Chapter 21: Sith Teachings

Darth Vader took over nine hours to finally calm Chi enough to get an explanation. He had been in a constant battle of wills to prevent her from destroying him with her abilities. For some reason, she would not strike out at him, even though anyone else foolish enough to enter the room would die horribly. They lost a few stormtroopers that day.

Finally, after she had vented her rage enough, she collapsed into his arms, tears streaking her face, and Vader found himself holding her like he would have held his own child. She was physically exhausted, and emotionally drained, and finally she fell asleep in his arms. Vader's mind became a whirl of emotion when, as she was falling asleep, she said four words that shook him to his soul.

"I love you daddy."

He held her for the rest of the night.

Vader watched the holo-recording that had set her off. JAG Micah was a dead man. Juno Eclipse had been one of his best pilots, and had been the personal pilot of his secret apprentice… so long ago.

When she awoke the next morning, Darth Vader did not say one word about what had happened. He didn't ask her any questions, he only began one of her teachings. "You must learn, so that you are prepared for any eventuality." He said. Chi wiped her face clean, and nodded her head. Her rage was in check… for now.

Chi'anna listened intently as her master spoke. "Chi'anna, the secret of the Dark Side is manipulation. You possess abilities that allow you to control immense power of telekinetics. But to be a true Sith Lord, you must not use the Force as a sledge hammer… but as a scalpel. To walk into a room, and kill a man without anyone knowing." He opened his gloved hand, and there was a simple ten decicred coin. "Take this coin from my hand. Bring it to you with the Force."

Chi'anna looked at the coin with disbelief. "This is stupid. Why do I need to move a coin?"

"If it's stupid, then you will have no problems doing it." Vader said with finality.

Chi'anna huffed, and then reached out with the Force. Her eyebrows knitted in frustration as a huge blast of Force energy knocked the coin out of Vader's hand. Vader had been prepared for this, and had protected himself with a Force shield. He recalled the coin to his hand, and shook his head. "No. You need to use the Force to gently bring the coin to you, not blast it through the nearest wall. Gently, with intent. The smallest object might be the most difficult to move through the Force." Once again, he held his hand open.

Chi's frustration started to grow. "Why do I need to move something so small when I can simply destroy anyone with my Force blasts?"

Vader was very calm, and listened to her questions. "You are an assassin, and a Sith Lord. A Sith Lord can use the Force to destroy an entire room of individuals with the Force… or kill a man having a simple conversation with him. This coin is only an inch wide. If you can learn to manipulate it with precise control, you can also use that fine control to pinch shut the carotid artery in a human's neck, cutting off blood to the brain, and killing the man with not one mark upon him. Not even an autopsy will figure out how the person was killed."

Chi's new grin brightened her face. "Really?" She scrutinized the little coin in Vader's hand, and concentrated harder. Vader watched intently as she struggled to control her natural intention to simply blast the Force through her body, and instead only let a small trickle of the power loose. For Chi, the power of the Force was always on. It was as if the switch was wedged on always. Vader was impressed that she had such potential… and then realized why he had chosen her.

She looked like a very young Padme. Like she was Vader's and Padme's daughter. Maybe he had allowed his need for Padme to cloud his mind, but it didn't matter. Maybe that's what he needed. For a time during the night, while he held little Chi in his arms, the pain had stopped. For a blissful few moments, he felt nothing but joy.

No pain.

Not one bit.

He watched as Chi started to sweat as she focused her Force abilities and the coin moved an inch in her direction. She let out a small gasp of delight, and Vader nodded.

"You have done well, my apprentice. Keep practicing, and soon, you will be unstoppable."