Korriban was hot; a dry, burning heat that had Starkiller's heavy robes clinging to his skin. Starkiller turned on his heel and walked back inside the tiny starship that had brought him here. The chilly air of the ship made his sweat-slicked skin clammy, but he ignored it, stripping off the outer layers of his robes until he was left in the thin base layer. The immediate problem dealt with, Starkiller exited the ship once more.
The sun burned bright in the sky, the ground was a rolling expanse of sand dunes dotted with what might have once been buildings. Starkiller closed his eyes, reaching out with the force; the dark side was strong here, tugging him towards one of the crumbling, sand crusted ruins. He knew this sensation; a sith holocron lay somewhere in vestiges of what Starkiller was almost certain was once a sith academy, and it wanted him to come.
Starkiller found himself instinctively moving forward, stepping high and clear of the sand which seemed to pull at his feet. Walking the few hundred meters to the edge of the crumbling building took a surprising amount of energy; Starkiller was exhausted, his muscles were shaking with the effort it took to keep him standing. He choked back a yawn.

There was no reason he should be this tired.
Except-

The dark side artifact- he was almost certain it was not a holocron he was hunting.
Starkiller stumbled into the ruin, hand braced on the wall to keep from falling. The closer he got the more drained he felt, tripping over rubble and slipping in piles of sand as he climbed the half destroyed staircase, skirted large holes in the floor, and eventually, collapsed on the sandy floor, a few meters away from the artifact.
Starkiller tried to push himself back to his feet, but keeping his eyes open was a chore, and it felt as though his hand weighed as much as a Star Destroyer. Sand coated the inside of his mouth as his eyelids fluttered in a vain attempt to stay open...


"You are the one my Father brought?" the voice cut through the haze of sleep that held Starkiller in its grasp. His eyes opened, focusing blearily on a figure looming over him. A moment of white-hot panic shot through him and he scrabbled for his lightsaber. Inquisitor!

"You would have died had you touched it." The figure continued, "Many others have. Their bones were ground to sand years ago."

Starkiller tried to ask a question, but his mouth was dry and filled with sand.

"Pathetic..." the other said, and snapped their fingers. All at once, Starkiller's exhaustion vanished. He jumped to his feet, drawing his lightsaber.

"Who are you‽" Starkiller spat.
"I am called Son, and Brother and the Dark. I am the-"

"You're a Force apparition; the personification of the dark side of the Force." Starkiller said roughly, cutting off the being. The Son seemed pleasantly surprised at being so easily recognized.
"What did you mean 'brought here'? Explain yourself." Starkiller half-snarled, leveling his blade at the Son.

"Put your little toy away, I cannot hurt you while you are under my Father's protection," the Son said waving a hand, "and stop slavering like a beast." Starkiller reluctantly clicked off his lightsaber and hung it on his belt.

"My Father," the Son continued, satisfied now that Starkiller was obeying him, "Seems to think you will restore the Balance."

"You disagree?"

" You belong in the Dark. You belong to the Dark. You belong to me. " The Son said, his voice taking on a resonant tone that made Starkiller shake with the effort of resisting the pull.

"I bow to no man!" Starkiller roared.

"You will..." the Son purred threateningly as he faded from view...


Starkiller shook his head to try to clear it. Why was he on the ground? Hadn't he been standing? His head was fuzzy and his fingers ached from the death grip he had on a stone fragment. I need to get back, he thought to himself.

"I need to get back." He said aloud, just to reassure himself that he was actually there.

The sand and heat was no more welcoming than it had been when he'd first landed, but the sting of sand and the burn of the sun were grounding. Starkiller's head was still hazy from his experience- dream?

He set the rock on the copilot seat, and without caring to put the rest of his robes back on, powered up the starship's sublight engines, angling it up towards the atmosphere.