CHAPTER 2: TRUTH

Ganner

I woke up, quickly adopting a battle stance, though no one was around. In fact, the planet seemed almost serene, like it was untouched. The moon wasn't blocked. In fact, there was no evidence a fight had even occurred, and certainly no craters. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw movement and began to follow it. It was 4 Jedi.

Could it be..? No, it was impossible.

I had to know. I followed them.

They were running in the direction of the Temple, though I couldn't make out who they were.

After making sure they weren't followed, they stopped in a clearing to rest and wait. I approached from afar, and it was them. It was me. I kept my distance, fearing what interference would reap. Just as I remembered it, Yula was the first one to notice.

"Guys, what is this?"

She pulled some small metal scrap out of the ground, and almost immediately I could feel darkness emanating from it. At her touch, it began to hover on its own, pulling other metal scraps out of the ground all around it, the darkness building the entire time. Finally, it formed a small pyramid. A Sith Holocron. They were all speechless with faces of sheer surprise as it began to fly off into the distance.

After another exchange of glances, they followed it.

They followed it down the path as I observed. As they turned the corner they stopped in awe.

The Holocron flew into the door to the Temple. I knew what came next.

"Ganner, it's me."

It was an illusion of the Dark Side. Without thinking, I- that is, the other Ganner- sprinted to it at full speed, before the others could react. I pressed my body against the door.

"Listen, we'll get you out, okay?"

"Ganner, don't! It's a trap!" Yula's voice rang out. But it was already too late.

Before my eyes, the door of the Sith Temple opened to reveal a group of silhouettes. Left to right: Maricus, Talzin, Massikus in his old body, and Varad.

Both groups activated their lightsabers and Varad leapt at my past self. Unlike last time, I didn't black out. Varad's strike was strong, but my past self stood his ground in blocking it, defiance in his eyes.

"RUN!" He yelled.

Then he unleashed a bold flurry of attacks as the others hesitantly ran. I didn't know I was capable of putting up such a fight, holding off Varad, Maricus, Siri, and countless other Sith. Only when Massikus stepped in did I finally fall. As past Ganner lost consciousness, the world began to turn black, except for one person: Talzin.

"Impressive, is it not? She asked. "I'm sure you're very confused. Let's continue."

When I came to, I was in the room where it happened. I saw myself bound to the tablet. I saw the pain and the fear in my eyes- eyes that looked at me, but through me.

Talzin and Massikus stood in front of him, as they had before.

"Something was helping him out there, I'm sure of it. And getting in his head is the only way to find out what."
He was talking to the Nightsister as my senses came back.

"Massikus, are you sure?" she asked. "We can hold on to him for a while longer, your current host isn't in the worst shape."

Massikus replied. "I need him now. You saw what happened out there. I'll need that kind of power to hunt down the other three."

He concentrated on past me. I knew what he was doing.

"We can send the Assassins after them-"

"Who? Saris? He'll be caught or worse for sure, and we'll be exposed. We are not yet ready."

Funny how that worked out.

"There are some who would think otherwise."

"It's final." He walked onto a slab adjacent to mine with the same bindings, and activated them using the Force. With a sly grin on her face and her hands glowing a vibrant green she moved towards him and place her hands on his temple. He fell asleep quickly, and she turned to past me, her hands now red.

"You, unfortunately, don't get to sleep. But don't worry; in time you will play your part." He tried to escape, but he was too weak. While he was squirming, she put her hands to his head. I knew what was happening now. Past me lost consciousness again, but this time the vision didn't end. The world froze and Talzin turned to me.

"Tell me, how did you fight them?"

"I-I don't know. What is this?"

"This is where you learn the truth. There was not one ritual performed on you, but two."

"It was an ancient ritual. Only the wisest and the strongest could perform it, and only one in trillions could be the recipient. The ritual was meant to amplify the Force potential in a being; primarily the Dark Side. Even a decent Force wielder could lay waste to entire planets with the power offered by it. Uncovering it was among my kind's greatest accomplishments within the last generation. However, I have seen visions of the futures that lie ahead, and I have seen what Varad plans to do. Somehow, he learned the ritual, made an army, and with you as his second in command, he conquered the galaxy. It would destroy the balance of the Force. But this path is a farce, for here you are. In another future, the ritual I perform on you doesn't go how it is meant to. You gain the power but not the darkness, and you lose the memories of how to use it, even past memories if by some chance you did what was necessary."

"And what was necessary?"

Around us, the world once again returned to the duel outside the Temple.

"You have to let go of your tethers. You have to plunge into the Force itself, without Light or Dark, ready to die for the cause you fight for. You give yourself entirely, and you receive true power in return."

The battle started anew, with Varad attacking me.

"RUN!"
As their lightsabers met, the Ganner of the past gave himself to the Force with one goal: Save the others. There was no code that mattered now, only allowing them to escape. As we reached the point where Massikus subdued me, I saw Talzin's hands lightly glowly, her lips quietly whispering some sort of spell to weaken me. Massikus wasn't the one who had really taken me down.

"Why now?"

"Because the ritual of power has been used on someone else. And Varad is going to use him to bring raise hell. He'll be able to find every Force-user in the galaxy with the potential, build the army, and civilizations will fall. We can't allow that, now can me?"

"No. Send me back."

"As you wish, but know this: Only with your life will the curse of the Binding ever truly be lifted from the Galaxy."

The wind howled around me, in a raging snowstorm. A world of white, of snow, seemingly empty. I trudged through the frost of the planet where I would die. Somewhere in the distance, out of the storm, another shadow walked towards me. A shadow I had not seen for a long, long time.

Throughout the rest of our conversation until I re-entered the material world, the hiss of her lightsaber, the one meant to kill me, rang through my ears.

"Tell me, Talzin, why are you really doing this?"

She smiled.