That night, Kelly, Cortana, Aayla and Xyl had been relegated to the spare bedroom, and Fay to the other spare bedroom. Tonight, I was giving my new Sith teacher my full attention.

"You know, this is one area of life where I don't have a huge amount of experience," Sorzus admitted. "Though I did… indulge in sexual relations a few times with some of my fellow Sith, I didn't trust any of them enough for a long-term relationship."

"Well, now you know yet another reason why I never intend to become a Sith," I replied.

"You could probably get away with it though. After all, you never have to fear betrayal."

"That's not really what I meant," I said, shaking my head. "I don't want to become someone with no feelings for others."

"I understand," Sorzus murmured. "Force… when even was the last time I truly cared for another person? Not since before I was exiled from the Jedi, certainly… perhaps not even then. Not that I regret my life choices; many people, of all walks of life, fall in love at one point or another, but how many can claim as many accomplishments with the Force as myself? Only those of us who first founded the Sith order seven millennia ago, and perhaps some of our noteworthy more successors… but we all have our specialties. In the area of Sith alchemy specifically? None were my equal, nor do I have any reason to think any have matched me since."

"And yet, you still don't seem entirely happy," I pointed out.

"Happiness is something else I chose to forego willingly, for the same reason," she sighed. "I'll admit, being bound to you has begun to remind me of what I was missing out on."

"Well Sorzus, now you don't have to choose; you can instead have your cake and eat it too," I said, laying back on the bed. "Never again will you have to choose between happiness and power; you'll have both, and more than ever to boot."

"Receiving power from this 'Company' of yours does have its advantages," Sorzus nodded. "That said, if we are going to partake in this, we should do it in the Sith way."

"The Sith way, eh? So what does that entail?"

"Is it not obvious? The Sith devote themselves to the domination of others. Yet, bound as I am to you, I cannot possibly dominate you in any way. No, you must be willing to exert dominance over me."

I blinked; out of all the things I'd been expecting Sorzus to say, that hadn't been among them. Noticing my befuddlement, she just rolled her eyes. "You may reject the tenets of the Sith Amedeus, yet you are still devoted to using the Dark side. Start acting like it! Utterly dominate those under you! Make sure they know their place!"

Gently brushing my thoughts against the Sith's mind, I could immediately tell she was bullshitting. This was just a fantasy of hers, one that she didn't trust her fellow Sith enough to ever explore.

I stood up, as I began grinning. "Be careful what you wish for, Sorzus. You just might get it." Without warning I telekinetically pushed her down onto the bed as I started pulling off her clothes.

"Did you forget how good I am at telepathy?" I sneered. "I can read your thoughts like an open book. Admit it, you're just a kinky bitch that gets off on the thought of being dominated."

"Well…" she trailed off, sounding sheepish, before regaining her composure. "Well what if I am? Did you forget that pain only makes me stronger? Besides, I wouldn't submit to just anyone. Only to someone as strong as you, both physically and in the Dark side. And even then, only in the bedroom."

I snorted. "You don't just want to be dominated though, do you? You want to be totally helpless as I fuck you silly. Don't worry, by morning you'll be wishing you'd kept your mouth shut."

Once she was totally naked, I used more telekinesis to retrieve my supply of rope, and a special collar I'd made for my kinky endeavours. To the casual observer it was just a normal leather collar, but embedded inside the leather were runes of Warpalloy - which was the extremely unimaginative name I'd given to the Warp-resonant alloy of iron, silver and blood I'd used to make runes for other things. In this case the runes would block anyone who wore the collar from drawing upon the Warp - I didn't want any subs untying themselves with telekinesis after all.

Sorzus yelped as the ropes flew through the air towards her, tying her arms behind her back with her legs firmly bound together, while I fitted the collar around her neck. Any attempts she made to draw upon the Warp would be redirected back into herself, and she wasn't a strong enough psyker to break them through psychic brute force, rendering her completely and utterly helpless.

"Is this what you had in mind, Sith slut?" I smirked. I yanked her head by her hair with one hand, forcing her to kneel on the bed face-to-face with me, as I twisted one of her nipples with my other hand, though she barely reacted to the pain. "You were already wet just from being tied up and powerless, weren't you? The pain is just the icing on the cake, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," she said, her eyes smouldering with lust. "I never imagined I'd ever be able to actually do this with another, but now…"

"Oh, I'll give you more pain and pleasure than you could ever want Sorzus," I said, before kissing her hard. Our tongues intertwined, entering each other's mouths before I broke it off, manhandling her over my lap.

"Why don't I start off with something light?" My hand impacted her left arse cheek with a satisfying smack, before doing the same to the right one.

"It'll take more than some spanking to make me beg for mercy," Sorzus smirked, clearly enjoying the painful sensation as her rear end began turning red under my blows.

"This is just the warmup. You should know that Kelly is also a total pain slut, one with an exceptionally high pain tolerance to boot. I'm curious to see how well you compare." I was still just using my bare hand, but I wasn't holding back either, enjoying seeing the Sith's round arse cheeks growing more and more red.

"Why don't I switch things up a bit?" I rearranged the ropes as I shifted her into a prone position with her arms underneath her running parallel to her legs, fixing her wrists and ankles in place with her arse sticking up in the air. Face down on the bed, she couldn't see as I went over to the other side of the room, retrieving a long, thin rubber hose.

"This is Kelly's favourite thing to be hit with," I said to the helpless Sith. "I wonder how much you'll like it?" Without further ado I struck Sorzus's abused posterior with the hose.

She hissed in pain, but gave no indication she wanted me to stop. I whipped her arse a few more times before I heard her whisper, "Not enough."

"What's that, Sorzus?" I asked, knowing exactly what she meant.

"Not hard enough! Hit me harder! I can take it. Make me scream!"

"Well, seeing as you asked so nicely…" This time the hose impacted her rear with a loud 'whap', followed by a satisfying squeal of pain, the pussy juices running down the insides of her thighs belying her enjoyment. I gave her a couple dozen more strokes with the hose, getting a pained scream out of Sorzus each time, along with a nice collection of welts on her arse cheeks.

Still, I wasn't satisfied she was suffering quite enough. Taking another page out of Xyl's book, I engulfed my hands in red flames. This spell was related to the pink flames we usually used during sex, but whereas they induced intense pleasure in whatever they touched, these red flames induced intense pain. I grabbed her rear end, one cheek in each hand, really digging my fingers into her abused flesh, red flames coursing all over it. That got a reaction out of her, treating me to a blood curdling scream as I just laughed.

"You can't get enough of this, can you slut?" I chuckled as I applied red flames to her sensitive nipples as well. Sorzus's toes curled as she thrashed around in agony, before falling silent.

Ah, clearly I'd gone a bit too far and she'd passed out. From our ensuite bathroom I telekinetically held an orb of cold water from the tap, which I tossed in Sorzus's face, causing her to sputter as she was abruptly brought back to awareness.

"Hey, I don't recall giving you permission to pass out on me, filthy skank," I said as I inserted a couple of fingers into her sopping wet cunt. With my other hand I applied more red flames to her beaten arse cheeks, while simultaneously applied pink flames to the inside of her engorged vagina.

"OH YES!" She screamed in both unimaginably intense pain and pleasure, though she remained conscious this time. She seemed dazed as I began undressing myself, freeing my rock hard dick which had been pressing uncomfortably against the inside of my pants.

"Force… that was far more intense than I'd imagined," Sorzus said, panting.

"Oh we're just getting started. Why don't you get a good look at what's about to go inside you?" I said as she saw me naked for the first time, her eyes widening in shock.

"There's no way that'll fit…" she trailed off. "Wait a minute, you made some changes to my insides as well, didn't you?"

"What do you take me for? Of course I changed your insides. There's plenty of room in your cunt and shitter for my dick now. Your throat too; you should see how wide your jaw can open now."

"Such crude language," Sorzus admonished, though her smile belied the fact she didn't mean it. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

"First, I think I'll have a taste," I said, flipping her onto her back. The ropes holding her wrists and ankles in place did an excellent job of keeping her legs back, leaving her pussy wide open as I buried my face into it, nibbling her clit and extending my tongue into her love tunnel.

"Oh, that feels good," Sorzus moaned, shortly before I made her scream in pleasure once again as pink flames engulfed my mouth, eagerly lapping up her delicious juices. She had no choice but to lie there and cum over and over as I ate her out.

"Not that I'm complaining, but I'm surprised to see you do that," she said. "Giving pleasure without receiving any in turn… I would regard that as an act of submission."

"Not if I do it of my own free will," I said, grinning as I lifted my head away from her crotch. "If anything, it's the opposite; you cum exactly when and how I want you to, and there's not a fucking thing you can do about it. Now though, I think we're ready for the main event."

By this point my dick was so hard it was almost painful. I held Sorzus in place as I shoved it into her sodden vagina, enjoying the feeling of it stretching tightly around my dick, as well as the sight of the bulge in her belly. I slowly pushed it in right to the hilt, my balls touching her arse. It was then that I summoned more pink flames around my dick.

"Ohhh…." Sorzus trailed off, her scream cut off as her brain was completely overwhelmed with pleasure, her eyes glazing over. With the pink flames inside her pussy bringing her to one long, continuous orgasm, she was rendered completely insensate almost instantly. This was heightened even further as I began thrusting in and out of her like a jackhammer. With the pink flames stimulating me as well, I lasted only a few minutes before I felt my own orgasm building.

"Oh fuck, take my fucking cum you slut," I groaned as I rope after rope of cum was squirted into her cunt for the first time. Still rock hard, I flipped Sorzus over as I began savagely fucking her from behind, my hips impacting her bruised arse cheeks with force. The Sith lady was barely responsive at this point, the pleasure coursing through her brain leaving no room for anything else. Despite still using the pink flames, I lasted longer the second time around, relentlessly fucking her pussy for more than 10 minutes before I felt the pressure building in my balls once again. I grunted, seeing stars as I came like a firehose into Sorzus's cunt, most of it being pushed out with my dick filling her right to the cervix.

Taking a minute to recover, I got some more water from the bathroom, as well as some vaseline which I applied to the entire length of my dick. With her own admission of her lack of sex experience, I doubted Sorzus had ever done anal before. She was still tripping balls after my magically-enhanced fucking, but I wanted her to know when I took her anal cherry.

"Yeah, that was fun, but now it's time for something else," I said, tossing the water in her face, causing her to sputter in shock yet again.

"Wha… what? What are you talking about?" Sorzus asked, dazed.

"I'm talking about your other hole that I haven't claimed yet, Sith whore," I sneered as I unceremoniously spread her shithole before shoving my dick straight in.

She shrieked, more in shock than in pain, as her arsehole stretched around my girth as I just laughed. "There isn't a single part of you that doesn't belong to me, Sorzus. Once one of the most powerful Sith of all time, now just a set of holes for getting myself off." I cast the pink flames once again, Sorzus screaming in pleasure yet again as I fucked her shitter with abandon. It wasn't long before she was overwhelmed once again, her tongue lolling out of her mouth and her eyes glazing over as I fucked her into oblivion. As tight as her pussy was, her rectum was even tighter, squeezing my dick like a vice in all directions. I lasted longer only because I'd cum twice already, groaning loudly as I filled her rear end with spunk.

Sorzus spent the next few hours in a pleasure-induced stupor as I fucked her relentlessly, alternating between filling each of her holes with another load of cum. I was pretty close to that state myself, though my augmented brain allowed me to process the hyperintense feelings more easily. It was after I'd given her 15 creampies that I'd decided I was finished, laying back on the bed with Sorzus curled up on my torso, cuddling up to me as she basked in the afterglow of hours of non-stop orgasms.

"You should know Amedeus, that it was I that first penned the Sith code. When I wrote 'peace is a lie, there is only passion', this isn't quite what I had in mind," Sorzus chuckled, still a bit woozy.

"Is it not? You may draw upon negative emotions for power, but that doesn't stop you from feeling positive emotions as well," I said. "It makes me wonder if you could use positive emotions to draw in power as well as negative ones."

Sorzus looked surprised when I said that. "Of course you can. The Jedi of my era often did."

It was my turn to look surprised. "Really?"

"They didn't always reject their emotions, you know. Just as the Sith use negative emotions to draw power from the Dark side, the Jedi used positive emotions to draw it from the Light side. I am honestly unsure what has brought about this change within them over the past few millennia."

"Maybe it was too difficult? I imagine it's much easier to focus on rage and hate than love and peace when you're fighting for your life."

"That is one downside to the Jedi's method, yes, and requires strict emotional control to successfully achieve it. Even still, it served as a pathway to considerable power for them."

"As interesting as that is, I don't think it would be applicable back home," I said. "It isn't just using negative emotions that's dangerous when the Warp is so unstable; using any kind of emotion to draw in too much power could lead to death, or worse. I know my Company perks make it a non-issue, but it's still not something I'm willing to try… it's the principle of the thing."

"I understand," Sorzus murmured, shortly before I kissed her, this time more tender than passionate. "Force, is it really past three in the morning? I don't really feel like sleeping though… I don't suppose you know a Force technique that makes it unnecessary?"

"That's one of the more basic applications of biomancy, actually," I smiled as I channelled Warp energy into her, perking her up. "I've not felt the need to use it on myself. One of my implanted organs allows me to rest portions of my brain sequentially while remaining alert. It can't replace sleep completely, but it does massively reduce my need for it. I typically maintain a sleep schedule of four hours every seven days, as I like to have some as a nice, restful way of rounding out each week."

"At that point, the extra benefit of no sleep at all becomes somewhat marginal," Sorzus nodded, as I felt her extend out her Warp-sight. "I see that Cortana and Xylixia are still awake as well."

"Everyone's needs are different. Aayla, and presumably Fay, sleep every night as usual. Kelly sleeps for two hours every other night due to her own augmented brain, and Cortana and Xyl don't need any."

"A quirk of their biology, I presume? Cortana appears to be human, but I don't recognise Xylixia's species. There aren't many near-human beings with both wings and a tail."

I shook my head. "Cortana is actually a kind of AI, far more advanced than any droid. Her programming is based on the neural patterning of Dr Catherine Halsey, her creator. Her body is mostly robotic, though with a flesh covering - actual organic flesh at that, not the synthetic kind."

Sorzus raised an eyebrow. "An artificial intelligence with a soul?"

"She didn't originally have one. We can thank another Company perk for that."

The Sith nodded. "And Xylixia?"

"Strictly speaking, she's not biological at all. She's a manner of being known as a daemon-"

I was cut off as Sorzus scoffed loudly. "A demon? Do you have any idea how absurd that sounds?"

"Yes I do. It's true though. Remember when I said how, back home, the collective emotions had agitated the Warp enough to become somewhat sentient gods? These Gods of Chaos, as they're known, have countless daemons at their command, infinitesimal pieces of themselves with varying levels of sentience. Xylixia is one of the more powerful lesser daemons of Slaanesh, the Chaos God of excess. Her body is made entirely of Warp energy, which thanks to the Stamp has crystallised within the materium and become solid."

Sorzus looked intrigued by that. "Is that so? Well, I take back what I just said. Seeing as I won't need to sleep tonight, this seems like an excellent learning opportunity," she said as she climbed off me, heading for the bathroom to clean up and get dressed, shortly before I did the same.


Sorzus had spent the rest of the night eagerly questioning both Cortana and Xyl on their natures as an AI and daemon respectively. I hadn't known it at the time I'd Stamped her, but I was so glad I'd brought back a scholarly Sith instead of a deranged, rage-fueled monster. There was little value to be gained from the latter.

The next morning we resumed our psykery practice in the ship's cargo bay, this time with Sorzus's input as Fay looked on. The Sith lady had been particularly intrigued by the slowness bubble housing the remaining sacrifices, while our resident Jedi master was sickened by the fact I even had any, despite reassuring her they would otherwise be executed for their crimes. She'd hopefully come around eventually, Aayla had after all.

We began our practice with some lightsaber sparring, which Sorzus was particularly keen to observe.

"Back in my time, there were only two lightsaber forms; Form I, Shii Cho, and Form II, Makashi," my Sith teacher said. "I've gathered that there are now seven."

I nodded. "Before he left, I got Maul to show us all seven of the standard lightsaber forms. Kelly's preferred form is Makashi, and Aayla's is the Djem So variant of Form V, while I've been using Form VII, otherwise known as Juyo."

"Getting the most out of Juyo requires one to utilise their emotions, which I thought you were averse to," Fay commented. I raised an eyebrow at that, causing her to frown. "What? I may not carry a lightsaber, but I still learned how to use one."

"My opinion on that has softened a bit, actually," I replied. "While I still maintain that using one's emotions to directly channel the Warp is a bad idea, that isn't what Juyo calls for. It's about letting the Warp flow through you as you fight, with your emotions just acting as a guide, which is what makes Juyo so unpredictable, and effective. Personally I've not had any trouble keeping a lid on my emotions while doing this. If anything, it's nice to have a controlled outlet for my emotions."

Fay nodded. "I believe that Master Mace Windu does something similar with his own usage of Form VII, fighting under the guidance of controlled passion. He regards this as a different variant which he calls Vaapad. Even still, it draws the user perilously close to the Dark side, though I suppose that's not a problem for you."

"Now I'm curious what else you know about Form VII, not that I plan to use it myself," Kelly said.

The Jedi master shrugged. "I know as much as anyone else who learned its blade techniques without committing to the emotional aspects of it… purely to know how to defend myself against it, you understand. Both Juyo and Vaapad are more of a mindset than a fighting style, though they still have a range of manoeuvres as broad as the other forms. Still, it's sometimes paired with another form in order to make it even more unpredictable, and also even harder to learn."

"That lines up with what Maul said as well," I said. "He paired it with Ataru - which is Form IV, Sorzus. Having tried a few different combinations, I've decided to pair it with Form VI, or Niman."

"Wait, seriously?" Aayla asked, surprised. "Niman is mostly just used by Jedi consulars, who don't have the time to learn one of the more specialised forms. You're so strong Ame, surely Djem So would be better?"

"That was my first inclination as well, but when I sat down and really thought about it I realised that Niman is just way better in the long-term," I said, collecting my thoughts. "For one thing, Niman seems to take the best bits from all the first five forms, which makes it incredibly versatile, and I value versatility. Also I think that - when taken to its absolute highest level - Niman is actually the strongest lightsaber form, since mastering it effectively means I've mastered the best bits of Forms I through V. In addition, due to its versatility Niman is the best at incorporating Warp-based attacks which, well, surely I don't need to tell you how valuable that is?"

"That is some sound logic," Fay nodded. "Many Jedi do learn various portions of Niman at some point for exactly that purpose, though it's sufficiently difficult that most never really manage it, let alone master it. Supposedly, the Sith lord Exar Kun was one of the few to truly master Niman, which is what allowed him to go his entire life without losing a lightsaber duel," she said, looking thoughtful. "Yes, pairing Niman with Juyo would be an exceptionally potent combination, if also exceptionally difficult to master."

"Of course, I've not even told you my main reason for using Niman yet," I said.

"Oh?"

"Being the most versatile form means it's also the most suited to dual wielding, which means it's also the best suited for using these bad boys," I grinned as I reached into my pocket space and pulled out my Force Sword and Storm Shield.

"You grow more and more interesting by the second, Amedeus," Sorzus smiled. "A sword and shield? There were many Sith that used swords instead of lightsabers. Our leader, Ajunta Pall, was one such individual. I've never heard of anyone using a shield though."

"This weapon is known as a Force Sword," I explained. "It's mostly just a normal sword, except it has a device called a psi-matrix buried in its hilt, which is basically just a bunch of Warp-resonant circuitry that concentrates the Warp energy flowing through it, allowing the attached weapon to dish out far stronger blows than normal. Having now used both this and a lightsaber, I believe that this will be the superior weapon once I've incorporated a kyber crystal into its inner workings."

The Sith nodded. "And the shield?"

"It's called a Storm Shield. It has a small, built-in force field generator which I don't doubt can block a lightsaber. Not to mention the materials of the shield itself, which are themselves pretty lightsaber resistant."

"While unorthodox, I can understand your choice of using a shield," Fay said. "Why the sword though?"

"Quite simply, it has weight," I replied. Seeing her frown of confusion I elaborated. "Obviously, you can swing a light weapon faster than a heavy one. But even a weightless blade cannot be swung any faster than your bare arm. With my own superhuman strength - not to brag or anything - I can swing this sword as fast as my bare arm whilst also having much more momentum behind it. The lightsaber's ability to cut in any direction is not enough of an advantage to offset that. Though as I said, in order to let the Warp guide my hand like I would with a lightsaber I need to incorporate my kyber crystal into it somehow," I said as I looked towards Cortana.

"You've gotta love how everyone automatically looks to me for anything tech related," she said as she wandered over to me. At the same time, Kelly and Aayla began some light sparring, which Sorzus watched with interest.

"I know this isn't Necron technology, but hopefully you can make some sense of it anyway?" I asked.

"I think so, let's take a look in here," Cortana murmured as she opened the sword's hilt and started pulling apart the psi-matrix. "Your kyber crystal?"

"Here," I said, handing her the red crystal that I'd removed from my lightsaber.

"This doesn't seem too hard. I'll just create a socket here," she said, pointing to a small gap in the middle of the internal circuitry, "into which I can then insert the crystal and connect it to the rest of the psi-matrix. Actually…" Cortana trailed off, concentrating. "This blade is just a regular steel alloy isn't it?"

"Er, I guess? I never really thought about it to be honest, when I start channelling the Warp through it it doesn't really matter what it's made of. I guess it could be better though."

Cortana tutted. "I won't have you using anything less than the very best, Ame. I'll need some extra mass," she said, as she telekinetically retrieved some scrap metal, "so I can transmute this into an adamantium alloy. We don't want any lightsabers cutting through the crossguard now do we?"

"We certainly don't," I smiled. Her enthusiasm was infectious. "Not necrodermis though? Isn't that the Necrons' specialty?"

"Yeah, but it's nowhere near as strong as adamantium. The main benefit of necrodermis is that it can flow back into place and 'heal' itself, but I'd rather your stuff not get damaged in the first place."

"Fair enough," I said. Cortana's brow furrowed in concentration, green light emanating out of her hand as the metal literally flowed into place. The scrap metal merged with the steel blade as it changed colour, becoming a much darker, almost gunmetal grey as it was transmuted into an adamantium alloy. In addition, she created a socket in the sword's psi-matrix into which she placed the kyber crystal before resuming the flow of metal, firmly encasing it.

"I'm assuming your transmutation works the same way as a Canoptek scarab?" I asked, thinking of the Necrons' swarms of metallic beetles which broke down and reassembled matter en-masse.

"Exactly. Here, you should be able to use it the same way as before," Cortana replied as she handed the sword back to me.

Taking it in my right hand I channelled the Warp through the psi-matrix. I smiled as I felt the energy flowing through the blade with a greatly increased potency, it clearly being amplified by the kyber crystal, only for my smile to fade once I noticed that the usually blue glow of the weapon had turned red.

"Slight problem," I grimaced, as I showed Cortana the glowing red blade.

"Ah, yeah. You might need a new crystal, Ame."

"That's what I thought," I said. "None of the ones we collected on Jedha would bond with me though."

At this point Sorzus had come over, her attention split between us and Kelly's and Aayla's sparring. "Judging by the colour of your blade, I assume you used our method to align your kyber crystal to you."

"Like I said, I couldn't get any to bond with me, so I had to force it. Unfortunately, that also means I can't use it publicly without cluing people into my usage of the Dark side."

Sorzus nodded. "Assuming they aren't using a synthetic crystal, dominating a kyber crystal until it submits to them, a process known as bleeding, is the usual way a Dark side user forces it to bond with them, but there are other methods," she said. "One of them is to channel the Force through it for a prolonged period of time, not using any specific technique, until it is brought in line with your own nature. This may well produce just another red crystal if performed by a more emotionally driven Sith, but as you can see, I ended up with a different colour when I used it to make this," she said, holding up her amulet and showing off its glowing purple gem.

"Interesting how it keeps drawing in Warp energy without any further input," I noted.

"Yes, the Force energy I forced through the crystal has fundamentally altered its nature. This constant influx of power is what allows it to power the Force techniques imbued into the amulet, as well as allowing me to draw upon it if I wish to direct that power towards a different technique. Any Force energy that the crystal draws in beyond its storage capacity is re-emitted as light, hence the glow."

"It's definitely worth trying myself, then," I said. I grabbed the largest kyber crystal in my pocket storage as I cast a speed bubble around me, figuring this would take a while. I closed my eyes, opening my mind to the Warp as I allowed energy to flow through me into the crystal. I couldn't have said how long I stood there, guiding the flow of magical power through the crystal, my mind absorbed in a relaxing, meditative state. I stopped only when I felt a shift in the crystal's connection to the Warp as I opened my eyes.

The crystal was, fortunately, not red. In fact it had turned a colour I had never seen in a kyber crystal before. It was blue, which was to be expected due to my own tenuous connection to the Chaos God of sorcery, except unlike the Jedi or Kelly's own crystal, this one was a deep, royal blue, almost indigo. Like the crystal in Sorzus's amulet, it kept drawing in psychic energy without any further input from me, which was then immediately re-emitted. In my case this took the form of deep blue smoke, which just faded away into nothing.

Dispelling the speed bubble, I saw Sorzus just staring at me with wide eyes. "I just created a bubble of sped-up time so you wouldn't be waiting however long that took. Basically the reverse of the slowness bubble over there," I explained.

"I can't believe you just manipulate time and treat it like it's no big deal," the Sith lady said, shaking her head. "Anyway, your crystal?"

I handed it to her, as she examined it closely. "Well, I've never seen a dark blue kyber crystal before, or one that emits the excess Force energy in the form of smoke… I imagine that's a side effect of the unique nature of how you manipulate the Force. Now I really am curious what it will do to your sword."

"Only one way to find out," I said as Sorzus handed the crystal to Cortana, who inserted it into the psi-matrix.

"You might want to keep this," the AI said, as she gave me back the red crystal. "Always good to have a backup, or maybe use it in a different weapon."

"I'll keep that in mind for another day, when we start experimenting with increasing the power of other weapons with kyber crystals," I said, before turning back to the Sith. "You said earlier some Sith used swords as well? I'm assuming they were creations of alchemy."

"The ones worth using were. One of the more mundane, if effective, applications of Sith alchemy is to create composite materials that would normally be extremely difficult, if not impossible to make using technological methods, while also giving them an affinity for the Force. The highest quality Sith swords were made from an alchemically forged composite of cortosis and phrik, inheriting the energy dispersal properties of the former and the immense strength of the latter, while also acting as a conduit for channelling the Dark side."

"Cortosis… that's the stuff that shorts out lightsabers or something?" I asked, wracking my brain.

"It actually disperses most kinds of energy, Ame. Though shorting out lightsabers is the most dramatic example, it'll disperse blaster fire as well," Cortana said, before turning to Sorzus. "I figure a whole bunch of Sith back in the day must've had cortosis armour, right?"

"Many of them did, yes. Though blasters were still fairly rare back then, lightsabers had become common enough to warrant defence against them. I think it goes without saying that lightsaber-proof armour that covers the entire body dramatically increases one's survivability on the battlefield. There were still some weaknesses though, like the insides of the hands, which had to be kept clear in order to not obstruct one's usage of Force lightning."

"Do you know if any of them ever made use of something called power armour?" I asked.

Sorzus shook her head. "I'm afraid I've never heard the term. What is it?"

"It's basically a suit of armour that moves in sync with the user's body, usually by way of electric motors or synthetic muscles, which allows the wearer to bear the weight of much heavier armour than would be possible by muscle power alone, while simultaneously augmenting the user's own strength. It's what allows me to lug around all of this," I said as I gestured to my own armour, "while barely even noticing it's there. Kelly's suit is similar, even if hers has greater mobility at the cost of protection compared to mine."

"Hmm, yes I can definitely see how that would be useful," Sorzus nodded. "The closest examples I can think of among the Sith were those whose bodies had severely decayed from prolonged overuse of the Dark side, forcing them to use powered exoskeletons to move around, though I can't recall any able-bodied individuals using it. I imagine the risk of an enemy disabling the suit with Mechu-deru was too great, and the benefits are reduced when one can use the Force to increase their strength."

"A fair point. Good job I have defences against that… anyway, I'm keen to see what my sword can do now."

Kelly and Aayla were still duelling as I approached, with Fay occasionally giving some pointers. Due to the physical differences, Kelly was only barely using Force augmentation, though the amount she used had gradually increased over the past couple of weeks as the twi'lek continued to improve. Even still, Aayla was having trouble getting past the Spartan's considerable reach advantage. She was attempting to use the energetic wide sweeps of Djem So to knock her opponent's blade aside, but Kelly was having none of it, gracefully parrying the strikes before sending Aayla's own lightsaber flying with a flick of her wrist.

"You're getting better," Kelly said. "Both in skill and the strength you gain through the Force. Keep it up and you'll be a fine warrior one day."

"Am I?" Aayla asked, unsure. "I mean, it's kinda hard to tell compared to you and Ame."

"Your bladework is precise, young padawan," Fay smiled. "I see you've been taught well."

"No need to flatter me, Fay," I said, seeing her smile falter as she realised she'd unintentionally complimented me. "My contribution wasn't that big actually. Kelly and I have only been at this lightsaber malarkey for a few weeks. It was actually Aayla that taught us at first, with Maul filling in the gaps, the largest of which was Juyo."

"I assume that he's bound to you just like we are?"

"Pretty much, only without the 'enforced affection' bit. I'm not into guys. For whatever it's worth, he would've headed to Naboo and killed Qui-Gon Jinn if I hadn't got to him first, so it all turned out well in the end."

"I can't imagine Darth Sidious was too happy about losing his main tool for projecting power," Fay mused.

"I don't think he'll lose any sleep over it. Maul was entirely a means to an end for Sidious, that end being the deaths of whichever Jedi were unlucky enough to cross his path. Besides, it's not like he knows we're responsible."

"Such is the way of the Sith I suppose," she murmured, eyeing my sword, which was now glowing dark blue and emitting incorporeal smoke just like its kyber crystal. "I will admit, I am curious as to how you will apply lightsaber forms with a sword."

"So am I," I grinned as I faced off against Kelly, who was holding her lightsaber in a Makashi salute. I had already cast a thin shield spell around my blade to prevent any cuts, since it didn't have a low power setting.

"There's no point in me even trying to block, is there?" she said.

"Probably not, though I won't be using Force augmentation. I'll just be letting it guide my blade."

Kelly nodded, before launching herself at me with blitzing speed, faster than the unaugmented eye could follow. With my shield covering the entire left side of my body, she had no choice but to swing at my right side, which I blocked with my sword. Despite using the Force to enhance her strength beyond her already superhuman level, her blade's lack of inertia made it trivial to block with my own, before I retaliated with my own strike. There was no conscious thought on my part; I allowed the ineffable energies of the Warp to flow through me, my lust for battle shaping it to my desires. As Mace Windu had proved, giving it to one's darkest impulses wasn't required to effectively use Form VII, nor was it necessary to completely drown myself in them, as I kept my roiling emotions firmly under my control even as I let them guide my blade.

Despite what she'd previously said, Kelly attempted to block my attack, purely to see whether or not it was feasible. The answer was no, as it turned out; the slight bit of resistance her lightsaber put up was only due to her keeping her hands as far apart on the hilt as possible for extra leverage. Kelly was forced to dodge to the side to avoid being hit in the face by her own blade, though she was agile enough to make it look elegant regardless.

With her having dodged to my left, I pressed the attack, keeping my shield between us right up until the point I swung my sword at her again. Kelly wisely chose to parry this time, though my blade abruptly jerked downwards at the last moment, the Warp guiding my blade towards her legs. Her eyes widened as she dodged backwards, but she was unable to bring her weapon to bear in time to intercept my next strike, which hit the side of her torso, bouncing off her armour's shields with a dull thud.

"This is really hard, you know," Kelly said. "Keeping your entire left side covered seriously limits what I can do. Let's go again, I need to practise getting past your shield."

I nodded, launching myself forward. This time Kelly attempted to angle her blade above the top of my shield, but due to our size difference it was trivial of me to raise it in response. I swung down with my sword, but she was able to bring her own blade around in time to parry it. Before she could respond in kind I rammed my shield forward into her, catching her completely off-guard and sending her sprawling back on her arse, just as I brought my sword around and pointed it at her throat.

"Well, at least I don't have to worry about any Jedi or Sith doing that," she laughed as she pushed my sword away. "Still, I'm beginning to think I should have my own Force Sword and shield. Even just parrying your sword is difficult when I'm using something with no mass."

"Good idea," I said. "Come to think of it, didn't the Jedi also use swords back in the day?"

"The ancient Jedi used swords, yes," Fay replied. "Though they took the form of katanas rather than longswords, and went out of fashion once blasters became more common. Lightsabers are better for blaster deflection, which is usually more important these days."

"A shield would be even better still," I shrugged. "Once we reach Coruscant, we'll have to talk some sense into the Jedi. You know, persuade them to start using shields and other stuff."

Fay looked sceptical. "You do realise the Jedi's role in the galaxy is primarily diplomatic? Besides, many of the Jedi's more, shall we say, militaristic assets were banned with the Ruusan reformations."

"The diplomacy stuff mainly applies to the consulars, not the guardians or sentinels. As for those pesky laws, we'll just have to take up our concerns with the chancellor won't we?"

"The chancellor that's secretly a Sith," the Jedi master scowled. "Only, you'll be binding him to you as well, won't you?"

"I plan to, yeah… unfortunately it's not that simple. He's so paranoid about being assassinated that he uses the Warp to forego his need for sleep. And I can't just attack him without attracting the wrong sort of attention. I need a way to put him into a compromised position without anyone else noticing. I have ideas of how to do that, but no solid plan. We'll need to play it by ear."

It was unfortunate that I hadn't come up with a plan yet. Teleportation might let me catch him off-guard, but his Force-sight would give me away. Even if he couldn't tell exactly what I was doing, he'd still know there was a psyker nearby. I might be able to infiltrate his apartment by keeping myself invisible and muffled, but any spells cast in close proximity to him would also show up in his Force-sight. Hopefully some other opportunity would present itself; the sooner I could bring the most powerful man in the galaxy on side, the better.


AN:

I think it makes sense for a Sith to be into BDSM, considering they draw power from pain. A shame their trust issues prevent them from ever doing it.

Though rare, there are a couple of canon examples of shields being used. There is one rather obscure Sith called Darth Desolous who used a cortosis shield to great effect, and only died after being ganged up on by multiple Jedi.

The bit about channelling the Force through a kyber crystal to align it to you isn't strictly canon; it's inspired by something the Nightsisters of Dathomir do, which is to infuse a kyber crystal with Dathomir's magical ichor, turning it green and causing it to emit green smoke.

Finally, I'm thrilled to announce I now have my own beta reader! Many thanks to Darklord331 for betaing this chapter.