Chapter 4: Into the Dark (Part 1)
The Sith led her into into a darkened round room with faint eerie candlelight illuminating it. "Kneel at the center."
Siri did so and waited as the Sith began to circle her.
"Peace is a lie, there is only passion."
Siri let out a small gasp as the words resonated with such power, echoing through the room.
"Through passion, I gain strength."
Siri's throat went dry, and a dark shiver ran down her spine.
"Through strength, I gain power."
Siri shook off the shiver and focused, noting the way the Force trembled as the Sith spoke.
"Through power, I gain victory."
The power to overcome any odds...
"Through victory, my chains are broken."
Siri's eyebrows furrowed. Chains... he had mentioned breaking chains before, not to mention having her break her own to leave the room...
"The Force shall free me."
The Sith stopped walking behind her. "It is the Sith Code. Tell me, what thoughts does it put into your head?"
Siri frowned, while she figured the Sith must have had their own, she had never heard it before. Unlike the Jedi Code that rang with peace and tranquility, this was passion and power.
"The chains earlier were supposed to be symbolic, weren't they?" she asked.
She shivered and let an unwilling moan escape her lips as the Sith's hand raked possessively through her hair, dark approval pulsing through the Force into her at contact. "You are correct. Breaking one's chains, achieving ultimate power and freedom no matter the cost, these are the covenants the Sith hold with the Dark Side. But be warned, it will challenge us constantly, seek to influence and bend us to it's will. That is why to be a master of the Dark Side, you must dominate it."
The thought was so alien compared to the Jedi's teachings, abhorrent even. "Dominate the Force?"
"The Jedi," spat the Sith, "Submit to the Force. They let it own and direct them, let it enslave them. The Sith direct their own fate."
"The Jedi trust in the Force to guide and protect them...," began Siri.
"And that trust is misplaced and betrayed, again and again," countered the Sith, gripping her hair tightly, leaning down to whisper, "Or do you deny that the Force led your former Master to her death and you to me?"
Siri recoiled. "That's...! That's not true!"
She weakened. "It's not..."
"It is," said the Sith, letting go of her hair, "And you know it. You simply refuse out of stubbornness."
He began to circle her again. "You will find, my young apprentice, that a great many of the Jedi's foolish teachings come at the price of free will, and personal strength. They deny you a sense of self, to always belong to the Jedi Order and the Republic, like a slave. You are denied personal possessions, nothing and nowhere to call truly your own, except of course the Jedi Temple. They deny you pride and glory in your achievements, always the recognition goes to the Jedi as you are forced to downplay your own worth. Ambition, a trait common to all races, something that has fueled countless civilizations, leaders, people, evolution itself, is suppressed..."
Siri pursed her lips. On some level, she did agree, that she always felt shoved and molded into the perfect little Jedi, on the other hand, she had been raised a Jedi, and even if she had fallen, even if she did agree to learn at the foot of a Sith in order to kill him, she would not suffer such a baseless attack on her Order! "Ambition leads to..."
"To what? Greed? Envy? Jealousy?" mused the Sith before scoffing, "True enough I suppose."
Siri couldn't help but gawk about how readily he admitted to it. She was under the impression he had been trying to turn her around to his way of thinking.
"But you ignore the other end of ambition. How would anyone have reached the stars if it were not for ambition? What about medical advances and the ambition of doctors? Engineers and scientists? Civilization does not advance without ambition, it stagnates," Of course then he went and did it anyway.
Siri opened her mouth in frustration, trying to counter, but nothing came out. She... couldn't find an argument that wasn't just rehashing what he had admitted to. There was good and bad to ambition... she could grudgingly admit it.
"There are two sides to every coin my apprentice," said the Sith, pausing his circling in-front of her, "For every decision, every action, there are 'rights' and 'wrongs' to it. Tell me, you believe killing is wrong, do you not?"
Not if you're the one being murdered...
"Yes," she said evenly.
"But consider this scenario: There is a terrorist with a rocket launcher aiming at a airbus full of children," said the Sith before slowly turning his yellow eyes to bore into Siri, "What do you do?"
"Stop him of course," said Siri.
"How?" questioned the Sith.
"Rip the launcher out of his hands with the Force or cut it in half," she said.
"Both are risky maneuvers," pointed out the Sith, "Why not just kill him and eliminate the risk? There's no guarantee the terrorist wouldn't get off a shot before you took the weapon, and slicing it in half may lead to a premature detonation and kill you. Would you truly be willing to risk the children's lives?"
Siri gave him an unimpressed look. "That question coming from a Sith leaves a lot to be desired considering you'd probably get a laugh out of the airbus blowing up."
The Sith stared at her silently for a minute, and Siri was half expecting lightning to start spraying out of his fingertips, instead, he let out a soft laugh. "You amuse me apprentice, you truly do. It would have been a shame had you forced me to break your mind, will, and spirit, I'd lose out on half the entertainment in training you."
Siri scowled at him. "Thanks."
The Sith sneered at her. "You are most welcome. Now, as for your baseless accusation. You may be surprised to find that you are quite wrong."
Oh boy, this ought to be good, how was he going to twist his words to say he would care if the children died?
"I would not honestly care if the airbus exploded," confessed the Sith, stumping Siri, "But I would only take delight in it if that was my goal, if there was a reason and purpose behind it."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"A Sith kills, and kills readily," admitted the Sith, "However, it is with purpose. Even the most basic reason, to kill to strengthen our connection to the Dark Side or fuel ourselves with power, is a purpose. Simply killing someone 'for the hell of it', is pointless and a waste. Even worse, it could backfire on us."
Siri's eyebrows furrowed.
"To use the earlier example, consider if I needed to move undetected, and an airbus was attacked, security would ramp up everywhere, thus forcing me to take extra precautions and waste time or risk exposure," explained the Sith, "Even worse, if I randomly went out 'slaughtering people' as the Jedi seem to think Sith were born to do, it would risk revealing myself, either through unseen witnesses, or through investigation. Each action has consequences, each kill must have a reason behind it."
The Sith tilted his head in thought before adding in as an afterthought, "Not to mention we could be killing off a potential resource years down the line I suppose. Wanton slaughter hasn't been a common thing for the Sith in over a thousand years. We have changed, we have evolved."
Siri stared at him silently, absorbing the information. It was awful, yes, just... not as baseless as she had been taught of the ancient Sith.
"Now, to return to the example," said the Sith, drawing back her attention, "If you had to choose between the lives of those on the airbus, or the terrorist's, whom would you choose?"
"I'd choose the airbus of course," she said, "I'd try to see if I could take the attacker alive, but if not, I would be prepared to kill him. All Jedi would."
The Sith's lips curled up into a sneer. "Even if taking the chance to try to spare the terrorist's life risked the destruction of the airbus?"
Siri hesitated for a second. "Like I said... if there was no other way, I'd kill him."
"You are missing the point," spat the Sith, "It is an unnecessary risk. It takes a split second to pull the trigger, and that split second you spent assessing the situation and then trying to figure a way to take him alive could give him that chance. There must be no hesitation on doing what needs to be done."
He drew closer, grabbing her hair and pulling her roughly up, a hiss escaping Siri's lips as he whispered into her ear, "Because that moment of hesitation can kill you."
He let go and fall back onto her knees, his voice ringing in disappointment. "You have so much to learn my apprentice, and so much to unlearn."
"Get up," he spat.
Siri did so.
"Follow," he ordered.
She followed behind him silently down a darkened hall and into a infirmary with a floating med-droid waiting for them. The Sith motioned to an examination table, and Siri hesitatingly laid down on it.
"My time with you is not infinite, you will remain here and recover your strength from your... initiation period," said the Sith tactfully.
Siri scowled at him. "I feel fine."
The Sith scoffed. "Coming from an acolyte still riding the high of their first willing taste of the Dark Side? The moment it fades, you will crash."
Siri glared at him, but decided not to say anything.
The med droid floated over and started hooking up an IV and nutrient drip into her as the Sith continued, "For now you will rest, when you wake, you will study."
Her eyebrows furrowed. "Study?"
"You have much to learn about the Sith; our language, our history, our purpose," said the Sith, "You will find new clothing, and your text to read, waiting for you upon awakening. Your first task will be to learn our language. By the end of the week, I expect you to be able to recite the Sith Code in Sith."
"And where will you be?" she cautiously asked.
The Sith eyed her, bemused. "Out."
Siri pursed her lips tightly, but didn't respond to the look.
The Sith turned to go before pausing. "As a warning. If you attempt to leave the building, it, and the entire sector it's in, is rigged to explode."
Siri immediately scowled.
"You will not be leaving until I decide you may," said the Sith possessively, "Get used to it."
The Sith moved to the door and paused one last time. "Dwell, my apprentice, on what we have discussed, and what you know of the Sith from your... 'Jedi history'. When I return, we will discuss more on where you have been... misled. You will come to find that many of the Jedi's perceptions of the Sith overemphasize or misrepresent what we are."
"Right," she drawled, "I'm sure Sith are all butterflies and rainbows."
She yelped when the Sith waved a hand and unleashed a small bolt of electricity at her. "Your tongue is amusing only up until a point my apprentice, be mindful of when you choose to use it."
With that, the Sith left. Siri laid there for a time, stewing and fuming at the Sith and the situation she was stuck in until her frustration and anger were spent. Almost immediately the room spun and blurred.
"Oh...," she murmured faintly, "He was right... I feel like crap..."
She had a few more seconds before her head lolled to the side and she passed out.
Sidious scoffed, slowly shaking his head at the sight as he watched his apprentice pass out down below through the tinted observational glass.
"Agreed," came the scornful voice of his master, Darth Plagueis as he stepped out of the shadows, "This fallen Jedi padawan is supposed to replace the tool you were going to train? I hold my doubts."
Sidious said nothing.
"I'm still baffled as to how she bested Maul," spat out Plagueis, "All those years waiting and preparing for him, only for him to be thrown away before he could be of true use."
"He let his arrogance blind him," mused Sidious, "He killed the master, a high council-member even, and then threw away his victory. If he had flat out just killed the Jedi instead of poking, prodding, and driving her into her fall, he would still be alive. He awakened a darkness he could not handle."
Plagueis moved to stand next to him, staring down at the teen, eyes narrowing, senses reaching. "She has some potential, but not enough to have beaten Maul. She seems barely worth the effort."
Sidious did not correct him, he did not want to. It would reveal his hand far to early. "Perhaps, but, it is only fitting for her to replace the tool she broke."
"I suppose, but speaking of breaking," said Plagueis, turning to glare at Sidious, "You did not break her mind and bend her to your will. She will never be loyal, as Maul was raised to be. So why?"
Ah, that was the question, wasn't it? "She amuses me. She is also practice for converting potential future... allies. You did mention that Master Dooku might have future use."
Plagueis nodded, taking the bait ever so carefully dangled, and shifted subjects. "Indeed. After Galidraan his faith in the Jedi has been steadily declining. I feel it may still be some time before he can be of proper... use. I suggest you keep cultivating your acquaintanceship with him."
"Of course," answered Sidious before musing, "It's a shame Master Jinn wasn't killed on the assignment, his death could have proved more useful that Gallia's. It could have driven Dooku fully from the Order."
"Indeed," said Plagueis before cautioning, "But Jinn's death, when it happens, must be handled carefully. If he is to die before the Grand Plan is enacted, it must be because of a 'mistake' or a 'mishandling' of the Jedi Council or the Republic."
Sidious nodded. "Agreed."
There was a small beep of a comlink, causing Plagueis to pull one out of his robe, look at it, and scowl. "The demands for Hego Damask never fade."
Plagueis turned and started to leave, pausing briefly at the door. "Continue it's training, keep me appraised of the tool's progress and when it can be of use."
"As you wish Master," said Sidious, concealing his contempt for the Muun.
With that, Plagueis left.
Sidious turned his gaze back to his sleeping apprentice down below. "Plageuis, you fool. You do not know her potential because you were not there to see it unleashed. You foolishly choose to see only skin deep. The darkness she bears now is merely a harbinger of what lays sleeping underneath."
And how glorious it had been to feel it unleashed, and to feel it again yesterday. She had such potential, he did not think as much as his own, but close enough to be a true threat when it came time for the apprentice to challenge the master in a good three to fives decades or so of proper training.
He frowned. "It would have been such a waste if I had passed up on you and let the Jedi flounder your potential."
For even now that the moment had come and gone, dwelling on it he had come to realize just how narrow the window of opportunity had been with Siri Tachi. From what he had uncovered, she had been a firm Jedi Padawan before her last mission, and most likely would have been after. But something during that small timeframe had deeply shaken her control over herself. He held no doubts that if he hadn't sent Maul, or even if he had waited to collect Siri until later after the Jedi reclaimed her in her fallen state, he would have lost his chance to properly convert her. He could have taken and broken her in later, if the Jedi had ever let her out of the temple again that is, but it wouldn't have been the same.
There was a very key difference between forcing someone into the Dark Side, and someone choosing it willingly. The paltry excuse of torture he had put her through, and she had no true idea of what he was really capable of inflicting on her yet, had been merely to force her to make up her mind and choose. Breaking her and forcing into the Dark Side instead of letting her choose it would never have released her true potential.
If she had refused, he would have killed her rather than waste his time on creating an imperfect replica of Maul. But she hadn't refused, she had submitted, had turned. She had no clue, no idea, the magnitude of what she was to become. To become a true Sith Apprentice, and eventual Dark Lord of the Sith, if she didn't screw it up and get herself killed, was a glory unlike any other.
A glory he planned claiming for himself within the next decade or so.
Though that brought up a point he needed to contemplate. Plagueis was making a very costly mistake with him that Sidious clearly saw, he was teaching him to much. He was running out of uses for his Master. While he could grudgingly admit he didn't think he would become as close to as skilled as Plagueis was with Midiclorian Manipulation, he saw no reason to keep the Muun alive for that reason alone. He would find other ways to live forever, especially without being under the Muun's boot.
It's not to say he was against the Rule of Two, and especially not in the way Plagueis was. If he could circumvent his own death and rule the galaxy forever, he readily would. But if a truly worthy apprentice managed to usurp him, well, they would be his legacy. But they would not gain power in the foolish method Plagueis had allowed him to. No, if they wanted knowledge beyond the basics of the Dark Side and the beginnings of the Sith, they would either earn the lesson, steal the knowledge of it, find it on their own, or secretly observe and learn it from their Master.
He would most certainly not give free access to Sith Holocrons unless she earned the right to them. He was still honestly baffled how Plagueis was so foolish to have done that with him...
A Sith did not share power.
He rubbed his chin, staring down at the apprentice. He contemplated ways to train her. He had 'some' practicing in that regard with Maul. Though, much of it had been to prod and condition Maul for the Dark Side along with teaching history in the boy's youth before he had sent Maul off to the Orsis Academy for his assassin training. The fool had died to early to even be inducted into the Sith Order and begin his proper training. Thus, this would be Sidious's first true attempt at training an apprentice. While he would not slowly give her power in the manner Plagueis had given him, some of the Muun's early methods of training might have use. Then again, Sidious knew that he had been a much different person than his apprentice was when they both were taken as apprentices. It was something he would have to think on during the week his presence was required back on Naboo.
He knew he did not want to break her personality, nor her will. Inflame certain traits, plant new ones, and weaken or remove others yes, but break? No. While he could admit that he himself was a masterpiece, more by his own design than Plagueis's, he felt he could have become something more without the breaking and remaking of himself as the Sith he was today. He could faintly remember honestly enjoying racing in his youth, though such a frivolous hobby had long since been stripped from him. It wasn't an honestly major loss, he did not care, but it should have been his choice rather than his Master's.
He shook his head and banished the thought. He turned away from the observational glass and left the room, a dark scowl slowly spreading across his face. Plagueis was correct on one thing though. Maul had been eliminated before he could be of true use, and his new apprentice he doubted would be ready or trusted to be of use for another few years. He did not imagine fully converting her would be done anytime soon. Turning her away from the Jedi's teachings? He had already begun. Making her truly dark rather than just fallen? She was on her way already. But making her embrace the Sith? That would take years to properly do.
He doubted he would allow her unsupervised out of this complex for two or three years, minimum. From the reports he had received from the Orsis Academy, Maul on the other hand would have been ready as an assassin in a few months after the Gora. He had even planned on having Maul go back and wipe out the Academy after a few years on the field to tidy up loose ends. Now Sidious would either have to do that himself, risk keeping it alive, or send his apprentice after it in the future. He did not have years to wait converting Tachi, and then another five or so ontop of it for her to go through the academy herself.
Maul's early death was a setback, for a huge potential future gain. It made the immediate a problem, there were many upcoming or unknown issues and tasks he could have used Maul for that he would either have to do himself, hire someone to do, or pass up on. But he was patient. His apprentice would have great use in the future, and how he would enjoy using her to his full advantage. That was however yet to come.
For now, his apprentice's conversion had begun.
Author's Notes:
I'm using Wookieepedia to try and make up for books I lack to draw information from (which is all V_V). Some of the timeline information I have for Maul's training at Orsis seems a bit confusing/conflicting (Such as the Massacre at Orsis being timed as 39 BBY or 37 BBY depending on what page you read and not even mentioned on Maul's legends page), so I went with what time was more convenient for the story.
Just as an FYI incase I write something that ya'll have knowledge of that seems off.