The dryness in the air of Korriban and the dust that never seemed to settle whenever one of them stepped were two of the things that made Seth they were off the planet already. Occasionally there would be a rock slide heard in a shut away and blockaded tomb by various amounts of rockslides.
Seth, Mira, and Visas had just exited the Ebon Hawk to find a barren planet with bodies and the stench of the dead. Seth cringed; Mira expressed indifference because of her adaptation to the smell of Nar Shadda; and Visas showed no emotion.
Mira threw him a breath mask. "It'll help," she said. She wants me to wear this? Seth thought as he looked at the black device in his hand. "No thanks," he rejected the mask. Mira shrugged. "Whatever." The trio began to walk again. "Just breathe through your mouth," Visas said quietly; Seth took her advice.
They neared a body when Seth heard Kreia in his brain. "Leave the bodies," she commanded. Won't she leave me alone? "Hey!" Seth said as Mira was about to inspect the corpse. "Don't touch that—thing."
Mira got up from stooping over the body and asked, "Why? It could have good equipment. And it was alive—once." She looked at the facial features and body structure for a few seconds. "And it was a girl, too." Mira eyed him suspiciously. "How do you know that she's dangerous?"
"Uh, Mira, she doesn't have a gender anymore—she's just a pile of dirt," Seth said. "And I know this because of this freaky bond I've supposedly got with Kreia. Unfortunately it's lethal, so that means that if she gets hurt I go down with her.
"We can read each other's thoughts, hear things, ex cetera. You know that whole Jedi-bond stuff, don't you, Mira?" "No," she said. "Learn it," Seth said, "otherwise some Jedi you'll be."
"Why are you bonded?" Visas asked, avoiding another argument. Seth seemed eager to talk about the bond rather than argue with Mira. "I don't really know, but then who does?" Seth shrugged. "Hell, maybe it's because she and I were on Peragus together, but who knows."
"How is it lethal?" Visas asked again. She seems overly interested in this bond, Seth thought. And this dry air and heat are getting a bit annoying. "Well, I don't really know since all the Jedi masters I've talked to—Master Kavar, Master Zez-Kai-El, and Master Vrook—don't know. I only know that it is, in fact, lethal because Kreia faced a guy back on Peragus who was all grey with lots of scars. She lost her hand there, and let me tell you I sure felt it."
"What did it feel like?" Visas asked yet again. "Like my hand was being dipped into molten carbine." Seth looked at the dust swirling a few hundred meters from their position.
"Can I ask you about it later?" Visas asked. "I need to know if…" Her voice trailed for a bit. "If…I was bonded to someone." She said the last part quickly which meant she was either restating a terrible memory or lying. Seth guessed the former, because Visas didn't lie. Seth nodded. "Yeah," he said. "But when we get back and when we're going to Dantooine after we get all the masters."
Mira was standing around studying a pillar with curious markings on it. "Can we go now, or is bond class still in session?" She rolled her eyes. "Cute," Seth said unscathed. "Let's go."
The company proceeded across the valley up into a small pathway in mountains. All of a sudden, another smell rushed out and Seth, Mira, and Visas. "Euuh!" Mira said right away. "Even Nar Shadda isn't that bad." "Energy comes from that cave," Visas said. "Energy! How about bad odors?" Mira said. She was overacting: Mira got out a breath mask and slapped it on her face, looking utterly ridiculous. Seth rolled his eyes. "Take that stupid thing off," he said.
"Stop," the voice in his head said again. "You should enter this cave after you have finished what you have come here for." Get out of my head, he thought. "Let's go onwards," Seth said.
They walked forwards a bit until they came to mammoth doors. Visas studied them. "They're—they're open," she said not too shocked. "Open? Like they're expecting us?" Mira glanced at the doors and had a rush of panic set through her body. "I'm going back to the ship," she said as she turned round.
"Oh no you are not," Seth said. "This is training." Mira turned. "Then why isn't the lady in white here, too, or am I just your personal test subject?"
"Fine, do whatever the hell you want," he said with a bit of frustration in his tone. Mira took a deep breath. "Look, this place scares the hell out of me. And I'm not scared of a lot of stuff, and the stuff I'm scared of I run from."
"Suit yourself." Seth shrugged. He turned to Visas. "You coming?" She nodded. Seth looked back at Mira. "You bailing for good?" "You bet I am," Mira said. "Oh, and I'll tell Atton to keep the engines ready so when you run out of here so fast you can barely breathe, you can leave fast."
Mira turned around and ran past the caves and out of the valley. She jumped a few bodies for amusement and ran straight up on the Ebon Hawk.
Seth looked at the door for a brief moment. "It's just so strange, isn't it?" Visas didn't respond. "It's just…open." He took a few steps back and looked at Visas. "You're not going in there with those," he said, motioning to the vibroblades strapped to her waist. "Bao-Dur's not done fixing your lightsaber, but you're not going in there with vibroblades." He reached onto his waist. "Here," he said as he tossed her his second lightsaber. "Take it. I'll be only half as deadly, but at least you can help me."
Does this woman ever talk? "You ready?" he asked. Visas nodded. "Hm?" Seth wanted to get her talking. Visas got what he was doing and readied the lightsaber. The blade whizzed out of the hilt and made the faint buzzing sound. She got in the ready-to-run stance and said, "Yes." Seth opened the doors.
Light flooded into the dusty and previously dingy hallway leading into the academy.
Seth turned to Visas. "I would be the chivalrous man now, but ladies first just seems downright unfair." Visas grinned. Is this emotion? Seth thought in wonder. "Let's go," she said.
Seth took a few steps before Visas began to follow. The corridors were of dark brown stone, and had cobwebs and the stench of the dead. Seth wanted to breathe fresh air again, but he knew that Visas would think of him as a head case if he reached for the breath mask sitting tauntingly in the pack at his waist.
They came into a large room that appeared to be a training room. There were footlockers against the wall. "We don't have to loot it," Seth said in a whisper as if he feared to wake up a sleeping rancor. Visas nodded, not wanting to talk loudly.
Seth and Visas stepped cautiously through the hallways until they heard the shift of feet behind them. Sith assassins! Seth instantly thought. The blade of his lightsaber appeared out of no where from the hilt and he turned round. "Come and get me," he said in the quietest whisper.
The Sith assassins materialized and began to strike at Visas and Seth. Seth sliced through two of them with a clean cut of his lightsaber; Visas cut three down with a few swipes of her own. Blood splattered onto Seth's robes that were freshly washed from the battle at Khoonda.
The assassins wielded mainly vibroblades and Force pikes. They were garbed in the seemingly customary black outfits all the assassins were in. They had large red circles for eyes, or eye holes. Seth found them a nuisance more than anything, something that held him up and made him waste even more time, which was something he did not have on his side.
After a small battle, there were about ten Sith assassins dead at their feet. "There's more," Seth said. "Let's clear out the place 'fore we go exploring." Visas held up her lightsaber. She seemed shell shocked even though no grenades went off. Seth walked a few paces to where Visas was standing.
"You alright?" he asked. She was looking at the floor. "I…I don't know." She paused. "All of a sudden, this rush of anger came over me to slaughter the assassins…just to kill. I've…I've never felt it in my life." Seth handed her a medpac from his belt.
"It's probably just the blood…" he said. Visas accepted the medpac and injected it into her arm. "I've seen killing before," she said, "but I've never felt rage—the rage as if I am seeking revenge."
"We have to keep moving," Seth said. Visas nodded and the subject was not prodded further.
They came upon more shielded assassins. Why can't they be like normal warriors and just hide in shadows, or would not using those damn stealth generators rid them of the title "assassin"? Seth wondered as they rounded another corner after slaughtering about another five. His robes were red on the fringes and there was some splatter on it. He just shrugged it off, knowing he could always get new ones or wash the ones he was wearing.
There were also a lot of tukata in the dormitories and bedrooms in the Sith academy. There was also a poison field that erupted with gas; Seth held his breath and handed Visas a breath mask. They ran through and found more Sith assailing them; they were quickly cut down by the two man army.
Once they checked all the corridors for remaining Sith, they went into the full center of the academy. "Let's start," Seth said. He'd found a data pad in a footlocker saying computer logins to take a test. He found a working console (which surprised him and Visas) in a bedroom.
He typed in the login "New Recruit". A test popped up. The questions didn't stump him, for he knew the answers. And if he didn't, he had an ex-Sith alongside him as help. He passed the test with flying colors. I should've joined this place, Seth thought. Surely I would've been at the top of the class.
He then began to hit random keys on the console to get things to work, since the test yielded nothing. He got a message, and he heard doors slide open. They'd come to a dead end of locked doors before, so he decided to check it out.
He motioned for Visas to follow him and the two walked to (but ran across the poison area) to a room full of cages, tukata, and a computer console. Seth signaled for the cages to open. I need more of a workout, he thought. Seth and Visas readied their lightsabers as the fight barely lasted a few minutes as they cut down the tukata.
The computer console was beeping, and there was another message talking about disciplinary action. He heard more doors slide open, and he proceeded to go out the door into a room that resembled torture chamber. There was a cage, a table, a computer console, and Master Vash lying on the floor in a pool of blood.
Seth put his lightsaber back onto his belt and threw over the prison. He gaped as he saw Vash lying on the floor. He turned her over and held her limp body in his arms. Vash's eyes were open, and her lips slightly parted. There were slashes across her chest and her robes were soaked with blood.
She's dead. He'd never seen her like this: she was always talking with the other Masters or meditating with some apprentice or her Padawan, a bumbling blonde boy about five years Seth's youth.
Visas stooped down to his level. She put a gloved hand onto Vash's face and brushed her eyes closed. "She fought," Visas said, not knowing what to say. Seth carried her body to the torture table after brushing away a skeleton of an unlucky victim.
Seth gathered a few various flammable items and made a small spark with his hands. "Wait," Visas said. She reached into Master Vash's belt and picked out her pack and lightsaber. "She can live on. Even though she is dead, her lightsaber will still be in the hands of a Jedi." Visas turned the lightsaber over to Seth.
Her remark sent chills through him. "...in the hands of a Jedi…" she had said. Am I a Jedi or is this just a big joke? Seth took the lightsaber from her hands and secured it on his belt. It was cold, and dry blood was on it. He then made another spark and the body ignited into a large pile of flames in a matter of minutes.
Seth sat on the floor of the detention chamber for what seemed hours next to Visas. Is she watching, or can she not see? Seth wondered. But if she couldn't see, then how could she still be alive, or at least not navigating on the ship with a cane?
After an hour, there was a pile of ashes where Master Vash's body used to be. Seth spit on the lightsaber hilt and cleaned the dry blood off of it. Visas was a few paces ahead of him as they went out of the room. He then saw the computer console. The door had shut tightly behind them as they entered the academy, and they needed a way to get out.
"Hang on a sec," he told Visas; she stopped walking and turned to wait for him. He began furiously typing on the computer console. He got a name and password to exit the place. He told Visas to meet him in the center of the academy while he punched the password and username into the working computer console in dormitory.
He took off instantly and ran to the console and punched in the login and password, eager to be leaving. The computer beeped happily at the acceptance of the login and Seth ran to the center of the academy.
Visas wasn't there anymore. Instead, the scarred Sith Lord from Peragus was present. "What the hell are you doing here?" Seth asked angrily. His face grew into a frustrated expression at the disappearance of Visas.
The Sith Lord got up from his meditating position. "You have finally come," he said. "If you are looking for the girl, she has fled." "Who are you anyways?" Seth asked, thinking he sounded too clichéd.
"A name is just a label that one is given so that they might be easily sorted out and called on," he replied simply. His accent was heavy, and Seth wondered about his origins. "Yeah—what's your 'label'," Seth said. Why doesn't this guy just tell me his name? "Sion," he said. "But you could have acquired this from the woman you travel with."
There's many of those. "Kreia?" Seth instantly thought of the most obvious choice. "Indeed she has taught you well to converse with the enemy before striking, has she not?" Sion taunted. Leave this place! Kreia shouted in his head. His strength is greater than yours—especially since the dark side is strong here.
"I fear no darkness," Seth said. "Then you will die a painful death," Sion shouted as he flashed his lightsaber out. The hilt was redder than a laigrek's eye. Seth went towards him with overwhelming force.
"A child with a lightsaber," he mocked again as he parried Seth's attach effortlessly. Seth struck again, and burned him on the hand.
Sion came with an offense now. His lightsaber flew forward and barely missed Seth's head. Sion threw his arm at Seth, and began to use half hand-to-hand combat moves and half lightsaber forms. Then, Sith assassins appeared.
Seth was mystified as they appeared out of thin air; Sion whacked Seth in the eye with the hilt of his lightsaber. Seth fell to the floor and got up quickly.
He's too strong, Seth thought. He put his lightsaber forward and charged towards the door and cut down three in his way with two swipes of his lightsaber. A few assassins followed him, but he heard Sion say, "Let him go. We shall meet again."
But he didn't care. Seth ran to the door, and passed the caves. Later, he thought. He ran out into the valley and through the lines of pillars at full speed. He saw the Ebon Hawk's loading ramp welcoming him and he ramp straight up it, to the right, through main hold, and straight into the cockpit.
"Get…out…of…here," he panted. Atton gave him a quizzical look as he fired up the engines. Seth took a seat in the co-pilot chair and rested for a few seconds.
"So," Atton said, "what's with the great escape?" He was looking at the consoles and out the window. "Remember that guy from Peragus?" Seth asked. "That freaky guy with all that scarring?" Atton asked. "The guy that looks like he sleeps with vibroblades?" He rolled his eyes. "How can I not remember him? Damn Sith Lord almost cut us down." Atton rested his hands for a bit. "He was there? Well no wonder it looks like you were running from a rabid bantha." Seth nodded. "Yeah…" he said as if his thoughts were the next planet they were headed to.
Seth stood up. "I'm going to go…" he said, looking for an excuse to leave Atton alone. "Aw, just go," he said. "My Pazaak deck and I were about to get it on anyways." Seth rolled his eyes at this one. "Keeps me sane," Atton said, shrugging.
Seth walked out into the main hold where he saw Mira sitting in a chair with a smug look on her face. "Told ya, didn't I?" she said slyly. "I told you that you'd be running, didn't I?" "Are you talking to me?" Seth pretended to oblivious to her words.
She punched his arm. "At least say that I was right." Mira laughed. "You egomaniac—just admit it." "Alright, alright," Seth said. "You were right." He paused. "But not entirely. Oh—and we've got to do some training now."
"Awww, but I was just getting ready to sleep," she said in mock dejection. She stood up and got a bit more serious. "Is the Handmaiden—or whatever her name is—joining us?"
Seth shook his head. "Nope," he said. "This stuff's advanced." Mira gave him a somewhat shocked look. "I thought you Jedi were supposed to above this," she said. "What!" Seth asked confused. They began the walk to the cargo hold.
"Hey, can we borrow your space for a few hours?" Seth asked when they saw the Handmaiden sitting on a box. She nodded and proceeded out. The Handmaiden seemed a bit disturbed that she was being kicked out of her cargo hold again, but Seth knew she'd come to her senses.
He shut the doors. "Behind closed doors?" Mira asked with a laugh. "Just shut up and sit on this box," Seth told her as he threw an empty box to her. Seth grabbed a food package from a box and threw it on the floor. "Move it," he said.
Mira gave him a confused look. "Excuse me?" Seth pointed to the package. "Move it with the Force," he said. Mira shrugged and concentration came instantly to her face. She shut her eyes tightly and fell into deep concentration. Seth stood by and watched for a few minutes.
She was unsuccessful, and her eyes snapped open. "How do you do that?" she asked. "Took me years to master levitation," Seth said. "What?" Mira asked in anger. There really were no other words to say.
"It's really because I wanted to talk to you without people listening in," Seth said. Mira looked confused. "Talk? About what?"
Seth shrugged. "You know…training…the mission…" He pulled up a box. She eyed him suspiciously. "You…" She looked utterly shocked. "Is this some kind of clumsy come-on?" she asked with a bit of a laugh. Seth glared at her. "Look, you Jedi don't get out much, do you?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Look, if we started sharing a bunk, the other girls would get jealous and then I'd have to kick the hell outta them to show them whose the pack leader around here," she said firmly. "No thanks."
Seth now gave her an expectant look. "Because…?" "Well, for starters, it's pretty obvious you're not one of those guys who don't give a damn about their appearance, but not care too much. I respect that. And you defiantly know how to fight, but…" she stopped. "You're too old for me. And even if I wanted to, I bet you couldn't even keep up with me."
He laughed at this. "First, I am not that old. And second, I am the exiled Jedi, remember?" "Exactly," Mira said. "I thought I'd seen a lot—" "That's just it! Where are you from? Who are you exactly?" Seth said.
She looked at him blankly. "I thought I'd seen a lot," she continued, "but you look like you're a hundred inside." She gave him a smile. "You're a great teacher, master, whatever you Jedi call your instructors, but not that kind of great, you know?" Mira said. "Besides, if you're looking to hook up power couplings, you've barked up the wrong tree."
"Oh," Seth said. "Forgot you and Atton were…" She hit him. "Shut up." Mira grew sober again. "Professional level, okay?" Seth shrugged. "Your wish, Padawan." He stood. "Return to your chambers and begin your meditations. We'll continue later."
"Hey, I heard you making friends with our bounty hunter," Atton said as Seth strode into the cockpit and sat down on the co-pilot's chair. "Your point?"
"Hey, I've known people like her on Nar Shadda. You get attached to one, you forget her and the rest are scum. You learn eventually," Atton said.
Seth looked at Atton. "You get women?" "Not really," he said, resting his head on his hand. "They think they can save anybody, and that they are invulnerable to the world. They also believe that we're all chivalrous and do displays of courtesy regularly, and thanks to you I've got something to live up to." He laughed. "But no, not really. Kept clear of 'em so far, and plan on it being like that." Atton paused and looked at Seth. "Too bad you aren't that lucky."
Seth pondered Atton's amazingly profound words for a few minutes before asking to play Pazaak. "I'd turn this down?" Atton asked shocked. "I'll deal."
So Atton dealt, and lost. They played for what seemed hours until it came upon Seth to ask where they were headed. "Where're we going?" "Dxun—again," he said. "We received a transmission from one of those Mandalorians at Mandalore's little fort. I thought one of your girlfriends told you." "I don't have a girlfriend," Seth said. You only wish, his mind mocked him.
"Sure you do," Atton said in disbelief. "You want to play over some Juma? I'm gettin' thirsty." Seth nodded. "But I'll play you again. Loser has to get up and get cups and a bottle." Atton grinned at this. Be ready to get up, he thought. "You're on."