Becoming a Monster
"My son is too strong. You need my power. Only together can we strike him down."
Time ground to a halt around Draleeria, Arcann's lightsaber poised to deliver the final blow. Valkorion - his force specter, or his ghost, or his spirit, or whatever he was now - materialized next to her, the once "Immortal" Emperor's voice echoing in her mind. Not for the first time did she consider to accept his power, the vast - near infinite - amount surging through her body. She had used it twice before, and both times left her feeling invincible - left her feeling as if nothing in the galaxy could stop her. Was that why Valkorion lived so long? Was that why he was so powerful? With the amount of power at his disposal, no wonder Valkorion ruled for so long with none able to oppose him.
Draleeria knew her own power, knew the extent that it could reach. And she could feel how much more Arcann could call upon. She knew, by herself, she would never be able to defeat Arcann. Even if her Sith mother, Sharilia, had allowed her to bind Force Specters to herself, Draleeria doubted it would be enough to defeat Arcann. Her mother taught her everything that she knew about the Dark Side - and there was a reason Sharilia sat on the Dark Council for so long - it was still barely a fifth of the power Arcann could command.
Yet there was something else that bothered her about who Arcann was. It wasn't just that he froze her in carbonite and stole five years of her life. There was something else there, something else that she should remember. There was something oddly familiar about Arcann's Force signature, about the power that radiated off of him. It was almost as if she had felt it long before she had actually meet the man.
And then it clicked.
Anger swelled within her, fueling her Dark Side power. This was the man that attacked Korriban while her mother ordered her to flee the battle. This was the man responsible for her mother's death. He had taken everything from her! Destroyed everything that she knew and held dear! Her life! Her family! Her friends and companions! And here he stood - unpunished for his crimes. She wanted to make him pay for everything that he had done to her. Make him feel all the pain and suffering she felt.
"Give me your power," Draleeria snarled.
She could almost feel Valkorion's smile as time resumed and his power coursed through her. The Dark Side visibly swirled around her, a vortex of raw power and lightning. Somehow Valkorion's power felt different - almost stronger in a sense. Perhaps it was reacting with all of her anger - though Draleeria didn't care. All she cared about was making Arcann suffer.
With a yell of pure hatred, she unleashed all of that power.
Arcann was barely able to shield himself with the Force to defend against the surge of power. Outside the structure of their duel, the surge of Dark Side energy crashed into the ships trying to flee. While it was harmless to the ships themselves, the people aboard them were not so lucky. Hundreds of thousands were instantaneously drained of their life force, their deaths fueling the power that Draleeria now wielded. Screaming, Draleeria continued to hammer at Arcann's defense. Unable to stand against the sudden boost in power, Arcann was overwhelmed. Draleeria could hear him scream as he was sent flying over the edge and plummet to the ground below.
The Sith woman dropped to her knees, screaming in agony as all that power drained from her body. Something was wrong, there had never been any kind of backlash from the use of the Immortal Emperor's power. She was dimly aware of Lana helping her to her feet, "What have you become?" The other Sith woman's voice laced with both fear and awe.
What had she become? Was revenge so important to her now that nothing else mattered? Was Valkorion's power that addictive? Would it always take that toll on her to wield? And truthfully, did she really care any more? Draleeria winced as the aftershocks continued to pulse through her body, whispering, "What I had to."
Truthfully I had always intended to "rewrite" the timelines for my characters when Knights of the Fallen Empire was released. It was actually a little hard to figure out which one was going to be the "Outlander". I settled on Draleeria because ... well, the Sith Inquisitor was always my favorite. I will probably write some for my other characters as well.
As always, I hope you enjoyed and feedback is always welcome!
