher test due to his failure. Perhaps his master hadn't truly tried to kill him, because he probably would have been dead. He rose, using a torn off piece of robe to stop the bleeding, and limped off to find a medkit, all the while finding his master's presence, who had seemed to leave him a short distance away...

((Apologies. First time I could post since about friday, and I doubt I can post again until Monday. Happy fuh-reakin holidays. Humbug, 666.)) Taim stood from the ground after being knocked over, his own sounds masking that of Dominique, and the only word he heard was 'saber.' So, she wanted to build her saber...at least it would allow him some alone time to get to know his master. A funny word, that, master. He never would have thought of himself as having a master, someone who would have Taim cater to them at every whim. Curious. Logically, he was here to learn. Power was all he really desired, though power-hungry might have been a bit too strong a word. Calculating, indeed. It took more that brawn to get anywhere in the galaxy, and Taim was blessed with both the brain and the body. It could then be said that since he was here to learn, he would eventually be taught all he needed to know. The desire to speed up this process was there, albeit minimal. Another question swelled within his mind, one he had not even thought about until now. He didn't even know who was training him. "My request is this: That I know the name of the man who I rescued, and now teaches me." He hoped this small thing would open up into a bit more conversation, perhaps even a tidbit or two about the force's useage, but for now, it was satisfactory to know just that. Names were a powerful thing where he had come from, it was one of his clan's strong beliefs. Besides, worst case scenario he could sell the name off to an information broker, but he doubted that would happen. Either he would pass through the training, and become a Sith, or he would die trying. So simple, and yet so complex.

"Very well then." His black eyes snapped open, and he stopped the meditation, instantly shrinking his presence in the force back down to nothing. He stood, evoking a standard position of hand-to-hand fighting. He was angled around about 45 degrees to his right, his right leg jutting forwards and out, the majority of his weight on his left leg. His left arm was tucked in solid against his abdomen, his right on end, the side of it facing her. "This is the basic stance that is taught, it is the base of most our art. From here it is relatively easy to both attack and defend at any time from most angles around the body. There is another stance taught that covers all angles, however the movements of that style are fluid and erratic, difficult to master. Not even I am that good." You were good enough to kill your best friends and family... The thought panged in his head, like a loud gong going off. It was true. He had been very good, and he still had his edge. As well as the entire tribe's possessions. He watched as she rose as well, invoking a similar, but not exact position. She would learn... He came at her quickly, and in the dark room it was hard to see, Taim expected a quick grapple beatdown, little to no opposition from an untrained enemy. However as he cockily swiped a right-armed backhan at her his fist was caught, and his light frame was flipped around as she twisted hard. He landed on his feet, but totally unprotected and immediately dropped down, avoiding a punch to the back of his skull. He reached around behind him with his leg, catching the back of her ankle, finally dropping her to the floor. Such a maneuver was sneaky and illegal in most judged contests, but these were the movements Taimkhal was fluent in. However, he had expected a lot less from her. He spun, finding her already on her feet again. A look of surprise crossed his face as he realized her movements. She fought like a brawler, using any means neccary to subdue or kill their opponent, whereas Taim utilized the natural flaws and weaknesses in sync with his own flow and rhythm to hammer and hammer the pponent down. She must have been taught before. "You have recieved prior tutelage? I am impressed. Let us see how good you really are..." Taim dropped, his legs bent in the assassin style, the old primal hunting instincts warmed up. It was go time. He calmly waited for her to attack him, confident in his skill. This would prove to be very interesting indeed.

He followed her into the chamber, grateful she had given up the bitter struggle for dominance. Among comerades, it should never be a thing that got in the way of the enemy. Taim sat down on the cold unpadded part of the floor, preferring the rough environment to the pads in the corner. He closed his eyes as she did, beginning the cycle of meditation as he was taught by his elders. Breath in, breath out. Breath in, breath out. "Harness your emotions and reach deep within yourself. You will find the fiery core everyone has, but few can touch." Instead of pushing the thoughts and emotions out of his head as he was taught, though, he let them come, slowly at first. He thought about his home, Honoghr. About his former clan. About his mate. The sword...the sword swirled into his thoughts, casting doubt and suspicion about the clansmen hunters, making them each loathe each other for greed of the sword alone. He saw one of his rival hunters steal the sword one night, killing him in cold blood, and someone else saw him, and soon the corpses of the entire clan lay at his feet...His mate's eyes looked so surprised in death, as if she had believed he could never kill her... More thoughts flowed, his actions since then, freeing the Dark man from the prison, illusions and shadows in the Sith academy, and abruptly it stopped, backpedaling with a whirlwind speed so incredibly fast it made him dizzy. All he saw was a violent tornado of anger and hatred buried in his life, and finally for the first time it would manifest itself, this much he knew. He saw himself above the violent torrent of emotion, falling, falling down, through, towards the very center and the abyss it held, and he reached it with such magnificent speed. Taim's eyes snapped open, and his body dropped the half-foot to the floor with a small thud. Interesting. So this is what the elders had his from his clan. Obviously his clan's bloodlines ran incredibly strong in the force, otherwise they would not have been so diligent in their coverup. Perhaps it had to do with the Lord Vader so many generations ago... "So this is your force I have heard about...it is enthralling, to say the least. Like a glass of wine, smooth and seductive, yet at the same time intoxicating. I must learn to feel more..." Taim's eyes closed again, and he went through the process, feeling the sheer hatred and rage flow through his body, the power coursing through him as an electrical conduit. Taim's eyes remained closed, focusing, yet his lips moved, and he spoke while in the trance. "I thank you for showing this to me...perhaps now you would like a lesson in the elegant combat of my people?"

In three seconds he held the gun out towards her, butt first, presenting it back to her. He didn't use the force, he didn't have to. His left arm jutted out, blocking her from pointing the gun directly at him evan as she raised it to do just that, whirling to his right, slamming his fist lightly enough it woldn't hurt, but hard enough to force the blaster from her grasp as his left hand forced down in tandem with it's counterpart, causing the weapon to tumble forwards out of the hand, which had begun to tighten, force instincts kicking in far before normal ones should have. Still, it was halfway out of her reach and Taim simply grasped it with his left hand, stepping back and presenting her the gun. Her eyes flared with rage, but Taim put his right hand up, indicating she should not attempt anything rash. "You assume too much. I am not here to interfere with your relationships, I am here solely for me, for my training, for my knowledge. I don't wish to step in anyone's way, as long as they won't step in mine. A peaceful coexistance is possible in this situation, if you will allow it." He paused, handing the gun back, and allowed her to think about that for a few seconds. "I don't even know his name. I tracked him down on Coruscant when I heard the Sith were invading, and I killed several people to break him free from where they imprisoned him so that he may teach me, or bring me to the place he was taught that I might learn. Like I said, you assume too much of me. Like your inadequate opinion of me. I will not urge you to reconsider it, however I will say that you are wrong." He moved around side of her, his eyes never leaving her unless she might pull another gun stunt again and force him to take defensive measures he did not wish to take. "Now please, lead the way. If you are to teach me about this force, we must tolerate each other, not act like fools and destroy what can benefit us. I can show you how to do that-" He gestured to the gun still in her hand, "And more. Much more. Are we at agreement, or will there be need for more violence?" He looked her dead in the eye, not giving her one inch. She could use the force to strike her down, but pain was only power, it reminded him that he was still alive. It would give him vigor and anger, and thus clarity of mind to strike her down if need be. He did not intend to assert dominance, neither did he intend to do anything but learn in his time here, but he would not bend to her like some low slave does to it's master when beaten. His muscles tensed, half-expecting her to make the wrong choice. And behind those deep black eyes, she saw power. For an instant, as if it were trying to hide itself, but she felt it. He did not know his potential yet, but the fact remained it was there. He was incredibly powerful, full of raw talent, talent that would not be wasted with petty squabbles.

The Noghri watched the man leave, wonder and awe at the potential anger in the man's heart. Such a person should have been eaten by their evil long ago, as Taim should have been, as most to all of the people in this building should have been. But somehow they weren't, fueled by that very evil that threatened to destroy them as well. Oh yes, he knew the intracacies of dark and light energies, and mostly understood how they worked the way they did. He was here to learn how to manifest those energies, and to learn why they worked. Combat he didn't need, combat ran in his blood. He was battle and battle was him, the blood, the corpses, the near-corpses, and the avaliable weapons, all of it sang in his memory as if he were really there. He stooped to pick up the sword that the Dark Lord had dropped, noticing the grand marble floor, it's colors made of a furious torrent of greys and blacks, with violent streaks of red within it to give it an added effect of an overpowering storm of black hell, washing away the good and the weak like driftwood in the ocean. Such was the nature of true power. Taimkhal strapped the sword back on his outfit, snugging it up against his shoulderblade and left side so it could easily be drawn by his right hand when necessary. He looked back once more to where the dark man had disappeared to, a hint of curiosity and disjointed brotherhood crossing his thoughts for a mere moment, but he turned from it as soon as he started, heading off in the direction the woman's scent came from. Dom, he thought he heard him call her. No matter, his instructions were to follow her and learn from her and perhaps teach her, not to engage in quarrelsome activity. He caught her in the hallway ahead, she was still sticking to the shadows, but he could see her as bright as day. Heat signatures, though faint, hardly lie. He did not mean to toy with her, but if he was to successfully stop her, he needed to be in front of her, not following behind. Lucky for him, she must have been thinking about something else, and he silently made his way past her in the shadows, gaining enough distance to turn and speak before she ran into him. His raspy mewing voice echoed into the hallway, heard by none of ther than her and Taim. "You do not like my presence." Taim wasn't one to beat around the bush, he never was. He almost always shot straight to the point. It was the most efficient way of getting things done. "Allow me to alter that perception, if you will. He has commanded that we learn from each other. I wish to interpret this as learning to watch each other's back, not how to stab it. I will be honest with you, I am new and uncomfortable in these settings. Perhaps you could acquaint me with some of the teachings I will recieve here? In return I offer to teach you a little of what I know in the delicate art of my people's martial arts. They could prove very useful in the future." He stopped there. Either the offer would work, or it wouldn't. He hoped very strongly that it would, but would not bear grief if it didn't.

Taim watched the female go, very content in her opinion of him. In this place, the dark energies swirled, and he could easily read the emotion coming off of her. She thought him weak, not only though the physical senses but also through the force. He snapped a quick glance at her as she did leave, letting her keep the opinion. He could have easily thrown a flurry of blades, cornering her into taking one in a vital place with ease force or no force, such was his skill with them, but he also knew when to excercise restraint. Now was one of those times, and how she phrased her last statement revealed that she had a special tie with the dark man. She underestimated him. Everyone had underestimated him. It would be in their last thoughts as their world faded to dark, some crude weapon buried in their skull. She would either make a terrible enemy, or a strong ally, the choice was still his to make. But the fact remained, she had vastly underestimated him, and he would remember it.

Taimkhal awoke only when the hyperspace indicator alarm went off, and he slid the button that controlled the hyperdrive down on the console, sliding back into normalspace with ease. The coordinates in the navicomputerextracted themselves into the main computer, again putting the ship on autopilot towards a pre-determined location as programmed into the coordinates. A dark feeling came over him as he gazed down at the planet, not intimidating, per se, were he not evil himself it would be quite frightening, but this almost felt downright good. It was if he was hooked up to a giant generator that wouldn't stop pumping him full of juice. Had he any hair, it would have stood straight up with static electricity, rather he only had a cold clammy sensation which was very unnerving to say the least. After a few moments, he recognized the planet from several Holonet broadcasts referring to it. Cardia, one of the Imperial controlled planets, though he wasn't sure it this was it's main headquarters. As he descended through the atmosphere, a wicked-looking building came into view, and he knew instantly that this was where he would learn the arcane arts of the force through raw power and misuse. Even gods could not stop fate, such as nobody could stop Taim fro coming here. It was destiny, plain and simple. His ship finally landed, and he disembarked, entering the strange building for the first time. There were several who gave him stares, but most went back to their work, a knowing look in their twisted eyes. Without much effort, Taim followed the Sith's scent trail, finding him in a matter of minutes. He spoke from the shadows, intending to have the eleent of surprise, but in this place, it would be an honor if he could manage to do just that. "I saved your life. I lent you a sword. I would like it back now, if you could spare a second."

Taim's stolen spacecraft fled through space, sputtering and backfiring every few lightyears like an old jalopy.

CHARACTER SHEET Real Name: Taimkhal, Clanless Nickname: Taim Age: 25 Species: Noghri Height: 5'2" Weight: 120 lbs Hair: Bald Eyes: Black Sex: Male Homeworld: Honoghr Alignment: Evil Clothing: Snug-fitting Assassin's clothing, ideal for storing all sorts of knives without compromising an ounce of maneuverability or versatility Weapon: Ten throwing vibroknives, two special assassin's vibroblades, two bundles each of throwing needles, sixteen vibro-shrukien, and an old antique Sith sword, modified to be a vibrosword. Can use a blaster, but doesn't make a habit of carrying one. Force User Inventory: The weapons stated above + comlink, and a passion to learn the force, through whatever means necessary.