After allowing Naraal into the corridors of the Hask, Suade begins to question what he knows. After teaching the young Sith of the most basic principles of the Force, they are called to the Bridge to meet Crusade were both bow before him.
The corridors of the Hask weren't unlike those of any other ship of its size of quality, but what echoed throughout it was the resounding pressence of the Dark Side. Suade bathed in it. The entire ship, especially his quarters, were lathered in thick layers of debauchery, although his specific portion was significantly more so than others. Many of the crew refused to enter the little corner of the ship known as "Suade's Wing"; others made it their personal place for recreaiton. In any case, that wasn't the destination Suade had in mind.
His pace was slow, having nowhere to really be and the somewhat disappionting youngling behind him. He wasn't for sure what to do with him, actually. He wasn't ready to torture him. He had no reason to train him. He was of no other interest to Suade. He wasn't even sure if he and the youngling had the same interests, and if they did, Crusade might find it in distaste to usher him into the Dark Side through the venues of Suade. Suade could just sigh.
"Naraal, what do you know?" Suade asked. He had little else to do. Likely, he would just learn what he could, then seek out Crusade. Unless he had other matters to attend to, but that was unlikely.
While he kept his pace deliberately in tune with Suade's, always a good few feet behind, he could not help the pondering's of his mind. He had felt so sure that the answer had been within the statement as Suade had told him. And yet the disappointment on the Sith's face had remained ever so subtly there. Though it drifted from him like a thin fog, it still billowed over the youth.
He had decided it was a irritating feeling that he'd rather not have to endure. His earlier master had unleashed the force on him in several ways; most of them were different forms of anger or correction. His father, though a Jedi had barely taught him anything worth remembering. Anything of noteworthiness.
When Suade's voice had pulled him through his thoughts, his hand was quick to rub the nape of his neck. His pale face -as usual when not embracing the Dark Side- was unconcerned. “Not much. He taught me basic uses of the Force and how to feed on the Dark Side. After that he told me to learn through experience and conflict.”
Suade could only sigh at the ignorance of the boy. He, honestly, could not blame him for his inability to answer, but at the same time, his master had apparently done a poor job in truly teaching or at least completely investing the aspects of the Force into Naraal. Although Suade was disappointed beforer, he at least now believed that Naraal might still have at least a small amount of potential.
"Naraal, I shall tell you the most true, the most fundmanetal and the most important thing you should ever know about the Force. It is within us all. It connects everything. It has a will of its own and it brings things together that need to be. The Dark Side of the Force, equally, is within us all. What makes us different - far more powerful - is how we connect to the Dark Side of the Force. How we get our power. That power, the Force, still connects us all," Suade explained to Naraal. He used no Force Persuasion or technique. Just words. The words he was told when he was taught and the words that made him the Sith fanatic he was knot words. The words he was told when he was taught and the words that made him the Sith fanatic he was known as amongst the inner circles of Crusade.
The man had explained the most important piece of information he'd ever hear. The most true, apparently. Naraal listened so intently that his trademark smirk had creased out into a tense line, even his brows had pulled together just a bit. While Suade spoke, he was reminded that the Dark Side was conducted with emotions, usually very strong ones at that. So the question that lingered afterwards left him a bit confused.
It was shrouded by a fog, some invisible opposition. What was it that was blocking the question and in turn the answer. Something inside of him, much stronger than just a hunch told him that this answer he knew, and that this question was hidden by something far more complex than just not knowing. It was beyond that. It was unnatural.
“Saude,” he called out, his hand rubbing his temple after little success on his own. “Have you ever felt like something beyond you was hindering you? Is it possible for the force to keep secrets? To “shroud” things?” He wasn't too sure himself but he bet Suade knew. He seemed to know everything else after all.
"The answer you seek, " Suade said, "is not one any mentor can give you. Not I, not my master and definitely no Jedi." Suade was feeling the same block, the same haze, that Naraal did. He had the potential to tap into the Dark Side, to attain more, but what stopped him was himself. What stopped him was his search for self. Suade believed that Naraal had yet to truly identify and dfefine himself and without that he would never tap into his passion.
A quick beep from within Suade's pocket led him to grumble. It was obviously a comdevice of some sort, but Suade didn't answer it. He didn't need to. He knew what it was for - at least this beep. Suade said, "I shall take you to my master, but first I will teach you one of the first things you would have learned if you came from the same camp I did." Suade rounded a corner, reluctant to see if there would be any frutiion in taking Naraal to see Crusade in the Bridge.
"Listen closely, Naraal...
Peace is a lie, there is only passion
Through passion, I gain strength
Through strength, I gain power
Through power, I gain victory
Through victory, my chains are broken
The Force shall free me."
As usual, Suade's answer was either completely unsolvable or simple and direct. This one was the latter. Normally, mysteries like this would be ignored by him... forgotten. But since he arrived on the ship it seemed like the mysteries were placed there as a hurdle. Climbing them would put him one step closer to revealing something important. Something, paramount. Again, a tensing pain throbbed his head as he tried fruitlessly for the answer.
It was odd to him but whenever Suade spoke, he tended to chime in; regardless of what he was doing before. With his master, it was different. He was forced to pay attention at all times, it was a absolute duty. With this man, it seemed he had the choice and chose to listen.
After a beep, he would finally be meeting the source of the ripples, the deep pool that drawn him in? If he was, then he'd say it was about time. His entire body had been urging him towards it, even through the fog that blocked his question, he could feel the familiar pull coming from the same source. However, before all of that would happen, Naraal had been told something that yanked at his heart. He could feel the want to believe those words, the need to accept them. For a minuscule second, he recognized the tilting of his morality.
This is... this is what I want, he confirmed, his hands descending back into the wide sleeves of his robes. With resolve, his footing had gain a certain presence to them. Where his silence had once gone unnoticed, he found himself stepping ambitiously behind Suade, disregarding the distance he had put between them before.
In his head, he repeated those words for reasons that escaped him. Just like everything else had since he landed on the ship.
Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain... strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power... through power, I gain... victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me!
Peace is a lie, there is only passion...
Suade could hear, almost, the resoundnig chant of Naraal as he repeated the words inside his head. It was no clear read, Suade wasn't even chiming, but in his own way, Suade was enforcing the Code onto Naraal. With each repetition, Suade said it with him. His telepathy allowed these short messages over and over, pushing it into the recesses of Naraal's mind an engraving it as deep as he could into his memory in the short time they had.
Through passion, I gain... strength.
For essentially the remainder of their trip through the ship, Suade continued this with Naraal almost hypnotically. Suade had every intention on making the young Naraal remember their code, if anything. Hundreds if not thousands of Sith before Naraal and even Suade had used the code to achieve some form of greatness or power, whether it was by staying true to it or using their own interpretation. These few words held power, if only through conviction.
Through strength, I gain power.
Suade and Naraal soon met up in front of the doors to the Bridge, behind it being Lord Crusade himself. Even Suade was not immune to the ripples of the Dark Side behind it, the power that radiated from Crusade. "When I kneel, boy, you kneel," Suade told Naraal as the doors were opening. His tone was different. It was almost normal, even. He was barking an order at Naraal, like his masters before him. Even Suade knew his place under Crusade.
Through power, I gain victory.
Suade entered the Bridge ,silently walking forward past those others in it, then stood before Crusade several feet away. Suade knelt down, bowing his head. "Lord Crusade, I received a summons from Vera. What do you need of me, m'lord?" Suade asked. Suade was, for all intents and purpose, a servant to Crusade. Although at times, in front of the others, he acted with a set amount of freedom - even in the presence of Crusade - with just his lord and a few pilots, he showed nothing but his sincerest respect.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
Eventually the code was easy to remember. It came from the fog of his thoughts like a ghostly hand, gently rapping against his mispronunciations or mistaken words. They corrected him with a touch that he had long forgotten. ...the force shall free me. he told himself in a moment of finality. He felt... weightless in that moment, his own greed and hunger for the Dark Side, for the ripples beyond the door balancing with some oddity inside of him. It made his need for the Dark Side seem tamed.
With a short nod of his head, he assured Suade that he would “You got it.” As if he had a choice. Even he could feel the absolution that suffocated the room behind those doors. It ran through the ripples of the Dark Side. Something unknown, something... intriguing. The hiss of the doors opening released what felt like a chill from the bridge. Whether it actually had or not, Naraal felt that his robes had billow just the tiniest from it.
Following behind Suade with his head held high, he gazed at the broad back of the man they were approaching. It was him for sure. He was the source of the ripples, the cause of something that initiated a hunger inside of him. Though he would never speak it aloud, he dare say the man standing in front of him was like a meal. Something to be eaten, to be devoured until nothing was left.
His silver eyes gained a wild curiosity but he did well to turn his head to the ground. When Suade knelt, Naraal did the same off to his side and behind him; out of fear of the man addressed as Lord. He rested his palm on his knees, his hands tremoring from his inner desires. If not for the Code still being repeated in his head, he was sure his whole body would be doing the same.
The Force shall free me.