Crossed Lines: The Shadow In The Void

Chapter 7: I Am A Shadow

Dessah's P.O.V.

My full name is O'dessah N'Kett, born in 9 ABY. I was trained by a Sith turned Jedi Master in the ways of the force. I use to be in hiding, after the sudden murder of my master, for five straight years in various star systems until the First Order had discovered my presence. In place of escaping which would have been futile, I made the quick decision to join the Darkside in self-preservation. It doesn't matter if I did the right thing.

 I don't believe in a right or wrong path. I do believe that we choose our destiny by walking a path of our choosing and those paths hold subjective consequences. What I do know is, after joining a force that has increased in power over the decades, that the Darkside has all my answers. My new master, Master Snoke, the Supreme Leader of the First Order, is wise, knowledgeable, enigmatic, and thorough. He was a calculating and reserved military leader. I respected him for his guidance. Now, after receiving my new armor, I was to be a secret assassin for the First Order and take my orders directly from my Master. Master Snoke had told me before, I was to remain hidden and under no circumstances reveal who I was, even to his current apprentice Kylo Ren. 

If I ever were to meet Kylo Ren again, I have the confidence that I could defeat him and gain the full approval of my Master. I was like a shadow in the void of the Darkside, and a shadow I was to remain for the time being. I felt that although I was under my Master, I was living in a shadow of Kylo. He will always have favor before I. That kind of jealously I have, made me wish I had defeated him at our first meeting. I wanted to take his place. I was better.

Never the less, I was to remain what I am until my Master gave me the orders. So here I am. 

I studied my new appearance in the reflection of a glass window. I could never have dreamed to accomplish so much and become more powerful than I was before. I reached for the hood of my cloak and let it drape down the sides of my helmet. The only colors apart from the black that I wore was the white of my helmet, and the red that circled around my eyes. 

I thought back to what I was before. That heart string that had pulled within me when I started my new apprenticeship, was being tugged yet again. Master Galen was apart of the Darkside before, why did he ever leave it? He was foolish to have betrayed his upbringing. 

"What would Master Galen think?" I looked down to my hands. I clenched my fists. Why would I ever want to know what Galen Merak would have thought of me? He was dead! Dead! Dead because he was running from the First Order. He was running from his past self and it killed him to be so foolish. I looked up again to the reflection and smashed it with my fists. I will not be like that. I will not let an old and dead master bring me down. I will never be weak to let sentiment break my focus.  

I search within myself to cut off all that I had felt before. No remorse. No empathy, for the long since forgotten. This is who I am now. I made the choice. And it was the greatest decision I could have ever made.

I kicked at the shards of glass with my boot and felt the glass crumble under my weight. That is what I will do. I will let the light crumble under the weight of the Darkside. I kicked the glass and scattered the pieces with my boot, and cleared the floor. I will make my Master's enemies scatter, too.

I could feel the call of my Master. I left the room where my old self died and stepped out into the halls as a new being. I could sense the pleasure and satisfaction in my master as I felt the calling to him outside. 

As I entered the courtyard, I could see my master was waiting for me with a ship ready for takeoff. Stepping forth, I stood in front of my master with my new armor, and a new spirit.

"Yes, yes! Good! I sense you have fully received the Darkside within you. Let all that I have taught you bring you success as my apprentice!"

"Yes Master. You have taught me well. I have willingly left behind my old and foolish ways."

"The will is a thing to control, IF such a thing is real. . Let no weakness falter your judgement. When you let nostalgia – sentiment – a simple thing dictate your judgments.."

"I will not be a fool. Master." I knelt down and bowed my head.

"No. You are no fool. That is why you are here." My master spoke softly and forcefully. He had his staff in his hand and used it to prod me to stand.

 "I am sending you to the Hosnian System. There are few within the Republic Senate that have secretly sent aid to the Resistance fighters. Eliminate the sympathizers."

 My master procured a small communicator from his cloak. "I will use this to contact you. It also contains records and personal information of your targets."

"Why only assassinate the few, when all the New Republic could be easily crushed?" I replied, taking the communicator and clipping it to my belt. "We are stronger than them. I can feel it! The Darkside is strong and they are the weak ones!"

"We are watching them closely. I wish to cripple them from retaliating against The First Order. They have information I desire, and we can only retrieve this information if they are allowed to continue their search."

"What do they have that we need?"

"That," He paused, turning to walk back into the temple to leave me with the ship. I watched my master as he ascended the steps. Before completely reaching the top, he stopped to say, "That is for another time. Go. Search out the Senators. Crush them. O'dessah, I will not accept any survivors. Do NOT disappoint me."

I nodded and stepped aboard my very own ship. Aboard the ship was a pilot waiting patiently in the cockpit. "Where to, my lord?" The pilot inquired. I took out my communicator and activated the records. The first target was located on the main planet within the Hosnian System.

"We're going to Hosnian Prime."