The Path of Evil

Part 12

A Great Sith

A/N - Sorry for the delay again, my lovely readers. We had a small muse malfunction, but we infused her with a little Dark Side from Seasons of the Force at Disneyland. This is a Jaesa/Sarith flashback chapter. You will see some previous scenes from a different point of view. Enjoy! And, as always, comments are always welcome.

Leaping four meters into the air, Jaesa's perception of the world drew itself out into long strips of time that could be inspected, studied, and even manipulated with the correct actions. Her body twisted in a tight but slow spiral where she hung suspended in space and time. Nearly a dozen fat blaster bolts were sliding lethargically through the space separating her from them, and would find her soon unless she took action. The strips of time stretched out before her mind, and she could clearly see where each object in the cavernous room would be several seconds from now. The farther into the future she tried to follow the strips of time, the less clear her vision, but for the span of a few seconds the view was quite clear.

The deadly accurate stun bolts were fired by a rank of battle droids over 500 meters away, and they drew her concentration first. Three lighting quick spins and shien swipes from the yellow blades of her saberstaff redirected their flight paths, and kept them from her own skin. Time seemed—to her mind—to resume its rapid pace forward as she reached the apex of her Force leap. The organic opponents below were the last dozen remaining of twenty or so attackers armed with stun batons and blasters. A few gamorreans, trandoshans, a couple humans, and a bith were the only ones still standing. Since she had dispatched the attackers so easily last time, a dozen battle droids and one shielded war droid were added this time to balance the equation.

They were doing a poor job. She had redirercted some of the droids' blaster fire to disable the first wave of organic enemies even faster than the first time. She was also assigned a partner, a blade-back, for this trial; a promising togruta man named Losso. He was quite the professional with his lightsaber, and had already cut down more than half of the downed organics. She saw him stalking in behind the gammoreans with his red lightsaber as she came back down from her Force leap. Her boots thudded to the polished stone floor at the same moment that several of the droids on the far side of the bay crumpled to the floor, their circuits overloaded from their own blaster bolts reflected back at them.

The living opponents had been trying to crowd around her with stun batons and vibroaxes, in the case of the gammoreans, but her leap had carried her clear of their circle. Losso was now behind them, and she in front. Another gammorean went down in a quivering mound of flesh with the squealing grunts the race was known so well for. The other opponents turned to half face her and half face Losso. Blaster fire was still streaming in from far across the training bay, but hardly took a sliver of her concentration to deflect the bolts that threatened to harm her.

"Losso, you got this? Of course you have this, you're fine!" Without waiting for a response, she turned and sprinted across the huge bay scattering blaster bolts into random directions ahead of her. Losso was near the top of the class for the Indigo Phoenix training company just like her. He would make nerfburgers out of the sentients and be halfway finished with his lunch before she got back…but she wanted that war droid.

This particular purple sector training bay was so massive it could swallow any two parade fields at most military academies and was used for truly epic scale fights and games. It seemed wasted on just the two of them and a few dozen opponents, but it made for a long run to get to the attacking droids.

The mechanical beast in the center of the line of smaller droids was a custom design the students called an Overcomer. It rode around on six pincers for legs and sported aggressively angled armor plates that were both a gleaming reflective silver and very thick. It was armed with shields, flamethrowers, stunballs, three grenade launchers, and dual four-barrel blaster cannons. All were set to simulation mode, but the monster was a killer nonetheless. In the training bays of Shadow Guard's purple sector, "simulation mode" meant "maybe not lethal." This particular droid had killed two Indigo Phoenix hopefuls in the past month. The side of its turret head was actually adorned with four kill marks; two in the shape of Indigo Phoenix emblems and two more in the shape of the emblem of the Emerald Gundark training company. Those two viper emblems might as well have had Weansa and Jamel's names painted onto the armor as well. It was a grisly reminder that, in this place, the weak were not welcome.

None had ever managed to disable it; not alone and not even in groups. She would be the first because Sarith had pushed her harder than any other Hopeful...he had driven her. Under his relentless torment, she had become so very much more than she had been before. Now she would show him just how much more.

Just before she got to the main mass of droids, she cut hard to the left and smashed into the line of humanoid machines like a wrecking ball. They exploded into the air and skittered across the floor in various states of disrepair and twitching actuators. Swinging her saberstaff in a wide arc, she took the legs out from under the last two droids on that side and brought the opposite blade around to deflect a spray of large bolts from the war droid's starboard cannon in the same motion. Some of the bolts found their way back to the large machine, but its shields scattered the energy in harmless sparks.

The last two humanoid droids were taking shelter behind the shields on the opposite side of the larger droid. She rushed closer to the far wall of the training bay and spun with her hand extended toward the three opponents and closed her fist with a yanking motion. The two smaller droids flew towards her as if they were kicked in their lower backs by two huge boots. Helpless in flight, she cut them down as they passed her and left them to twitch and smoke in twin heaps against the wall.

With a loud click and a slowly dying hum, the lights of the training bay went out, but the trial continued. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lasso's red lightsaber streaking furiously up and down again and again and again as if he were beating the life out of one of their opponents with savage bludgeoning attacks with the hilt of his weapon. This made her smile a little as she circled about with the war droid watching her carefully in the small pool of light cast of her glowing yellow blades. The Overcomer loosed a burst of bolts at her from both cannons, and she darted in under the stream of fire to strike at the shield directly. She was not sure what she expected, but it was not to have her lightsaber rebounded with such jarring force.

Rolling clear, she took a moment to consider her options. The droid was between her and where she and Losso had started the fight now, and she could see his red lightsaber bobbing back and forth as he jogged to assist her with the Overcomer. Part of her was glad that help was on the way, but part of her was annoyed that she would be denied the sole glory of taking down the machine that no one else could.

Unless she was fast enough…

Unless she could channel enough of her hatred, her rage, her dark side essence…

Channel it right the hell now…

What had appeared as black lighting on Sarith's charged red blade slowly began climbing up and down the length of Jaesa's yellow blades in the form of red lightning then raced faster and faster as she poured more of herself into the conduit that was both Sith and weapon. From the darkness, the droid fired another rapid fire burst, and her whirling su left wispy trails of black gas trailing through her tiny pool of light as they spun around her in a defensive screen. Blaster bolts screamed past her and rebounded from her lightsaber with bright flashes of released energy.

Losso's bobbing lightsaber was halfway across the huge bay now and would be here in a few seconds. She had to strike now. Leaping again to get up and over the Overcomer's weapon systems, she stabbed her saberstaff down into the shield bubble and felt a slight resistance then a pop as the empowered blade slid through the shield and started carving a long slice through it as she landed behind the droid. She pushed her staff behind her in a perfect shiak thrust that further disrupted the shield until it failed completely. Stepping in close, she swung her charged staff in strong arcs that severed legs, weapons pods, and finally sliced down the center of the droid's head and CPU.

A wicked smile came across her face and the lights in the training bay came back on. She won! She turned to shout their combined victory to Losso, but the words died in her throat. He was on top of her now, his red lightsaber spinning, but he was not Losso. Sarith bore down on her like a man enraged beyond all reason. Her blades rose to her defense, but his falling avalanche attack absolutely crushed her clumsy attempt at circle of shelter. How did this happen? This was not part of the trial!

He slammed several of her blocks aside and rained blows from his fist on her arms and abdomen that landed like hammers with every contact. She staggered, but kept her feet, lurching backward in a daze. Whatever had set him off had really pissed him off this time. He was attacking without a shred of mercy though some of his attacks seemed to carry less weight than others, and she realized why when he landed his first shiim to her right thigh. Blood ran down her leg from the only partially cauterized wound.

His lightsaber was not set to training mode!

Grazing her again low on her right arm, he then slammed his open palm toward the floor. A Force wave rippled forth and reflected off the floor to throw her backwards and off the ground. Her saberstaff flew from her grasp, as she slammed painfully into the polished stone wall of the training arena.

Sarith and his red saber stalked her defenseless position and pushed his blade toward her heart in a piercing motion. Less than an inch before the tip made contact with her skin, he deactivated the blade and it retreated into the handle exactly as quickly as he pushed it forward in a slow motion shiak maneuver. The last bit of saber blade disappeared into the hilt in the same instant that he slammed the emitter hard against her breastbone. The blade came so close, but never touched her. She imagined being impaled through the chest on that terrible blade, but the chill that passed through her was not imaginary at all.

The blood flowing from her wounds was spilling onto the floor now in small red pools. Sarith got to his feet and let out a sigh. Gesturing vigorously with his black and white lightsaber hilt, Sarith lectured her with a strangely softer tone to his voice that seemed like he wanted to shout. "That was some of the best fighting out of you yet… until your stupidity and your pride got you AND your team killed. When you are assigned a joint trial it is no longer just your own worthless skin up for auction, Hopeful. Never, ever, EVER leave your blade-back!" His teeth were clenched tight in anger with his last words. She had not noticed it before, but Losso's lightsaber was clipped to Sarith's belt next to the gold hilt. It was covered in thick blood and chunks of skin and gore clinging to the grooves as if it had been used as a bludgeoning weapon. She flinched when he grabbed it and threw it at her in disgust. It bounced off her chest before clattering to the floor beside her accusingly.

"Losso's going to have to spend a week in a kolto tank thanks to you. YOU will give that back to him when he returns to the training company. MEDIC!"

###

Losso's lightsaber would not ignite, and Jaesa was not willing to return it to him broken. Especially not since his injuries were her fault. She knew better than to leave her blade-back. How could she have been so stupid! If she did this in the field with Wildescent or Vette watching her back, she would be attending their funeral right now, and that would be her fault too.

She took the blade to the saber shop toward the edge of Shadow Keep's purple sector and found a free work bench. The shop had dozens of workbenches arranged in a grid, each fully stocked with the tools required for lightsaber creation, maintenance, and modification. The data terminal on each bench provided access to advanced diagnostics and schematics as well for nearly infinite variation on design and functional elements.

Cracking open the case on Losso's blade, she found that one of the focusing crystals had been knocked out of alignment; probably while Sarith was slamming the hilt into Losso's skull. Her fault.

She had screamed her frustration at Sarith's departing back while the medics ran to stabilize Losso's condition. He had turned to her before leaving and said only, "If you find me overcritical or my methods too harsh, perhaps it is because you do not fully understand what is at stake." His words offered no respite or any hint of apology, they just implied that she was still not "getting it" and that he would not relent.

The crystal was easy to realign and secure in place once more. The red blade sprang to life. She extinguished it and replaced the external cover.

Departing the saber shop area, she snaked her way past workbenches with several other Shadow Guardians of various ranks working on their own equipment. The Lords and above had their own private work areas, but all SG4s and below worked here. Sarith was hunched over one of the last workbenches in the row scattered with crystals, small bits of circuitry, capacitors, and power cells. A partially disassembled lightsaber with a polished gold hilt rested in a pair of clamps in the center of the table. When he looked up from his work, she started at the unexpected sight of him and that he had seen her looking. When he saw who it was, he placed a microwelder into its holder and drew a thick black shroud over the entire workbench. He just stared at her making it clear she was not invited to converse with him or even to remain standing near him.

She clutched Losso's repaired lightsaber to her chest and quickened her departing steps.

###

Jaesa stood at niman-guard in a line of twenty other Hopefuls squaring off against twenty initiates. The hopefuls were each armed with their choice of training weapons, all of the initiates were armed with two blades each. One blue in their right hands and one yellow in their left. The different colored blades were there to aid training and descriptions of various maneuvers. Though Sarith's training regimen built upon many other foundational combat concepts, this was why the hopefuls were in this particular class today...to learn specific techniques to use against opponents wielding dual blades.

"Initiates, djem so ready!" The initiate's blades all snapped to ready positions; yellow blades held diagonally between them and their opponents, blue blades held over their heads, tips aimed at the hopefuls.

Sarith wore apprentice robes of deep green today and paced between the initiates and the hopefuls as he delivered his teaching points.

"You hopefuls already know much about the art of the lightsaber; indeed, some of you have seen actual combat. Opponents with two blades are only one type that you will encounter between now and becoming one with the Force, but they are a type that can often confound the unprepared. Hopefuls, attack!"

The line of Shadow Guard hopefuls surged forward as one and mounted a variety of attacks on the waiting initiates. The Sith to Jaesa's left and right were both attacking with single lightsabers and using makashi footwork to stay ahead of the initiate's blades. Jaesa saw what was coming and augmented her niman form with some soresu maneuvers. Her teammates did not have the same foresight.

The instant their makashi attacks approached the initiates' outer rings of defense, their attacks were knocked aside by yellow blades while blue blades simultaneously counterattacked with devastating effect. The hopefuls went down shocked and embarrassed, but unhurt. Jaesa's last minute bolstering of her technique with additional defense was the only thing that kept her initiate's blue blade from reaching her.

"Halt! Djem so ready!" The initiates returned to their ready positions and Jaesa looked down the line of hopefuls to see that all of the others were still picking themselves up from the floor and dusting off their dignity. "Hopeful Willsaam, why are you still standing?"

"Because you ordered me to attack, Master Sarith, not get knocked on my ass."

Sarith actually laughed at that for a moment and then abruptly stopped. "That is the best answer I have heard all week, Hopeful, but how is it you avoided the counterattack?"

"When you ordered the initiates to djem so ready, I knew that their counter attacks were already prepared and would be unleashed like a trap springing closed as soon as we struck. I prepared a soresu defense to back up my niman attack posture to protect myself from that counter attack."

"Quite right, Hopeful. And…well done. Hopeful Willsaam correctly saw what the rest of you should have known as well. Djem so is specifically designed to present a strong defense and as soon as an attack is blocked or parried, to strike back with an equally strong counterstroke. In skilled hands, it is a very effective discipline. You will learn now, how effective."

"Initiates, engage your Hopefuls and proceed through combat fundamentals first in evaluation mode and switch to training mode as needed."

###

Yellow blades flared brightly against raging red in a lighting quick dance of beauty and death. For a change, the deadly strikes of the crimson blades were deflected, and she launched an equal number of counterattacks into Sarith's circles of defense. His soresu was difficult to penetrate, but she had learned to infuse her offensive techniques with such savagery that she could actually land almost as many blows as he did.

His dun moch no longer pierced her mind now that she knew how to place her psychic defenses and she returned as good as she got. He called her attitude "arrogant," and warned her not to get too cocky.

"Enough." Sarith called a halt to the session and spoke into the air above his head. "My Lord, she's ready."

A hidden door that rested flush and seemless with the wall while closed swung open and High Lord Tektaladaar emerged to appraise the Hopeful with a critical gaze. Shadow Keep's senior instructor was a large, but not hulking, sith pureblood of dominating presence and indescribable martial skill.

"We shall see..."

###

The trial of several days ago at the hands of Lord Tektaladaar was not like anything she had imagined or prepared for. Trying to make sense of the ordeal, she was not even sure anymore which parts of her memories were real, and which were phantoms of her imagination...the entire event seemed so impossible… She was not even sure if she had passed or failed until Sarith showed up at her apartment door with a special set of robes and a summons. "Change into that, and come with me, now" To the point, as usual.

He pulled her hood up completely obscuring her face to anyone who might see them, and led the way. As they moved through the halls of the purple sector towards the heart of Shadow Keep, he began coaching her on what was to come. She was still reeling both physically and mentally from her encounter with Lord Tektaladaar and trying to piece together what had even happened. Her thoughts were a swirling tempest and she struggled to grasp and retain Sarith's instructions.

"...will NOT channel the Force in the presence of the Shadow Council..."

"...alchaka is forbidden, you will know and remember forever every searing moment of this pain..."

"...to which you will reply, 'in fire and blood, I swear it!'"

"...no matter what, you must always..."

She was not sure how long ago he had completed his instructions, but it had been several minutes when they entered the massive ceremonial hall packed with Shadow Guardians of all ranks and the Shadow Council themselves on a sweeping dias at the far side of the chamber.

###

Yulia's layered optics display ID tagged and tracked every sentient in the room and the 360 wrap around view clearly showed Lord Nightstar and Apprentice Willsaam approaching to greet her. Still separated by a dozen or so guests, she stopped short and cocked her head to the side.

"Yulia Lerritom, imagine seeing you here."

Yulia turned, cat-who-ate-the-canary smile in place, her unaltered left green eye sparkled in amusement. The right eye was a black durasteel implant that spidered back to her ear with a facing in the center that appeared deeper than it could actually be. Seeming to float in the empty black space was a dully luminescent and finely textured red sphere of a holographic eyeball. The eyeball seemed fixed on whoever was looking at it regardless of the angle-a disturbing effect. Her reddish hair was styled in precisely trimmed planes, a-line, longer in the front and shorter in the back. She was light-skinned, but not nearly as pale as Wildescent or Jaesa. Her skin held a slight golden glow, sun-kissed from a recent mission no doubt. Full lips with dramatic red metallic lipstick, high cheekbones, straight nose – she was classically beautiful and knew it.

"I had a brief respite between assignments, so I came to enjoy the festivities... and scope out some of the fresh meat," Yulia replied in her sultry voice that men, and many women, found so alluring. Her attire for the evening suggested that her appearance here was more than mere happenstance. She wore a glimmering dress of spectacular silver and black long triangles all converging on a vertex just above her slim waist. Her hem fell near the floor, but strategically placed cutouts of barely-there black gauze made sure that every curve of her hips, thighs, and calves were fully realized by everyone within sniper-rifle range. The black boots peaking from beneath the dress had striking electric blue holographic accents in motion. Small transparent overlapping gray shoulder faux armor plates at her shoulders seemed to fade in and out of visibility and gave the impression of tiny wings or perhaps overlapping insect plates and striking gold elbow length gloves completed the outfit. Yulia was always sporting the very height of Kaas City fashion if not trailblazing new trends that would soon sweep the planet.

Wildescent shook her head and smiled, amused. "Good luck with that." Her eyes unconsciously sought out Quinn before returning to the lovely Yulia.

Yulia cocked her eyebrow, turning briefly to seek out whatever Wildescent was glancing at. She turned back, the smile growing larger. "A challenge?"

"Perhaps; he's your type. Handsome, former officer, smart and athletic. Just what you usually indulge in," Wildescent said with an off-hand nonchalance.

"Hm," Yulia said in reply. She engaged a series of scans that took only a fraction of a second. "Your physiological readings tells me he's off limits. Very well."

Jaesa gaped at Yulia, literally. "You can read Wilde's body fluctuations?"

Yulia gave her a small, patronizing smile. "Apprentice, there is very little in this universe that I do not see." She tapped the black durasteel at her temple. "And this is beneficial for more than hunting for a kill. While I also enjoy hunting my men, I do not enjoy hunting those already being marked by good friends."

Wildescent laughed out loud, "Good friends, because I tolerate your eccentricities?"

"Precisely." Yulia said with a matter-of-fact nod. "You worked hard to learn how to tolerate me when others would rather ignore me, or wish they could. Even my uncaring dark heart appreciates your efforts."

Wildescent snickered and Yulia gave her a rare, if small, lop-sided grin.

Vette bounced up beside the group, giving Yulia a large smile. "Hiya, boss. Who's this?"

Yulia's smile wilted a few degrees as Wildescent introduced the twi'lek. Yulia tried hard to work with those within Shadow Guard, but to her, humans and purebloods were the superior races and always would be.

"Captain Yulia Lerritom, this is Operative Vette."

"Vette..." Yulia repeated, looking the red-skinned Twi'lek over with a bit more scrutiny. "Yes, you are."

"I...am?" Vette asked, confused. "You say that like you are confirming it for a fact."

"Quite. I heard about you from one of my father's crew, but no matter." Yulia replied.

Vette stared at Yulia like she'd grown two heads.

"Oh man," Jaesa said, looking towards the door. The mountain formerly known as Rathari – Sarith, now – had come to the party.

"That's him," Jaesa stated. "The one who gave me such a hard time during training."

"Apprentice Sarith?" Wildescent asked.

"Yeah. I swear he was picking on me, trying to push me harder than the others." Jaesa remarked.

"I'm sure he did," Wildescent said. "He's the Sith I subjugated on Nar Shaddaa and brought into the fold here."

Yulia licked her lips, her face taking on a predatory smile. To most observers, her flicking her tongue across her lips was a superficial gesture, but the chemical analyzers on her tongue that sampled the molecules of the surrounding air hardly thought so. "My father told me about him. So many new bodies since I was home last..." She wandered away without saying goodbye, as was her way when she saw something she wanted.

There were dozens of prospects present tonight, and she had already tagged, cataloged, and ranked them all according to desirability prior to Sarith's arrival. The list was long and distinguished. Wealth, rank, political connections, physical traits, intellectual capabilities...many factors were weighed and measured in determining a person's place on the list.

She had met this Sith once before when she was dispatched to extract him and his team from the war ravaged world of Ord Radama. That was a fateful day, indeed. Too bad she did not believe in fate. Captain Biaswa and the SGS Hopebreaker had arrived at Dromund Kaas after what should have been a seven day flight, but took them nearly 29 days because of severe damage to their ship. The mon cal was inconsolable as he insisted that he had failed to save one of his closest friends. The Shadow Council had dispatched her and her team within the hour to make best speed to Ord Radama and effect an immediate extraction. The extraction turned out to be a meat grinder, but in the end she did manage to rescue Sarith, Caisept, and a crippled Reschak.

Though the circumstances surrounding their previous encounter were all business, she knew from that first meeting exactly where Sarith ranked on her list...oh hell, who was she kidding, the rest of the list might as well not even exist now.

Yulia made a meandering path through the guests and eventually ended up near the massive Sith cyborg. He had his back to her and was speaking with a beautiful pureblood woman dressed to kill in a black cocktail dress that excentuated every inch of her perfect red-skinned body even while not quite reveling anything. She was clearly trying to hold his attention with her brilliant smile, musical laughter, and a full arsenal of not-so-subtle flirting techniques, but snapped her mouth shut in mid-sentence as soon as Yulia stepped up and fixed her with a combination gaze from the brilliant green of her natural eye and the dull red of her hologrpahic eye. An unspoken exchange took place and the girl quickly asked for Sarith's leave and excused herself.

When he saw her, a pulse of red light raced up and back down the bright silver cybernetics on his face and neck, and a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "I don't know too many women who can dismiss a full Sith Inquisitor without saying a word...I was wondering how long I would have to wait to see you again, Captain..."

###

The joy and shear elation of graduating and earning the rank of SG4-Apprentice was still practically bursting from Jaesa like a supernova, and her promotion had been three weeks ago. Walking around Shadow Keep in her new robes was like being a god. The hopefuls, initiates, and acolytes rushed to get out of her way and stood with their heads bowed respectfully as she walked past. Everyone who saw her knew that she had earned a very high level of respect here. The title of Apprentice was not lightly given, and carried an enormous weight of authority in these halls. Apprentices here stood higher in the Sith Order than those who earned the title of Lord anywhere else.

Wildescent was so proud of all of her crew members for enduring their trials and earning their new ranks, and they had enjoyed a healthy dose of rest, relaxation, and fun these past three weeks. Wilde said they had earned the time off, and had ordered them all to have fun before their ship got underway again.

That was tomorrow. Tomorrow the Shadow Eclipse would launch again and their mission would continue.

Jaesa walked out of her quarters fingering her robe's rank insignia with a smile when an intimately familiar voice froze her blood. "Apprentice!"

Sarith's massive bulk blocked most of the passageway leading away from the quarters and he was not wearing his regular daily uniform of Apprentice robes or instructor regalia. He was wearing his Shadow Guard full dress uniform complete with two-tone cape, tall boots shined to a blinding finish, and the black and silver uniform components neatly pressed. A rack of colorful medals gleamed on his chest, and two different colored campaign aiguillettes wrapped over his shoulder. His black and white lightsaber rested on one hip and his gold hilt rested on the other. His hair was neatly arranged and the cybernetics on the side of his face and marching down the sides of his neck shone with brightly polished silver.

He looked like he was ready to attend a ball.

"We are not finished," he growled as he took a step toward her. "You may be an apprentice now, but we still have business, you and I."

Steeling her nerves and summoning her courage, she met his approach with steps of her own. Her confidence would not be shaken any more by this man. "Yes, Sarith, I think you are right, there IS business that we never concluded."

She stepped close and stood her ground though he loomed almost half a meter taller than her. She tried to be as tall as she could, but confidence only gained a girl so much. "You hurt me every day of training under you. Not just physically, but mentally! You tormented me, and I think you liked it! You mocked me and made me feel worthless, but I grew stronger! I knew that I could do more than you ever thought I could! I knew that I WAS worth something! I knew the whole time…I swear I did…I hate you…"

She had started pounding on his chest and tears she did not know were waiting had sprung to her eyes. He did not defend himself or move away from her or even say anything at first. Then he took her fists from his chest and grasped them gently. "I know it was hard for you, but we did not have the luxury of time. You had to be made ready, and it had to happen quickly. You are leaving tomorrow, and every lesson you have learned here will be put to the test with lethal consequences."

He smiled down at her warmly and released her hands. "But that is not something I am worried about. I know you are ready. I just had to make sure I saw you before you left Dromund Kaas. Your hatred is something I can accept, and nothing more than I deserve. So long at you keep it yoked to your will, it will serve you well and it will empower you to protect those who rely on you."

She looked up at him and stepped back in awe. Why was he just taking this in stride? Why was he not angry with her or shouting back? They were both apprentices now, but he was still senior to her and thus her superior. "At first, I thought that you must treat all of your students as harshly as you treated me, but as the months passed, I realized that you always saved up your cruelty, your sadism, and your contempt just for me! Every day, you tried to break me, but my hate only made me stronger...my hate for you!

"You can despise the time we spent training, but I want you to know that I am very proud of you, Jaesa. You taught me as much if not more than I taught you, just so you know, and I am honored to have known you."

He paused then, and Jaesa still just stood there stunned and feeling confused. His words were not registering in her brain as she worked to recover from the polar shift of her feelings.

He pulled the gold hilt from his belt and held it reverently to his chest. "I made something for you." She had not noticed before, but the hilt was longer than it used to be, and where its exterior plates were all polished gold before, they were now gold chased with violet trim. She saw his fingers squeeze the lightsaber tightly one last time and the seconds seemed to stretch on forever before he held it out to her. This belonged to a friend that I lost on Ord Radama. Her name was Ellie, and she would have been a great Sith like you."

He thought she was a great Sith?

"I wore it to carry her honor both for me and for another friend, Reschak, but now I think you should carry it. I modified it from a single blade into a staff and installed two sets of fully independent crystal matrices, control circuits, and power subsystems. Most saberstaves will stop working altogether if they are damaged, but each side of this one will keep working if the components for the other side are damaged. Also, you can activate and deactivate each side independently if you wish."

"Sarith, I…I don't know what to say. I don't even know what to feel right now…"

She stared at him for a long time before reaching for the weapon her voice catching in her throat. "I still hate you."

"I know. Ignite it; you've earned it." She held the staff in front of her and ignited the twin crimson blades. They sprang to life with strong solid beams that blazed like the sun. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

He stepped back nodding with approval. "A year and a half ago, I swore to your master that I would live out my days hoping for her summons to assist with the destruction of Darth Baras. My life has traveled roads since that day that I would never have expected, but still, I wait for the day that she might call on me. She has not summoned me yet, but, by training you, I would like to believe that I have served some small part in helping her arrive at the moment of his downfall. I do not seek your thanks or your forgiveness...just say that you will watch her back."

She did, and with a satisfied smile, he was gone.