For the first time in what seemed like a millennia, Ben's sleep was undisturbed by dark nightmares or visions, but the loud chirping emitting from the console jolted him out of his daze of nothingness. Rubbing the remnants of sleep from his eyes, he leaned forward and pushed the flashing green button and the chirping ended.
Turning his head toward a small microphone connected to the console, he flipped a switch. "Lexi, get up here," He said, increasing the volume of his voice so the device picked it up.
Minutes later, she was there, now rested and moving on her own. "What's wrong with you?"
Ben pointed at the former-flashing button. "That," He growled. "I'm not really familiar with this model of ship; what did the chirping mean?"
Stepping forward, Lexi peered over the shoulder of his chair and saw the said button. For a moment, a smile touched the corner of her lips. "It was telling you ours Sith friends left hyperspace. And pretty soon, we will too. Perhaps we can get a look at where we're going," She leaned forward, brushing the side of Ben's head and flipping a pair of switches. Then sat down in the seat next to him and turned her attention to a small screen imbedded into the console.
Forcing down the feeling of dread at the loss of precious sleep, Ben waited in his seat for any information.
It was a long while before he got it. "The Horuset system?" Lexi asked aloud. Ben saw her lean closer to the screen. "But there's nothing there," The fingers of her good hand began typing on a keyboard of sorts, each key bearing a different alien symbol. "A few mining colonies, perhaps. But other then that, only dead space and deader planets. Could that be why they're taking Kane out there?"
Horuset system, Ben kept repeating the two words, wondering why it sounded familiar to him, like he was trying to identify it in a bank of fog. . .
And it hit him, and with his heart picking up pace and a cold sweat beginning to form on his forehead, Ben stood and swung around her seat. She wasn't lying. On the screen, Ben counted no more the a dozen planets, all spread out across a wide space. But he didn't bother to do a thorough search of it, as he pushed her hand away and pounded away at the keyboard and switched his gaze from the board to the screen. From board to screen, the process repeated as planets came across from one end of the thin sheet of glass, only to disappear to the other end and be replaced by another.
Until he reached the last one. "I'm not sure, but I think I know where we're going." He said as he turned to Lexi, knowing he was probably going to have to face a fear he had known for most his life.
Korriban was as horrible as the stories had told. Beneath the blazing sun were desert plains, jagged rock hills, and a single settlement named Dreshdae. But under the surface, Ben felt the enigma of Dark-Side energy, radiating from the very core of the floating heap of wasteland in space.
Even as they pulled out of hyperspace, Ben felt the sudden dip in his emotions, growing more intense with ever passing moment. It reached the boiling point, and Ben gave the controls over to Lexi and took over her station. The screen displayed a visible pair of amber trails in the sky and around the hills, heading toward the settlement. That is, until they reached the settlement and the trails continued a little further, dropping down in a swirling motion behind a rock wall, and disappeared. Only as they pulled away, did Ben see the man-made door a short distance from the settlement.
He watched her argue with port control for a few minutes, and almost smiled when she won them over and eased into one of the open-ceiling hanger bay. Almost.
After touching ground, and after waiting for Lexi to remove her bandages, despite Ben's attempts to stop her, they were in the halls of Dreshdae. The worn metal was bathed in an even coding of dull yellow light from the ceiling. Mulled around in small groups of the open area was a mixture of humans and aliens, conversing about their day in the mines and excavation sites with some still needing to brush dust and dirt off them. After two hallways and an open area, Ben concluded that if you weren't a merchant or a miner, you apparently had no business Korriban.
Or a Sith.
Ben counted three different dark-clad people just outside the open area, only one an alien, who bore a lightsaber on their belt. All were glaring as he walked by.
But it was that he couldn't feel their presence is what disturbed him more then their gaze. It was he was in the hanger again, surrounded by complete blackness, but his master was not here to help guide him through it. Soon, when it became too great to endure, Ben clung to Lexi's mild presence in the Force; perhaps the only bright spot on this planet.
The two stopped when they reached the end of the hall, looking at the large, closed door in front of them. Lexi reached to the side of it and keyed the small pad, and the thick-plated metal rose up into the ceiling.
The outside was far worse for Ben. He was completely exposed to everything of Korriban, every lingering feeling of the past and present, and he could not stop it or keep it out. After making his way down the long ramp in front of the exit and crossing a small bridge over a short, dried out ravine, Ben was ready to collapse.
But he wouldn't. Leaning himself against a sharply pointed rock, he felt more then heard Lexi whisper something in his ear, then left him there and headed toward a large stone door, protected by a single armored figure.
At first, it just appeared to be two individuals calmly speaking to one another, then she began throwing in hand gestures, glancing over at him a couple times, and actually throwing herself back and letting out a bellowing laugh, soon joined by the trooper. But to him, it was like he was watching the whole thing through a view-screen. His mind felt suffocated, like it was trying to breathe in a room filled with smoke.
Eventually, Lexi came back, leaving her smile and laughs with the guard. "He says that it's a Sith training facility, and that nobody gets in without a medallion,—which he told me nothing about—or the permission of a Twilek called Yuthura Ban. He thinks she might still be in the cantina."
He tried to answer, but it came out as only a back-of-the-throat gurgle. "Is something wrong?"
This time, he focused and waited until the words could come. "Just need to get inside," He said, the words sounding faint in his ear.
Lexi nodded, standing next to him and wrapping her good arm around his shoulder and helping him just as he had done for her only hours ago.
Inside, while surrounded by those ignorant to the Force, was bliss. Or at least as close as Ben would get. Reassuring Lexi with a simple hand gesture, she eased herself away from him, and insuring his legs would hold with a few weary steps forward, the two turned and stopped in the doorway of the cantina.
The single, long stretched room was dark as a cave. Chairs, normally seated evenly around the small tables with a bright strip of ambient blue light around their rims, were pushed away and toppled over. The strongest source of light was the bar itself, a single U shaped tabletop with bolted-down seats that started almost in the center of the room and ended at the very back. Nobody was behind it. And on top the glass that protected one from the heat of the same harsh blue light, was a sign written in Huttese that said "Come back when open"
And at the very back, sitting at a table and sipping from a mug in one hand while reviewing a datapad with the other, was their Twilek.
Slowly, they approached, Ben trying to stay ahead incase this ended badly. Though in his current condition, he doubted he could serve more a purpose in battle other then a meat shield.
Dressed in tight-knit uniform, she hadn't noticed them until they stopped at the table before hers. The grey skin of her face was obscured somewhat by a series of tribal marks/tattoo's spread across her forehead and down the sides of her head. One of the worm tails—Lekku, Ben remembered the name being—that all Twilek's had, was behind her back and the other resting on her shoulder.
Her cold, amethyst eyes looked up from her datapad and found Ben first, giving him a once-over, then returning to the device. "What do you want, Jedi?" She asked, surprising Ben. He'd inspected a raspy voice, maybe even screech-like by her appearance, not the sultry tone that came out.
"I—Uh—" And without looking down, he realized he'd forgotten to leave his lightsaber on the ship.
"Don't be so shocked," Yuthura said, putting down her glass and locking his gaze. "Every Sith on Korriban could sense you coming in, Jedi."
Yuthura shut down her device and stood, exposing the metal cylinder on the side of her belt. "Which leaves my original question. I'm guessing you want to enter the academy, is that right? To learn the true nature of the Force? The power and strength it gives you that your order is too afraid of corruption to explore?"
He hesitated, taking a quick glance behind his shoulder at Lexi. If he devoted himself to this, if he went head-first into the darkness to find Kane, he wanted to be absolutely sure his brother would be there. Her small nod answered it, if not the answer he'd wanted.
Ben straightened. "Yes,"
Yuthura's eyebrow shot up. "Really?" Moving forward, she began to circle Ben, brushing against Lexi without noticing. "You are far from the strongest to try and join us. Also, you lack drive or true potential. So tell me," She stopped in front of him. "what do you have to offer?"
"I have anger." He responded, perhaps a little too quickly.
She leaned in closer, stopping only a few centimeters from the end of his nose. It was then, Ben saw she wasn't very tall, matching him almost eye-to-eye. "And yet you try to bury it, even now."
For a long time, they simply stared at the other, Ben trying his best not to crack or give off the wrong emotion. Eventually, she eased back.
"But I suppose a lifetime's teachings will not be undone so easily." She conceded. "Only time will show us if you're worth it." After swallowing, Ben nodded.
"We'll leave, and present you to master Uthar." Yuthura said, retrieving her datapad and slipping it into a pocket. "He is often better judging of potential then I am." She glanced behind Ben.
"But your little 'pet' will have to stay behind."
" 'little pet'?" Lexi barked, shoving Ben aside. "You prissy tentacle-face son of a shutta—"
Ben reached out and squeezed her shoulder, ending the insult. With a final glare-to-glare between the two women, she stepped back behind Ben. "I have a ship in the port. She can stay there."
"Very well. Then only one thing remains." She glanced down at him.
Ben followed her eye to his belt. "But why?"
"Because from this point on, you're no longer a Jedi."
He suppressed the grimace. Hand shaking, he reached down and pulled his lightsaber free from its clip. It was the weapon he'd began constructing when he was nine years old, a decade ago. The one thing that had always been with him, been at his side and his defense against the evils of the galaxy.
But then, so was Gallai.
Setting his teeth, Ben turned and held the weapon out, unable to even look at it. But Lexi could. "No," She said, looking up at him. "I'm not going to—"
"Lexi," Ben swallowed. "Please."
After a handful of heartbeats, she released a held breath behind closed teeth. Then took the hilt from his hand.
Throwing her the best smile he could, Ben twisted around to Yuthura. "Are we ready?" He asked, throwing emphasis on the last word.
"By all means." Yuthura strode between them, with Ben following behind. But stopped after a few paces.
"Wait," Ben said, turning back to Lexi and stepping toward her until they were nose to nose. "I won't be able to get to you," He whispered. "so if Kane leaves the planet, you follow. Weather or not I'm on the ship."
Ben half-glanced over his shoulder at an impatient Yuthura. Then leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. "Stay low for a while," He murmured. And after holding his forehead against hers for a second, feeling her true emotions, her true fears, beneath the mental barriers, stepped away and turned his back to her.
"Let's go," Together, they passed through the doorway and strode off into the hall, leaving Lexi standing alone in the darkness of the cantina.
Ben reserved all the strength he could when the door to the outside slid open. It didn't do him a bit of good. The trek across took less then a minute in reality, but to him, it was hours of grueling and agonizing torture. He watched Yuthura speak to the guard for a moment before the distinct sound of stone pushing against stone came from within and the large stone door split apart.
It felt old inside. Like they had just passed through the entrance of a tomb that was sealed for millennia. The putrid stench of death was strong in Ben's mouth. The bricks that made up the floor, walls and ceiling were worn and dusty, with no indication of that problem being fixed anytime soon. But at least he could stand and walk.
They reached the end of the hallway and stopped. Before them was what appeared to be the center of the academy, a wide open circular area with only a handful of beings milling around the edges of it, one dressed in a light grey uniform with a carbine blaster the size of his arm instead of a lightsaber. The hall continued on the other side and to his left and right. Stone statues were under the pockets between the doors, sculpted like humans holding up the ceiling with their hands alone. In the middle of the ceiling was a carved out square, with light as bright as it was harsh to pour through it, illuminating every grain of dust around and in it.
And in the center of the light, was a man. Ben couldn't tell weather he was human or not; most of his face and bald scalp covered in the same markings as Yuthura's forehead. He sat on his knee's, dawning the same clothes as the Twilek beside him, if only bigger. Though the uniform did not conceal shape of a well-tuned body. His eerily calm face was titled down, with his eyes closed. An elongated lightsaber hung from his belt.
And when those eyes opened and looked straight up at Ben, a cold shiver ran down his spine as he felt the color be purged from his face.
"Who do you bring before us, Yuthura?" The man asked, his horrible yellow eyes still on Ben.
"A newcomer," Yuthura replied. "One who has had previous training."
"Ah," The Man—Uthar—said, his rich, almost soothing voice causing Ben to freeze on the spot. "Another. This day has been full of hidden surprises." He stood without having to use his hands or feet, until he was dropping a few centimeters to the floor.
Tearing himself away from the Sith, Ben turned to find the Twilek staring at Uthar, confusion in her eyes but a small grin on her lips.
"Another, master?"
"I suppose you left before he arrived." The rhythmic pattern of steps echoed lightly through the room, and Uthar craned his neck back to the source. "Ah, speak of the Dark Side."
He strode off in the direction of the sound, heading for the hall across from them. The Sith Master stopped just short of the doorway. And Ben could now see the shadowy figure stalking toward him.
"Let me represent our latest arrival," The figure arrived just as the words were said. Light seemed to have to catch up with the being, and as it reached his face, Ben's heart ached. "Zemrok." Uthar concluded, a hint of pride in the last word.
Kane. His brother had a long, dark cloak around him, obscuring most of the robes that looked like they were just slapped on. Beneath the heavy hood, his face was an assortment of old and fresh cuts and burns. And his eyes seemed so . . . empty.
Kane had been broken.
"Young, powerful, and open to darkness." Uthar had caught Ben's shock, and left Kane there and strode toward the Padawan. He stopped a few inches from him, staring down at the boy with the corner of his lip raised a little. "Let us hope you prove the same, young one."
"I hope too," Ben said, his eyes falling back to Kane before finishing. "master."