Star Wars 1. Chapter 1

My world is grey. I walk down the grimy concrete path beside the road when I feel a drop, I look up at the dreary sky and realize with mild interest that there were real clouds, not just the dirty fog from the factory's pollution that you see every day. It begins drizzling but that makes little difference to me, I wear a sturdy, dark grey trench coat and leather boots that I found on a dead guy a few years ago. The coat is far to big for me and actually drags on the ground when I walk, it was made for an adult and I think I'm about twelve. I've actually been wearing it pretty much constantly since I got kicked out of my old apartment last week. It keeps me dry at night when I'm sleeping and keeps me warm when I'm cutting meat in the freezer of butcher shop where I work. In the past couple months I worked there my coat's sleeves have gotten covered in blood but I don't care, if anything it just encourages people I don't know to leave me alone. There's only one person I care to talk to and she knows I didn't get myself bloody hurting people. It's actually a serious boon, I get mugged and bothered by pan handlers much less often since the blood became noticeable. The rain was picking up a little more, grimy water was running through the town over everything and anything. Fortunately I arrive at the shop before it starts coming down to hard.

As I step through the doorway I see Mary. She has soft, long blonde hair that runs down her sweet face. Her slender frame is covered with a white apron that she is always wearing when she works the counter. There wasn't a speck of blood on it despite the fact she works in a damn butcher shop, I don't know how she does it.

"Marcus!" she said louder. Her blue eyes shone with worry. "You smell like a sewer! Have you been sleeping outside again?" her voice was thick with concern, she came closer and examined me closely.

"It's fine" I said vaguely and quietly. Her voice rose a little higher.

"It is not fine! You're going to catch your death out there, let me talk to my dad about letting you sleep here. Please?" She put a hand on my shoulder as she said this, even through my thick coat I could feel her soft, gentle touch. A warm place to sleep did sound appealing but just giving me this job despite my age was more charity then I was comfortable taking from someone.

"Mary, it's fine." I said a bit more firmly, a felt a pain in my gut as tears began welling up in her big, blue eyes.

"Marcus your just a little boy, it's okay that you can't handle everything alone." Without responding I gently pushed her aside and walked away. Her words stung at me, I was a few years younger than her but I was hardly a little boy. As I pushed through the door into the back room I silently promised myself that one day she would see me as more than a child she had to protect. I didn't yet know that the day had already started.

A cold mist was in the air and all the table surfaces were stained with the blood of various animals, I approached my table and found a large, slimy green slug animal already there. I rolled my sleeves up and reached into a drawer to retrieve my cleaver. I never talk to anyone back there but I do listen. Beside Mary's father, a large, burly man by the name of Gardall, there are two other men, Joshua and Randall, who seem to be pretty good friends.

"I'm serious man the rebellion's getting strong!" Randall said excitedly. "There are entire planets allying with them now, they could come liberate us any day!" Before his friend made a reply I heard Gardall's gruff voice say something.

"You really thing that would change anything? You know, other than the fact we would have a thousand hungry soldiers demanding free food?" I released a short chuckle as I got to work and the other boys stopped talking about the matter. I worked in this calm way for a few hours before their was a sudden shriek that made me jump. I looked up and saw Randall holding his hand which was bleeding profusely. Over his incoherent swearing I heard Gardall.

"Hey Marcus, there's a medkit under the counter out front, go get it will ya." he said calmly. I just gave a little grunt and walked through to the front when I saw the man. He was about Mary's age maybe a little older, he had grimy black hair and was holding a blaster pointed at her. Upon seeing me he pointed the gun at me, I noticed Mary already had the register open and was counting out money. Her eyes, following his, went to me and instantly looked even more fearful.

"Hey! Put the cleaver down kid!" he yelled in a nervous, threatening tone. I had forgotten I was holding it, but now that I remembered I definitely wasn't going to put it down. I said nothing but visibly tightened my grip on it.

"I'll shoot!" he yelled, I just hardened my gaze and stayed where I was. There wasn't a thought in my head, certainly not a rational one. After another moment Mary yelled out.

"Please don-" she was cut off as he pistol whipped her. As soon as I saw the gun was no longer pointed at me I dove forward at him, as he tried to bring the gun back I sliced my cleaver into his arm; going all the way to the bone. He screamed and dropped the gun, as he did I shoved him off his feet with my other hand letting the cleaver stay lodged in him. Acting on instinct I dove on top of him and gripped his throat as hard as I could. I could feel a sadistic smile form on my face as I looked into his bulging eyes and rapidly pailing face. Once again there wasn't a thought in my head as I squeezed tighter and tighter and tighter until a loud snap rang through the room, making me release a gasp of breath I didn't realize I was holding in. As soon as I processed what the sound was my adrenaline rush began fizzling away.

"...Holy shit." Someone said in a soft terriried voice.

This snapped me back to reality, I turned to see Joshua right behind me and the other two men standing in the doorway that led into the butcher shop. There was silence save for my own heavy, excited breathing. I looked to Mary who had a large bruise forming on her face and the joy that had come over me left. I stared at for a second and I saw fear, as coherent thought returned to me I realized **I** was the source of this fear. Wanting to say something I stood up, as soon as I did everyone stepped back, even Mary. The pain I felt in that moment is indescribable, I didn't know what to do or say. My throat felt so choked I probably couldn't have talked even if I did. For a moment I just stared before darting out the door, I ran a few blocks before I slowed down to a fast walk. I was so overcome with emotion I couldn't think, I hadn't even noticed it was still raining until that moment.

Figuring that I should at least go back to a familiar part of the city I turned around and almost bumped straight into a man wearing a black cloak who stood like a wall. I began to say something snide but looking at him made me swallow my words. His frame was pretty normal but for some reason he intimidated me greatly, I think it was his eyes. I only glanced at them but they were hard, and threatening in a relaxed way. He spoke, his voice was cold and commanding.

"I've watched you boy, there is quite a fire burning in you." With great determination I made the mistake of looking back into his eyes, all the anger and emotion that had built up in me drained away; replaced by fear.

"Who are you?" I responded nervously. Rather then answer my question he went on.

"But no matter how strong your drive is, _you_, are still weak. Too weak to protect that girl who you care so much about." This snapped me out of my fear.

"What the hell do you mean? I protected her!" I said, not sure why I was arguing with this mysterious stranger. At this he let out a terrifying chuckle.

"Yes, you managed to defeat some deadbeat, but what would you do if someone with real power decided to hurt her?" he said towering over me.

"Someone like you?" I asked, taking his question as a threat. Another chuckle preceded his response.

"Yes, someone like me. What if I told you I wanted to hurt her?" As he said this I quickly tried to stab him with the switch blade in my pocket. He caught my wrist easily and seemed to place a light pressure on me that sucked the energy from my body. I fell to my knees as he spoke again.

"I see potential in you boy; come with me, and serve me, do so and I will show you how to turn that drive into the strenght you need." So much was happening so fast, I didn't know what to think, I couldn't just go with some random guy I met on the streets based on a vauge promise. Still, my only real tie to this place was Mary and this man did make a good point; if she was ever threatened I would be more or less unable to protect her. I couldn't imagine anything worse then that. Other then that it occured to me that I needed to get out of this city, the law enforcement here is pretty bad but even they would keep an eye out for a known murderer. Not that what I had done was really a murder but I could still get in a lot of trouble. I looked up at the man and despite my fear, my uncertainty, I nodded.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

We walked in utter silence down the streets, I tried to get a better look at his face but only succeeded in realizing he was purposely hiding it in the shadows of his hood. The only reason I could make out his ebony eyes is because they had a light glow to them. When we arrived on the docks I glanced at the many spacecrafts sitting on the platforms. We continued walking until we came to a surprisingly dull transport vessel, the kind with a small two person cockpit and spacious cargo area in back. He began to climb in but I stayed where I was,

"Is this seriously your ship?" I said feeling a bit more comfortable around the man. His hood covered his face but I think I noticed a small smirk.

"It doesn't attract attention and gets me where I'm going." he said coldly. I took a seat beside him and as he prepared for launch I spoke again.

"So where are we going?"

"You will see soon enough." He said with a bit of an edge to his voice, displaying he was not interested in conversation. Deciding not to try his patience I put my head back against the chair. It was only then that I realized how unbearably tired I was, it was only midday but I felt like I could fall asleep, realizing that I had likely a long journey with a man who had no interest in speaking I decided to let myself. I was still asleep when I began feeling it, it was a disturbing, slightly sick feeling in my stomach; like the feeling you get when your really excited or worked up. Like the feeling I got whenever Mary smiled or put a hand on me. It eventually intensified enough that I woke up, I noticed we were docking on a dark grey planet. As we came closer I noticed how barren it was, it almost looked as if it had no fauna on it. As we grew closer to the surface my stomach felt progressively worse. He must have noticed my face because he looked up from the controls to me with a knowing grin.

"Do you feel that?" His demeanor was calm but his eyes were excited. When I only offered a weak nod his eyes grew less hard and he gripped my shoulder firmly.

"That's the power of this place, you will grow to love that feeling." I followed him as he began walking down the ramp and off the ship, about ten yards ahead was what appeared to be some sort of stone ruin. I thought I saw someone coming out when my foot stepped onto the planet's surface and the feeling in my stomach exploded ten fold. I fell to the ground clutching my abdomen hard and felt my eyes water, the feeling was everywhere now and it was unbearably painful. I took a deep breath and willed for the pain to fade, but it didn't. With nothing else I could do I gripped myself tightly and strenuously sucked air into my lungs.

"Seems like just yesterday that was me." I heard a new, masculine voice say with mild interest.

"How pathetic." A low female voice added cruely. My vision was getting fuzzy but I made out two pairs of legs standing opposite me, though I didn't have the strength to raise my head.

"You would be wise to remain silent Madarra." The man who brought me here said. Despite the force behind his voice and the strong impression I had that this man was of authority, this Madarra's response was rather snide.

"Why? He can't even stand here, he is pathetic." she said with a chuckle. I was only awake now through sheer force of will, wanting to hear his response.

"The reason he is in this much pain is because his connection to the force is nothing short of incredible. Simply put, he feels much more pain then you do because he is so much more powerful than you." I couldn't see how she reacted to this but as I slipped out of consciousness I had a strong feeling I just made an enemy.

I came to what I felt like an eternity later, I was in a small stone room lying on a bed. I was relatively comfortable but unbearably thirsty, blinking the sleep out of my eyes I sat up. The pain I had felt upon passing out was still there, it had not faded in the slightest but somehow it didn't bother me as much. I had grown accustomed to it. A red haired woman sat beside me wearing a deeply concerned look in her pale eyes, upon me meeting her gaze she held to me a large glass of water which I snatched from her and poured down my throat in seconds. As I did so she gasped and reached an arm out alarmingly.

For a moment I didn't understand what had concerned her until the water hit my stomach and I fell back on the bed desperately trying to keep it down. I breathed short, quick breaths through my nose, not daring to open my mouth. It hurt like a bitch but my throat felt better, there wasn't anything wrong with the water, I think it just aggravated the sick feeling I was suppressing. However the nausea passed quickly. Once it got to a tolerable level I looked to the girl who was holding some sort of pale up to me, upon me returning my gaze she put it down and smiled sweetly. She was older than me but not by much, maybe three or four years. She wasn't ugly but not particularly attractive either. When I didn't smile back at her her eyes drooped a little, not sad but; frustrated maybe?

She stood up and walked over to the counter in the rooms corner, refilling my glass from a metal pitcher. There were a few cupboards above the counter and next to it there was a small fridge, she put the glass down on a small nightstand next to my bed. I don't know why but I had a bad feeling about her, and my gut's usually right. My dislike for her grew a bit more when she placed her hand on my arm, cold, but before I could say anything she spoke in a voice that was far too cheerful not to be faked.

"I have to go get Donavin and let him know your awake now, you drink this one nice and slow." she let out a giggle. "I'll be right back." She said disapearing down the dark hallway. I said nothing and kept my eyes hard, I don't know what the hell I was trying to do or prove when I grabbed the glass of water and chugged it down just like the first but I instantly regretted it. Once again I took rapid breaths trying to keep it down and once again I succeeded. I heard a familiar chuckle,

"Are you alright boy?" The man who took me here in the first place, Donavin, asked patronizingly; having just walked in beside the red haired girl. I cleared my throat roughly.

"It's just pain." I said glaring at him, patronization is the one thing I hate more then actual pity.

"That mentality will do you very well here." He said ominously, a chill swept over me and once again I had to pull my eyes away from his face. I heard the red haired girl let out another laugh as she retook the seat beside my bed, ignoring her Donavin continued. "Its mid afternoon, walk around for the remainder of the day, get more accustomed to this place and the pain it brings; your training will begin tomorrow at dawn.

"Uhh... Mr. Donavin-" I began, curious as to exactly what this "training" would entail.

"You will address me as Master Donavin." His tone was nothing more than firm but it scared me immensely, although I tried not to show it.

"Master Donavin-" Unsure of how to sum up all my questions I just spat out "-what is this place?" He stared for a moment in thought.

"A sith tomb, do you know what a sith is?" The question seemed simple enough, I didn't know much about the Sith but I had heard of them.

"Like, an evil jedi right?" As soon as the words left my mouth there was the screeching sound of metal on stone as the girl kicked the ground hard and slid away from me on the chair. With this action there was nothing between me and Donavin, I looked at the girl who wore a terrified expression but Donavin's eyes were firmly on me. His posture and expression were unchanged but I could feel a massive amount of rage radiating from him. Before I could say anything else he replied.

"No, that is not what a sith is." he said simply, his voice unchanged. "Madarrra will fill you in on the details." he added as he turned around and disappeared down the hallway. I had no deep desire to talk extensively to the cruel woman who taunted me when I first stepped out of the ship but I didn't want to disobey my new master, especially not after this little incident. The girl in the room with me seemed surprised when I spoke to her.

"Where can I find Madarra?" I asked without emotion. She let out another annoying giggle.

"That would be me silly." If I had any doubt that this girl was playing an angle up until then it left. She smiled but it left immediately when as I shot her an aggresive glare. She looked genuinely afraid, I was surprised how good that made me feel.

"You can cut the crap I heard what you said when I got off the ship." I said matter of factly, I had many questions and I sure as hell wasn't going to put up with this foolery through all of them. She stared for a moment feigning ignorance and then her bright cheery eyes drooped down to a hard, piercing gaze.

"Alright child ask your questions but know I am answering only because I have to." She spat out, every hint of kindness gone from her voice. Still, better then before.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

While unkind Madarra was fully cooperative, she answered all of my questions simply and knowledgable. apparently my new master wished to reestablish the old sith order, which he saw as a beautiful, endless cycle of ambition. He believes with the jedi gone and a madman ruling the galaxy that the time is perfect to do so. Donavin also noted that to improve on the old doctrines of the sith he would set two rules to be followed forever. The first rule forbids the killing of innocence and civilians, this is so that the general population never grow to hate the sith, thus leading them to revolt. The second was conceived so that those with the most power over the force would also be those in positions of political influence once the order grew large enough. The rule itself stated that one could take all of a superiors belongings and titles if he takes his life in an honorable duel. He hoped to achieve immortality that he could enforce these rules forever, but even if that didn't happen his personal apprentice also deeply believed in them and he would pass them down. When I asked what exactly a sith was, not wanting to make the same mistake again, she told me that Donnavin could, and would, explain it much better then her. It was kind of complicated and I wasn't quite sure I understood, at this I was told I didn't need to understand I just needed to obey; and if I did I would have all the power I desired.

I did as I was told after my questions were answered and went to explore the temple, the pain was a bit worse when I was moving but again I eventually managed to suppress it. The stone was of a dark tan color everywhere I went, it was chipped and ugly but still sturdy. I found my way to a large round room, from their I could see into a room that appeared to be a library. Curious I began walking towards it, it was a small room, about the size of the one I woke up in, it had two shelves which were packed with old smelling books and a computer terminal that I assumed stored more information. As I stepped closer I saw Master Donavin sitting and reading from a scroll, if he noticed me he didn't do anything to acknowledge it and I thought it best to leave him be. Turning from the library I saw on the opposite side of the central chamber a larger room filled with weapons, empty cages, and a few training dummies.

I heard grunts and pounding noises from inside and walked in to check it out. Inside was a man I hadn't seen before, or rather I hadn't seen all of before. He was muscular with scars all over his body. The most noticeable scars were running down both arms, they were evenly spaced and eventually stopped about half way down his right. He smashed into a dummy with some sort of long wooden pole, crushing it to pieces with breathtaking speed. I honed in on his face as I watched, it seemed to me like he was screaming in his head, though I wasn't quite sure how I could tell this; his face certainly didn't convey anything. Whats more it seemed like it wasn't just screaming, it seemed like he was yelling something specific but I couldn't make out what. I was focusing very hard trying to hear the words when suddenly his head went quiet and he spoke, breaking me out of the trance I seemed to put myself in.

"Do you need something?" his voice held a degree of anger but for some reason he didn't intimidate me the same way Master Donavin did. Maybe it was because he was younger, he looked to be in his late teens or early twenties. I responded immediately without thinking.

"Your fast." I said with mild awe. His laugh was short and humorless, like I had said something stupid.

"Can you move that fast with a real weapon?" I said genuinely curious. Now I really had said something stupid, his eyes drooped and he turned to me. His breathing was returning to normal and he looked a little calmer, though his gaze was still hard.

"A real lightsaber is notably lighter than this training saber." He said holding it up for me to look at. "I can move _faster_ with a real weapon." I couldn't keep my eyes from growing wide with amazement, these people really would make me strong. He gave a light grin at my expression and his posture slackened a little. Suddenly I felt a chill go over me and he snapped back to attention.

"Go away now, I'm in the middle of my training." He said harshly as he immediately turned back around and continued to strike the dummy. I stood watching for a second before walking out of the room, I noticed Master Donavin had looked up from his scroll at us. I quickly retreated back to the chamber where I woke up, seeing that Madarra wasn't there I looked around. The fridge was filled with those nutrient rich meal replacement drinks, one of the cupboards was filled with glasses and the other was packed with ration bars. I guess my new master didn't splurge on living expenses, still it was much better then what I was used to. Keeping the food down was difficult but getting easier, and bland tasteless bars weren't exactly hard on the stomach. Their was also a small shower that looked like it was hooked up to a large water tank but I didn't use it.

With nothing else to do I decided to go check out the other two hallways. The only thing in them were rooms identical to my chambers. There were about two dozen of them and only three looked lived in. With how spread out they were I found it odd that two of the used ones were right next to each other. As I was pondering this I wondered in without thinking. There was nothing in there but a few books on the counter and an unmade bed. Just as it occurred to me I should probably get out before I was seen a hand with a grip like steel clutched my shoulder. I turned quickly to see the scarred man. Still pouring with sweat, and seemingly still brimming with the adrenaline of his training.

"It's not polite to enter someones chambers uninvited." His voice was very hard and threatening. Without saying another word he roughly lifted my left arm, before I could wonder why he pulled out a large combat knife and cut a deep gash near the shoulder. I was dizzy and couldn't think, I didn't even register the pain for a few seconds. I just stared ahead feeling the warm liquid run down my arm and drip to the ground.

"ow" I said softly then as the pain began to drown me, I gripped the cut and bit down as hard as I could trying not to cry out.

"Pain, is the price we sith pay for power. You will feel much pain before you become strong, you will be cut like this with every major offense against me or my master. Understand?" I managed a weak nod, wondering just what the hell I had gotten myself into when there was a soft hum and suddenly my wound stopped hurting. I turned my head to see a soft light coming from his hand, my wound had closed leaving behind only a scar just like the ones running down his arms.

"Because this is your first mistake I'm closing it much sooner then is standard, my master isn't so weak as to show this kind of mercy. You would be wise to learn fast." With that I nodded again and quickly ran out of the room. Scared out of my wits I ran into my room, Madarra had told me the sith were generally violent to their acolytes but this still threw me off. More than anything else I think it was the regularity of how he cut me that was most shocking. Like that there was nothing abnormal or exceedingly cruel about what he had done; though I suppose here, in this academy, there really wasn't.

I briefly entertained the idea of getting off this planet, I thought of a bunch of half assed ideas like stealing the ship, taking a hostage. Nothing that would work but as I was thinking it occurred to me; would I leave if I could? If that man was any indication this was definitely going to happen at least a few more times; not to mention how difficult I'm sure the actual training would be. My thoughts kept coming back to him destroying that dummy though, I had little doubt that if I stayed I would become very strong. Now more than ever it was apparent that war could break out any day, I needed to be very strong to protect Mary. I could endure this pain if that's what it took.

Planting that idea firmly in my head I lay down on my bed and let myself fall asleep. I don't now if it was this place, or the traveling, or the excitement but that night I dreamed of my home planet for the first time in over a year. It was the same dream I always had, the sky was red with blood and fire. Smoke came from the towers in the distance like they were chimneys, I was a toddler sitting in an apartment staring out the window at a bunch of monsters. They looked like humans but they weren't, I don't know how I could tell but I knew. There was blaster fire everywhere as they shot each other, laughing as they died. Then there was pounding on the door, I knew who was there but the man didn't. He opened the door and there the monsters stood. They were black silhouettes with, giant, glowing, red eyes.

"foooooood" they whispered demoniacal. Two of their evil head poked in from the side, one was crawling on the ceiling and one stood right there in the doorway. Soft laughing came from all of them.

"We haven't got any to spare!" the man yells one second before he is engulfed in their darkness. He gasps as they devour him and I hear a woman scream behind me; but then the dream changed, I wasn't filled with the fear I normally was. For the first time I felt something else, anger. It wasn't even anger at the shadowy monsters, it was anger at the man. He was supposed to protect us but he didn't, all he did was die! I was shocked with myself as it bubbled up inside me, finally letting it out as the creatures slithered closer to us and one roughly grabbed the pretty woman who had her arms wrapped around me. I screamed, not like a scared little boy would, it was not of fear but of wrath. The monsters all backed away, for the first time I had control. I think I was vaguely aware I was dreaming at that point. I looked at the closest one and smiled sickly.

"Die" I said softly and he did, he just exploded right there. It felt so good I laughed like the little boy I was. The others turned to run, I tried to stand to go after them but the woman hadn't let go of me. I turned to her, her soft peach skin had turned grey and her eyes were dead. I knew what was coming next.

"NO!" I screamed. The noose began to form around her neck, once again my emotions were different. Rather then the woe I felt every other time I was filled with hatred as she rose into the air and the noose finished forming.

"YOUR LEAVING TOO?! YOUR PATHETIC! YOUR WEAK!" I yelled at the body as I stood across from it.

This is usually the part where I wonder around outside until someone grabs me and throws me into a ship that takes me away but not this time. I walked into the bloodstained streets and began fighting, I was my twelve year old self now. I raised my hands and made the monsters explode with my will. I destroyed more and more and more burning with a sick joy as I did. I killed until there was nothing left, even the buildings were reduced to rubble. The hatred inside me didn't go away but it became docile. Like a vicious predator that becomes less aggressive as you give it hoards of meat. Then as I looked around chuckling softly to myself I leaned against a mound of rubble and contently rested.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The rest of my sleep was content and dreamless, I awoke with a start as there was a pound on the archway of my room. I jolted awake to see the scarred man standing there, his gaze was that of mild annoyance. I just stared at him not bothering trying to hide my fear.

"Its dawn, get dressed, eat something and come to the central chamber. Quickly." He said simply. I jumped out of the bed and noticed a robe had been set out on my counter.

"Yes Master..." I trailed off realizing I didn't know his name, although I doubt that is what caused his eyes to light up in shock, and a hint of fear I think. He pointed a hand at me viciously.

"Donavin is master here, not me!" His hand moved to the large knife on his belt and my eyes widened in fear.

"I'm sorry!" I yelped out but I don't think he even heard me. Before pulling out his knife he seemed to think for a moment. I practically gasped in relief when he let go of the hilt.

"It's fine, just don't let it happen again or we'll both be in trouble" He said with a small smirk.

"What should I address you as?"

"Lynn is fine, we're actually equals in terms of rank." _Me, an equal with him?_ I began laughing, he joined in and we both started laughing harder. It wasn't that funny. I don't know why I was laughing like this and I sure as hell didn't know why he was laughing with me. After a couple minutes the laughter died down and the serious expression returned to his face.

"You should hurry." he said before leaving the room. I quickly followed his instructions, I had worn my trench coat for so long it felt like a second skin. Taking it off felt wierd but I didn't waste time dwelling on this. I had a good idea what would happen if I kept Master Donavin waiting. I ran into the central chamber to find Lynn and Madarra sitting cross-legged opposite to Master Donavin who was doing the same. I reduced my pace to a fast walk and took a seat in the same manner.

"Because there is a novice among us training will be different today: Lynn, I think your capable of training yourself." his tone had a hint of questioning to it so he responded.

"Yes master, thank you master." as he said this he bowed his head low before standing. Oddly he wasn't going into the training room like I assumed he would but instead gripped a small handle on the floor I hadn't noticed until now. Before it opened I saw what appeared to be a blue spark fly from it, then he lifted the latch up and descended a flight of stairs. I stayed at attention and watched all this out of the corner of my eye. Master Donavin spoke again.

"Madarra, you can work on personal projects or train yourself, I don't care which." He said with a voice that seemed genuinely apathetic.

"Yes master" she replied with the faintest hint of frustrated embarrassment in her voice. He didn't acknowledge this, he simply turned to me.

"Marcus, come with me." He said standing.

"Yes master." I said following the pattern and rising along with him. He led to the large stone doors that I assumed led to the surface, as he pulled them they groaned against the floor and the inner chamber was flooded with a dull light. As we stepped outside I noticed a table full of tools, some large machine and three big cages containing some raging animals. To be accurate two of the animals were raging and the third while being just as threatening looking, more so even do to the unnaturally large claws, was cowering from Donnavin as we walked by.

We began walking across the desolate landscape, after about a mile we stopped. We were walking uphill and the robes that had been set out for me while fitting perfectly weighed almost twice as much as my old coat, I was greatly relieved when we reached our destination. Donnavin gave a mocking laugh at my heavy breathing.

"Sit if you have to." I thought about standing just to be defiant but I decided against it when I remembered I would have to walk back to the tomb. My legs screamed relief when I collapsed to my knees. He waited for my breathing to quiet before speaking.

"Tell me boy, do you know the sith code?"

"Yes." I replied, Madarra had told me it earlier when explaining what the sith were. Seeming not to care about my response he began reciting it.

"Peace is a lie, there is only passion.

Through passion, I gain strength.

Through strength, I gain power.

Through power, I gain victory.

Through victory, my chains are broken.

The Force shall free me." He ended filled with enthusiasm. His eyes were lit up with a great passion as he finished speaking, then he snapped back and looked at me.

"Now tell me my new pupil, do you understand the code?" he said with the faintest amount of humor. Not wanting to appear stupid or trap myself I answered cautiously.

"I think so."

"Regardless we will go over it in detail. The first line tells us that we are inherently dominating and violent; this is to be embraced, not suppressed. To be peacefull it to deny who we are. Passion is whatever drives us; the dark side allows us to channel our passion into strength. The strength granted us by the dark side allows us to conquer our enemies and seize control over others, or in the case of a large sith order, it allows one to rise through the ranks. This is the meaning of gaining power through strength. Now when a sith wants power just for power's sake this is where they end. Also often is that a sith has a very large goal that they never achieve, for example a thousand sith soldiers might all might have the desire to destroy the jedi order. None of them actually achieve this, but throughout there battles they do kill great many jedi and therefore feel the satisfaction of completing there goal, achieving victory. However they stop at that step-" he paused to look me in the eye, I assumed this next part was very important. "-do not think these people are worse than those who go all the way, in fact a sith order could not function unless the majority of people had goals of these sorts. Those who do go farther are the ones whose passion burns with a specific, achievable goal; when they achieve victory, complete their goal, the hold that it had over them is broken, giving them closure and freedom from the task that tormented them. Understand?" It was a lot to take in but I think I grasped what he was saying.

"Yes master." I replied again.

"Good, think about these words, your goal, and were you fit in to this. For the remainderof your training today you will meditate on the force and on the dark side. Follow me." We began walking once again in complete silence, I knew I had to think about something other then my fatigue or I wouldn't make it back. I thought of my dream and it troubled me; the way I screamed at those figures who I've always held so much love for. Maybe that love was fake, I'm certainly having a hard time feeling it now. I was so deep in thought I almost bumped straight into Master Donavins back as he stopped.

"Boy, my power over the force gives me power over the mind, as such I can look into yours very easily. Would you like me to explain why you felt the way you did?" I stayed silent for a moment, taken aback by the thought this man could look into my mind.

"I suppose so..." I said quietly when the silence got to long.

"You see, the dark side is not a benevolent force, it will corrupt you if you let it. I don't know the deepest layers of your thought but I think it very unlikely that your really hate your mother and father. The dark side is very powerful in this place and as such it is probably influencing your vulnerable mind." he paused. "We walk a very fine line boy, as long as you use it the dark side will always try to control you; but to be a true sith, you must control it."

"How?" I said curious.

"You just need to push the thoughts from your mind. You need hatred and anger to use the dark side; but rather than focusing them towards your parents focus on something worth hating."

"Such as?" I asked not thinking of anything in particular I hated, although I was filled with it.

"The most obvious thing to hate is your enemy, in this case the empire; but you can channel it to anything you want." I was beginning to understand, although I still couldn't think of anything in particular to hate. I closed my eyes, concentrated hard and tried to hate the empire. I suppose if they ran things better the slums where I grew up might not have been as bad. Maybe there would be less crime and the butcher shop never would have got robbed, then I wouldn't have had to strangle that man and make Mary afraid of me. Maybe if they ran things better the rebellion wouldn't cause so much trouble, there wouldn't be a threat of war, and I wouldn't have such a need to be powerful. I wouldn't have had to leave Mary if not for their incompetence! Hell maybe I could have been put in an orphanage somewhere and never had to grow up in that shit hole in the first place! Come to think of it, there were plenty of reasons to hate the empire. I pushed this hatred down deep inside of me and felt a cold chill wash over me; this one came from me though, not Master Donnavin. I shuddered out a breath and looked up at Master Donavin. He wore a satisfied smile.

Then without another word we continued walking back to the tomb. As we entered through the front door he stopped in front of the latch to the basement.

"The bodies of many powerful sith are down there, the dark side is strong in the air, that is where you will meditate. I want you to try to channel the dark side, learn to use the power of this place." He reached to open it and then, as if an afterthought he turned back to me. "Oh, and while your down there if you hear anyone speaking to you, leave immediately." he then proceeded to open the latch and call down assertively.

"Lynn! I wish for the novice to use this room, go train someplace else." I walked closer until I stood opposite to the descending stairs, I was surprised when I saw Lynn as he ascended. Low on his right arm there was a fresh cut.

"Lynn, what the hell happened?" I said looking at it, curious. I'm sure he wasn't cut when I saw him this morning. Lynn's stopped in his track and his eyes lit up as if to threaten me, or warn me. I heard Donavin emit a low, disapproving growl but I foolishly ignored it and turned to him. Speaking hot-headedly.

"Seriously, in the time it took me to walk from my room to the central chamber what could he have possibly do-" he cut me off in a quiet, dominating voice.

"Lift your arm." he said and I felt my blood chill, I considered groveling but I didn't think that would work, I also considered refusing but I had a strong hunch it would only be worse if I did. So, using all of my willpower, I lifted my arm and pulled back my sleeve, closing my eyes tightly. I heard the slice before I felt it, once again the pain flooded me and I bit down trying not to cry out. He leaned down and spoke in my ear.

"You, do not ever get to question the actions I deem necessary as master of this acadamy, understand?" His voice was forceful and had only a slight edge of anger in it. When I nodded a felt a puncture and opened my eyes to see he had given me some kind of stim.

"That will keep you from bleeding out, go do as I told you." he said nodding towards the latch. Once again all I could manage was a weak nod before walking down into what felt like an abyss. As I passed Lynn, who had continued walking, he shot me a look as if to call me an idiot. As he reached the top of the stairs I heard Master speak again.

"You may heal your arm now Lynn." he said without emotion.

"Yes Master, thank you Master." I heard the soft glow as I descended. The pain in my stomach that I had all but forgot about doubled as I walked down into the dark room, before the latch was closed I think I saw a ring to hold torches but there was nothing in it; as the door closed what little light was in this place left. I sat down cross legged and waited for my eyes to adjust, but they didn't. This was perfect darkness. It felt like I was the only thing that existed it in a endless sea of black.

Not sure what else to do I put my undivided attention on the pain in my stomach, as I focused I first noticed it hurt more but also that I could vaguely feel something indescribable. I tried to grasp this feeling but couldn't, like a memory you can't quite remember. I knew it was there but trying to force it was fruitless. Not knowing what else to try I focused harder on the pain I felt, then harder, then harder still over a long course of time. Letting myself get used to the harsher pain and then increasing it again. I did this until I was legitimately worried more pain would kill me. Once I had the pain as great as I could make it I focused once again on the vauge feeling. I had felt it getting stronger in proportion to my pain but trying to identify it took all my focus, so I had waited until I got the pain as great as I could bare. This time when I focused I felt a chill come over me, in an odd way it felt good; the cold, this new feeling, even the pain.

When I focused again it was if a new set of eyes opened, I could feel the others around me, upstairs Madarra was working on some droid, Master Donavin sitting in the library, three animals outside, one of them dreaming he was running through a jungle. I'm not sure how I could tell what the animal was dreaming. I remembered Donavin said he could look into my mind and thought that maybe that's what I was doing. Suddenly an idea came to me, I honed in on where Lynn was, as I assumed he was in the training room, running laps at a dead sprint. Much easier than the first time I heard his mental screaming. Concentrating I found the first layer of his mind, he was speaking to himself it seemed, pushing a little harder I heard what he was saying.

_"DONT STOP RUNNING! YOUR STILL WEAK! YOUR STILL WEAK!"_ It seemed like he was trying to drown some other thought out so I tried to look deeper in his mind. All there was on the next level was pain, he was unbelievably sore and tired, he was desperately wanting to stop. It was almost amusing that this was how he trained but I decided to stop prying into his or anyone elses mind. I pulled back and immediately found that I had a splitting head ache. With this taking my attention I let some of the pain in the air slip away from me. I was suddenly flooded with light and turned to see Master Donavin there smiling.

"Don't get to excited its much harder to do when not being aided by the power of this place." he said but his tone was proud. "Try to channel the dark side again, but this time let it out." It took me a minute to get the pain flowing again, I didn't go as far as I did last time, I don't think I could survive it again so soon. As soon as I felt the chill again I channeled it into my hand, not quite sure how I was doing it. I let out a roar and punched the stone wall, leaving a small crater. I never knew exerting force felt so good, I felt giddy.

"Impressive, I think you will proggress very quickly here." He said simply and matter of factly.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

_I think you will progress very quickly here._ The words rang in my ear as I brought the training saber down hard, aiming for Lynn's shoulder. Master Donavin was right to place faith in me, its my third year in this academy and my power over the dark side grows every day. Not that Lynn and I were really fighting all out with the dark side at the moment, just a casual spar to work on our swordsmanship. I had progressed in that as well, this was apparent as he barely managed to block my blow and released a gasp at the impact. Our blades were locked in contact as I continued pushing down, hoping to make him step back and lose his balance so I could deliver another strike. His right leg lifted and I began to lift my blade up for another blow, however instead of stepping back as I anticipated he lifted it and kicked me in my vulnerable stomach. I managed to lunge back to reduce the impact but it was still enough to knock me off my feet, pouring sweat and hurting in more places than I cared to count I opted not to stand back up. Although it seemed Lynn was not going to accept that.

"Get back on your feet." he said tauntingly.

"Just gonna get my ass kicked again." I mumbled out somewhat frustrated. Not that I actually expected to win when I accepted his challenge. Not only had Lynn been training at this place since before I was born, but swordsmanship was his strong point. He took great pride in his fighting ability.

"Turn your frustration to anger,-"

"-cool your anger into hate." I finished with him "We're not fighting like that though."

"Go ahead, you could use the edge and I could use the challenge." Subtly saying that I wasn't a challenge before I'm certain was a ploy intended to make me angry. I decided to let it, I allowed myself to become very angry; not at Lynn but at my inability to win this fight. I then took it a step further and focused on how much I hated my weakness, I drew some of the power that I loved so much from the air around me and let it invigorate me. The pain faded away and my blood seemed to pump through me three times as fast, although my heart was calm. I was aware of everyone around me, Lynn a yard ahead wondering if I was going to do as he said or not, the little girl peaking her head through the doorway amazed at how fast we could move, the older adolescent twi'lek standing next to her wondering if I would spar with him after this was over, and then I shot up to my feet. Lynn gave an excited grin and I roared in anger, charging with greatly increased speed.

I was free of all thoughts in my frenzy, I brought a volley of hard strikes from many different angles at him, they came so fast he could do nothing but block as I pushed him back. Finally he had his back to the wall and I swung an especially hard blow down on his head. He managed to parry the blow by placing one hand on each end of his saber, then while I was still recoiling from the impact, he let go of his blade and pushed hard with both hands on my chest. I managed to stay on my feet by jumping back as he pushed, he caught his sword as it fell back down and charged me.

Now I was on the defensive, and I was tired. I barely blocked his first two blows and with the third he crushed my fingers on the hilt with an audible "crunch" causing me to drop the sword. He gave a grin and lunged forward for the finishing blow while I stood holding my hand. I was brimming with rage as he was about to bring the weapon down, just before it reached me I released a vicious yell as I swung my good hand forward, it didn't make contact but it did send him flying off his feet about five yards back and into the central chamber. In a second he was back up with an angry grunt, I could see the fury in his eyes and knew that he was now using the dark side as well. I looked at him and then at my blade on the ground, I had used my last bit of energy with that blow; the pain from my injuries was coming back and I was finding it difficult just to stand. Still, I was a sith and sith never surrender. However surrender turned out not to be necessary, as I bent over to pick up the blade I collapsed from exhaustion; cracking my head open on the stone floor on my way down. I didn't bother standing back up.

I released a groan and reached my hand up to heal my head, when I realized I didn't have the energy I groaned again louder. My eyes were still shut when the pain in my head left to the sound of a soft humming. I opened my eyes as Lynn was pulling his hand back, he kept it out a ways offering it to me. The red skinned twi'lek by the door clapped mockingly.

"Pretty impressive" he said in a cocky voice, I just glared at him. Mazer had been brought here about six months after me, he was around my age and had a notion in his head that we were rivals. I only tolerate it because Master Donavin told me to, he thinks wanting to surpass me inspires Mazer to improve himself. He was the closest one here to my skill level but I still had a notable power advantage on him.

"Indeed." Master Donavin added simply. All of us jumped, Master Donavin was good at hiding his presence and had a habit of appearing out of nowhere. We all quickly turned to face him and bowed, seeing that he was looking at me I also offered a reply.

"Thank you Master." I said filled with joy, compliments from Master Donavin were rare; so you know when you get one that it's genuine. "Lynn come with me." he said with a hint of disappointment in his voice. I shot him a glance as he walked away and saw that he was holding a fair amount of envy towards me.

"Hey Marcus how about a round with me?" Mazer said aggressively as soon as they were gone.

"I'm tired."

"Your also denying a challenge." Mazer said ignoring my valid excuse and trying to goad me. Unfortunately it worked. The fight wasn't much of one, in less than two minutes I was on the ground bleeding from my forehead again and that bastard was standing over me roaring with blood boiling laughter.

"You just keep laughing." I spat out brimming with rage, I fantasized about what I was going to do to him tomorrow after I was healed and rested. These thoughts were interrupted as he brought his foot down hard on my back, making me cough out the last of my breath. I blinked the blackness that was creeping on my vision away and sucked in another breath strenuously.

"I will." he said keeping his foot on my back dominatingly. That's when the little girl, Azera, spoke in her timid voice,

"U-Um Mazer, d-d-doesn't Master Donavin say that victory isn't real unless it proves your better then your opponent?" _Oh god stop talking._ I desperately willed the stupid girl to be quiet as Mazer turned his head to look at her with a glare. "S-S-So isn't bragging over beating Marcus when you only won cause he's tired a little... well... pathetic?" It seems about half way through her statement she realized what a big mistake speaking was as her voice got quieter with every word that left her mouth. Likewise Mazer's gaze grew angrier with each word that left the young girls mouth. The last word, pathetic, was barely even audible and immediately followed by Mazer striking her hard across the face with the back of his hand; knocking her off her feet. My anger kept growing but I just didn't have the energy to use it.

"The hells going on in here?" I heard Lynn's voice and actually gasped in relief, I was beginning to worry how far this would escalate. I lifted my head in time to see Mazer's eyes droop in worry.

"We were just sparring and..." he led off trying to come up with an excuse. For a couple of seconds Lynn waited for an explanation, there was no sound except for Azera's soft crying.

"Lift your arm." Lynn said simply coming closer to him. Mazer lifted both hands and slowly backed away,

"Hey wait, y-you don't understand!" he said with a nervous chuckle, Lynn's arm came out at incredible speed and cut him; much deeper then he normally did. Mazer yelled a swear and gripped his arm. Lynn grabbed him and brought his face close to his.

"What I understand, is that you just got a lesson in sith conduct from an eight year old." he said quietly but angrily. "You are pathetic!" he punctuated this by throwing him off his feet. I was thoroughly enjoying myself watching this scene, so much so that I didn't notice when Azera walked up and began healing me. Of course between how small she was, the dark robes she was wearing and her long black hair it wasn't hard to miss her in the shadows of this place. Master Donavin takes every child he happens upon who appears extremely force sensitive, he purchased Azera from a slaver last year. She was doing well enough in her training but it seems living her first eleven years as a slave had made her meek and submissive. We were trying to drive these traits out of her but Mazer kept reinforcing them by treating the girl like, well, a slave. As if on cue with my thoughts Mazer suddenly yelled out.

"DAMMIT CHILD GET OVER HERE AND HEAL ME!" Azera jumped and quickly ran over to him, she complied with his command but didn't touch his punishment cut. She knew better, the last time Mazer made her do that both of them got three more and a thourough beating from Master Donnavin. I wanted to put a stop to Mazer's abuse but Master Donavin had told me that this was a good way for Azera to learn that her weaknesses were just that. I was taken away from these thoughts as Lynn led me away, we stayed in ear shot though.

"Marcus, I have some kind of test tomorrow and Master Donavin said if I pass I can launch an attack on Black Sun. I already have a target in mind but it would be a little risky to try alone, if I could convince Master Donavin to let you would you come along?" This was rare, to outright ask me for a favor. Me and Lynn had a sort of silent friendship and it was no secret that Master Donavin was firmly opposed to it. He warned Lynn that one day I might come after him for some reason or another, and he would foolishly show me mercy because of our friendship. It was valid reasoning but neither of us could think of any reason we would have to fight one another, in the long run we'll probably both be in positions of influence and power in the new sith order. Besides even if one of us was a higher rank then the other neither of us wanted power for power's sake, I wanted to protect Mary and he wanted to destroy the Black Sun crime syndicate. These thoughts flew through my head in a second, I gave him a quick nod as I spoke.

"Ya sure." He gave me a thankful smile.

"Actually can you ask him yourself, I want to do some last-minute training. Again I nodded, this time grudgingly.

"Thank you!" he said enthusiastically before running past me. As I passed through the central chamber I saw Azera in the training room making practice swings at the dummy with her mini training saber. I couldn't help but smile, Azera was an adorable child, and her form was just so pitifull.

"HEY!" I barked out at her, in shock she dropped her blade then quickly turned to face me. "Your blows are to slow, if that dummy had a blaster you'd have five extra holes in you before you got your first swing in!" I yelled aggressively while she stood their quivering. The dark side whispered for me to hurt her; to beat her viciously and show her how weak she was, but I pushed the desire away knowing that doing so would serve no purpose.

"I-I'm sorry, I'll do better." She sputtered out. After a moment without me leaving or saying anything she picked up her blade and made another swing, it was much better. She stayed in form but turned to look at me, eyes wide with fear.

"God your pathetic." I said with mild exasperation. She closed her eyes and let out a small sigh of relief, knowing I would have said or did something much worse if her performance hadn't satisfied me. With that I stopped helping her and returned to my previous task of speaking to master Donavin. When I got to his doorway I saw him sitting at his table and looking intently at some 3-D map of a large ship.

"Master Donavin may I enter?" I asked formally.

"You may." He said without looking up from his map, his voice seemed apathetic and I took three steps into the room. Not wanting to waste his time a cut to the chase.

"Master I wish to go with Lynn on his project tomorrow, I have already been given his approval." His gaze grew hard and he silently looked from his map at me, I felt my blood chill.

"Assuming he passes his test." he said harshly.

"I do not believe you would give one of your pupils a test he could not pass Master." I said honestly and plainly. At this he gave a cold smile.

"Why do you wish to go with him?" he asked knowing full well why I did. I chose my words carefully none the less.

"It would greatly weaken this order, and therefore me if anything were to happen to him, as such I feel it is worth my time to make sure he is successful in his mission. Additionally I feel it would be beneficial to my training to be in a real life or death fight." I spoke emotionlessly. Master Donavin glared at me for a few moments longer before releasing a frustrated sigh.

"You may go."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The next morning I awoke to the sound of talking and quietly made my way to the central chamber. I was still in the shadows but I saw Lynn talking to Master Donnavin, they both had hushed voices but I could make out the words. Lynn was dressed for battle, all of us are outfitted with a set of battle clothing in addition to our robes. The only armour is the breastplate, this gives us a decent amount of protection but at the same time keeps our limbs light, allowing us to fight at our best. Other than that it's just a dark pair of pants with a clip in them to hold our light sabers, I noticed Lynn had his. It was at least a couple hours before anyone normally woke up and it was clear that his was not something I was supposed to witness, as such I was trying hard to mask my presence. I had hoped to find out what Lynn's test would be but to my dissapointment the conversation was ending by the time I got there.

"...and if you somehow fail this assignment without dying don't bother coming back!" Donnavin said sternly. Lynn didn't say anything, he just offered a bow before turning and going onto the planet's surface. As the door creaked shut we were left in an eary silence, I almost couldn't believe my ears when Master Donnavin spoke in an even more hushed voice.

"Fight well my pupil" his tone sounded almost, worried? Master Donavin showed very little affection or care to any of us, but even less to Lynn; if anything he was twice as harsh on him. Lynn was better behaved and had more scars than anyone. _So Master Donavin cares about Lynn, and I'm Lynns friend. I could use this to manipulate Donavin, maybe even upsurp him somehow! __**SLAM! **_I quickly blocked off these thoughts, realizing that the dark side was manipulating me. I could protect Mary in my current standing, and my subordinate rank wasn't hindering my ability to grow stronger in the slightest, there was no reason for me to try and take Donavins place.

"No, there **isn't**." Donavin said in threatening tone, it seems in my deep thought I had forgoten to continue masking my pressence. He turned his head to look at me and suddenly I couldn't breath; I felt the strength in every part of my body drain away, I would have collapsed had he not been holding me in place. As I gagged and wheezed, desperately trying to get air in he casually walked forward.

"You have become very strong Marcus, but I am much stronger still. I have important goals that are still a long way from completion. I keep you here because I see you as a tool to help me achieve these goals, if you ever ceased to be an asset and become an annoyance, I would crush you like an insect. Understand?" His tone was casual and aloof, like we were talking about the weather. I couldn't answer him of course, I couldn't even nod, all I could do was desperately will myself to stay concious and try to keep the room from spinning. _Is this it, is he going to kill me?_

"I really **should **kill you, but it seems wastefull to do so after I've invested so much time in training you. Besides, your not ever gonna try to upsurp me, are you you pathetic, little urchin?" It was more of a statement then a question. I could feel drool fizzling down my mouth as I continued to gag for breath, I could barely even pay attention to his words at this point. After a moment of silence he pulled out his knife and I vaugely felt my arm lift to a horizontal angle, "So we'll just give you the standard punishment.", he said as he gave me ninth mark. "Oh, and one more for eavesdropping of course." He sliced again but I didn't even feel it with my body screaming for air so loud. He stared into my bulging eyes for one more second before finally my throat was opened and I fell to the floor wheezing in breath after breath of sweet, precious air. I was on my fourth before I felt the pain of the fresh cuts, still I was so relieved that it barely bothered me.

"...Thank you...Master." I managed to cough out.

Master Donavin released a satisfied chuckle as he walked off, I didn't stand up immediately after I regained my composure. I was in awe of the power my master possessed; I had seen him unleash it before when Mazer said something a bit too stupid, but feeling it was completely different. This was the first time I had really grasped how powerful master Donavin was. This was the first time I really grasped how weak I still was. When I first came to this academy I trained myself half to death every day, because I **knew **that I was weak, that I had a long path ahead of me and finite time to complete it. I don't know when that drive had left me, I still trained hard but my determination was a shadow of what it had previously been. I had obtained a meager amount of strength and it made me confident, proud, lazy. I don't know if it was intentional or not but Master Donavin had broken me out of that dellusion. I now knew that I was just a weak, little acolyte; I wasn't some great, powerful sith. And I knew lying here on the floor wasn't going to turn me into one, with great effort I forced myself to my feat and went to the training room filled with a burning determination.

"Getting an early start?" I was broken away from my deep focus by Mazer's annoying voice, many of the orbs I was levitating fell a ways but I managed to catch them before they hit the ground. After I regained my composure I took a deep breath and continued focusing, ignoring Mazer's prompt. I had a five spheres of varying weights and sizes in a slow orbit around me, myself being about a foot off the ground. I do this excercise every week, its purpose is to teach you to control physical matter, when I first got here I had to do one ball. Every month I add fifteen minutes to my time and every year I add another ball. I broke that pattern this morning by adding another ball early, and I was twenty-six minutes past my time; I was going to go another thirty-four before I allowed myself to rest. I had a screaming migrane and sweat poured from my body but I'd be dammed if that stopped me from getting stronger. I could feel Mazer trying to pry into my mind like some slimy bug crawling into my ear; unfortunately I didn't have the energy to block him out like usual, the best I could do was block off the incident with Donavin I had this morning.

"Damn, you've been at this for hours, your not trying to get ahead of me are ya?" _Good God is that what he actually thinks?_ Despite knowing that it would hurt my focus I couldn't resist replying.

"I'm already ahead of you you stupid, little, shit now SHUT UP!" The balls again fell as I lost my head but once more I managed to catch them, though it was far to close for comfort. He released a chuckle then leaned casually and quietly against the wall to observe me. I knew what he was doing, he was going to wait for me to fail then he was going to taunt me, knowing I wouldn't have the energy to kick his ass. _God I hate this guy, tommarow I am going to rip his- Focus, you need to focus. _The balls were wobbling in the air and I was so furious I hadn't even noticed. I took a deep breath and forgot about Mazer, I forgot about everything except the task I was performing.

I continued for twenty more agonizing minutes before I knew I couldn't go any longer, if I kept hanging on I would just pass out and drop them anyway. I released a groan, half relief and half frustration as they fell to the floor with a series of _clacks _that were torture to my throbbing head.

"Ooooh, not even close." Mazer said.

"FUCK YOU!" I yelled gripping my head tight with one hand and supporting my hunched body with they other.

"Oh don't be like that, you did great champ!" My blood boiled at his patronizing tone, there was no way I could beat him right now but damn it I might have to attack him anyway. That's what he wanted, it didn't prove anything when he beat me in this state but it was still infuriating. I was still struggling over what I was going to do when Master Donavin, appearing from nowhere, spoke.

"Indeed you did." Mazer jumped and I relaxed a little, "Now Mazer, is there a reason you've been awake thirty minutes and are yet to start training?" Mazer began blubbering out some pathetic excuse before he was cut off.

"Lift your arm." As he did Mazer turned his eyes to me, I managed a light smile. He gritted his teeth through the cut and left the room, after he was gone Master Donavin turned to me, we stared at one another in silence for a moment. "You can heal your arm now." He said simply before leaving. I brought my hand to the cuts but as I expected I was far too tired. Fortunately at that moment Azera walked in, upon seeing me she immediately turned around to go train somewhere else.

"Hey." I said, not in my usual aggressive tone, I was too tired to put up a front. She immediatly turned around to face me but said nothing, as usual she looked scared.

"I'd be in your debt if you healed me." This was the only phrase Master Donavin allowed us to ask one another for help in. As I spoke I pulled up my sleeve, revealing my fresh cuts, her eyes widened but she didn't say anything. As she placed her soft, tiny hands on my wounds and healed me I looked into her mind, unsurprisingly she was wondering what I had done to earn two punisments in such a short period of time. I wasn't going to tell her what happened and she didn't expect me to; still seeing as I owed her I figured I could at least tell her the lesson I had been reminded of.

"Never cross Master Donavin." She offered a small nod but I knew she didn't really understand, oh well, as meek as she was I doubt she would ever have to learn this lesson the way I had. Either way it wasn't really any concern of mine, I had more training to do.

I worked myself like I hadn't in years, and for the first time in over two years I passed out on the floor of the training room rather then haul my half dead body back to it's chambers. Almost every night I dream of Mary; what are reuninon will be like, what she'll look like when I finally return to her, how our children will fare at this academy. But not that night. That night their was no dream, just a great sense of satisfactioin that I felt burning even when I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The next morning I awoke in indescribably pain, just opening my eyes and lifting my head took effort. Their was a dull ringing in my ear and I smelled worse then a dead animal, but that wouldn't ruin my good mood. No what ruined my good mood was the chuckle I heard from the doorway.

"Well look who crawled out of her hole." I said looking up at Madarra, who was leaning against the wall with a smirk. Madarra was the worst kind of person that exists; she was weak, and she had the great oppurtunity to become stronger, to become a sith! But she was not doing so. I don't know why Master Donavin didn't kill her when she stopped training but I knew better then to question him. I was broken out of my contempt filled thoughts by her response.

"Oh screw you ya little brat." She said without changing her relaxed posture, I however was shocked.

"What did you just say to me?" I asked, in tone a parent might use with a disrespectful child.

"What, are you deaf?" She replied mockingly. I don't know what made her think a puny weakling like her could talk to a sith that way, but it was a problem I was certainly going to correct. Forgetting my pain I stood up and walked over to be face to face with her. We stood silently for a moment glaring into each others eyes. Then with a short grunt I punched the wall next to her head hard, leaving an impressive sized crater. She tried to maintain her composure but as I continued glaring into her eyes it drained away; she had not expected this, she was terrified.

"You know Madarra, I could break you in half right now, and Master Donavin probably wouldn't even care." I said in a quiet, informative tone. It seemed as though she understood, she was quivering in fear and I could feel in her mind that she knew I was right.

"I would." Mazer said threateningly, having appeared just outside of the door. So that was why Madarra thought she could talk down to me. My body was sore but I had my energy to use the force rejuvinated from my nights rest. At the very least I apparantly had enough to fling Mazer straight up and smash his head against the low, stone ceiling. He fell limply back to the ground and crumpled on the floor, he was still alive though, I hadn't hit him _that _hard.

"Interesting." I said mockingly, it _was _essentially a sucker punch, and it took a lot more out of me then I showed, but I think I effectively corrected displayed who the superior here was. Madarra remained where she was, still trembling in terror and staring at me. I glanced back at her for a moment before walking out the door and to my room. Intending to get some food and wash away that God awful smell. I was in the shower when I felt Lynn returning to the tomb, I had been so consumed by my training that I had completely forgotten about his absence. Seeing as I almost certainly would have to take a similar test eventually, I was extremely interested to learn what he had had to do. I quickly finished washing and made my way back to the central chamber.

When I got there it seemed everyone was congregated around the door waiting for Lynn, I must have given Mazer a concussion seeing as Azera was still working on his head. As I stepped into the room he turned his gaze from the door to me, his eyes hardened into a viscous glare. I just raised an eyebrow and looked back at him, I was pretty close to one hundred percent at the moment, I would _love_ for him to try something right now. And that's why he didn't, he just turned his gaze back to the door. Master Donnavin was in the room too, but as would be expected he didn't care about our squabble, or at the very least he cared more about Lynn's eminent return. The door opened with its usual loud groan revealing Lynn, he had small wounds all over him and a large gash across his face but wore a smirk that screamed accomplishment. Azera started approaching, probably wanted to heal him, but stopped as Master Donavin stepped over to him.

"You slayed my beast I take it?" He asked as if there were nothing remarkable about the situation.

"Yes Master." Lynn's tone was openly proud, not the normal emotionless tone that he spoke to Master Donnavin in.

"Kneel." Master Donavin said commandingly. When he silently complied Master Donnavin ignited his light saber and rested it just above Lynn's shoulder. The red glow illuminated the room, creating an air of mysticism that added to the grandeur of the moment.

"As your master and mentor, I hereby declare your training complete, you are now a complete sith of the new order." His voice was loud and booming, the whole chamber was filled with its echoes. And just like that, with that short, simple statement the moment was over. Master Donnavin deactivated his weapon and Lynn rose, his eyes beeming with pride. I was shocked by what happened next, Master Donavin put a hand on his shoulder and continued. "I am proud of you my pupil, I would be honored if you would stay here as an instructor of my academy."

"...Y-Yes master." Lynn choked out, it looked like he was trying hard not to cry. Lynn idolized Master Donavin and I'd wager this was more affection then he had received in the rest of his life combined up until now from him. As if trying to take his mind off of this Master Donavin spoke again.

"When will you leave for your project?" Snapping himself out of his intense emotions Lynn replied.

"Today, if Azera would be so kind as to heal me." Master Donavin gave a small frown at how Lynn worded that statement but said nothing. Only offering a small nod as he walked away. Lynn turned to me as Azera started to work on him.

"Can you be ready to leave in an hour?" I gave a nod, all I had to do was don my armour and that would only take a few minutes.

"Where are you guys going?" Mazer asked interested. I spoke harshly before Lynn could.

"On a raid, it doesn't concern you."

"A raid huh, I wouldn't mind tagging along on that." He said like he was doing us a favor, before I could tell him that I would, Master Donavin spoke.

"I think that's a fine idea." He said simply before turning around and disappearing down the hallway to his chambers. I gritted my teeth but said nothing.

"Azera go pack me a bag." Mazer said in a mildly threatening tone. Before she had time to comply, Lynn spoke.

"Azera as an instructor of this academy I order you to go meditate for the next hour, Mazer you can pack your own bag." The last part had a hint of snideness to it, Mazer's eyes grew cold as he replied.

"Sure Lynn."

"**Master** Lynn." he retorted aggressively, Mazer's eyes hardened from cold to furious but he forced out through clenched teeth.

"Master Lynn" He turned down the hall and went back to his chambers ahead of me, as he passed me I could feel the anger oozing out of him. Maybe I'd enjoy him coming along after all I thought to myself as I entered my chambers. I had trained in my armour before but as I donned it this time, knowing I was going into a real battle; I felt my stomach churn. Not from fear, I had trained hard and was confident in my ability. It was the thought that I was going to go kill people, strangers, that stuck with me; sith are almost always utterly selfish but my goal meant that I wasn't. I'm sure I wouldn't consciously hold back but this uneasiness would certainly hinder me if I didn't get rid of it. So I decided to think hard on it while I had time.

I took a seat on my bed and ignited my light saber, holding it horizontal to my eyes and putting my left hand close to its heat. I brought my hand closer and closer until I couldn't tolerate any more pain. I watched as my skin slowly seared away like paper in a fire while I thought. I would inflict this and more on others. I always knew that I would kill someone in a heartbeat to protect Mary, hell I knew that before I ever decided to become a sith. These people I was going to kill though, they didn't threaten Mary, they didn't threaten me, they didn't even know me. Lynn had lost his whole famliy to this organization and hated them on a very personal level, but when I looked at the Black Sun they weren't any worse than the sith in conduct. I couldn't find any reason to hate them, the dark side around me pushed plenty of nonsensical, hypocritical, reasons but I needed a real one. I would not let the dark influence me like that. I would have to channel some other emotion. I decided on self-preservation, if I died I wouldn't ever see Mary again; I wouldn't be able to protect her. So I would have to fight my hardest and survive, Mary's life was worth more than a thousand strangers, it was worth more than every other life in the galaxy, it was worth more than the galaxy itself. They'll die, I'll become stronger, she'll become safer; and that's all there was to it.

The thought firm in my mind I de-activated my light saber and put it on my belt. I looked at my hand and almost gasped, I must have moved it closer or something during my deep thought. The flesh had a third degree burn that left my palm a black charred mess, I could even see a little bone in the middle. Embarrassed to show this to anyone, even if it was just Azera, I spent about ten minutes healing it myself. Once my flesh was back where it was supposed to be I stood up to go see Lynn about the mission details, having nothing else to do. As I walked down the halls it occurred to me I hadn't left this planet in three years, hell I don't remember the last time I left this building. Not that I was complaining, I didn't have any real desire to leave ever, I missed Mary but she was the reason I was here in the first place; leaving just to visit her would be incredibly stupid. I wondered what it would be like without the constant pain in my stomach, it was so much a part of me I couldn't fathom being without it. _Well I guess I'd see what its like soon enough._ I thought as I arrived at Lynn's door, poking my head in I saw he was deeply immersed in the 3D map Master Donnavin was looking at earlier and decided not to bother him. Instead I walked next door to Master Donavin's room, there was something I wished to ask him.

"Master Donavin may I enter?" I asked as usual, he looked like he was expecting me.

"You may." he said putting down the leather-bound book he had been reading and looking up at me. His gaze made it clear he was waiting for me to speak, so I did.

"Master why did you instruct us to bring Mazer with us?" Master Donavin was no fool, he knew there was animosity between us; surely he knew that could cause problems. He gave me a small, knowing grin.

"Mazer is a more, common, type of sith my pupil. He wants power for power's sake, however in terms of ranking with everyone here he isn't getting more powerful and this frustrates him immensely, which leads to problems." My mind flashed to the incidents of the past couple days. "Precisely." Master Donavin said, no doubt knowing what I was thinking. "I think it would be beneficial for him to go into a fight with ordinary people, it would make him aware of how powerful he has become with his time here. Besides, he's more than strong enough to be an asset isn't he?" I gave a grudging nod and he waved me away. I returned to the central chamber and saw the others waiting. We silently headed outside and to the ship, the same one I had come here in so long ago. It wasn't until we were inside that Mazer spoke in his obnoxious voice.

"Man, I'm excited!" His teeth formed a feral smile, he was really looking forward to killing people.

"Are you now?" Lynn said quietly and somewhat mockingly as he prepped the ship for launch. "You did get the bomb from Madarra right?" He added as his hand hovered over the launch button.

"Sure did," he said brandishing the item, it just looked like a grey ball about a foot in diameter. "I was informed it took two all nighters to make this thing in time." Mazer added like it was a great sacrifice.

"Well pass on my gratitude." Lynn responded in a completely apathetic tone. My tone was a bit more harsh as I spoke.

"You don't owe her any, its important Madarra makes herself useful as more than just Mazer's whore."

"Hey that's uncalled for." Mazer said turning to me. His tone was serious but he wore a grin that looked like he was gloating. I scoffed mentally, I could've had Madarra if I wanted, hell I was stronger than Mazer I probably still _could_ have her if I wanted. Especially after that display I put on today. I'm guessing Mazer misread the contempt coming from me as he let out a short chuckle before falling back onto one of the seats, strapping himself in. I did the same not bothering to correct him, as long as Madarra didn't bother me I could care less what or who she did. There was a thrust as we left the atmosphere and I had an uncomfortable sense of relief as the pain in my gut left. Lynn left the cockpit and came over to us after making some final adjustments.

"We have about 20 hours until we reach our destination, we should be mistaken for a delivery vessel upon arrival and dock with no problems. Once we do Mazer will stay near the ship to kill anyone who tries to flee and protect the signal jammer. Marcus you'll come with me to the armoury. Master Donavin wishes us to take any armaments we can find." Before I opened my mouth he held up a hand and cut me off. "I'm not sure why he wants them either. After the ship is loaded we'll set up our bomb in the engine room so that we can be completely sure that everyone who sees us dies." He paused for a moment as if unsure of his next words. "Whatever your reasons are, I want to thank both of you for helping me with my revenge today." He cleared his throat before he spoke again returning to the formal tone he had been briefing us with. "Master Donnavin suggested we use our first few hours of travel to meditate and get use to channeling the dark side without help." With that he went back into the cockpit, leaving us to ourselves. I closed my eyes and tried to steel myself for my first battle.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

As the ship we were docking in came into sight I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves, I still wasn't sure how I was going to channel the dark side and it looked like I was out of time. I would never admit this, but I was scared. Mazer had a grin so big I was genuinely freaked out by him. Lynn had the same calm determined look he always did, my expression was similar. Our ship landed without issue, Lynn joined Mazer and I by the door; he stood in the center with me on his left. My heart pounded as we ignited out crimson blades, ready to charge as soon as the door opened. Desperate, I decided to just think something unjustified. These people were trying to kill me, they were trying to take me away from Mary, these people were trying to do something that would make Mary less safe, and that was more then enough to fill me with rage. As this thought bubbled in my head I felt the pain I had missed return, and my eyes lit up with the power of the dark side. I could feel the dock worker approaching our ship wondering why we didn't open the door on our own, I could feel the two guards about ten yards away gazing over with mild suspicion, I could feel the dozens of people wandering the hallways oblivious of the wrath about to befall them; and then the door opened.

The worker barely had time to widen his eyes in shock before Lynn flung his left arm forward and threw the man across the bay, crashing straight into the two guards who hadn't managed to even fire a shot. That was an impressive move, even for Lynn and he didn't even look winded. Lynn's eyes, which were always so calm and focused, looked like they were on fire; he was even smiling. And with a roar from him the three of us charged, the man who was thrown was limp and unmoving; one of the guards struggled to push him off of his chest while the other who only had his legs covered lifted his rifle and desperately fired. The bolt would have connected to Lynn's shoulder had he not smacked it away with his hand; this was a useful power that Master Donavin had invented where one channels a small shield of energy over there left hand and then simply moves the hand to block attacks. When one was advancing it was much easier than blocking with a light saber. Were this guard wise he would've turned his gun on auto and let loose, we still would have managed of course but it would have been much harder. He managed half a scream before Lynn decapitated him, in the two seconds while Lynn pulled his blade back to impale the other we heard him screaming into some sort of communicator.

"...JEDI, OR, SITH OR, SOMETHING FOR THE LOVE OF GOD HEL-" He went silent and limp as the blade went into this throat.

"Hey leave some for us will ya?" Mazer laughed out, Lynn actually chuckled in response. Not mocking but gleeful, it was clear that he was enjoying this immensely; he shook his head a little and looked up with a serious expression.

"Mazer stay here, kill everyone who tries to escape as we discussed. Marcus, with me." He said in a commanding voice. We ran towards the two doors that led out of the bay, from the life I sensed moving around in them I inferred that they went ahead for about eight yards before entering into a large control room, I looked to Lynn as we approached. He nodded towards the door on the left that I was closer to while he moved towards the one on the right. Just as I was approaching it I grew nervous again; _this is it, there are people in that hallway who I'm going to have to kill._ As the door flew open the three men who were running towards it halted their charge and raised there guns, but they didn't fire. I also halted and raised my light saber; for a moment neither of us did anything. This was bad, if they all went full auto I wouldn't be able to block, I could always kill all three of them with lightning but that would take a lot of energy and I didn't want to do that unless I had to. Then my eyes lit up, one of them pulled out a thermal detonator and as he pulled back to throw I reflexively shot a single focused bolt of lightning at it, causing it to explode prematurely. I felt a sick joy bubble inside me looking at the charred remains of the three men, but I pushed it away.

I stepped cautiously into the control room, Like the main hallway and hangar it had a grey, ugly feeling to it. In the center was a large, circular computer terminal with five or six chairs around it, I also noted four doors in the room. At that moment Lynn entered the main chamber as well, I noted that there was a blood stain on his cloak and a large smile on his face. Once he saw the room was clear he turned to me still smiling,

"Killing them with their own grenade huh? Resourceful." I grinned at the praise but said nothing, we could both feel that more were coming from two different doors but we had at least a minute before they reached us. I noticed there was a point where most of them went before coming towards us and inferred that to be the armoury. Once again Lynn nodded to me and we moved to the next hallway, this one was wider, wide enough for us both to stand side by side both in a combat stance. Feeling the larger force was coming from behind he turned around so that we were back to back. I could already see my group coming down the hallway; about twenty people at the head of which was a burly rodian, it seems they were going to try to rush me in a triangle formation. It seemed foolish to me that they would enter close combat with a sith but I certainly wasn't complaining. As they got closer it occurred to me that I a grenade would be great here if I had any. Just before they reached me I pushed with the force, not enough to knock them over but enough to take away their momentum. As they reached me I sliced and pushed again, the rodian ducked in time but the two directly behind him were killed easily. Most of the rest were knocked off their feet. The five who weren't were chopped down first, with the exception of one, the large rodian man. After killing the first four I was bringing my blade down on him only to have it expertly parried by his short, machete like blade. Panicking I thrust my off-hand forward, he avoided actual contact but I still through him about fifteen yards back. It had been four seconds. The enemies I had initially knocked down were beggining to get up and raise their weapons. Out of time I dove back so that all my opponents were in front of me and let loose a spasm of lightning on them. It don't know if it was enough to kill all of them but either way no one was getting up.

"NOOOO!" I heard the rodian scream as I did so. I looked up just in time to see him hammer throw a thermal detonator at me. It moved forward at me like a bullet, I managed to detonate it with lightening like earlier but by the time I did it was close enough to knock me off my feet. I rolled with it and was on my knees, the dumb oaf was charging straight at me. I could feel the dark side radiating from him, he must have been force sensitive. Curious I looked into his mind, _Boboo?! Sera, sweetheart?! YOU BASTARD! YOU KILLED THEM YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU!_ As he barrelled towards me I felt a faint hint of guilt, this man had a lover too, he had friends, he had a life; a life that I was taking away. I suddenly understood why Master Donavin tells us not to look into our enemies minds. As he reached me and brought his blade up, mine shot forward cutting him clean in half; still feeling the lingering guilt I made sure to go through the heart so he'd die instantly. With that the fight was over, I stopped channeling to dark side and felt the expected crash. I felt light headed for a moment and could hear my heart beating louder than the sounds of Lynn finishing his fight. Sweat poured down my body as he turned around and gripped my shoulder.

"Go switch places with Mazer" I began to argue but it occurred to me that Lynn was a superior now, and I **was **tired. Grudgingly I made my way back to the hanger, once again trying to ignore the bodies me and Lynn had made of the crew. Mazer was sitting anxiously when I reached him; he even stood up and ignited his light saber when I came through the door. He then looked at me questioningly to which I just pointed behind me.

"Were switching places, go." Too excited to mock me for my state he sprinted to the door. With a groan I sat down on the ramp of our vehicle, I looked around and noticed that Mazer destroyed all the other ships, that was actually pretty smart of him. I knew better but still decided to think about the rodian I killed, it wasn't surprising that's what he was thinking; everyone I killed probably had a friend, a lover, a family. My life has priority of course but I still feel sorry for them. I buried that sentiment deep in my mind, not wanting Master Donnavin to see it. At best it would be humiliating and at worst it would be grounds for him to kill me.

I stood there, just resting, for about half an hour before Mazer emerged from the door, breathing heavy and holding some sort of meat patty in his hand. He took a bite of it before speaking.

"Lynn's working on the armoury door, he told me to switch with you." he said with a hint of envy but mostly a relaxed joy. The words were muffled by the food in his mouth and juices dribbled down his chin as he spoke. I merely stared at him for a second.

"What the hell is that?" I said pointing to his food item. At the question he examined the brownish blob as if he wasn't sure.

"Don't know, but it's meat." He said confirming my thoughts.

"Can you seriously eat right now!?" I said thinking of the carnage I had witnessed. At this he pointed a finger at me.

"Hey pal, I haven't had meat in over two years." he said taking another big bite and moaning with pleasure. I decided to stop talking to him, honing in on where Lynn was I began moving through the halls. Every now and then I would feel someone but it seemed they were all hiding; wise, not that it would do them any good. I thought maybe Mazer was half right in his thinking when I passed through the kitchen area and saw all the food. I hadn't eaten anything sweet in years; I could probably take some of this ships fruit back with me. When I came upon Lynn he was slowly dragging his lightsaber around the frame of the large metal door, sensing me approach he spoke without turning around.

"Someone locked himself in their, I'm just about in so be ready." With that the door opened and we were suddenly under a barrage of fire. We both sprinted with unnatural speed back to the nearest door to duck into. I was in front and tried to dive through when my shoulder unexpectedly made contact with the automatic door, at the speed I was moving a made a decent dent but was still left exposed in hall. Panic flooded through me as I realized we had no place to take cover from this barrage. Lynn was standing in front of me, his saber had fallen to the floor and he had both hands up desperately trying to shield against the bolts. I desperately smashed against the door a couple more times with meager results.

"HOW LONG!?" Lynn screamed trembling, he couldn't keep this up much longer.

"TOO LONG!" I yelled. He muttered something I couldn't hear over the roaring gun and after a second yelled again.

"THEN WE'RE CHARGING!" And with that we pressed forward with me running close behind him. We weren't moving very fast, I was sure that any second Lynn would fail and we would both be killed but he didn't. As we pushed through the door Lynn dove to the right, the turret followed him and I jumped around his left. All it took was one simple swing to stop the barrage, and with that we were plunged into a calm, safe, silence. It stopped so suddenly that for a moment I just stood their and took everything in, the carnage, my powers, my speed. I couldn't help a grin; because even though I was weak, I was strong enough for my goal, I was strong enough to protect Mary.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Mazer groaned as he lifted the last crate from the armoury. I began walking back to the ship with him as their was nothing left to guard in the room.

"I still say we should have just grabbed a few of the crew members and made them do this for us." he grunted out.

"Great thinking, give a group of enemies with nothing to lose access to guns, explosives **and** our ship." I said sarcastically, he just glared at me in response. As we entered the hanger Lynn got up from the ships ramp and grabed the bomb. He passed us without a word, he already explained when we started unloading the armoury that he would plant it as soon as we were ready to leave. The bomb had a fifteen minute wait time between activation and detonation, that gave us plenty of time to get out. Despite this Lynn returned to the ship in a dead sprint, I actually taunted him a little as he barreled through the door and started the launch procedure. Once again we all strapped ourselves down as the engines roared to life and took us into space. Lynn had informed us before hand that we would wait just outside the ship to be absolutely sure that the bomb detonated, we all knew how disastrous it would be if the empire learned of our academy.

As soon as we had taken off I unstrapped myself and walked into the cockpit room, wanting to watch the explosion. I watched over Lynn's shoulder as he stared down at his watch, counting the seconds silently until finally the bomb went off. There's something intoxicating about watching a soundless explosion, its like your in a different world from the destruction right in front of you. We all stared at this silent fireball until the perfect silence was broken by Mazer letting out an annoying whistle. Even this couldn't ruin the comfortable feeling I had though. Housing the dark side within you brings a mode of constant internal strife and discomfort; or so I thought. For the first time in a very long time I felt completely relaxed. It felt similar to the high I got when I beat the hell out of Mazer but so much more intense. I was so lost in this new found bliss I was walking back to my seat before I even realized it. I was brought out of this haze by the sound of soft laughter, I looked up at Mazer and raised a brow questioningly. For a moment he looked as if he was searching for words before he simply blurted out.

"We are badasses!" I let out an amused chuckle, after a moment I even graced him with a response.

"The Sith are mighty." I said with an agreeing tone, making him smirk.

"And we are the Sith." He said spreading his arms as if displaying himself. Suddenly from the cockpit Lynn spoke over his shoulder, his tone sarcastically cross.

"Don't get to cocky Mazer your just a recruit, you should see Master Donavin fight." He had peaked both are curiousities but Mazer was the one who replied.

"You've seen our Master fight?" He asked prying for details, Lynn only gave one.

"Yes. He was unstoppable, he was like a God." His voice was soft and quivering with awe just at the memory of this event he witnessed. Mazer waited about thirty seconds for Lynn to say more before giving up and speaking himself.

"Well I might just be a recruit but I'm still pretty tough." He said cockily, again I was in too good of a mood for it to bother me though. It seems Lynn was in a similar state judging by his reply.

"Yes Mazer you are." He said patronizingly. Lynn let out a laugh following his statement and I joined him, after a second so did Mazer. We've never been this light hearted around each other, I think Master Donavin was very wise to send us all here. We chatted pleasantly almost they entire trip home, something I rarely did with Lynn and something I **never** did with Mazer. We talked mostly of our pasts, apparantly Mazer was a gang leader and found by Master Donavin when he foolishly tried to mug him. We all had a good laugh over that.

The ride home felt much shorter then the ride to our mission, I was surprised when I suddenly felt the pain in my gut return. And I was shocked by what I felt on the planet, I looked up and saw that Lynn and Mazer clearly felt it too judging from the morbid expressions on their faces. There were nine total people on the surface.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
We were very unsure of what to do when we landed, night had already fallen on the planet which furthered the ominous feeling in the air. Mazer had suggested just taking off, honestly I would have given the idea a lot more thought if Lynn hadn't immediately shot it down. Insisting that Master Donnavin might need our help. We moved slowely as we stepped out of the ship and onto the didn't have our weapons out but we did grip them tightly, we could all feel that Master Donnavin, Madarra, and Azera were still alive. That was something at least. Whoever had landed hadn't put any effort into hiding their ship, it was sitting openly on a plateu near the tomb. It was of a similar model to ours but we didn't waste time inspecting it in detail.  
"Master, what's going on?" Lynn yelled as he pushed through the main door. Inside their stood a tall, fat man across from Master Donnavin, both of which were looking at us. The stranger was suspicious, and afraid. It was obvious to all of us that he wasn't anyone of authority, near him stood ten children in a line being carefully inspected by Master Donnavin. Their were six boys and four girls, if I had to guess I'd say they were around ten. Most of them were twileks and humans, but I noticed one rodian. Apparantly finished with his task Master Donnavin looked up to us, he didn't say anything though, he just turned back to the fat man.  
"Everything seems to be in order. My student will show you to the payment, just take what seems fair." He said with an overly generous tone. The man nodded and slowly walked away, keeping his eyes on our master.  
"So uh... lead the way I guess." He said releasing a nervous chuckle, Lynn glared at him a moment and looked back to Master Donnavin who gave him a small nod. Without saying anything he stepped outside and headed towards the ship, followed obediantly by the stranger. Mazer and I walked up to get a closer look at the kids, I didn't bother asking Master Donnavin what was up, figuring he would tell us everything we needed to know. Besides once I started inspecting the children it became very obvious what they were for, they were all extremely force sensitive. As soon as who I presumed was the slaver had left Master Donnavin began speaking passionately, walking back in forth in front of the children as he did  
"You, are some of the luckiest children that ever lived. On this day you have been chosen to be my tools in constructing a great new empire, you have been chosen to be kings and barons of a new era, you have been chosen, to become _sith!_ Those of you who do as I say will be Gods among men, you will have anything you want in the galaxy, you will wield strength that most can only dream of!" His voice quieted and became more sinister as he continued. "But this power does not come without cost, pain is the price a sith pays for power; you will suffer much in the halls of this place. But if you do as I say, if you train hard and follow my guidance, you **will** become strong. I do not pass on this strength out of goodness of my heart either, I give it to you so that you may serve me with it. If you obey me you will have great strength, and if you serve me, you will have whatever your heart desires." He stopped in his stride and leaned down into the face of a young, brown haired boy. Then in a slow, calm voice asked.  
"What do _you_ want?" The boy looked at the floor, clearly terrified. Master Donnavin stayed where he was and continued staring, after a moment the boy mumbled out something inaudible.  
"Louder." Master Donnavin replied. The boy let out a sob, and began speaking in a pathetic, quivering voice.  
"I-I-I want to leave. This place is dark and scary and my stomach won't stop hurting."  
"You want to leave?" Master Donnavin asked, his tone sobered greatly by the boy's statement. The child nodded Donnavin glared at him and then spoke loudly.  
"Is that what all of you want?" He asked standing up straight. After a second of hesitance the children released quiet murmers of agreement. In an instant the room was flooded with blue light as Master Donnavin released a spasm of lightnening on all the children, it hit Mazer and I too but we barely felt it. It was a very weak attack but evidently it was enough to make all the kids collapse. Wow, did I use to be that weak? To be more acurate all but one of the children collapsed, one of them, a blue twilek girl with oddly clean clothes, managed to stay on her knees. He was the one Donnavin spoke to.  
"That is merely a petty, childlike desire. Look deep inside yourself, if you could have anything, what would it be?" She stared at the floor for a long time before answering.  
"I want to find my brother and sister, I want to rescue them from the bad men who took us." Master Donnavin smiled, an oddly warm smile, and nodded his head.  
"Do as I say, and one day you will." He spoke in a hushed, hopefull voice. The girl said nothing but looked up to meet his face, Master Donnavin rose.  
"Get up, all of you." He said, returning to his aggressive, commanding tone. When only a few of the kids complied he made his hand crackle with a small ball of lightening and they all forced themselves to their feet. "Marcus, Mazer, get my new students settled. AZERA-" He called out, looking to the dark hallway where she had been hiding. "-you help too." With that he left, the children all flocked to Azera, I guess since she was younger she was less intimidating. I pushed a small blast of energy out knocking them all, except of course Azera, off their feet and spreading them out into a line. I stepped to a point where about a third of the children were to my right.  
"Follow me." I said simply to those children, Mazer had followed my pattern and Azera just took the other third that were in the middle. I'm not sure why I decided to flex my power to these children, I guess I held a little contempt for their presence. I was all but certain that having ten little brats running around would hamper my training. Especially if Master Donnavin expected me to help train them. Of course I knew he intended to grow his order eventually but this was still very unexpected and unwelcome. I was broken out of these thoughts as I reached the first empty room, I pointed to a blue skinned rodian in my group.  
"Get in." I said simply, he nodded quickly and darted inside. All the other children did the same as I reached various rooms. It was late but I didn't want to go to bed just yet, I hadn't done any training on the ship and I didn't want my body to get a break. When I returned to the main chamber I saw that Azera was still standing by the first door in her corridor with the children badgering her with their questions. It wasn't my problem so I didn't go any closer. Lynn was in the training room when I got there, tearing apart one of our dumbies with his strikes. He paused when I walked through the door, he took a few deep breaths before speaking.  
"These are new students?" I just nodded, wanting to get to work and take my mind off all of this shit that was going on. I could hear Azera and the children as I began running laps. Azera was clearly getting exasperated, she had no doubt recieved special training from Master Donnavin while we had been gone and wanted to rest. I was surprised when her tone finally became commanding and she yelled at the kids.  
"Look, Master Donnavin will tell you everything you need to know eventually, just get in the room!"  
"Make me!" I heard an obnoxious child yell back at her. _Man that little brat's lucky he's with Azera, had he said that to me, or Mazer, or even Lynn we would..._ **ZAP!** The loud blast snapped me out of my thoughts. I recognized the sound, it was a small burst of lightening, I was just dumbfounded by where it had come from. I poked my head out the door and saw the child slumped to the floor with a good sized burn on his chest. Azera stood across from him, she was breathing heavy and still had a little lightening crackling on her hand. She noticed me staring and looked up with an angry what-are-you-looking-at-expession. I let out a short laugh and went back to my laps. It was about time Azera started acting like a sith.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

I didn't go to hard on myself and was only slightly sore when I awoke the next morning. Walking towards the central chamber I saw that our new recruits weren't in their rooms. I silently hoped that the training room wouldn't be to crowded to use. As my body started to wake up and my senses heightened I noticed Master Donnavin had all the children outside. I saw the door was open when I reached the central chamber. Master Donnavin had them all running up the hill, shooting one with a light blast of lightning whenever they slackened or slowed. I wasn't sure what he was doing, physical conditioning hadn't started for me until last year; Master Donnavin told me when I first got here if I started when I was too young it would irreparably damage my body. I didn't particularly care though, I was just glad the training room was empty for me. I wanted to exercised that trick I had tried during the raid. Detonating a grenade in mid air. I had our reflex training machine shoot balls at me at a good speed and tried to hit them with lightning while they were in the air. It wasn't easy, sometimes I couldn't channel the lightning quick enough, sometimes I missed, and sometimes the bolt came out too big which wasted energy. Between all these things I could only hit the ball about half the time without the aid of the dark side.

All the children came in about an hour later, panting heavily and followed closely by Master Donnavin.

"You can sit if you'd like." He said simply, at this the children all collapsed on the floor and lied practically motionless. Master Donnavin lowered himself to a crouch in front of them. "Sit up straight and pay attention." He demanded, they all pulled themselves to an upright position. "I will now explain the force to you, as connected to it as you all are I'm sure you've felt it before. Some of you may have even consciously used it. The ability to use the force is like a hound, a loyal, dependable hound. He will always be by your side, helping you in everything you do, especially when you desperately need its aid, like when fighting. If you exercise this hound you can use it better and on command. This is what you all have felt, this is the force. Now as a sith, you will use the dark side. The dark side is like a giant, ferocious wolf. This wolf does not care about you, he will only help you if you make him, and as long as you do make him, he will try to consume you. You must constantly be on your guard around this beast, but if you can master him, you will wield strength much greater then the hound."

I had stopped my training to listen. I remember hearing this story myself a long time ago during my first months here. If I recall I was given this metaphor when I asked the difference between the force and the dark side. Only a couple of the children looked like they understood what Master Donnavin was saying, of course I didn't really understand until I started actually using it either. My thoughts were interrupted as one of the children spoke.

"Master Donnavin?" He began shakily.

"Yes?" He said with the faintest hint of aggression in his tone. The child swallowed before speaking.

"I-I-I'm hungry." He stuttered out in an apologetic tone. Master Donnavin offered a short nod before he replied.

"As is everyone else I'm sure, which brings us to our next lesson. I already explained to you through the sith code that peace is a lie; the reason for this is quite simple, almost everyone watches out for their own needs first, and sometimes their isn't enough of what's needed for everyone. To illustrate this point we are going to have an _interactive_ lesson." The word interactive was said with that morbid humor that Master Donnavin sometimes spoke with, even I shuddered. "Five of you will be allowed to eat today. To decide which five will eat and which five will not, you will be partnered with another student whom you will spar with. You may choose your partner, and you may decide on rules before hand; but I will not enforce any rules except one. Once you have knocked another child to the ground, you may have your food." His eyes glanced over the children, already some of them were getting the hard, determined stare of a sith.

"Begin." He said simply, as soon as the word left his mouth the children erupted into a mob of unorganized violence. They fought like animals, they were bighting and pulling hair and gouging at eyes. As the fight captured my attention I felt a warm wind blowing from the center of the group as if it were a large heater. Two kids, the rodian was one of them, hesitated to fight, they seemed to be trying to set up rules with each other before they were both attacked from behind and quickly pushed to the ground. The rodian followed his attacker out of the chaos and ran up to Master Donnavin, who had just handed the two aggressors their ration bars.

"Did you see that?!" He whined out in an angry voice, arm pointing accusingly at the two boys who were nervously waiting for Master Donnavin's reaction.

"Yes." Master Donnavin replied in a completely apathetic tone, still watching the brawl.

"T-T-That's not fair!" He said louder, his tone demanding that something be done. Master Donnavin slowly brought his gaze to the child.

"No, it's not. Fighting rarely is, and people rarely are. This is a lesson you must learn, the galaxy is not fair." He replied in a calm, instructional tone. The child didn't seem to like this answer, he had tears in his eyes as he squealed out.

"WELL IT SHOULD BE!" Master Donnavin raised an eyebrow and stared a moment before replying. He seemed intrigued by this boy.

"If you really think that then try to make it fair. Is that what you want, to make the galaxy fair?" The rodian stuttered a moment before nodding. Master Donnavin smiled,

"That's a wonderful goal, but you're not nearly strong enough to do so, you best train hard." The boy swallowed hard and then spoke again.

"You'll let me try to make things fair?" Master Donnavin nodded. The rodian stood still a moment in thought, then without warning he charged the boy who had pushed him down earlier and tackled him to the floor. The boy was caught off guard and utterly failed to defend himself; the rodian punched him twice in the face then picked up his ration bar. The boy just lied their on the floor groaning as the rodian stood up and turned his attention to the other boy. This one was ready for him and didn't go down as easy, as they started fighting I stole a quick glance at Master Donnavin but as expected I couldn't see any expression on his face. Still, the fact that he wasn't doing anything to stop this spectacle was interesting. It seemed he was going to let his new students do as they pleased with each other. I shouldn't be surprised, that's how he did it with the rest of us.

After the brawl Master Donnavin took the children into the training room and told me to train somewhere else, that was fine with me, I had worked my body enough for the day. I went back to my room to fetch a tome I had been reading by Darth Rivan, it had instructions and advice for advanced lightning attacks. As I passed through the main chamber heading for the basement I saw several dummies had been set up in the main room, one for each child. The children all stood at attention in front of them listening to Master Donnavin explain how to channel the dark side into raw, physical power. Master Donnavin didn't acknowledge me as I walked through but some of the children stole a glance at me when I opened the latch and descended the stairs. I ignited the torch that was hanging on the wall with a quick zap of lightening and sat down to read, I liked reading down here, mostly just because of the isolation. Occasionally when I'm thinking deeply or, much more rarely, not at all, I hear incoherent whispers in my ear; but Master Donnavin told me not to worry about it. On the edge of my hearing I could faintly hear the kids smacking their dummies upstairs but I didn't dwell on the noise, I had my own training to focus on.

I spent the rest of the day reading and meditating, I emerged from the trap door and took a brief look around. It seemed they had changed to a different exercise, each of them had been trying to levitate a small, rubber ball. I only saw a couple of them doing it for more than a few seconds. As I walked through the chamber one of the students, a skinny boy with a small, shaved head tried one more time without even managing to slow the balls fall. He let out a high-pitched whine that made me glance at him, our eyes met and he spoke.

"What am I doing wrong?" Being that I didn't know or particularly care I didn't answer, as I kept walking he yelled after me. "HEY!" This made me think briefly about punishing the child but my thoughts were interrupted by Master Donnavins voice.

"Marcus, come here for a moment." He said calmly, of course I obeyed, I noticed him beckon the other child over as I approached. He stood silently for a moment with both of us facing him, all the children had paused their exercise to watch us. "Marcus, kill this child." He said simply, I immediately began suffocating the child with a force grip, lifting him slightly off the floor to give a better view to the other children. I didn't bother protesting or hesitating, Master Donnavin knew I desperately didn't want to do this, and likewise he knew that I would regardless if he demanded it. As I choked the boy Master Donnavin began speaking loudly to the other children.

"I feel that I must note of this, your fellow students do not care about you and you are not entitled to their help. You merely share space a building with them. As you can see, they will kill you without a thought if given a reason. Do not bother them or interfere with their training, they will do the same for you. **That**, is all they owe you." With that Master Donnavin released my grip on the boy, and nodded for me to leave. I was greatly relieved that he didn't make me go through with it; I was even more relieved that I was under no obligation to help these children, as Master Donnavin said, I merely had to share a building with them.

_I don't know if I already mentioned this but I revised all my earlier chapters, that's part of the reason this post took so long. I think I made them a lot better but as always I'd love feedback. Thanks for reading, nice to know my work is half decent._


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Sharing the building proved to be annoying but bearable, I fine example of this was that me and Lynn now had to have our spars outside. We probably would have had to start doing that anyway, with as strong as we were becoming some of the attacks we threw at each other could serious damage to our home if they went off course. The lightening we were shooting at each other now certainly could.

I had to shut my eyes tight to avoid being blinded, the massive ball of energy that formed where our blasts met was shining brighter than the sun! It was moments like this where I felt most alive, pain throbbing throughout my body, mind blank; raw, unfiltered power pounding through my veins and out my hands as I completely surrendered my actions to the unwavering strength of the dark side! It seemed that all our spars ended like this these days; one of us, usually whoever was on the defensive would suddenly throw out everything they had in one vicious attack, leaving the other with no option but to respond with the same action. Then whoever was more exhausted would be overpowered after a few seconds. For a moment I thought that I was winning, at first glance someone unfamiliar with our techniques might think I was. From me poured a massive, blinding cone of blue light made up of dozens of bolts; a few of which were even making contact with Lynn. However these were barely more then an annoyance to a trained sith. The truth of the matter was that Lynn's bolts, though there were only three of them, were more focused, more precise, more powerful.

After a couple more seconds fighting the screaming pain pushing down on my arms I gave up and allowed the massive force I opposed to send me flying off my feet. I landed about five yards back when abruptly hit a large stone rock with a sickening 'crack' that wasn't from the rock breaking.

"GOD DAMNIT!" I heard Lynn yell, smashing a small boulder next to him in anger as he paced back and forth. I turned my head to the children who had been watching our fight, a beady eyed little girl and a yellow twi'lek. Ar my attention they started clapping softly but stopped when I glared at them. After a moment of awkward fidgeting the girl stepped forward held up one of those bottled nutrient drinks to me. She had her head down and was shaking a little, clearly nervous. I glared a bit longer, wondering what she was doing, before deciding I didn't care and snatching the cold drink from her hand. After downing the beverage I noticed they were still staring at me, getting annoyed I spoke.

"You, go get me two more of those-" I said pointing at the girl, who perked to attention when I addressed her; then pointing at the twi'lek I continued. "-and you go tell Azera that I requested her help." Both nodded quickly and sprinted back to the tomb, meanwhile Lynn's continued muttering prompted me to say something.

"Ah, what are you complaining about, I'm the one who got my ass kicked." I said bitterly, he replied but he didn't stop pacing, or look at me.

"You did not 'get your ass kicked you lost, **barely**!" After a brief pause he smashed another boulder and yelled "I'M GETTING WEAKER!" I usually make myself scarce when Lynn gets like this, but being that my ribs were broken and that wasn't really and option I decided to try to help my friend calm down.

"That's ridiculous, I'm just getting stronger a little faster than you." I said aloofly, trying to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal. Which it really wasn't, it's not like I was a threat to him, what did Lynn care if I got stronger them him? When his breathing slowed I thought I might have succeeded in my goal.

"Well then maybe I should just kill you right now while I'm still stronger." His tone didn't seem completely serious but his words still chilled my blood. I became very conscious of the fact that we were alone, almost a mile away from the tomb, and I was severely wounded. Trying to lighten the tension in the air I responded in a joking tone.

"I don't think Master Donnavin would appreciate that." Mentioning Master Donnavin sobered him greatly. Mainly because my words were true, and Lynn lived to please our master. Sometimes I think pleasing Donnavin is the only reason Lynn is a Sith in the first place. As soon as his head was clear his eyes sagged and I could tell that he felt really guilty for his behavior. He didn't offer any sort of apology though, that would just make the situation more awkward.

Fortunately at that moment the beady eyed girl came back. She held the bottles up without saying anything, I took them and tossed one to Lynn. As we began chugging them down the girl spoke again, her voice sounded frightened but eager.

"Would you like anything else sir?" Bothered that I had to take the bottle out of my mouth I made a rather harsh response.

"Yeah, I'd like you to scram, your annoying me." Her eyes lit up with more fear as she nodded vigorously.

"Oh, of course, I-I'm sorry, I'll leave you alone." She said, bumbling over her own words and making herself appear even more pathetic. As she broke into a dead run for the tomb I finished my bottle. After I had drained the fruity liquid I turned to Lynn and spoke.

"Do you know why the brats are sucking up so much lately?" I asked, mildy curious. He offered a short nod as he replied.

"Yeah, they want to be chosen as your apprentice." That threw me back a bit, I was still a student myself after all.

"Is Master Donnavin alright with that?"

"Oh hell ya, he's the one who suggested it. Thought it would encourage more rivalry among them."

"Well there wasting their time, taking a pupil would just waste time I could spend on my own training." I said dismissively. Lynn was silent a moment before replying.

"Mazer's taking one." I just stared at him, silently asking why I would care about that. "This order isn't going to be a dozen kids in a stone bunker forever Marcus, it wouldn't hurt you to make some allies." He elaborated. I had to admit Lynn did have a point, being strong in a Sith order meant having a giant target on your back. And if I've learned anything from Sith history it's that just because I don't care about my position doesn't mean I won't be targeted by someone who wants it. "It really isn't my concern, but if I were you-" I cut him off with my answer.

"Yeah you might be right, I'll give it some thought." He said nothing and I turned my gaze to the tomb, checking to see if Azera was coming. When I saw that she was not, I decided that I had wasted enough time sitting here and forced myself to my feet. Doing so made it feel like my insides were coming out but seeing as sitting back down would probably hurt just as much I decided to say screw it and head back to the tomb. Of course I could have asked Lynn to get Azera for me, and he would have, but asking an equal for help would make it appear that I really needed it, which would make me look weak.

"Are your alright?" Lynn asked with mild concern, falling into step beside me.

"I'll live, but that piss colored twi'lek might not." I said vengefully, that made Lynn laugh. After about five agonizing minutes we reached the stone doors and Lynn pulled them open for me, at the expense of more pain I managed to force myself to a respectable posture before I walked through. As familiar as we all were with each other it didn't take much energy to feel that Azera was in the training room. When I reached the entry way I saw her standing opposite the large, automatic blaster smacking shots away as they periodically were fired at her. Considering she wasn't channeling the dark side she was doing very well, though her heavy breathing revealed how hard it was for her.

I also saw a certain twi'lek standing about a yard back, silently watching her. As I walked in I knocked the child off his feet and out of my way with the back of my hand. This caught Azera's attention and she barely caught the next shot before it hit her. I flipped the machine off before approaching her.

"I'd be in your _debt_ if you healed me." My voice cracked a little from the pain when I said the word debt, this made her eyes widen visibly, she knew how serious a wound I must have had for that to have happened. I sat down and let her go to work, the pain increased a little as she pushed my ribs back into place, to my surprise she responded to my incoherent swearing.

"I wouldn't have to do this if you hadn't moved, you should have sent for me." She said with a somewhat criticizing tone.

"_I did._" I managed to spit out between my clenched jaw. Her eyes flickered to the twi'lek, who was still lying on the floor.

"I was wondering what he wanted, why didn't he just speak up?" She said, annoyed. She got my bones back into place and began the soothing process of mending them, I released a relieved as the pain began waning away.

"He's afraid of you." I said after a while, this seemed to surprise her. "A lot of the recruits are Azera, how's it feel to not be on the bottom anymore?" I said in a lighthearted tone. She finished healing me and it wasn't until I rose and was exiting the room that she replied.

"It feels good." She said simply. With that she went back to her training and I went back to mine.

_Sorry for the short chapter, if anyone cares. I just felt like I should throw in a chapter showing how the kids adjust to the tomb. There'll be another time skip and some real action in the next one, so stay tuned as Master Donnavin begins his plot to take over the galaxy._


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

When I awoke the next morning my ribs were still hurting enough to be a serious annoyance. Seeing as I wouldn't be able to train at my best anyway, I decided that this was the day I would spend selecting my apprentice. A brief moment of focus revealed that all but a couple of the children were still in their chambers sleeping. After making note of which ones woke up early for extra training time, I headed to see Master Donnavin. I figured I should ask for his permission before taking an apprentice, as a formality if nothing else. I reached his room and found that he wasn't there as I had expected. As I headed outside, assuming he would be at his alchemy table, I cursed his undetectable presence. I was actually thinking about teaching myself to sense him when I opened the central chamber doors and was struck dumb.

Master Donnavin was training, I had seen him train before of course, but not like this. Before all I had ever seen was him demonstrating simple exercises for us to perform. This was something else entirely, he was pushing himself, measuring his power. And that power was immense. He had about a dozen boulders rotating with the sway of his arms, each at least a thousand pounds and few hundred feet in the air. It was so incredible that for a moment I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me in the dark of the early morning. After a few more moments he heaved them a little higher and released his grip on them, as they began falling he put his arms together and shot a massive pillar of red tinted lightening up. It's structure looked as if it were comprised of several thick, vines coiled around something. I didn't realize that each vine was an individual bolt until the blast got high enough and branched out so that one bolt hit each boulder, blasting them to pieces with a rumble so loud it made the ground shake.

I just stood there awestruck and completely motionless, staring at the might my master possessed. He was unbelievable, he was like... _a God?_ I thought to myself with slight amusement. My heart began pounding as Master Donnavin began walking back towards tomb and me. As the sun came up and he came closer I got a better look at him; he wasn't wearing his robe, for the first time ever I got a good look at his body. His skin had a light grey tint to it, and the amount of muscle on his body was predictably impressive. But it was his face that was really impressive, or rather terrifying. He didn't have any hair or much of a chin but his eyes looked like black voids, they were like the perfect darkness of the catacombs where we meditated. Now that I thought about it he was a lot younger than I thought too...

"_**Marcus!**_" He said louder, making me jump.

"Y-Yes Master?" _Great, now I sound like one of those sniveling little brats._ I thought, cursing the tone I just spoke in. At a normal time he probably would have mocked me, maybe even punished me for showing fear like that; but it seemed he was too tired to care.

"What do you _want?_" He said in a tone of mild exasperation. Suddenly I remembered why I had come outside, I quickly cleared my throat and spoke.

"I would like your permission to take an apprentice from one of the new recruits." I said, relieved that my voice had returned to normal. He gave a short nod.

"Yeah sure, go ahead." He said simply, grabbing his robe off his alchemy table. I was so off put by his tone that I almost forgot to respond.

"Um, thank you, Master." I said after a few seconds.

"No problem, I'm giving the kids a free day to train as they please anyway." Master Donnavin seemed so, out of it? As he pulled the doors to the building open I couldn't help one more question.

"Master Donnavin?"

"_What?_" He said, sounding annoyed but not particularly angry. I took a moment to think of how to word my question.

"Was that the full force of your power I just witnessed?" He let out a short laugh.

"No Marcus, that was me wrapping up a two-hour training session." He said, his voice filled with well deserved pride. As he walked through the door I was filled with envy and, though I hate to admit this, fear; this man really could crush me like an insect. _You should have that power! you __**need**__ that power! if you had that power you could..._I took a deep breath and tried to push away the energy radiating off my body. _I could what? I am grateful to Master Donnavin, I have no need of his position, and I certainly have no need to destroy him or rule this academy. _As I pointed these things out to myself I calmed down. It seemed with all the negative emotions running through me that dark side had slipped into my mind. I felt a little pride myself at how easily I controlled it.

After a few more moments composing myself I walked back into the tomb and headed to the training room, deciding to take a look at the early birds. As I walked through the door I saw the rodian and some pale twi'lek sparring. I decided to stay in the shadows while I observed their fight, wanting to get a look at their form. They were both clumsy and pathetic but the rodian was marginally more so. Everytime he tried to make a swing he seemed to turn his arm wrong, or step in the wrong place, or, in his most recent attempt, accidentally let go of the sword. Looking into his mind I could see that he been putting extra hours with this weapon since he got here; that kind of persistence was impressive but not enough for me to overlook his blatant lack of ability. I was just about to stop watching when the fight got interesting, the rodian was quick, for his age at least, and now that the sword was gone he was focusing on dodging the twi'leks swings. And he was good at it. His opponent just couldn't get a blow on him, after a few moments of uncertainty the rodian punched the twi'lek hard in the face after a wide swing left him open. He was knocked clean off his feet and landed on his back with a _thud_.

"Your supposed to use the sword! That's not fair!" He squealed out.

"Master Donnavin says that there are no rules in a fight, it only matters if you win." The rodian said.

"That's right." I added, making my presence known. The children jumped and turned to face me. "Fight again." I said assertively. They stared for a moment before they both nodded and reached for their swords. "What the hell are you doing?" I asked the rodian with genuine curiosity, he jumped at my statement and shook a little as he replied.

"I-uh, don't I need my sword?" He asked weakly, as if he didn't know what I meant. _What a dense child, can't he take a hint?_ I thought to myself as I spoke with an annoyed tone.

"I don't know, was it helping you at all?" I asked rhetorically.

"...No?" He said unsure, I nodded slowly.

"Then I guess not." For another moment he stood, looking confused before he simply raised his fists and stood opposite the twi'lek. After a moment of silence they attacked each other. As I expected the twi'lek had no idea what he was doing, he continued making long, slow swings, which of course would have been fine against another swordsmen, but not against this rodian. He was able to dodge almost all the blows and more importantly the twi'lek was leaving himself open. It took less then three minutes for that rodian to beat his opponent down, and the twi'lek never changed his style, he just kept making those long, wide swings like a little dumbass until he was knocked flat on his back again. The rodian huffed out a few breaths before turning to me, his face was scrunched up and his eyes were squinted, I'm not overly familiar with the species facial expressions but it looked to me like he was excited. I stared for a moment, beginning to form an idea, before speaking.

"What's your name boy?" I asked, somewhat impressed.

"...Um, Qui?" He said, like he was frightened of why I was asking.

"Well Qui, I'd be in you debt if you helped me." His eyes went back to normal and his head tilted a little, when he didn't say anything I went on. "Nobody in this academy would have any instruction or experience on this fighting style of yours, and I want to know which kids can innovate." He stared at me blankly. "I'm taking an apprentice, and I want to know which kids are capable of adapting their fighting style in order to beat an opponent they aren't familiar with." He continued staring at me blankly, for a moment I wondered if I was just misreading his expression. "I want you to spar with a bunch of the other children so I can see who fights well against you, even though they haven't been taught explicitly how to fight against someone like you yet. Then I'm going to select one of those kids to be my apprentice." I finished, speaking slowly and clearly. He let out a small 'ah' and began nodding, much to my relief, I was about one more sentence from knocking this idiot out.

"Wait!" He said suddenly. "Does that mean your definitely **not** gonna pick me?" He said in a shocked tone.

"_Probably_ not." I corrected. "Your gonna have to teach yourself to use your fists anyway, it'd be bit of a waste if I took an apprentice who I couldn't help with such a big part of their training. But if you do this for me I'll help you when you work on things I do know how to do." He stared down silently and rubbed his head for a moment.

"Okay" He replied. I grinned as I heard footsteps approaching us.

"I believe that's your first opponent Qui, lets get started." I said with the faintest hint of excitement.

All things said the children were disappointing, most of Qui's duels were just repeats of the one with the Twi'lek. He didn't always win but nobody did any significant change in their fighting style. They just endured his blows long enough to beat him into submission. A couple of them were smart enough to do short, quick swings; and while that was a decent way to fight the rodian figuring that out didn't impress me too much. I watched without much interest as Qui clobbered the bug eyed boy Master Donnavin once asked me to kill. Azera, who had been working with the auto blaster, paused to watch.

"You know, you could pick me." She said indifferently as she rested against the wall. I let out a grunt, a little surprised that she had said anything. I had considered choosing Azera of course. After all she had more talent _and_ a head start in her training on most of these recruits, but I kept reminding myself of the reason I was taking an apprentice in the first place.

"Azera I'm taking an apprentice because I need allies, you're already my ally." I explained.

"I never agreed to that." She said with a small smile.

"Of course your my ally, I've wasted my time and energy helping you with Mazer a thousand times." I countered.

"Never asked you to, besides I've wasted my time and energy healing you a thousand times." She said snidely, a light grin forced itself on my face.

"You're my ally whether you want to admit it or not."

"Whatever" She chuckled out as she resumed her training.

"Marcus?" Qui panted out, I turned my attention back to him. I saw the bug eyed boy groaning on the floor with Qui, hunched and breathing heavy, standing over him. "Are we done yet?" He said as he caught his breath.

"No, if I counted right there's one more kid."

"You counted right." A female voice said, I turned to see a blue twi'lek standing in the doorway. Qui let out a little groan and went back into his fighting stance, the girl went to stand opposite of him and did the same. They both looked to me and I gave a small nod, with that Qui attacked. I was shocked by what I saw. This twi'lek watched almost all the fights, she knew exactly what Qui was capable of, why did she even bother fighting if she was this bad? Almost as soon as Qui attacked she dropped her sword and her hands flew up to protect her face from his blows.

This was such a waste of time I wanted to puke, not a single child had managed anything impressive, maybe I should just choose Qui after all. As I was thinking this over the twi'lek made her move, Qui was making upper cuts into her unprotected body when suddenly her hands shot to his exposed head. I barely had time to register what was happening before the familiar crackle of lightning filled the room followed by Qui letting out a short shriek and falling limply to the ground.

My eyes were wide as the young girl walked over to me, she said nothing, she just stood there staring at me, waiting for acknowledgment. I looked down at her face, it was busted and bloody but she gave no indication it bothered her, her eyes looked calm, cold, and calculating. I knelt down and looked into them, grinning to show I was impressed. The lightening attack she had done wasn't particularly impressive, almost any child here would have been able to do that. What was impressive was that she had planned out that entire fight, predicting exactly what Qui would do and thinking of a way to effectively counter him while playing on her strengths. My smile grew wider, I had found my disciple.

_A/N: Hey, sorry time skip is after __**this**__ chapter. I haven't forgotten about this story, it's just hard to find time to write, though that should be better know that schools out. As always I'd appreciate reviews, makes me want to write more._


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