Star Wars: Daughter of the Dark Force

Chapter 8: The Apprentices' Next Step

Sorry it's been so long! I was sick for a while there, but I'm feeling better now. Here's Chapter 8! It's really short, which is why I'm uploading the next chapter right away.

And for those of you who have played "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed".... There is someone who you will recognize. :P

Kimmy (AKA DarthKemberli)

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CHAPTER 8: THE APPRENTICE'S NEXT STEP

“Standard clones of Force-sensitives have flaws, such as hallucinations and other psychotic symptoms. If all goes well, what I have done with her will remove these flaws. I am confident that she will be, in all aspects, perfect.”

 - Darth Sidious, Sith lord

All was silent in the quarters of Darth Vader. The perpetual hum of the busy construction droids was faint and far away. The endless black vistas of realspace, broken only by the stark light of the stars, stretched out in all directions outside the transparisteel windows.

Darth Vader meditated. He turned his mind to the dark side of the Force, surrendering himself to its whims. With the ease and control of years of training and practice, he searched through the hundreds of thousands of consciousnesses that swam in the dark side. Many souls stood out among these, the souls particularly devoted to the dark side, but even among these, darker and more powerful than even the Emperor, there was one consciousness that was unmistakable. A consciousness that could never be snuffed out, even by death. A consciousness that was flooded with despair and hatred and the potential for limitless malice.

The consciousness of Vader's secret apprentice, Darth Kemberli.

It was on this consciousness that Vader focused his meditation upon. His link with the dark side was so vivid he could see his apprentice, halfway across the galaxy though she was. A blaster in each hand, she crouched behind a trash heap in an alley on Corellia. Commander Caryoliss was with her, wielding a blaster of his own. At the end of the alley was a trio of human men desperately firing off bolts towards Kemberli and Caryoliss.

Kemberli stood. Her eyes cool and measured, she fired a deadly accurate bolt from each blaster and felled two men. Quickly stashing one blaster into its holster on her belt, she leaped over the trash and ran without hesitation at the remaining man. He fired at her, but she merely lifted her free hand and absorbed the shot. Then, with a flick of her wrist, she yanked the man's weapon from his grip. Vader nodded his head in approval.

"What... what are you?" cried the man, backing up against a wall as Kemberli approached. "What do you want from me?"

Kemberli said nothing. Vader saw her pupils dilate, and the colour of her irises faded from black to a livid yellow. He could feel the desire to kill pounding through her body. And yet, Kemberli held back the bloodlust and only threw the man's wrists into restraints. Her control was remarkable.

Caryoliss backed away from Kemberli when he saw the change in her eyes. Vader sensed the fear that suddenly seized Caryoliss. The commander kept a distance from the apprentice until the fire died from her eyes. But even without the Sith corruption in her eyes, Vader saw the coldness that steeled her gaze. She was firm and passionate, but knew how to restrain her anger. Her self-control was impressive, but far more promising was her brutality and relentless ferocity when she released herself to her anger. When she abandoned herself to the pulls of the dark side, it was with intention. She embraced the dark side and she had no qualms about killing. Vader was satisfied with her utter abandonment to the Sith teachings he passed on to her. Indeed, he hadn't sensed her even thinking about her Jedi past since that night she had tried to commit suicide.

Vader's attention returned to Kemberli, who now shoved the shackled man into the cargo hold of her ship. Vader was mildly interested to notice that two similarly-restrained Duros waited on the floor of the hold. Recognizing them and the man as persons wanted by CURS, Vader got a pretty good idea of what his apprentice was planning. She was intelligent as well as powerful, he mused. An amazing pilot, almost on par with himself, and a lightsaber fighter of unbelievable skill. She had studied every lightsaber technique, and she practiced them all. Though there were some that she hadn't mastered yet, she merged what she knew into a devastating, unique form that could have rivalled even Master Yoda's or Master Windu's abilities.

Kemberli manoeuvred the Star Princess through the air traffic with skill that should have belonged to a seasoned pilot. To think that she had only began flying regularly less than two months before! Her ability to learn quickly, Vader knew, was a result of her being the dark side incarnate. Her midichlorian count was a staggering one hundred thousand per blood cell. Vader's own count was twenty thousand, greater than any Jedi before but nowhere near was large as Kemberli's. Perhaps that was because he had been incarnated by the light side, while Kemberli had been incarnated by the dark side.

The Emperor knew of her existence; in fact, he himself had brought about her existence, and he himself had advised Vader to initiate the girl's training in the dark side. Later on, once her initial training was complete - for Emperor Palpatine did not want to waste his time on her if she was inadequate - Vader would turn her over to Palpatine to conclude her training. The seeming deception was simply a part of Kemberli's training. It forced her to stay vigilant when out and about in the galaxy. And that vigilance was ever-present in the way Kemberli carried herself. She moved like a prowling wildcat, lithe and aware of her surroundings. Nothing escaped her attention, so in tune with the dark side was she.

Vader sensed that his apprentice was ready. She was ready to face the next step in her training. The step in her training that even the Emperor knew nothing about.

The dark lord eased out of his meditative trance and turned from the window. He strode across the room and typed a security code into a small keypad. A holoimage buzzed to life on the smooth wall before him.

A young man knelt on a grated durasteel floor, his wrists bound in heavy shackles. His face, though hidden in shadow, twisted in a grimace of feral anger. The dark side of the Force rippled off him in tangible waves. He was powerful, too. How could he be anything less? He was Vader's first apprentice.

Yes. Kemberli was ready. And so was the young man.

Vader shut off the holoscreen and left the room.