-six months later-
Masalis walked down the now familiar halls of the Jedi buildings, his footsteps calm and confident. He had a green lightsaber on his left hip, the red one hidden near the small of his back. Masalis was going to ask some of the senior Jedi Masters about his lack for force sensitivity, even though he had a inordinate resistance to force influence, and had just taken a shortcut by way of an alley to get to the appointed meeting place, when he heard heavy boots in front and behind him. Glancing behind, he saw a burly figure with a polearm like weapon in his hands. In front of Masalis was another figure with a similar weapon and a girl about his height with a curved lightsaber hilt. The two burly figures ignited their weapons, red light sparking at the top and advanced toward Masalis, the girl keeping hold of her lightsaber, but not igniting it. Masalis drew his practice lightsaber, it's emerald light casting a serene glow compared to the red lightsabers. Masalis spun and slashed, parrying their strikes until one such strike sent a shiver through Masalis's lightsaber, and his lightsaber promptly stopped working. Masalis gave a irritated cry as he drew the red lightsaber and lashed out at the two male figures, disarming their lightsabers and forcing them to their knees. The two figures hastily retreated behind the girl who had now put away her lightsaber. Two arcing blasts of lightning erupted from her hands. Masalis had prepared to face force lightning again, but he was only able to deflect the leftmost lightning, the right having full effect on him. Masalis took halting step after halting step towards the girl, but the lightning overcame him. The girl bent down and took Masalis's still lit lightsaber and slashed open his mask, blasting the right side of his face seemingly for pure enjoyment. Masalis was breathing heavily now, especially since his body was a extremely good conductor for force lightning. The girl looked down into his and said, "You having a red lightsaber means that you have killed a sith, and for that I should kill you." She paused taking her own lightsaber and igniting it, "but, when I look into those eyes, I don't see a Jedi. I see a dauntless sith clawing to be free of the confines of the Jedi order. Therefore, I will give you a choice." Masalis glared up at her, hatred searing in his brown eyes. "Your choice is this: you live as a sith or you die as a Jedi. Close your right eye for Jedi and close your left for Sith." The girl finished, letting her lightsaber almost touch his metal coated throat. Masalis closed his left eye, and just like that, the two guards picked him up and carried him to a ship. At the entrance to this ship, leaned a beautiful exotic blue skinned Twi'lek, her black pants and black cloak accentuating her curves, a lightsaber attached to a string of sorts at her right hip. "Ah princess, I see you obtained your newest retainer." Her voice was smooth and silky, but rang like a sea of needles. Once Masalis had been bundled onboard and the Twi'lek had walked to the co-pilot seat, the girl the Twi'lek had addressed as princess shed her cloak, revealing black pants like the Twi'lek's but instead of a all covering curve accentuating cloak, wore a sleeveless shirt that covered only her upper chest,cleaving her torso bare. If Masalis wasn't hating his very cowardly existence, he would have thought the princess and her Twi'lek companion quite pretty, but as it was, he was irrevocably set on the path of the dark side of the force. As they hurtled through hyperspace and appeared in the airspace around the sith capital Tnacsuroc, Masalis felt something dark and hungry stir deep within him.
-six months later-
Masalis walked down the black, foreboding corridors that led to his leader's building, Markilo's red lightsaber on his left hip. He had become a sith in about four months, and had just returned from a skirmish with the Jedi. It had been his duty after becoming a sith to eradicate all Jedi. If he was being specific, he wasn't a full sith yet, but that would soon be changed. Hefinally reached to door, waiting a second for it to slide open and reveal his charge and associate. "Ah you're here at last." Taliya Ayla, his fellow retainer addressed him as usual. She was beautiful and many sith had tried to win her heart, but none had succeeded. Taliya was a Twi'lek and she always wore a slender, concealing black cloak that accentuated her curvaceous figure. She was one of the few whip lightsaber users, she was even approaching full mastery, which showed her skill as a fighter, for whip lightsabers were among the most difficult types of lightsabers to use.
"Let's just be glad he wasn't as late as the last time." His leader said. She was a human girl of average height and build, not as sleekly built as Taliya, but still well built. Her name was Seyla, or to use her full title: Seyla Fourth princess of the sith empire and 5th in line to the throne. Seyla, unlike her older brothers and sisters, kept to her building, asking either Taliya or Masalis to get her groceries. There had also been talk of Seyla being an illegitimate heir, but since nobody except for the royal family, Taliya, and Masalis had ever seen her the rumors were the idle speculation of fantasies. Ever since Masalis had been taken by Seyla, he had been honing his lightsaber skills and killing any Jedi that had the bad luck to cross his path. Masalis was not bloodthirsty, but had a fierce determination to see the empire he was now a part of become strong and unbreakable. "Princess Seyla. Do you have another task for Taliya and I to complete?" Masalis asked, his voice strange and metallic due to his metal throat and one of a kind mask.
"Not for Taliya, but for you specifically." Seyla said, sitting up straight. "One particular Jedi Knight that has been halting many of our efforts to expand past our place in the outer rim. I want you to kill this Jedi, and this will complete your training as a sith." Masalis's heart sank like a stone as he realized who Seyla was talking about.
"You want me to kill Stila, a Jedi that has been Master and sister to me." Masalis said.
"Yep. Do you have a problem with that?" Seyla asked, taking out her curved hilt lightsaber.
"No. Not a single problem with it. I will leave immediately. Where is she?" Masalis said.
"A strange system known as Stafarz. The planet is covered in equal parts caves and volcanoes." Seyla replied, returning to her reclined position. Masalis nodded and walked through the door and toward the carrier that Seyla had readied for his trip. Masalis climbed in and took a seat, deciding to try and see if he would have any luck increasing his almost nonexistent force abilities.
-10 hours later-
Masalis looked out the window at the burning ground of Stafarz unhappily. He always had a preference for colder environments than the deserts and volcanic places Seyla had been sending him to. Masalis exited the carrier, setting his mask on the seat, and told the droid to wait for him. Masalis took out a pair of binoculars and scanned the area, looking for his master. She was in one of the buildings that connected around the lava flow, most likely used to harvest raw materials exposed by the lava's heat. He put down the binoculars and made his way to the building where he would see his training complete. He entered the building, his face blank as he called out, "Stila." Stila turned at the mention of her name and a radiant smile lit her face. "Masalis! I've been looking everywhere for you." Stila was a true Jedi in that she didn't let her emotions control her, but that didn't stop her from running up to Masalis and giving him a quick hug before retreating back a few feet. "Anyway, onto more exciting news. How have you been?" Stila asked. Masalis walked forward. "Stila. Do you remember that sith we fought about a year ago?"
"Yes why do you ask?" Stila said turning and seeing a lightsaber in his hand, and instinctively reaching for her own.
"That sith was Markilo Shaw." Masalis said gravely.
"No. Markilo would never turn. He had the strongest will I have ever seen."
"I saw his face Stila. It was Markilo." Masalis said, putting the saber by his side and sliding his thumb onto the ignition switch. Stila took a step back, her face stricken with this realization. "Stila. The day I went missing. That day was when I fought a battle against the dark side's power." Masalis ignited Markilo's lightsaber, the red blade springing into blazing life. Stila's own lightsaber ignited, it's pure blade the complete opposite of Masalis's corrupt, stolen blade. "I lost that battle Stila, but I need to kill you and complete my training. The battle against the dark is the last battle I will ever lose." Masalis lunged at Stila, their lightsabers clashing against each other. Stila pushed Masalis back and ran towards the entrance. Masalis followed her, his metal legs making a strange sound on the stone as he ran after her. They battled furiously all over the metal appendages of the building and through pitch black caves. Masalis was extremely strong in lightsaber combat for being only seventeen, but Stila was no slouch either. "Masalis. There's still time to turn back. You don't have to follow this path!" Stila yelled as they clashed lightsabers, Masalis pushing so that the hilts met.
"Stila. I can't turn back now. I have killed too many, let too many live, become a monster." Masalis said as they continued to fight. They fought in and around the metal ruins of buildings used to contain and turn the massive heat from the quite active lava streams into energy. Stila was no slouch in lightsaber combat, having devoted many of her hours of free time to hone her skills and proficiency, so one wouldn't be amiss in saying that Stila was one of the more powerful Jedi in terms of lightsaber combat, but Masalis had been through years of the grueling survival of the fittest atmosphere of the pit arena, so his skills with a lightsaber, although inferior to Stila in terms of experience, were almost equal to her. They fought madly, their lightsabers dancing and sparks flying each time they met. The ruins, it was a honor to even call it that, started to buckle under their weight and each jumped, landing onto a automated platform, still in function even though the building was long since deserted. The platform was barely large enough and sank a few inches nearer to the river of lava beneath it as the two jumped onto it. They continued dueling, shifting around in a tight circle, their swings shorter to compensate for the lack of footing. Each time they both sifted to a side, the platform tilted dangerously in that direction. Stila knew from watching him fight with practice lightsabers that Masalis would eventually overcome her defenses and strike her down, so Stila made her choice. Channeling the force in one brief burst, Stila leapt to the safety of the ground on the left of the platform. This large force toppled the platform Masalis was still on, throwing him into the river of lava. Stila turned off her lightsaber as she saw his metal head fall beneath the lava. She had felt the dark side of the force, lingering deep inside him, grasping his heart and mind with a grip of iron. She knew him well, and she knew that nothing would stop him or change his path. She turned to go back to her transport, when she heard a keening sound from the river of lava. Stila turned to see Masalis, his flesh a mess of raw red burns and blackened ash. His metal limbs hadn't helped much either. His limbs had been constructed to be more like support mechanisms to his actual arms and legs rather than actual prosthetics. His mask had melted and cracked, revealing the right side of his face, most of the flesh on it burnt to a crisp, revealing parts of his skull, where his right eye would have been, there was a mushy lump of unrecognizable flesh resting in a red raw socket. His arms, legs, and torso had been burnt, the wires and metal peeling back and revealing the pale flesh, in some spots a burnt black where the metal hadn't protected him. Fused into the metal of his right hand was the red lightsaber he had been using, its blade still ignited and burning strong. The smell of rotted and burning flesh wafted to Stila as this steaming, smoldering wreck of metal, wires, and flesh staggered towards her. Masalis reaches up with one smoldering hand and tore away the rest of his mask, revealing the left side of his face. It was all wrinkled and deformed due to the force lightning that Markilo had attacked him with. The contrast of his face was startling, with one side being wrinkles and pale flesh, and the other being melted, blackened flesh, his teeth showing in a ghoulish grin spreading across the right side of his face. Masalis continued his slow, staggering step towards Stila. Stila reignited her lightsaber and continued to fight against Masalis, the air choked by the stench of fire and death making it hard to fight. Masalis was much slower and weaker, but he still fought Stila on equal grounds due to the immense heat that emanated from him, hindering her sight and disrupting her flow.
"There's never a point of no return Masalis!" Stila said as she made a lunge for Masalis's right arm. Masalis had been waiting for Stila to attack. His wasted arms screamed and groaned in pain as he brought his lightsaber down in a crushing blow, severing Stila's arms. Stila stumbled onto her back, looking at Masalis with those undaunted gray eyes. "Before you kill me Masalis, I want you to promise me something."
"What?" Masalis asked, his voice racked with pain and barely even able to make sound due to the intense burns around his throat, as he stood over her, ready to plunge his lightsaber into her heart.
"Promise me that no matter what, you will always follow your heart before bending to others. I don't want you to be a slave like you were all those years ago."
"Farewell master and sister." Was all Masalis said before plunging Markilo's lightsaber into Stila's heart, falling down as his legs buckled under the force of his downward strike. Masalis took the lightsaber from Stila's severed hands and made his way back to the carrier. As he reached the carrier, he walked to the edge of the cliff it had landed on and ignited Stila's lightsaber and carved out Markilo's lightsaber from his hand, and threw it into the river of lava. He was a sith now. He would gain his own lightsaber.
-10 hours later-
Twenty two hours later, Masalis made his way down the hallway, his metal cool and brittle, and entered Seyla's meeting room, her own quarters being behind the room, Taliya having quarters to the right and Masalis ones to the left. Masalis stretched out Stila's lightsaber hilt first to Seyla, the action forcing a scream of pain from Masalis's grabbed the lightsaber and ignited it. It was a miracle that the blade hadn't been bled red, but was still a pure cerulean blue. Taliya whistled approvingly and Seyla glanced at Masalis strangely. Seyla had the unique ability to read the crystals used in lightsabers, so even if Masalis had tried to lie, he wouldn't have been able to. "I'm impressed Masalis. I personally didn't think you were so dedicated to the empire."
"I live to serve." Masalis said,slowly forcing himself into a deep bow.
"Good. I'll need people like you and Taliya with me. However, you are no longer Masalis." Seyla said, igniting and moving the blue lightsaber to Masalis's left shoulder and taking her own lightsaber out and moving it to Masalis's right shoulder. "Rise Darth Renzk. You are now a true sith." Seyla withdrew the two lightsabers and let Masalis rise. Masalis said nothing, but walked over to his chair on Seyla's left and waited for her orders. "I have a place for you and Taliya to take over. It isn't too far from Tnacsuroc, but it will be a crucial foothold. On a small system called Keth there is a relic from the ancient times. This relic constructs custom lightsabers using ancient technology and the wealthy Kaiber crystal vein within the planet." Seyla looked at Renzk, who was getting up to leave with Taliya, and continued, "Renzk. I realize that your condition is less than optimal, but I feel that you are up to this mission. This would also be a good time to find a crystal or two for your new lightsabers since I can't sense the red lightsaber on you anymore." Renzk nodded and exited the room with Taliya, Taliya going to her personal stealth starfighter, and Renzk taking the carrier he had taken to Stafarz.