Chapter Four: Time to Leave
Bane was in a deep state of meditation. Meditating on his recent successes and failures: the success of finding out why his attempts to build a holocron failed; how had underestimated that Jedi Master who had turned his own power against him, crippling him for a long period of time; his success at recovery.
He was suddenly jerked out of his meditation by a disturbance he felt in the dark side on the plant. He stood up and walked to the loading ramp of the Loranda. He walked won the ramp and stepped onto the planets barren surface. He closed his eyes to focus the force and sense where the disturbance was coming from, and what it was.
He reached out with the force and felt it. A Jedi here on Korriban, about forty meters to the south, at the Sith Academy he had once attended. He felt deeper, reaching out as far as he could, trying to figure out the Jedi's motives for visiting a Sith World. At first the presence was normal, then the Jedi's awareness was suddenly heightened; Bane could feel it in the force.
The dark side energy emanating from the planet was masking Banes and Zannah own dark side energy, making them invisible to the light side of the force. Bane stared in the direction of the temple academy, his yellow eyes burning with anger at the mere memories of what had happened here. Part of him wanted to go to the academy and kill the Jedi, but a bigger part of him knew that that would be a foolish move; a
Jedi killed by lightsaber, that would bring up the debate of another Sith Lord living. Bane was not about to make the same mistake twice.
He turned and headed back up the loading ramp into the ship. Zannah had just walked out of the cockpit and almost ran into her master. She sidestepped her way around him. "Did you notice it?" she asked as she stopped near the entrance to the lounge area.
"The Jedi, yes" Bane answered not turning around to face her. "Once he has left, we will go back to the academy" he added.
"What are we looking for, master?" she asked.
"There are some records that I want to look at that were kept in the chambers of one of the masters" he answered. "The records could provide me with information"
"What records are we looking for?"
"We're going to take all the records in his chambers" Bane said as he started down the hall.
Zannah watched as her master turned a corner and disappeared from view.
Zannah walked into the lounge area and sat down on one of the couches. She kicked her feet up and gave a big long stretch. What was a Jedi doing here on Korriban? Did one of the Jedi suspect that the Sith wasn't dead? Were they followed?
No, she thought. That doesn't make sense, if they had been followed than there would be several Jedi here, including Jedi Masters; but there
is only one here, and this one doesn't feel like a master. Which means the Jedi must be here at the same time they are by coincidence. She closed her eyes. She remembered her fight against the Jedi Knight on Tython: the man used the same type of lightsaber she did, a double bladed lightsaber, although his two blades were longer than hers. She thought of the thrill she had experienced while facing him. She had never fought a Jedi before that day. She remembered the excitement of fighting him, the adrenaline of her moves, and the thrill of ending the Knights life.
She slowly opened her eyes. Her master had promised her that someday the Jedi would fall, but would it be in her lifetime? Or would it be in her apprentices life time once she found one? She had more questions than answers about the future. However, she would have to focus on the here and now in order to surpass Bane, kill him, become the new Dark Lord of the Sith, then she would worry about finding an apprentice. Worrying about the future when her future was uncertain at the moment would only hinder her ability to perform in the present.
She couldn't help but wonder what records Bane wanted to collect from the academy. The answer to that question would be answered once this Jedi left.
Suji stalked through the passages following the fresh boot prints in the dusty floor. Lightsaber in his right hand, turned off as to not give away his position if he was not alone in the temple. The boot prints led down several hallways. He followed them into what he guessed was once a cafeteria-though everything in it had been destroyed by time.
He followed the prints to the other side of the room where there was a doorway. He slowly made his way through it, but the prints vanished on the other side. He looked up and down the hall way, nothing. The dust must have been cleared away from this point on as the person walked.
He decided to lower his guard to a degree but to keep his lightsaber in his hand in case he was not alone. He slowly made his way back through the cafeteria and back to the point where he started to follow the prints. It doesn't seem like there was anything left in this place that would help them if another Sith were to arise. So he would move onto his next objective: destroy the academy.
For this he needed to get back to his ship and get the explosives he had brought with him. In order to do that, he needed to backtrack to the entrance. He made his way to the entrance after ten minutes of trying to backtrack his way. He walked over to his ship and walked up the loading ramp.
Behind the pilots chair he hit a key on the wall and a small section of the wall moved aside revealing several thermal detonators, concussion grenades, and several high level explosive devices. He pulled out a sack and packed them all into it before closing the section of the wall and leaving the ship.
He made his way back to the entrance to the academy and placed four charges; one on every corner of the door. The charges lit up red signaling that they were active and ready to be detonated. He made his way back into the academy to place the rest of the charges to blow the place off the planet.
Banes head spun around to face the direction of the academy from inside the ship. He felt it through the force, something was about to happen to the academy. He had to get there and get those records, he had no idea what was on them, but he figured that if they were in his chambers, than they must have some significance.
He walked in long strides to the loading ramp and snatched his black robe off a hook next to the ramp. He threw it on and started down the ramp.
Zannah was outside looking around at the emptiness of the planet. She turned hearing the approach of her master. "Where are you going, master?" she asked.
"To the academy" he answered walking past her.
"On foot?"
"I'll get there faster this way" he replied gathering the force for a massive force powered sprint.
Zannah walked beside him. "Then I'll come too"
Bane let loose with the force disappearing in a flash as he sprinted towards the academy. Zannah followed in suit though a little slower than her master.
They reached the academy within a few seconds of sprinting away from their ship. Bane was already half way through the entrance when Zannah caught up with him. She noticed the ship parked outside, a two passenger transport ship. There could be one more Jedi here than they thought.
Bane entered the academy. Memories of his time here coming back to him as he proceeded deeper into the structure. Zannah caught up to him. "You notice those detonators around the entrance?" she asked.
Bane didn't respond.
Of course he did, Zannah thought. They were clearly visible. She flipped her long blond hair out of her face as they got deeper into the academy. She was following her master, turning down hall after hall, until they finally stopped outside of a room. The door was half eaten by critters who inhabited the place. Bane pushed the door open, which fell over with a thud at his touch.
The room, Zannah noticed, was filled with what looked like expensive treasures coated with layers of dust from over ten years of being here untended to. Bane walked over to a dust and cobweb coated book shelf and using the force easily cleared the shelf of all dust and cobwebs. The bookshelf was filled with leather bound books, and parchments.
"Who's room is this?" Zannah asked unable to restrain herself. "There are a whole lot of treasures in here" she added.
"This was the room of that fool Qordis who headed this academy before his death and the fall of the Sith" he glanced at the dusty treasures. "Pathetic man with his trinkets"
Bane pulled several books off the shelf and flipped through them, tossing the books, one by one onto the floor. He was obviously searching for something.
"Master" Zannah said after several minutes. "The Jedi is on his way to this hall" she said reaching out with the dark side to follow his movements.
Bane turned his back to the bookshelf, his face twisted with irritation. Bane had thought that Qordis at least would have a good selection of ancient Sith texts, but in the end, his texts were as useless as Qordis himself.
Zannah was at the edge of the doorway, tracking the Jedis moves with the force. Bane walked up behind her. "We're leaving" he said, and strode out of the room.
Suji walked down the hall having placed the last of his detonators, he was ready to blow this place up, and get back to the Jedi Temple. The constant presence of the dark side was starting to cloud his judgment. He wanted to leave the planet as quickly as possible.
He walked past a room that made him stop and backtrack. The door to this room wasn't on the ground when he last walked past it; and there were books on the ground, last time he looked in this room all the books were on the shelf. His gripped tightened on his lightsaber hilt, he wasn't alone in this place after all.
He tried to reach out with the force as hard as he could. It was near impossible on this planet, all the dark side energy was hindering his own force abilities; but he persisted reaching out as hard as he could, concentrating as hard as he could. Then he felt it: two force sensitive being moving two halls down from him-they were users of the dark side!
He had to get out of here, and warn the other Jedi of this. His control of the light side of the force only last another second before the dark side clouded his attempts. He rushed down a few halls to the entrance: using the charges he had placed to guide his way back.
He ran through the entrance and was halfway back to his ship before he noticed a figure at the foot of his loading ramp into his ship. The figure was a human women, strikingly beautiful, very nice figure, and had blond hair that blew in the emotionless breeze. She wore a black robe, typical for the Sith.
Suji flipped the ignition switched on the hilt of his lightsaber brining the blue blade into existence with a snap-hiss. The women flipped her robe open and reached for her belt.
Bane and Zannah made it out of the academy when she turned to her master. "Can I dispose of the Jedi, master?" she asked.
Bane gave her a questioning look. "It is your choice whether you fight him or not, but if you choose to, leave no evidence behind, leave no sign of the fight, his body, or his ship" he answered. "We cannot afford another mistake" he added with a sharp and threatening tone.
Zannah bowed her head slightly. "I understand, master" she replied.
Bane force sprinted his way back towards their ship. Zannah walked to the foot of the Jedi ships loading ramp and waited. After a few minutes of waiting, she was rewarded with the Jedi running out of the academy. At the sight of her he ignited his blue lightsaber.
She flipped her robe open and unclipped her lightsaber from her belt. She flicked the two switches bringing her two red blades of her double bladed lightsaber into existence.
The Jedi rushed at her with great speed, thrusting his blue blade at her exposed chest. Using one of her blades she easily parried the attempt and spun on the heel of her right foot, bringing her left foot around to try and sweep the Jedi's feet out from under him. The Jedi leapt into the air with a back flip and landed behind her.
She turned around and started to spin her double bladed weapon in a circle in front of her, creating a shield of red energy. She was spinning her double bladed weapon so fast the two blades looked to be one, and that one appeared as nothing but a blur of red.
The Jedi remained in a ready stance, ready to attack or defend. Zannah and the Jedi circled each other several times before the Jedi lunged forward yet again.
Zannah easily blocked his attempt with one blade, and twisted her arm to bring the second blade of her weapon around, aimed at the mans legs. The Jedi jumped back moments before the blade of red energy was about to cut his legs off.
Clearly his ability to use the force here has been hindered by the dark side they were surrounded by. Zannah realized that this Jedi would be no threat to her, and that she could try out a new style of fighting. She clicked one of the ignition switches, drawing one of the red blades of her weapon back. She was now only using one blade.
Suji watched as this Sith mocked him by shutting down one of her blades. She was making fun of him! Mocking him! His grip on his lightsaber hilt tightened and he started to grind his teeth. He had never faced an opponent who mocked him so much. He played back the scenes of the battle so far, he has been unable to get in her guard, and all of her attacks have been near misses due to his inability to use the light side of the force.
He watched as the women flashed a sadistic smile at him. Suddenly he felt something hot boiling inside him, then he came to a conclusion. If he can't use the light side to fight this Sith, he will use the next thing that is all around him-the dark side.
He gathered up all the force he could and launched at the women. She blocked and parried with her one blade. He used his raw emotions to drive his moves, his attacks. Swiping up high, then low, to the right, then high again. He then sent a blow that she block, but was so powerful that it pushed her back several meters.
The women ignited the second blade to her weapon, and started spinning it again, create that shield of red energy. He jumped forward and brought a blow crashing down on her from above. She had brought one of her blades up just in time to block it, and push him back a few feet.
He attempted a leg slash which was blocked by a blade from her weapon. The blades still connected she spun the hilt of her lightsaber around almost throwing Suji's lightsaber from his hand. She spun around and released a kick aimed at Suji's face. He brought his arm around just in time to block the kick. Using one of her hands to balance, the women spun on her hand bringing her lightsaber skidding across
the ground towards his legs. Still holding back her kick he lifted his legs off the ground long enough for the two blades to pass below him then brought his feet back to the ground.
Release his lightsaber from his grip he used both his hands to grab the women's leg, pick her up, and throw her at his ship. The force of his physical throw was greater than he thought. The women tried to slow her speed but it didn't work. She slammed into the metal side of the ship and fell to one knee.
Her back splitting with pain, Zannah tried to use the force to subdue the pain. The mans throw was more intense than she had thought it was going to be. This Jedi realized that he was going to loose since he could not use the light side of the force on this planet, so he switched to the dark side. Something that Zannah did not expect. He was using the dark side energy around them to give him a fighting chance.
She realized that this battle was becoming even. Her master would not wait long until he left the planet. She had to decide, continue fighting this Jedi and risk her master leaving with her, or leave the battle. If she left, what would her master think?
After thinking it over for a few seconds, she realized that the duties with her master were more important than killing this Jedi. She shut down her lightsaber and using the power of the dark side, sprinted off towards the ship where her master was more than likely irritated waiting for her.