Chapter Seven

Druffies felt an unnecessary shove from the troopers as he entered the Head Inquisitor's office. He gave the trooper a glare then erased him from his mind.

"Sit down, Druffies," came the irritatingly calm voice from under the heavy hood of the Inquisitor before him. "Would you care to tell me what happened?"

"I'm sure you already know," Druffies snarled, still struggling to control his temper even as he compiled to the command and took his seat.

"I'd like you to tell me, in your own words, please."

"Siju was attacking Carba, and I stopped him," said Druffies, simply.

"By cutting off his head? Surely there were other ways?" The inquisitor's voice was still calm, but came across a little mocking, also. Druffies felt patronized, on top of everything else.

"I didn't have time to figure out another way," he answered. "Besides, Siju was a murderer and a pirate. He got no more than he deserved."

"Ah, so we get to the root of the problem. Siju and you had previous encounters, correct?"

Something in the way the question was asked told Druffies that the Inquisitor already knew the answer, but he found himself answering anyway. His anger was such that he could have ranted for days about the injustice of it all.

"Siju robbed and destroyed a bank on a planet I was patrolling. Murdered over a thousand Imperial citizens. He was hutt slime."

"Then why not arrest him when you saw him here at the training facility?"

Druffies had no answer for that. His jaw hung open in silence.

"I'll tell you why, Druffies," continued the Inquisitor, "You wanted revenge, not justice. You allowed Siju's arrogance lead him to a trap and you sprung it as soon as you had the chance."

"No, I…" began Druffies, but the excuses died on his lips. He recognised the truth of it. He did want Siju dead, to suffer. Guilt began to eat at him. At least, that was until he heard what the Inquisitor said next.

"An Imperial Captain would have arrested him, but an Inquisitor would have allowed his prey to trap himself, as you did. You have done well, Druffies."

He found his jaw hung open again in shock. Done well? It was an understatement to say it was not the reaction he expected.

"Now I must make sure you retain your focus to become great," the Inquisitor continued. "We need to ask you a few questions, so we can find out a bit more about your suitability."

"Should I lie down?" quipped Druffies, trying to alleviate the tension building up between his shoulder blades.

"If that makes you feel more comfortable. Start off with a breathing exercise. Breathe in for five seconds and exhale for ten seconds. As you breathe in, feel the rush of fresh clean air. Breathe out, and feel your worries and troubles leave your system."

Druffies continued this exercise for a few minutes and felt the tension leave him, mostly.

"So captain," began the Inquisitor, "Tell me about your mother. Are you close with her?"

Druffies felt a stab of annoyance. His family circumstances were a matter of record.

"You know fine rightly my mother was on Centril when Grievous performed a Base Delta Zero on it during the clone war."

Seemingly unaffected by the response, the Inquisitor continued to press. "When she was alive, how did you get on?"

Druffies swallowed his anger and took another deep breath.

"I wasn't home, much," he said. "Was enrolled in Judicial Academy from the age of ten and then transferred to the Imperial Naval Academy in Cardia when I was eighteen. My mother was a stern woman who expected the best from her children."

"What is your earliest memory?"

"Being sent to Judicial Academy. I didn't want to leave, didn't want things to change"

"And what did you want to be when you grew up?"

"My life was mapped from the day I was conceived, I came from a family of Judicials. My name was down for the Academy before my zygote was formed."

There was a pause before the final question. "What is your saddest memory?"

"When I heard my home planet had been bombed to oblivion. I knew that day my parents would never see me graduated with my officer's rank insignia."

"I see," finished the Inquisitor. "I'd been going on the assumption you were a starch assed Officer we needed to mould into an Inquisitor. The truth is you are a natural Inquisitor that your family moulded to become something else."

Surprised by the Inquisitor's sudden break from formality to use the word 'assed', Druffies wasn't sure what to say to that. It made sense, he supposed. The conversation with the Inquisitor had raised memories and feelings carefully buried by years of training and duty. He wanted to be an officer so he could bring wicked creatures like Grievous and Siju to justice, and being on the bridge of a capital ship seemed the best way to accomplish that. But the Inquisition offered something new. With the Inquisition's training and resources he could be the one to personally bring justice, not through relayed orders to gunners or Stormtroopers.

With a thud, the Inquisitor dropped a wrapped package on the table in front of him, effectively bringing him out of his reverie.

"This is for you, Druffies. Go ahead and take a look."

He unwrapped the frayed and dirty cloth from around the object and was surprised that the package was a two handed great sword.

"Unsheathe it," ordered the suddenly sharp tone of the Inquisitor.

With barely a sound, Druffies pulled the sword from its decorative sheath. It was made of an obsidian stone that seemed to drink the light from the room, and down the middle were strange runes in blood red that glowed so much they initially hurt Druffies' eyes just looking at them. But, after a few seconds, his eyes regained focus and a strange whispering just out of the range of his hearing filled his mind. The sword was as beautiful as it was deadly.

"This is a Sith sword," intoned the Inquisitor, bringing Druffies' attention back to him, once more. "Do you know what the Sith are?"

Druffies shook his head, still unable to break his eyes away from the runes on the glorious sword.

"The Sith were the race that taught the galaxy how to use the Force. The early Jedi befriended them and gained all their knowledge before destroying the race in an attempt to keep the power for themselves. In time, a rogue Jedi learned the truth and turned his back on his fellow Jedi for it. He began his own order named after the Sith race, and tried to teach the galaxy the reality and corruption of the Jedi. Untold numbers died in the wars between Jedi and Sith that followed. It's an old story and I will not waste your time with the specifics. Suffice to say the The Holy Emperor is the surviving heir of the Sith and we in the Inquisition are his loyalist servants and agents. We are a vibroblade in the dark, evil places you can't send a glowing Star Destroyer or a regiment of Stormtroopers. We live our lives in shadow so that the rest of the galaxy may enjoy the sun. You are dismissed, Dayvid."

Druffies managed to pull his gaze away from the sword long enough to return it to its scabbard, then silently left the office.

That night, he dreamed of his fight with Siju, only this time when he cut off his head the spray of blood from Siju's neck turned into the shape of the runes on the blade of his Sith sword.

To be continued…