"General. You're awake", Grunto stated, looking at Aaron.
"Apparently so", Aaron replied.
Aaron was strapped down to a stone tilted-table, so he was held at bay whilst able to look Grunto straight in the eyes. He knew what was coming, the relaxed posture of Grunto was a clever disguise to anyone who had less confrontations with the Sith than he had. His saber was attached to Grunto's belt, next to Grunto's own, no doubt the crystal had been removed and replaced with a red one. But Aaron had a strong mind, surely he could repel the dark side, but does he want to? Master Marsh's betrayal had removed feeling towards the Jedi council, but could that sway him towards the dark side?
"Grunto, what are you waiting for?"
"Your decision"
"You're delusional"
"You're going to be a Dark Lord, I can feel it in my veins. It's pulsing through me"
"Grunto, persuasion isn't a strong point of yours"
"Loyalty isn't for you", Grunto started, "The Jedi abandoned you, you're leader Marsh left you for dead, I could feel your anger, as if you wanted to kill him"
"I do want to kill him"
"Join me, Aaron, and become my apprentice"
"Grunto, I serve no one"
"I feel the dark side has taken over you. Good. But you have much to learn my apprentice"
"Careful, you're beginning to sound like a Jedi"
"Darth Zexar, do you know which planet you are located on?"
"No"
"Korriban, the ancestral home of the Sith. It is a place of great power; the dark side lives and breathes in the very core of this world"
"Honored to be here", Zexar said sarcastically, "Now release me, I am Darth Zexar now, my former Jedi self is gone, Marsh destroyed the light side within me"
"You will learn to watch your tongue", Grunto stated coldly as he released the bindings keeping Zexar in place.
Zexar used the force to pull his saber from Grunto's belt and ignited the blade; the red light spilling all around the room. Zexar walked from the room to the armory to acquire his Sith robes in exchange for his Jedi ones, as well as a long black cloak. He then ran to his quarters where he changed immediately and meditated; allowing the dark side to engulf him. He felt as though a dark cloud descended upon him, fighting off the little resistance encountered; the light side within him. He knew he would never eradicate his feelings towards his former master, Carly, and his partner, Lauren, but he knew some day they would encounter him. One day soon. He awaited that day; the day he could prove himself, to them both. The council will bow down to him one day in the future, but for now patience was needed, possession of this was something he had been lucky enough to be born with.
"Now now, who are you?", a woman asked him as she strolled into his quarters.
"Darth Zexar, or as you may know me, General Aaron from the republic"
"Zexar, welcome to the Sith. I'm Darth Telon, see you around", Telon said as she left Zexar.
Zexar was left with an imprint of her as she left the room; recognition flickered through his mind. Who had she been? And why had he immediately recognized her?
"Zexar, you'll be pleases to know you're first mission has been assigned to you, and believe me it will not be easy", Grunto stated, arriving at his room.
"Go on"
"A small band of Jedi are in search of...an item. This item can not fall into the hands of the Jedi or we shall fall, and I can not stress enough how important this mission is. We shall be sending Darth Telon with you, and you are to kill the Jedi in search of it, and inevitably bring the item to us"
"What is this item"
"A weapon of sorts. You are unable to know more until you have proved your allegiance to the Sith"
"When do I leave?"
"A ship is ready now, you must leave in the next half hour at least, Telon is waiting", Grunto started, "Return here if any questions arise"
"I'll leave at once", Zexar stated as he walked briskly from the room.
I sense familiarity. Carly. Lauren. They will be with the group but where are they? The force will guide me, I hope. They will not take the news of my allegiance well, but why should I really care? My relationship can't hope to work as it is, unless I open her heart to the dark side, allow it to penetrate deep into her soul. But what of Carly? Surely she would not fall; she is the most loyal Jedi in the entire republic but even she has shown signs of anger, hate, fear even. I've got work to do, and even if I do find them I need some way to get Telon off the offensive, keep her at bay until they join me. The Sith can not exist in this Universe, I see it as does Grunto, I can sense it deep within him. But then again, neither can the Jedi exist in a Universe where the Sith do not exist, they would become corrupt and become Sith themselves, destroying themselves on the inside. And of course, that is what is happening to me now, even if I can't live up to the fact it's happening, I know it is, just don't want that thought to pervert my mind more than it already is. Zexar's brain was ticking over on the way to his and Telon's ship, but one thought made him laugh briefly, At least I can wear black here.
"Care to share the joke?", Telon shouted over to him.
"Private memory", Zexar replied, "We better leave, where we headed?"
"I was hoping you knew"
"Alright, set the co-ordinates to take us to Felucia, I can sense Jedi presence there"
"I agree Zexar"
Zexar boarded the ship and placed himself into the co-pilots seat, ready to let Telon take control of the situation. Tiredness suddenly hit him as he realized he hadn't slept in a few days at least, unconsciousness hadn't helped replenish him in the slightest.
"Telon, I'm going to sleep for a few hours, I haven't slept in about three days"
"Alright, I'll let you know when we get there, if your not up that is"
Zexar left the cockpit, and walked into the double room at the back of the ship and climbed into his bunk, slipping into a dream-filled sleep.
"No, Master, run", Aaron screamed at Carly.
He blocked a volley of shots from Darth Fanu's elite guard, destroying one of them; a loss which did little to sway them from their target. Carly. Carly had just been knocked down by a guard and had suddenly been surrounded by them, a deadly situation to be in. Their shields made it very hard to do any damage especially as the only weapon that could get through them was blaster fire, something Carly and Aaron were unable to produce but could deflect. Aaron managed to destroy a further four of them as their attention was drawn to him, giving a gap for Carly to get through.
"What's that? Nine times I've saved you?"
"My time will come to save you. Eventually"
"Yeah, if we make it out of here"
Carly and Aaron put on an impressive display of accurate deflections and soon had taken down the elite guards numbers down to five, easily dealt with. With some more defensive yet accurate deflections the remaining guards were eliminated within seconds, much to their joy.
"Finally", Aaron commented.
"Patience my young apprentice"
"I may be your apprentice but I'm not so young any more"
"That's right my very young apprentice", Carly said, chuckling.
"Very funny Master, now, Brunn and Yux need our help"
"Agreed...Master", Carly said, laughing again.
"I just wanted to bring your drifting mind back into the situation"
"My drifting mind never left"
"If you say so Master"
Carly walked towards a large, sealed metal door with Aaron in tow, and used the Force to try and move it, failing. Aaron decided to help her, doubling the effort, which caused a huge crack to form through the middle of the door, splitting it in half. Aaron looked at Carly, who smirked back at the look he gave her. They ran along the metal corridor at a Force-speed, which inevitably sped the whole process up, as they reached a large throne room at the end. The dark side tainted this room, with the light making an obvious repel.
"Master Carly", Darth Fanu stated at their arrival, "General Aaron, I feel your anger"
"Likewise Fanu", Aaron replied.
"Aaron, be careful of your emotions, they give away too much", Carly whispered so only he could hear.
Masters Brunn and Yux were enclosed into torture 'cages', and looked as if they had been tortured for hours on end, which they most likely had. Brunn was a short black man with shoulder-long black hair, curly and twisted as anything Aaron had ever seen. Yux on the other hand was fairly tall with tentacles sprouting from his head, running down along side his neck. His skin was a algae-green and had a luminous effect in the dark, giving him a green aurora, much like his saber. Fanu reached to his belt and pulled out a long-handled, dark red colored saber, and ignited it. This action was followed by Aaron and Carly, as they both ignited their blue sabers, much to the delight of Fanu. He decided to immobilize Carly first, opening Aaron up for the attack; something he could never repel.
"Savor your last moments Jedi", Fanu stated as he raised his saber, ready to strike.
"The Sith will lose today Fanu", Carly said in response.
"Not if this is a repeat of last time"
"You weren't alone last time, Grunto is the reason you're alive. Face the facts Fanu, I suggest you surrender", Aaron Replied.
Fanu had already made up his mind and first swung for Aaron...
"Zexar, get up, now", Telon started as Zexar was brought back to reality, "We've encountered a small republic resistance, man the guns"
"Consider it done"
Zexar ran through the ships defence room and up the small ladder into the fairly large laser cannon, which he immediately fired.
"Oi, Telon, this isn't small considering theres one of us", Zexar shouted as he counted twenty fighters.
"Z, just fire until I can get the shields up and back to hyperspace", Telon yelled back.
Zexar fired multiple times with the orange laser and managed to shoot down three of the fighters; not enough to make a sizable difference. He recognized one of the fighters as a pilot droid he had trained with during his Jedi training in flight, and had immediately grown to like the droid. Nevertheless this was more important so he fired a single shot which flew through the black vacuum, hitting the ship full on, instantly turning it into a fireball. Zexar fired many shots into space, destroying a further thirteen fighters as they made the jump to hyperspace once again.
"I can feel great anger within you Zexar"
"Can't say the same about you", he replied, "I've never felt so much mercy and thoughtfulness inside a Sith, it's a welcome change.
"May I ask you, Zexar, was it you who destroyed Fanu?"
"Yes"
"What did it feel like? Slaying a Sith Lord"
"Powerful, I've never felt so powerful, and full of hate. I was fearful of the Jedi council finding out, they may have expelled me from the order"
"Just for those feelings?"
"No, my appearance bothered them somewhat, and my relationship with a beautiful Jedi named Lauren"
"Jedi do not allow love, one rule I can expressly remember trying not to break"
"You were a Jedi?"
"Long ago, yes, I couldn't live with their ideals and code, although it made sense I just couldn't do it. It was so hard to do and although I had been living that way since I was two years old, it was destroying me"
"What was your name?"
"That name was lost many years ago"
"Fancy way of telling me your not going to say, I respect that"
"Zexar, what made you join the Sith?"
"Oh my memory has gone black for that specific moment in time"
"Classy, I like", Telon finished as the ship came out of hyperspace and entered the atmosphere of Felucia. As they flew nearer and nearer the ground Zexar could not force out memories of his last time here.
"Lauren, I know it's against the Jedi code but I love you"
"I love you too"
"Telon, land in the capital, Kway Teow, I sense Jedi presence somewhere in the city", Zexar stated.
"Will do, I've heard stories of this place, you ever been here before?"
"Yeah, I have. Flesh-eating diseases and predators are about, as well as amazing views and beautiful locations. I have good memories here"
"I sense Lauren"
"She is the primary reason, yes"
"I await meeting her"
"The dark side awaits her, I feel it within"
"We'll see"
Zexar was left with the prospect of fighting alongside Lauren once again as they landed in the space port of Kway Teow.