"This is a Star Wars Fanfiction Only.
Author's note: a little bit of Metal Gear Solid in the story Solid Snake is the ancestor of the Gray Jedi and Gray Sith.
Hector decided to take these two Jedi towards the Tomb of one majorly important and historically significant sith known as Darth Bane. The tomb was as magnificent place, it had been a long time since Hector was last in the tomb, the thing is that many people, many raiders had gone thought the tomb as it had been heavily damaged.
"Lord Bane, it seems it has been a long time since we last spoke. I am sorry to hear that these people have done so much damage to your resting place, even back when I was an acolyte I would treat your resting place with greater respect than this. I do request for your permission to enter your final resting place, I will bring two young people that I am trying to educate them in the truth of being a Sith."
Darth Bane does appear before Hector and he begins to look at him with this look that others would be afraid of, but instead to Hector it was a rather familiar look he often got from the spirits that he once knew and considered as friends. "I have to admit that you do feel sort of familiar, I do sense that you are still using the powers of the light side, there aren't many sith that do in fact use the light side. So why do these two individuals feel like you, one is closer than the other, who are the ones that will learn from entering my tomb?"
Hector told him that they are members of the Jedi Order, to which causes Darth Bane to become angry for a little bit. "Why would you bring the enemy of our order into my resting place? I know I shouldn't be surprised that they would want to rob my tomb. I want to know what is two enemy members of the order that wish for the death of our order will learn."
Hector smiles at him and began to shake his head, "The last survivor of your line, is trying to destroy us all, this person is abandoning the rule of two which you established to help preserve the Sith order, but I know for certain this individual will destroy that rule to establish the rule of one, by teaching these enemies of our order, I am also preparing them to eventually face this traitor, so there is nothing wrong with that, I am not teaching them something that is not already known to most sith."
"Lord Bane trust me, the last thing I am is a traitor to our noble sith order, but if it helps make you feel better, training these people might help take down that enemy that could be very much the cause of our order's extinction, thus you can think of it as avenging wrongs done to our order, and at worst revenge for all the harm that already has been done."
Darth Bane had to admit that this person that Hector just told him off is rather foolish if not dangerous, and using the Jedi to eliminate him would in fact be considered a worthwhile strategy. "Very well, you may educate these people in my tomb, but I do ask you to keep them from further causing destruction to my resting place. If you find any artifacts or item that you wish to take from this place, I do ask that you at least ask me for it."
As Hector turned to Qui-Gon and Obi-wan clearly they didn't understand a word of their conversation since Hector was actually talking with the spirit of Darth Bane in a rather ancient sith dialect. "You two can relax, the owner of this tomb has actually agreed for you to enter and for me to teach you a few things, however, he did request that you don't destroy or harm his resting place, and any items that you wish to take with you, let me know so I can ask the spirit who calls this tomb his home can give us permission to take his belongings or know that they wish that to remain undisturbed."
I have to admit that for a supposedly evil spirit, this was actually quite reasonable, if I owned what essentially is home, I certainly would not like it damaged or destroyed, and I would certainly wish for people to ask for permission before taking something I own.
"Now come on you two, while we begin our grand tour of the final resting place and tomb of Darth Bane, this person was instrumental in the survival of the Sith and in fact had a major influence on the Jedi order, for you see he was the person who created the rule that still is in effect to this day and age, the rule of two, two shall their numbers always be, one master, one apprentice, two shall be their numbers, no more, no less."
"So you can see that this place may be his resting place, so we should respect it, however, this was also something Sith in my time would actually encourage, and that is learning about and understanding the actions and achievements of previous lords. I am hoping that you seeing this planet it will make you understand that while yes the dark side is strong in this place, it was still at the heart of it a place of learning, one that you will later find out was actually destroyed by the Jedi Order."
As we went through the tomb, we kept asking him questions about what is known about Darth Bane and to tell us things that no jedi before had a chance of learning, but much like he mentioned before, the spirits of the dead did come to him and want to speak with him quite a few times, some of them actually responded to our questions and provided Hector with an answer directly from the person we were asking about.
Hector was always friendly with these spirits which is something that struck me at first as rather odd since there is a belief among those in the Jedi Order that if a person let down their guard one of the spirits would attempt to return to life by taking possession of the body of the fool that didn't keep his guard up, but in contrast, Hector doesn't seem afraid of that prospect at all.
I decided to ask him why that is, and he said that at one point in his life he once formed and created bonds with no less than the spirits of six former dark lords, these six did in fact try to take him over, but after learning somethings on a planet called Voss, he was more than able to resist, in the end, he told me that these spirits accepted the light side and eventually became one with the force, which to me sounds good but to him, it means that he would miss his good friends.
"I may sit on the Jedi Council but never forget that no matter what you see me do, in the end, I am a Sith. Much like you, I still do follow and base every decision I make according to a code, I just happen to follow the Sith Code, to some it may seem like a code of domination and evil, but to me it is a code I use to guide my actions, 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 set me free. That is the Sith Code."
"Some of the Jedi Order would argue that peace actually exists, but we know better, peace does not last as long as people wish it did, it is a fragile thing and it will break, passion, the feelings and desires of people do however last a lot longer, by being passionate and desire to know something, a person can gain wisdom, and thus strength, for wisdom is power. Having this wisdom allows us to overcome challenges be they external and even internal, and thus you gain victory over those challenges, and thus with the wisdom you ultimately have more options on how to deal with future challenges and obstacles, and thus that which prevented you from becoming stronger and better is stopped, your chains are broken, and thus you are free to further pursue your desire of the knowledge of the force, the force set you free."
"Not once did I mention that you had to only use the dark side, or the light, so you see the code actually has very little to do with actively following one side of the force over another, I know that passion and emotion can, in fact, be considered to be the way to falling to the dark side, but as long as you are aware of your emotions and are able to control yourself and not be the one that let your emotions control you, there is very little danger. Love can in fact influence a person to fall to the dark path, but it is just as likely to save a person, it all depends on the actions of the individual."
"To learn about the force, a person must be careful of their own actions, of their beliefs and to maintain control over themselves, or else, this place is strong in the dark side, but tell me so far, have you felt that anything I have shown you is an actual threat?"
As the tour of the tomb finally came to an end, the two of us found many things that were fascinating and to me at the very least a little frightening, to think that some of the things either contradict or even disprove so many of our preconceived notions was quite frightening and educational.
"So mind if I ask you, what was it like to have all those spirits inside you?" Hector mentioned that to him it was like being at a party most of the time, sometimes they would make jokes, say things that he would never think about, and in some cases, they actually told him how to solve some major trouble he was having a hard time on, to him, those spirits were his friends, and thus why he was hesitant of returning to this world, to some it was a dark planet with such dark history and tombs of long-dead dark lords, but to Hector, this place was once a place he called home.
As they left the tomb Hector was told that he was welcome to come back and visit anytime and that it was nice to see him free from the carbonite slab, as they went to other tombs he did the same thing and asked for permission each time we entered we came to learn more and more about Sith culture, achievements, history, and even philosophy.
This was fascinating and they kept looking at the remains of the planet, there were practically no living people on the surface of the planet, but the one thing that was present was hundreds if not thousands of spirits of long-dead sith. To Hector, this was a crowd that he could speak with, to them at first was a terrifying notion but as more time they spent on the planet they began to realize these spirits do in fact consider this planet their home, and it was no different than a local community on a different planet.
They saw the remains of a long destroyed shuttle port, and finally, they came to what seemed to be a rather large building that was according to Master Qui-Gon was once a massive temple, Hector told them that the place was actually the Sith Academy as he walked up the long staircase and path that lead inside the building, it was immense with many rooms, many places where students could eat, sleep and learn.
Hector began to tell them about his days as an acolyte and how his life was when he became a student of the Academy, "So wait, you were once a former slave who could use the force, and that is why the Sith in your time made you become a Sith?"
Hector was quick to tell us that the law at the time mentioned that every single person who was force sensitive was going to be trained as a Sith, there is no guarantee that a student would become an actual Sith, but they would have an opportunity to be one, but there was no guarantee they would survive the trials and as such there were many people who turned on each other and some people didn't survive the trials, education was brutal, however learning about their abilities and those that pass the trials will be able to do amazing things for the people of the Sith Empire.
"Life is never easy for a Sith, as such we must train harder than anyone, or else a certain group will find us and try to cut all of us down, like what happened to this place. You might not notice this but those are not just blaster shots, those right there are lightsaber cuts, so you can see this was when the Jedi and the Galactic Republic back then invaded and killed every single instructor and acolyte, never mind that most of them were just barely learning to harness and use the force."
Qui-Gon was shocked and I have to admit that I was as well, "I can't believe they killed students, teachers may be able to defend themselves but people who were just basically younglings is unforgivable that they were killed." Hector looked at him and couldn't help but nod his head, "Indeed, to kill the defenseless for merely thinking that they barely tapped into the dark side is something horrible, but since you said that I don't need to keep this force cloak on them any longer."
I asked Hector what does he mean by that? That is when people began to appear all around us, it seems the academy was actually full of students and some were older so they must be instructors, the Sith Academy may be a ruin but it was still fully functional. "I just kept a force cloak on the people that come to live on this world in case you like the Jedi of old, tried to simply kill them for being touched by the dark side of the force. It was quite draining actually."
A young boy came running towards Hector and without even a moment's hesitation, he jumped and hugged him. "Master Imperius is it really ok for them to see us? I was so scared thinking they would kill us as they did to the previous students in the ancient past." Hector touched the child's head and smiled telling him that the mere fact that Qui-Gon considers the killing of innocents to be unforgivable means these two are no danger at all. So he told him and the others to relax, maybe this means that at long last the way to leave the planet would finally be open to them should they want it, since if the other Jedi Council Members were like these two, the danger they feared no longer exists.
This made the children cry but it was not tears of sadness, but rather of joy. The other instructors tried to keep their composure but even I can tell they are happy to hear this. The fact is now that I see the acolytes and instructors go about the way they did things, it made me think back on the way that the Jedi Temple does things, except this place is a lot more lively, warmer, almost like they were allowed to express their emotions.
"Hector, don't these people need to learn to control their emotions? I swear I can almost sense that the students are feeling all sorts of things." Hector simply looked at the students go from classroom to classroom as instructors continued to teach students and remembered his time as a student.
"Yes and no, they are learning to keep themselves under control and not be controlled by their emotions, there is a difference, emotions are an essential part of a person, and learning about them and learning the influence they have on a person is critical, and thus why they are able to express their emotions and know that if something goes wrong an instructor will be there to teach them the correct way of thinking. You learn more from failure than you do from success. They will make mistakes, true, but they will learn from them."
Hector told him that this place was a place of learning, the only reason they couldn't leave the planet is that deep down he wanted to make sure that these young men and women would be safe. He said that these people were once refugees from other planets, that came to call this planet their home, but he had to close planetary travel till he was certain that they would be able to do so in relative safety.
"Darth is a sith title given to a lord, and as such protecting these people is one of my responsibilities, they simply are calling me by my Sith name, after all these years sometimes it is nice to hear someone call me by my name. I was once a member of the dark council, my name was Darth Imperius, the keeper of sith knowledge and grand educator for my people. I had hundreds if not thousands of people work under me, to advance sith knowledge and study the force."
"Sadly the dark council is no more, and my brother Darth Nox is currently quite busy." Qui-Gon asked him if these people were students does that mean the Sith are not completely gone? Hector told him that it was all a trick, to make the Jedi think they no longer exist is the best way to keep them from their genocidal campaigns against them. To hide to let a beast look for other prey.
Qui-Gon mentioned that this was a bit harsh, the Jedi always were considered defenders of the galaxy, and Hector was quick to mention that the Jedi always consider a Sith to be a danger to said galaxy. "Why do you think I avoid being in the actual council chamber as much as I do, I know grand master Yoda means me no harm, but it is very hard to forget old habits, and even worse abandon old fears, I still think one day almost every member of the Council will one day try and murder me, irrational? Yes, but feelings are rarely ever rational."
I have to admit things are more lively in this Academy, people laugh, argue, and even laugh with each other like it was the most natural thing in the world, arguments and fights do happen, but in the end, the instructors are present to keep them from actually harming each other and when they finally understand both sides end up learning something and ending for the better.
"One day the Jedi and Sith shall end their rivalry, and when that happens the true order will be whole once again, if it happens now or in a thousand years after my passing that I do not know, but hope that this too comes to pass. I know that it would be a better future than my own past."
I asked him what does he mean by that, "As you may know I started my life as a former slave, my family long forgotten, and I went through many trials, many challenges, and some sad and painful things in my life. My master betraying me, losing the people I once loved, having to endure the soul and mind of that tyrant for who knows how many years, trust me, I have done everything I could for these people, so they do not have to endure what I had to go through, but at least this world will be safe. Who can say about the next planet we will go to. This place loos lifeless but as you can see it is alive, but Tython appears peaceful when it is anything but that."
As the people of the academy got used to us, it became a rather welcoming place, the food was not bad at all, in fact, I think I saw Master Qui-Gon talk with a few of the instructors and they were getting along rather well if the way they were laughing was any indication, I decided to ask what the inhabits of Tython would be like Hector merely was in an old office holding an old holocron ask I asked him that.
"I have not been on that work since the Sith invasion of it, yes, the Sith invaded under the orders of the Sith Emperor, he was one sick puppy let me tell you, I should know I had to endure him living inside me for decades, so I know what a sick person he was, until we finally managed to defeat him and he was completely destroyed. As far as I can imagine you will find many different species living there, but I imagine Twi'leks being the most numerous of them."
"My advice is never let your guard down and never let them influence your feelings, I happen to know that many of their females our right down seductresses, it is by no mistake that some of the most exotic dancers and singers in the galaxy are members of that species. I will never get used to how embarrassing their method of conducting a wedding is. I had to watch a friend of mine marry one and let's just say it is not something that I could easily forget, no matter how many times I have tried."
As we finally made it back to the old starport I began to see him press a few buttons on an old terminal and immediately the entire space port began to change before my very eyes, the damage was gone almost like it was an illusion, the academy began to repair itself and before too long it looked like nothing bad had happened, "As I said, I needed to know if the Jedi of this time would still be a danger to the people here, so of course, I set up these visual illusions to make the place look less than desirable for pirates and other raiders. Why do you think nobody had a clue as to where these planets were in the first place, I practically had to remove them from every known star chart, and Hiro did the same thing with Tython, after all his wife was born on that planet."
Qui-Gon walked near us and began to laugh, "Well the thing that I find strange is that according to what that instructor told me you don't even need a spaceship to go to Tython, so why do you use a ship at all?" Hector began to laugh and he did tell him in fact that is true he could travel from one planet to any other that he has ever visited which is every single one that can sustain life, but that doesn't mean that he wanted to make either of them worried by showing off his ability to use force travel.
"Normally force travel is quite dangerous, depending on the distance, and how familiar a person is with the destination, a person can become corrupted by the negative effects of using force travel, however as long as a person used both sides of the force when they use that technique, all negative effects no longer matter since they are immediately canceled. The training on how to use the force to open a portal to travel to another location in an instant is something that is both rather painful and difficult to both teach and learn."
I see that traveling to another planet that people don't know anything about is safer when they travel using a ship, and from what I understand the method of learning this ability is rather taxing on both the teacher and student, Hector also told me that it was also potentially dangerous depending on where the exit of the portal was set, if a person opened a portal say to the middle of empty space, the portal would immediately suck everything in the area till the portal is closed or the planet had nothing left.