TELOS HOLOCRON: The Sith Code

Posted on Sat Jun 6th, 2026 @ 9:57pm by Darth Serus

1,492 words; about a 7 minute read

RECORD 007
AUDIO RECORDING: DARTH SERUS, TELOS HOLOCRON
SUBJECT: THE SITH CODE; BECOMING GATEKEEPER

[I attempt to place distinct pressure upon the Telos Holocron, to imprint my own identity in some way upon the ancient device - but I am not sure if it is working. Even so, it lights up at my efforts.]

For several moments, I have merely stared into this shifting lattice of light. The device feels different now, but not because it has changed - because I have.

[A pause.]

It is a strange thing. For years, I studied the Sith through fragments. Through histories. Through warnings. Through Jedi lessons carefully crafted to ensure I reached only the conclusions they wished me to reach. Then, through holocrons. Through Bane. Latterly, even though Krayt - and especially through Plagueis in these final months.

Even now, I cannot claim agreement with any of them entirely - and nor would I wish to. The dead have much to teach us - but dead they are, and their systems either failed or never materialised. The burden of philsophers and warriors, perhaps, constrained by the galaxy of mediocrity.

Still, if the Sith are to now truly endure, then they must be questioned as readily as they question others. Perhaps that is the purpose of this recording. Not instruction or confession - but reflection.

[A slight adjustment of posture.]

The Sith Code is perhaps one of the most misunderstood documents in galactic history. The Jedi hear only what they fear and effectively name the text illegal, forbidden. As far as I can tell, though, most Sith hear only what they desire. Even so, I find myself returning to its opening line more often than any other.

Peace is a lie, there is only passion.

The Jedi interpret this as an endorsement of emotion. Of anger. Of hatred. Of chaos. I increasingly suspect this says more about their fears than it does the Code itself.

Peace is a lie. How could it be otherwise? The Senate claims peace whilst corruption spreads through its halls, and the Republic as a state claims peace whilst frontier worlds starve and burn. The Reborn Jedi claim peace whilst dispatching Knights to die in endless conflicts they neither understand nor prevent. Even Axion speaks of enlightenment whilst drowning entire lives in suffering.

Peace. Always peace. Everyone claims it! No one possesses it.

[I pause for a moment, adjusting my posture. Comfort continues to elude me, but I am increasingly finding positions that are more... settled.]

The lie is not emotion. The lie is pretending emotion does not exist. Fear drives governments and pride drives Jedi, whether Rift, Reborn, Old or New. And greed drives corporations. Love drives families. Ambition drives civilisation.

Passion moves all things! Even those who deny it... especially those who deny it.

The Force itself is movement, generated by life. And life is growth, action and momentum. Nothing is truly at peace, nor should it be.

Through passion, I gain strength.

This line took me too long to understand. When I was younger, I believed strength emerged from discipline, as taught by Master Thurius - and as shown, perhaps, through Rynseh Lahan (it would be wrong for me to not admit it...) Then I believed it emerged from knowledge and wisdom, as per the views of Master Sotah, perhaps Bomoor - and even Darth Plagueis.

Then... conviction.

But, the truth is less complicated. Strength emerges from purpose.

[I adjust the holocron slightly, as if the physical movement of the device provides any degree of support to my intent.]

For the longest of times, I was divided, as far back as I can really remember. Since Axion came to Caanus, maybe, driving me to seek and stop him. What Bomoor and I saw on Onderon, Aloxor, Ord Yutani and any number of worlds we found ourselves. Equally, a part of me sought justice - or I thought I did. Perhaps I still do.

Another part sought approval and another sought vengeance. And yet another sought understanding, above all the rest.

I mistook this division for wisdom, but I no longer do. Sleheyron taught me something valuable; a blade cannot strike two targets at once. A mind cannot serve contradictory purposes forever. Eventually, reality demands a choice, and true strength arrives when every part of you moves in the same direction.

That is what passion truly is. It is not rage or hatred, but purpose.

Through strength, I gain power.

Here the Jedi and I diverge completely. They speak constantly of responsibility but rarely of power - which is convenient for them. Responsibility without power is merely commentary.

What use is wisdom without authority? What use is compassion without capability? What use is virtue if it cannot shape reality?

Despite his outward politicking and grand robes, strip that away and Grand Master Quellus possesses more power and integrity than most senators combined - yet he cannot control Rynseh Lahan.

The Republic possesses noble ideals, yet it cannot stop GalactaWerks. It is GalactaWerks.

Entire worlds speak of justice whilst lacking the means to enforce it, and then they act surprised when stronger forces decide their fate for them.

[Another pause.]

Power is not evil. Power is responsibility made tangible. Without power, intention becomes irrelevant.

Through power, I gain victory.

Victory. Another word endlessly misunderstood. The Sith often reduce it to conquest, even some of the Banite Sith or the followers of Krayt's One Sith... and the Jedi reduce it to morality. Neither definition satisfies me.

Victory is outcome. Nothing more and nothing less.

Did the action achieve its objective?

Did suffering decrease?

Did civilisation advance?

Did the threat end?

If not, then the action failed. Its intentions matter little beside the consequences left behind. I have seen too many well-meaning people create disasters through weakness, too many leaders mistake appearing virtuous for being effective, and too many righteous people preserve systems they know are failing.

Reality does not care for appearances; reality responds only to results.

Through victory, my chains are broken.

Now we arrive at the line most Sith claim to understand, but I suspect many have not. Chains are not merely prison bars - they are assumptions and traditions. Expectations, institutions... inherited failures.

The Jedi possess chains.

The Republic possesses chains.

The Sith possess chains.

Even now, I hear ancient voices declaring how a Sith should think, how a Sith should rule and pursue power. I can respect those voices, but I do not worship them. If a tradition serves no purpose, it should be abandoned. If an institution cannot fulfil its function, it should be replaced. If an idea fails, it should be discarded - no matter how ancient or sacred... even if it came from the Sith themselves.

[I close my eye, dwelling briefly on the other consciousnesses pushing at me from within the irregular lattices of the device, but my artificial eye does not respond in that way. It continues to observe and process, whether I will it or not. I cannot yet ignore it, but I do not wish to remove it either.]

Axion is a chain. Just as the Republic's paralysis is a chain. The corruption consuming the galaxy is a chain - and chains are not negotiated with. They are broken.

The Force shall free me.

[A longer silence follows this time.]

This may be the line I understand least... or perhaps the one I understand most. Many hear this and imagine dominion. Immortality. The freedom to indulge every desire. These are children's fantasies - a Jedi's pathetic fears.

Freedom is not the absence of responsibility, but the ability to fulfil it.

A starving world is not free.

A corrupt government is not free.

A civilisation unable to defend itself is not free.

A people trapped within endless cycles of decline are not free.

The Force does not remove responsibility - it grants the means to bear it.

That is why I have accepted the title of Dark Lord of the Sith, of Darth Serus. Not because I reject purpose, but because I embrace it. It is not because I seek destruction but, rather, construction.

None of this has been done because I worship power, but because I recognise its necessity. The galaxy does not need more lies or more excuses. It does not need more institutions pretending they still function - it needs clarity. Truth and direction... the courage to acknowledge what is broken and the will to repair it...

...whether that repair is welcomed or not.

[The glow of the holocron reflects against my respirator and my surroundings, and I observe the dancing light with brief admiration.]

Perhaps Plagueis was correct about one thing; the galaxy does not require saints. It requires architects.

END OF RECORDING

 

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