Reviews
Winter Feline.
Revan and the Exile both play an important part in the downfall of the Sith Emperor but that's a story spanning hundreds of years your better off checking out Revan's wiki page for the full details.
War sage.
Only okay? Well I suppose it was lacking in action but it was needed for the story. The visions are important.
Lootryx
Well its called Sith Gothic so that should answer your question. Although I don't intend for Gothic to a model Sith.
tylermech66
How goes your writing?
Doombug
Well there is a reason why I label each review with the reviewers name, and that is to let them no that what I am saying is just for them. Why you'd read a review reply meant for someone else I have no idea as they often have spoilers in them Also you can read the reviews for my stories. There is a link for just that reason.
Wooden Farts There On The Go.
I didn't resist I just didn't have the plot I needed until now.
Guest
That power isn't as good as it seems to be. Even Darth Bane couldn't use it right.
Sith Gothic. Part Five.
"Tell me what you regard as your greatest strength, so I will know how best to undermine you; tell me of your greatest fear, so I will know which I must force you to face; tell me what you cherish most, so I will know what to take from you; and tell me what you crave, so that I might deny you…"
-Darth Plagueis
Training Room. The Sith Academy. Korriban. Revan's Sith Empire. Star Wars KOTOR Galaxy.
I had to admit that this part of my training wasn't so bad, in fact I was starting to enjoy learning how to fight. There was something thrilling about facing a foe in battle, pitching your wits against someone who wanted to met you in fair fight.
Granted at first it had been rather difficult to make myself stand my ground but now it was getting easier. Normally I'd be afraid of someone coming at me with a weapon but that fear was no longer a hindrance as I was learning to use it to my advantage. Fear called the Dark Side to me and with the power of the Force I was able to start predicting my opponent's move before they were even made. It wasn't perfect as some attacks got past my defences but I was slowly getting better.
Exactly how the Force was able to guide me in a fight was a mystery to me. I just seemed to know where my sword needed to be in order to block a blow. There were no words I knew to describe it but I could guess that my relationship with the Force was becoming more symbiotic. Perhaps the midi-chlorians within me were simply trying to keep their host body alive but why ever it happened I was grateful for it.
However there was more to this training than simply strengthening my connection to the Force while also strengthening my body. The combat was meant teach me control. I had to learn how to not only call upon the Force but to sustain that connection. The fighting was just away to put me the right state of mind.
Still I did appreciate the fact that endlessly repeating the blocks and parries was building up my stamina. I was even starting to gain muscle mass which was somewhat novel for me. I might become much more physically stronger as well as stronger in use of the Force.
Of course this was only the beginning. Once I could sustain my connection to the Force's dark side I would be able to use it for more than short bursts of telekinesis and very limited precognition.
Already I was developing a more reliable danger sense and hopefully over time I would start to sense other things, but that would take time and a lot more effort.
"Ready to go again?" inquired my Sith Master
Wynn wasn't teaching me directly, he was so much better than me that I would never learn anything from him, aside from how to get my ass kicked and I had plenty of experience in that, so instead I was fighting a male Sith student whose control of the Force was barely any better than mine. However while he was with no doubt a better swordsmen that I he lacked my potential and had been told that he would likely soon be transferred to one of the lesser academies in order to be trained as an assassin or a marauder. He would make a very good marauder in my opinion.
I'd also never been told his name, and I suspected that was because I might have to kill him one day soon so it was best to avoid getting attached. I could very easily see Wynn setting me up for a test like that. It would explain why my duelling partner wore a mask. It made him a faceless foe and they are always easier to kill.
"Yes, Master" I replied before getting up and picking up my practice weapon.
The training blades were heavy swords that were blunted for safety reasons, although they could give a person a nasty bruise, and they were a step up from the wooden sticks I'd started with. They were also effective tools of learning as while they were unable to shed blood getting hit by one hurt so much that you quickly started working out ways to avoid getting whacked.
"I want you to go the offensive" instructed my Sith teacher.
Until now I'd been on the defensive when it came to these lessons, and when I wasn't trying to protect myself I'd been practising the very basics of lightsabre combat forms. Now I was going learn how to not only make myself attack a foe but also I'd need to discover how to bypass the masked man's own defensive moves. This wasn't going to be easy.
"Focus your hate" advised Wynn.
That was a bit of a problem for me because I had no hate. Anger was easy and I was coming to terms with the idea of staying angry. But hate, that was hard to feel when anyone who I had ever hated even a little was millions of lightyears away.
Still I wasn't going to give up without at least trying. I attempted to picture the faceless man as people who had hurt me in the past and that I had wanted to hurt in return. Then rather than use fear I suppressed that feeling as best I could and pictured myself attacking. Since I knew that doing nothing at all would be worse than doing something badly I charged.
And promptly got my asked kicked. My masked foe side stepped to avoid my wild swing and that whacked me back. I wasn't wearing padding so it really, really hurt.
"Use it," ordered Wynn "use the pain, hate him".
Hate was still alluding me for the most part however rage brought on by humiliation was much easier to access.
I attacked again, much faster than before and my faceless opponent was forced to defend himself. My blows were many and strong, but also unpredictable. I wasn't using any pattern I was just trying to hurt the warrior as much as he had hurt me. Yet everything I tried was blocked so easily that rage got replaced with frustration and then despair. My nameless foe might not have my connection to the Force but he was too skilled for me to beat.
Perhaps that was the point. Maybe I wasn't meant to beat this guy so soon. Defeating him could be a goal to aspire to something that I would have to strive for by training harder and becoming stronger.
Sadly for me I didn't get much time to deal with the realisation as my opponent took advantage of the fact that I was running out of steam by disarming me and then whacking me so hard the head that my skull must of cracked.
And that was the last I saw of reality for a while.
The Infirmary. The Sith Academy. Korriban. Revan's Sith Empire. Star Wars KOTOR Galaxy.
Once I'd woken up I had spent about a day floating in a tank of healing fluids while coming to terms with what had happened.
The memory was clear despite the blow to the head I had taken in fact the memory wouldn't fade no matter how much I wished it would. The humiliation and pain were simply to much to forget.
Of course I'd quickly realised that this had been the point. Wynn had made my masked duelling strike me in order to anger me. The Headmaster wanted me to hate the man who had held the sword or even to hate Wynn himself for arranging the humiliation. The Sith Lord wanted me to hate someone so I would strike at them and go further down the dark path. Yet even though I knew the truth the plan had worked flawlessly I did in fact hate both my duelling opponent and the Sith Master so much that I spent hours envisioning their deaths in a series of bloody ways.
I'd like to have thought that these feelings were the result of being on a world strong in the Dark Side. In the past I'd never been one to hold a grudge for long. Normally my passions burned hot and burnt out quickly I could even dose them with quick thinking but now the fires were like smouldering embers that only required fresh fuel before becoming a bonfire of intense emotion once more.
Was this how most people felt all the time? Was this why people so could so completely devote themselves to a cause?
If so I now finally understood what it took to give oneself the drive needed to succeed at any cost.
For so long now apathy had been my natural state. Before Korriban I'd been being of indifference for the most part but since coming to this galaxy I'd started to feel things. In an effort to survive I'd embraced so many feelings and now I couldn't seem to stop.
However as fulfilling as it might be to fully embrace my passions and to satisfy my growing desire for payback with a murder or two I knew it would be foolish to act rashly. I had to make my hate last. I had to turn it into fuel for a fire that had to keep burning softly so it wouldn't burn out. I had to make a plan.
Which was, as I had already pointed out to myself, the entire point behind my skull being bashed in. It had been a lesson and a way to motivate me.
Knowing this I promised myself that Wynn would pay for what he had done. If he wanted a scheming Sith who would bide his time and wait for the right moment to strike then he had one. He would also in time regret his creation.
Now that I was out of the tank and able to sit up in bed I could get started on my revenge plan.
I knew that Ban, like all Sith apprentices, wanted to overthrow her master in order to rule the school as it were. So she would be the logical choice as an ally.
She was already grooming me for such an alliance of that I was certain, but her attempts to make me fall in love with her would be fruitless as I'd lost the ability to love along time ago. There was only so many times a guy could have his heart broke before it would no longer mend and I never would of extended that level of trust to anyone even before I became a Sith in training.
Mutual lust was however more than enough to bind us together. Betraying the Twi'lek Sith would hardly put her in an amorous mood so it was unlikely either of us would betray the other until after we stopped having sex. If I became her apprentice we'd have to stop as she would then have to guard herself from my attempts to advance myself using her death. At least Ban's visits to my room were regular as clockwork now so I'd get some warning if she decided to dissolve the alliance that I had now decided to make official before our joint goal was achieved.
Forming this alliance would be the hard part as while the alien Sith was clearly interested in teaming up with me in the future she wouldn't actually ask me for aid in her plans until I was powerful enough to be of use to her.
In my mind the best way to show that I was ready for the alliance was if I killed the Sith warrior who had put me in the infirmary. If I killed another student in combat in a way that left no doubt in anyone's mind that I was on the dark path then she might think I was ready to become part of her plot to overthrow her master.
However killing the nameless swordsmen wasn't going to be easy. While killing with the sword would be the most satisfying way it could take me months, or more likely years, to become proficient enough with the blade in order to win a duel.
What would be more practical would be to slay my opponent with a Force Power. There were many abilities available to both the Sith and the Jedi which could end a life directly or otherwise disable a foe long enough for a more mundane weapon to do the job.
The only problem there was that I was suppose to be learning the art of swordsmanship in order to earn myself a lightsabre. If I went into the training room and simply ganked the guy with say Force Lightening it would be rather fun and cool but it wouldn't be the way I suppose to win.
Of course my master was a Sith so he might reward such behaviour or he might punish me for not winning the right way.
Perhaps then something subtle was the way to go. There were many ways to use the Force that would weaken an opponent or perhaps I could employ some sort of mind-affecting powers.
That plan was foiled by the fact that I didn't know how to use such powers. Jedi and Sith spend decades learning such things and I didn't have months never mind years to spend.
One thing I did have a talent for was telekinesis. I'd practised this ability quite often and I could use for big showy displays of power or to simply open doors.
A smile crossed my face as I thought of an easy way to defeat the masked warrior at little risk to myself.
Yes it would work nicely and if all went to plan, which would be a nice change at this point, I would not only defeat the nameless swordsman but I would also get my chance to return the favour and put him in the infirmary assuming he didn't die. And as an added bonus perhaps my Sith 'lover' Vaasta Khar would go as far as to pay me some attention.
Vaasta had not made an appearance so far and while I hadn't imagined she would play the part of concerned girlfriend and pay me a visit. I would of at least thought that she would check up on my well-being if only to find out if she would need another bed partner.
Her total lack of interest was rather insulting. I didn't have a great feeling of self worth right now and she'd only made it worse. I shouldn't of been so offended really but a man's ego is rather fragile at the best of times and it had already taken quite the beating. Still at least I now had an idea on how restore my pride.
All I had to do was wait and recover. The next time I entered that training room things would go very differently.
Training Room. The Sith Academy. Korriban. Revan's Sith Empire. Star Wars KOTOR Galaxy.
"I see that you have already recovered" said the man I had named 'Sith marauder' in a mocking tone of voice when I returned to the training room three days after he had sent to me to the infirmary.
"Modern medicine is truly a marvel" I replied.
Without another word both of us reached for our training weapons, the blunt but heavy weapon was now familiar to me and its presence was reassuring as I entered the fight.
The blades met with a sound that seemed to signal the coming ferocity. What followed was my venting of all my frustrations as I let my feelings fuel my growing dark power. But it still it wasn't enough my opponent was simply too skilled for me to defeat without weeks more training, or at least he would have been in a fair fight. I had no intention of letting this be a fair fight.
With grace I didn't know I had I disengaged from the duel and put some different between myself and my rival.
"Come on then" I taunted "show me what you got".
My words weren't very elegant but I got the tone right and the swordsmen charged forward no doubt intending to humiliate me once more. He would never get the chance.
As planned I used the Force to trip the marauder up, he went flying face first into the stone floor of the training room and if that wasn't enough I hit him on the head with my sword as hard as I could.
"Well done" commented Wynn as he stepped out of the shadows "you defeated him, as I knew you would".
I knew for certain that he would of said the very shame thing to the guy on the floor had I not been the winner.
"Now that he is defeated you have earned this".
Something came flying at me and without thought my hand move to catch the thrown object.
"Your own lightsabre" explained the Headmaster "it is different from a sword and can cut through nearly any known material".
He paused as if to considered something.
"You'll need to find someone else to practice with as your current training partner is about to die".
Wait what? No I just meant to knock him out not kill him. I had been willing to end his life when I entered the room but my last strike was meant to have been a killing blow.
"Don't bother feeling guilty" advised my Sith Master "he would of killed you should I have allowed it".
Well yeah but still I'd killed the guy or soon would have.
I pushed down the feelings of guilt and focused my attention on the lightsabre in my hand. This prize was the point of all this and it made it worth while. Besides the man I'd killed had been no innocent nor would he have spared me were he in my shoes.
Also Wynn was right I now needed someone to train me in how to use the weapon. The skills I had learned with a sword would help but the blades were different enough that I would have to learn a totally new style of fighting.
"I will train him " came an offer from behind me.
Once more I cursed my inability to sense people with the Force but I knew who had spoke by the sound of her voice.
"Your only an apprentice yourself, Ban" argued the Twi'lek woman's teacher.
"You taught me more than well enough to train this one in the art of lightsabre combat" she countered.
That had been a clever thing for her to say because if he now told her she couldn't train me to wield the weapon of a Sith then he would criticising his own worth as a Sith Master.
"Very well my student" said the bald headed man addressing Ban not myself "you can train him".
Wynn acted as if it didn't really matter, but I knew that he knew just how risky it was to put one's apprentice in a position where she might find a suitable apprentice of her own. It would only encourage her to over throw the Headmaster of the academy sooner as she would have someone ready to take her place should she ascend in the ranks.
However this was also a risk for Ban as if she trained me too well then Wynn might decide that I would make a better apprentice for him, and it would be the Twi'lek who was in way of my ascension.
So if I played my cards right and had a bit of luck I could engineer a situation that's outcome benefited me no matter which Sith it was who died.
Naturally I'd favour Ban as she was hot and I was putting it to her, but on the other hand if I was Wynn's right hand man I could have any number of female students willing to warm my bed all for the chance of getting to where I was now.
Which would in turn put me in danger but what's life without a little risk. Besides I could always kick them out of bed after sex and use my room to lessen the chances of their being a knife between the pillows.
"Well no time like the present" I said to Ban while trying to look eager to train rather than eager to advance in rank "let's find a room not littered with trash and get started".
My attitude sat well with the alien Sith and we soon left the training room in order to find another. The Sith marauder was left to die alone, assuming that he wasn't already dead, and this really didn't bother me as much as it should have.