Star Wars Days of Carnage

The Apprentice

Like the magma of the planet Mustafar, hatred flowed through the veins of the Dark Lord of the Sith. From the outside, his fortress looked dark, impregnable as he made his way to the private cells of his palace. His now disfigured face was now obscured by a mask modelled on the ancient ways of the Sith, and his dark aura chilled the otherwise hot atmosphere. The dark grey walls of his palace were adorned with trophies of his... merits and achievements, with his greatest triumph awaiting him in the greatest torture cell. The dark lord continued to ponder his plan, it was going largely his way but not all as it should. The former supreme chancellor of the Republic, named Valorum, now dubbed "Emperor'', was his puppet but he was beginning to think for himself. This displeased the Sith and made the so-called "Emperor'' obsolete. A nice first task for his new apprentice would be his deposition... But she wasn't there yet. Darth Helos had managed to break the Padawan Jendra'i. He had taken away her hope, trust and good faith and destroyed her personality piece by piece. The Sith had also managed to transfer Jendra'i's hatred for him, for her dead Master. Now she blamed Master Blacos, the Jedi to whom she had owed all her training, for her current situation, for all her pain and suffering. Helos loved the irony behind it, a cold, cruel smile creeping onto the Force-eaten lips beneath his mask. Finally he arrived at the scene of his last deeds, two of his lifeguards stood guard.

As he approached them, they took their stance, none of them wanting to give the dark lord a reason to criticise them or disappoint him. For if one displeased the Sith Lord....well, one could look at the result of it behind them in the cell. Each of the 8 survivors of that day had been appointed by the Sith to be his bodyguards and each of them who stood guard outside that cell knew what was behind it and each had to stand guard in front of it at one time or another. She was a silent witness to what the dark lord was capable of, their loyalty had shown him with their survival but he trusted no one but himself and perhaps, when she was ready, his apprentice. Soldiers could be replaced, a young apprentice was irreplaceable. The sith entered the torture room where the young girl was chained to a torture table more dead than alive, ugly cuts and burns covering her skin while her mind was by now open to him like an open book. Of course he knew he had more than broken her, he had destroyed her faith in the Jedi and her former Master. Now he would have to strengthen her hatred and rebuild it.

The former Jedi did not look at him as he entered, nor did she react to his entrance, even as his cold, dark and distorted voice echoed through the room. His presence filled the hall as he used the Force to lift his apprentice's head without even lifting a hand. "During the old days, the student had to kneel before the master. You are fortunate that I do not punish you as I did in the old days, you would not survive even the most harmless part." The apprentice just stared at her Master, her body aching but she tried not to let it show. Darth Helos looked at her for a while longer and then walked around her, he was pleased with his work but he was far from finished, for as they say, only a Sith knows nothing but extremes.

Then, standing before her again, he spread the Force across the room and let it enter the former Padawan's mind, showing her that day to test her, to see her reaction. Until now, despite her hatred for the Jedi, she had always fallen back into her old patterns and attacked the Sith. But now... now something was different, the Sith sensed that, he noticed how the dark side took over her and instead of banging her head back and forth as usual she lay calmly chained on the torture table. It was definitely an improvement over usual, and the Darth continued. In his mind's eye he saw Jendra'i in the vision no longer trying to save her Master and Helos no longer attacking either but simply holding the corpse in his hands and staring at it. The Sith grinned under his mask, she was not yet ready to be fully recognised as his apprentice and given her freedom entirely, but she was ready for the next step. Even if he still had to continue with the torture, which was definitely not to his regret. So he loosened the bonds and released her for that moment from the seemingly endless torture. The former Jedi just fell forward and onto the floor, not expecting it nor having the strength to catch herself. She looked up at him and astonishment was in her gaze. But the Sith didn't give her another glance and left the room without saying a word. Both Carnage Troopers entered the cell, also without a word, and lifted Jendra'i roughly. A pained sound left her lips as her battered and bruised body was lifted and carried out of the torture room. Here she now got her first glimpse of the place that served as her terrible prison.