KOTOR: Revan's Second Chance

by VMorticia

This story is now complete, though I am working on a prelude and epilogue to go with it. Contains spoilers! Lots of them! If you've not finished playing KOTOR, you don't wanna read this! ... I am Revan. I remember.

4. Of Sith And SlaveGirls

Disclaimer: I own none of it. Except Damien - he's mine. This fanfic was constructed from my memory of playing the XBox version of the game, and the dialog.tlk file from the PC version. It may have some mistakes... probably got continuity errors too... but add the fact the character's not acting like he should anyway, and it doesn't really matter, does it?

Author's note: Next stop, Korriban! Wow, I'm enjoying this fic. Erm... yes, I am obsessed. Oh, and yes - Damien has stolen a line from Jolee's dialog in this chapter. I like long reviews... hint hint.

Xan: *grins* I loved the meatbagness too, which is why I chose to emphasise it in this fic. I've finished the game three times, plus I've got seven others of it going at once right now. The reason I stuck the conversations that shoulda been on Taris in last chapter was because I hate Taris and wanted to leave the planet as soon as possible *shrugs* Damien's opinion of Rakghouls mirrors my own - took me a week to work up the courage to leave the Outcast Village when I saw them! Ever watched 28 Days Later? It gave me nightmares for weeks! The Rakghouls gave me serious flashbacks.

Luthos: I have read several fics on kotorfanfic.com, and have recently looked into the possibility of putting this fic up there. With luck, it will be there soon.

Majin Trunks: *grins* glad you like it.

NathanPostmark: I agree - HK-47 rules!

Master o Randomness: (too long a penname to be bothered writing it all out :P ) Thank you. Oh, and yes, Jolee will be fun. Especially with who ends up being the party-member running around with him *evil conspiratorial grin ... breaks into evil maniacal cackling ... cough cough* er... sorry.

Daesereg: HK-47 is my favourite character, too. I have managed to fully repair him once, but I didn't want to quote all the dialogs for it in this fic, so I only did the first one. I regret to tell you, HK-47 shall not be wandering Korriban with Damien. I have other plans for Korriban.

The Holy Beergut: Interesting penname. And thank you... HK-47 rules!

arrow maker: Thanks.

Prisoner 24601: To Damien, bowing is more a show of deference than an attempt to charm people. For Sarna, he was trying to give the impression he thought the Sith were better than him. For Avril, is it not obvious how much she wants people to think she's better than them? And as for Bastila's mother, if she hates Czerka that much then he really thinks she deserves to be bowed to. And I'm glad you like Avril *shifty look, and an evil snigger*

* * *

Chapter 4 - Of Sith And Slave-Girls

"Another vision." Bastila said, when I walked into the common area after we had shared another 'nightmare'. "The Force is guiding us, helping us retrace the steps of Malak and his old Master. Leading us ever closer to the Star Forge." she frowned, "There are some who believe Korriban is the birth place of the Sith... this planet is an evil place. There are secrets here best left uncovered."

"We have to uncover those secrets if we want to stop Malak." I said flatly.

"You are right, of course." she conceded, sighing, "We cannot turn away from the path we have started on... no matter where it may lead."

"It looked like the Star Map was in some sort of cave." I said evasively. Saying it was in a tomb would be a bit of a giveaway that I knew too much.

"During the vision I felt cold and trapped; almost as if I was buried alive." Bastila said, frowning in concentration, "It felt... it felt like we were in some kind of tomb. No doubt things will become more clear once we discover the Star Map's location."

"No doubt." I muttered, also frowning.

"Hey, look what I found." Canderous said, dragging a small girl into the common area by the arm. She was crying. "She was trying to steal food. I don't know how she even got on board."

[Na abds! Na abds! Me hoot bad liaz! Awnts!] she whimpered.

I frowned. "Let her go, Canderous." I said, kneeling in front of the girl, so I was at the same level as her. He let her go and she immediately cringed away from him. "It's ok. We won't hurt you." I said, in as soothing a tone as I could.

[You... yooba me na abds?] she asked. I had no idea what she was saying.

"We won't hurt you." I repeated, "Can you tell me your name?" I asked. She just looked confused. "I'm Damien." I pointed to myself. "And you are...?" I pointed to her, and gave her a quizzical look.

[Waaba soosa Sasha!] she said, pointing to herself.

"Your name's Sasha?" I asked.

She nodded, [Waaba soosa Sasha!] she repeated.

I smiled, "Nice to meet you, Sasha." She also smiled, but didn't speak. I sighed and looked up at Canderous, "Any clue what language she's speaking? It sounds like Mandalorian, but it's no dialect I've ever heard."

When I said the word 'Mandalorian', the girl cringed again, and hissed, [Manlorey! Manlorey is na gon-disen! Manlorey abds!]

"Calm down, Sasha. It's ok." I said soothingly. She scowled and watched me warily.

"So she knows Mandalorians... and she seems to think they're bad. Meaning they probably hurt her -"

[Manlorey abds!] she said, nodding and scowling.

[Abds] "means hurt?" I asked her. She nodded. [Na abds] "means not hurt?" another nod, [Me na abds Sasha.] I said, looking at her. She grinned at me. I smiled.

I stood up and offered Sasha my hand, and led her to a couple of seats in the common area. I spent the next half-hour learning to understand her 'language'. Eventually, I found out she was from Dantooine, and had been kidnapped by Mandalorians. She had escaped and stowed away on the Ebon Hawk. I told her that as soon as I got the chance, I would take her back to Dantooine and try to find her family for her. She was grateful.

"Bastila. You look after the kid while Mission, Juhani and I go visit Dreshdae." I said, smirking. Mission grinned smugly at not being the one classified as 'kid'.

"Why are you taking those two?" Bastila asked.

"Well, someone could recognise you, Bastila. We don't want to take the risk. And if I'm going to lie my way into the Sith areas here, they're going to need a good story. A fallen Jedi with a couple of slave-girls is a believable cover-story." I glanced at the two girls in question, to ask their permission to use this as a cover-story. Mission nodded. Juhani sulked slightly, but accepted the plan.

"Very well." Bastila conceded, "Just don't do anything stupid, will you?"

"Me? Stupid? What ever gave you that idea?" I asked innocently.

She hit my arm lightly - almost playfully. "Just don't get killed. Can you manage that?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm good at not-dying." I said, nodding. Mission sniggered, while Bastila scowled.

"I'm going to go to the Czerka shop." Carth noted, "We're low on supplies, between 'Sasha' and Zaalbar, we've gone through what should have lasted a month, in the last week."

I sniggered. Zaalbar growled an insult involving tachs, at Carth, who didn't get it because he doesn't speak Wookiee. I sniggered again. "All right." I said, smirking, "You come with us, though. No telling how hostile the local Sith are to random star-pilots on their planet."

* * *

Mission and Juhani dressed the part well. Mission wore a black skin-tight sleeveless body-suit that made her look five years older, and yet wasn't revealing enough for either Zalbaar (more of a protective-older-brother figure than her real brother ever was) or Bastila (prude) to get pissy at her for it - I don't know where she acquired it from - and black bindings on her wrists to match the ones on her headtails.

Juhani traded her red Jedi robed for a outfit identical to Mission's. I'm certain they collaborated on that, and I'm impressed by the image they gave. Juhani even wore a black collar, for show. Forward planning works wonders. Neither girl was visibly armed, although both wore concealed stealth belts, Mission had an Echani cortosis-bound dagger in her boot, and Juhani assured me her lightsaber was concealed somewhere on her person - I couldn't tell where, though.

I wore my usual black leather outfit, and was carrying a red double-bladed lightsaber - that had previously belonged to one of the Sith that had been stupid enough to attack me on Tatooine - in plain view. I think I looked the part of an evil git, no problem.

Carth walked a fair way apart from us. The two girls were a few steps behind me, with their heads bowed. Although I could sense Juhani eyeing everyone we passed with a calculating glare, and Mission scoping the security of the place for weaknesses.

I Force persuaded the Czerka prat to let me into Dreshdae for free. Have I mentioned I hate Czerka?

We soon stumbled upon a Sith tormenting a few random people. "No, that is the wrong answer. Again! You pathetic hopefuls can't possibly all be this stupid, can you?" he snapped.

"P-please, Master Shaardan! Give us a chance! We'll do anything to get into the academy!" a female Twi'lek - who was dressed like a table-dancer - begged.

"Hmph. I'm no master... yet... but I like the sound of that." Shaardan said, smirking, "Alright, one more question, though the lot of you are trying my patience. Alright. Let's say you become a Sith and I am your commanding officer. I give you an order to spare the life of an enemy. Do you do it?" I rolled my eyes - that was an easy one - of bloody course I wouldn't. I'd kill the idiot who gave the order, then kill the ones he told me to spare. Well, if I were a Sith, I would. But I'm not a Sith anymore, am I?

"Oh, of course, Shaardan! Anything you command us!" the Twi'lek said.

"We would never oppose you!" a human male in the group of 'hopefuls' added.

"No, no, no." Shaardan snapped. He sighed, "Do you honestly believe that the Sith are in need of such snivelling cowards? Mercy is a weakness. If your leader shows weakness, it is your duty to kill him and show true authority... true power. That is why the Sith are strong."

"Th-thank you, Shaardan. We, uh... we understand now!" the human hopeful said.

"No, you don't understand." Shaardan said, exasperated, "And you probably never will. You wouldn't survive five seconds in the academy... the other students would tear you apart! Bah! I can't be bothered with fools! Perhaps... I should... hmmm." then he spotted me and the girls. Carth having tactfully vanished. Shaardan then spotted my lightsaber on my belt, "You! Jedi! You're looking to get into the academy, are you not? Of course you are... why else would you be here?"

I folded my arms, "What's it to you?" I asked.

"Let me pose a question to you." Shaardan said, smirking, "These hopefuls will never survive in the academy. A lesson must be taught, here, but I am at a loss as to what form it should take. I'm thinking to spare them the effort of being killed and do it myself. Perhaps I shall turn their skin inside out? Or Force Lightning? It is a most impressive display. Or perhaps a bit of humiliation is in order? I could easily strip off their tunics and make them run through the colony. Or they could lose all control of their bodily functions... What do you think? I just can't seem to decide."

While I made a show of thinking about it, one of the hopefuls decided begging for mercy from a Sith/Sith-wannabie was a good idea (moron). "Please! Tell him to let us go, I beg you!"

"Silence!" Shaardan snapped.

"Why ask me?" I asked, smirking darkly.

"Why not ask you?" Shaardan asked, shrugging, "I'm rather exhausted from dealing with hopefuls like these, I can barely think straight. Besides... I find it fun. Come now, a decision please."

"Well, you see, if you ask me I'll give my opinion... then I kill you, deal with these losers myself, and loot your corpse." I said flatly. "You still want to ask me?"

Shaardan blinked, "Um..." he turned to the hopefuls, "You see, kids? THAT is the kind of backbone you need if you ever want a hope of becoming a Sith. Now get out of my sight." he then turned tail and ran away. Mission sniggered. Juhani scowled.

The hopefuls turned their fearful gaze on me. I smiled at them, "You do not want to join the Sith. Leave Korriban and never return." I said, with a heavy dose of Force persuasion. They all turned and left, as well.

We continued into Dreshdae.

"Look here, my dear friends." we were passing a group of brats in Sith uniform, and the female of the group was the one who spoke, "We have some newcomers to the colony... led by a Jedi, no less. I don't believe I've seen any of them before, have you?"

"I hate Jedi... and these fallen ones are worse!" one of the other members of this group of brats commented, "They always get into the academy, and they think they're better than the rest of us!"

"Great, just what we needed. Some punks come to steal our lunch credits." Mission whispered to me.

"Looks pretty fresh to me, Lashowe." one of the Sith noted, speaking to the female of their group.

"That's what I thought." she said, "Well, stranger... I don't know whether you're aware of this or not, but here on Korriban the Sith do as they please. And we are Sith. Quite literally, whether you live or die depends upon our whim. What do you think of that, hmm?"

"I think that's a lot of responsibility for simple scum like you." I said, smirking.

"Those are very brave words for such an insignificant person." Lashowe said, "Do you not realize how many Sith are here in Dreshdae?"

I looked like I was thinking about it, "Hmmm, twelve? No, wait, thirteen!" I said brightly. Mission giggled.

"How precocious. I think this one tried to make a joke, don't you?" Lashowe said coldly.

"I didn't think it was funny." one of the other Sith noted.

"Neither did I." Lashowe agreed, "A brave face, perhaps, but I'm more interested in being amused at the moment, I think. What do you say? Amuse us. Make us laugh, and we just might consider allowing you to live."

I folded my arms, and glared pointedly at her, "You can try to kill me. You'd fail, but you can try."

"Oh? I see. We'll just have to see about that, won't we?" Lashowe said angrily.

"Ha ha! Looks like this one's not afraid of you at all, Lashowe." one of the other Sith said, sniggering.

"Are you going to let us be insulted?!" Lashowe snapped at him.

"Oh, get over yourself already. I'm tired of this." he said, still sniggering at her.

"Yeah, this one's got some backbone, at least. Let's go." one of the other Sith said, also smirking.

"Fine." Lashowe snapped, "I'll deal with YOU later." And she stormed off, followed closely by her group of friends.

I sighed and turned to Mission and Juhani, "What do you think so far?" I asked.

"Going ok." Mission said cheerfully, "Loved how you threatened that first Sith we met."

"It was unnecessary." Juhani said cuttingly, "Such threats are not to be made idly, and such actions as you threatened are truly signs of the dark side."

"The threat was idle, Juhani." I said calmly, "Because I want the Sith to think I'm worthy of them. We have to go through them to get what we want here."

She sighed, "Very well. But do be careful, Damien." she pleaded.

"I will be."

* * *

We caught up with Carth in one of the disused passageways, a shortcut on the way to the Czerka shop. A lone Sith student - a teenage boy - was arguing with Carth. Loudly. "-don't presume to tell me what I would or wouldn't do!" the boy snapped.

"I don't know what's been done to you, but you're coming with me out of here. Now." Carth said, taking a step towards the boy.

The boy took a step back, "Touch me, old man, and I'll kill you. Get out! Get out of here before I tell the Sith that you're here!"

I decided to intervene. Didn't want the moron getting himself killed by some snot-nosed Sith punk. "Hey, leave the kid alone. Annoying a Sith on Dreshdae is not a good idea." I said, exasperated, grabbing Carth's arm to hold him back - he looked like he'd been about to try to grab the boy - stupid thing to do to the Sith who'd just told you he'd kill you if you touched him.

"Shut up! Stay out of this!" Carth snapped, trying to shake off my grip on his arm - he wasn't taking his eyes off the Sith boy. This was unnerving - I thought this man liked to shoot Sith on sight - why was he trying to reason with this boy?

I glared at Carth, "You can't tell me what to do, Carth." I hissed.

"Is that all you do? Give out orders?" the boy asked coldly, "Well you can't show up after all this time and expect to give me orders! I'm not your soldier and I'm sure as hell not your son!" he snapped. He drew his lightsaber, then, and lunged at Carth. I drew my own lightsaber, and blocked the boy. "Get out of my way, Jedi." he snapped.

"Who ever said I'm a Jedi, you brat?" I asked, and then I used Force choke on him. He staggered backwards, holding his throat.

"NO!" Carth yelled, "Let him go!"

Glaring at the boy, I released my grip, and instead used the Force to push him back against the nearest wall. "Why?" I asked coldly, holding the boy there, "He just tried to kill you."

"He's my son." Carth said quietly, "I - I thought I'd lost him. I can't lose him again."

I gave the boy a calculating look, and then walked over to him, deprived him of his lightsaber, and let him go.

"Give that back." the boy snapped. I felt a very weak Force persuasion tugging at my mind, but nothing I'd even have to think about fighting. The new generation of Sith don't focus on the more insidious ways of getting what they want - since Malak took over, they seem to prefer to take what they want through brute force, rather than manipulation and persuasion. Therefore, they don't hone their persuasive skills - I'm sure the boy could have done better if he'd practiced.

"No." I said flatly.

The boy glared, then lunged at me, trying to take back his weapon. I ignited my own lightsaber again, and held it defensively - to get his lightsaber back he would have to go through the blades of this one. He glared at me.

"Stop it, Dustil! Stop it! I won't let you keep doing this! What have they done to you?!" Carth demanded.

"They gave me a life, old man." Dustil snarled, "They gave me power! You... you didn't even give me so much as a second's notice."

"No... no, that's not true!" Carth pleaded, "I was there when you were younger, but I had to leave to fight! I fought for YOU, for your freedom!"

"No you didn't." Dustil retorted, glaring at him - ignoring me now, "You fought for yourself. For glory. Well, the Sith can do that, too. We learn to fight... and to kill. You want to see what I've learned, 'father'?"

"No, Dustil, don't! I don't -" but Carth was cut off - unable to speak. The boy was using Force choke on his own father!

"Too late, old man! You should have left when you had the chance!" the boy snarled, tightening his grip.

I glared at the boy, and used the Force to cast fear - terror - into his mind. I saw the Gizka-in-headlights look flash through his eyes; he lost his concentration, and backed away from me in fear.

Carth coughed, and caught his breath - he was giving Dustil a horrified look.

"Listen, kid. I'm not a close friend of your father's. Really, I'm not. I just need him to fly my bloody ship. But I don't want to have to kill you either. Don't push your luck, though." I said, calmly. The boy backed away from me - the fear I implanted in his mind making it impossible for him to talk back, "Now, perhaps we can have a civilised conversation, hmm?" he nodded fearfully, and I stopped trying to scare him. "Good." I said cheerfully.

"Dustil, what have the Sith done to you?" Carth asked, half pleading, half afraid.

"The Sith are my family now. They give me everything I need. I have a purpose with them!" the boy said proudly.

"You can't mean that!" Carth pleaded, "The Sith are... they're evil. They're the dark side. They... they took me away from you and your mother. They're... they're what took you from me!"

"No, they're not evil! They're not!" Dustil shouted. I could sense fear from him - he didn't want the delusions the Sith had given him to be ripped away. He was in denial. "The dark side is superior, and you... you were at war long before they came along!"

"The Sith provoked the Mandalorians into attacking the Republic." I said coldly, "So technically, it IS all their fault."

Carth gave me an odd look. I wasn't sure if he was asking if I was telling the truth, or how I knew it. Either way, I knew I'd just dropped too big a hint about who I was. I should watch what I say around him, in future.

"You're lying!" Dustil snapped at me.

"The Sith war to conquer, to rule the helpless. I went to war for YOU, Dustil. For your freedom, your future!" Carth pleaded.

"Heh. I... don't believe you." Dustil said, folding his arms. I saw the uncertainty, but he was still afraid to accept the truth.

"If I failed you, son, then it's... it's MY failure. Please don't add to it by becoming part of something evil." Carth all-but-begged.

Dustil rolled his eyes, "Prove it." he said harshly, "Prove that the Sith are so evil and I'll... I'll think about it." He obviously thinks that'll get him off the hook - that he'll not have to face this problem if Carth agrees to this.

Time to ruin that delusion, I think, "All right, then. Where can we meet you when we have proof? Because it won't take too long." I said, smirking.

The boy glared at me. Carth gave me a grateful look. "I'll be in the Academy." Dustil said flatly.

"And how are we supposed to get in there?" Carth demanded.

"I'm going to be joining the Academy, anyway." I said, smirking, "So I'll bring that evidence to you by this time tomorrow."

Dustil glared, "Right." he snorted - clearly not believing me, "I'm leaving now - I couldn't be bothered with this." he turned and stormed off.

"You were headed to Czerka, right?" I asked. Carth nodded, "Get going, I'm gonna find out how to get into that Academy."

"Why are you going to the Academy anyway?" Carth asked.

"Because, we're looking for a dark side artefact on a Sith world - who do YOU think's going to have it?" I asked.

"Point taken." Carth said, shrugging. He turned and slouched off towards Czerka's shop.

I glanced at the girls, "You two ready to lie to some Sith?" I asked.

"Always." Mission said cheerfully.

"As ready as I shall ever be." Juhani agreed.

* * *

We made our way towards the local cantina - best place to find any Sith who's not causing trouble, whatever planet you're on. The girls followed me, keeping up the appearance of obedient slaves - those two are really good actors. I'm sure neither of them would be even close to obedient if they were really enslaved. Not that I'd let anyone try to take them, anyway.

I scanned the cantina - a couple of Rodians, a few pilots, some hopefuls... and a purple Twi'lek woman wearing a Sith uniform. She was the only actual Sith in the room.

"She looks like a good target." I noted to Mission.

"I'd not know." Mission said, shrugging, "I could point out every security camera, or slice any lock, in this room. And that Rodian over there with the Pazaak deck is an easy mark - he's got the desperate 'I just lost and need an easy win' look - means he'll be distracted and you could clean him out of credits if you wanted. But I'm no good at identifying which Sith to talk to. Sorry, I can't be any more help."

"Credits are always good." I said, approaching the Rodian.

Juhani sulked - I could sense the disapproval from her in waves.

Ten minutes later, and many credits richer, I left the Rodian alone. I made my way over to the purple Twi'lek.

"Is there something you need, human? Make it good, for I have little patience." she snapped at me.

"You're with the Sith, aren't you?" I asked carefully.

She laughed, "You must not have been on Korriban for very long. Either that or you have been feeling your way about blindly. Luckily for you, I am in a charitable mood." A Sith in a charitable mood? Never heard of such a thing! "I am Yuthura Ban, second only to Master Uthar of the Sith academy here in Dreshdae. I am the one who decides which few of the many hopefuls who travel here to train actually become a Sith. Why? Is it your desire to enter the academy? Is that why you are here?"

I smirked. Just my luck - I found exactly what I'm looking for, on the first try. "Yes, that's exactly why I'm here." I said, nodding. "Let me join you."

"Ahhh, so you are just another hopeful after all. Or are you?" she gave me a calculating look, "There is something odd about you that I cannot place... I sense... that you are very strong in the Force. That you have already honed some of your abilities. Jedi training, is it?"

"What difference does it make?" I asked guardedly.

"Perhaps none. Perhaps all the difference in the world." she shrugged, "Either way, you possess enough raw power to intrigue me greatly. With that kind of power, you could become a great Sith. Perhaps... if I let you. Does that interest you?"

"Yes, it does. I want to become a Sith." I said. It was a lie, I didn't want to be a Sith again. Oh, some of the Sith teachings are worth knowing, but I want to try to take a different path this time.

"Ah, good. Exactly the sort of answer I was hoping for." she said, smiling, "I will take you to the academy and we shall see if you are ready to join the ranks of the Sith. I have only one other question. These... companions of yours? They will not be coming with you, I presume?"

"They're just slaves. Don't worry about them." I said dismissively.

Yuthura eyed the girls sceptically.

"I..." Juhani started, before biting her tongue and playing along, "Yes - we are only servants to the... master." she said, some bitterness clear in her tone.

"There is... something odd about this servant of yours..." Yuthura said, suspiciously. I wondered if she could sense the Force in Juhani. "No matter." she said, shrugging, "Make sure they don't disturb your training or cause trouble. You are responsible for them. Now... are you ready to go to the academy?"

"Yes, I am." I said, nodding.

"Then let us leave. The Master of the Academy awaits you."

* * *

"Greetings, prospective students." the Sith 'master' of the academy - Master Uthar - said. He was bald and had gone overkill on the tattoos. I really don't get why so many Sith think shaving their head and marring their skin is cool. Doesn't make sense to me. Never did. I like my hair, thank you very much. "It appears we have a late entry. Who do you bring before me, Yuthura? A young human, bristling with the Force?" I held my head high, and smirked - the type of smirk you expect from an evil overlord (what, you thought I didn't practice evil-smirking, just because I wore a mask? Hah!).

"A human that has had some training, it seems, Master Uthar. Very promising, I think." Yuthura said proudly.

"That I'll judge for myself, thank you." Uthar said coldly, "Tell me, human... what do you know of the ways of the Sith? What preconceptions has your mind been polluted with?"

"I know that the Sith are powerful. A force to be reckoned with." I said diplomatically. Technically true, but also not saying I like them.

"An honest if evasive answer." Uthar said calmly, "Likely it is more true than you realize. Allow me to speak of the deeper matters at hand. The Jedi equate the light with goodness and strength and the dark with weakness and evil. That is their tradition and it is truly no surprise that they cling to it for comfort. We, however, do not treat the Force as a burden. We treat it as a gift, a thing to be celebrated." I agree with that - it is a gift. "We use it to acquire power over others... and why should we not? Because the Jedi say we should not? We are as the Force is meant to be. The Jedi would hide that from you... they would tell you the dark side is too quick, too easy, all so that they need never challenge the passions that lie within them."

I think passions do need to be confronted, but not completely given control. So both sides are wrong, and at least one of them can go to hell.

"Joining with us means realizing your true potential." Uthar said proudly. And stupidly. Full potential cannot be realised by selling your soul. It just doesn't work that way. "It means not stifling yourself solely for the sake of hide-bound shamans and their antiquated notion of order. Be what you were meant to be." he turned to the female Sith brat I had met in Dreshdae, "What say you, Lashowe? Are you ready to learn the secrets of the dark side? Dare you?"

"I dare, Master Uthar! I am ready!" she said proudly.

"Brash and fiery, as expected. Turn that passion to your advantage, child. What of you, Mekel? Are you ready?" Uthar asked a boy (who seemed to be trying to grow a goatee).

"I am, Master. More than ready." the boy answered.

"I sense much anger within you, young one. That is good. That will provide you power. And Shaardan... what of you?" Uthar asked the Sith student I had threatened when I first entered Dreshdae.

"I am always ready!" Shaardan said, bowing.

"I see. You had best gather your wits for the trial ahead, boy, or you will not last." Uthar warned. Then he turned to me, "And you, young human? Does this interest you? Are you ready to learn more of what I speak?"

"I am ready to learn more." I said, not deigning to bow to him.

"Are you?" Uthar asked, raising an eyebrow at me, "I can see into your heart, young human, and I see the dark kernel that is there. If it is ready to sprout remains to be seen. And so shall it be." he smirked evilly, "Now, then. All of you five recruits have shown a degree of facility with the Force... you all have the potential to become true Sith. Only one of you, however, will succeed. The one who succeeds will be admitted to the academy as a full Sith. All others must wait until next year and try again... if you survive." the cruel glint in his eyes implied it was more than likely that only one of us would survive, "My pupil, Yuthura, shall be your teacher and master while you attempt to prove yourselves. Heed her words."

"As Master Uthar said, none of you are true Sith YET." Yuthura said, "For that to occur, one of you must do enough of worth... gain enough prestige... to be selected. What is an act of worth? You must learn that for yourselves. Remember that you are competitors, here... fight for your destiny, or go home."

"If you wish to gain a lead over your competitors, the first of you to learn the Code of the Sith and tell me of it will be rewarded." Uthar noted, "The rest is for you to discover. Welcome to the dark side, my children... your one chance at true greatness lies here."

* * *

Yuthura personally escorted me to my 'quarters' in the academy. I'm sure that's not normal. I was proven right when she spoke before leaving me alone outside the door to my room, "You know you are my... favourite prospect for the year?" she commented, trying to make it sound like an idle compliment. She was trying to talk me into doing something for her.

"Your favourite prospect?" I asked, suspiciously.

"Absolutely." she said, nodding, "By my estimation, you are far more likely to achieve the prestige necessary to join the Sith than any of the others. As a matter of fact, I am so certain of that that I'm willing to offer you an opportunity of the once-in-a-lifetime variety. Would you like to hear it?"

"I'd be a fool not to." I said, smirking.

She also smirked, "Indeed you would. I will take that as a 'yes', then." she said, "Good. I do so adore someone who's willing to take a chance. As I said, you're no doubt going to be the one whom Uthar chooses to become a Sith. With my help, of course." you think I need help? Ha. "Once that occurs, he will take you into the Valley of the Dark Lords to the tomb of Naga Sadow to administer the final test. There you and I will be alone with him. The perfect time to, shall we say, arrange for a change in the academy's leadership?"

"You want me to kill Master Uthar?" I asked flatly. I wasn't surprised that she wanted him dead - I was surprised she was asking for help. Any normal Sith would go straight to Uthar with this, in the hopes that he would give them her place when he kills her. She's lucky I'm not a normal Sith, now isn't she?

"Is that such a daunting prospect?" she asked, "It is not as if I am asking you to perform the task alone, or as if you will get nothing out of it."

"And what would I get out of it? Hmm?" I asked.

"You would become my apprentice when I take control of the academy. You can start off your Sith career as the right hand of the head of the academy: me. Uthar will not offer you that."

"Pupil against master. Sounds familiar." I muttered.

Mission blinked too-innocently, but said nothing. Juhani scowled at the ground, probably assuming I was referring to her.

"And so it should. It is central to our beliefs. It is my responsibility to replace my master when I am strong enough." she said proudly.

"And yet you're not strong enough to do it yourself?" I asked innocently. Also sounds familiar.

"Oh, I could if I wanted to." she said, "But I'm sure you can understand, it is much safer to do it this way. Less risk of failure. You understand?"

"I understand. It's called cowardice." I smirked, "But I'll help you, all the same, Master Yuthura."

"Indeed." she said flatly.

"Don't get me wrong." I said quickly, "If I thought that sort of tactic was worthy of scorn, I wouldn't agree to help." that was a lie, but I'm a good liar when I want to be.

"I see. So you call me a coward, and then prove yourself one, as well?" she asked.

"Not exactly. But close." I said, smirking.

She laughed lightly, "You have a sense of humour, human. I am impressed." she tilted her head to one side curiously, "You never did tell me your name."

"I was wondering when you'd notice that." I said, smirking, "You'd let any old person into the academy without even asking for a name. For all you knew, you could have let Darth Revan's reincarnation walk in here." Mission spluttered with laughter. I flicked my hand at her, in a way that looked like it hit her, but actually barely missed. "Shush." I snapped at her. She stifled her giggling, and rubbed her face where I almost hit her, to make it look like I had hit her.

"Revan died a year ago. Any reincarnation would still be a baby." Yuthura said acidly, "If you even believe in such things."

I smirked, "I was just making a joke, Master." I said, "My name, by the way, is Damien Nox."

"Well, Damien." she said, apparently not amused by my Revan comment. I thought it was funny. "I will begin to make preparations for your final test. Your only worry now is to get there... don't disappoint me."

"I won't." I said calmly. She turned and walked away. I led the girls into my room.

It was a fairly small room, and obviously not designed to accommodate a student with a couple of slaves. There was one small single bed, a footlocker, a small desk and chair, and a lock on the door that any two-year-old could slice.

Juhani stood defensively in the corner, while Mission did her usual routine of rooting through the footlocker. The little thief was useful, true, but also predictable. "Sith robes - I'm guessing for you. And a couple of medpacs - I'll take those." she scowled, then, "On second thoughts, you have them. This outfit ain't got no pockets." she said sheepishly.

I sniggered, "I'm not going to want the robes. These clothes are cooler." I said, smirking. "Now, we need a plan."

I sat at the desk, and looked at the datapad there. The code of the Sith, and its meaning. Basic rules to live by as a Sith. Sheesh, someone's gone to a lot of trouble to write out a long-winded version of 'trust no one, betray your friends, and generally be an evil git'.

"What sorta plan are you thinking?" Mission asked, after a moment.

"Well, I need to find out where the Star Map is. Yuthura mentioned a tomb, I'm guessing that's a good place to start. Hmmm." I frowned at the datapad, "Wouldn't hurt to tell Uthar this code, get in his good books before some brat like Lashowe or Shaardan get there first."

Juhani folded her arms and glared at me, "Fraternising with these Sith is dangerous." she said coldly, "We should avoid sinking to their level."

"You avoid it all you want. I'm just playing along, though. I'll be careful, don't worry." I said calmly. I sighed, "Mission. You find and tail Dustil. Don't let him see you, though. I want to know his life story by this evening."

Mission smirked, "Count on me." and disappeared. I saw the door open and close. She was gone.

"And what do you plan for us to do?" Juhani asked warily.

"We're going to go and talk to Uthar. Then we'll go out and check out those tombs."

* * *

I hadn't even bothered to look at the Sith code properly, on the datapad. Juhani need never know that detail, though. I had been staring blankly at the datapad for long enough, I think.

"Greetings, young one." Uthar said calmly, "You have much to do, yet... you have gained little prestige. You will have to work quickly if you hope to best the others."

"I know the Code of the Sith." I said flatly. Juhani scowled at the ground - I could sense her disapproval, but she didn't voice it.

"Then speak it." Uthar snapped impatiently.

"Peace is a lie, 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. The Force shall free me." I quoted.

"Yes, good." he said, nodding, "You have, indeed, learned the Code of the Sith. Speaking the words and knowing the words are, however, two different things. Tell me, then, true or false: it is our passion that fuels the Force."

"True." I answered immediately. Juhani's scowl deepened.

"Well done. I will test you no more... you know the Code. Very impressive. Go, now... you have done well, but you have not impressed me enough to declare you the victor. I have matters to attend to." he turned away from me and resumed his meditation.

I turned and led Juhani to the training room.

There we saw quite the vile display of cruelty, as we watched one Sith release a captive into a duelling ring - the captive was given a vibroblade, and forced to fight... and die. I suppose it was designed to give the students practice at killing. I remembered what Dustil had said to Carth, and wondered how many of these prisoners he'd killed.

"This is disgusting." Juhani whispered to me.

"I agree." I muttered. I turned and led her away from the room quickly. "That's just... sick." I said.

"I cannot believe we are in this hell hole." Juhani hissed.

"We need to find the tombs." I said to her, "The academy clearly has control over them."

She sighed irritably.

Then I almost walked into a boy who was walking in the opposite direction, "Oh, ah... hello." he said nervously, "I don't remember seeing you here before. My name is Kel... Kel Algwinn." I could sense uncertainty from him in waves.

"Hello. I'm Damien Nox." I said politely, "You're right, I'm new here. I don't suppose you could tell me how to find the Sith tombs?"

"Of course." he said brightly, "The valley's full of ancient Sith ruins, from a time before the Sith left this region of space. Rather exciting, really. I've, uh, never studied it myself... I couldn't help you much. If you're really interested, there's a fellow by the name of Dak who's out in the valley now. He knows plenty about it."

I sensed something from Juhani - recognition? Surprise? Confusion? Whatever it was, it was triggered by the name. I ignored it for now, though.

I smiled, and put on my innocent act, "Is something wrong?" I asked Kel - a Force-blind Gizka could sense he wasn't happy about something. It was just a matter of convincing the boy to admit it.

"I... oh, uh, nothing." he said, avoiding my eyes.

"Are you sure?" I persisted.

"Y-yes." he said nervously, "My master always says I am too trusting, too willing to show weakness. You're a Sith, so I really shouldn't... you know..."

"Are you saying you're not a Sith?" I asked. Juhani gave me an odd look.

"Well I... I... I didn't mean it like that." he said quickly, "I... I shouldn't trust you. I can't trust you, can I?"

"Sure you can. I've nothing to gain by betraying you." I said.

"I just... don't feel I belong here." he blurted out, "I thought maybe I did at first, but now I... I don't know. I have so many doubts."

I shrugged, "If it doesn't feel right, then perhaps you don't belong here."

"But where would I go, then? What would I do?" he asked, confused now.

"Have you thought about the Jedi?" I asked innocently.

"I... don't know." he said, clearly considering that idea, "I never really thought about it. Maybe I should seek it out, give it a try." he smiled brightly, "Thank you... thank you so much!"

"Don't mention it. Especially not to Uthar or Yuthura." I said, smirking.

He grinned, "Thank you." and turned and walked briskly away from us. He made straight for the main exit, unopposed, because they probably thought he was going to torment the citizens of Dreshdae, or something.

I sniggered, "That was fun."

"Fun?" Juhani asked, surprised.

"Well, yeah." I said, smirking, "Those Sith just let him go, and didn't even realise he'd just defected. I love watching my enemies do something so stupid."

She shook her head, "You have strange perceptions of entertainment, Damien." she said, smiling.

"Yeah. I know. But, hey - on the bright side - that kid's gonna try joining the Jedi." I smirked, "I certainly didn't sense any deception in him."

"Indeed. It is a very good thing you have just done."

* * *

We eventually found our way to the valley.

"These must be the tombs." I said, looking up at the huge structures. There were four visible entrances, and surely more beyond them.

"Which one do you think we need to enter?" she asked.

"I dunno." I said, shrugging. As I walked into the valley, I stopped by a random Sith student who was meticulously brushing dust off a stone artefact, "Hello." I said warily.

He stood up and dusted off his uniform. "Greetings. I don't think I've seen you at the academy before. Here to investigate the ruins?" he asked me.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"My name's Dak Vesser." he said brightly, "I'm assigned to the valley ruins, as you can see. We've been painstakingly uncovering these tombs for many months, now. Master Uthar won't allow us to dig with lasers or sonics... we have to use hand tools only so we don't accidentally destroy anything we run across. That makes progress very slow, however."

Suddenly, Juhani spoke up, "Dak? That is you, isn't it? I... hardly recognized you."

"It's been a long time, Juhani." Dak said, frowning and folding his arms defensively.

"What are you doing here? Did... did you fall to the dark side?" Juhani asked.

"I didn't 'fall', Juhani... I had my eyes opened." he said, and when she gave him a reproachful look, he quickly added, "And don't look at me like that. Last I recall, you were having your own doubts."

"I was." she said flatly, "I'm not anymore. Dak... you could..."

"Save it." he snapped. Then he sighed, and shook his head, "The Jedi aren't for me... not anymore. Look... I'm not going to ask why a couple of Jedi are in the Valley of the Dark Lords. I don't want to know. It's better that I don't. In fact, I'll just get out of here and leave you to whatever it is you're planning to do. Fair enough?"

"Running away? Again?" she asked coldly.

"Why not? It's what I do best." he said, smiling faintly, "Look... I don't want to be here after you leave. There'll be too many questions. So ask what you have to ask and I'll be on my way."

"I take it you two know each other?" I asked warily.

"Yes." Juhani said flatly, "Isn't it obvious? I don't want to talk about it here, however."

Dak told me about the four main tombs, before he ran off to be elsewhere. Basically, Naga Sadow's has the Star Map, and only Uthar can get in there. To get in, I'll need to gain prestige and earn a place as a Sith. To help with that... there's an insane droid in Marka Ragnos' tomb, dealing with it could be worthy of prestige... there's an insane hermit in Tulak Hord's tomb, dealing with him could be worthy of prestige... there's a cool sword rumoured to be hidden in Ajunta Pall's tomb, getting that would be worthy of much prestige... and some students ran off and hid in the caves between the valley and the academy... dealing with them could be worthy of prestige. Easy pickings, but I wasn't going to do it all today.

"Which do you think, Juhani?" I asked, after Dak had run away, "Insane droid, insane hermit, or fancy sword?"

"I am unsure. All three tombs are supposedly dangerous." she said, "I would tend to investigate the 'renegade' students."

"All right, then. We'll do that, then we'll go back to the academy for the evening." I said, turning and walking back the way we came. It wasn't hard to spot the caves. They were infested with Shyrack. Not difficult creatures to kill, really. And I figured out that Juhani had concealed her lightsaber in her cleavage, when I saw her draw it to help me fight the Shyrack.

We found two deserted campfires in the caves, and a few corpses, before we eventually ran into a small group of teenagers in ragged Sith uniforms. One female human and two male Twi'leks.

"Hold it right there, whoever you are!" the woman snapped, holding a violet lightsaber defensively, "We... we're not going back to the academy! We'll kill you rather than go back!"

"You're... the renegade students? The ones who ran away?" I asked warily.

"So you have heard about us." she said, not lowering her weapon, "Yes, we ran away before Master Uthar could execute us. Is that so hard to believe?"

"Not really." I said, shrugging, "I'd not want that psycho on my case, either."

"Right." she said flatly, deactivating her lightsaber, and folding her arms, "So why are you here?"

"I've been told that I might get prestige to get into the academy, if I killed you." I said flatly. Sometimes, honesty is the best policy, "I was thinking of faking your deaths, and helping you escape."

She tilted her head to one side, quizzically, "Why would you want into the academy, if you're clearly intend on going against the Sith?" she asked.

"So I can steal something from under their noses." I said, smirking.

"Ah. Well, in that case... My name is Thalia May." she said, offering her hand - I took it, and kissed her fingers lightly. She smiled. "The others here and myself refused to murder a bunch of people on a whim from Master Uthar... so here we are. We thought that becoming a Sith was what we always wanted, but that wasn't true. Now all we want is to get out of here. Fair enough?"

"So, how can we help you?" I asked.

"Well, we're stuck in these caves, obviously, or we would have been long gone." Thalia said, "There's a passage to the surface through the caves, but we're blocked by some kind of large creature. We can't defeat it. If you could kill it and clear up the passageway for us, we could escape. That would be help enough. Can you do that?"

"Depends what the creature is." I said, "I probably can kill it, though."

"We don't know what it is." Thalia said, shrugging, "It's about the size of a small Rancour, but it has a lot more teeth and claws, and it seems to be immune to most of our Force powers."

"A terentatek." Juhani hissed, "I have read of them. That description matches what I have read."

[What is a terentatek?] one of the Twi'leks asked.

"It is a terrible beast, spawned of the dark side." Juhani said coldly, "It feeds on the blood of those strong in the Force. Because we are its prey, it is immune to our powers."

"I've heard of them." I said, frowning, "Not easy things to kill, by all accounts. Hmmm..." I smirked viciously, "I have an idea. Wait here, Juhani."

I activated my Eriadu stealth unit, which I bought from the shop on Tatooine - I swear, even Mission can't spot me when I'm using it, and that's saying something - and walked out of the encampment, in the direction Thalia had indicated when she told me of the 'creature'.

If it was a Terentatek, only the strongest and darkest Force powers would work on it. A Sith master's Force choke or Force lightening might affect it. But even they wouldn't kill it. The fabled Solari lightsaber crystal would, in theory, also affect it. But that was lost in the Great Hunt, if it ever even existed.

I rounded a corner, and saw the beast. Juhani's guess was right - it was a Terentatek. I walked up to it, silently, careful to mask my presence in the Force as well. It didn't notice me. I knelt down, not taking my eyes off the monster, and took out a frag mine. I only looked down long enough to set the codes on the mine, before quickly standing up, watching the Terentatek again. It looked around it, but seemed to think it was imagining things, and it relaxed again. I laid a line of mines back to the point where the cave narrowed and it couldn't follow me.

Breathing a sigh of relief that it hadn't spotted me until I was ready, I deactivated the stealth field, and cast Force lightening at the beast. It roared angrily, and charged at me. It crossed four of the mines before the fifth killed it. In an explosion of toxic gasses, it crumpled to the ground. Dead.

I smirked and retrieved the nine mines that the Terentatek hadn't reached, then crossed the bridge the beast had been guarding. There were two more corpses here. One of them held a medpac he or she must never have got the chance to use. The other held a lightsaber which had been chewed and was useless. This one was interesting - the body was shredded, but the jedi robes had survived. Since this person obviously wouldn't need them, I figured it wouldn't hurt to take them. They were excellent quality robes, if they survived this well. There weren't even bloodstains where there should have been. In the pocket of the robes was a datapad - a diary. It said it belonged to Duron Qel-Droma. I know I've heard that name before - can't for the life of me remember where I heard it, though. I frowned and read the last entry.

'Korriban is everything I imagined - and feared. I can feel the power of the dark side here, I can sense the terentatek hiding in this evil place.

Shaela and I have decided to venture forth into the Valley of the Sith Lords in search of the creatures. I only wish Guun Han was still with us.

Why couldn't he just accept that Shaela and I are in love? He claims our passion for each other will lead us down the dark side, but he can't even see how his own pride and arrogance are leading him away from the light.

Maybe it is good that he left, after all. Even as dangerous as the terentatek are, I'm certain Shaela and I can defeat one without his help.'

Obviously they failed. Their pride was the death of them. Overconfidence gets everyone in the end. I glanced at the other corpse and wondered if that was 'Shaela'. No way to tell, really. Although, the lack of the lightsaber probably meant it wasn't her. I sighed and stood up, putting the items I had looted from the corpses in my shoulder bag - the same one I keep the mines, grenades, medpacs and stims in (what, you didn't think those magically appeared out of thin air when I need them, did you?). I crossed the bridge again and returned to the renegade students' camp.

When she saw me, Thalia took a step towards me eagerly, "So... is there news? Is the passageway clear?" she asked hopefully, and for a brief moment I felt the same desire to dash her hopes as I had felt for Sharina on Tatooine. The same rusty spoon was employed, again.

"It's clear. You're free to go." I said, smiling.

Her eyes lit up, "It... it's clear? We can go?" she asked, smiling gratefully. "Thank you. This... I wasn't expecting help from anyone in the academy. I guess we aren't the only ones who don't... agree with everything."

"Have you considered going to the Jedi?" I asked innocently.

"I... well, would they accept us?" Thalia asked.

"I'm sure they would." I said, smiling at her.

Thalia smiled at me, "Well, maybe... maybe the Jedi will accept us. I've seen how evil the dark side is. Maybe I could try." she said, "At any rate, thank you again. You've saved our lives." The three of them turned and fled the caves quickly.

We also left the caves quickly, and returned to my room at the academy.

* * *

Mission was waiting for us. "I've got the scoop on Dustil for you." she said cheerfully.

"I'm listening." I said, setting my bag on the bed, and sitting next to it.

"Well, he's been here for the last three years." Mission started, leaning against the table, as she spoke, "He's friends with several of the other students, although some of his friends have mysteriously vanished recently. I found out that Darren Ash and Thalia May were recently ordered killed, along with a couple of other students - he's been wondering what happened to them, but doesn't know. And two months ago, his best friend was lost in the valley."

"Good place to start." I said, nodding.

"He's specialising in Force combat." Mission continued calmly. "From what I've heard, the three specializations are lightsaber combat, their equivalent of Jedi Guardian... Force combat, their equivalent of Sentinel... and mental domination, their equivalent of Consular. According to the records I dug up, he's top of his class, because the other students are afraid to take him on since he defeated Yuthura's favourite student. He's not actually killed anyone yet, although some of the students he's duelled have - and I quote - 'since died of the wounds he inflicted'. In other words, no one was decent enough to offer the kids a medpac, but it wasn't actually Dustil's fault."

"I see. Top student in the academy, and we have to turn him back." I said, thinking about that information, "Well, we should start with his friends. I just helped Thalia escape - I should have waited, then I could have taken him to meet her. My word is worthless to him." I sighed, "What about this 'best friend' of his?" I asked.

"Records say she vanished. No way to tell if she's even still alive or not. There's chunks of the records missing." Mission said, shrugging.

"That sounds suspicious." I said, "Who are his other friends?"

"Kel Algwinn, Ronan Bane, Ma'el, and Velsa Tal." Mission said, "All in his year, and most of them are close to him in the ranking. Ma'el's a gold Twi'lek, and she's not a nice character... reminds me of Lena." she still says that name with such venom, "Velsa's a human with red hair, and she seems ok. Ronan's a human with black hair, I didn't see much of him, but I didn't like him. Kel's a human, I dunno what he looks like, Dustil was supposed to meet him in the library this afternoon, to go over something about their lessons, but he never showed."

"Probably because he's halfway to the Jedi academy by now. As, I believe, is Thalia." I said, smirking.

Mission blinked, "Are you systematically turning the whole academy to the light side, or something?" she asked.

"I'm trying to." I said, grinning brightly.

She shook her head, "That's a weird mental picture." she muttered, most probably thinking of the concept of Darth Revan turning the Sith away from the dark side. I admit, it is weird... and kind of amusing, in an ironic way.

"Kindly don't share it." I said, glancing at Juhani nervously.

"Wasn't going to." Mission said, sniggering, "Anyway... so, I still haven't found anything to convince our little Sith that he's on the wrong side."

I sighed, "Juhani, get some sleep. Mission, you and I are going to look for some more evidence."

Mission grinned, "Cool." she said cheerfully.

Juhani sighed, "I do not know if I could sleep in this place." she said, scowling at the door.

"I'll set some concussion mines at the door. Anyone who isn't welcome'll be stunned, and it'll wake you. Ok?" Mission suggested.

"That will help, I think." Juhani said, nodding.

"We'll be back in a few hours." I said, as Mission set the trap for unwary interlopers. We both activated our stealth fields, and I took Mission's hand so we didn't lose each other - we couldn't see each other with the stealth activated, so it was safer this way.

She led me up to the academy's library, where she sliced into the main computer system, and showed me the records she'd been reading before. After a few hours of work, she had reconstructed some of the disrupted files, and I had decoded the encryptions. Uthar had made some arrangements regarding Dustil's friend - Selene - prior to her disappearance, but these arrangements were classified.

"Translation: evil." I whispered, smirking.

"How'd you figure?" she asked quietly.

"Well, when a Sith classifies information, it's to keep up public appearances, or to keep his subordinates from finding a weakness." I explained, "I somehow doubt the girl could provide any weakness for Uthar - if she could, I don't want to know - so we should look into this."

"I guess he might have some information in his private rooms?" she suggested.

"Maybe. Know where that is?" I asked.

"Yep." she led me through the academy - past Uthar himself, who was meditating in the central room and didn't notice us - and into the accommodation block. She stopped outside a door with a much more sophisticated lock than the standard. It took her less than a minute to slice the lock.

I rooted through Uthar's desk, and lockers, and as well as some credits (which I happily pocketed) I found an encrypted datapad. I copied the data from it onto my own datapad, and replaced the original where I had found it. We left the room appearing untouched... aside from the missing money, but that's insignificant, really.

When we got back to my room, Juhani was fast asleep. We carefully stepped over the mines Mission had laid, and she sat down on the locker. I sat at the table, and started working on decrypting the codes.

* * *

Half an hour later, Juhani woke up. "I see you have returned." she stated flatly, as she stretched... not that I was watching her, or anything.

"Yeah. We didn't want to wake you. You looked so peaceful." Mission said, smiling.

"Did you find anything of use?" Juhani asked, standing up and stretching again.

"I think so." I said, reading over the datapad, "But these codes are tough to crack."

"I see." Juhani sighed slightly, "I am well rested. Perhaps I should return to the Ebon Hawk and inform Bastila of your progress?"

"That's a good idea." I said, nodding, "Don't let the Sith see you out alone, though." I added, "Yuthura'll have my head if she thinks I let my 'slaves'-" I used air-quotes around the word, and said it with much sarcasm, "-out unsupervised."

Juhani's lip curled in disgust at the very concept of slavery, "Indeed. I shall not be seen." and as she said it, she vanished into thin air, with the aid of her stealth belt.

The door opened and closed again, and Mission jumped onto the bed, "I'm gonna sleep. I'm rubbish at that sorta code-breaking, and I've been running around after that brat all day."

A couple more hours passed while I worked on the code-breaking, starting with the most recent entries.

'Rumours of my old master's survival have been confirmed, and he has taken up residence in the tomb of Tulak Hord. Several hopefuls have attempted to eliminate him, to no avail. The latest of these attempts showed promise - the hopeful Mekel - who left this morning. I do not expect him to return. It is a shame that he wasted his potential this way.'

Mekel? I know that kid. He was one of the hopefuls when I arrived here. I'll look into Tulak Hord's tomb first thing in the morning.

'Yuthura has been plotting, again. I have had to execute two students who foolishly attempted to break into my quarters under her direct orders. They claimed Force persuasion. I am unsure if they were lying or not, but either way, I do not need weaklings or fools in my academy.'

Yuthura doesn't do 'sneaky' too well, does she?

'The pupil Ma'el shows great potential in her mental domination classes. Her teachers have suggested her specialization be altered to fit this newfound skill. I have personally confirmed this, and executed the teacher foolish enough to originally assign the girl to lightsaber combat specialization.'

He's a fan of executions, isn't he?

'The pupil known as Dustil has shown remarkable progress. His talent with the Force is great. The same, however, cannot be said for the human female that he arrived with, Selene. She has little talent. Moreover, Dustil holds a great degree of affection for her. This is a weakness in the boy and has been slowing down his training. Orders were sent this morning to have the girl removed from the academy and terminated. I will tell Dustil that she was killed in the valley. He will forget her soon enough, I think... he is too promising to lose at this juncture.'

This is exactly what I was looking for. I'll show this to Dustil. If this doesn't convince him, nothing will.

I woke Mission at four in the morning, Korriban local time, and told her to go back to the Hawk and tell Juhani they both had to be back here by nine.

* * *

I got four hours sleep, and was waiting for the girls when the door opened and closed. Seconds later they both appeared. "So, what's the plan today?" Mission asked brightly.

"Well for a start, we're not doing that again." I said flatly.

"Doing what?" Mission asked.

"Sleeping here." I said flatly, "With only one bed. It's bad enough sleeping in shifts on the Hawk, but one bed between three, when we're all trying to be awake during the daytime, is too much. I'm sleeping on the Hawk from now on."

"That is a good idea, I believe." Juhani said calmly.

"Hopefully, we won't be on Korriban much longer, anyway." Mission added.

"Hopefully." I said, leading them to the door, "But anyway, let's go get some more prestige, shall we?"

"How do you plan to do that?" Juhani asked.

"We're going to Tulak Hord's tomb." I said flatly.

"Why that specific tomb, may I ask?" Juhani asked.

"Because these notes say Mekel went to investigate it." I said flatly, "If the kid's still alive, I want to try to save him."

"You are most charitable to your enemies." Juhani said coldly, "Not all of them are likely to forsake the dark side. You are aware of this?"

"I have to try." I said calmly.

We passed Uthar, who was eyeing everyone suspiciously, and made our way back down to the valley and into the tomb on the far right. After killing a few tuk'ata, I suddenly stopped. "Something doesn't feel right here." I whispered.

Mission did one of her quick scans of the room that she's so good at, "There's something rigged to the door, it'll close if you step through it. I don't see any other boobytraps, though." she informed me.

"Both of you stay back. I've got a really bad feeling about this." I stepped through the door, and it slammed behind me. Then the room flooded with gas, and I passed out.

* * *

I woke up to find myself standing up, bound by the Force. I couldn't move anything below my neck. I looked around the room to see Mekel bound to my right, barely conscious, but his eyes were focused on me.

In front of me was the ugliest face I've ever seen, with the possible exception of the Teretatek. The man was bald, his eyes were red, and he was severely disfigured. He had a twitch in the right side of his face, and his right eye seemed fixed while his left eye darted continuously.

"Awake already, are you?" the deformed man asked, his voice high-pitched, raspy, and slimy, "Good! This is the tomb of Sith Lord Tulak Hord, if you don't know. I've taken up residence here, for now... it's dusty and full of critters, but it's home."

"You are as good as dead, old man." I said flatly.

"Oh-ho! Spiteful little thing, aren't you?" he said cheerfully, "Let's not forget, however, who has whom at the disadvantage, shall we? No, no. Let's keep things on a more civilized note, shall we? Now then... introductions are always the place to start, if I remember correctly. This other student here that I captured earlier you should know well enough. His name is Mekel. Say hello, Mekel."

Mekel groaned incoherently.

"Poor lad." the crazy old man said brightly, as if the fact Mekel was in bad shape cheered him up greatly, "He's had a hard day. My name is Jorak Uln. I was once the head of the academy, so I'm sure you've heard of me."

"I don't care who you are! You're dead!" I snapped.

"Oh, my, my, my." he said in the cheerful tone only the homicidally insane can achieve, "Such glorious vim! If I could bottle it and drink it, I would. Hmmm... there's a thought."

"Bad mental pictures." I said flatly. Mekel snorted in a failed attempt at laughter, and coughed up blood.

"Anyhow, I'd like to propose that we move onto the main event." Jorak said brightly, "You see, I'd like to discover if you've got the pluck of an old-fashioned Sith. Most of the drek Uthar has been passing through these days is so pathetic. Take young Mekel here... I already tested him. Didn't I, Mekel?"

Mekel made an incoherent gurgling noise. I think I'd like to skive off this pop-quiz, please.

"Yes, yes, you're welcome." Jorak said, as if Mekel had just thanked him, "You see, Mekel here has the cruel disposition of a Sith... but not the GUMPTION that I'm looking for."

"You're utterly insane." I said coldly.

"Ahhh, what's a little mental instability between tutor and pupil?" he asked. Actually, that's a good point. I must remember to ask Malak that very question. "What's important is that I'm here to better the Sith as a whole. It's a big job."

"Go ahead, do your worst." I said calmly.

"Now, now, is that any kind of attitude to take with higher education? I'm doing you a favour, really." Jorak said, as if I'd just insulted his mother. Oh, there's an idea... "So, then!" he announced, interrupting that train of thought, "This is how it goes: I'm going to pose a moral question to you. Get it right, and I torture Mekel. Get it wrong, and I torture you. Mekel, here, is a bit weak... he probably won't be able to take much more punishment. Mind you... get too many wrong and you'll die, yourself. I don't know what you think of Mekel. Maybe you don't like him. Maybe you think he deserves to be murdered? Well, here's your chance. Fair enough?"

"Fair enough." I said calmly. Torture's no big deal - worst he'll do is Force lightening, and I can handle Malak's Force lightening, so nothing this loser can throw at me will be too bad.

"Well, then. Any last comments before we begin, Mekel?" Jorak offered.

"We can... both survive... attack him together!" Mekel managed to say, to me.

"Now, now, dear lad." Jorak said, with mock-remorse, "Do you really think your friend here will answer questions wrong just to spare little you, risking his own life? And how many correctly-answered questions before you die, hmmm? No, don't be silly... you had your chance, remember? On that note, let's begin!" he seemed most gleeful at the concept of torture, whoever it was to be aimed at. "Now, then. Your immediate superior amongst the Sith is an effective commander and a fine leader. He trusts you and you like him. You see an opportunity to kill him. What do you do?"

"I refuse to answer this." I said calmly.

"Then I must assume you did not know the correct answer. Sad, really, that you would do this to yourself." Jorak said, before cheerfully casting Force lightening on me.

I gritted my teeth and endured it silently.

"And so we come to round two." Jorak announced, "You come across a group of humans who are threatened by dangerous animals. They plead for help, offering you a reward. What do you do?"

"I refuse to answer this." I repeated.

"Well, now you're just punishing yourself. Do you really not know the answers, here? Shame." After another dose of Force lightening, Jorak seemed surprised I was still standing. I reckoned I could endure one more shock. "Let's see... ah, yes. You discover an aspect of the Force that gives you great power. Do you share it and strengthen the Sith as a whole or keep it to yourself?"

"I refuse to answer this." I repeated again.

"And here I thought this question was an easy one. Ah, well, suit yourself." this time I winced when the lightening hit me. I was getting weaker, and I knew another one would be too dangerous to risk. "Still going? Alright, then. One of your underlings has made a major mistake which makes you look bad. He is normally very competent and skilled. Do you kill him or give him another chance?"

"Kill him." I answered calmly.

"Correct!" Jorak cheered, "Publicly, if you can. There is no room for that level of failure. Not killing him would be seen as a sign of weakness... and then where would you be?" he grinned evilly as he turned to Mekel, "You see, Mekel? It is not so difficult. Time for your punishment."

The boy screamed loudly as the Force lightening ripped through his body. I scowled at the ground until it stopped.

"Last question!" Jorak announced, "You're about to die. Do you pass on your knowledge to your apprentice to make him stronger... or do you use your last breath to strike at your enemies?"

"Neither. A true Sith never dies." I hissed.

Jorak blinked, "What?! How did you know that?" he said surprised, "That was my trick question! Bah! Telepathy. No, wait! Someone told you didn't they! Hmph. Regardless, I suppose rules are rules. Time for your medicine, Mekel, my boy."

The boy screamed again, and it lasted longer. When he was released from the torture, he was still alive.

"Now... this is odd. The test is over and you're both still alive. Well that's never happened before. Hmmmn. What to do, what to do... I suppose this means you can go, Mekel. I'll have to just figure out what to do with our friend, here. Run along, now."

"Or..." Mekel said, clearly concentrating, "Or I could use the Force to free him! And we could kill you!" suddenly, our Force bindings faded. The boy must be very good at 'mental domination', to have done that, "Seems you didn't think of that, old man!"

"What?!" Jorak yelled, outraged, "Mutiny! Behave, students! I'll... that's it! Detention for all of you! Permanent detention!" and he drew a lightsaber.

I used Force choke on the old man, "For the record, Jorak." I said calmly, as he struggled in vain to breathe. "Question one: I use the opportunity to kill him and take his position. Question two: I take the reward and leave the weak fools to their fate. And question three: I keep it to myself."

Mekel stared at me, "You deliberately threw the questions to save me?" he asked.

"Yes." I said calmly. Jorak was turning an interesting shade of blue. "And one thing you're wrong on, Jorak. Mercy is no weakness." I released the Force choke from him.

He stared at me for a moment. "Oh, but now I have the opportunity to kill you when you turn your back."

"Who says I'm going to turn my back?" I asked, "Just because I can show mercy does not mean I'm stupid enough not to watch my enemies."

Jorak growled at me and lunged. I sent him flying with Force wave. I heard the sickening crack as his skull split on the stone wall. That had been an accident - I hadn't meant to kill him - but in a way it was probably better this way.

"What do you know? I guess he wasn't a 'true Sith' after all." Mekel said, smirking, then he turned to me, "I can't believe that I'm alive. You saved me... you could have easily just answered those questions and let me die."

"Why shouldn't I have saved you?" I asked.

"Well, you were tortured, for a start. Then there's the fact that I'm one of your rivals at the academy."

"I couldn't just let him kill you." I said, frowning. Since when did I get my conscience back, anyway?

"Well... you can have those writings he mentioned." Mekel said, barely able to stay standing after the torture, "I won't fight you for them. Master Uthar will be very pleased with you if you give them to him, you know."

"You know, you don't have to stay at the academy." I said calmly.

"Is that some kind of tactful threat, or something?" Mekel asked warily.

"Oh no. I'm not threatening you. It's just, Jorak had a point, you're really not cut out for the Sith." I explained.

"Well, what else should I do?" he asked, still wary.

"Have you considered defecting to the Jedi?" I asked.

Mekel snorted, "No, I've never thought about that. Can you... can you even go back? I've done some... I mean, I've hurt a lot of people."

"It's never too late. Believe me, I've been redeemed from darker places than joining the Sith academy." I said, smirking.

"Darker places? Such as?" Mekel asked warily.

"You don't want to know." I said flatly, "Suffice it to say I knew the answers to Jorak's questions from personal experience, and then some."

Mekel shuddered, "I believe you. I... I suppose I could go to the Jedi."

I smiled, "Good. I know for a fact it's safe to escape through the Shyrack caves. Considering I dealt with all the hostile creatures in it."

"All? As in the renegade students as well?" he asked warily.

"I dealt with them, yes. What way you interpret that is up to you." I said, smirking.

"Ok." Mekel said, smiling, "I guess I could go that way. I know a lot of the supply ships do fly round that way, so it shouldn't be too hard to hitch a lift."

"Great. So I'll tell Uthar you were killed by the psycho, then?" I asked.

Mekel laughed, "Thanks." he said, turning towards the door just as it opened.

Mission and Juhani were there. "Sorry we took so long." Mission said, "But this lock's ancient, none of my spikes worked on it, I had to slice it manually."

Juhani gave Mekel a calculating look, "Is this the student who was captured by the 'insane hermit'?" she asked.

"Yeah. I was just leaving." Mekel said.

"He's going to the Jedi." I added.

"At this rate, the Jedi academy will be overrun by ex-Sith defecting to our cause." Mission said, smirking.

"There's a scary thought." Mekel said, also smirking, "You better be careful, though - it only takes one to infiltrate your academy's location."

"Indeed, we are careful." Juhani said warningly, "Few know of the academy's location, and those who do find it are directed through Coruscant's Jedi Council and are trusted."

"Except me." I noted, "And Mission. And Carth. And Canderous. And-"

"You have made your point." Juhani bristled.

I smirked. "Let's get going." I said to the girls, "We've got a meeting with another soon-to-be-ex-Sith."

* * *

I found Dustil in the library. "Hey, brat." I said, clearly, as I walked in.

"Anyone else tried calling me that, I'd kill them." Dustil growled as I approached him.

"Big talk, kid." I said, smirking, "Considering you've never killed anyone, here."

"What makes you think that?" he asked defensively.

"I do my homework, kid." I said, smirking smugly.

The boy growled, "Well, if you're so good at your research, have you found any evidence for me? If the Sith are so evil, I'm sure it's just lying around everywhere, waiting for you to trip over it." He said sarcastically.

"Oh, funny." I said coolly, "You don't think Uthar wants just anyone to know the Sith are evil, do you? By the time the students figure it out they've already sold their souls and won't care."

"I still don't believe you, you know." Dustil said, folding his arms defensively.

"You had a friend called Selene, didn't you?" I asked.

"Selene? She's the one who convinced me to come to the academy with her. Why?" he asked defensively.

"Look at this. It's a copy of a datapad I found. Recognise the encryption sequences?" I asked, showing him the datapad with Uthar's notes on it.

"I- this is the code Uthar uses for his highly classified material. I can't read it." he said flatly.

"Well, I decrypted it." I said, pressing a button. The text changed to the intelligible notes about Dustil and Selene.

He stared at it for a second, "But... he told me... he, he said that she'd been lost on a mission in the valley. This... this says that they... they killed her... because she... she was hindering my progress. No." he shook his head, horrified. "This can't be true!" he said, glaring at me.

"It's true. I'm not lying." I said calmly. No Force persuasion in it - it would be wrong to use it for this.

"I..." he stared at the datapad, still horrified. "I had no idea... they lied to me."

"Now, will you listen to your father?" I asked calmly.

"I... I guess I said I'd think about it, didn't I?" he muttered, "I'll talk to him." he said, sighing slightly, "I'll give him a chance to explain himself. I guess I owe you - both of you - that much. Thank you." he muttered.

"At least you're smart enough not to hang onto the lie when it blows up in your face, kid." I said, smiling.

"I'm not going to leave here, though." he said, looking straight at me. "I have some other friends here. I have to warn them what's going on. And maybe I can, you know, look around here and find out some more information. From the inside. Something that might help you... and my father."

"That would be good." I said, nodding, "We could use all the help we can get."

The boy smiled, "I'll go up to Dreshdae now, and see if I can find my father." he said, "I really should tell him I've changed my mind, huh?"

"It would help." I agreed.

"Thanks." he said, and turned to leave the library quickly.

* * *

As I left the library myself, five minutes later, I ran into Yuthura. I decided it would be fun to get to know the woman, if I could. No harm trying. "Greetings, Master Yuthura." I said, half bowing.

The fact I spoke to her clearly meant she felt the need to be rude, "What do you wish? I am eager to get this over with."

"If you don't mind my curiosity, Master, could you tell me about yourself?" I asked innocently.

"About myself?" she asked surprised, "I am originally from Sleheyron, if you must know. I was a slave to a cruel master, Omeesh the Hutt. I am sure you don't need to know more."

"What someone needs and what they want aren't always the same thing." I said, shrugging, "Surely telling me a little more wouldn't hurt? I just would like to know more about you, that's all."

"I... see. Very well. I suppose there's no harm in the tale." she said, shrugging slightly, "As I said, I was originally a slave to one of the Hutts. The Hutts control everything on Sleheyron, and a slave is nothing to them. I was determined not to be 'nothing'. One night when the drunken worm had me alone in his chambers I stabbed him and escaped the compound. I stole onto a cargo ship and was not discovered by the crew until they reached the next system. They left me for dead on a desolate planetoid, alone... but that was fine by me. I was glad to be anywhere other than Sleheyron. It was not luck that I was eventually rescued, of course. The Force was strong with me, though I didn't know that at the time. Not until the Jedi told me, that is."

"The Jedi?" I asked, "Were they the ones who rescued you?"

"I'd... rather not discuss it. Perhaps another time." Yuthura said defensively.

"No time like the present." I said smoothly, "I would like to know how you became a Sith?" I asked innocently. Juhani and Mission both gave me odd looks.

"I... would prefer not to discuss that." Yuthura said flatly.

"I'd really like to hear the tale." I said, slightly pleadingly.

"Why? There is no point. Have I asked you about your past?" she asked tetchily.

"No, you haven't, but I just thought we could become friends... or maybe something more." I said hopefully. Well, friends, anyway, but flirting never hurts, even if she is a Sith.

"I have no intention of talking to you about it." she said, glaring at me.

I frowned. "Why is that?" I asked warily.

"While you have excellent potential as a Sith, I do not wish to befriend a slaver." Yuthura hissed. She said she'd been a slave - great, no wonder she has something against my cover-story, at that rate.

I sighed, and turned to the girls, "Tell the truth girls. You have no reason to want to leave me, do you?"

"No reason at all." Mission said brightly, "I like Damien. He even bought my friend from the slavers on my homeworld, to save him from being sold to a crimelord. He's really good to us."

"It is true. Damien treats us well." Juhani agreed. I smiled - both girls had told the truth, but in a way that fitted the cover story. Economy with the truth is such a useful skill.

"Hmm." Yuthura clearly sensed the truth, "And what do you keep these slaves of yours for?" she asked, "It is common knowledge what most slavers keep Twi'lek females for." she added in a growl.

"Hey, she's only a kid." I snapped, "I'm not that sick."

"I'm not a kid!" Mission snapped.

"Legally, you are." I said to her. I turned back to Yuthura, "Anyway, I don't keep the girls around for that reason, no."

"I don't suppose you'd care to explain why you do keep them?" Yuthura asked.

"I'd rather not." I said, "But suffice it to say they're well treated, and if either one asked to leave, I would probably let them."

"Surprisingly, I believe you." Yuthura said, then she sighed, "You... certainly have odd notions for one hoping to become a Sith. But I'll play along... for now. Let's see... after escaping from Sleheyron I was found by the Jedi. They took me in and trained me even though I was a bit older than most Padawans."

"You were a Jedi?" I asked.

"Not really, no." she said, shaking her head, "I never progressed beyond Padawan. I had discipline, but no peace... and after my treatment at the hands of the Hutts there was little room in me for the ways of the Jedi." she sighed slightly, "I wanted to use the Force to free the other slaves I knew, to fight for what I knew was right. The Jedi restrained me until I couldn't stand it any more."

"I know that feeling." I noted. Mission blinked, smirked, and bit her lip.

"They claim the dark side is evil, but that isn't so." Yuthura explained, "Sometimes anger and hatred are deserved and right. Sometimes things change because of it. There is so much suffering and injustice in the universe. I am surprised the Jedi can even stand the stench of it, much less stand by and do nothing. I know this may sound strange, but only my compassion stands in my way, now. Once that is gone let the slavers beware."

"But... if you lose your compassion, will you still care about those slaves?" I asked.

"I... yes, of course. I mean losing my compassion as in... holding back..." she reiterated.

"And once you defeat the slavers, would you then be able to hold back from harming those you free?" I persisted, "Without compassion, it's a short step from killing the oppressors to killing the oppressed. What difference is one life from another when the blood on your hands is still red?" I asked, the phrase was one I once used during my time as Sith Lord. I genuinely didn't see the difference then... and I still don't, to some extent.

"I... I would never harm those I seek to free!" Yuthura snapped.

"Then you're not a real Sith." I said acidly, "Darth Revan killed thousands of Republic citizens he had originally fought to save!"

"You... make a good case... I suppose." she conceded, "But I shall not discuss such matters with you anymore!" she turned on her heel and stormed off.

I think I made an impression on her. I hope it was the right one.

* * *

I went to Master Uthar, and gave him the stone tablet I had taken from Jorak's corpse. I also informed him that I had 'dealt with' the renegade students. I was in turn informed that I had impressed him much, but that I would have to gain some more prestige before I could become a full Sith. I was, however, well ahead of the other students.

I then made my way back down to the tombs. Cool sword, or insane droid. Hmmm, droid first. May as well deal with both.

After running a gauntlet of battle droids, we found a corpse with a sound-dampening stealth unit on it, and a datapad saying the droid was super-sensitive to sound, and it may be possible to find a peaceful solution if we were quiet enough.

Mission and I entered the main tomb, with sound-dampening belts activated. The droid greeted us, and I talked to it. It was an assassination droid, which had independent thought - never a good thing in a droid - with independent thought they soon cease to obey their makers. It had developed an appreciation for life, and no longer wished to kill - HK-47 would consider it an abomination, I am sure, but I liked it.

It requested that I shut down its systems and delete its assassination protocols. I did as it requested, removing the hardware that contained said protocols - it had slightly different programming from HK-47, but I could edit it. No need to buy a new actuator now, and no danger of some moron reactivating this droid's assassination protocol accidentally.

When the droid reactivated, it noted the absence of the hardware, and commented that it was surprised I had the skills to have done so successfully. It was also grateful, however, and left peacefully.

Self-serving good deeds - gotta love them.

* * *

Next stop, Ajunta Pall's tomb.

When we got into the main room of the tomb itself, the door closed behind us, and a... a ghost... appeared behind us. "Too long... too long in the cold and the dark. I am disturbed again? A human... a... Jedi? Here? Why have you come to this dark place, Jedi? Why... disturb my sleepless rest?" It was Ajunta Pall, himself... well, the ghost of him. I'd seen him the last time I was on Korriban, I'd insulted his heritage, and told him he was worthless.

"Who are you?" Mission asked him. Juhani was being defensive, and glaring at the ghost.

"I... had a name, once. Ajunta Pall." the ghost said mournfully, "Yes, that was my name. I was one of many. We were servants of the dark side... Sith Lords, we called ourselves. So proud. In the end we were not so proud. We hid... hid from those we had betrayed. We fell... and I knew it would be so..."

I decided, this time, to be kinder to the poor ghost, "How did you fall? What happened?" I asked.

"We... hid from the Jedi, but it was not they who destroyed us. Is it not... obvious what we did?" he asked, "We destroyed each other. We desired the secrets of each other, to increase our power... we battled until finally our fortress rained down on top of us. And so here our old secret is buried and none of us hold it any more... is that not right? Our power fled. Oh, what became of us? Do... do the Sith still thrive? Did they ever return?"

"Yes, they have returned, and endanger us all." I said.

"So much... so much time has passed. And yet we have learned nothing... nothing..."

"Why do you remain here?" I asked.

"Remain? Do I... remain?" he asked distantly, "I... have regretted for so long... all that I have done. My sword... I filled it with my pride. And it is... buried with me, now. A corpse as I am a corpse. I am dead, as my faith... is dead. And I shall remain here... surrounded by blackness in death as in life..."

"I seek this sword you speak of." I said.

"Of course you do. You... seek my power. Will it destroy you... as it did me? Most of my brethren would desire... only to take what power I have left. Even if it would destroy them. I wish my sword to be... taken away from here. I do not wish it to rot away as I have. I command this of you." he said proudly.

"Nobody commands me." I said coldly, "But I will do as you ASK, of my own free will." I added pointedly.

"If... if you are wise, you will not keep it." he said, "In the end, it is what destroyed me... there are... three blades within my sarcophagus. Only one is truly my sword, but it has been so long... I do not remember which. Find the sword that is mine and... place it on the statue. If it is truly mine, then it is yours."

I walked over to the sarcophagus, and looked at the three blades - a silver-lined sword, a black steel sword, and a vibrosword. "Well, it's not the vibrosword - a Sith's weapon would never be such a common sword." I muttered, then turned to look at Ajunta Pall's ghost, "Can you give me any clues?"

"I do remember one thing of my sword... listen to me carefully... 'I am that which grips the heart in fright, hearkens night and silences the light.' It was... written of my sword long... long ago." he intoned.

I frowned at the two swords, "Hmmm. Silences light. Wouldn't be something so reflective as silver, then, would it?" I asked, taking the black sword and placing it in the statue's hand.

"Yes... that is the one. That is the blade that destroyed me." Ajunta Pall said bitterly, "Take it... take it and the other blades, even... take them and go. My darkness awaits me..."

"There's no need for you to remain here, is there?" I asked.

"No... need? What choice have I?" he asked.

"You can return to the light side and end your torment." I said. Mission rolled her eyes, and Juhani smiled faintly.

"Return?" he asked, confused, "But... I betrayed my old masters. They would never let me return to the light side. It is too late... too late..."

"I don't believe the light side would turn you away. You have suffered long enough." I said gently.

"If I... if I could return. Oh, my Master... it has been... so long... and I regret so much..." the ghost began to fade, and I sensed some of the darkness and coldness in the room fade, too. Not all of it, by a long shot, but the ghost's own darkness had gone. Seconds later, so had the ghost himself.

"Wow." Mission muttered, "Another one to add to your list."

"Don't degrade it." I snapped at her, "Each person I save is worth a lot more than a name on a list."

Mission bowed her head, "Sorry."

Shaardan was waiting for us just inside the tomb's entrance, "I saw you come in here and I rather figured you'd make it all the way to the sarcophagus. Good to see I wasn't wrong." he said, looking supremely smug.

"Oh look girls, it's the coward we met at Dreshdae spaceport. What was your name again? I kind of didn't care." I said, smirking.

"The name's Shaardan." the boy said acidly, "I've been watching this tomb for a while, hoping someone would do the dirty work in finding the sword of Ajunta Pall."

"You wouldn't have considered, oh, I don't know... getting it yourself?" Mission asked snidely.

"Now that you have it, I just thought I'd relieve you of it. It must be quite a burden, after all." Shaardan said, clearly a veiled threat.

"No, I think I'll manage with it just fine. Kind of you to offer, though." I said, smirking.

"Oh, but I insist." he said, sarcasm dripping from the faux-polite tone, "I'm not about to let a chance to impress Master Uthar pass me by. I may like you well enough, but being a Sith is all about taking chances when the moment is right. So make it easier on both of us... hand over the sword."

"What are you going to give me for it?" I asked, folding my arms.

"This isn't a negotiation." Shaardan snapped, "As much as I dislike ultimatums, I am afraid I must stoop. Hand over the sword or die."

"How about I give you an ultimatum. Run away with your tail between your legs, or I will hurt you." I said coldly.

"Funny. Lashowe was right, you do have a sense of humour. Give me the sword!" he snapped.

I sighed, "No." he drew his lightsaber, but before he could take a step, he was choking on thin air. It didn't take long for him to pass out, and I stopped choking him before it killed him. I walked over and relieved him of his credits, then left him to the mercy of whatever wildlife found him... given that this was Korriban, that'd not likely be much.

* * *

Uthar was impressed enough when he heard about the droid, that I didn't even need to give him the sword. He told me to prepare myself for the final test, and to meet him in the central room the next morning.

I returned to the Hawk.

Mission and Juhani both vanished into the girls' sleeping quarters, and reappeared mere minutes later in their normal clothes. I, meanwhile, made my way into the swoop hangar. HK-47 was in standby mode, and Canderous was doing something to the swoopbike. I ignored both of them and started modifying my lightsaber - new and cooler crystals from the tombs quickly replaced the old crystals, which in turn were placed in the red double-blade.

When I finished working, Canderous was watching me. "What?" I asked.

"Are we getting off this rock any time soon?" he asked.

"Tomorrow." I said flatly, "Probably. I was wondering..." I said, wandering over to the swoopbike, to see what damage the Mandalorian had done to it, "If you had any war stories."

"You want to hear tales of my exploits? Of the wars I've seen and fought, the enemies I've seen die by my hand? Heh, sure, I'll humour you." he said, smirking. "My name's Canderous of the Mandalorian clan Ordo. I've been fighting across the galaxy for forty of your years. For my people it's the honour and glory of battle that rules us. It's through combat that we prove our worth, gain renown and make our fortunes. Win or lose, as long as the fight is worthy, then honour is gained. The glory at having triumphed over impossible odds is what drives us."

I noted that he had modified the swoop engine, and in theory it was an improvement. I couldn't be bothered to test it, though - not before we deal with the Star Forge - swoop racing is a frivolous waste of time when we're trying to save the galaxy. "So you conquered worlds for honour?" I asked.

"If there's nothing at stake - your possessions, your life, your world - then the battle's meaningless. We Mandalore take everything we are and throw it into battle. It's the true test of yourself - the battle against death... against oblivion."

"Is that why the Mandalorians attacked the Republic?" I asked.

"The Sith came to us with an offer: to fight a worthy enemy in a battle that would be remembered forever." he said. So it WAS the Sith's fault - I knew it! "We only wanted the challenge of the battle, and glory from it - win or lose. And we lost."

I nodded. "I kind of understand. The fight to prove yourself, if you lose to a great enough opponent, it is still an honourable fight."

"Exactly." he agreed.

"But if you were cheated by a weaker opponent... you would have to challenge him again, to prove he was the weaker, yes?"

"Of course." Canderous agreed, "Why do you ask?"

"I have an old... 'friend' who needs to be taught a lesson, that's all." I said, smirking.

"You really do have a warrior's spirit, don't you?" he asked.

"Rare to find outside your people, isn't it?" I asked, smirking.

"Indeed." he agreed, "The only true warrior my people recognise outside their own was Revan."

I frowned, "Hmmm... yeah. I should go."

I quickly left the Mandalorian alone. He's smarter than a lot of people give him credit for, I think - I'd be surprised if I didn't drop a dangerous clue by leaving so suddenly at the mention of the name Revan. But to be honest, I don't care if he does know. I don't trust him, but I also know no one else on the ship would believe him if he tried to tell them I was Revan.

* * *

I found Carth in our sleeping quarters. Six beds on the ship, the girls get one each, but there's four men on the ship, counting Zaalbar - after much 'debate' (read: argument) on the way to Dantooine, Carth and I ended up being the ones who had to share - Canderous was good with the threats, and neither of us wanted to sleep in the bed that the Wookiee slept in the other half of the time. I sat down on Canderous' bed - Carth had been lying on our bed, awake, reading a datapad - he looked up at me when I sat down.

I was the first to speak, "We didn't end our last discussion very well..."

He set down the datapad and sat up, "I, ahhh... I'm not very good at this. I... I know I owe you an apology." he said, scowling, "Uh, more than one, probably. I was just so desperate to finally face Saul directly in the battle over Taris, and now the Jedi have us looking for these... these Star Maps."

"Why don't you return to the front lines, then?" I asked.

"Because this is more important. This may really, finally, make a difference... I suppose even if I can't figure out everything that's going on, I still want to help if I can." he sighed, "I know this mission is important, it's just... I feel a bit useless. I can fight, sure, but I'm no Jedi... all this feels completely out of my league. I just hate not knowing what's going on and feeling this... helpless." he ran his fingers through his hair, "But I shouldn't have taken that out on you. I've been a royal pain in the backside, haven't I?"

"You sure have." I said, smirking.

He laughed, "Well... I guess I should be at least a little pleased that I haven't lost my touch. So... I'm sorry. Will you accept my apology?"

"Only if you agree to work with me, for once." I said quietly.

"Done!" he said, smiling.

"Just... one more thing." I said, frowning at the floor, "I... I want you to promise me something."

He gave me a wary look, "Such as?"

"Such as... when you find out my big secret - and I know you will eventually - I don't want you to overreact... actually, trying to kill me probably wouldn't count as overreacting... just give me a chance to explain it, when you find out, ok?" I asked, giving him a pleading look.

"Must be a big deal." Carth said, frowning.

"Oh, it is." I said, nodding slightly.

"I promise I won't kill you... right away... if I find out whatever this 'big secret' is." he said, nodding.

I smiled, "Thanks. On a brighter note, you might want to go back to Dreshdae."

"Why?" Carth asked warily.

"Your son said he'd be looking for you there." I said, smirking.

"He- you convinced him to change his mind?" he asked, both surprised and grateful.

"Yes. Go. Talk to him. Shoo. I want some sleep."

* * *

When I woke up the next morning, Carth was in such a good mood that even HK-47's multiple comments on his 'meatbag incompetence' didn't bother him. Canderous was watching me suspiciously - shit. Mission and Zaalbar were talking to each other - I don't know how the kid actually SPEAKS Wookiee to her friend, but it was confusing the hell out of Bastila - they were just discussing Griff's scheme, and how pissed Mission was about it. Bastila was glaring at the Twi'lek, and trying to look like she was meditating. Juhani actually was meditating.

"I'm going to the academy. I'm supposed to go alone, so I'll see you when I've got the map." I announced - I was barely noticed.

* * *

In the tomb of Naga Sadow. "We are now ready for your final test, young Sith." Uthar said, "You have earned the right to see if you shall become one of us."

"Indeed you have." Yuthura said, smugly.

"I dislike your tone, Yuthura. What are you up to, now?" Uthar asked, rightly suspicious.

"Nothing of course, my master." Yuthura said innocently, "I was merely agreeing with you. Should we not get on with the test?"

"Yes." Uthar said, still suspicious, "Yes, of course. We are in the sacred tomb of Naga Sadow, young one, the one discovered by Darth Malak and Darth Revan years ago." yeah, I know that. "You are to follow in their footsteps and reach the ancient Star Map that lies deep within. There you will find a lightsaber, amongst other things. The lightsaber is for you: your initiation present. Return to us once you have it, for you the test does not end there. Be very cautious, here. This tomb is like the others in this valley, and many of its old defences remain active. Do you understand what I have told you? Are you ready to begin?"

"Find the Star Map. Return with the lightsaber. I understand." I said flatly, eager to get this over with.

"Good. Yuthura and I will await your return." Uthar said calmly.

I walked straight ahead to find that some moron had flooded the main chamber with acid... probably to make the test more difficult. I sighed and turned back, I dealt with the logic puzzle to the left, but only found some random artefacts that had always been here... worth stealing none-the-less.

On the right-hand passageway, I encountered two terentateks. TWO OF THEM! Luckily, they hadn't spotted me right away. I used my stealth field to sneak past them, and pulled the lever there - I found some grenades in that room, and also happily shot the terentatek through the door, which was too narrow for them to get through. There was a corpse in the room, holding a broken lightsaber... I retrieved a crystal from the lightsaber, though - very pretty crystal, it was, too.

I returned to the main room, and used the 'Ice Grenade' to freeze the acid pool. Annoying is what that was. It wasn't difficult to get the lightsaber and Star Map, from then. I returned to the main room, to find Uthar and Yuthura standing on the frozen acid. I vaguely entertained the notion of running past them and using the fire grenade to melt the ice and kill them both, but the rusty spoon didn't let me.

"So you return to us with the lightsaber in hand, as I knew you would." Uthar said proudly, "The Force has served you well. You took a great risk in acquiring the artefact. You used your mind and your power... no peaceful meditation, no pacifism. Sometimes you must fight in order to achieve. This gives you your passion, this makes you stronger. This is what makes you superior. That is the lesson we teach with that part of the final test. Do you understand?"

"I wouldn't say I exerted myself getting this." I said calmly.

"Perhaps not, to someone of your natural strength." Uthar said, shrugging, "The point is in the recognition of the nature of the act rather than its sheer difficulty."

"I understand." I said, nodding.

"Good. The last part of your test will now commence." he said calmly, "Here you will learn the lesson of competition. All life must compete in order to flourish. Such is the natural way of the universe. To stand still is to know death... one must always be moving forward. So it is the same amongst the Sith. Compete or die. Mercy is irrelevant. So it behooves you in this final test to strike down one you are familiar with, for no other reason than to prove you are superior and without mercy. Normally this would be against another student. You, however, get a special treat. You will fight Yuthura, here... my own apprentice."

"What?!" Yuthura snapped, "So this is what you had planned all along. You wish me killed."

"Indeed." Uthar said calmly, "You have become too ambitious, Yuthura. It is time for you to die and someone more... talented... to take your place."

"No, it is time for YOU to die, master. My pupil stands with me." Yuthura said proudly.

"I'm with Yuthura on this one." I said, smirking.

"Do you hear that, my master? That is the sound of a new leader rising to replace you." Yuthura said smugly.

"So the time has come, has it? You both wish to stand against a Sith Master and perish, do you? THEN SO BE IT!" Uthar drew his lightsaber, but before he could even take a step towards Yuthura, I sent him flying with Force wave. Yuthura lunged at him and ran her lightsaber through the man's heart.

Then she turned on me.

"Uthar is finished, and a new order is brought to the academy. Excellent." Yuthura said, the gleam of the dark side glowing brightly in her eyes, "Unfortunately for you, I don't intend to share power. It's time for you to die."

"Typical. I knew this was coming." I said, resigned.

"Then you should have no trouble defending yourself. For what it's worth." she said. "While I do like you... truly... I'm afraid I'm not the type to share power with anyone. Even you."

"But... I don't want power!" I snapped. Been there, done that - yawn.

"As if I would ever believe that! Defend yourself, if you dare!" she snapped, lunging at me.

I blocked her. "I don't want to fight you." I pushed her away.

"Then don't. You'll die." she said, turning to swing her blade at my side.

I blocked again, "You can't defeat me, Yuthura." I said calmly.

"Bet your life?" she asked, taking another swing at me.

I blocked her again, "Do you bet yours?" I replied.

"You have to ask?" she hissed, aiming low this time.

I jumped backwards using the Force, to avoid the blade, and landed on the wall. I immediately pushed off it to leap over her, landing behind her, I ducked and spun around to kick her feet out from under her. In less than a second, I had her pinned to the ground, the blade of my lightsaber to her throat. "Surrender." I said calmly.

"As I thought. You are no Sith. A real Sith would have no hesitation in striking me down." she said, trying to sound calm, but her voice shook slightly with fear. Her eyes changed colour again... now her natural violet instead of Sith yellow.

"That's right. I am no Sith... and I am glad of it." I said, smirking.

"You are... too strong for me. I was a fool to think otherwise. I am... at your mercy." she said, still fearful.

"You ask for mercy? You, a Sith?" I asked, smiling, and standing up, offering a hand to help her stand.

She accepted it, and put her deactivated lightsaber away on her belt. "I... was right the first time, back at the cantina, wasn't I? There is something strange about you... more so than I even suspected. So what happens now? Will you show me mercy? Will you... just let me leave?"

"You could come with me." I offered.

"That's... tempting, but I don't think I could." she said, smiling weakly, "Your path... it goes somewhere I can't follow."

"Maybe you need to think about your own path." I suggested.

"I... suppose you could be right." she said, sighing slightly. "Very well. I... won't stop you, or mention what you've done here. You have a destiny to fulfill, and that does not involve you joining the Sith... at least not yet. I won't keep you from it. May the Force serve you well."

"Tell me why you tried to kill me, first." I said, before she could turn to leave.

"I had no choice." she said, then she sighed, "You... reminded me too much of a time before I became a Sith. I... didn't want to think about that."

"Maybe you SHOULD think about it." I said gently.

"I... suppose you could be right." she conceded. "All the things I wanted to do, all the wrongs I wanted to right... I haven't done any of it. They just get farther and farther from my mind. All I've cared about is power and... and myself. This isn't the person I was."

"There's still time to change that." I said.

"You're right." she said, "Maybe... maybe what I needed most was peace, after all. The Jedi tried to show me that. I don't know if I can ever go back to them... but my place isn't here. Thank you... thank you for showing me that." I sensed no deception, and I could sense deception in anyone. Takes one to know one, I guess - I can even lie believably to Vandar.

"Come with me." I said gently, "I'm going to the Jedi enclave, I can give you a lift."

"Very well. I suppose it would not hurt to try, would it?" she said, smiling.

We left the tomb together.

* * *

Yuthura and I spent the next few hours, at my suggestion, in the academy, talking to students individually about the change of leadership. Yuthura's authority in the room, my charisma, and both our Force persuasions collaborated to make every single one of them leave the academy, for one reason or another. Some genuinely decided it was too dangerous to remain. Some suddenly felt an urge to be elsewhere. Some defected to the Jedi. Some inexplicably realised that they hadn't visited their families in years. Lashowe notably resisted both Force persuasions, but eventually conceded of her own free will that the Sith were probably on the losing side if they could be so easily infiltrated, and made a rapid exit. Dustil and his friends laughed when Yuthura tried to talk them into leaving, and I explained that situation to her.

Dustil and his friends were on the first ship to Telos. The rest of the Sith had also booked various passes off the planet. Yuthura and I, task accomplished, made our way to the Ebon Hawk.

* * *

"You brought that Sith onto our ship?" Mission asked as I led Yuthura into the common area of the Hawk. Carth looked up suddenly, at the mention of 'that Sith', but scowled when he realised Mission wasn't talking about his son.

"Yes. The whole Sith academy's disbanded." I said, smirking.

Mission blinked, "How?"

"Yuthura helped me... 'persuade' them to leave." I said.

"Ahhhh." Mission said, nodding.

"Have you heard from Dustil?" Carth asked.

"He's on a ship to Telos already. Told me he'd arranged to meet you there when this was all over." I said, shrugging.

Carth nodded, "I'd hoped to see him again before he left."

"Sorry." I said flatly.

Bastila appeared in the common area, "Ah, Damien. There you are. Are we leaving yet?"

"Yes." I said, smiling, "Carth, you wanna set a course for... the Jedi enclave?" I asked.

"Right." Carth said, giving Yuthura a suspicious look. I'm sure it's obvious why I didn't say Dantooine - I trust Yuthura to some extent, but not enough to tell her where the Jedi enclave is... yet. Carth left the common area, and I turned my attention to Yuthura, ignoring Bastila.

"We're short on beds, but I think there's a bed in the med-bay." I said, scowling - I should have thought of that before now, shouldn't I?

"Thank you." she said, smiling at me. By the look in her eyes, I think she's flirting with me.

"I should tell you, my so-called slaves were all a cover for getting two more members of my crew into the academy." I said, smiling, "Mission and Juhani are not slaves."

"I thought there was something unusual about the Cathar. A Jedi, yes?" Yuthura asked.

"Yes." Juhani said pointedly, from behind Yuthura, causing her to jump slightly, "And I sympathise with your opinion of slavers."

"I see." Yuthura said warily, "What might your reasons for that be?"

"I do not wish to talk about it." Juhani said, scowling.

Yuthura nodded, "Very well. I understand."

Over the next few hours, Yuthura flirted shamelessly with me, and I didn't discourage her. Bastila was seething quietly in a corner... if looks could kill. I think the Jedi Princess is jealous. After a while, I made an excuse to Yuthura, and escaped the common area to the swoop hangar - I wanted to see what this crystal did for my lightsaber.

While I tinkered with the weaponery, I listened to Canderous' war stories. Some fascinating stories, they were, too. After a few hours, though, it was beginning to get tedious - yes, you're a great warrior, you killed loads of people, yay for you, bored now.

I activated HK-47. That shut the Mandalorian up. "Statement: HK-47 is ready to serve, master."

"I'm going to replace that damaged actuator." I said, showing the droid the replacement, "I've reprogrammed this with your basic assassination protocols, and it should function well enough."

The droid's eyes lit up - literally. "Gratitude: Thank you, master."

Half an hour, and a serious piece of maintenance work later, the actuator was in place, "There." I said, closing the last panel. "Analyse new hardware."

"Analysing: Assassination protocol now available, master."

I smiled, "Excellent."

"Query: Who would you like eliminated, master?"

I sighed, "I would say Malak, but I want to deal with him personally." I said, smirking, "When I have a target for you, I will tell you. I just wanted the option available."

* * *

Bastila went out of her way to be cold and snide to Yuthura. I think she's jealous. So naturally, I teased her about it.

"Something wrong, Princess?" I asked innocently, at a point when Yuthura was nowhere to be seen.

"No. Nothing is wrong." she snapped.

"Liar." I said flatly.

"I hate when you do that." she hissed.

"Careful, Princess, hate leads to the dark side." I taunted.

"Then Yuthura will lead me to the dark side." Bastila snapped.

"So you hate her?" I asked innocently. "Why?"

"She's a bad influence." Bastila hissed.

"On who?" I asked innocently.

"Everyone on the ship. Especially you. You are an impressionable young man who could fall to the dark side so easily-"

"And you're an beautiful young woman who doesn't want to admit she's jealous." I interrupted.

"What? Jealous? No! Annoyed, yes." she snapped.

"Just admit it, you like me." I said, smirking.

"I... you are infuriating." she hissed.

"Thank you." I said cheerfully.

She sulked.

I sighed, "Ok, how about I talk about something you like to talk about?" I suggested. She scowled at me, "Why did the Council send me with you on this mission?" I asked.

"Why?" she frowned as she thought about it, "I could not accomplish this on my own, I need the aid of others - especially one who is strong in the Force. The bond between us made you a natural choice." she shrugged, "Besides, the events on Taris proved that the Force wanted to bring us together for this mission, and there is little left to chance when the Force is involved. Is that not enough for you?"

"If the Force wants us to be together, why do you keep resisting my undeniable charms?" I asked, smirking.

"I said we were brought together for our mission: to stop Malak." she said coldly, "I hardly think the Force would be pushing us towards a romantic involvement when the fate of the galaxy is at stake! Please try to stay focused. I doubt the Council would approve if they knew we were busy discussing our mutual attraction when we should be saving the galaxy from Malak."

"Mutual attraction?" I asked. Oh, she all but asked for me to say this, "I knew you were interested in me!"

"Mutual attraction? I never said..." she then realised she DID say it and groaned irritably, "It's just an expression! Whatever our feelings... uh, I mean... whatever YOUR feelings, you have to try to ignore them." denial. That's what it is. Denial. This is funny. "Don't let this complicate things. Finding the missing pieces of the Star Maps is our only hope of locating the Star Forge and defeating Malak. The Council explained all this quite clearly."

"And that's it? That's enough reason for you to accept all this?" I asked.

"I admit, there were times that I wondered if this is more than just a mission to stop Malak." she said, looking at the floor, "There were times when I wondered if this was also a way for the Council to test my own abilities."

"I'm sure there's more going on than people are telling me." I said flatly... and I kept a straight face as I said it.

"I wondered if the Council wanted to see how I would help and guide you on our quest." she continued, "I wondered if they were testing me to see if I was ready to become a Jedi Master myself. And then I realized how foolish such thoughts were. As the Council explained, sending a Master in our group would only have drawn unwanted attention from the Sith. The fate of the galaxy is at stake, the Council would not risk it merely to test me. They calculated the risks and in the end chose the only option available."

"I'm still not convinced." I said flatly.

"You must learn to trust in the wisdom of the Council." I'll trust the Council when they learn how to lighten up a little. It'll be a warm day on Hoth before that happens. "Your destiny will come in its appointed time. You mustn't be so impatient."

"Me? You think I'm impatient?!" I asked, sniggering, "You're the one who thought this was her big audition for 'Masterhood'!"

"MUST you be so frustrating?" she snapped, "I admit, I had a moment of foolish pride. But I'm over it. Now I am focused on my true responsibilities." she had her hands on her hips, and was now yelling, "I am simply trying to help you and complete this mission, and yet you battle me at every turn!"

"What can I say? It's fun." I said, smirking.

"Fun?! Fun?! Driving me insane is your idea of a good time?" she demanded angrily.

"Lighten up. I'm only joking." I said, sniggering.

"You... you are a very odd man, do you know that?" she asked, sighing and folding her arms defensively, "I simply don't know how to deal with you. All I want to do is help you, but you seem determined to drive me mad."

"Complain all you want, but I know you love it." I said, smirking.

She shook her head, confused, "I don't know if I should be outraged that you keep joking about serious matters, or if I should be grateful that you can always lighten the mood." she sighed, "You're infuriating, Damien."

"Thank you." I said brightly.

She looked at me for a second - a calculating look I didn't like too much - then, "You're welcome." she said, smiling wickedly. Before I could react, she turned and flounced out of the room.

* * *

When we arrived on Dantooine, I led Yuthura off the ship, "I don't even know what planet we're on." she said, laughing.

"That's the idea." I said, smiling, "I like you, Yuthura, really I do. But trust doesn't come easily when my best friend tried to kill me and I know you were a Sith. It's nothing personal, I assure you."

"I see. I understand." she said, nodding, "I doubt the Jedi will be any more trusting." she said, sighing.

"You don't know the Jedi too well, then." I said, smirking, "They trust me, after all. And you've seen how good I am at lying, when I choose to."

She laughed again, "Indeed." she smiled at me.

We stopped outside the Council chambers, "This is where I leave you, Yuthura. Go on in. Trust me, they'll accept you."

She entered the Council chambers, and the doors closed behind her.

While I waited, I was approached by one of the ex-Sith I had met on Korriban. Kel - I couldn't tell you his last name. He was wearing blue Padawan robes.

He did a double-take when he saw me here, then nervously approached me, "You're back. The Council said you might return to Dantooine... I'm glad you did. I wanted to thank you." he said, smiling nervously.

"You're Kel, right?" I asked.

"Yes." he said, smiling, "Like I said, I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me for what?" I asked.

"You told me I should leave the Sith and seek out the Jedi." he said. As if I don't remember, I just don't think I deserve thanks. "Well, I did. Everyone's been very nice... much nicer than I thought they would be."

"The decision was yours, Kel." I said.

"I guess so." he said, shrugging, "You pointed me in the right direction, though, and I have to be grateful for that. The Sith certainly didn't have my best interest at heart."

"The Sith are always out for themselves. The only problem with being a Jedi is because you're always out for other people's best interests a lot of them forget their own." I smiled faintly, "But it's better to be selfless that to be stabbed in the back."

"I guess that's true." he said, nodding.

"Try not to let them brainwash you, though. Just because you serve the light doesn't mean you're not your own person, too." I smirked, "The Sith are slaves to the dark side. We're only servants to the light, which should allow for free will, don't you think?"

"Interesting way to think of it." Kel smiled, "Thanks."

"Good luck." I said, shaking the boy's hand, "May the Force be with you."

"May the Force be with you." he replied, then continued on his way to the training room.

At this point, I heard a sound from the Council chambers. It sounded like a strangled sobbing sound. That's not usually a good sign.

I pushed the control on the door, and stepped into the chambers... only to find there was nothing wrong. If you count Master Zhar crying from... joy? Relief? As 'not wrong'. I've never seen a Jedi Master cry before. I stifled a laugh, and backed out of the door, "Sorry to interrupt, Masters." I said, smirking.

Vrook gave me a disapproving look, which just made me snigger more. I quickly left before I fell into hysterics in the Council chambers. I made a stupid mistake there. Would have been stupider if I'd ignored it, though.

I shook my head and walked slowly back towards the Hawk.

As I approached the ship, a Twi'lek stopped me. [Greetings, sentient.] he said politely, in Twi'leki, [May I take a moment of your time for a question?]

[Of course. Go ahead.] I said, in the same language. For one thing, it's polite to speak the same language as the person you're talking to. And for another thing, Carth was sitting on the embarkation ramp of the ship, and while he speaks Twi'leki, it still disconcerts him when I suddenly start speaking alien languages.

[I represent a human citizen of Dantooine by the name of Rundil ot Sulem.] the Twi'lek explained, [His ranch has had considerable difficulty with Mandalorian raiders for many years. His young daughter was kidnapped by those raiders many years ago and has not been returned. Might you have news of her? Her name is Sasha.] I sensed no deception from him. He was genuinely trying to help the girl he sought.

[There is a stowaway on my ship by the name of Sasha.] I said, smiling, [I came back to Dantooine because she told me it was her homeworld. I wish to return her to her family.]

The Twi'lek smiled brightly, [This is most exciting news, sentient. Are you certain of this?] he asked.

[Yes, I am.] I said, nodding, [She only speaks a smattering of Mandalorian, but I was able to figure it out.]

[You have convinced me, sentient, that your stowaway is indeed the one I seek. Would you allow me to see her?] he asked, hopefully.

[Certainly.] gestured to the Hawk, [I left her in the common room of my ship.]

[I do not make it a habit to board the vessels of strange humans, but... but I might make an exception this once. Are you certain the human is Sasha?] he asked, warily.

[I am positive.] I said, leading the Twi'lek to the common area of the ship.

Sasha was sitting at a table, with her elbows on it and her chin resting in the heels of her hands, watching Canderous like he was the most dangerous thing in the world. Canderous, meanwhile, was being relatively harmless... he had disassembled his repeating blaster, and was using the area of the table Sasha hadn't claimed, to spread the weapon out, and clean it.

Sasha looked up at me, and smiled broadly.

The Twi'lek looked at the girl, and also smiled, [Though you have aged, young sentient, I do believe you are indeed the one I seek. I am here to return you to your father.] he said.

Sasha looked at him blankly, blinked a couple of times, then asked in her strange language, [Yooba na abds?]

[I see that your human friend was correct about your linguistic difficulties.] the Twi'lek said, [I am positive that your parents can assist you with that.]

Sasha eyed him warily, [Me abd liaz! Me na awnts palkie!] she said loudly.

Canderous glanced at her - clearly irritated at the yelling. She gave him a wary look, but he shrugged and resumed what he had been doing.

I knelt in front of the girl, and told her in her own 'language' that the Twi'lek was a friend and wouldn't hurt her. He would take her home to her family.

She nodded, and hugged me, before walking over to the Twi'lek and smiling at him. I stood up, also smiling.

[Thank you for your assistance, sentient.] the Twi'lek said, [I am sure the girl's parents will be most appreciative of your efforts.]

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