Inner Angels

Posted on Sun May 19th, 2013 @ 5:42pm by Thane

3,744 words; about a 19 minute read

Chapter: Chapter IV: Rezer's Edge
Location: Ancient Jedi Enclave, Irrikut
Timeline: The night following "Weighting for a Breakthrough"

The smell of burning ozone began to slowly dissipate in the air within the ancient Jedi enclave building. Perspiration made Thane's pale skin glisten in the dim light of the moon that bled through the single entrance to this tier of the structure. With his chest bare, the scratches and minor wounds he had gathered throughout his training session in the ceaseless jungles of Irrikut, the former Jedi called upon the Force to rejuvenate himself and calm his breathing before stepping before the shadowy red figure before him, its size outmatching Thane at this time.

Darth Bane looked grimly satisfied, an expression Thane had learnt both of his Sith holocron mentors had perfected, as he regarded the Caanan he viewed as his apprentice. Currently, Bane was without the orbalisk helmet he wore to match the armour, an affectation Thane found amusing, given he was an artificial construct, but it nevertheless spoke a great deal about the true elements the real Bane had injected into this heirloom - his legacy to his Rule of Two and the Order of the Sith Lords.

"You learn quickly," the avatar complimented in his deep and commanding voice, although the way he delivered the words made it sound almost critical - another trait the Sith seemed to have perfect. "And you have great talent. You are beginning to accept the might of the dark side with each coming day."

Although still partly heaving from the physical stresses of his training and the more mental drain the practice of summoning lightning had caused him, Thane dipped his head slightly, accepting the half-compliment with dignity. "I can feel myself growing more powerful already," he said, pale blue eyes matching Bane's golden-hued eyes, which were still clear despite the red aura of the holocron gatekeeper.

What he had said was a truth. For years, he had trained under the Jedi and Master Sotah, and whilst he had always striven for a greater power and understanding of the Force and lightsaber combat - also eager to learn more and pleased with his accomplishments - it did not quite match the personal elation and self-worth that came from his recent tutelage under Darths Bane and Krayt. For the first time, he genuinely felt as though he was becoming himself, undertaking a great personal endeavour that made life seem more in his control, and that the galaxy was a more open place to him. In the short months since claiming the holocron, his abilities had increased exponentially, and even now he sensed everything with more clarity.

If there was a more appropriate way to explain it, it would be saying that he had been seeing life through dirtied glass, or wearing mufflers over his ears, even as a Jedi Knight, whereas now he could feel - more than before - the creatures alive in the jungle about him. Perched on a lower tier, he could feel the crew of the Red Raptor, asleep in their cots. As he contemplated this new layer of the Force and existence he now felt he was touching, Thane began to wonder if this was how Bomoor truly perceived things through his interpretation of the Living Force. However, where his friend felt a oneness with the universe around him through that connection, Thane now felt a mastery. Rather than being tethered together, it was more as if he was the one pulling the strings, and it was an invigorating experience. His clarity was greater, his powers were mightier, and he was faster and more aware of the world and beings around him - and better.

However, he also saw how so easily such things could be seductive; they could draw in the weak-minded and feeble-willed, turning them into slaves to the dark side, rather than masters of it - those who were used but were in turn abused by this majesty, rather than connecting and becoming one with it; those who let this might slip from their grasp and destroy them, as opposed to using it for great things bar their own petty dreams.

Bane clearly recognised what Thane was thinking. "You are truly seeing the dark side for what it is now, are you not?" He asked rhetorically, glaring down at the living Human. "You direct your weapon already as if it were an extension of yourself, and you are now harnessing the Force as your weapon, too, a birthright so easily squandered or reviled by the masses, and understood and deserving of so few. There is much I can still teach you, but these powers only increase with your basking in the dark side. You must embrace it further, lead your life by its tenets to truly master its arts. The right mind-frame will warrant you the powers you seek. My apprentice, you must look beyond simply learning the dark side, and must become it."

Listening to the Dark Lord, Thane was no longer surprised by his lack of concern over his reaction to Bane's words. As he had heard Bomoor once saying to another about concerns of his growing darker, it was not a case of him becoming anything, but merely what was always there, and this was now accepting that reality, rather than denying it and trying to live to a broken and unintelligent moral code that belonged to others, and one he did not truly believe in.

As either Bane or Krayt spoke to him, he no longer erred against them for the sake of Jedi sanctity, but rather listened with keen interest, either personally agreeing or disagreeing, but nearly always seeing the sense behind the Sith's words. In many ways, he was seeing how the things Bane spoke of were very similar to the philosophies he had discussed innumerable times with Bomoor, only perhaps in more accepting light. These tenets were focused on power going to the worthy and capable, of rooting out corruption and setting a clear standard by which to rule, clearly and concisely - something which was only achievable if one was truly refined enough for it, which is what the dark side provides.

As well, emotions were not to be feared, but they were not to be given in to. Emotions, for the Sith, are to be controlled and refined, to be used for a greater purpose and power that is not chaotic or selfish, nor forgiving or affectionate. Emotions are there to empower oneself to drive them forwards, and to serve as a catalyst for the individual's power.

It all appealed to Thane, particularly to hear his own thoughts echoed by another, and to not have them declared as immoral. In fact, Thane felt as if they were highly moral, as they looked at the bigger picture, beyond the happiness of the individual and the individual's small group of unimportant friends; they looked at how things should truly be organised - made to achieve mighty accomplishments that would rival gods' and further sentient existence to the next level, something which was compromised and defeated by mainstream and 'moral' accepted philosophical and political ways.

"Were you to embrace all that the Sith embody and accept all that I can teach you, your powers would be limitless," Darth Bane said, his expression unchanging but tone deadly. "Your potential is magnificent, and would be wasted on these pathetic cultists alone. Do you not think of what you could achieve beyond ending their miserable existence, once you have proven their inferiority and how they do not deserve the majesty of the dark side?"

More and more, Thane thought. He was recognising more and more how the Cult of Axion was most certainly a thing to be stopped, its leader in particular, but he also saw its standing in comparison to the wider galaxy. As a Jedi Knight, he had been focused upon serving the law and upholding Republic and Jedi ideals against the worst in society, for the betterment of all in that way, but had quickly chafed against their view of 'justice' and how it should come about.

Having resigned to walk his own path more and to tackle Axion, he had often wondered about his purpose after that, not being a man to not think beyond his single objective. No road was singular, and all forked in many ways, but very few were appealing, and he did not wish to be a glorified law enforcer on the edge of the law, a vigilante with no true purpose. As he also became great suffused with the dark side and Sith teachings, he began to see other options as being more viable - more attainable and, really, more just.

With the power he was touching and the power he had the opportunity to touch, as well as the connections he had and even his birthright, Thane recognised he had been dealt a unique hand. At this crossroad of his life, the heir to Caanus knew he had the opportunity to create much change in the galaxy that so few were ever afforded, and to waste that away would be tantamount to treason against those with nothing who so sorely sought to make a difference. He knew he could make that difference, and the dark side was a major piece to making that come to bear.

Even so, it would not do to not challenge what Bane said with fair points he knew would be asked by more people than just himself, were he to adopt the mantle of a Sith and proclaim any form of leadership. "Such as happened in the past - descendants of your own lineage - who abused the power and failed. They failed not only in their goals, but they failed the people they sought to control."

Bane did not grow angered, but a slight curl of smile grew on his ragged features. "They were not true Sith," he declared with confidence. "The Sith are always portrayed as being ruthless megalomaniacs interested in only furthering their own ends with twisted minds and emotions - the bad ones become the famous tyrannical leaders that are commonplace in children's bedtime stories; the alarmist ones the Jedi use to keep people listening to their propaganda. The truth is these so-called Sith Lords were already broken before they became Sith - not because they were Sith."

His features had become particularly angry, although it was not directed towards Thane. "Darth Vader," he spat, "a tragic lost love; Darth Sidious, a greedy and narcissistic tyrant who blighted the Sith legacy and threw away a chance at perfection and crippled my millennial Order." The gatekeeper now looked at Thane, that grimace that contained an air of approval within it. "These are the Sith you speak of. But tell me, are the ones in power now - the true power: the Jedi, I mean - are they any better? So corrupted in their own way by the light side, so entirely entrenched and governed by regulation and custom founded on fear and impractical naive morals. They are no longer able to see beyond one side of the argument - one side of the Force."

The long-deceased Dark Lord of the Sith continued speaking, confident in his reminiscence and Thane's attention, beginning to pace, despite his non-corporeal form. "Both Jedi and Sith gravitate towards ruling others, only the Jedi claim it is contrary to their nature, using those very childish morals they believe to be so cultured and advanced to dictate their own actions, until that inevitable day when governments fall short of these expectations - as the Republic did in my era in the New Sith Wars, and they are 'forced' to take control... only they then find their rules even more impractical and unsuitable than those that they had replaced, unsustainable as a fair government."

Darth Bane stopped pacing, peering deeply into Thane's eyes, the Human standing his ground but treating the other with respect, eager and interested to hear what the avatar had to say. He had longed for more information of this nature to be divulged, but - as he had expected - the holocron had been particular about its tutelage, waiting until satisfied to reveal more to him, perhaps in the hopes of tempting him to follow the mantras of Darth Bane more. Even so, he could not deny the truth to Bane's words - once again recognising the parallels between these words and those he had often shared with Bomoor, and even Master Sotah.

"The Sith have always realised they could impose their rule upon the others, the weaker and the less able, to direct them more appropriately, to forge a grand future. They understand true fairness, born conflict and strife and understand its necessity and importance; they understand that if a society is working and can be trusted, then there is no need for them to interfere... but that is so rarely the case." Darth Bane grew slightly larger and looked down on the young rogue Jedi. "Evaluate your Third Republic and the civilisation it governs. Is this what should be, does the galaxy not deserve something greater - to be the best it could be? Only the Sith offer mastery over entropy, Thane."

At these words, Thane thought carefully in silence for a few minutes, Darth Bane unerring in his steely gaze upon him, although he certainly seemed to accept, perhaps even approve of, his consideration. He was in no particular rush to abandon one master and a dogmatic code for another, finding more solace in his own thoughts and ideals, but there was no denying the appeal Bane's words offered him.

He also recognised the fact he was not without another Sith holocron; another source of Sith and political information was just a small amount of commitment away, to further broaden his horizons. But the thought that most occupied his mind, a realisation of his own and not suggested by Bane, was that there were no (known) living and 'true' Sith left in the galaxy. Just as with the Jedi, there had been several sects across space and time, adopting alternating philosophies based upon the same key tenets. Already, he was beginning to adopt many of those, as well as learning the dark arts of the ancient order, too. Were he to claim the mantle of a Dark Lord - a title he could not deny an appreciation for - he would be the only one. There was nothing to say he had to follow the Rule of Two, or anyone else's mantra for that matter.

Thane suppressed a small smile and asked, "So you would have me do this so you may live vicariously through me?" He challenged, wanting to stretch this out some more, to learn some more.

Bane now glowered, anger starting to slip across his face. "Do you know nothing of my Order, child?" He demanded, looking ready to cut Thane down, were he corporeal. "The Sith are a lineage, always two, with the Apprentice outgrowing the Master - my part has never been to see the the reaping of the seeds I sowed, but to die aware of our power ever-growing, certain of the day the galaxy would be saved from itself and order restored; to know that one day the galaxy would evolve beyond the cesspit of failure and naivety it has always been - and always will be without our intervention."

Thane gave a small nod of admission. More and more certain was he becoming of the verity of Darth Bane. The Sith Lord existed for more than just his own self-indulgence as he had feared, and he knew many others would fear. It was the ages-old retort to any dark-sider who may align themselves with the Sith, that they were merely doing it for their own pleasure, that they were evil and without morals.

From what Thane had learnt, nothing could be further from the truth. Of course, he would never deny that there had not been masses of such Sith in history - particularly when there were more than Bane's fabled Two - but even so, Axion and those that followed him were the true evil of hedonism and debauchery, of chaos and greed.

"I will think on what you have said," Thane told the gatekeeper with some confident deference as he reached forward to deactivate the holocron.

Once more grimly amused, Bane nodded. "See that you do." And with that, his Sith mentor dissipated into visual nothingness, summoned back within the ageing relic.

After a few moments of looking at the holocron, Bane's words echoing in his mind, he suddenly became acutely aware of the cold of the Irrikut night that had pervaded throughout the enclave, goosebumps forming across his pale and now-clammy skin, his hair standing up on end. Just a few feet away, he reclaimed his dark grey tunic and black greatcoat, throwing them over himself before picking up the holocron and walking out onto this tier's platform.

The prospect of forging his own Sith Order, with its own set of codes and ideals that could be used to empower oneself and others for legitimate leadership of a galaxy locked in moralistic chaos, tugged at him. His conscience only agreed with the prospect, to do what must be done for the good of all, whilst his id also urged him forwards, to fulfil his own desire to achieve personal greatness.

It was something he had discovered the Sith and the dark side - if not abused or out of proportion - could offer, as opposed to the light and the Jedi. It would allow him to achieve all he could and become the most powerful he could, unlocking the secrets of the Force and earning (and not simply being given or inheriting) a title of great worth, respect and standing.

After all,, he thought to himself, looking up to the bright moon, shining an eerie glow over his already light pallor, how could one be expected to rule and be respected over others when they cannot fully rule over or respect themselves?

No decisions were yet to be made, but he could feel himself looking down a new path from that crossroads, one that branched off in so many ways - but so many promising ways. The Cult of Axion was still his current priority, but other obligations and choices were calling, ones of greatness and deliverance for more than just himself, as he did not deny the importance of others.

However, he did not know how he could attempt to explain such things to others, chiefly to Bomoor and the others on the Red Raptor. He trusted that, if explained fairly, his closest friend would understand much of what he says, or at least the motives, given how they would resound with him, too. Bería, whilst more intelligent than he had first expected, continue to bother him with her idealistic naivety and knee-jerk reaction to certain ideals.

Even so, he then considered, she reacted well to my approach to the Force earlier this day. A dark technique, she had perhaps more readily accepted it than Bomoor's own, suggesting an inner darkness that could grow, so long as she did not let it consume and misguide her. In time, he believed he could explain himself, and perhaps even have her see the merits more for herself, but he was unsure of the latter.

Sev Rezer would be less understanding. He might acknowledge the truths behind becoming the most powerful one could be, striving on conflict and working towards an honourable goal, but he was paranoid. Paranoid and closed-minded to such matters, and if he could not acknowledge the many Mandalorian aspects of what Thane was indulging, he could become an enemy - but an enemy that could so easily be vanquished, he was beginning to feel.

Finally, Morgo. A small smile tugged at Thane's lips. Morgo hated the Force, that much was certain, and the work of her noble line had been once decimated and abused by Emperor Palpatine - Darth Sidious - a millennium ago. Yet, he did not think she would be hard to explain things to. In many ways, she embodied much of what the Sith did and strove towards, and he felt she would agree with many of the things Thane sought to achieve, albeit in her own Morgo way. Indeed, he imagined that, with her, it would largely be a case of her making assumptions and dismissive comments about abandoning the Jedi and joining the Sith, with numerous remarks about his dark side and other mocking words about what they and he embodied. He could handle that.

Despite himself, though, he still felt a certain bad gut feeling over how their most recent conversation had gone. For her, life on the Raptor, somehow, was still like life at court, and that distrust was not going to slip away easily. Actions would always be much louder than words for the duchess, but she was an ally he wanted, as much as he wished he did not. She could not only be useful, but he feared he was beginning to enjoy her presence despite himself.

However, Bomoor remained at the forefront of his mind. The one he was arguably the least worried about rejecting his words, yet the one that mattered the most. Perhaps that was why?

Thane stepped to the edge of the platform. An icy cold wind struck at him, forcing his hair to billow about as his pale blue eyes looked across the horizon before sealing shut. Taking a deep breath, he immersed himself in the Force, feeling the currents throughout Irrikut. The birds and the mammals, the predators and the prey all so clearly envisioned and felt - all so clearly plucked at, should he now choose, but he wished them no harm. Innocents, in a galaxy populated by criminals.

As he felt more than just the world around him, no longer did he feel as he had as a Jedi when learning such a technique, man-sized on an infinitely-massive universe. Now, as he stood here, listening and feeling the howling of a native wolf in the distance, he felt powerful.

Thane, of House Verus and heir to Caanus, took that first step along the path.

RSS Feed