Chapter 3

There are other kinds of strength, of course, beyond the obvious physical stature so often prized by the loudest and most brutish of our kind. Strength in the Force is another. Prowess with a lightsaber or other specialized weapon is a strength all its own. Still other Sith find strength in their mastery of Sith Alchemy and Sorcery. I have even observed Sith whose ability to build relationships and manipulate and enthrall create an entirely different form of strength. Many so-called "strong" Sith are outmatched by weaker sith who have developed focus, strength of will, or strength of mind. Consider this: Is the scalpel stronger than the sword?

Strength does not always mean being the strongest; rather, it often means being the smartest, the quickest, the cleverest, the last one standing.

--The Holocron of Darth Nogrim, a treasure of the Korriban Sith Academy

By the time I'd returned to his office Harkun had already begun without me, again. He was blathering on about how disappointed he was not to be able to kill one of us since one of us slave acolytes had died during his test. "Also unsurprisingly, Ffon has passed his first trial. It's only a matter of time before he tramples you all underfoot." I rolled my eyes, and Ffon saw.

"I'll tear you apart where you stand, slave!" he bellowed. I repeated my obscene gesture from earlier, and he actually lunged for me.

"Patience, Ffon!" ordered Harkun. I'd managed to get my blade drawn soon enough to keep him at bay, although I still didn't know how to use it. "An accident in the tombs is much more convincing." The Sith pureblood backed up, but I noticed he didn't put away his weapon. "The lot of you know your next task--go. I want to speak to Ffon and the latecomer."

I was very aware that I was outnumbered. I prepared to flee as necessary, but apparently Harkun really didn't intend to allow Ffon to murder me in his office. He gave Ffon a stern look, and the Sith grudgingly sheathed his blade. I did the same, which wasn't really a problem for me since it was more of a hindrance anyways.

"Now, slave, Inquisitor Zyn says you handled yourself expertly, and much as I find this difficult to believe, Lady Zash is satisfied with your evaluation." I didn't react to his insult; in fact, I was pleased. The longer he continued to underestimate me, the closer I would be when I finally got to strike. "Undoubtedly Zyn helped you in some way, but he won't be able to help you in this trial." Again, I said nothing, and Harkun continued.

"Both you and Ffon will have trials of intellect," he said. "You..."

"Surely you don't expect a slave to be a match for me in intellect!" interrupted Ffon. "I've been trained under the greatest teachers!"

"Calm down, Ffon," said Harkun. "I certainly do not expect her to match you. That is why you will have separate trials."

"You don't need to dumb down the trials for me, Overseer," I said smoothly, "although I'm sure Ffon would appreciate the assistance."

"The trials are designed to test your ability to apply your understanding of the Force to solve problems." Harkun ignored my retort; he was almost smug. That did not bode well. "Therefore, Ffon, you will go to the library on the second floor and translate these texts for Lady Zash."

"Yes, Overseer," said Ffon, but he made no move to go. He appeared almost as eager to find out what my trial was as Harkun was to tell me.

"As for you, slave, deep within the ancient, monster-infested city of Marka Ragnos, there is a holocron filled with dark secrets encased in a great stone monument." He paused for effect. "Nobody has been able to figure out how to release it from its stone prison in over a thousand years. You will bring me the holocron or die." Ffon choked back a laugh, and even Harkun smiled. "And I almost forgot. I don't suppose you can afford the speeder fare to the lower wilds, either, can you, slave?" added Harkun. "It's a three week's journey by foot. Ffon might be Lady Zash's chosen apprentice before you even reach the tomb."

"The more you make me hate you, the stronger I become," I snarled. I knew he wanted to see me get upset, and I didn't care. I was furious, and in that moment I resolved that if I was unable to fetch the holocron, I would return and kill Ffon, and Harkun too, if I could manage it, before I was executed for my failure. "One of these days, I'm going to be strong enough to crush you."

"You will never be strong enough," said Harkun. "Go."

Even with every credit that I'd scrounged together from returning the artifacts and selling k'lor'slug stomach contents, I couldn't afford the taxi ride out to the tomb of Marka Ragnos, let alone the ride back. I wasn't going to allow that to stop me though. I made my way towards the maze outside the tomb of Ajunta Poll and began methodically slaughtering the big groups of k'lor'slugs there. It would take me a long time to gather enough salvage, but what other choice did I have?

It was filthy, sweaty, disgusting work. I was only prone to sunburn on the places my fur didn't cover, like my palms and my lips, but it was much harder to keep my fur clean and soon I was covered in yellow blood. At least, as a Cathar, I was more resistant to the k'lor'slug's acidic blood than my clothes, which were rapidly becoming pockmarked and fragile. I was elbow-deep in slug entrails when an Inquisitor approached me.

"Are you sure about this?" his companion asked him, completely ignoring me. I said nothing. My blade had clanged off something metal when I'd been dissecting my latest kill, and I was going to find whatever it had been.

"Of course, Thalzen," he said. "Look at her! We know that none of the traitors were of alien blood. And clearly she's powerful enough. You. Acolyte." He turned to me. "What are you doing? The soldiers are tasked with suppressing these creatures." I had located a broken beast collar, and I tucked it in my bag after flicking as much of the bile off as I could. The two Sith wore equal looks of disgust.

"She was a slave, it's probably a slave thing!" said Thalzen. "Let me find you another acolyte, a better one!"

"I can't pay for the taxi ride out to the lower wilds," I said flatly. "But I have a trial to complete and not very much time to do it in. I will get the credits I need if I have to slaughter every k'lor'slug in this entire valley!"

"Didn't your overseer give you a speeder pass? Every acolyte receives one," said Thalzen. I cursed in Cathar. I already intended to murder Harkun someday, but this was another reason to make it slow.

"We can help each other," said the Inquisitor slyly. "I am Inquisitor Arzanon, and I have been tasked with finding traitors. A group of acolytes stole a valuable holocron from the archives. We've caught the ringleaders, but the other conspirators fled into the maze. I have a scanner that can recognize if someone touched the artifact in question, but I don't have the time to identify and eliminate them myself because I must report to the dark council immediately."

"I want you to take the scanner and track down the last four traitors, acolyte," he said. "Prove your loyalty to the emperor by slaughtering them! You're welcome to any possessions they have. I'm confident at least one will be carrying their speeder pass."

"I have your official permission to kill these traitors, then?" I said. "No consequences for me?"

"Darth Acina has willed it," he confirmed.

"Then it shall be done," I said. "Where shall I go when I'm finished?"

"There's an Intelligence officer near the taxi," said Thalzen. "She can take your report." He handed me the scanner. "Get moving." They hurried off toward the academy.

The maze was pretty full of acolytes, I realized as I entered. There was only one long, winding path to an obelisk in the center, so I wasn't worried about any of the traitors slipping past me. I got some odd looks as I walked, covered as I was in k'lor'slug blood, but I paid them no mind. I scanned each acolyte I came across, but the indicator didn't flash red until I reached a human male, sitting alone in the shade of a small outcropping. I slowed my pace to allow another acolyte to pass me and turn a distant corner. Then I struck. The Force warned my target, but not soon enough.

I channeled two streams of lightning directly into the man's back. He screamed, but to his credit he tried to stand up immediately. I think he might've made it if I hadn't been able to sustain my assault. He got to one knee before his heart gave out. I felt him die and hurried over to him, shoving my hands in his pockets and emptying everything into my bag. Permission or not, I didn't want to be spotted standing over the dead body of another student. I grabbed a few rings from his fingers, removed his bracers, and then quickly ran down the path, putting distance between me and my first victim.

The second traitor I found was pretending to study carvings on a small obelisk; unlike her fellow, she was at least trying to look for threats. She saw me with my scanner, put two and two together, and lunged for me with her warblade. I didn't wait for the positive result. I dropped it and skipped backwards, hitting her with a short blast of lightning as I dodged the blow. As her muscles spasmed, her blade got tangled in the long cape that she wore. She had to waste a precious second to free it, but that was enough time for me to summon another stream of Force lightning that targeted her face. Her head blasted backwards, striking the stone with a wet crunch. She crumpled to the ground with a broken neck.

I began to rifle through her pockets, but she didn't have much on her. This acolyte was taller than I was and was well-dressed. I'd have liked to take her tunic and leggings, but my lightning had charred and melted the fabric, so I constrained myself to stripping her of her robe and boots. The hood helped disguise my non-humanness and my current filthiness, so I ignored how it dragged in the dirt behind me. I only draped it loosely around my shoulders instead of tying it firmly, in case I had to abandon it to avoid being hampered in a fight as its previous owner had been.

I stole her warblade, too. It was a lovely weapon with an ornately carved handle and a vicious double-edge. It was heavier than the practice blade I carried, probably a little too long for me, but it was much more powerful, and I deemed that a worthy trade-off. I didn't have a proper sheath for it, so I carried it drawn, concealed by a fold of the cloak. I scanned her, just to make sure I hadn't accidentally killed the wrong acolyte (I hadn't), and then hurried along the path as a commotion began behind me. My first victim had been found.

The last two acolytes were together, whispering. Unfortunately, they also were standing near a third acolyte, one uninvolved in the theft, who was meticulously sketching a large statue. I debated waiting, but it didn't seem likely that he'd finish anytime soon. I had permission to do this, and the longer I hesitated, the more likely they were to notice me. I focused on my breathing, gathering the force. I deliberately emptied my mind, noticing how the force settled more calmly around me. I didn't want to give them any warning.

I chose my target foolishly. Instead of considering who the bigger threat was, in my arrogance I chose to blindside the female acolyte wearing the best clothing. I stabbed her in the throat with a vibroblade acquired from within a k'lor'slug so that I wouldn't risk melting her armored robes with lightning. That much went well. She gasped wetly, clutching at the knife. I spun away, dropping the cloak and holding up my stolen saber with one hand as I summoned the rage to attack her friend.

The other acolyte reacted faster than I did. With a single blow she knocked my warblade aside and slashed at my head. I instinctively threw up an arm to block her. My stolen bracers absorbed most of the strike, but it still split my wrist open to the bone. I pressed the gaping wound to my chest as I channeled lightning from my other hand. It engulfed my attacker as I felt the force close around my throat. I began to choke as she lifted me off the ground.

I'm sure we made an odd sight, the alien sending Force lightning at the human while hanging gasping in midair. At that point it was just a question of who would break first. She was struggling towards me, blade drawn to finish me off. I bit back the pain and extended my injured limb, allowing lightning to burst from it as well. The agony threatened to distract me, but it was also a wonderful source of power. My vision was going fuzzy, but I continued to throw as much lightning as I could summon. She stumbled to her knees, dropping me to the ground and loosening her grip for an instant, just long enough that I could choke in half a breath. The blood stopped pounding in my ears and the blackness receded, although I still couldn't breathe. But it was enough.

Amazingly, she was still crawling forward on three shaking limbs as she held her Force grip, but I could tell she wasn't going to make it. She fell face-first into the dirt and I was abruptly released. I let my lightning subside as I knelt on the ground, gasping for air. My throat was agonizing--I was lucky it wasn't crushed. My arm was bleeding everywhere, and I distantly realized that the third acolyte, the onlooker, had completely lost his mind. He was screaming something about murder, but when I caught his eyes, he turned tail and ran deeper into the maze. Imbecile. If I'd wanted to kill him, he'd just trapped himself. Fortunately for him, he was of no interest to me.

With shaking hands, I dug around in my bag until I located the best medpack I had. I would need healing from the med droid for sure, but until then, the kolto compresses would keep my arm from bleeding quite so terribly and getting infected. I even gave myself a medstim to help boost my combat abilities, just in case I needed the extra help while getting out of the maze. Even with the bandages, I avoided using my left hand as I carefully stripped the bloody tunic off of the first girl. After I'd paid such a high price for them, there was no chance I'd leave them behind! I searched both corpses and took every single valuable thing I could find. A couple spectators had appeared, but they kept well back as I stalked out of the maze with my satchel stuffed full of stolen items.

Getting healed at an emergency med droid cost me over half of my assembled credits, but it wasn't optional if I ever wanted to have full use of my arm again. I stepped inside the small hut and laid down on the gurney as the droid began cleaning the dirt and germs out of my wound. The acolyte had actually struck the bone, I learned, and had the bracer not taken most of the blow, she might've cleaved straight through my arm and killed me then and there. It burned as the droid reconnected muscles and nerves, sealing my flesh back together, but the pain was nothing to the shame of what might have happened. There was only a small red line surrounded by missing fur when it had finished. It would be completely healed in a few days. If only the memory of my idiocy was as easily erased!

I sold my salvage to the droid when it was finished healing me, emptying my satchel for future discoveries. I even purchased a sheath for my new warblade. Best of all, I had not one but three speeder passes. I could now get to the tomb of Marka Ragnos. The first hurdle had been overcome.

I felt like a very different person as I stopped to give the Intelligence Officer my report and return the scanner. I had my new robes, which the droid had helpfully cleaned for me. I had kept a ring from the first acolyte, as I'd never owned jewelry before. As before with the soldier, the officer didn't seem to notice my race or even the slave brand on my head, although the cloak didn't hide it. She listened quietly, making notes in her datapad, then thanked me politely on behalf of the Inquisitor