Geist walked calmly through the vast reaches of the massive library that had been built within the heart of the temple on Xa Fel. This was the one place he felt at home in, wandering amongst the shelves of data. Most of them were electronic storage these days, a method that had its uses but also its downfalls. Reading something off a screen was so different from books, a method that most of the galaxy had practically forgotten about, but not all of it. Some Sith had been rather clever and stored their knowledge not within machines but upon pages. There were several such tomes here but no one ever read them, no one except Geist. The others ventured to simply read electronic copies, an effective way but lost on something so revered as an actual book in this day and age. Some of those books though were locked away, practically held hostage by the libraries keeper, Sutho.
Sutho was a failed Sith Apprentice, but ruled over the library like it was his personal empire and for good reason. Sutho was the only one who knew were everything was, no one dared to question him here, not even the Knights for he could always say he didn't have a copy of what they needed. He was the unofficial lord of knowledge within the temple, hording the knowledge and sharing only with those who showed him respect. The only ones Sutho feared were the Masters, who he aided without a second thought, providing them with whatever they requested almost instantly. Sutho though would not permit certain books to enter the hands of Apprentices, this included several tomes Geist needed to read for his research. This meant tha Geist would have to persuade the arrogant librarian to do what he wanted or get creative.
For now, Geist simply lingered in front of the shielded bookcase, looking longingly at the books he so desired to read but could not at this moment. Once he did this though, he'd have to keep the tomes, to read them as he traveled, this would most definitely annoy Sutho, probably earn Geist a permanent banishment from the library, but he would have what he really wanted then anyways, the books. Its not like it could be considered theft either, he was a Sith student, they were Sith tomes. The librarian was just an idiot who liked to show his power over the flow of knowledge, no Sith ever enforced his policies outside of the library because Sutho was weak, everyone knew it. He was the joke of the order only kept alive by the Triumvirate most likely because he amused them with his usefulness. The books Geist wanted anyways were never touched, they'd actually collected some dust, he could tell through the casing. Not even the masters cared to read them, which thus denoted them as useless to everyone else. Geist saw it differently, it meant then that no one really knew what could be within those pages, even if only the smallest hint. All he had to do was acutally get them...
"You there! The masked one! Get away from those cases!"
The other students in the aisle turned and fled quickly out of it as Geist turned to see Sutho walking towards him very quickly. Sutho was a thin, pale man, with severl tattoos underneath his brown eyes. He had the air of confidence only the petty could ever have, knowing their word is absolute in this realm. Geist avoided Sutho, mainly because the librarian cared to voice the opinion that any Apprentice who wore a mask was an amateur wannabe, unaware Geist wore it for a good reason. This therefore made Geist feel better as he considered smashing Sutho's face into the book case in front of him, but he resisted the urge. He'd ask nicely first, be manipulative and find out what he needed to know.
"My apologies, Sutho, I only wished to know what these books were. I've read all the others but you keep these in a shield for some reason," Geist said calmly.
"Those are the books of the Scurro Macchina, they're my most prized pieces," Sutho said rather proudly now.
"Why does no one read them, then?"
"No one cares about the Scurro Macchina any more, you naive fool. Even the Masters don't care to read them. Its a lost and useless art, no one's done that kind of stuff for millennia," Sutho said dismissively.
"So, that makes these books useless..." Geist said, playing the part of a naive student.
"More or less... the Masters have expressed the opinion that these books would more useful as toilet paper, but they're my books damn it! It took me forever to hunt these down, they're the only ones ever made because the art really is useless, especially when a Dark Lord can just as easily summon forth force lightning and bone breaking abilities all on their own. No one gives a damn about the creations of the old Sith Lords and darksiders anymore, they're all too busy jockeying for real power."
"Ahhh, so I likely wouldn't be punished for taking these from you?" Geist asked in a suddenly cold voice.
"What.."
Sutho found himself pressed up against the bookshelf, staring at the reflection of his own terrified eyes off the dark lenses of Geist's mask. He then felt something sharp poke into his ribs, the knife from Geist's right arm.
"Don't scream or I'll gut you," Geist snarled, his synthesized voice almost inhuman now.
Sutho looked helplessly at Geist and then tried something he hadn't done in a while, calling on the force. The racks of datacards on the shelf behind Geist shifted, rattling a little, making Geist go tense.
"Try it, just try it and see what I'll do to you," Geist said in cold, unmerciful tones.
Sutho stopped, shaking in terror now as he looked into the dark lenses of the ruthless man holding him against his own shelves.
"How do you open the shield."
"Why, why do you want those books. The Scurro Macchina are useless, even a washout like me knows that. There's no power in them, nothing worth reading even, just the mad ramblings of the Macchinari, those Sith who studied or built them. Imbuing machinery with the force, what nonsense... GKKKK!"
Sutho found Geist's hand around his throat, squeezing.
"I said, how do you open the fucking shield, washout."
"My....key...card...." Sutho gasped.
"Thank you."
Geist pulled Sutho from the shelf, spun him to face it and promptly rammed his face hard against the shelf, breaking his nose and knocking him unconscious as he nose dribbled blood on his clothing. Geist kneeled down and removed the mentioned keycard from an inner pocket on Sutho's vest and rammed it into place. A panel opened, revealing a scanner large enough for a hand. Geist gave the unconscious Sutho a vicious glare but then dragged the unconscious librarian over and put his hand on the pad. The panel beeped and the shield died, opening the case to fresh air. Geist then drew the satchel from his side and carefully placed all three books into it. He couldn't truly be punished for this, he was sure. He'd left Sutho alive, thus not hindering Sith teachings, and these books were worth nothing to the order. Sutho himself had more or less said that he'd found them for himself, for his collection, most likely of rare books. The higer level Sith might still get aggravated, Geist wasn't sure, but he didn't care, he had what he wanted and he knew they wouldn't probably even make him give them back. The books belonged to Geist by right of strength, he'd simply taken them from Sutho, someone weaker. That was the Sith way, if someone weak had knowledge you required, you took it.
Geist turned and calmly departed from the aisle, walking across the massive central floor to the exit, leaving without a second thought. Sutho would wake up eventually, but by then Geist would have already left to continue his search. He would make sure to leave a message behind for those above him, so as to not draw anger or suspicion as he searched for this lost dark art as well as other sith artifcats. The first thing he needed to do though was to depart Xa Fel and steal a bigger ship for his long term search.
Geist walked calmly through the temple, first stopping into his chamber, writing on a datapad and tossing it onto the bed. He then turned and departed, heading out of the temple to the small temple complex to the right that had been converted into a docking bay. He found his shuttle and walked up the ramp, stowing his books away in a hidden compartment before he started to warm up the engines. As his ship whirred to life, Geist walked down the quietly waiting to see if Orion would come along as he'd said he had wished to.
Sutho was a failed Sith Apprentice, but ruled over the library like it was his personal empire and for good reason. Sutho was the only one who knew were everything was, no one dared to question him here, not even the Knights for he could always say he didn't have a copy of what they needed. He was the unofficial lord of knowledge within the temple, hording the knowledge and sharing only with those who showed him respect. The only ones Sutho feared were the Masters, who he aided without a second thought, providing them with whatever they requested almost instantly. Sutho though would not permit certain books to enter the hands of Apprentices, this included several tomes Geist needed to read for his research. This meant tha Geist would have to persuade the arrogant librarian to do what he wanted or get creative.
For now, Geist simply lingered in front of the shielded bookcase, looking longingly at the books he so desired to read but could not at this moment. Once he did this though, he'd have to keep the tomes, to read them as he traveled, this would most definitely annoy Sutho, probably earn Geist a permanent banishment from the library, but he would have what he really wanted then anyways, the books. Its not like it could be considered theft either, he was a Sith student, they were Sith tomes. The librarian was just an idiot who liked to show his power over the flow of knowledge, no Sith ever enforced his policies outside of the library because Sutho was weak, everyone knew it. He was the joke of the order only kept alive by the Triumvirate most likely because he amused them with his usefulness. The books Geist wanted anyways were never touched, they'd actually collected some dust, he could tell through the casing. Not even the masters cared to read them, which thus denoted them as useless to everyone else. Geist saw it differently, it meant then that no one really knew what could be within those pages, even if only the smallest hint. All he had to do was acutally get them...
"You there! The masked one! Get away from those cases!"
The other students in the aisle turned and fled quickly out of it as Geist turned to see Sutho walking towards him very quickly. Sutho was a thin, pale man, with severl tattoos underneath his brown eyes. He had the air of confidence only the petty could ever have, knowing their word is absolute in this realm. Geist avoided Sutho, mainly because the librarian cared to voice the opinion that any Apprentice who wore a mask was an amateur wannabe, unaware Geist wore it for a good reason. This therefore made Geist feel better as he considered smashing Sutho's face into the book case in front of him, but he resisted the urge. He'd ask nicely first, be manipulative and find out what he needed to know.
"My apologies, Sutho, I only wished to know what these books were. I've read all the others but you keep these in a shield for some reason," Geist said calmly.
"Those are the books of the Scurro Macchina, they're my most prized pieces," Sutho said rather proudly now.
"Why does no one read them, then?"
"No one cares about the Scurro Macchina any more, you naive fool. Even the Masters don't care to read them. Its a lost and useless art, no one's done that kind of stuff for millennia," Sutho said dismissively.
"So, that makes these books useless..." Geist said, playing the part of a naive student.
"More or less... the Masters have expressed the opinion that these books would more useful as toilet paper, but they're my books damn it! It took me forever to hunt these down, they're the only ones ever made because the art really is useless, especially when a Dark Lord can just as easily summon forth force lightning and bone breaking abilities all on their own. No one gives a damn about the creations of the old Sith Lords and darksiders anymore, they're all too busy jockeying for real power."
"Ahhh, so I likely wouldn't be punished for taking these from you?" Geist asked in a suddenly cold voice.
"What.."
Sutho found himself pressed up against the bookshelf, staring at the reflection of his own terrified eyes off the dark lenses of Geist's mask. He then felt something sharp poke into his ribs, the knife from Geist's right arm.
"Don't scream or I'll gut you," Geist snarled, his synthesized voice almost inhuman now.
Sutho looked helplessly at Geist and then tried something he hadn't done in a while, calling on the force. The racks of datacards on the shelf behind Geist shifted, rattling a little, making Geist go tense.
"Try it, just try it and see what I'll do to you," Geist said in cold, unmerciful tones.
Sutho stopped, shaking in terror now as he looked into the dark lenses of the ruthless man holding him against his own shelves.
"How do you open the shield."
"Why, why do you want those books. The Scurro Macchina are useless, even a washout like me knows that. There's no power in them, nothing worth reading even, just the mad ramblings of the Macchinari, those Sith who studied or built them. Imbuing machinery with the force, what nonsense... GKKKK!"
Sutho found Geist's hand around his throat, squeezing.
"I said, how do you open the fucking shield, washout."
"My....key...card...." Sutho gasped.
"Thank you."
Geist pulled Sutho from the shelf, spun him to face it and promptly rammed his face hard against the shelf, breaking his nose and knocking him unconscious as he nose dribbled blood on his clothing. Geist kneeled down and removed the mentioned keycard from an inner pocket on Sutho's vest and rammed it into place. A panel opened, revealing a scanner large enough for a hand. Geist gave the unconscious Sutho a vicious glare but then dragged the unconscious librarian over and put his hand on the pad. The panel beeped and the shield died, opening the case to fresh air. Geist then drew the satchel from his side and carefully placed all three books into it. He couldn't truly be punished for this, he was sure. He'd left Sutho alive, thus not hindering Sith teachings, and these books were worth nothing to the order. Sutho himself had more or less said that he'd found them for himself, for his collection, most likely of rare books. The higer level Sith might still get aggravated, Geist wasn't sure, but he didn't care, he had what he wanted and he knew they wouldn't probably even make him give them back. The books belonged to Geist by right of strength, he'd simply taken them from Sutho, someone weaker. That was the Sith way, if someone weak had knowledge you required, you took it.
Geist turned and calmly departed from the aisle, walking across the massive central floor to the exit, leaving without a second thought. Sutho would wake up eventually, but by then Geist would have already left to continue his search. He would make sure to leave a message behind for those above him, so as to not draw anger or suspicion as he searched for this lost dark art as well as other sith artifcats. The first thing he needed to do though was to depart Xa Fel and steal a bigger ship for his long term search.
Geist walked calmly through the temple, first stopping into his chamber, writing on a datapad and tossing it onto the bed. He then turned and departed, heading out of the temple to the small temple complex to the right that had been converted into a docking bay. He found his shuttle and walked up the ramp, stowing his books away in a hidden compartment before he started to warm up the engines. As his ship whirred to life, Geist walked down the quietly waiting to see if Orion would come along as he'd said he had wished to.