Necrotic Bolero

Lady of Light and Master of Storms

Two months after Hese's betrayal, The Sith sent me to escort a Dark Lord. That title is a bit ironic in this case, as the Dark Lord in question is Darth Lumina, "the white witch." She mastered the light side but still serves the Sith. Because of her extraordinary power, she was allowed to practice the Light Side as she chooses.

I land on Yavin IV and she is there to greet me. She is a human about 40 years old, with her blonde hair already turning silver. Her eyes are grayish blue, and she's wearing fine Chandrilan dress robes. The main color is a medium gray, the secondary colors are charcoal gray and light gray, and the tertiary colors are bluish gray and white. Her jewelry uses platinum as the metal, pearls, and the odd light blue diamond. Her hood covers her eyes. She speaks softly in a voice beyond her years.

She says to the landing officer, "There must be some mistake. They were only supposed to send an acolyte."

He double checks the ship's registry and informs her, "Ma'am, it says here the ship belongs to Irason Skossh, acolyte of the Sith. Additional crew includes two Talz warriors, a protocol droid, and a Rattataki designated marksman."

The protocol droid is a necessity. They wouldn't let me not bring it. They were annoyed enough that I didn't take an astromech droid, and wouldn't let me drop the protocol droid as well. For this model of ship, one droid is required they say, but I've never had any difficulty working navigation systems, so I disagree. I don't trust droids, so I replaced its motors, plating, and behavior core with war droid components so he can be a meat shield in the field and won't overstep his bounds on the ship.

Darth Lumina is shocked, "What? His power is on a level with my own... and you're telling me he isn't even a Lord? Have the Dark Lords of Korriban really held you back? Surely they know it is foolish to deny a warrior the status they've earned?"

She's downplaying it. I can sense her feelings and tell that she initially thought I was here to take over her excavation here on Yavin IV... suggesting she thinks I'm stronger than her. And when she said I was on her level, it was because she didn't want her people to doubt her own strength and think she didn't earn her title. She is powerful; there's no denying that. But this isn't the first time a Dark Lord sensed that I outclassed them and doubted my station.

She continues, "And I can sense much latent power within you; you have the potential to outclass any Sith alive. Even the Dark Lords of the past may fall short. Remember this man Arrt, for he will one day rule the Sith."

Arrt nods and salutes, "Good to meet you my Lord... err, Acolyte."

Darth Lumina corrects him, "The proper address for an Acolyte by a non-Sith is "My sire."

Arrt bows just a bit, "My sire."

Darth Lumina and I explore the caves, translating inscriptions. 

She remarks, "Most of these tombs are peaceful. Some of them draw powerful creatures, or contain spirits that fight back, which is why an escort was sent. By the way, I see you have no lightsaber. May I ask why?"

I explain, "When I joined my brothers on Korriban, I was given a sword to fight wild beasts. However, against the sand worms and birds of prey, it proved fairly useless. For the former, I carried a net to wrangle them, and for the birds, I carried a sling and stones. I listened to the warnings the force gave me to know when danger was near, then chose my weapon accordingly. As time when on, and I learned how to use powers like force lightning and the like, it became clear that the sword continued to be worthless. Despite being able to use the force to boost my speed, strength, and response time, force abilities were more effective. In particular, telekinesis lets one turn any object into a weapon.

"So just as the sword was the wrong weapon for slugs and birds, the lightsaber is the wrong weapon for fighting swordsmen, gunslingers, and great beasts. The four coils on my back are very widely applicable, since I can control them with the force. I bonded with each of the components through the force so that it would be difficult for anyone else to manipulate them, almost as if they were part of my own anatomy."

She agrees, "I felt the same. By pushing myself to use force lightning, but unable to find the anger within me to use the dark side, I discovered the power to punish the darkness within any living creature. This resulted in an unblockable attack I fittingly call "punish evil." Obviously droids are immune, but they are highly vulnerable to shatterpoint and telekinesis. You'd think that Jedi would also be resistant to it, but that is false. Very few people are actually cut out to master the Light, so almost all Jedi are vulnerable to it. Any anger, hatred, or passion will work against them. It's unblockable nature and high potency make it very effective. I'm told it's even more painful than force lightning even to mere acolytes."

I wonder how she would handle against a Jedi that's actually immune to its effects. There must be at least one that's pure of heart. Maybe that's another reason why I'm here. I can help counter out a Jedi pure of heart if needed. 

We come across a door, behind which we both sense danger. She explains, "The carvings said the artifact is protected by dark spirits. I think your "Force lightning" and my "punish evil" will make quick work of this."

She is correct. The artifact is an amulet. She takes it and we exit the tomb. Her speeder doesn't start, and they're too small to double up. I give her mine and begin to walk back.

As I am walking, the force warns me of a dangerous man lurking in the forest. I fill myself with hatred. Anyone who can sense the force will recognize my incredible power and flee, knowing they'll lose. Astonishingly, I sense the emotions of the person grow more certain, as if I am good quarry. What a fool he is. He makes himself known, stepping out of the forest. He's a Rodian wearing ancient clothing.

I demand his name, and he introduces himself as "Wanderer." He says nothing else. I sense he is waiting for me to attack. I disappoint him, walking on the path towards Darth Lumina's field HQ. He follows me and begins throwing nuts at me out of his satchel. He's not even throwing them hard, just trying to annoy me to get me to attack him. I've worked up enough anger, so I whip around and charge my fist with lightning, killing him in a single punch. His body explodes into viscera as the impact and the lightning overwhelm his body.

Immediately, I sense something in my head, trying to take control. I fight it with everything I have. A Rodian voice says, "Don't fight, just give me control. I need your body because mine was weak. Resistance is useless."

I fight back, jerking and twitching. He runs us into a tree, and we fall on the ground. He thinks pain will work to his advantage, but I use it to fuel my rage. A bolt of lightning strikes our right shoulder, momentarily throwing me off. 

I REFUSE TO BE CONTROLLED!!!! MY BODY MY RULES!!!

I let out a cry as I finally beat him for control of my body.

I say in Rodian, "You were a fool to try that on someone so powerful."

I know Rodian now apparently. It's a pretty language. I think I'll use it when I want to sound majestic. Kaleesh sounds too savage, and basic isn't much better coming from my Kaleesh mouth and Kaleesh accent... but when I speak Rodian, it seems to take on his accent. During our fight, he commanded lightning. I wonder if I gained that power as well, now that I've absorbed him. I reach an arm out and a bolt of lightning strikes the Rodian gore pile. Yes; I have become Master of Storms.