Star Wars Darkworld

All the usual disclaimers, blah blah. But, all of the characters besides Yoda are from the dusty corners of my own mind, please don't use them, I have…other plans in store for them in upcoming stories. ;)

Historian's Note: This story takes place roughly 100 years before Phantom Menace

Rating: PG

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We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less a second chance.

-Harrison Ford

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DARKWORLD

Tari stood before an opulent platform topped by a grotesque Hutt. It laughed at him, rolls upon rolls of slimy flesh quivering with its pleasure. The Jedi had been dispatched by the Senate to enforce the rules of a long sought for treaty. The trade restrictions the Hutt had placed on this world was slowly starving it, and the Hutt knew it. He seemed to derive pleasure from the suffering of the populace.

Anger burned inside of him like a dark flame, rising to tease his nostrils with its faint scent and burn his throat with its heat. The Hutt sat across from him, its laughter vibrating the rolls of its sluglike body. The fire inside rose to engulf him, but a wall of calm reasoning dropped down to quench the flames.

This was yet another day filled with fruitless negotiations. Tari soothed the uncharacteristic frustration burning within his chest.

"Be careful who you choose as your enemies, for you will become just like them," warned a voice from the past. He must not become angry with the Hutt. The Force rushed forward into him, filling him with a calm resolve. His fists unclenched, his jaw relaxed, and the anger left his body. Calm gray eyes rose to meet the sickening swirls of yellow and green in the eyes of the Hutt.

The Hutt stopped laughing.

Jedi Knight Tari calmly rested his hands on his hips. The Hutt's disregard for life nothing more than a bit of information resting in a corner of his mind. "Lesser tariffs on ships passing through the Black Corridor will result in more ships, higher quality goods, and fewer complaints against your…organization," reasoned the Jedi, summing up several weeks of negotiations. He was fast becoming tired of being a go between for this greedy Hutt and its equally greed neighbors.

The Hutt sobered, his giant tongue flicking out to lick his lips in a Huttese form of fidgeting while thinking. "I will take your suggestion into consideration, Jedi. I offer no guarantees."

Tari nodded. "It's a start." He handed a small data pad to one of the Hutt's ever constant attending droids. "Here is where I can be reached."

The droid snatched the pad from his hand and skittered off to his master. The Hutt scowled at the pad.

The Force was uncertain; Hutts were difficult to read. But, Tari could sense that the massive lifeform was wavering. The Hutt motioned to Tari with the data pad.

"I trust you know your way out, so go. I will think on this."

Tari bowed, turned on one foot and walked out of the opulent palace. The Hutt had already made up its mind, he was certain of it. Tari walked further from the palace, gazing up for a moment at the vibrant blue sky. This Hutt was not the leader of the organization in charge of the shipping lanes in this system. He would have made his decision already if he was. Tari walked along the street, the crowds parting in front of the brooding Jedi.

Hutts were not indecisive creatures.

A muffled click echoed from the alley to his left. He glanced up, the crowds around him thicker than ever. The whining boom of a blaster screamed from the alley, and a bystander went down in a crumpled heap. The Force warned Tari of the next shot, and his lightsaber rose. Energy met energy, and the blaster bolt fizzled and ricocheted off the blazing white blade of the lightsaber. Pieces of permaconcrete rained down on his cowering attacker. 

His mind registered the screaming scattering of the crowd, the overturning of the carts. Time slowed to a crawl for Tari. The blaster twitched as each bolt flew from its chamber, and each bolt provided little resistance to Tari's weightless lightsaber. Craters opened up harmlessly in the walls of surrounding buildings. 

Each blast from his assailant's weapon came faster and faster as Tari drew closer. Each blow redirected as easily as the first. The dark smudge of his attacker's fear rose, while Tari remained calm. Ten meters.

A muffled curse rose from his attacker, his next shot going wild over their heads as his foot slipped. Blindly, the assailant fired. Every bolt met the Jedi's lightsaber.

Five meters. Tari rose his hand, the Force wrapping itself around the muzzle of the blaster, pulling it from his attacker's grasp.

Two meters. Mouth open in shock, the attacker ran. Tari caught a glimpse of a slim form, darting gracefully around the garbage that littered the alley. He reached out with the Force, sensed now what seemed to be a very feminine fear. He followed her, lightsaber deactivated and at rest at his side, his sense of the Force picking up details his eyes could not in the twilight gloom. A piece of trash pushed to one side, a small, fresh footprint in a small puddle of mud.

In his years traveling at the behest of the Senate, Tari had grown to his full manhood. Tall and graceful, he had gained much in size since he had lost his Master. He sensed the slight depression his assailant darted over.

The depression itself was over three meters long, he could jump it easily, but two meters above the trash-strewn ground a networks of cables, wires, and outside pathways and catwalks vied to block out what little sun filtered down into the alley. He darted across the depression, and one foot fell through.

A muffled yell, and Tari reached out with the Force, trusting it to guide him. The stones around his entrapped foot shifted, preventing his ankle from snapping in half. He sensed the presence behind him before he felt the hands of his assailant upon his back. He was ready for the fall ahead. He reached with the Force, and pushed hard against the stones around him. The stones fell away from his foot, and he fell cleanly through, the Force guiding his body to a squishy landing.

He came to rest in an almost kneeling position, his shoulders and head rising from out of the sticky muck. Tari coughed as the stench of a poorly maintained sewer rose up to his nostrils. He looked over his shoulder at the dark shadow on the edge of the pit. In a second, she was gone.

He cursed softly, standing. Something slithered over his foot. Tari decided it was time to leave. A small maze of conduits and cables laced over head, and he reached for them, testing the strength of each before his pulled himself up. Otherwise unharmed, a very dirty and smelly Jedi Knight drug himself from the sewer trap.

He decided to take the discrete route home and waited for the sun to set and the crowds to thin. Cautiously, he stalked down the street, careful to avoid the scant lighting. As the muck dried, it flaked off, leaving a trail for anyone to follow. Tari reached out with the Force, trying to sense for pursuit. The same presence from the alley tracked him.

He stopped, attempting to draw out his hunter. A small well provided the perfect excuse to rest for a while, and he bent down next to it and began to clean himself off. The presence drew closer. Tari sat on the edge of the well, dropping chunks of smelly sewer sludge on the ground. 

The blaster sang out from an alley, and the brilliant white of his lightsaber rose to meet it. For a split second, he was blind, but she was not. Several volleys of blaster fire cascaded from the alley. He sensed and blocked each one. Another presence was behind him. Tari was caught in the crossfire. Blaster bolt after blaster bolt were dodge or deflected, but he was pinned in. He was tiring, the Force still guided his steps, his weapon, but he was slowing down, while his attackers fired more and more bolts at him. Tari grunted as an unblocked and undodged blaster bolt found its way to his left side. Pain blossomed in his body as he attempted to block another volley of bolts.

He held his lightsaber in his right hand as his left vaulted him over the small well seating area. As he fell into the well, a stray bolt grazed his shoulder, and his lightsaber fell onto the ground outside the well. It deactivated, and the small square became dark. Tari grunted as he fell onto the ledge a few meters down from the opening of the well. He had sensed it there earlier, but he had expected to have his lightsaber with him when he fell. His side burned with every breath, and his right arm hung useless by his side. His attackers came closer.

The female of the pair shined a bright light down on him. "Why do you work for the Hutts?" she hissed, anger coloring every word.

Tari tried to sound strong. "I don't, I was sent by the Senate to see that they followed through with the peace treaty and to offer advice."

She snorted. "So, you do work for them." The muzzle of her blaster partially eclipsed her flashlight. Tari could hear her companion pick his lightsaber off the ground. They conversed in tones too quiet to be heard.

Tari leaned against the cool, slick wall of the well. The fall had opened what had been a burn wound from the blaster on his side. He could feel the hot stickiness of his lifeblood as if flowed from the wound. With his right hand holding his side, and his left clenched onto his shoulder, he breathed deeply. He accepted the pain, and he asked his body to heal, to stop the flow of blood. It slowed, but it did not stop. Tari slid down the wall, sitting on the ledge. The light from his assailant's flashlight blazed down on him brighter than ever. He held onto that light.

He wanted their trust, and he couldn't get that from the bottom of the well. Tari stood very slowly. "I'm a Jedi Knight," he called out weakly.

He didn't need the Force to tell him that the woman did not believe him. A calm presence next to her stopped her, and soft whispers echoed incoherently down the well. Normally, Tari would have been able to understand, but he was fighting with his own body, and the roaring in his ears. He feared the possible infection from the sewer clawing its way into his body.

The flashlight stayed on, but it was no longer aimed at the vulnerable Jedi. A rope snaked its way down into the well. Tari reached for it, tying it into a loop and placing it under his armpits. A small tug, and the rope was pulled up. Tari fell out of the well, panting for breath and sprawled on the ground. "Get up," hissed the woman.

Tari attempted to oblige her, but at the moment panting was the extent of his physical abilities. The man reached his hand down, and pulled Tari to his feet. The Jedi leaned heavily on him and the ocean roared in his ears. "He's hurt."

"He's faking, I don't even see why you convinced me to save him. He could turn on us. Walk ahead, I'll watch him."

The man steered Tari into a side alley, the Jedi's feet dragging on the ground. Soon, Tari was no longer concentrating on the maze of alleyways and side streets, but instead on keeping himself conscious. The man carefully eased Tari down a set of stairs and into a basement room. A single, bright light fixture cast harsh shadows around them. Several people stood in surprise as Tari and his captors entered the room. Rough hands pulled his sewer-caked robe from him, pushing him down into a chair. Pain exploded in his shoulder as his hands were pulled behind and tightly bound. 

His vision blurred, but he held onto his fragile consciousness. "My name is Tari—"

The woman slapped him across the face. "Quiet! You will speak when I say you can!" She turned to another person in the room, "Clean him up."

A small boy, no older than his early teens, ran up to Tari, a cloth in one hand, and a bucket in the other. Soon, they and the man who brought him here were the only people in the room. Tari offered no resistance as his hands were unbound and his tunic removed. The boy started to wash off the sludge. The water felt cool and comforting over Tari's hot skin. The boy whistled softly as he came to the blaster burn, now open and bleeding, on Tari's shoulder. "Fareen, look at this." 

The man bent over Tari's head, "Get Allys, tell her to bring her medical supplies. If anyone asks, a dead hostage is a worthless hostage."

A slim woman ran into the room, kneeling by Tari's side. "Is this the only one?" Tari shook his head, his mouth too parched to speak. Allys looked up at Fareen with his clear blue eyes. "Lay him on the floor."

Gentle hands eased him out of the seat. Tari's head rolled back, and his world became dark.

Lanna paced the small common room just outside the entry room where Allys treated him. She never meant for him to die here. She wanted him to die outside, as a message to the Hutts. But when she decided to bring him here for questioning, she agreed to save his worthless life.

The lightsaber was cool in her hand. She examined it. It was an unremarkable device, its tube-like body a simple brushed silver pierced with the occasional black button. The emitter shroud was angled, its center a vivid white.

She chewed her bottom lip, staring at the closed door. Death was not uncommon to her people, struggling to survive against the might of the corrupt Hutts. She was old enough to remember what life was like before the Hutts came to her world.

Lush and green, it provided food to feed the colonies of a hundred worlds. And now it couldn't feed itself. Her soul hardened. If her prisoner didn't die, she might kill him instead. Anything to stop the Hutts. But he never once rose to attack her. She examined the lightsaber again. Its shiny surface reflected the light in the room. Jedi carried lightsabers. This one tube of metal, electronics and a couple of crystals was all that stood between that man and his death.

The conflict raged inside, was she to trust him? Could she trust an outsider?

The door opened, Allys' head eased out of the room. "How is he?" Lanna asked. She was unable to stop herself, unable to stop the concern from her voice, she must sound like a coward to her people. But a quick glance showed that all eyes were on Allys. Lanna had merely asked the question on everyone's mind.

"He is alive, but I can't stop his bleeding."

Lanna held the lightsaber out to the doctor. "Use it to burn his wounds closed. He'll understand if he is who he says he is." The people massed behind her murmured agreement.

Allys nodded, vanishing into the other room with Tari's lightsaber.

"Good morning, Tari," a cheerful voice called out from across the room. Confusion clouded the Jedi's features; his eyes not yet open to the light in the room. A few steps, and a cool hand rested on his forehead. "We know much about you, Jedi Knight." Humor colored the words. "You talk in your sleep."

Soft gray eyes peered out from beneath heavy lids. The doctor who had treated his wounds sat on the small bed next to him. He was in a different room, the paint on the walls faded, but scrubbed clean nonetheless. She reached up, and looked at the unbandaged wound on his shoulder. "We were worried that you would never wake up. You have lost much of your blood." She stood up as the single door in the room opened.

Lanna stood just outside the door, wary eyes glaring at the prone Jedi. "How is he?" Tari could tell that she was worried about him, but her worry was tinted with a deep anger.

"Weak, but alive," Tari answered with a smile.

Lanna stalked across the room, standing just out of arm's reach from the side of the bed, his lightsaber hanging from her hip. Her hand rested on its hilt as she noticed Tari looking at it. "I won't trust you until I know exactly why you are here."

"I'm here to help the Hutts abide by the treaty they signed with the Senate."

Anger clouded the woman's eyes. "I knew it!" She pointed a finger at the prone Jedi. "You're here to help those traitors kill my people!"

Tari shook his head weakly. "No, I'm not. I was unaware of what the Hutts were doing to you."

Lanna raged, "I don't believe you." She turned to Allys. "Don't treat him anymore."

The door slammed behind her as Lanna stalked from the room. Allys looked at Tari with large, sad eyes. She stood, gathering all of her medical supplies that were scattered around the room. "I'm sorry, Tari. But there's nothing any of us can do now."

Four large men barreled into the room, Allys stood aside for them to enter, her supplies clenched to her chest like a shield.

Tari sat up, the Force warning him strongly. These men meant to kill him. The Jedi, clad only in a thin pair of pants, darted between the men, the Force rising up to guide his feet. Escape lay before him as he ran barefoot down the corridors. Alarms sounded, and Tari ran faster. The wound in his side was a stiff reminder of the limits of his body, and a reminder that he was still alive. 

On an impulse from the Force, Tari darted into a small room. A single window high on one wall was unbarred. He reached for the Force, and the window shattered from its frame. Tari jumped through, running down an alley, letting the Force guide his feet among the debris. He wasn't as far as he thought he was from his ship, the hanger complex just visible over the next rise in the buildings. His shoulder and side burned with the beating of his heart.

He staggered into the hanger, using the last of his strength to propel himself into his small, one-person ship.

A terse command and the entrance ramp closed and locked. Tari reached inside himself, accepting the pain, his exhaustion from his long run to his ship, and asked the Force to heal his wounds. A warm, soothing wave of energy caressed his shoulder and side. Tari slid down the wall, his arms resting on his knees.

With his head hanging between his shoulders, Tari succumbed to the healing power of the Force and fell asleep.

The white dwarf sun rose aloof and distant over the planet. A cold day dawned from a colder night. Heavily furred animals crept from under cold-tolerant plants. Tari stood at the entrance to the hanger, all senses alert to his attackers of the previous night. His side and shoulder still ached, but it was tolerable.

A stray breeze sent a scrap of paper dancing down the road. A few early risers trudged their way to the market, some heavily loaded with various items to sell. Tari waved one over and lightened her load by one sweet byan fruit. She smiled her thanks and trotted off to her stall.

Tari finished his fruit, wrapping his robe around his shoulders. The behavior of the Hutt bothered him more than his attackers. He understood their anger, their incorrect assumption that he was working for the Hutts. There was something else here than just a trade agreement. He could tell that the Hutt wanted to agree to the terms of the treaty, but something had stopped him.

The Jedi chewed thoughtfully on his lower lip. Why had his attackers been so adamant about his involvement with the Hutts?

A Taun-taun, heavily laden with goods, bawled loudly at its rider. Its load was familiar. Tari narrowed his eyes. Just passing the disagreeable Taun-taun was a stout humanoid hauling a cart full of yesterday's foodstuffs. Another vendor was hawking the same broken urns and vases. Yesterday, Tari had arrived to meet with the Hutt who claimed he ruled this world, and the market was full and vibrant. Now Tari was beginning to notice worn-out stalls, tattered merchants, and sparse customers.

The sun was now clearing the tops of the buildings to brighten the day to its almost twilight glow. Something was wrong with this world, and even though it was not his duty to fix it, it was his duty to find out. His hand rested on his hip, just above where his lightsaber used to hang from his belt. He scowled. Tari still had his lightsaber to retrieve.

He sighed, pushing himself off the doorframe, and waded into the thickening crowd.

A feeling of despair washed over him, and Tari steadied himself on a nearby cart. The merchant, a sad eyed humanoid of indeterminable gender gazed up at him.

"Buy some nice hides? Nice hides for the nice man?" it wined.

Tari shook his head, "Not now, but I might be back later."

The alien smiled, a glimmer of hope shining from its eyes. "Please? Oh good!"

The Jedi gazed onto the tattered despair of the people arriving at that morning's market. Barely hidden were the downcast gazes of tattered citizens. Soft whispers permeated the morning where loud yells and happy shouts should have presided. Tari pulled his robe over his head and vanished into the crowd.

Garbonn the Hutt twisted his fingers tightly as his employer ranted over the communications system. "A Jedi?! And you let him live!" accused the faceless image on the screen.

"T-to kill him would be suspicious, but I have good news. My sources informed me that last night the Jedi was intercepted by a band of revolutionaries. They saw him drug off to their headquarters, and they never saw him leave."

The voice from the screen grunted appreciation. Garbonn hoped the Jedi was still alive. He was a reasonable man, making reasonable demands. And his demands made profitable sense. The Hutt's current employer consistently left him in a confused state. Garbonn secretly sided with the people of this world. This was a profitable planet, if properly run. The Hutt couldn't line his own pockets with his employer starving these people.

As if sensing his unwilling minion's thoughts, the voice spoke, "Worry not, my faithful servant. Soon, it will all come to pass."

"What will?" the powerful Hutt curiosity rose to tickle the back of Garbonn's mind.

The voice chuckled. "Soon, soon." And the comm connection fizzled and shut off.

Garbonn swore. Whatever his employer was planning was ruining his world. A cold and somewhat inhospitable world, but a world full of valuable resources and a strong people that he had come to admire for their sheer tenacity. For years he had followed every command to the letter, but the people continue to survive. The planet continued to survive.

Garbonn had started to talk to the servants who cleaned his quarters. An older man had befriended the Hutt. With every bit of information dispensed to the Hutt, the servant increased Garbonn's admiration for the people, their work ethic. By nature, Garbonn lived to exploit, however, he had learned that a happy workforce was a productive workforce.

And a healthy planet was a productive planet. He gazed forlornly out at the gray dawn. His planet was dying. A planet he had learned to call home.

Garbonn lifted himself from his ledge, slithering out the door to his quarters. He had to defeat his employer and win the planet as his own. He had to find the Jedi and champion his cause. But how to make the people trust him after all these years of exploitation? Garbonn stopped at a window, his yellow eyes gazing back at him in the glass. A quick gesture and his faithful aide and servant was at his side.

"I must win the trust of these people, my friend."

The older man nodded, his dark hair graying at the temples. "We have tried for many months, my lord."

Garbonn chewed thoughtfully on his tongue. "We must discover what my esteemed employer is trying to do. Do me a favor, my friend."

The servant nodded. "Anything, my lord."

"Find me the Jedi. But do not bring him here. I need to speak with him. And try to find someone from the resistance. I need to ally with them, we are not enemies here."

"What should I tell them, my lord?"

Garbonn turned towards the servant. "The Jedi will be easy, he knows how to trust, he will know you as genuine. But the resistance will be more difficult." The distant sun rose higher in the sky, its pale light casting as eerie glow over the hall. "Tell them the Hutt had joined their cause. Tell them the truth."

The man nodded, and vanished down the hall like a wraith.

Eyes were upon him. Tari shrugged under his robe and the pervasive depression of the market. All afternoon he wandered, from stall to stall, vendor to vendor. Three times he went back to the merchant with the fruit.

After the third time, Tari leaned against her stall, nibbling on a three-day-old, barely edible fruit. The squat humanoid leaned towards him. "There is someone you seek?"

"Yes, but I don't know her name."

"She has something of yours, no?"

Tari raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Yes, she does."

The merchant tittered, "She hunts for a Jedi with no weapon this night." A pudgy finger waggled at Tari. "Best be you to hide, young Jedi. I would hate to see my best customer a corpse in the morning."

"So would I. But I want to talk to her, I need to know what is going on here."

She snorted. "The world is dying a death it does not need to die. The Hutt, he kills this world. But, I wonder. This Hutt we have tried to remove, he is not so bad, it seems. A cargo ship crashed here full of bacta and food. No clean up teams until we had salvaged it. These fruits, they are from my orchard, he lets it grow." She slammed her hand down on her stall. "Hutts are bad, but this one is not so. He sees the destruction, slows the mining with bureaucracy." Her voice grew soft. "He feeds us, Jedi. He makes sure we live. The resistance refuses to see the good in our Hutt. We want him to save our world. My cousin, he serves him in his home. Trust him." She gathered up her wares, holding what was left of her fruits to her chest. "I do."

Tari stared at her back, shocked. Never before had he heard someone defending a Hutt.

Darkness descended quickly to engulf the brief twilight of the day. Tari slunk back into the shadows, watching the crowds thin out once more. His feet were sore, but he stayed at his post. A single man, standing out from the rest in his new clothing, strode with confidence into the square. The thinning crowd parted respectfully in front of him. The Force pulled him towards this man, he was very important somehow. Tari watched the man walk past. Wishing his lightsaber hung at his side, Tari pushed away from the building and followed silently.

The man ducked into alley after alley. A few turns behind was the Jedi, the Force guiding his steps. The man stopped at a small door. Tari could sense him knocking before he rounded the last corner.

Tari was waiting for him in the shadows when he appeared a few hours later with his attackers from the previous night in tow. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but the male of the pair seemed to be in favor of following the man. The woman, and his hand fell to his still-wounded side as the memory of what she had done to him came rushing back, spoke in agitated whispers. She snorted, turning abruptly on one foot and stalking down the alley. The man beckoned towards her, begging her to come with him, but she ignored him and disappeared down a side alley.

The man seemed to apologize to the older man Tari had followed. The older man shook his head and started down the alley. A shadow flittered above. The woman was following them by way of the conduits and catwalks above. Tari waited for her to pass and proceeded and followed the small procession.

He had no doubt that the two men knew the woman was following them, their trail was easy to follow. Obvious footprints and disturbed trash littered the narrow canyons between the buildings. The two men stopped at the loading dock of a small warehouse. The older man rolled open a large door and a sleek, black transport eased its way out of the building. Tari heard the woman curse above him.

The two men stood by the transport for a few minutes, conversing in low tones. The older man nodded, entered the transport, and sped away. A soft splash and the woman stalked over to the man left standing by the loading dock. Tari edged closer.

"How dare you?" she scowled. "He works for that Hutt, remember?"

Sadness laced the man's response. "I know well enough who he works for. That is a good man. I've told you we can trust him."

She spat on the ground. "Dammit, Fareen. How many times have I told you that you can't trust just anyone? What about that Jedi, hmm? Where is he now? He probably told that Hutt where we are and now we have to relocate again! We are running out of places to hide, Fareen."

He turned on her suddenly, "Don't you think I know that! I have to watch my people die as much as you do. I tire of seeing our children starve, our elderly struggle, but that man has a point, things could be worse. The Hutt is doing something to help us, and I want to find out what. I want to help him make our lives better."

The sting of her slap echoed in the alley. The man held his hand to his face. "Damn you! Damn you and that Jedi! Ever since he came here you've trusted whatever fool comes along! We need to save our people, not enslave them!" Her arm swept out, gesturing at the street beyond the alley mouth. "Every day I see the crops dying, every day I see our people starve. And every day I see that Hutt grow fatter." He fist clenched tightly by her side. "No more."

"Wait!" He yelled, but it was too late. The woman had turned on one heel and stalked off into the night. Tari stepped from the shadows.

Fareen didn't turn around. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough." He walked forward. "I heard a merchant say the same things you said about the Hutt today."

Fareen grunted, staring out at the street. Tari stood next to him. "I mean to meet with this Hutt."

"That man, a servant of this Hutt, wants us to meet with him as well. I think the Hutt has some good to say."

Tari hid his hands in his robes, the chill of the night permeating his being. His shoulder and side were sore. "When I met with him yesterday, he seemed hesitant not to follow the treaty. I sensed something…conflicting within him. He wanted to follow the treaty." He looked over at Fareen. "And I think he is willing to defy whatever it was preventing him now."

Fareen nodded. "I hope you're right, Jedi. For all of us."

Lanna paced furiously at the hideout. The other members of the resistance were packing up what little they had. Allys walked up to her, the tattered medical kit held to her chest.

"Lanna," she said. "We can't go on like this."

"Why not," Lanna hissed, not looking at the small doctor.

"We are tired. The children are having too many nightmares. We are getting sicker than the people you say we strive to serve. The Hutt has given us medicine—"

"Enough!" snapped Lanna. "I don't care about this Hutt. I will kill him for killing our families, he will pay for the injustice he has served us!"

Allys backed away. "I hope you're right."

Lanna glared at the wall, the Jedi's lightsaber a weight on her hip. He was probably dead now, after running wounded and weak away from their now compromised hideout. She smiled in triumph, a small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

But something nagged at the back of her mind. Were the rumors about the Hutt correct? Her smile faded. She hated the Hutt with every cell in her body, every nerve ending quivered with the need to rid her world of his blight. But even she could not deny her own eyes.

Her people had food, stolen from poorly guarded warehouses. Medicines filtered down from the large Hutt-ran hospitals. Supplies arranged themselves, forgotten in crashed ships. Old, broken down vessels that were never suited to fly again.

Allys looked at her leader, sad eyes echoing the needs of her people. The young doctor had been her most fervent supporter in the years after the Hutt's conquest of her world. But recently, she had pointed out the benefits of the Hutt. Allys had come from a war-torn world, a world overthrown by pirates and barbarians. She knew what it was like to suffer at the hand of a dictator.

Lanna nodded as Allys walked softly out of the small room. A gust of wind from the door ruffled her hair about her face.

She held the lightsaber before her. Lanna had yet to figure out how to activate it. She scowled at it. Then there was the Jedi.

Never before had a Jedi stepped onto this once-beautiful world. Never once did he attack her, never did he yell or speak in anger. Even in his escape he had left the two men she sent to question him unharmed. In his wounded body he held a deeply hidden strength. She both admired and hated him.

She had heard the tales about the Jedi. A noble people, wielding lightsabers in defense of the weak. Lanna scowled, she was anything but weak. Determination filled her as she hooked the weapon back onto her belt. She would show the Jedi who was weak.

And it was not the people of her world.

Allys sat on the stairs leading into the hideout, the medical kit an uncomfortable reminder of the lives she had eased into the world Beyond and those she had trapped in this one. She held it to her, a shield in the darkness overcoming her people. Lanna had been a good leader. She had known where to find food, where to hide to survive.

But something had changed. Lanna was no longer the wise leader she had once been. She had become obsessed with the destruction of the Hutt. Allys shuddered. The rage of her leader had grown by each passing year. Very few of her companions fully trusted Lanna anymore. She secretly hoped that Lanna never discovered that her husband, Fareen, was the more trusted leader.

Blood from the Jedi still dotted the stairs. Allys absently wiped some off, gazing at it on her fingertips. Jedi were renowned as peacekeepers and diplomats. Such destruction, such arrogance, and all at the cost of their own freedom. Allys had almost forgotten what it was like to feel the soft rays of the sun on her face, the refreshing cool breeze of the summer winds.

She wiped the blood onto her badly stained pants. It blended perfectly with the blood of dozens of other lost lives. Allys stood, gazing forlornly at what she had once considered her home, and vanished into the night to find the Jedi.

Garbonn's reflection stared at him from the window. The city rested outside, cloaked in a robe of freezing dark. He shifted his gaze to the reflection of the Jedi stepping silently from the shadows.

"I have been waiting to speak with you, Jedi. But the heating unit is not functioning in my receiving hall." Garbonn turned to face Tari, the Jedi holding his robe tightly around himself. The Hutt steepled his meaty fingers. "There is a nice restaurant in town that I enjoy every so often. Would you care to join me? I am hungry, and it is warm there."

The Jedi nodded. Garbonn motioned for his servant to ready his personal transport. Soft footsteps walked up to the massive Hutt. Garbonn had been told that the Jedi's name was Tari. He was a quick study, the Jedi's eyes darting about the corridor for any signs of surveillance. Tari looked worn to the Hutt, his back not as erect as it was when Garbonn first saw him.

The servant who had first approached Tari and the man Fareen suddenly appeared at his Master's side. "You have need of me, my lord?"

Garbonn nodded, "Yes, my friend. Meet us at my personal transport with my dinner coat."

The servant bowed, disappearing down an intersecting corridor.

"He trusts you very much," the Jedi's soft voice sounded strange in the corridor. Garbonn was used to hearing yells, threats, and pleas at his passing, not the soft voice of reason.

The Hutt looked down at Tari. The Jedi seemed a little stronger than when he first appeared, but he also seemed to be concentrating on several things at once. Maybe it was this Force they are so intuned to, guiding and directing his movements. "I trust him very much. That servant has stayed with me ever since," Garbonn paused, chewing on his tongue. "Ever since I decided that I wanted to make this world my home."

Tari stared up at the Hutt, surprise evident in his eyes. "I had hoped that you defied the stereotype of the Hutt." Tari gazed down the corridor, the doors gaping wide in the distance. Already the cool winds of this world's night breezed down towards them. He pulled his hood over his head. "I see that I was right. I will help you as much as I can, Garbonn."

The silver-gray transport waited for them at the doors, its sleek lines reflecting the scattered artificial lights along the road. The servant stood tall and proud next to the transport, a door held open. Tari stood aside for Garbonn to enter, the transport groaning under his immense weight. The Jedi crawled in after him. The interior was as opulent as the castle the Hutt called home, but different somehow. The cushions a little worn about the edges, the amenities of wealth and prestige not present, the spaces that they had occupied open and gaping.

Tari settled into the bench seat opposite Garbonn's cushions. The Hutt watched him ease carefully into the seat. The Jedi was not hiding anything from him. Tari seemed to be tired or sore, and Garbonn respected his honesty in not hiding his weariness from him. The Hutt needed the respect and trust of the Jedi, there would be no secrets between them now.

His servant had laid out a new, thick robe on the seat for the Jedi. Tari wrapped it around his shoulders, resting his head on the seat. Garbonn rested his hands on a fold of his body. "You are tired."

The Jedi nodded. "My body needs rest, but my mind is running in circles. The companion of the leader of the resistance is willing to work with you. But the leader is not, she is most adamant about the destruction of you and Hutts in general. I think her people used to trust her implicitly, I hope most still do."

"That is bad."

Tari shook his head. "Not if we get her trust, show her that we mean to save this world." He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "What is it that drove you to almost destroy this world?"

Garbonn chewed his tongue, shame dancing across his face. He focused his eyes on the floor. "My employer wanted to mine this world, but to do the mining he wanted required the planet's population to leave. At first, he wanted to drive them away, and for a while he succeeded." The Hutt looked up at Tari, his yellow and green eyes defiant. "But then I saw this world for what it is. There is much opportunity here. It does not need to be killed for its riches, not even scratched!"

The Hutt's arms swept out, motioning to the world rolling gently past the transport's windows. "I mean to profit from this world, but I tire of fighting it. I want to ally with it, and its people. I want to make my stronghold here."

"A gallant plan, my friend. The difficult part will be convincing the locals."

"Are you convinced, Jedi?"

"I was convinced when I came to make sure that you were following the dictates of the treaty. When I told you about the trade route taxation, I could sense that you wanted to follow through with the terms with all your being, but something was stopping you."

Garbonn nodded. "That was just after I had started to defy my employer. He wanted the tax to continue, and I am sad to say it still is. He might even have raised it."

"Wouldn't surprise me."

A muffled whump sounded, and the car shuddered. It rocked violently and careened off the road. Tari was thrown off of his seat and into the soft bulk of the Hutt.

Tari pushed himself away from Garbonn. "Remind me to always travel with a Hutt."

A white point entered the transport, the metal around it growing white hot and dripping onto the floor. Tari and Garbonn backed away from the lightsaber's tip. "My lord, are you all right?" called the servant from the front seat. He vaulted over Tari's seat and crouched protectively next to the Hutt. "We are surrounded, my lord. I saw that woman who leads the resistance coming this way."

The lightsaber carved the side of the transport like it was soft clay. Garbonn placed a hand on his servant's arm. The Jedi was concentrating on something. The lightsaber completed its circuit, and Tari flung his hand out, pushing the hot circle of metal into the person wielding his weapon. The sharp white light of the lightsaber flashed out as it was dropped onto the ground, hiding itself among the debris.

Blaster bolts shot into the transport, their bright green arcs lighting up the interior. Tari and the servant dodged, Garbonn was too far inside to be hit. Suddenly, the Jedi leaped out of the transport, somersaulting and landing on his feet. A split second later, the bright white light of his lightsaber burned into existence, blaster bolts reflecting off its length. Garbonn's mouth hung wide in surprise. He moved very fast for a person to as weary as he said he was.

The attackers dodged under cover, their own weapons used against them. Tari stood guard, the harsh light of his lightsaber illuminating the street. The servant darted out of the transport, throwing the circle of metal aside with surprising strength. Lanna, her face bruised, glared angrily up at them.

Garbonn eased into the gaping wound on the side of the transport. His gaze passed over every face, lingering on Lanna's. He showed no pity, but understanding. Tari lowered his lightsaber, its blade still activated for its light. The Jedi moved to the side.

Garbonn reached a hand out to Lanna, but she refused his help to stand to her feet. Her eyes burned into the eyes of the servant. "Traitor," she hissed.

"For several years, I have worked to ruin this world. To mine it in ways that would kill it and run its people off to other worlds. I won't lie to you anymore. I had every hope that the plan would succeed." He looked to Lanna and her people. "But the strength of this world impressed me. I learned to call it my home."

"Liar!" Lanna stood, her fists clenched at her sided. A finger pointed at Garbonn like a laser ready to kill. "You have conspired to kill this world from the start! I will not stand and listen to this!"

"Wait," Garbonn pleaded, "I want to save this world now. I need your help to defy my employer, make him think all is well, then to expose him for the murderer he is."

Venom dripped from Lanna's voice. "You backstab everybody who comes near you. Look at this Jedi, did you treat his wounds? Is that why he's still alive? He's working for you to make us trust you so you can kill more of my people!"

Garbonn looked at Tari in shock. The Jedi merely shrugged back. "The Force can heal, Lanna."

"You use the Force to manipulate us!"

He shook his head. "I can't do that." After a few whispered instructions to the resistance fighter standing next to him to hold the lightsaber and not have its light extinguished, Tari handed his weapon to the surprised man. The man stared at the weapon, the heat of its weightless blade seeping through the handgrip. Tari walked forward. "If you know anything about the Force, you would know doing anything like that is against everything I hold dear. To go against my teachings, my feelings, even what is right is something I can't do." He stood in front of her, reaching out to her. "I work for the good of everyone."

Lanna spat on him. "I don't believe you."

Tari sensed her wavering. "Lanna, we all, even Garbonn the Hutt, now want what is best for this world. He calls this world his home, he wants it destroyed as much as you do. He wants to develop it, make it what it once was."

"He wants to rule it."

"So I want to rule it," boomed Garbonn's voice, "I will be a good leader. I will learn from the best. I have the resources to prevent beings like me from landing here for many, many years."

"But what about us?" asked the man with Tari's lightsaber.

"There will be a council. I want you all to be on it. I will listen to you all."

"I don't believe you."

Tari stared at Garbonn, he sensed that the Hutt was telling the truth, that he held his want of power, his greed at bay. The Jedi could sense the battle within him, and he sensed that Garbonn's desire for his own home won out. Tari wondered how long it would last until the Hutt's greed overcame his compassion.

"He is telling the truth." Tari's eyes were on the Hutt, all senses alert.

"Hutts never tell the truth," hissed Lanna as she stalked into the night. Most of the resistance fighters followed her. The man handed the lightsaber back to Tari.

"We are tired of fighting. There are those of us willing to help stop whatever is happening. But I don't know if we can co-exist with a Hutt." He gazed down the alley Lanna had walked into. "She was a very good leader, once when times were harder. We have started to notice better food at the market, more medicines and less violence. She refuses to see that the world is getting better."

He gazed down at his feet. "Sometimes I think she is more of a tyrant than you are, Hutt. At least you are willing to work with us."

Respect flowed from the Hutt. The battle of his emotions resolved itself, and greed was pushed to the farthest reaches of his mind. Never before had Garbonn been treated with such respect. He reached a chunky hand out and placed it on the man's shoulder. "And I will work with you. I swear it on the very dirt of this world, that I will work with you to make this planet a healthy, profitable and peaceful world."

The man nodded, seemingly satisfied with the words of the Hutt. "That is as we all have been hoping."

The remaining resistance fighters drifted into the shadows. Tari walked up to Garbonn. "If we are able to flush out your employer and expose him, your plan will work."

Garbonn chewed on his tongue, looking thoughtfully at the shadows. "I want it to work, Jedi. I want to make this my home." His eyes shifted to Tari, who was leaning against the battered transport's side. "I didn't know you were wounded."

"I'm healing. I should be going back to my ship."

"Come to my palace, I think it will be safer for you there."

Tari nodded, pushing himself off of the transport's side as the servant coaxed the motor into starting. Garbonn slithered into the hole Lanna had carved, with Tari a few steps behind. The Jedi eased himself back onto his seat as they pulled away from the street.

Garbonn eyed Tari. "She said you were hurt." His fist answer had not satisfied the Hutt curiosity.

The Jedi nodded. "I failed to block when I should've parried." Humor tinted his words, the weariness a distant presence.

A chuckled rolled through Garbonn's body. "Remind me to never ask a Jedi his secrets! He's likely to tell me something else altogether."

Tari smiled, "You've found us out, Garbonn."

They continued to the relative safety of the palace, the streets deserted. The overwhelming sense of despair was lessened, the streets empty of hopelessness.

That night, the city slept with hope.

Sarcx stalked among the denizens of the city. His spies informed him that the Hutt had become lax, lazy in his duties to subjugate this frozen rock. His dark lip curled with disgust as a small child ran laughing into its parent's arms. Such displays would soon be a mere memory.

Sarcx smiled at the thought. A nearby vendor shrunk back from the malice in his eyes.

He expected the populace to cower before him like the vendor. But something was wrong. There was still light on this world, a small glimmer of hope. The dark man scowled deeply. For his plan to work, for a new level of life for the Dark Side to persevere, there must be no light, no life to this world.

For three hundred years, Sarcx had followed the legacy, protected and fostered its teachings. A legacy of a man whose name he shared.

For three hundred years, the legacy of a disposed Jedi named Sarcx had been preserved. Every generation, a new Sarcx would take over the teachings where another had left off. The original was still alive, his body held in a very special stasis unit. For the past three centuries, the original Sarcx has been absorbing the essence of hate.

And soon, there would be enough to purify this world forever.

Tari sat up quickly, a sheen of cold sweat covering his body. He had dreamed of a dark man stalking the peace of the city. Himself, Lanna, Fareen, Garbonn, every person he had come to know of this world quivered in the wake of this man's hate. The dark man lifted his foot, and Tari watched his allies vanish beneath each massive stride. As the dark man stepped on his friends, he grew larger and larger, taller than the buildings that were the backbone of the city.

The Jedi ran, darting through alleys and passageways, only to be stopped at each turn by the strange, evil dark man. He reached down, lifting the Jedi between his fingers. Tari struggled to free himself, but the man squeezed harder.

Tari rubbed his forehead, sticky sweat sliding beneath his fingers. The bed and a small nightstand were all that defined his bare room as a guestroom. Tari splashed some water on his face from a basin on the nightstand.

He usually didn't dream such vivid dreams, and ever since his Master had died, he hadn't had a nightmare. Tari sat on the edge of the bed, arms rested on his knees. The man in the dream was not familiar to him.

The Force rose of its own accord. Tari raised his head, listening, letting it wash over him.

The dark man of his dream was here.

He stood, pulling on his clothes and running for the door. His lightsaber bounced against his hip. 

Tari stood in the streets, his eyes passing over every shadow. The Force became adamant, pulling him to the edge of the city and beyond. He saw a deep cave system, its mouth a gaping maw that absorbed every photon of light

The buildings passed by in a blur. The dark shadows of the bitterly cold night reached to him from the depths of the alleys. The Force flowed strong in him, and Tari ran faster. Once before he had been urged this strongly by the Force. Many years ago, just after his Master had died, on a far distant moon. But then he had been dying, his body torn in the crash of the transport, his soul rent by the passing of his Master. 

He steeled his jaw and ran faster.

The air burned in his lungs and his side once again ached as he ran. He pushed the pain from his mind, and he ran.

The buildings became smaller, vacant lots between them overgrown with weeds. The occasional small tree reached for the sky, beseeching for its freedom. Less trash and more vegetation filled the gutters, and his footfalls were the only sound. No night creatures called this abandoned part of town home. The Force showed him what his eyes could not.

Buildings fallen into themselves, overgrown with weeds. Windows smashed open, a long forgotten toy decaying in an empty room. Tari ran faster.

The city stopped as if a great laser cannon had cut it at its borders. Fields lay before him, barely tended or forgotten. A small grove of trees beyond that. He ran, his feet sure and swift. With a thought, he pushed the trees aside and vaulted a ditch. Tari barely noticed the drifting scent of its fetid water.

The cave loomed before him, a great scar opened in the side of the cliff. Tari stopped, panting heavily. He sensed the disturbance in the Force, the evil twisting that was the man from his dreams.

The shadow that was the man turned, the entrance of the cave yawning behind him. He laughed, taunting. "Too late, Jedi!" The dark man vanished into the cave.

Tari ran after him. The entrance of the cave yawned closer, seeming as if to engulf the very light of the world. But his feet, once swift, now felt sluggish. His legs became heavy, dragging on the ground. As if in slow motion, Tari saw his hands reaching out in front of his face, as if by being able to reach it sooner, he would be able to stop the madman within.

A great twisting of the Force wrenched the cave. Deep inside, hidden from the Jedi for hundreds of years, a terror was released. It surged out of the cave, reveling in its newfound freedom.

A blow from the Force doubled him over. 

He lay panting on the ground, his body wracked with spasms as wave after wave of the Dark Side washed over him. Tari fought for control of his own body, and the Dark Side left him alone. It seethed over the planet, twisting the very core of its being. He could feel the distortion of every lifeform, of every rock and grain of sand as the massive wake of the Dark Side crashed over the already damaged world.

He struggled to gather the Light Side around himself, a flimsy shield between himself and the destruction of the world he was trying to save. He fought for each breath, for each waking moment.

Daylight exploded over the mountains behind him, illuminating a landscape perverted and twisted by the very essence of evil. One man, a dark man cloaked in shadow, raised his arms and embraced the coming of the Dark Side. He stalked over to the prone Jedi. "This is my world now, Jedi fool. I will be your new Master, you will be my slave."

He stood tall and proud over the devastation that covered the land. The trees of the small grove hung lifeless, the leaves rotting on the twisted branches. Animals died were they stood, or attacked each other out of hate. Every twist of nature burned home to Tari's soul.

The dark man laughed.

Tari rolled on his side, tightly curled with his knees in his chest. The man leaned over, a rough hand clasping his shoulder. A searing wave of pain flowed from the touch. The man laughed at Tari's yell, his pleasure at the Jedi's pain the only emotion. He stood, walking towards the city, Tari a helpless pile on the ground.

Garbonn surged awake. Something was not right. The light from the sun a slightly different color. He gazed out the window. The city lay spread out under the palace as it always had, but something was different.

The Hutt slithered down the hall and outside as fast as his immense body could carry him. The citizens fought amongst themselves. A few charged him, but he held up one pudgy hand and a voice long accustomed to authority boomed over the crowd. "STOP THIS!"

Every being in the crowd stopped and stared at the Hutt. "What are you doing? What has happened?"

A woman stared at him, hate fading from her face. Confusion took its place. "I…I don't know."

A young man stared at his hands, deep red blood staining his fingers. "I felt angry, I wanted to hurt people."

An older man stepped forth, his fists clenched at his sides. He was shaking. "I still want to hurt people, I know it's not my way, but I feel like I need to kill someone." His voice was a low growl.

Garbonn nodded, accepting the answers of the crowd. He felt the push of the Dark Side to kill, but his faith in the planet, and his own natural resistance to the Force, protected him from the violence and mindless hate that permeated his people. He held a hand over the gathering, the people already starting to quarrel. "Be patient, my friends. Something has happened to the Force, we can all feel that. I will find the Jedi, he will know what to do. We must not let ourselves be overcome by this, we must be strong."

A woman spoke up, "That Jedi caused this! I knew it!" She charged the Hutt. Several in the crowd stopped her.

Garbonn grabbed roughly onto one of his attending droids. "Get me the supply of sedatives now." The droid sped off into the palace.

The crowd started to murmur among itself. Garbonn pulled himself high, to maintain the attention of the people. He never saw the dark silhouette of Lanna on a nearby rooftop, a blaster rifle aimed at his head. "My friends, we must stay calm. Today, I declare a holiday. We will retire back to our homes and rest, you have all worked so hard these past few years to make this the wonderful planet it is. It is a day of rest you all deserve."

"More Hutt talk!" squawked the woman.

"This day," spoke up the young man, "Is it permanent? Can we still celebrate the day of rest every year?"

The Hutt nodded, the droid scampering up behind him. "One day a week is a rest day." He pointed to the ground. "This day will be the first, and seven days later, there will a second." He straightened his sluglike body, authority and resolve flowing from his being. "And it is a tradition that I will not interfere with."

The droid skittered forward at a motion from Garbonn, he continued, sadness edging his voice. "None of you wish to kill each other, but the Dark Side is so strong now that we have no choice. For those of us who wish it, my droid has access to enough tranquilizers and sedatives to put this whole world to sleep."

"So you can take it over!" the woman screamed.

Garbonn shook his head, the urge to lunge forward and strangle his heckler a powerful sensation. "No, I do not." The droid handed him a long needle. Garbonn handed it to the woman. "It is what I say it is."

The woman took it, injected some of the fluid into the young man next to her. He yawned and slumped to the ground. She leaned over, rested her hand on his throat. "He is asleep." Surprise tinted her voice.

"He will sleep until morning, perhaps later." Garbonn took the needle from the woman and injected the rest into him. "I will sleep longer. We need to find the Jedi."

Garbonn knew that he could resist the Dark Side, but he needed the trust of the people, not their suspicions. The door to the palace stayed open, several people followed him inside. The young man, peacefully unaware of the entire world, was laid to sleep off his dose in Tari's room.

Lanna pulled herself from the roof's edge. She couldn't fire. The one chance in her entire life to kill the Hutt and she couldn't do it. The Dark Side strengthened the hate that she felt for him, but her love of her people was even stronger. What the Hutt did, first the holiday, then making himself vulnerable, surprised her. She expected him to take this opportunity to let the populace kill itself, and claim the world as his own. But he genuinely cared for the people.

The sun was rising higher in the twilight, its faint light peering shyly over a mountain far to the east. Something pulled her there. But it was weak.

Lanna climbed down from the building, the light snaking its way impossibly down the streets and alleys to lay at her feet. It was a stronger pull to the mountains. She placed her hand on her stomach, not an internal pull, more like a rope was tied around her and tugging. Maybe this was the Force. She shrugged, and let it guide her. It might lead her to her death, or it might help her save her people from this Dark Side. It was a risk she had to take.

Her enemy was no longer the Hutt.

The buildings became smaller as she neared the edge of town. Dry grass rustled in the breeze, but the light of the small sun still guided her. Farther from town, a dead field opened up in front of her, one side surrounded by a dense bush, the other by steep hill and the yawning mouth of a cave. Something was curled up in the middle of the field, moving slightly.

Shock filled her. The trees clawed at each other in death, the bodies of small animals littering the ground. With one hand to her mouth, she staggered to the form in the field.

Lanna knelt next to Tari. He was unresponsive and shaking ever so slightly. His knees were pulled tightly into his chest, his hands wrapped around his head. His eyes were clamped shut so tightly that Lanna doubted he would be able to open them again. She shook his shoulder. Tari shuddered, but remained curled painfully on the ground.

She looked up at the cave yawning in front of her. A great dread filled her. Whatever had done this to her world was in that cave.

Lanna took a deep breath, gathering her strength around her. The pulling was gone now, and only her resolve to save her people was left. 

Standing, she wiped the dead grass from her pants and strode inside.

Allys knelt by another tortured soul, tending his wounds and tranquilizing him. The small boy grunted and relaxed. She sat back on her haunches, exhausted. Blood covered her arms and hands. She looked down the alley, the droids of the Hutt darting among the injured people of this world, helping where they could.

The next victim lay only a few feet from her, an older man, one arm lying at and odd angle. Lanna sighed, gathered up her gear, and strode over to assist.

He moaned softly as she injected the sedative and set his broken arm. Allys looked up at the sun. Was it warmer on her face? Few clouds dotted the pale blue sky. She looked down the alley, worry creasing her brow.

Small animals had begun to kill each other or die were they stood. Several had even started to attack helpless people. She stared at her hands, stained red with blood. A few of those who were still awake had even resorting to killing the animals as a way to vent their newfound anger.

Allys was very afraid.

The cave wasn't as dark as it first appeared. The walls glowed with their own, strange blue light. She walked forward, one hand on the wall, the other on her weapon. The cave branched off at several odd angles, but this one main tunnel seemed to be the only one ever used. The floor was flat, the stalactites lopped off at a certain height. Shy stalagmites peeked from other tunnels, but none were in the main tunnel itself. The floor sloped slightly down, a small rivulet chattering its way down a gutter next to the path.

After what seemed to be an eternity, a massive, well-lit cavern opened in front of her. Huge column formations lined the walls, but the center was clear. An array of machinery dominated the cave.

Lanna stepped forward. Surrounded on all sides by the maze of tubes, wiring, and unidentifiable equipment was a small, clear tube. Inside was the decaying corpse of an older man, his every cell appearing to have been twisted in hate. He was the physical presence of evil. Lanna raised her hand to her mouth, and ran from the cavern.

Sarcx stalked the street, reveling in the anger that was now a part of this world. It was midday, and the fighting had started to decrease. He knelt by the still body of a young man. "You must be exhausted, my friend. Look, you have fallen asleep where you lay." Sarcx stood, laughing.

What few people who were not fighting and were still awake stared at Sarcx in his passing. Hate flowed from him like a river, despair was the waves, and evil was the current. People avoided him, and Sarcx laughed at their cowardice.

Lanna shook Tari as hard as she could. But the Jedi's muscles seemed to be locked in place. She grunted, dragging him to the nearby ditch, and tossed him into the freezing water. Tari seemed to break from his paralysis, shivering from the cold as he pulled himself from the ditch. His breath came in short gasps, each leaving a mist in the cold air. His usually calm gray eyes were panicked. At first, Lanna doubted that he remembered her.

Tari shook, his arms wrapped tightly around himself. "The c-cave," he stammered softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I know," she replied softly, and Tari looked up at her as if seeing her for the first time.

Lanna pulled off the Jedi's soaked robe and placed her coat over his shoulders. He calmed, all of his concentration pulled into himself.

The sun had risen high in the sky, its meager rays shining down on the pair as best as it could. Tari straightened, standing unsteadily. The hate that permeated the world seemed less around him. His eyes were filled with effort, his concentration elsewhere.

Lanna stood, one hand on his arm. "Follow me, I have something you need to see." Tari looked at her, but Lanna doubted he could see her. She sensed a battle within him.

The walk to the cave was slow, Tari testing each step before he trusted himself to make it. Lanna guided him as best she could, but he stopped suddenly at the cave entrance. The sun showered its light down on them, and Tari gathered all of his strength around himself. "Stay here," he commanded in a clear voice.

Lanna stared at his back as he strode into the cavern.

Sarcx stopped in midstep. The few people on the street scattered into the alleys. The Jedi had entered the cavern. He had survived the onslaught of the Dark Side. Sarcx swore loudly, commandeered a transport, and sped off into the dark city.

The waves of the Dark Side tried to push Tari back. He held onto the Light, gathered it around himself, wrapping it like it was a cloak around his shoulders. The physical pain of the cold was his beacon, his anchor. 

It teased him, taunting his mind. It dug up painful memories of the past. Tari the Spineless, the shy initiate the butt of many cruel jokes. The first time his lightsaber activated, the strange white blade reflecting shock in Master Yoda's eyes. The vibro-ax as it sliced deep into Mar-Dhn. The blood of his Master as it flowed between his fingers.

It pushed on his anger, deep within the core of his being. His fear at his inadequacies, his failings. 

He held onto his memories, they were a part of himself, an integral component to his soul. He held them tightly to his chest.

The approval of his Master at the odd lightsaber. The nodding of Yoda in his strength with the living Force. The peace of his Master as he became one with the Force.

The Dark Side ebbed.

He was barely aware of the cave itself, of the downsloping floor, the small river, or the large cavern he stepped into. All of his attention was on the tangle of machines at its center. 

A Dark presence appeared behind him, and Tari whirled to face it. "So," it said, "you now know the greatest secret of the Sith." It stepped into the cavern.

"When the Sith were strong and plentiful, they constructed this device to hold the most powerful Sith ever. His name is Sarcx, my name, and the name all the guardians of his teaching has assumed." Sarcx looked at the corpse. "He consumed the Dark Side, held it inside himself like a battery. He promised that one day he would make a world into a paradise of evil for us. Killing him released it." He held up his hand as Tari reached for his lightsaber.

"We don't fight with such obvious weapons." Tari was thrown across the chamber with the flick of Sarcx's wrists. Tari landed lightly on his feet, the Light Side easing him to the ground. Tari gathered it quickly around himself and Sarcx's other attack was deflected. They pushed on each other, neither losing ground, neither gaining an advantage other the other. 

Sarcx scowled, and pain lanced deeply into Tari's head. He pulled to the surface every hate of Tari's life, every dispair that had wounded the Jedi's soul. Tari gasped, fighting him with every once of his will.

The dark man laughed. "You will never defeat the Dark Side, foolish Jedi. Your power will be mine." He stepped forward, one hand stretched out. Tari moved back from him, one arm held up between himself and Sarcx. There was no way he had the power to defeat the combined hate of Sarcx and his followers. And the dark man fed on the fear, a dark spear of hate lancing deep into Tari's soul.

He closed his mind, reaching into the heart of the planet. Tari couldn't let himself fall before Sarcx. The wounded planet responded.

Sarcx stepped back as Tari stood, tall and proud, lightsaber in hand. He didn't activate the blade, it was an anchor, a brilliant message that he was not alone. A symbol of the Jedi.

The power from the planet surged into Tari, and Sarcx fell back. But it was not enough, and the dark man knew it. Hate glittered in his eyes, and Sarcx reached out, clamping his power around the weakening flow from the world.

Tari cringed, his back pushed against the curved cave wall. He was losing.

"This world is mine, Jedi." Sarcx stood over him, one hand balled into a fist and glowing softly blue.

The world belonged to its people. Tari reached for them, and the bright white of Lanna's hope flared into the cavern. The hope of all the people of this world, the stubborn hope of Garbonn, the powerful will of Allys, of Fareen's desire to save his world flooded into the Jedi. Sarcx lost ground. The young man in his sleep, the people of this world held onto each other and their desire to save it, they fought against the hate that permeated the planet as strongly as Tari did.

Sarcx backed to the cave exit, but the thrust of Lanna's blaster pushed him back into the cavern. Tari could sense she was no longer filled with hate. To kill Sarcx was to save her world. He could feel her regret at the misdirection of her anger, and her resolve not to let it happen again.

Tari gathered the Light of their hope and resolve around himself and pushed it against Sarcx. The dark man shuddered, the essence of the Dark of his being retreating under the onslaught of the Light. Tari stepped forward, drilling the hope and dreams of the people into him. Sarcx screamed a death knell that shattered the silence of the cavern.

The Jedi continued to channel the Light to the dark man, and Sarcx fell onto himself, curled tightly into a ball. Tari wanted to take pity, but he was captured by the wave of the peoples' hopes, dreams, and faith in their new lives.

He was losing control.

Sarcx stood and ran shakily from the cavern. Tari struggled to follow, but the physical effort of the channeling left him a panting, exhausted pile on the floor. He was grateful for his weariness. If Sarcx had continued to stand before him any longer, Tari would have lost himself in the Force. He felt raw inside, burnt.

Lanna charged after the dark man.

Tari felt every footstep they took, every breath they pulled into their lungs. He was connected to this world, a vibrant, living thing. He felt the dark presence of Sarcx leave the surface, and Lanna's irritation. But he sensed her hope, her amazement. Tari could feel the world reawakening, the sun warm upon his soil, the trees blooming into new life. Tari let the peace of sleep wash over him, a smile on his face as the world nobody thought would live blossomed into life fueled by the hope of the people who refused to leave.

The light was warm on his face. Tari blinked his eyes open slowly. Allys was over him, brushing an errant strand of hair from his face. He turned his head. The room he had occupied in Garbonn's palace surrounded him. "How long?" he whispered. His mouth was parched, and his throat no better.

Allys, long used to careing for people, raised a glass of cool water to his lips. After a few sips, she pulled it away. "A full day. What did you do in there?"

Lanna walked into the room, her footfalls soft and gentle. He smiled at her timely interruption. "I'm glad to see that you are awake. When we pulled you from the cavern, no one was able to rouse you." He sensed her concern as genuine.

"How are things?"

Lanna sat in a chair next to his bed. "Garbonn has set up a new government." She held her hands out before her. "He has divided our world into districts. Each is semi-autonomous, with a leader that is voted in. That person serves on a council. There is no head of the council, all decisions are voted on equally. And the people have a say." Surprise still lit the back of her eyes. "After the Council votes on something, then the people ratify it!"

Tari nodded, his strength returning. "Sounds like a good system." He pulled himself upright.

Garbonn stood in the door, filling it with his bulk. He handed a tray to Allys. She passed it to Tari. The Hutt spoke, "I have brought you breakfast. I thought you would be hungry."

Tari's stomach growled in agreement.

Lanna laughed, a gentle, wonderful sound. She continued. "Garbonn has been voted the leader of this district." She placed a gentle hand on Tari's shoulder. "I don't know much about Jedi, but will you sit with us on council?"

Tari shook his head sadly. "That I cannot do." He motioned to her with a bit of bread. "But, I can assist in your restructuring. I'll have to clear it with the council."

"Of course," nodded Garbonn.

"Personally," Allys leaned back in her chair. "I see nothing wrong with it. For a few years, we will need outside help until the economy is rebuilt." She shrugged. "But we have our planet back."

Garbonn appeared very proud, very pleased with himself. "And I have a new home."

For six months Tari help rebuild what Sarcx and Garbonn had almost destroyed. The planet was prospering. The Jedi leaned back in his transport, the horizon drifting away. His feet rested on the console, and his hands behind his head. One day, when his body was too old for the wandering demands of a Jedi Knight, Tari would call this planet home.

****

Epilogue

Tari mulled over the console. There was mention of a Sarcx, but he was released from the Jedi Temple three hundred years ago. The Sith have been gone for over a millennia. He rubbed his chin.

Sarcx had never met a Sith, but the lure of power made him believe that the original Sarcx was the most powerful Sith of all. In fact, Tari doubted that the Sith would've wanted anything to do with the original Sarcx, He was weak in the Force, full of fear and hate.

He sat back from the console. It was amazing, how one simple misconception, a few words, some propaganda, could pervert so much. For three hundred years, the followers of Sarcx had believed to their twisted souls that Sarcx was the greatest Sith.

He was, instead, a liar. He had planted the seed in his first followers, a seed which almost rooted in this world.

A seed to destroy the Jedi.

Sarcx was still alive, Tari could feel his hate still reverbeating in the core of his soul. The dark man had reached deeper into Tari than even the Jedi had. He was scarred, deep within. He could sense the jagged wound that had scraped across him, and it ached. He feared what would happen if he lost his temper. If he ever lost control.

Gray eyes looked back at him from the screen. Old eyes that had lost something.

He reached out and traced the reflection with his fingertips. He had lost something. Not his innocence, Tari had lost that with the death of his Master. He had lost something that used to comfort him in the middle of the night, soft whispers of encouragement, slight tingles of light. He had lost his purity.

Tari's soul had been touched by the Dark Side.

Next installment…

**Padawan**


End file.

Star Wars, Drama