Disclaimer: I don't own the Star Wars universe or Star Wars KOTOR, George Lucas and Lucas Arts do. They also own all the Characters and Worlds contained therein. The characters created by me for this story are all that I own.

Korriban Part 1

by Kudara

At some point after my declaration I realized I had been cut off from Bastila. I extended my force powers and could still sense the bond but I could not reach Bastila through it. The dark side was blocking it. I sighed and wondered how long Bastila would hold out, I held no illusions that she could resist forever. That was one thing my training had taught me, you can only go so far before the combination of drugs, pain and mental pressure would win. Different people took different lengths of time to break but given skilled torturers and unlimited time there was no one that would not eventually break. That was why we had the alternate use of our implants after all. The Republic had accepted long ago that loyalty could only go so far before you would be broken.

I must be careful and I must be quick. I could tell that I radiated both light and dark Force powers and I was refusing to choose either path. I could not until the map on Korriban was found. And honestly I did not know yet which path I would choose. I did not want to become a monster again but I did not know what I would do if the next time I meet Bastila she had fallen to the dark side and wanted me to join her. I concentrated each day as we approached Korriban on meditation and physical exercise. I slept only the times I had to and prepared myself for Korriban when I was not.

I also spoke to Jolee a lot one time I was practicing with the Force and floating around the storage area and I asked "Jolee what do you think of love?"

He answered "The Jedi, with their damnable sense of over-caution, would tell you love is something to avoid. Thankfully, anyone who's even partially alive knows that's not true."

I asked "Aren't you worried about the dark side at all?"

Jolee said "Love doesn't lead to the dark side. Passion can lead to rage and fear, and can be controlled... but passion is not the same thing as love. Controlling your passions while being in love... that's what they should teach you to beware. But love, itself, will save you... not condemn you." He paused looking at me and said "Ahhh, but listen to me go on as if I had all the answers. What do I know of love anymore? I'm just a lonely old man who's not even a Jedi."

I said to him "No, I want to hear what you have to say."

He looked at me and said "You do, do you? I wouldn't listen too closely... I'm no authority on anything. I just think that the greatest things in life shouldn't be avoided because they come with a few complications." I chocked over that and almost ended up on the deck and Jolee watched me recover my control and said "Love causes pain, certainly. Inevitably love is going to lead to as much sorrow and regret as it does joy. I suppose there are perfect, eternal loves out there... but I haven't seen any. How you deal with the bad part of love is what determines your character, what determines the dark side's hold over you."

I nodded and said sadly "Maybe the Jedi just think you shouldn't take that risk."

Jolee said "Bah. A life without risk is boring. Is that how you want to live? You want love? You've got to fight for it. I'll tell you one thing: sometimes no matter how hard you try, you and the one you love simply aren't meant to be together. The trick is to know when that time is, to know when it's time to fight and when it's time to part ways."

I stared at him and asked "But how do you know which is which..."

Jolee said "That's something you have to figure out."

Of all the conversations the one that oddly moved me the most was HK, I had built him when I was Revan and sent him on some unknown assassination mission in Mandalorian space. He had been damaged and had been unable to return. He said that he found it distressing given that he was sure he could have protected me from the Jedi and Malak's betrayal.

I said "Am I very much like the Revan you knew?"

HK-47 replied "You are different in many fundamental ways, master. You have a concern for life that is unsettling. This cannot solely be caused by memory loss. I do not know how to explain it. Regardless, you do seem to be improved, overall, from the human I once knew."

I was startled to tears and gave the confused droid a hug. I then asked him curiously "So... why the meatbag references?"

HK answered "It was you who programmed me thus, master. Your pupil once asked what I thought of him and I informed him of his meatbag status. He was unimpressed, but you found the reference humorous. You changed my programming so that I would continue to use the term. It drove your pupil to extreme lengths of frustration."

I chuckled and though well that's another trait I still have, thinking of how I loved to torment Bastila to extreme lengths of frustration, how I wished she was here. I fought off my feelings of sadness then wondered what the relationship between Malak and I had been before we had been corrupted by the dark side. I simply didn't bother to torment people I didn't like, it was an odd sign of affection but there it was. This indicated that even as the Dark Lord I had retained some type of feelings for Malak otherwise I would not have bothered to reprogram HK to continue to use the term. This line of thinking made me uncomfortable and I said "So.. Malak was the original meatbag? I like that idea."

HK replied "Of course you do, master. You did then as well."

It was risky but I really didn't want to be on Korriban without either Juhani or Jolee with me. Jolee volunteered saying that he had a few ideas about how to escape notice. Besides he was not light or dark and thus if anyone though he was force sensitive they would not think Jedi. My other choice of companion was HK, no one questioned a droid and HK's sense of humor would not stand out on Korriban. It should even help us blend in. Carth argued that he needed to go look for Dustil but in no uncertain terms I told him that he would get us and himself killed storming around looking for his son. Any Dark Jedi would be able to read his intentions. He finally had to agree and I told him we would find Dustil and then arrange for a safe meeting if possible, or sneak him to where he could meet Dustil.

As we walked into the Czerka station we walked upon a young man in Sith uniform with three cowering figures in front of him. Apparently they thought they wanted into the Sith Academy, I looked at the three and shook my head, wondering why he was tormenting them. There was no way they would survive as Sith's, they wouldn't make Jedi's either. I listen to him tell them "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. Bah! I can't be bothered with fools! Perhaps... I should... hmm.. "

He turned and saw me and said "You! Jedi! You're looking to get into the academy are you not? Of course you are... why else would you be here?" I remained silent and waited. He shifted and continued "Le me pose a question to you. 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."

Jolee spoke up from behind me saying "Well, if you can't think of anything cruel you really shouldn't be out here, young man, should you?" I had to keep my face straight but a small snort of laughter escaped.

The young Sith looked aggravated and said "I wasn't talking to you!" He continued "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 Lightening? 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 can't seem to decide."

I looked at the now terrified prospective students and wondered if the lesson had hopefully already been taught, I thought it had. They were no longer interested in doing anything but escaping. I said "Let them go. That's my decision."

He said "Let them go? And what could possibly convince me to do that?"

I said in a bored tone "Because I'll kill you if you don't" and waited for him to make up his mind staring at him coldly.

He blinked and said "Oh? My, but that's rather intrepid of you! I don't think I've had someone stand up to me like that in ages! You see, boys? This is the kind of backbone you need if you ever want a hope of becoming a Sith. Now get out of my sight." With that he quickly decided to get out of my sight as well, he might have played it out like I was merely standing up to him but he and I had known that I was deadly earnest.

We had only made it half way though the area when we were held up by three young Sith apprentices bored and looking for trouble. Their leader was a young blond woman who said to us "Look here, my dear friends. 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?"

Jolee barked "Well, if you had seen us before, we wouldn't be newcomers, would we?"

She laughed and said "Smart-mouthed newcomers, to boot."

One of them said "Looks pretty fresh to me, Lashowe." Ah I thought that's the blonde's name.

Lashowe said "That's what I thought. 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 on our whim. What do you think of that, hmm?"

I looked at them and shrugged and said "You can try to kill me. You'd fail, but you can try."

HK delighted said "That's the way to tell the meatbags, master! Charging weapons, just in case. This should be fun!" I smiled a predatory smile in response and waited to see if they would decide I might be a bigger predator than they had though.

Lashowe stared at us as if we were insane and said "Those are very brave words for such an insignificant person. Do you not realize how many Sith are here in Dreshdae?"

Jolee said "Twelve? No wait, Thirteen!"

I chuckled and one of the other students flushed and said "Let me kill this one, Lashowe! Let me do it!" For just a moment I answered back to the sirens call of the dark side and let it rise about me and noticed how suddenly the three young Sith's seemed to rapidly loose interest in starting a confrontation. I let it flow away and sternly mastered my desire to use it to blast the three in front of me. I was not going to give into the temptation, even if I was tempting the fates by calling the power to me.

Lashowe said "Now, now, let's not be hasty. Perhaps our friend here could offer up some amusement. What do you say? Amuse us. Make us laugh, and we just might consider allowing you to live."

I was not in the mood to be accommodating and said "I'm not looking for trouble, but I'm not here to amuse you."

Lashowe blinked and said "Oh? I see. We'll just have to see about that, won't we?" Another of the apprentices laughed and said "Looks like this one's not afraid of you at all, Lashowe."

Lashowe tried to get them to back her up but they refused one of them saying "Yeah, this one's got some backbone, at least. Let's go." She said back to me "Fine. I'll deal with you later." as she left.

We followed the hallway to its end and stepped out onto the surface of Korriban; I looked out and knew that I had been here before. There was something that I liked about this planet, yes the sadness of it the winds moaned a constant plaintive lament as they wound around the rocky desert landscape that found a match in my feelings. I wondered if I had been sad when I was here before, something within me suggested that perhaps I had been. I shrugged and looked to the Sith Academy entrance and began to walk toward it. Through the Academy was the Valley of the Dark Lords and there I knew I would find the final Star Map. My dream the night before we had landed had elicited further memories and I remembered the Map had been in a tomb.

There was a strange talbu around the front of the entrance, a Sith apprentice sat watching three men, there was the dead body of a Twi'lek lying beside them. The men were standing there with expressions of agony and I wondered what they were doing. A guard stood rigidly at attention at the entrance and I walked up to him. The guard was curt but told me that only student's and Sith could enter the Academy, Master Yuthura made the final decisions on who was accepted into the academy and he told me she was currently at the cantina if I wished to seek her out.

I paused on the way back to ask one of the men what they were doing. I stared at them when I finally got the story out of one of them, the Sith apprentice had told them to stand here without food, water or sleep and when he felt one of them was worthy he would support their attempt to get into the academy. And they had believed him; one of them had already died. I wondered for a heartless second if I should just let them die so they wouldn't pass on their genes but I recognized that as the dark side talking to me, or maybe it wasn't, but I couldn't just let them stand there and starve to death if I could do something.

I went over to ask Mekel why he was doing this and he said "A Sith is not a bantha, all endurance and no brains. A Sith would fight for his life, no matter what the odds. If these rotgrubs are as stupid as they seem, then they deserve their fate!" He decided it was a good time to go to the cantina to get some food and drink and think of these fools as he gorged himself.

I waited till he was in the station and then looked at the three men and decided what to do. I talked to each of them and outright lied to them I told them that Mekel had said they would never make it into the Academy and that they should just go home. I added a touch of persuasion to my words and managed to get two of them to decide that perhaps this was not where they should be. Jolee asked me if I had saved them or crushed their dreams and I replied both, but perhaps they really needed to think of a new dream.

He just looked at me and I turned to make my way back to the cantina. There was a Twi'lek woman in the back that drew my eye, I walked toward her and stopped in front of her. Both of us taking each others measure. She said "Is there something you need, Jedi? Make it good, for I have little patience."

I asked her "Who are you?"

She stared at me startled and said "Who am I? 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. 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 looked at her and said "Why would I want to join the Sith?"

She chuckled and said "An interesting question and not one I hear often. For most the benefits of becoming a Sith are quite obvious. We wield ultimate power, my friend. To be a Sith is to taste freedom and to know victory. Nothing is as glorious as bending the Force to your will." I know I had an odd look on my face but I quickly told my wayward thoughts to take a cold shower and suppressed the image that her words had brought up.

I replied "A lot of the hopefuls here end up dead. That doesn't seem glorious."

She said "We make no apologies for the weak. If you cannot clench your fist and know when the moment comes to strike, there is no place for you among us. Of those who come to train, those who are weak return home. If they are both weak and foolish, they die... but it was their choice to come."

I said "And what about the Jedi?"

She said "Hide bound relics who burden themselves with tradition and with the protection of the weak and ungrateful. They are pitiful and misguided. Why would you take a gift as glorious as the Force and squander it? Weaken yourself deliberately and shackle yourself to outdated mores? Our gift has made us superior. It is our rightful place to rule. How can any deny that? Yet the Jedi do so... and call us 'evil' because we do not.

I asked curious now "You don't consider yourself evil?" I could tell that my questions interested her I guess she rarely had applicants who wanted her to talk them into joining the Academy.

She replied "Is the sarkath beast who dominates his jungle evil? The tuk'ata that leaps on the squellbug for the kill? These are the things of nature, of the universe. We are no different from this. The Force is part of the universe, part of the same laws. We were gifted to set us above the rest... to deny nature is foolish." I wondered if this had been my downfall the belief that my gift made me innately superior to and thus entitled to rule over the galaxy. I knew I was prideful in my abilities but I really didn't feel the need to shackle myself with the galaxy, at least not anymore.

I said "I see. About joining you..."

Yuthura chuckled and said "You've heard enough, have you? So what is it to be? Are you here to be a Sith or not?"

I said "yes. I want to join the Sith."

She nodded and said "Ahhh, so you are just another hopeful after all. Or are you? There is something odd about you that I cannot place... Obviously you are a Jedi. One who is very strong in the Force, it seems. So were you a part of the order for very long? Did they train you?"

I replied with a chuckle "I have forgotten most of my training, it seems." I could tell she was trying to figure out what I meant by this.

She said "What an odd thing to say... and even stranger, I do not sense any deception within you. You are a curious puzzle, human, a puzzle with great power. With that kind of power you could become a great Sith. Perhaps... if I let you. Does that interest you?"

I chuckled at the question and replied "Again? I suppose that would interest me, yes."

She looked at me and said "Hmm. A strange response, indeed. Is your mind maladjusted in some way? You should make for an interesting pupil indeed."

I heard Jolee muffle a snicker at the last comment of hers and I had to agree, maladjusted, yep that probably described me to a T these days. Yuthura Ban asked me about my companions and I told her they were my slaves.

Jolee said "My hearing's not so good. I'm just pleased my nice master doesn't beat me so much anymore, yes sir." I almost lost it at that and Yuthura stared at me and told me that my slaves were my responsibility and I was to make sure they didn't cause any trouble or disturb my training. I nodded and she asked if I was ready to go to the Academy. I nodded and we walked into the Academy to meet the Master of the Academy.

Uthar Wynn was the Master of the Academy and he asked Yuthura "Who do you bring before me, Yuthura? A young human, bristling with the Force?" Yuthura introduced me and Uthar asked me what I knew of the Sith and I responded noncommittally saying that the Sith were powerful, and a force to be reckoned with.

Uthar said it was a diplomatic answer, if not the core of the matter. Uthar said "We however, do not treat the Force as a burden. We treat it as a gift, a thing to be celebrated. 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 they need never challenge the passions that lie within them. Joining with us means realizing your true potential. 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."

I was starting to see why the Sith got so many Jedi converts it must be very alluring after years of being brought up with a list of don't to suddenly be told that you have permission to do whatever you want, and that those who were telling you no where just trying to stifle you from your true rights. Throw into the mix the general rebelliousness of a young twenty something and you have a very potent recruiting message.

When Uthar asked me if I was ready to join the Academy I answered "I am ready to learn more."

He looked at me and said "Are you? 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." Uthar finished saying "Welcome to the dark side, my children... your one chance at true greatness lies here."

With that we were told where our quarters were and we were left to our own devices, I decided to explore some and came across Yuthura apparently looking for me. She greeted me saying "Ah, there you are... my favorite prospect for the year." I looked at her questioningly and she told me that she was sure that I would be the one chosen to join the Sith and she had an opportunity for me. She went on to describe the final test how I would walk the same path that Revan and Malak had taken to find the Star Map on Korriban. I smiled to myself and thought well then all I need to do is gain prestige and they will lead me to where I need to go. She wanted me to assist her in changing the academy's leadership while Uthar was alone with us in the tomb.

I commented "Pupil against Master, sounds familiar." She nodded and said "And so it should. It is central to our beliefs. It is my responsibility to replace my master when I am strong enough." I nodded and agreed to her plan. Then asked about the Code, Uthar had said the first to learn it would gain prestige.

"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 asked her to explain the words to me.

Peace is a lie, there is only passion. She said that it was our passion that fueled the force not peace. Conflict that improved the lot of civilization and single being both. I though about what she said and agreed that a certain amount of conflict did force change, growth and evolution. But the Sith were not the vehicle of that, they exceed the level of conflict necessary for growth and actually became a force for stagnation since change might mean they would lose power.

Through passion, I gain strength. She said that strong dark emotions fueled our power with the Force these passions empowered us. I asked "What about love?" She looked at me and said "Love is more dangerous than all those things. Love leads to anger and hatred more often than not... but it also leads to mercy, which is far worse. That however is a lesson for another time." Interesting I thought they seem as afraid of love as the Jedi.

Through strength, I gain power. She said that the stronger I became in the Force the more power I would achieve.

Through power, I gain victory. She said victory was only achieved by demonstrating that your power is superior. Anything less was only an illusion.

Through victory, my chains are broken. She said the chains represented our restrictions, and the goal of any Sith was to free one's self from such restrictions.

The force shall free me. She said that the force was our servant and master, our teacher and companion, a weapon and a tool. If you mastered the force you would master the universe.

I listened to her words and realized how hollow they were to me, she was correct in one way. If you followed the Sith code you would achieve power over the universe, the power of life and death of those you dominated. I had followed that path, I had held that power and I was sure I had reveled in it. But I knew that it had not filled me, I had still been left wanting. For the power I had was not the power over what I wanted. Amusing I would have had the known universe in the palm of my hand as my plaything, I had no doubt that I would have won by now had I not been distracted by Bastila. Yet the universe could not give me what I wanted, it had no power over Bastila's heart. Only she could give that to me, and it had to be given from her own free will.

I realized that I had been standing there thinking and Yuthura was staring at me trying to discern where my thoughts had gone. I apologized and told her I had been thinking over the words of the Code and I would see if I was the first to understand it well enough for Uthar. With that I politely bowed and went to find Uthar. I could feel her eyes on me but she had not found out anything for I could still feel her puzzlement behind me. I remained an interesting puzzle to her and I was amused, hopefully one that she would not figure out until it was too late.

Amazingly I was the first to have an understanding of the Code complete enough to gain prestige. I bowed to Uthar and went back to exploring the Academy.

There was one of my fellow students that kept drawing my attention and I went over to talk to him. He introduced himself as Kel Agwain and I managed to persuade him to talk to me about what was bothering him. He said that this was where he thought he had belonged but now that he was here he had many doubts. I told him that if it didn't feel right then perhaps he didn't belong. He asked where he would go then, what would he do? I asked him if he had thought about the Jedi. He paused and concerned and admitted he hadn't thought about it much, but maybe he should seek it out and give it a try. He thanked me and I cautioned him to be cautious in how he left and to not mention to anyone where he was going till he got well away from here. He nodded sobered and I told him to go to Corsucant.

I paused to meditate on what to do next and try and discern my path and the answer that came surprised me but I followed it though I felt uncomfortable with the apparent betrayal of Yuthura. I told Uthar of Yuthura's plan and he thanked me and told me that he had already decided to remove her. He had planned on having the winner of the test of this year fight Yuthura and kill her. He gave me a poison pad to give to someone named Adrenas to put poison in her bath so that she would be an easy target. He also granted me more prestige.

I now understood why I had been guided this way, Jolee was watching me and I gave him a slight smile and waggled the pad at him and after wandering around a bit went back to Yuthura and told her of Uthar's plot. She stared at me when I frankly told her that I had told Uthar of her plan and then I showed her the poison pad he had given me. She took it and looked at me and I looked gravely back at her and then she thanked me for bringing her the information. She gave me a device to use to poison Uthar and a passcard to Uthar's quarters and told me to use it to place the device in his bed. Then he would be too weak to stand up to the two of us. I nodded and took the device and passcard and wandered off. I still wasn't sure why I needed the two things but I was certain that the Force would let me know in due time.

I was able to find Dustil but he wasn't pleased to hear his father's name at all. I decided I would have to take the risk and bring Carth in. We waited till Uthar left the Academy for his evening meal and then walked back into the Academy with Carth. It was a very angry family reunion. Dustil was very angry at his father and how his father had never been around when Dustil needed him because he had been off fighting.

Carth apologized to Dustil and told him that he had been fighting for Dustil's freedom for his future, the Sith fight to conquer, to rule the helpless. He begged Dustil to not add to his failure by becoming part of something evil. Something finally got through to Dustil and he agreed that if we could bring him proof of how evil the Sith were he would think about what we had said. Carth was despondent wondering where we would find information like that when I pulled out the passcard and said "Master Uthar's quarters perhaps?"

We went through Uthar's quarters carefully and found a datapad that recorded something interesting. Carth found it and he showed it to me saying "Take a look at this. I wonder if Dustil knows his friend was disposed of like that. If not, it might convince Dustil that what we're saying about the Sith is true. It would be worth a shot."

I looked at the datapad and knew this was what we had been looking for. Carth asked me how I had known and I told him that I saw the connections between the people and things, and the path to take to move from one connection to another connection though sometimes I didn't know why the connection was important at the time. I had to wait till I got there usually to find out.

We returned to Dustil and showed him the datapad; it recorded the killing of Selene so that she would not hold Dustil back. It was obvious that Dustil had loved Selene and the news of how she died hit him hard. Dustil said that he couldn't leave yet that he had some people that he needed to talk to first and he was going to look for information to take to the Republic. He said that he would try to meet up with his father on Telos later and they would talk and see if maybe they could get back to where they should have been.

Dustil left and Carth thanked me for my help but he was dismayed by how full of hate and anger his son had become. I could sense that Carth had come to terms with me being Revan, and that he no longer feared that I was going to turn into some type of foaming Sith Lord at any moment. We snuck him back out of the Academy and I breathed a sigh of relief when he got back on the Ebon Hawk safely.

I went back to the academy and in the morning got up and tried to do my calisthenics but there was not enough room. I decided to go out into the Valley and see if there was a suitable place I could find to do my morning workout. There were several handy outcroppings of rocks that were bathed in the morning sunlight and I sprang to the top of one and began my morning workout. It was a challenging routine that blended stretches with strength development. At the same time it was meditative and I often mixed the two together. With HK and Jolee watching out from below, I wasn't worried about much being able to sneak up on me so I stripped to my workout suit which I was wearing under my robes and began my routine. I was aware of several watchers, but they quickly returned to their work ignoring the strange apprentice.

In two hours Jolee's grumbling was starting to break my concentration and I dive rolled to land before him picking up my robe and getting a drink of water. We returned to the Academy for me to wash and eat something then we decided to go exploring the strange cavern we had walked past on the way to the Valley. The cave was inhabited by many Shyrak flyers and Tuk'ata's and we fought many of them as we were exploring it. I could sense the presence of some evil beast deeper in the cavern and this was actually what I was working my way towards. I knew it was a terentatek like the one we had faced on Kashyyyk. We approached the beast and prepared for a difficult fight. In less time than I had expected Jolene, HK and I had brought the foul creature down and I used my force powers to push the body down a deep chasm.

My attention was drawn for some reason to skeletal remains where the creature had been lairing. A Jedi robe was laying covered with dust and a datapad was still stuck in its pocket. I pulled out the datapad and read the journal of Duran Que-Droma. He had been certain that he and Shaela could defeat one terentatek without Guun's help but apparently he had been wrong. I had felt the life forces of a few others hiding out in the caverns, and after the beast was dead we wandered toward them. As I had suspected they were the students that had refused to obey Master Uthar and that he wanted killed.

The woman introduced herself as Thalia May and said that they had refused to murder a bunch of people on a whim of Master Uthar's. They had thought they wanted to be Sith but they had found out that wasn't true. Now all they wanted was to get out of here, I offered to help and she was skeptical but said that there was a way out of the cavern but it was blocked by a large creature, if we could kill it they could escape.

I told her the terentatek was already dead and the way clear. She was startled and thanked us, saying that she hadn't expected any help from anyone in the Academy. She said "Maybe... maybe the Jedi will accept us. I've seen how evil the dark side is. Maybe I could try. At any rate, thank you again. You've saved our lives." I smiled at her and wished them luck. I wondered what the Jedi on Corsucant would think when all these ex Sith apprentices started showing up asking to be accepted. I smirked and wished I could be there to watch.

We had returned to the Academy and I sought out Yuthura for conversation.

I asked her about herself and she said "About myself? 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." I told her that I had heard of Sleheyron and asked her more about it. She looked at me and said "I did. I also said that you didn't need to know more. Why are you asking?"

I told her "I just would like to know more about you, that's all."

She looked at me and then shrugged and said "I... see. Very well. I suppose there's no harm in the tale. 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 a 'nothing'. One knight 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."

I said "The Jedi found you? What happened?"

Yuthura looked sad and said "I'd... rather not discuss it. Perhaps another time." I nodded and told her I would go exploring the tombs and see what I could find to gain prestige.

We decided to explore the tomb of Marka Ragnos, the Sith Student at the entrance told us that there was an insane assassin droid inside and it had a small army of droids protecting it. I asked her where it had gotten them and she said she thought it was building them. We entered the tomb and went through the droids in short order, I had learned well on Manaan and the skill of using the Force to destroy the droids came easily to me.

We worked our way up the long rising hallway and opened the door at the end. The assassin droid was within and said something about too much audio input and called upon other droids to destroy the source of the disturbance. Once again I called upon the Force to destroy the droids and I noticed how like this power was like Force Lightening in a way. I tried to determine what was different and realized that while Force Lightening was specifically drawn from the dark side to kill other living things, the power to kill droids was drawn from the light side and not hurt any creature. They were polar opposites in the Force from each other.

We returned to the Academy and told Uthar that the rogue assassin droid had been destroyed. Uthar said I had gained prestige but I had not gained enough prestige to secure my place as the winner yet. Out of curiosity, I asked Uthar what his suggestion was to gain prestige.

He looked at me and said "It is no more complicated than I said. Perform impressive deeds or bring me a suitably valuable artifact from the Valley of the Dark Lords.

HK spoke up and brought me one of those truly priceless moments he said "We could begin by slaughtering the inhabitants of this building, master. Would that be impressive?"

Uthar looked at the droid and at me and I kept my face still except for an inquisitive look at Uthar and he said "Really, however, you should seek out Yuthura and get her advice. She is your trainer, after all, yes?"

I bowed to him and said "I'll be on my way." I think Uthar was still staring after us as we disappeared and it was all I could do not to break out in gales of laughter. I grabbed HK after we were out of sight and gave it a hug and we proceeded on to see Yuthura, Jolee and I chuckling the entire way. I had already gotten the impression that several of the students thought we were insane and took care to stay out of our way. I was sure that HK's comment would make its way around the building as well.

Yuthura congratulated me and said that I almost had enough prestige to be declared the victor and I thanked her. I asked her casually how she had become a Sith and she looked uneasy and said "I... would prefer not to discuss that."

I looked at her and said "I'd really like to hear the tale."

She snapped at me "Why? There is no point. Have I asked you about your past?"

I said softly "I just thought we could become friends..."

She stared at me then shook her head and said "I see... You certainly have odd notions for one hoping to become a Sith. I will 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."

I said "You were a Jedi?"

She shook her head and said "Not really no. 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. 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. They claim the dark side is evil, but that isn't so. Sometimes anger and hatred are deserved and right. Sometimes thing change because of it."

I asked her "But has anything changed?"

Yuthura said "No... not yet. But my anger has not diminished, nor my desire to see change. The more time I spend with the Sith the more I am certain that one day I will be able to fight as I must. I know this may sound strange, but only my compassion stands in my way, now. Once that is gone let the slavers beware."

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

She paused then dropped her eyes and said "I... yes of course. I mean losing my compassion as in... holding back... But enough of that. I've talked about myself too much; surely you are tired of it."

She looked at me uncertainly and I smiled at her and said "It's probably time for me to get to bed; I'll explore the remaining tombs tomorrow.

Yuthura seemed reassured and said "Good luck... my friend." I nodded and gave her a clasp on the shoulder before leaving. I knew she was uneasy with what she had revealed to me and I was reassuring her that it would go no further.