The Tomb
Despite the ample illumination, each step into the ancient temple felt like delving deeper and deeper into a lightless pit.
But I was familiar with pits and mere whispers in the Force failed to measure up to the mines.
Far more presently I observed blaster scorch marks dotting the walls and floor, and the dozens of K’lor’slug carcasses surrounding a pair of half devoured Imperial troopers.
‘How fitting. The creatures prefer chasing living prey to gorging themselves on the already slain.’ I thought with morbid amusement.
A few moments later I heard hurried steps following after me, but I did not slow my stride. “Have you finally managed to rediscover your courage, soldier?”
“Apologies, my lord. Private Griss, Fifth Korriban Infantry.” I heard him salute. “I am ready to serve.”
“Excellent.” I briefly smirked at his terror before heeding the wisdom of the visions. “Tell me, what was your assignment in this tomb?”
He hesitated for a moment but seeing me pause my stride was enough to wizen him up. “Looters, my lord. A pack of them managed to sneak in during a resupply run. We were assigned to hunt them down.”
‘A bunch of desperate fools snuck into the most visible and prominent tomb on the planet? Right.’
“But?”
“We were hit with a K’lor’slug infestation before we could proceed. Most of the unit got overrun before we were forced to split up.”
‘Before you ran, you mean.’ I corrected inwardly and went to demand more information but a sudden tremor in the Force demanded all of my attention, and distant sounds of blaster shots and screeching insects quickly cleared up the source.
But I did not rush in immediately, feeling a potent presence rage against the ravenous tide. It was greater than my fellow Acolytes, but not as honed as the Overseer’s.
‘Ah, a colleague.’ I smirked in realization and took off in a run, rounding the passage and coming out into a cavernous chamber to the sight of a small barricade made up of haphazardly stacked plasteel crates barely holding out against a small horde of K’lor’slugs.
A dozen Imperial soldiers hosed the swarm with disciplined blaster fire but that only slowed them down. The one truly holding the line was a female Pureblood Sith dressed in familiar Acolyte robes, chopping through slug after slug with a furious glare on her face.
The instant I decided to join the fray, the Dark Side leapt into my hand like an eager hound, my lightning striking a large slug into a pile of its own kind hard enough to squish them, and the flow of the critters momentarily broke.
For a tiny moment, the ‘battlefield’ seemed to pause at the sudden interruption, and then the violence intensified, the slugs growing enraged and more aggressive while the soldiers and other Sith took the chance and pressed their own attack.
Part of the swarm split off and headed my way, and I was immediately reminded about why I didn’t try to fight my way out of the mines back on Ziost.
My lightning was still rudimentary at best, and there was no agony to draw power from this time.
And as I saw the swarm rushing towards me despite me flash frying one of them every other second, I heard an old, discarded part of myself whisper: ‘You should flee.’
My free hand dropped…
And I clutched my vibrosword two handed. ‘Flee?! From kriffing insects?!’
With a growl of anger, I raised the sword vertically in front of me, letting the Force flow through my limbs and stomping forward, meeting the filthy critters with a furious slash of my practice blade.
The vibrosword felt more like a bat than a blade, but it did the job as I bisected a pair of the things with only slight resistance, barely even registering the thin blaster fire coming from behind me and picking off a few of the slugs as I pressed on.
I was barely even a novice in Form I, what little of it Mord managed to teach me anyway, but for these pests my skills more than sufficed.
The aggression combined with the Force whispering warnings of any attack quickly turned the tide in my favor and soon the slugs’ hunger was replaced by a deep animalistic fear.
I pounced without hesitation, and swung, and swung, and swung.
Before long I was covered head to toe in green ichor, and the creatures were fleeing deeper into the tomb.
Feeling a sudden flash of irritation, I made sure to crisp as many as I could without actively chasing them, my own assault joined by the other Acolyte as she levitated the disgusting things and crushed them, slowly.
‘So not a complete brute then.’ I noted.
Taking a few deep breaths to focus, I ignored the stinging pain in my hands and addressed my guide. “Still alive, Griss?”
“Doesn’t feel like it, my lord.” The exhausted man muttered.
“Hah!” I barked a laugh, startling him half to death, and approached the rest of the sentients.
Despite my interruption, they’d still taken on the majority of the swarm, and I saw three of them face down against the barricade, covered in ruined slug corpses, dead.
Their leader was currently coordinating supplies, and I noticed Griss move to talk to him, probably to give his report.
His attempt to flee me was amusing but I let it pass as I had far more interesting things to pay attention to at the moment.
Like say, the other Sith Acolyte covered in green blood, glaring my way while trying to ignore the pain of the disinfectants the squad medic was currently applying onto the multiple gashes on her arm.
“A fine day for a tomb dive, no?” I spoke up with a small smirk plastered on my face and introduced myself. “Acolyte Kayd.”
The Pureblood frowned, likely having expected me to open with a dominance play or mockery, and not a casual introduction. “Asha. Acolyte.” She said after a moment and stood up, ignoring the medic asking her to sit back down.
“What do you want?” She asked bluntly.
“To survive of course.” I answered simply, using the moment to observe her much like she was observing me.
She was only slightly shorter than me and seemed to lack the many bone ridges and face tentacles her kind usually sported. Truthfully, aside from her golden eyes, she looked more like the usual Zeltron than a Sith Pureblood from this close.
Likely much less ‘pure’ than the usual Pureblood then.
Something told me voicing that particular opinion would end up with me learning the taste of a vibrosword, so I wisely kept that to myself.
“We’ve both been assigned trials in this pit, no?” I began elaborating after a few tense moments. “Those we must complete on our own, of course. But there is no reason to risk dying to a bunch of slugs on the way.”
She crossed her arms, tilting her head a bit as she asked. “Are you afraid, Kayd?” The mockery behind her tone was clear, and I felt the Dark Side twist around me, encouraging me to cut her down for the insult.
Already used to voices in my head, I simply brushed the idea off, though not before looming forward threateningly. “Fear is power.” I declared lowly. “But I am no fool to waste my efforts needlessly. Are you one, Asha?” I asked her in the same tone she used.
Her eyes narrowed and a low growl rose in her throat, and I felt her clamp down on it with far more practice than I. “Fine. But I’ll be watching you.”
“Excellent.” I said with false cheer and leaned away. “Now all that is left is to kick these soldiers into gear-.”
“Apologies, Acolyte.” The leader of said soldiers interjected. “But we’ve been assigned to hunt down looters in the tomb. Not accompany a pair of Sith.”
The man flinched as the two of us faced him. “What looters, Sargeant?” I asked, a bit annoyed at the interruption.
Our combined attention was enough to have his response catch in his throat.
“The K’lor’slug infestation has already swept through most of the tomb by now.” Asha told him while absently digging chunks of slug from under her nails. “Whichever desperate idiot snuck inside is long since dead or wishing they were.”
“Be that as it may, we have our orders.” The Sargeant shook his head.
My fellow Acolyte’s irritation began radiating into the Force, and she looked just about ready to leave on her own.
“The slugs fled because they could feel us.” I spoke up deceptively softly. “If you wish to be left without that protection then feel free.” I spread my arms before my tone turned cold and uncaring. “We’ve already wasted enough time trying to salvage your team.”
Feeling each other’s plan, we shared a quick nod and began walking deeper into the tomb.
The Sargeant lasted only eight seconds. “Damn it, wait!”
Asha radiated amusement, while I simply huffed.
Within the minute we were properly moving out, cutting through any group of slugs sufficiently large not to flee on sight with a combination of blasters, blades, and good old lightning.
At first, my fellow Acolyte was understandably suspicious of me not immediately charging in with her, but we’d yet to reach proper Sith levels of paranoia so it only took three groups of beasts for her to stop constantly looking over her shoulder and waiting for me to zap her.
Further in, we began sighting the more mature specimens, much larger and resistant to damage, and as I summoned my lightning again, I began to notice something.
Already I could feel the Dark Side answering my call just a tiny bit faster due to simple practice, but once I finally faced creatures that could actually survive my initial lightning burst, the agony of the technique seemed to empower it, allowing me to summon more powerful lightning and much faster as well.
Having been informed of what my visions deemed ‘caster tactics’, I began stunning the larger specimens and moving on without finishing them, allowing Asha to rush them and turn them into fine chunks with frankly terrifying speed and strength.
‘Learn Force Speed as soon as possible. Got it.’ I quietly nodded to myself after seeing her bisect a massive specimen before it even realized she was moving.
It wasn’t long before we discovered what was left of the looters, and the troopers quickly scooped up whatever proof of their ‘success’ was still salvageable from the slugs’ feasting ground.
An hour into our tomb dive, we reached a weathered statue, one no doubt once depicting the first Dark Lord of the Sith and found ourselves at a crossroads.
We’d both been given vague directions before coming here, but the moment we stepped into the chamber we could feel a tug in the force, leading us in opposite directions.
“Sargeant.” I spoke up. “Create a perimeter here. Hold position until we return.”
The man had managed to get over his hesitation at working with us but still paused at the order. Thankfully he was assigned to the planet for long enough to know following us to our trials was beyond stupid, so he merely saluted and started ordering his men around.
“Try not to die.” I told my fellow Sith. “Good help is so hard to find these days.”
She raised an amused eyebrow. “Funny. I was just about to say the same thing.”
We shared a quick stare and went our separate ways.
The aura of the tomb became noticeably more suffocating as I crossed the threshold of the chamber the Force pulled me towards, the very light seeming to dim under the pressure of voices I couldn’t quite hear.
Within I saw eight Acolytes, their presences frayed and weak, swinging their practice blades at training dummies or summoning pitifully underpowered force techniques at them.
Above them all, a hooded man kneeled in front of an altar, but even as he faced away from me, I could feel his eyes on me.
‘Nothing for it.’ I decided and made my way up to him.
“Slave.” The man, Spindrall, spoke as he stood. “Welcome to my humble hole.”
“I’ve seen worse.” I deadpanned, my eyes narrowing despite my attempt to stop them.
My response didn’t seem to phase the old fart one bit as he turned to face me. “You are here for your trial, yes? To learn the ways of the Sith from a doddering old man in a tomb.”
“So it seems.” I hummed. “Whatever you can teach.”
“Even one such as I hold wisdom on your path to power.” He once more ignored my sarcasm. “But I will not waste my time on weaklings. First, you must pass a trial of blood.”
I could feel the other Acolytes tensing with anticipation.
“Really?” I asked, turning away from the hermit and looking down on the scarred and the beaten. “Have you grown bored of them, Spindrall?”
“Fight.” The old codger commanded. “Or die.”
And that was all that needed to be said.
The one closest to my right began rising his hands in my direction but I felt him move before he decided to do it, and my free hand snaped in his direction, the Force twisting as I delivered a flash of lightning straight into his face.
The others were more sluggish to move, but that only delayed their doom, as I tugged on their fear and the dying Acolytes’ screams to draw more power into myself.
The very tomb seemed to thrum as I descended the altar’s platform and deflected the closest Acolyte’s charge with only slight effort, slashing his throat and lifting his corpse up with the Force to block a weak burst of lightning from one of the others.
More fear filled the air.
I shoved the corpse at my nearest opponent, thrusting after it and through it to impale him before he could untangle himself.
Leaving the blade in the corpse, I took a quick step back just in time to evade a decapitation attempt from another, rewarding him with a taste of lightning to the spine for his troubles.
The others tried to fight, but their fear held them fully now, and I levitated one of the fallen blades into my hand and pressed the attack, killing another two in a flurry that was more brute force than skill, and turning to finish the rest only to flinch as I was struck with no warning by two flashes of lightning.
Pathetically weak flashes of lightning.
The two Acolytes were still eyeing each other even as they ambushed me.
“Fools.” I growled and caught the two in a single stream of my own power, deciding to take my sweet time with them, just like I did with the overseer.
They were still twitching long after their deaths.
“Good.” Spindrall spoke from just a few steps behind me. “These failures wanted nothing more than to kill you and take your place.” He paused, finally showing a hint of emotion as I felt cruel approval in the Force. “But your desire proved stronger, and their blood the mantle of your victory.”
“However, you are no Sith yet.” He declared, his tone making me turn to face him. “Open your mind and heed my words.”
“Peace is a lie. There is only passion.”
“Through passion, I gain strength.”
“Through strength, I gain power.”
“Through power, I gain victory.”
“Through victory, my chains are broken.”
“The Force shall set me free.”
The Dark Side almost seemed to grow eager with each word that was spoken, and by the time Spindrall had finished the chant he had closed his eyes and was immersing himself in the feeling.
“This is the Sith code.” He said after a moment. “Carve it into your heart, for it will define your very connection to the Force, and the Dark Side. Follow these teachings and you will gain the strength to crush your enemies.”
His eyes snapped open and the feeling retreated. “Do you understand?”
“I doubt I will truly understand it for a long time.” I hummed. “But I will do as you say.”
“Honesty with yourself is a powerful tool.” Spindrall said, sounding neither pleased nor displeased. “See to it that it does not become a detriment.”
“Now.” He pointed at the exit. “Go back to your Overseer. Nurture your hatred for him and use it to grow strong.” He paused before seemingly coming to a decision. “He may raise his fist to strike at you but know that it is Lord Zash alone who decides if and where the blow will land.”
“Convenient.” I smirked and slightly inclined my head. “I thank you, Spindrall.”
He returned the gesture. “You have done what you came to do. Leave me.”
I did as he asked, though not before bundling up the training sabers of the fallen Acolytes.
You never know when you might need some scrap to pawn off.
I was only half surprised to find the troopers still alive outside, surrounded only by a few K’lor’slug corpses which proved my hunch that the beasts were too scared of this place to swarm it like they did the lower levels.
“You took your time.” The familiar voice of Asha drew my eyes to the Pureblood, with a brand new vibroblade strapped to her hip.
“Well unlike you, my trial involved a bit more than merely smashing through some dusty old droids.” I smirked as her eyes narrowed, pointing in the direction of the exit. “Shall we?”
The soldiers were all too happy to move out, and after only a few hallways, our blood covered band of the victorious few stood in the shade of the Sith Academy.