ADAS KALLIG

I forgot how much fun it was to talk about the Sith culture and history!

It was one of my hobbies during the time I was a young and ambitious Sith, trying to advance my career. Unfortunately I wasn't able to indulge myself in it after becoming Darth Imperius. Mostly because of the constant apocalyptic events I found myself a participant of. And because I was once frozen in carbonite for 5 years. And I was trapped for millenia in my tomb. Thanks to these various events I didn't have a lot of occasions to discuss the culture and history.

But now I had a chance again and it was great! It was an amazing feeling to see all these people listening to me intently, hanging on my every word. I understood why Grandpa Aloysius was so eager to create his own sith academy. I could imagine myself becoming a full-time teacher during my retirement.

It was time to answer some questions from the audience. I looked at the people before me, trying to find a proper person to start this section of the lecture.

"You " I pointed at the young student sitting in the front row. "What is your question?" He stood up excitedly, apparently quite happy to be chosen.

"I want to ask you about the Sith stance on multi-racial cooperation? I don't want to imply anything. I just noticed that all currently known sith, You, Chancellor and Dooku are human. Is it connected to some sith doctrine?" A reasonable question. I would do my best to answer it with honesty and integrity.

"Sith order always valued cooperation between races, as well as giving everyone equal opportunities. In fact, the term "Sith" was first used as a name of the Sith species I already mentioned. When sith and ancient humans who discovered them started to interbreed and mix their cultures together, the term changed its meaning, starting to mean the shared philosophy of the group. It means that the sith were quite tolerant since their beginning" I looked at my audience. It seemed a lot of them were quite enamored with the sith benevolence, as they were listening to me with blazing eyes. Only Obi-Wan was looking as if he was choking, but it probably wasn't connected.

"Then, during the sith empire times, we were allies with chiss and mandalorians, two distinct cultures, so different from ours. It is a clear sign of the empire's liberal views. Of course there were some bad apples along the way, but they had never represented the entire group. Does that answer your question?" I asked the man. He nodded and sat down, eyes full of admiration. It was always nice to show someone the right way. Now, time for the next question.

"Let's see, who to pick" I looked at the hall filled with raised hands. One person catched me eye. I pointed at her.

"Woman in the last row" I said, looking at the old woman with grey hair, who was sitting at the back of the hall. "What's your question?"

"Thank you, Lord Imperius." Said the woman after giving me a shallow bow. How polite of her to use my sith title."My question is simple. What's your response to the claims that history is marked by galaxy-wide conflicts that, if not outright started by either Sith or Jedi, inevitably involve one, or even both parties, making said conflicts revolve around them, while non-Force sensitives can only pick sides?" That was quite unexpected. She threw me quite a curveball there. Very nice.

"Well, I agree" I said. The hall became silent. Everyone was looking at me in beliwerment, not expecting such an answer. They were looking at me, waiting for an explanation. I shouldn't keep them waiting.

"While there were some galaxy-spanning wars where at least one side of the conflict was made explicitly out of non-force users, most of the greatest wars in the history of the galaxy ended up with Jedi and Sith fighting on opposing sides, often even leading them" I looked at my audience, that was watching me in silence "It's simple. As we already know, the core values of the sith order are passion and self-improvement. These are not qualities of people who would sit by, ignoring a conflict taking place before them. A proper sith would eventually join one of the sides of the conflict, often ending up leading it, thanks to already mentioned qualities. When you add the fact that members of the sith order were peerless warriors, capable of channeling the force, It's obvious that wars would eventually revolve around them"

People were now nodding heads, finally starting to understand why I agreed with the statement. But it was only a half of my answer.

"it's even simpler with the jedi. Their code, at last before recent changes, actually demanded for them to purge any sith they would encounter. So if a Jedi were to see a Sith joining a conflict, they would instantly join the other side, just to kill the Sith, because of their supposed religious duty. Long time ago Jedi self-appointed themselves as the keepers of the balance. It allowed them to justify their every action and atrocity, using this excuse. The fact that their definition of balance is a complete destruction of the Sith order should tell you something about Order's true nature." I then thought about something.

"Though, despite my earlier words, I would like to remind everyone that not every war revolved around force users. Take Mandalorian Wars for example. It was a war between the republic and mandalorians. Force users were only present on one side of that war and yet it was a long, horrible war with one of the worst atrocities in the history of the galaxy. I am of course talking about Malachor V. Jedi general in charge of the republic army used a superweapon there to defeat Mandalorian forces. Revan, who was most certainly a jedi, used the shadow generator to kill everyone on the planet. It didn't matter if they were mandalorians, jedi or republic soldiers, everyone died after the jedi general gave his order, transforming the previously habitable planet into a barren, lifeless wasteland."

"There was also a war, where the Jedi order decided to overthrow the republic, putting their own chancellor in the place of the previous one. From what I remember this conflict happened because of the religious difference between the republic and the jedi order. The Jedi couldn't handle the fact that the republic believed in something other than them, so they plunged it into chaos and reforged the republic as they saw fit. It's proof that there were certainly some wars, where only one side had access to the force. Though it doesn't change the fact that most of the galaxy wars were fought between the Jedi and the Sith for already explained reasons" I said, finishing my speech. I looked at the woman " I hope I was able to answer your question"

"Yes" she replied "It was quite an intriguing answer"

It appeared that everyone else also thought so, as a lot of people were now looking at Obi-Wan with obvious scorn. The Jedi master looked extremely uncomfortable, trying to ignore them.

"Okay" I announced "Next question!" I said, pointing at another person "Your turn!"

"Yes!" He replied, not expecting to get picked. "I want to ask, How homogenous was the original Sith culture, really? From your mention of the Sith species I assume that the current Sith Order is the continuation of their mainstream religious sect, but surely there would be some internal diversity as well? Also, to what extent does the Sith Order preserve non-religious cultural practices of the Sith? Is Darth a religious title or a secular one? How religious even were the Sith?"

"Wow, that's a lot of questions! You are certainly eager. I will try to answer as best as I can. Sith culture is actually quite hard to define. In actuality there was never one and only culture, common for all sith. It comes from the sith's innate individuality, which makes it impossible to create a culture universal to every member of the order. Sure, we have some common traditions, like the title of darth or certain aesthetics, but every sith is practically expected to create their own path. After all we are not like jedi, bound by extremely strict code meant to control every aspect of our lives. So to answer your question, there is a lot of internal diversity, though from different reasons than you have probably imagined"

I thought about the second part of the question. How to answer it right?

"when it comes to the Sith and religion, well, to tell you the truth Sith were always more of the communal experience than a true religion. Our belief in the force may classify us as a religious group, but I always thought sith were more practical about it than jedi. Whereas jedi consider themselves "balance keepers" and "guardians of the force" indicating extreme arrogance and fanaticism, sith treat force as a part of our lives. We don't worship it though, instead regarding it as an important part of the galaxy, a part we often reach for" I said honestly. After all, force was a precious tool. Sith always held a healthy amount of respect for it, even as we tried to control it. "And finishing this question, Darth is not a religious title, or at least it hasn't been since ancient times. It's more cultural in nature, almost like a passage to adulthood. You receive it when you are ready to become a sith, making it quite an important step in every young sith's life" I finished. I wasn't sure if I explained everything or even If I understood it correctly, but I hoped it would be enough. Not wasting time, I pointed at another person attending the lecture.

"Earlier in the lecture you mentioned that because of the individualism and passion in the order, there was some infighting in the past. Is it something that was unique to your order, or was internal struggle also present in other force-sensitive groups, especially Jedi? Because I once read about a great jedi civil war and it sounded like quite a devastating conflict" Well, that was awkward. He was talking about Revan and Malak, right? Hmmm, they were technically jedi. Former, but still. I had nothing against admitting that they were sith during the conflict, but If he wanted to treat them as jedi, I would oblige.

"Yes, jedi also had a lot of infighting during their history. One of examples was the civil war, just as you said. Revan, the same jedi general who committed an atrocity on Malachor V and his padawan, Malak, decided to conquer the republic, emboldened by their victory against mandalorians. It was a devastating conflict that ended with the decimation of the jedi order, only around hundred of them surviving until the end of the war. Jedi act nice and humble, but they can be real savages. Not you Obi-Wan, you are great!" I replied, remembering to reassure Obi-Wan, who was looking more and more fatigued with every word I was saying. Guy really should take a nap. I wouldn't mind. I looked at the clock. The lecture was about to end. I only had time for one, last question.

I scanned the crowd. Who should I pick? My eyes landed on a student from the university I was currently in. He would do.

"Time for the last question. What do you want to know?" I said.

"Mister Kallig, piggybacking on the previous question about the wars between the Sith and the Jedi that get the non-force users involved, wouldn't it be wise to resolve the religious and political differences in a more academic manner with an honest debate, rather than risk another galactic war in the future? And secondly, will there be a possibility of visiting the Sith world of Korriban in order to study the culture and beliefs of the Sith in more depth?" What an adorable sentiment. Though it sounded slightly boring. Galactic war is like the best communal experience imaginable. Everyone can attend it, everyone can express their opinion on it! And you can fight as long as you want. No matter how many jedi you kill, two more would come in the place of every fallen. Yeah, war was great. But I probably shouldn't say that. I was a Sith expert Kallig at the moment, not Darth Imperius, lord of the sith.

"well, I have nothing against an honest, academic debate. In fact, I believe something like that should be made in the future, so that jedi and sith could give their arguments and ideas, resolving everything peacefully. I am sure my good friend Obi-Wan thinks the same" I said, ignoring Obi-Wan's angry look. It was probably a little rude, but it was only a suggestion. There was nothing to get mad about.

"And, when it comes to the second part of the question, yes. It will be possible to visit Korriban. I didn't plan to announce it so soon, but it's as good of an occasion as any. I plan to open the sith academy again!" My announcement was met with thunderous clapping from everyone in the lecture hall except for Obi-Wan. It seemed that the idea was received favourably. Good, it would make the next step easier. I was shouting, so that the crowd would be able to hear me. "In fact, I intend to visit Chancellor Palpatine, hoping to get funding for it. I am sure that he will look favourably at my request as a fellow sith. The academy will be led by my ancestor and one of the greatest sith of his generation, Aloysius Kallig!" Crowd went mad from excitement. Everyone was screaming, praising my idea and wanting to know details.

"Thank you, thank you. It appears that my time here ended, but I am sure we will meet again! Maybe even at the sith academy! Remember, you are always welcome on Korriban!" I shouted, waving and saying goodbyes to the crowd before me.

People were trying to get to me, to shake my hand or get my signature, begging me to stay a little longer. It took a while for me to even be able to get out of the lecture hall, such was the excitement of the crowd.

All in all, the lecture went roughly like I expected.