Part III

The Unfolding of the Dark

Chapter 35

Loyalty and Betrayal

"I was born on Tryton II, though I can hardly call myself a native of that world. Sith loyalty and military service runs in my family, so my early life was fairly mobile. My parents were soldiers in the Sith military, met and married in the service. My father was a war hero; lost his entire squad and then took down the whole pirate vessel on his own. He met my mother, when she was patching up his wounds in the infirmary right after that; they married a few years later and had me…only me. That in and of itself got the Sith's attention, as the son of a decorated war hero; not to mention, my mother was no average nurse. She was also an expert in Sith anatomy. I was raised to love and respect the Sith as leaders and models of perfection.

"For the record, Sith almost never take in Force sensitive humans. Most of the time, they are ignored. If they become an inconvenience, they get locked up or killed. However, there is one academy for the exceptions, ones who are found early enough or are proven to be valuable. It's on Mengskin, and it's quite large, given that it trains both Sith and humans, but it is very difficult to get into. My parents pushed and pushed to try and get me into that academy when they found out I was Force sensitive. They accepted, and so at age ten, I was sent away. But what's more important is what I became and what I learned of the Sith's ways…let's just say it was far more than the normal human student."

In the middle of a marked battle ring in a small private training facility, Rixxon Zazz, the Grand Sire of the True Sith stood, watching one of his own kin wrestle the only human in the room. A very young Amicus Trek, scar-free and with fairly lengthy straight hair, was vigorously grappling with a True Sith soldier. The ring was marked by hard elastic cables, bounded in the shape of a square.

The True Sith in the ring had just broken free of Trek's tight upper corner and was now rolling over, trying to get the dominant position. Trek rolled, trying to keep up with the Sith so to prevent him from succeeding, but the Sith stuck his foot up, catching Trek in the air, and then hooked it around, mounting on top of him. Trek was struggling, trying not to waste all of his energy, but the exasperating day had stressed his muscles and nerves to their maximum. When the Sith had his arm pressing down on Trek's throat while moving his knees up to mount them on Trek's biceps, Trek bucked and threw him over his head. The Sith hit the elastic cable, and though it stretched substantially, it bounced the Sith back into the ring, sending his head straight into Trek's inward elbow. The Sith's head shot backwards and led the rest of the body straight down to the ground. Though he was still conscious, the next thing he felt, besides the ringing in his head, was Trek's boot placed on his neck.

"I yield," gasped the Sith.

The Grand Sire immediately clapped his hands for Trek as the boot was lifted and allowed the Sith to get back up on his feet. "I had to see it to believe it," he said. "You really are one of the best of your kind; even among the best of my kind." Zazz's voice was raspy and dark, more than unique to the rest of the True Sith.

Trek bowed. "Thank you, Grand Sire; I am honored."

"Leave us…" Zazz said to the other. The other Sith dusted himself off and then left the room. "Amicus Trek, one in your place understands that our treatment of you is quite unique, but only for the reason that your power and potential makes you very useful. You have very few predecessors, but the humans whose skills are comparable to our very own standards are occasionally given the chance to prove themselves to us. But this great power comes with great responsibility. You would be one of us; among us, a guardian and protector of our ways, our rule, and our secrets."

"Nothing would please me more than to serve as humanity's best representative," said Trek, without looking into Zazz's eyes.

"The trust the Grand Sire of the Sith puts into this is substantial, one that requires far more than a blood oath of loyalty. Under my predecessor, there was only one in your place; Jarrod Ockier. His final task was to locate the source of a financial leak and plug it back up, as well as bring back the heads of all responsible. He ended up bringing back over five hundred heads, taken from five hundred individuals who had profited from the ultimate thief of our money. Such dedication and loyalty proved his worth to my predecessor, and he served faithfully for the rest of his life. My grand-predecessor had the very first. The exceptional of your kind are so few and so far between, no official standard could ever be set. The task I have for you is very similar to the one Ockier had to do, but on a much larger scale. Are you ready?"

"I am ready, Sire," said Trek in the most faithful tone of voice he could muster.

"Rise…" Trek rose and faced the Grand Sire.

"There is an organization that has recently developed," returned Zazz. "From our neighbor planet of Kraxis, a rebellion mustered against me and against the Sith. Only my chiefs of staff know of it, and though it will take much more than a single army to make my kind panic, the rest of the galaxy must not know of this. The damage cannot be limited; it must be eliminated. You will find the conspirators and members of this Kraxis Rebellion, and you will put them down. Just like Ockier, you will bring me their heads. You are on your own for this mission; no backup, no intel, nothing but your very own resources and your skills."

"Not a single devious soul shall survive," responded Trek. "I will make sure of it."

"Bear in mind, that if you should fail your task, another Sith can just as easily take your place," said Zazz. "By now I am sure that you know of my generous feelings towards humanity, and I know how much this means to you. Therefore, I am more than willing to put you up to this task; but do not disappoint me. If you do, you need not bother returning, and there will never be another human to rise to your ranks for as long as I am Sire. Those are the stakes. Do you understand?"

Trek took a breath. "Yes, Grand Sire…I understand."

"May the dark side of the Force serve you well."

Trek bowed one last time and turned, leaving the room without looking back.

"I did the Grand Sire's bidding with enthusiasm. I tracked down every single HQ, hideout, and bunker, and I slaughtered them all. There were no survivors, and I left behind a trail of blood and guts. It was a pleasure to do such easy work at the Grand Sire's bidding, and it would make my status as an honorary Sith official and permanent. Three weeks of hunting and slaughtering and I drove the Kraxis Rebels to extinction. When I returned to Zazz, I dumped the head of the leader at his feet with my bow. He took it and disintegrated it with his hand, and then he anointed me by burning off the hair at the top of my head. It was the proudest day of my life…that is, until I met my wife.

"I was married, and a father of three beautiful children – an older boy and two little girls, all of them Force sensitive. My personal time belonged to them, training and spending time with them. I was going to make them weapons for the Sith, even Sith themselves like me, establish a legacy for my family name.

"It turns out, running an entire empire is quite difficult work, even though the Zazz made it look easy. There was a lot for me to do, a lot of people for me to kill, and a lot of examples to be made. I made a lot of friends, and no enemy I ever made lasted very long. The Grand Sire was even determined to sometimes show me off as a prime example of what humanity is capable of producing. You could say I was…something of a symbol. I'm not even bragging about this, by the way. It's a fact.

"Now…as much as I hate to digress from this, it is also important to note that I love humanity. Even though I was raised to revere the Sith, as I matured, I saw great potential even in the non-Force sensitive beings in the human race. I didn't just voluntarily join with the Sith for my own glory. It did bring me certain perks; I met my wife on one of my missions, I was very wealthy, and I had both the trust and political backing of the Grand Sire, but when it came to my career, the racial uplift of humanity is what my ultimate goals were. With each human I killed, I believed that it was to further the cause of the Sith empire, and subsequently the cause of humanity. Zazz treated me with great respect even though my power was so miniscule compared to his own. The more I did, the more I noticed his feelings towards humans become warmer. His decision to bring me into his inner circle was a reluctant one at best, but his treatment of humans in the empire got better. My dealings brought in a lot of extra resources, and he would joke about my 'aggressive negotiations.' Of course, I found to be a lame statement at best, and at worst, the most conniving and puke inducing phrase ever put together by a person who is supposed to be taken seriously, but obviously I never told him that.

"My biggest interest, as part of the raging Sith machine was to better humanity's place in this galaxy. Humans have so much to offer, and of course the strong must always rule the Sith and the Sith must always rule the galaxy, but that did not mean that there wasn't a place for humans to thrive. This is what I thought back then…and all that's really changed is my attitude towards Sith…as I'm sure you've noticed. Even now, I still believe in humanity's potential as a race. We simply must overcome the barriers the Sith have set upon us…and it has to be done by showing the Sith that we can take them on, that we can out-savage them, and dismantle their oppressive establishment.

"For ten years, I bore the Sith badge proudly. But not everything was as fine and lovely as it seemed. It turned out, even though the Grand Sire's authority was the only one that mattered, there were many others in the supreme ranks who detested me. Zazz's apprentice hated my guts, though his grudge was based off of a single event where Zazz taught me a special technique in the Force before teaching it to him. Professional jealousy I suppose is the term. But that wasn't even it; it was primarily the Joint Chiefs of Staff who hated me the most. Aside from the fact that my antics made even some of the best of the Sith encumbered with jealousy, they believed that it was inappropriate for a human to even be considered an honorary member of a 'superior' species, and that a human could actually be knowledgeable about the deepest and darkest secrets of their empire.

"I didn't think they would ever go so far to get rid of me by going behind the Grand Sire's back, but…first mistake. General Rexx secretly ordered the killing of my family, but not my own death. I found out about it through a friend who was a Sith, named Daevon.

It was very early in the morning in the capitol city on Shikara. The sky was pitch black, barely a star in sight. The city had grown quiet, but Trek sprinted down the street and ducked into an alley. When Trek made it to the other end of the alley, his friend was waiting for him.

"Slow down, your breathing's going to set off speeder alarms," said his friend.

"Good to see you too Daevon," grumbled Trek in a sarcastic tone. "But I don't like meeting like this; why so discreet?"

"You're not going to like this," said Daevon. "I have a message that comes from way high up."

"Most messages for me do…" said Trek.

"But this one wasn't for you," replied Daevon. "It was from General Rexx, and it was for his personal Sith infantry brigade, 3rd Battalion."

"How'd you get it?"

"It doesn't matter," said Daevon. "But I wasn't able to stop this message from getting to them."

"Unless the message concerns me," said Trek in a suspicious tone. "It's not my business or my place; the less I know, the more secure I am."

"You already know everything," said Daevon. "And this message does concern you. You'd think I'd call you and tell you to get your ass down here from four light years away over a matter of Zazz's grocery shopping?"

"Alright, let's see it." Daevon handed Trek a piece of paper with a short message on it from Supreme Commander Norbus Rexx.

"You're kidding me," said Trek. "I know Rexx hates me, but no way would he take it this far. The Sire would lash his teeth out one by one. When'd you get this?"

"Two hours ago…this is real, Trek," said Daevon. "I couldn't tell you this over the communicator. I've been watched since I smuggled that intel I gave you from Tryton. You're lucky it's me and not someone else telling you this."

Trek shook his head with a smirk. He didn't believe it, and for good reason. He was the most loyal servant Rixxon Zazz had ever hired; never failing on one mission, and he had even voluntarily turned in traitors in the government before Zazz knew they even existed, not including the slaughtering of the Kraxis Rebels. This couldn't be right. Nevertheless, Daevon had never deceived him before, and it concerned his family, which caught his eye. Trek was motionless for a short time, thinking about this.

"What the hell are you still doing here? Go get to your family!"

Trek sighed. "Fine," he said. "This better not be a game. My time is much too valuable to be wasted." Trek walked out of the alley and moved quickly back to his ship.

Meanwhile, Daevon activated his comm. and switched to another radio channel. "He's on his way."

Trek barely believed his friend, but another side of him felt like he was doing his family a disservice by not being there to begin with. He had just been drawn away from a voluntary intel gathering job on dissidence in the Adine territories. But it was not like he could do anything at the moment. He was already at light speed, and heading home.

The feelings persisted more and more, that Daevon was indeed telling the truth. Then again, this was in his gut, but he was much more used to using his head. His reputation of being cold and calculating as much as he was brutal in his methods had made him such an effective asset to the Grand Sire. The conflict of what was true and what wasn't was still present and still just as blurry. There was still no harm in checking it out. He had seen his family very recently; the last time he kissed his wife, there was nothing out of the ordinary. The job demanded that he be away often, and his family had understood and become accustomed to it. His wife even had a few friends in the Sith species.

When the ship came out of hyperspace, Trek sped down and docked in his backyard. He cared not about the noise it would create, as it was around the same time it was on Shikara at the moment. The sky was still dark, but there were hints that a red sun was about to start rising. Blood had either been spilled this night or was going to be spilled today, another thought that sent a mild shiver up his spine. The Force was clearly giving him some messages. There were people he cared about that were in danger, yet his radar detected no Sith battalion present. Perhaps he had gotten there first, and could get them out there.

But the situation was quite different. To Trek's horror and dismay, upon entering his house, he found blood dripping down the stairs. His heart skipped several beats as he rushed up the stairs and followed the blood trail to his bed room. There laid the corpse of his wife, Kurina in the middle of the floor. Her throat was slit while she was in bed, but it appeared that this was not enough to kill her, for she had left the bed and crawled about half a meter before the blood loss became too much and killed her. It was a mess, but Trek cared not for it. The woman he loved the most in the entire galaxy had been taken from her, and not in a way that he could get her back.

He sunk to the ground; his knees immediately soaked in the blood, and picked Kurina up. He held her close and tightly, caressing his head against her chest. There was no heartbeat, and though Trek had already closed the wound with the Force, she could not be saved. Trek's mind was, for the first time since the birth of his second child, a pool of emotions. Daevon was right about General Rexx. Though he knew this to be true, he could hardly think about it. He wept harder than ever, still holding his wife close to him. The only coherent thought was to find his children.

His two daughters were dead on their beds, much cleaner kills than his wife. His older son was also dead, but in the kitchen downstairs. There were signs of struggle; that the boy had tried fighting back, but he was no match for True Sith commandos.

Now the feelings of betrayal and loss were even more devastating. All his dreams, everything he had wanted and most likely would have accomplished, immediately brought to a bitter end as the life of his family was taken. His hopes that his daughters become successful, his dream that one day his son would take his place at Zazz's side was gone. His hope of playing a game of checkers with his son the next time they saw each other…gone. His hope of retiring with Kurina in a smaller house where he could relax and enjoy a simple life of sports and luxury was brought to hopeless. The pain was worse than any physical pain he had ever experienced before; overbearing and without any promise of relief. He was alive, but most of everything he had to live for was not. The pain of his wife's death was closest to his heart, but that did not make the deaths of his children any easier to bear.

"I left my house, cremated the bodies on my ship and disposed of the ashes into space. There was nothing I could do for them; no technique in the Force I knew to bring them back. I was a drunken mess, floating around in the lonely patches of space. I figured Sith were hunting me, so I disappeared. It took me seven months to get my head straight again, but all that gave me was anger and a hunger for revenge. I still wasn't over them; and I'm not sure I'll ever be over them. But when I found out that Daevon himself was hunting me, I knew I'd have to act fast if I was to survive. I still had no idea what future path I would take; but it required that I be alive. That was all that was clear.

"I made myself bait, lured Daevon into a trap. He had a team of human commandos behind him as they came for me. I sealed the doors and nerve gassed the room before Daevon could break out. I knew the humans would be killed, but Daevon was fine, just as I expected. I captured him and brought him back to his shuttle."

The shuttle was mostly vacant and floating in the middle of space, towing Trek's personal ship. Only Trek and Daevon were on board the shuttle, for Trek's ship was no longer updated on the private chat channel with Voss's embassy.

In the shuttle, Daevon was a helpless case, at the mercy of a merciless shell of his former friend. Daevon's powers as a True Sith could not match Trek's own prowess, and Daevon didn't even try it. For the moment, Trek was not even asking any questions. He was savagely beating on Daevon's face and chest with his bare fists. Trek broke four of Daevon's ribs and knocked out three of his teeth.

But Trek was in control; something which no bystander could ever understand. Trek was in full control of himself, and in full control of his anger towards his friend. He was beating on him because he wanted to, and he had coldly calculated what he was going to do. Phase one involved settling a score with his friend and making Daevon experience a small fraction of the pain Trek felt when he lost his family in the form of physical torment. Phase two was to find the answer to the question that ached his brain cells, even when he was killing them with all the liquor he had consumed.

"Enjoying yourself old buddy?" said Daevon, with blood dripping from his teeth a maniacal grin on his face.

"Shut up!" bellowed Trek as he elbowed Daevon in the eye. "Say something impolite like that again and I'll rip the nails off your fingers.

"You think I'm afraid to die?" said Daevon. "I am Sith…I fear nothing; and I have no regrets about what I did. So go ahead…kill me; we will not regret it, but you will when we find you and…"

"I said, SHUT UP!" Trek cut him off with kick to the chest, almost breaking another rib.

Trek moved from the handcuffed and secure barely alive pulp of his former friend to the nearest console. A few minutes of hacking gave access to the Grand Sire's personal chamber. With the push of a button, a video feed was established, and the holographic image of Rixxon Zazz sat before him on his chair.

"I was wondering when you would contact me," said Zazz. "We have much to discuss Trek."

"Grand Sire," said Trek with a half-respectful nod. "I suppose after seven months, it wouldn't be much news to you if I told you it was General Rexx who gave the order to kill my family."

"No news at all," said Zazz. "Nor was it news to me when it happened. How much do you think I actually don't know?"

"If you knew it was going to happen, why didn't you contact me and warn me sooner? Or are you in league with them?"

Zazz stood from his chair and took three steps down. "Let's make one thing clear right now Trek, THEY are in league with ME! Not the other way around. I do not answer to you. You answer to me; you and the rest of this galaxy."

"Why?" demanded Trek. "What did I do besides do your biddings more loyally and more competently than anyone else you ever hired? What did I do besides bring the largest group of dissidents to a gruesome end? What did I do to deserve this? Answer me!"

Zazz laughed. "Well articulated…I am happy all that alcohol did not interfere with your ability to make a point. Very well…I did not give the order…not even implied consent. It was all Norbus Rexx…and the General was honest with me when it happened. I knew what he was planning to do; I could have stopped it if I wanted to, but his thoughts had some appeal to me."

"What thoughts…?" snarled Trek. "The only possible endearing thoughts from Rexx are: 'I'm hungry…'"

"Say what you will," said Zazz coldly. "I do not make my decisions on a whim. You were a valuable asset to me…and I have no doubt that you would have continued to faithfully serve had I not done what I did…but it was for the best."

"That's it?" replied Trek with narrowed eyes. "That's all you have to say to me? Killing my family was for the best!"

"Of course," said Zazz. "How many families have you destroyed because it was for the best? Humanity is a wonderful species...I still believe that. You became a symbol of hope…unfortunately you also became a symbol of worship and reverence. Not only that, but you have inadvertently undermined our operations. You have inspired humanity to stand on its own two feet prematurely – that is, before evolution of your species could truly manifest into something greater. Progress is slow…cancer is fast."

"This has NOTHING to do with humanity!" bellowed Trek. "What does it matter anyway? My race has been ready to do that for a long time!"

"That is my decision…" said Zazz. "Not yours; and you of all people, given what you know of us and what we do, you should understand that killing your family was not personal. It was just good politics."

"Well then I expect that you will be a sport and allow me to murder a few hundred thousand of your own kind for the sake of equally good politics."

Zazz made himself yawn. "You are beginning to bore me, Amicus…" he said.

"I can fix that," snapped Trek as he grabbed Daevon by the hair and dragged him over to the middle for Zazz to see. The Grand Sire made no motion or any kind of change in expression. "You care not for me, and you care nothing for humanity, even if you think you do. I never would have guessed that. But if you do care about your own family, then you better get them prepared, because I am going to right the wrongs your kind inflicted upon this galaxy."

In a final agonizing struggle, Daevon extended a field of sky blue lightning from his fingertips, but Trek anticipated it, and caught all of it with his hand without even looking at him. Trek did not bother to fire back, merely waited patiently, absorbing all the lightning with the Force until Daevon tired out. When Daevon finally stopped and fell backwards, Trek turned his head to look at him.

"You're embarrassing yourself," he said. "Even Zazz agrees." But Zazz cared not for this event.

"As if you think you can become the very embodied dissent you once put to death," the Grand Sire laughed. "Choose your words carefully Trek. The Sith will always be a part of who you are. You have done so much for humanity; are you really willing to risk my wrath upon your race by turning against us? Much better to accept death and be a martyr for them…"

Trek quickly glanced at Daevon, and then back to Zazz. "The Sith are a part of what I used to be. That part of me died with my family. Tell your friends to prepare, Zazz." Trek paused, to see the Grand Sire's eyes widen with a stroke of anger at his disrespect. "You think humanity is not ready to take over? They'll take it right out from under you. By my life or death, I will hunt your kind to extinction. And I'll be starting with this one." Trek cut the transmission before the Grand Sire began to laugh and turned back to Daevon, who was still trying to recover from the pain.

"You know what you just did," coughed Daevon. "You might as well have committed suicide considering the alternative of what they're going to do to you."

"They can try," said Trek. "But their success will be equivalent to your success in making it out of here alive. Zero…"

"They'll pronounce you dead, and you'll never see the light of day again," said Daevon.

"And neither will you…"

"I killed Daevon, which was the start of my going rogue. Though I tried not to be found in the beginning, I killed Sith wherever I found them. If I spotted a team of human commandos, I'd kill them too. My overall purpose was to get the attention of others. I figured there had to be some underground movements against the Sith that we didn't know about. The galaxy is a pretty big place.

"Of course, people didn't buy it at first. Even though they had the evidence of my family being killed and my public fugitive status in the empire, those who recognized me were weary. Those who called the Sith and told them I was there, I'd kill them, and then get the hell out of there. I had a few close calls, but it turns out there were some underground movements, and some of them did decide to put a fragment of trust in me. They lacked resources and leadership, but I saw potential, so I seized it. Slowly but surely, I gathered my resources, I started up the new Kraxis Rebellion, even though the planet Kraxis had absolutely nothing to do with it. As I got more soldiers, we commandeered ships, technology, and resources. I knew that the only way to stay safe from the Sith would be to keep moving through space. Money was never a problem, my wealth funded a great deal of what I did in the beginning. This may seem a bit shocking to you, but I actually know what I'm doing, and my head has never been clearer." Trek leaned back in his chair and drank his tea again, which had gotten cold by now, causing him to frown.

Revan took a sigh. Trek had just dumped a lot on him; even more than what Lena had originally told him about the Sith and her personal background. It was not that he had no understanding, more that he was now trying to get ahead in his thinking. But Trek's face was demanding a response, so he made the same remark he made to Lena. "Wow," he said. It wasn't enough, but Trek might have more to say. One thing Revan was curious about was the remarks about humanity. It seemed like an important aspect to Trek's reasoning, but perhaps he had not explained it thoroughly enough. "Is there more I should know about humanity?"

"Yeah," admitted Trek. "The first thing you should know is, when I say 'humanity', I'm not just referring to us homo-sapiens humans. I'm referring to the similar intelligent alien life forms that are not mechanical and are not Sith."

"I know," said Revan. "It's not always the same where I'm from, but a twi'lek or an ithorian might as well be human. Superficial appearances aside, humanity can be described by their social nature and their emotions."

"Let's not get too distracted," said Trek. "Wow, I feel like Myrther right now." He chuckled a bit.

"You were saying?"

"I keep forgetting you know nothing," laughed Trek. "I'm referring to the plan Sith have for all of humanity. You may consider it, their mark on the galaxy as the supreme rulers."

"Go on," said Revan, leaning forward.

"Sith are dominant, but they are not self-sufficient, especially given their goals. One thing you must understand about the Sith is that they have a long memory; while they do not forgive acts of treason, they do not forget acts of service. They are a species with a very small population and the only unfortunate thing about being the ultimate masters of the dark side of the Force is that reproduction is very difficult. Apparently the dark side of the Force aborts more babies than needles do. They can live for thousands of years, but producing offspring is very difficult for them. When it comes to manpower, they need humans. But the Sith are also very careful not to let too many humans overpopulate and infest their ranks. It's one of just a few weaknesses that belong to their race, and their system revolves around both hiding and strengthening these weaknesses.

"Their system of governance and policy is one of basic eugenics and simple illusions. All they want for their resources are the healthiest and fittest of us, and they know that there are more than enough humans who fit that profile. It's just sometimes difficult to find them. Twenty one thousand years ago, there was a forceful remobilization of resources dedicated to making this happen. They didn't want to kill them, merely move them to a place where they could rot. The first three planets of the Tryton System were invested for that sole purpose. Something like six generations of imbeciles and idiots was grounds for deportation, as well as those with prominent family diseases, with the exception to those the diseases hit at old age. Selection like that, you don't have too many humans left proportionally, but it was more than enough numbers-wise.

"Obviously most people didn't like this, but with enough indoctrination, nice treatment for the healthy, and enough chaos for the unhealthy that went on over the next several hundred years, this kind of thing became a myth. My ancestors were some of the lucky ones, and their loyalty to the Sith was very high.

"The genius of this illusion lies in the very essence of human nature. With things so bad on the first three Tryton worlds, and with so many humans there doing such terrible things to each other, it was easy for the Sith to just pin it all on that. They just conveniently don't mention that it was their doing in the first place. Meanwhile, those lucky ones spoiled by the Sith were grateful that they were not like the others, and thus became loyal. It's not that they knew what the Sith had done; it's that they believed themselves worthy of the positive judgment the Sith bestowed upon them in the form of relative freedom and economic security. The Sith smartly never made any demands on them, but many families pledged their loyalty to them by giving back, or by enlisting their children in their military.

"Strangely enough, if you allow most humans to just be humans, you can make them look terrible. But if you spoon-feed and shower the proportionate few who are 'genetically superior', just to the point where they do not take it for granted and you can create a set of loyal masses. Sith like to refer to this as the perfect race of humanity, one that they believe they can create and one that will be an enormous asset to their prosperity.

"Ideologically, that is the ultimate wish the Sith have for humanity, and if the Sith controlled the entire galaxy and implemented this plan, their goal would be just that. They would strive to make people better, not just so they can use them, but also because they believe this would destroy the very thing that makes war possible – the ability to question their own inferiority to a higher power, that is the dark side of the Force, but not to the Sith. Remember that Sith don't want most humans to know of their existence.

"Sith believe that with all the power they possess, they are doing the galaxy as well as humanity a favor. They don't see themselves as monsters. They see themselves as heroes and saviors, purifiers of the galaxy, who deserve all the power and benefits that they get for doing so much good, that the ends justify any and all means." Trek stood up from his chair and began to stretch. But Revan was still immersed in his own thoughts.

"This sounds a bit too familiar…" he thought. "What was it that Lena said? The Force must keep everyone on the inside, and the lust for war within all living things is both a product and mask of a flaw. Sith have done the same thing…keep everyone on the inside, their will that they believe is inherently good to shape the fate of lesser beings in order to shield their weaknesses.

"Are the True Sith the ultimate masters of the Force? No…they can't be; if they were, they wouldn't be Sith. They are the masters of the dark side of the Force. They mastered survival a long time ago…yet they fear that with all their weaknesses, they might lose their power. So they create a system to keep everyone on the inside and oblivious to them…one that mirrors human nature and covers up the Sith's flaws…just like the Force!"

Revan knew Trek was telling the truth; he had seen firsthand the hatred Sith seemed to have for him, and Revan of all people knew what it is like to turn from being the best of the enemy's ranks to the enemy's worst nightmare. There was not much to do with this information; if anything, Revan could not help but respect the Sith for actually being able to do this to half the galaxy. "Even Kreia would believe this ludicrous…"

However, there was something wrong with this picture. There was something else Trek wasn't telling him; probably because it was obvious, as the commander seemed to enjoy the spotlight. "Sith want to end war…but they deliberately created all the conflict on the Tryton worlds. That couldn't have been an accident, and if the theory holds true, that would mean…" Revan paused, but as the Force entered his thoughts again, the answer was clear – another weakness.

"You there?" said Trek, staring at Revan's face.

"Did you think you were doing humanity a favor while you worked for the Sith?" Revan asked.

"I was blind," said Trek. "Blinded by loyalty to the Sith; I trusted them to look after humanity, because it just seemed so apparent that some of humanity needed it, even though I had faith in our race."

"Tough to see the big picture when you're indoctrinated," said Revan.

"So?" said Trek, ignoring the remark about his character. "Now do you understand why that cop deserved death?"

Revan smirked but ignored the question. "I'm guessing the Sith have another weakness…a side effect of the dark side that makes the chaos a necessary source of their energy and power. That's why they keep that which is on the Trytons."

Trek nodded. "I knew you'd understand once I explained it," he said. "But now that you understand how the enemy thinks, you'll understand that killing Sith isn't enough. The humans who work for them and with them must also be punished; not just because of what they do, but because their role as humans make the Sith stronger. The weaker the Sith get, the more humanity is strengthened, even if it costs human lives. I believe you understand that."

Revan shook his head. "No, that's not the right way of thinking," he said. "I mean…yeah you could theoretically make the Sith weaker by killing all the humans that work for them, but they're all replaceable. You could theoretically make the Sith weaker by dropping a nuke on each Tryton world. That'd do the trick, but you wouldn't be doing humanity a favor."

Trek leaned back in his chair. "The reason I put so much resources into recruiting you is because you're a Force sensitive and it was clear you were no ally of the Sith. Now, I am no longer the only Force sensitive in this rebellion; I've got you, Myrther, and those other two you have with you. We can kill more Sith, but we can also kill more humans who work for them. If we take out Zazz's minions, then Zazz himself won't even need to be dealt with. He becomes the ruler of nothing but the sand he steps on."

Revan smirked again at the metaphor, but this time he knew he had the upper hand in the argument. He had more than a few ideas that he wanted to tell Trek, and he didn't even care if Trek would listen or not. He looked back up at him.

"That strategy would take you a few hundred lifetimes to accomplish. It's inefficient."

"It's the only way," said Trek.

"No," said Revan with a slight shake of his head. "It really isn't. You know the ways of the enemy, but you don't know how to deconstruct the threat properly. If this is your method, why don't you just nuke the Tryton worlds?" Revan was sarcastic in his comment, but Trek didn't appear to notice it.

"I may be a cold blooded killer, but I'm not going that far. It doesn't help humanity," the Commander said defensively.

"No it doesn't, which is why I'm not really suggesting it, Look, with all your resources so frivolously spent on killing pawn after pawn, you might as well be cutting off hair and fingernails. They grow back and no one cares. And believe me; I've had my experience in attacking an established institution." Revan said, remembering his adventures during the Jedi Civil War. "In my case, I wasn't trying to kill it – just sever the weak parts to make the strong parts even stronger. But if you're going to destroy a government, you take down the head. You take down the head, and then you make sure that head can never grow back. There's only one way to do that."

"And what would that be?" asked Trek in a very unimpressed tone.

Revan took a deep breath before speaking again. "The head is the Grand Sire. If the Sith are to be destroyed, Rixxon Zazz must die."

As soon as Trek noticed Revan was serious, he began laughing.

We hope you have enjoyed this addition to "The Prodigal Knight". This is a crazy important chapter, and we would understand if you are left confused by it, as it was confusing enough to write it. Please feel free to message either Sarge42 or I with questions about it.

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- Gipper 40 & Sarge42