Chapter 2

The red glow of many lightsabers filled the darkened room. The only noise apart from the hum of the weapons was master Jorgand's voice projected clearly so that everyone could hear.

"Use your anger, give in to the true side of the force. Yes. That's it, use your hatred to power your attack". The sith lord towered above all of his young pupils engaged in the blindfold exercise so he found no difficulty in dodging their fierce attacks on one another.

The students with their red lightsabers ignited were being pitted against each other again in one of master Jorgand's teachings the idea is to use the force to guide an attack and to use the force they had to give in to their rage. Drogan was one of these pupils and his current opponent was proving quite the challenge. There was another fizzle of the lightsabers connecting beside him, Drogan moved to avoid the other fighting pair and narrowly dodged a blow from his own partner.

Again master Jorgand spoke looking into the minds of his students, "Yes, anger, feel the rage inside you, use a hated memory, has a pupil wronged you must hate them for it or maybe you lost a treasured item, you must hate the thief or perhaps myself, I am a strict teacher you must also hate me". At his last comment there was a sound of many a fierce blow dealt to the backdrop of the sith's crackling laughter.

This comment also inspired Drogan to go back on the offensive after all he hated his teacher as much as anyone else in the room but Drogan's opponent shared this thought and struck back at Drogan's blow. Drogan fell on his back and skidded into the side wall, disoriented he didn't see which way his opponent was coming from but he was even more surprised when his opponent spoke to him.

"You have fought long enough Drogan you will now perish". Students were not supposed to speak during combat exercises and this one would surely be punished for it but a death threat? Death threats were discouraged by the sith masters, maybe they thought it wasted precious fighting time. If this student didn't want to be on weapons duty for a month he should really shut up. What happened next really surprised Drogan, under his blindfold he saw, his opponent take off his own blindfold and deactivate his lightsaber.

Drogan was still spinning from being thrown back on his head, he didn't hear what happened until his master yelled out. "NO", Drogan removed his blind fold in time to see master Jorgand blocking his opponent's force lightning blast with his lightsaber then quickly used the force to throw the boy into the opposite wall from Drogan.

"I said lightsabers only, fall in students". The twenty eight students in the class minus the boy Drogan was fighting all lined up in front of their teacher in single file and turned to face him.

"When I give you an instruction I expect it to be followed if this is not understood you will be punished if you don't like it step out now".

Drogan knew that this was the challenge the sith master extended to his students to engage him in combat. If he is defeated he will step down and the student who wins will earn the right to remake the rule set by Jorgand. Only two students had the nerve to do it in past years a devaronian called Labrias who had received the challenge in his first year in the sith academy and still carried the scars from it. The second was Drogan's older brother Molker who every one agreed put up a spectacular fight only a few months earlier, when he dared to question Jorgand's punishment of a younger pupil, he and the sith master fought spectacularly but he was defeated by the sheer power of his teacher. No student was willing to accept the challenge this time mainly because Molker was the best fighter amongst them and all had learned from his example. All except for Drogan's opponent who he thought he recognized as Hapurn one of the more troublesome students in the academy.

Hapurn had his lightsaber in hand ready to attack his master. He ignited the blade and used the force to launch himself into the air but Jorgand was too quick for him and caught him in midair with force lightning throwing him completely vertical just above his head. Hapurn screamed in pain and dropped his weapon all the while Jorgand was keeping him aloft with the lightning while saying "Let this be a lesson to you all" and let Hapurn drop.

Before he hit the ground he swung his own lightsaber and caught Hapurn in the back of the neck, as the student fell to the ground he collapsed limp and didn't get up. "Go back to your quarters and do not come out until morning", Jorgand said bitterly. The students shuffled slowly towards their own rooms and said nothing. Drogan was surprised, in the years of the academy there had never been a death before. It was getting late anyway so by curfew all students would be either in the dormitories or on their way there. The dormitories that had become their home in the sith academy a huge floating hulk of a ship called simply The Academy.

The hulk was more space station than spaceship it resembled a three dimensional diamond spanning three whole kilometers from tip to tip and one and a half kilometers at it's widest. The Academy was stolen in the design phase of the project. The ship was designed especially by Palpatine's engineers to accommodate close to ten thousand jedi and troops in a single automated vessel. But with the clone wars going the way they did, Dooku never did recruit enough sith candidates to fill the ship and the project was abandoned for a time. However word was now spreading that with the clone armies overwhelming the separatists, the one hundred and fourteen newly trained sith might be soon unleashed upon the jedi.

Drogan was approaching the dormitories standing in the door way was Karala. She was a human girl, older than he was by about two years, she was really one of the older sith in the academy. She turned her head towards him brushing her long dark hair away from her face.

"Heard about what happened, Drogan. You okay?", she asked with almost a genuine concern.

"I'm fine, it's not me that's dead. Still, suppose he should have known better than to mess with the masters".

"I'm glad you're alright then, we will meet tonight come when you can"

"What do you mean I will be there as soon as it starts"

She turned away to leave and whispered in his ear as she passed.

"Fernis wants you, now". He watched her stride away and shook his head, it was good that she was looking out for him, if she didn't he would already be in more trouble than he could handle. Drogan nodded and turned the other way to the master's quarters.

Master Fernis had selected Drogan for his personal training if Drogan was a jedi he would be called his padawan, that's essentially what he was but sith never used the term just sticking to apprentice. The young sith thought to himself of what task his master required of him this time when he began to feel something within the force. Maybe a tremor or a disturbance, Drogan was trained to trust his instincts and the force so he let the force guide him.

Whatever it was he couldn't overcome it, he had never had a feeling like this but the force compelled him to go on. Without a clue of where he was going the sith apprentice walked his way to the personal study of master Jorgand. The study was separate from the quarters, which were strictly out of bounds. Drogan thought that he shouldn't take his chances remembering the late Hapurn and turned to go when he started to hear people talking. The deep voice of Jorgand was talking to what sounded like a hologram so trusting the force Drogan pressed his ear to the door.

"Are you quite clear of what I require of you lord Jorgand", the voice that sounded like the hologram said. Drogan recognized the voice as that of darth sideous he had heard the voice only once before when count Dooku was still at the Academy

"Yes my master but might I ask as to why these sith apprentices must die, surely they would make powerful warriors against the jedi", came the reply of the sith lord.

"Yes my friend, they have become very powerful I can sense it, however the jedi are doomed my newest acquisition will handle the task of eliminating them"

"Your newest acquisition Lord Sideous?".

"Young Skywalker will destroy the jedi".

"But he is the jedi's greatest warrior, even I fear his power, some even say he is the chosen one, how do you know he will destroy his own kind".

"I find it disturbing to believe that you are fearful of a jedi prophecy. Besides I have foreseen it, you need not be concerned, focus on eliminating the young sith I need not more challengers to my order".

"Yes lord Sideous"

"One more thing I have already taken control of the republic, or at least I will soon. There will be no more need for my guise, you will begin to call me..." The sound of the name didn't reach Drogan's ears.

"Yes my master", Master Jorgand replied to the disappearing image of the most powerful man in the galaxy. Drogan's heart froze not only were the jedi to be destroyed but he and the other sith were next. He had to escape but he had to tell the others as well, it wouldn't be right to just leave them to die. As he fled the scene Drogan made up his mind he would inform his friends of the dark designs of lord Sideous and then he would make a plan, no, he didn't want to raise suspicion. First to his master Fernis as was required and then a plan to escape. Drogan sighed as he hastened to his master, he had seen better days.