Power

16.

I wake up to the soft, flickering light of a candle. My jacket and boots are gone and in place of my rebel clothes is old dark gray Jedi robes. My body is sore, it aches when I move. I feel drained, like all energy has left my body entirely. A small home surrounds me, signs of life are scattered within it. A lonely life it would seem, books and scrolls lie all around and only furniture for one. A makeshift bed lays on the floor, I lay in the only true bed in the house.

The front door opens, Starkiller enters without a word. He carries two buckets of water and dumps them into storage bottles before stoking the fire in the fireplace.

"I didn't know if you would wake up." He says without looking at me. "You've been asleep for three days."

"What happened?" I ask him.

"Power like I've never seen came out of you, you fell unconscious immediately after. I brought you here and made sure you didn't die." He sits down on the floor beside the fire. "We will need to take a trip as soon as you can walk, to an old force temple. That is where we will begin your training."

"Where is it?" He tosses me an old scroll, a map to a distant planet is printed on the torn paper.

"Moraband? I didn't think there was anything left on that planet." Starkiller begins packing two bags, shoving in different supplies like food and water.

"We're going in search of the Valley of the Dark Lords." He turns to hand me a bag, I hesitantly take it from him.

"And the tomb of Darth Bane." He exits the home we sit within, I quickly follow. "Why do we need to go there?"

"It's not just the temple we are going to, it is the connection to the force we will have there." We begin the walk to my ship in silence, when we finally reach it he tosses his bag on the floor and sits in the pilot's chair. "When Vader granted you immortality, he sealed your connection with the dark side." The ship lurches as he takes off, I take a seat beside him. "You have struggled to keep hold of the light side because you are not meant to wield it. Your only remaining option is to take hold of the darkness and control it." He sets the coordinates and we jump into hyperspace, he finally looks over and meets my eyes. "This is the path you have been placed on, whether it was your choice or not. It is time to embrace it."

...

The door of the ship opens to reveal a massive temple, the darkness looming over us. I stare with wide eyes at the spires as Starkiller walks forward, motioning for me to follow. The door to the temple opens as we approach, the torches inside light themselves. A tomb lies before us, the room around it shrouded in darkness.

"Darth Bane." I say in awe, Starkiller comes to stand beside me. Energy begins to fill the room, consuming everything inside it. The heavy weight of the darkness falls on me as a ghostly figure rises above the tomb. It gazed down on us, it's body ablaze with flames.

"Starkiller. Apprentice of the great Lord Vader." Bane says, his eyes travel to me. "Darth Verloren. The Grand Inquisitor." Silence falls, I stand unmoving. "Descendant of Darth Traya, Master of Darth Revan himself." My face is masked in shock, I look over at Starkiller. He has a similar look on his face, though his is less obvious. "You come here in search of control. Grabbing hold of the immense power you hold within yourself will take time, and sacrifice. Starkiller will train you, and it begins within the walls of this temple. Meditate, look within yourself, and then leave this place forever." The shadowy ghost of Darth Bane disappears back into the tomb without warning, leaving Starkiller and I in stunned silence.

"Come sit." He finally says, leading me to the center of the temple. Together we sit cross legged across from one another. "Close your eyes, let the force surround you." I do as he says, feeling the energy of the dark side cling to me. "Now, dive." The palm of his hand suddenly hits my forehead and I free fall, but not onto the floor of the temple.

I begin to fall into a void of darkness, spinning uncontrollably through the air. The darkness turns to dusk as I finally land on the ground, breathing heavily. When I look up, I am not met by the Sith temple, but by that of the Jedi. Clones gun down Jedi as I stand helplessly watching. The sound of a lightsaber ignition comes from behind me, I ignite my own to see my Master staring at me.

"Father?" I ask, he suddenly clashes his saber against mine.

"Aren't you going to help them?" His voice is full of venom, I glance behind me at the fallen Jedi. I push him away and stumble backwards. "You know where your power lies." He pushes his hand toward me and I fly backwards, when I shake myself off I stand within Vader's palace. I watch myself be transformed into the undying monster I am today, a hand rests on my shoulder.

"This will be my only gift to you, use it accordingly." A voice says from beside me, I turn to see Vader with his hand resting on my shoulder. When I look back towards myself within Vader's machine, I stand now within the Sith temple on Malachor. A throne lies ahead of me, a woman stands before it. She pulls back her hood to reveal glowing yellow eyes, three lightsaber hilts rest on her waist.

"My descendant." She says as I approach her. "I've been waiting for you." She steps closer to me. "You hold my power, tenfold. The man who waits for you in Darth Bane's tomb will teach you to harness this power, but only you will be able to choose how you use it." She suddenly steps back and motions to the throne before her. "Now take your rightful place, Dark Lord." I look between her and the throne, she watches me carefully. Hesitantly, I walk up the stairs and lower myself into the throne. Just as I sit, I open my eyes and gasp.

"Hey!" I hear Starkiller say as I frantically look around the room. "It's fine, you're okay. You're back on Moraband." I look back at him with wide eyes.

"She called me the Dark Lord." I tell him, he furrows his eyebrows at me.

"Who?" He stands up, taking my hand and pulling me up with him.

"Darth Traya."