A new family (Open)

[Gary Haynes]

The family-owned luxury liner known as the Dreamliner, hovered in the atmosphere of Munto Codru. Gary stood with his hands in his street pants pockets with his thumbs sticking out as he looked out of the observation deck window at the green, lush planet below. "I have to go forward with this, mom. And you can't stop me. Not you, not dad, not even Sarah." His elegantly dressed mother wearing a white dress with many gems adorning the neck stood behind him. "Then at least bring security with you, Gary. The Sith are dangerous and really you shouldn't even be here. Your father doesn't approve of your choice to seek them out, but I still support you, dear. You're twenty-two and a decision like this, I would have no right to stand in your way. Just...don't let them turn you into a monster. Not my boy. You and your sister, Sarah, are all we have left."

Gary nodded and turned to look at his mother for a moment. Rather than embrace her in a final hug, he walked past her and headed towards the shuttle bay.

Once the shuttle broke free from the Dreamliner, Gary rose from his seat and held onto the ceiling strap to look out of the small window. The shuttle rumbled with the change in gravity as it broke through the atmosphere of Munto Codru and got lost from sight from the lavish luxury liner. Gary was on a mission and he needed help from the Sith. Armed with twelve armored guards wearing his family crest burned on their chest armor, the guards took up position near the door to the shuttle as it touched down at the Sith temple on the landing pad.

The guards stood at attention as the street dressed rich-kid stepped out of the shuttle and down its ramp. "Guys...I got this." He said, throwing a hand up and putting his hood up from his black hoodie. The guards gripped their blaster rifles tight and followed suit behind Gary despite his refusal to need their help. Shaking his head, he allowed his men to follow him inside, six on one side and six on the other side in a straight line in a defensive formation.

The entire courtyard was quiet. Almost too quiet. Gary had a bad feeling about the entire situation and a heavy pit of doubt mixed with fear hit him deep inside. Swallowing hard, he was just about to give his men the command to fall back, but they had already let their eyes wander at the various pillars and dried up fountain in the center. One of the guards, Gary's personal bodyguard, threw him a vibrosword as a just in case. Everyone halted their advance and fell into a circle formation around their "package", raising their blasters at all corners of the courtyard. Gary never wanted their protection but he was sure glad they were there even if they wouldn't last long should this really be an ambush.

[Sianna]

The new open door to more power and knowledge was eating away at the newly appointed Master of the Sith as Sianna walked through the main hallway and neared the atrium and main foyer. Two servants gathered in the foyer as they cleaned the floor and dusted the large urns, gaining her attention as silver orbs turned to the closest. Silver eyes met dark brown as the slender male cleared his throat nervously, then went back to mopping which prompted the other to also return to his chores.

"What's going on," Sianna queried impatiently.

"Someone's just arrived, milady, with an armed contingent of troops."

Brow furrowed as she realized what he had just said, then moved passed them and to the large door, opening it with her mind as the Force flowed through her more easily now since the day that she had arrived. Taking in the uniformly dressed and geared guards encircling one in common clothes, she noted his raw talent with the Force which had yet to be tapped. Four of them eyed the approaching Echani, her loose fitting black clothing and knee-high boots covering her otherwise pale skin, snow white hair flowing behind her as she moved along the paved walkway. Double-bladed hilt hanging from her belt the only sign of a weapon, though the Sith knew that she had command of the Force which trumped anything that they carried. Grinning at the scene, she stopped within ten feet of the two closest on the outer ring.

"So, you planning on raiding this temple, or are they gifts to us in exchange for your training?" Touching on the surface thoughts of the nearest, she noted his professionalism, but also the nervous adrenaline pumping through his veins which only goaded her on.

[Gary Haynes]

Gary flipped the vibrosword so that the blade end pointed behind him now. He placed a hand on the shoulders of his men and gently pushed them apart as he stepped past and towards the Sith who spoke. Breaking free of his men, they quickly formed a straight line perpendicular behind him and kept their guns on the intruder. He lowered his black hood on his hoodie and bowed his head. All of the royal formalities were unknown to him unlike his family, but he knew this formality was necessary. "Gary Haynes of Coruscant, my lady. Next heir to the Haynes Corporate Dynasty and oldest sibling under co CEO's Nia Haynes and Barry Haynes." Even just saying that ate at him.

He turned the blade so its pointed tip was facing the stone ground and his hands were clasped in front of him, pinning its hilt to his waist. With a tilt of his head, he continued. "These men are my royal guard sent to keep me safe by my mother, but their help is no longer needed." He returned his head to normal and raised a hand up and lowered it slowly, as a signal for them to lower their weapons. "These men will no longer serve me or my family, but rather they will serve you should you allow me into your sect. To get more on the point as to why I'm here..."

Gary pushed the weapon off of him and let it fall to the ground, its metal clanking against the stone flooring. He aimed his right hand down at the weapon and concentrated all of his energy just as he had practiced before when he first learned of this new ability. The vibrosword shook in place and levitated from the ground three inches before falling back to the ground. Gary lowered his hand back to his side and then both hands into his hoodie pockets. "See? Whatever that is, its not normal and I know people like you can help me understand what I've become. I was on a business meeting, my first one to be exact on a foreign planet. It's name is classified, but my family sent me to speak with a chieftain to see if he had anything to offer us or else we would force him to move his tribe off of land where we could put another one of our factories. The chieftain actually turned out to be a vicious warlord and his tribesman were actually blood-thirsty warriors. They attacked me, captured me, tortured me for three days. I festered in pain and agony for those days and lived off of my pure hatred for them, and when they finally thought they broke me, they were going to return back to my family headquarters aboard my ship with me and they were going to take over our place since we tried it with them."

Gary sighed heavily and shook his head. "They succeeded. Right now our home, our research complex, and our headquarters are taken over with this warlord and his men sleeping where we sleep and eating where we used to. Before you say it, we could of gone to the police, but the things my family is known for...could get us in some serious trouble. Now we live on our luxury liner in space in hiding, but I'm done running. Those warriors are there because of me and I know you all here have the power to teach me to become a weapon with this energy inside me. My father calls my ability an affliction and would feel better if I went to the Jedi. But he's not the one with the power, now is he. The Jedi would probably preach about keeping the peace or letting them have what we had. I'm done being pushed around."

[Sianna]

Easing as the troops lowered their weapons, Sianna then listened to his tale of woe and knew that they had something here not only with his apparent influence, but also small unit that would be able to help in other ways later. Initially, they would serve Gary's family, but with the right push, all would serve the Sith. There were a few admirable traits that could be used to make him one of them, but there were other things that needed to be established first.

"First off, this may all seem like a small, private enclave of powerful Force users, but that's the first deception," the priestess began. "We've already taken two worlds and have gained an ally that will eventually allow us to take many more. You apparently know enough to have come to us for this newfound gift, but our lifestyle demands more than idle promises, money or a small personal army." Sianna moved up to within two feet of him, noticing how the men beyond tensed at her approach, then jerked to raise their rifles at her as she pointed to his heart. "Your heart, spirit and everything that you are. You can't dedicate those things to this cause, then you're no better than the compost that we use to fertilize this garden," she motioned to the area behind her that appeared dead.

Lowering her hand again, she grinned. "Why should I let you into my home?"

[Gary Haynes]

Gary wanted to shrug his shoulders so badly to her question, but he refrained from doing so. His family always said to never shrug your shoulders when meeting someone new because it will lead to them underestimating him and their company. He had to come up with a reason. "I feel I bring promise and I intend to prove it to you should you allow me within your ranks. I assure you I'll be better than the...compost there." He said leaning his head around her to eye the garden. He then straightened once more. "Should you allow me to join your cause, I will put forth the demands of the Sith ahead of my own personal desires for my family and their safety." Saying that dealt a blow to him as he promised his younger sister that he would do everything in his power to get his family back on the ground and put that spacecraft in a dock somewhere as soon as possible.

Gary turned around to look at his men and clasped his hands behind him. "Bow. All of you. We are in the presence of a ranking official of the Sith and to not bow is to mean disrespect. If you disagree, return to my family aboard the Dreamliner. This will be your only warning." His guards let their blaster rifles dangle from their harness on their chest and lowered themselves down to one knee along with their heads. Gary smiled at the fact that not a single of the twelve rose and returned to the shuttle. They believed in him and his decision. Turning back around, he did the same. "I give my body and my power to you, my lady." The flashback of his mother saying to not let the Sith turn him into a monster flashed in his head.

[Sianna]

Seeing the act of obeisance from the men only proved that they would serve him and not the Sith right now, which could still prove to be a problem. Canting her head to the side, silver orbs glinted as he promised her everything that she had just mentioned. Sighing, she knew that he hadn't totally understood her yet. In a flash of movement, her left hand accepted the sword that he had dropped earlier, then angled it upward and rested the point at the crown of his head. Her time and dedication to the Sith ideal had gained her more power than she had ever thought possible not that long ago.

"These men will remain aboard your ship and keep your family in line. They can't help you during your training, understood?" She stepped closer, the point now slowly being pressed to his skin. "Here, you have to earn your place. We don't hand anything out just because daddy has money or a big ship. You're going to work until you want to die, bleeding and so tired that you think you're heart might burst. It's going to take everything that you never thought you had in you. The days of pampered living just ended, buddy."

Turning, she stepped away from him and waited for one of the guards to act, his sword blade upward along her spine. "Send them back to your ship now, or I'll take care of them myself." Intruding on his surface thoughts, she prepared herself for anything that may happen from that moment on.

[Gary Haynes]

The blade already hurt as it touched his skin and once it pressed harder and pierced the skin, Gary closed his eyes and winced in pain as the woman of the Sith spoke. He knew deep down that his men would take the shot right now, after hearing her demand of him to return them to his ship, he opened his eyes quickly. "Kadar, no." He could see the lead officer in his right peripheral reaching for a pistol slowly. "Do as she says. Fall back to the shuttle and return to the Dreamliner." The soldier rose and stepped out of line to glare at Gary. "And leave you here? Sir, if you don't remember, this is how you were captured before and look at how that turned out. These people are making a fool out of you. She doesn't want you here! We leave and you are gone forever!"

Gary turned his head this time to glare back at him angrily. "I gave you an order and you disobey it? You don't return to that ship and either she'll kill you or I'll order you death by firing squad by the rest of these men here. I'm sure your daughter wouldn't want to know her father was a fool and died by not fulfilling his duty. Get off this rock and never return unless I say so. Tell my mother and father that I'm fine." The soldier shook his head and gave the order for his men to fall out. They each rose in unison and marched all the way back to the shuttle. Kadar looked back at Gary one more time before they disappeared in the distance. As soon as the engines to the shuttle could be heard, Gary ran at Sianna and rounded her to look her in the face, yet keeping a safe distance just on the edge of arms reach.

"They're gone so it's just you and me now. If you think I'm anything like my lavish family, you're wrong. Why do you think I dress like this rather than suits like they want? I don't go for the pampered life like you think. If I want anything, I would rather fight for it and earn it rather than have it given to me. Money ain't everything, but power is. I'm willing to give you my all and more." He ranted angrily. If this was another capture, he was certain the Sith would probably do more than just torture him and return him to his family. The last thing they needed was another force of nature in their lives forcing them deeper into hiding.

[Sianna]

Listening to the ranting of the guard, Sianna grinned to herself as these people had no idea what a trained Sith was capable of. Silver orbs rose to Gary as he rounded her and professed his dedication and defended himself from being spoiled. A light breeze wafted through her white tresses and she backed a step, then lowered both arms and tossed him his sword.

"Okay, let's see what you're made of," she grinned at him and angled her hands outward, filling herself with the Force and prepared to move as he attacked her. Using Speed to it's fullest effect, she would show him what he was getting into.

[Gary Haynes]

Gary took his sword's hilt in his right hand as it was tossed to him. Flipping it around with his wrist in a twirl, he grinned back at Sianna. "I thought you'd never ask." He immediately arced down the blade diagonally and slashed horizontally before tossing the blade aside and throwing a right hook towards the echani's chin.

He quickly backed with a short leap and complimented her on her remarkable speed. "You're good." He bounced around in one place in a fighting stance. Winking at her, he went on the assault again. "But that sword trick you pulled is gonna cost ya!" A right and then a left jab, followed by an uppercut to her stomach and a 360 roundhouse kick towards her face. As quick as she moved, he didn't expect to land anything but he was hoping he could get his message across that he knew a thing or two about defending himself.

[Sianna]

Like a blur, the Echani priestess darted to and fro, sliding and twisting to avoid being cut, and loved that her natural ways of combat were being utilized again. It had been a little while since she had only gone hand-to-hand. As if in slow motion, her hold on the Force and visual acuity saw everything before it happened, allowing her to evade his attacks. Though, this wasn't meant to be a real fight, otherwise he would have been dead already. She just needed to see what they had to work with.

The black and white blur shot back a few feet as the Sith Master fired a Push at him, center mass.

"Looks like you didn't spend all your time partying and enjoying the soft life," she half-grinned. Stalking towards him, boots beating upon the permacrete walkway, she eased her mood a bit as she gazed at the new potential. "So tell me, why are you really here?"

[Gary Haynes]

As Sianna leapt backwards and out of the way of another punch, the Force Push she fired caught him Gary in the lower abdomen, knocking the wind out of him and giving him just enough of a blow to force him to fall forward on his face. Catching himself with his knees and one hand, he quickly found his other hand over his stomach.

Staggering to get up, he grinned back at her and answered her question with some truth. "Okay, look. Everything I've told you was true but I left out an important part. I didn't want my own men to hear this or they'd tell my family and they'd probably have me locked up if they knew." He sighed and regained his breath, unzipping his hoodie in the process. The black shirt underneath had a symbol on it in the center in white. "Dosst dro belongs ulu udossa. It means "your life belongs to us". There are few who still fly my flag with this insignia but these words were said to me everyday during my capture by the warlord. He wanted to break me down and force me to commit suicide, but I stayed true to myself and held my own. So when he brought me back to Coruscant and forced me to watch as everything I knew was burned to the ground and destroyed, I festered in that hatred and went on the move. My family went into hiding over Coruscant in our ship but occasionally I would sneak out on nights in a shuttle and meet with gang lords, asking them to join my cause to fight for my family and to wear my shirt with this symbol. Some accepted but many refused. That's why I'm here. I cannot take the fight myself and storm that place alone even with the power I obtain here, but I need those who chose to follow me to see that I can hold the power to fight alongside them. And if the Sith help me gain this power, I will give more than everything to them and to you. I want this more than ever and this cause has made me stronger for it."

He took a step closer to Sianna, zipping his hoodie back up and sealing away his symbol underneath. "No doubt this warlord has gained in power by our many corrupt investors, but there will be a war and when it happens, I want the dark side to sway the battle in my favor. No prisoners, no survivors. Any and all who stand with him will perish and drown in their own pools of blood. Whatever you want, I'll give it to you two-fold or more, but my dedication to the teachings of the Sith will be the least of your worries."

[Sianna]

Noting the intriguing symbol on his shirt, silver orbs then rose back to his face as he went on about his personal goals, which prompted another wry grin. Though one that was losing it's humor as the years went on.

"Vengeance is a good motivator while you're training here, but if I had a credit for every time I heard that excuse I'd be rich without spending the energy to take it. What happens when that goal is reached? Who is Gary then?" Stepping closer, the lithe Echani made sure he understood her words. "This isn't a sports club or weekend excursion that you just walk away from when you're done. This is a lifestyle," she pointed to his heart again. "Something that we all infuse ourselves with, a code that dictates from the point that we begin training to our last dying breath. Muscle memory of the spirit. The Force is in all things and gifted us with the power to overcome the universe, if we dedicate ourselves to that end. That little display of shaking the sword on the ground can one day allow you to throw speeders at your enemy. Literally."

Hands behind her back, Sianna was in her element now, talking about the very thing that made her better than all those in her family which had come before. "Do you have any idea what I'm saying?"

[Gary Haynes]

Gary eyed Sianna up and down as she spoke and got lost in the tip of her finger as she pointed at him again. Once she left it open with a question, he paced towards the empty fountain. "So..." He said, taking a seat and leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "...in a way I get what you mean. Everything around us is our power source for us to draw from and we are the conduits. What we pull in empowers us and what we do with this said energy defines who we are. Now this code you speak of sounds like a sort of rules of engagement that keeps us in line, yet empowers us should we stay on its path. A reward system for its followers, if you will."

Tilting his head ever so slightly, he squinted his eyes at Sianna. "What makes the Sith any different from the Jedi? I mean, don't they believe in using the same Force energy?"

[Sianna]

He did understand, she mused and watched as he moved to the empty fountain and perched upon it's edge. "Jedi stress not using emotions which make us who we are, to empower our touch to our gift. The Force and our nature is all the experiences that we've had, dreams and fears, love and hate, and allow us to touch the universal energy at our fingertips. If I stripped you of all those things, you'd be an empty shell which is what the Jedi strive for. An automaton that only lives by their code. The Sith Code is nature itself. Only the strong survive and thrive. You see it in every aspect of life, from microbes to galaxies. Life and death."

Sianna canted her head back slightly, "The very essence of the Force is our end goal: Illumination, perfection, life beyond the physical, which only a select few have attained. That's the essence of Sith'aria."

[Gary Haynes]

She really knew a lot about this lifestyle. Everything Gary had heard of the Sith were nothing but rumors, and none of them prepared him for this very moment. "And the Jedi would rather see our power diminish and controlled rather than let to flourish? Forget those guys!" He stood up from the fountain and opened his arms up at either side. "They think they can take my power? I'd like to see em' try. I'm not falling for their lies." He lowered his hands and pointed a finger at himself and then at Sianna. "Like you said, this power is a gift and it chose me. It chose us. If it takes a fight for me to show that they can't control those like us, then it's a fight they'll get."

Gary meant what he said, but he had a strange suspicion that the Jedi were far stronger than him at this current time. He'd need training if he were to put up any sense of a fight. Settling down, he crossed his arms. "What actually is this Sith Code?"