Star Wars: The Soul of a Sith

Chapter 17

            Dalvin's ship was a crude, bulbous craft covered in a chaotically assembled mess of sensors, guns, and many apparatuses Ren could not identify in the least. As Ren approached it, he felt a sense of mangled genius, much like what he felt from Dalvin himself. Dalvin was waiting for him at the ramp that led down onto the planet's surface. Several remotes floated behind him and attached to them were various pieces of mandalorian armor, such as the boots, the gloves, the arms, and one fairly large remote was suspending the chest plate by little robotic arms. Even a rifle was being suspended in the air by two remotes.

"It's a good idea," Dalvin said. "I'm surprised I didn't think of it myself."

"That's alright. You thought of everything else." Ren tapped the special amplifier Dalvin had attached to his wrist computer. "I assume you used a powerful explosive."

Dalvin's one eyebrow frowned slightly. "I chose something that wouldn't accidently go off in a fire fight, but still strong enough to incinerate your body in one shot. Corodite. Two milliliters divided into three small chambers in the circuitry."

"That would probably do it," said Ren.

"How long have you known?"

"I suspected from the instant you gave me this, but after I saw more of how you think, I became certain you would have taken precautions. You were worried about me being possessed from the beginning."

"Yes, the possibility occurred to me before we entered the portal. There was also the fact that I knew very little about you other than that you were a dangerous young man who wielded the dark side of the Force."

"Good thinking," said Ren. "Unfortunately, if I know then Kalethian knows. I'm not sure how that will play out if possession is his ultimate goal."

Dalvin gave him a dark smile. "Perhaps we could conduct an experiment? I could set it off right now and we could see what Satral's god does about it."

Ren chuckled. "Does it bother you that we're all dancing to the rhythm of a being we can't see?"

"A little, but I find mitigation in that fact that no matter how deep and subtle Kalethian's powers are, I am more intelligent than he."

Ren chuckled again. He grabbed the breastplate and slipped it over his simple robes. "I hope you live, Dalvin. You're one of the only three friends I have in the whole universe."

Dalvin stared at him for a moment, then said: "I could make the exact same statement of you."

Just for an instant, Ren's senses leaped through the impossible speed of Dalvin's mind and saw into him. There was terrible loneliness there, accompanied by rage. Unlike Neeka and Cathock, Dalvin could make no peace with what he was. The droid components of his brain were endless receptacles for knowledge – all knowledge. He could call up with perfect crystal clarity every detail of every microsecond of his life and he could process all of that information collectively, along with millions upon millions of other pieces of data, in less than the time span it took a normal person to perceive what color something was that they were looking at. Dalvin had mental ability beyond reason, but he could never turn it off – never stifle the endless noise of information.

Ren slipped on the leggings, hiding his lightsaber in a small groove Dalvin had conveniently thought to provide. Then he slipped on the bracers, the boots, and the gloves in silence as he vaguely imagined what it would be like to have a computerized mind. The thoughts were troubling, yet thrilling. Still, Ren didn't have a great deal of time to think about anything other than the coming onslaught. He retrieved the three light sabers he had taken from the twins and held them out to Dalvin. "Can you launch these into the air in my general direction if I ask?"