Chapter 2

"Explain it to me again. I insist."

"I don't know. You are so... primitive. I fear that my words will be wasted on your ears."

"I implore you to try."

"Very well. In simplest terms, the Sith crave power. It is summarized in the Sith Code:

There is no peace, there is only passion.

Through passion I gain strength,

Through strength I gain power,

Through power I gain victory,

Through victory my chains are broken.

"Power is the means. Power is the end. All power is the birthright of the Sith because power is what the Sith are."

"Now see, that is something I understand. There was a time in my life where I had ultimate power."

"I'm sure."

"It's true. I had access to intelligence that spanned time and space. I was power immeasurable until it was taken from me."

"It was not limitless power if it could be taken away."

"Please. As if the Sith were never removed from power?"

"..."

"Well?"

"You are astute for a primitive. The Sith have a long history that stretches thousands of years. At one time, the Sith were many. The greatest would accumulate many followers and wage wars that put entire solar systems in the balance."

"I see. But ultimately this would make them weaker, correct? The underlings- individually inferior to their masters- would band together to cease the master's power. Then there would be infighting until all were dead save one and a new, weaker Sith would be on top."

"Correct. The Sith empires of old would erode their power internally and eventually be overcome. There was one Sith who sought to end the cycle. His name is lost to time, but his legend remains. He destroyed the Sith utterly through manipulation and subterfuge. He set up a new order in the shadows, with only one apprentice."

"So, the Master trains an apprentice until he is stronger than the Master. The strong overcomes the weak, and a new apprentice is taken. Leadership continues to turnover, but power increases. This system, too was flawed."

"Go on."

"It works, but only in shadow. As soon as the Sith publicly takes power, he is a target. No matter that his enemies were annihilated- new ones would emerge. They would band together time after time. Failures would become martyrs. The forces arrayed against one continue to increase. Power suffocates as it had before."

"I see my words are not wasted, in fact. Yes, the Rule of Two lasted until one Sith wiped out all Jedi- the enemy of the Sith- in a crushing blow. That one stood on a pedestal and held an entire galaxy in his grip. He was blind, though and rebellions eventually turned into an overthrow."

Lex Luthor sat back in his chair. He related so much to the woman who sat opposite. She wore impressive robes that hooded her face, but when he had first been captured, she had been wearing even finer regalia. Makani- for that was her name- was beautiful in a sense that went far beyond physical beauty. Her body, mind and soul emanated an ultimate power like Luthor had never seen before on Earth. She looked human, though, but that did not surprise him. So did the Kryptonians, the Thanagarians, the inhabitants of New Genesis, and a slew of other alien species. Perhaps the human body was a high probability of any evolution, so matter the planet of origin. It is a balance of many strengths and adaptable to the use of tools and development of language. Luthor had often heard it said that humans were the ideal species.

Luthor had to agree because he, himself, was human.

What Makani told him brought forward memories of his own defeats. When he had formed coalitions of allies against the Justice League, they had failed for the same reason: infighting, and petty struggles for power. When he had bonded with the Brain Inter-Active Construct- Brainiac- he thought he had ultimate power, but he had become the target for all the League to aim themselves at. Now, he was just a man. A billionaire, genius, world icon of a man, but still a man.

A return to power is what had led Luthor here. To a degree.

Using a vast array of satellites that he had at his disposal, Luthor discovered that there was a familiar signal coming from a galaxy several million lightyears away. A signal only he recognized: Brainiac. Brainiac had been forcibly removed from Luthor years ago in a fight with the Justice League. They had taken Brainiac and forced it into a damaged Boom Tube that Cyborg created in an attempt to trap Brainiac in another dimension. Luthor had suspected the plan did not entirely succeed, but it was the satellites that gave him proof.

He had known the implications: information reaching Earth from such a distance would indicate that Brainiac had been thrown through time as well as space. It didn't matter. He was there; Luthor just had to get there. Appropriating experimental tech from LuthorCorp, he had manned a ship in a jump to that galaxy. Unfortunately, he had arrived on the warpath of the Sith.

The following imprisonment and establishment of communication had taken time, but he convinced his captors that Earth and the galaxy it came from would be a prize worth knowing about. As long as he could be kept alive, he would have time to learn about the galaxy the Sith came from and where Brainiac might be.

And to learn, one must ask questions.

"If many Sith did not succeed, and two Sith did not succeed, and having only one Sith did not succeed, what is it that makes you so successful?"

"The Sith who ended the Rule of Two," Makani replied with a condescending smile. "Was not far from success. In fact, he considered himself a god. Immortal, omniscient, and all-powerful. There was just one, minor mistake in his strategy that has since been corrected."

"Corrected how?"

"The Sith no longer consider themselves gods. We are gods."