The True Dark: A SWTOR Fic

[Solus Brack]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

A Fury Class Interceptor zipped through the Outer-Rim, making a beeline towards the planet Korriban. Within the ship, a sleek droid rose out of the pilot's seat and made its way to its master's quarters. It took a turn and stared at a man wearing dark gray armor, seated at a desk with his eyes closed and hands clasped. He had short cropped black hair, and a full goatee. A red tattoo sits over his right eye.

"My Lord, we have just exited hyperspace, and I calculate an hour before we land planetside" the droid stated with a synthetic accent. "However, I must inquire as to why you ordered me to bring us out of hyperspace so early".

The man opened his eyes, but did not look at the droid.
"I wanted to be able to gradually sense Korriban approach, and bask in its ancient darkness. And I hope to feel a presence that stands out among its populace," the man replied, still staring at the wall. He then turned to the droid, "I want you to monitor the communication channel, no doubt someone will recognize the ship and hail it incessantly. I trust you know what to do then, right DX-85?"

"Of course. Retrieving Memory Banks: Priority Order from Darth Fallenskir- If anyone comms me and it isn't one of the Overseers or from the Council, ignore it. And if it is from the Council, tell them I'm busy," the droid rattled off, imitating the voice of the man as he repeated the orders he had received. "This order is effective until stated otherwise."

Fallenskir nodded, satisfied with his droid's response. DX-85 took a deep bow and returned to the cockpit to continue working. Fallenskir himself remained in place, once more closing his eyes and fading back into a trance. Most Sith would rather simply steep in their own darkness and hatred, but Fallenskir found that to be far too simplistic. He believed that through a modified meditation, one could deepen their own connection to the dark side through resonance with outside sources like Korriban. Korriban was the ancient homeworld of the Sith, which made it a prime target for dark resonance, as well as being the place where acolytes live hoping to become Sith. Fallenskir's journey was for that very reason, to find a new apprentice.

A memory sprang unbidden while he was meditating on the idea of a new apprentice, the memory of the apprentice he had before. That Apprentice was also Fallenskir's first apprentice. She was a female human, but was not taken in as an acolyte like a normal Sith. She was a Jedi Padawan who was turned after Fallenskir cut her master in two. He was about to end her as well when she lashed out with the dark side, trying to keep him at bay. Fallenskir was intrigued by the speed of her fall, so he decided to try his hand at teaching. He lifted up his hand and used the Force to send her across the room, knocking her out almost immediately.
"This shall be interesting," is all that he said.

As time passed, his Apprentice adapted to the dark side and her general situation, but it manifested into an almost complete shift in personality. And that personality was problematic. Fallenskir prided himself on being one of the few Sith who did not slaughter subordinates on a single failure… he killed them when they failed 3 times within close succession. His Apprentice on the other hand, killed men if they even looked at her wrong, much less made a mistake. It required almost constant intervention, but the breaking point happened when she tried to kill his favorite officer, Lieutenant Keslo, for taking a Jedi prisoner. Fallenskir had to grab her with the Force and throw her to the other side of the room, in a startlingly similar fashion to when he first claimed her. Perhaps she realized that, and maybe that was where she remembered the Sith tradition of succession, the murdering of the master by the apprentice.

The Apprentice acted as if nothing happened for a few weeks and even stopped attacking subordinates, but she made her move during a mission on Nar Shaddaa. Fallenskir and his apprentice were moving through the underground to a meeting with the Shadow Syndicate, one of the many being held to help convince them to form an alliance with the Sith Empire. They were around halfway there when Fallenskir felt a shift in the Force and leaped to the side, avoiding what would have been decapitation at the hands of his apprentice.

"Kriff me, how did you dodge that?!" she exclaimed.

"It seems that you've been avoiding your meditations," Fallenskir replied coolly. "I told you to do them regularly and you might learn something."

"Do you think I was born yesterday? There is no way in the nine hells that your meditation does anything, all that matters is my anger and hatred!" she spat. "I've done my research and I'm convinced that there is no longer any reason for me to serve as your Apprentice, because it's time to become the master."

The Apprentice raised her lightsaber high over her head to cleave Fallenskir's head, but he ignited his own maroon lightsaber and brought it up to block her blow. He heaved her off and she shifted into a Juyo stance, ready to unleash an onslaught of strikes. She was confused when her ex-master got into his stance, as it was not one she had seen before.

"I sense your confusion, this is Dun Möch, the ancient Sith form of disruption." Fallenskir explained unprompted. "I believe this is the perfect time for a lesson."

Dashing forward, the Apprentice swung her bright red saber with everything she had. Only to be deflected with dizzying accuracy that twisted her wrist in pain. She expected Fallenskir to strike at her immediately, but watched in surprise as he stood there waiting for her next move.

"I took you in as my apprentice not only to see what you could become, but to also test myself. To see if I was prepared to teach a real apprentice." Fallenskir announced and she froze at his words.

"You have shown me everything I need to watch out for and curb for when I take in a proper acolyte," he continued.

"N-no… no… No… NO!" she muttered, escalating into a scream.

She began to swing frantically at Fallenskir, trying to find some gap, some hesitation in his guard.

"You are irresponsible," he said, deflecting a swing downward. "Far too quick to anger" he said, ducking under a kick. "Childish" he glared, using the Force to deflect a barrel sent flying at his head. "And worst of all, a fool" he finished, sending the Apprentice's saber across the hallway.

The Apprentice breathed heavily, she didn't understand. Everything hurt, her wrists, her knees, her shoulders, every joint felt like they had been twisted out of place. Her every connection to the Force had been shaken, unable to focus on anything. That was until she felt something tingling in her fingertips, something that had always been there subconsciously but had always been smothered by her other force abilities. As Fallenskir slowly made his way over to his defeated apprentice, she suddenly turned to him with her hands outstretched.

"GRRRR-AAAAAAAAAAA!!" she screamed, and Sith lightning blasted out of her fingertips at Fallenskir.

He was genuinely surprised to see her unlock a new ability, but that was quickly overridden by the pain of being hit by said lightning. Seeing that he was stunned, the Apprentice retrieved her lightsaber and swung it down upon him once more. Fallenskir barely managed to stop it in time, but had no strength to push her off, so she gradually inched closer and closer to his face.

"Hah… Hah… HA-HA-HA-HA!" she began to cackle. "I WIN!"

*PA-CHONG*

The Apprentice's relentless press against Fallenskir suddenly disappeared, and he did not fail to notice it. He immediately pushed her back and she collapsed onto her knees. There was a smoking hole in the back of her non-dominant leg, a blaster hole. Standing behind her was a DX Assassin droid, lowering a blaster rifle, its barrel cooling.

"I received your communication Darth Fallenskir, but I did not expect that you would be in the middle of a duel." The droid chuckled.

The Apprentice looked from her master to the droid with wide eyes, finally noticing the comm unit in Fallenskir's hand. He lifted it up and gave it a little shake

"Let me give you some advice, apprentice, make use of every possible tool you have, and as soon as you get the advantage, move with fury."

Fallenskir stepped forward and picked up the Apprentice's fallen lightsaber and placed it onto his hip.

"If this did not give me a personal reason to want to have the Shadow Syndicate as an ally, it does now," Fallenskir said to the droid. "Your timing was impeccable."

He turned once more to his apprentice and knelt down in front of her hunched form. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck and lifted her head up to look at him.

"I did not claim you to cast you away, as you are thinking. I truly wanted you to become something, but you spat on the chance I gave you," Fallenskir said solemnly. "As you just felt yourself, you had definite potential, but you are wrong to think that you held even a modicum of power even for a second."

Fallenskir tightened his grip, but was still far from choking her.

"Personally, I never had any skill in the projection of Sith lightning, but I certainly mastered other ways of employing it," Fallenskir said with a smirk. "Specifically, I consider myself to be a veritable master when it comes to the Imbuement of Sith lightning."

She felt her breath hitch, and neither missed it. With a kind smile, He drew upon the Force and began to cycle it within his body. The Apprentice watched as Fallenskir's arm seemingly began to vibrate.

"This is true lightning, and true power. Enjoy" Fallenskir stated, voice full of finality, like the bang of a gavel.

The Apprentice screamed. She had never felt pain like this in her entire existence, not even in her nightmares. It felt like her every atom was being filled with energy and then rent. Her skin began to darken before flaking away, and her scream began to die out, vocal cords either giving out from the screams or going the way of her skin. She felt as if she was being electrocuted from the inside out. Then, her vision went black.

Fallenskir lifted his hand away and shook it, sending dust flying off of it. In front of him was a blackened object, in the vague shape of a person. A moment afterwards, it collapsed into itself, ending up as a pile of ash. With a wave of his hand, Fallenskir used the Force to send the ashes flying out into the underworld of Nar Shaddaa. He turned to the droid that had given its timely assistance.

"Now with that over with, why don't we get down to business with the negotiation." Fallenskir said with a smile as if he had not just electrocuted someone into ashes.

"My thoughts exactly, my friend. I believe that this may be the beginning of a wonderful alliance." The droid agreed.

"Ah, before that, might I get your designation? It's not fair that you should know mine and I don't know yours." Fallenskir said and held up his hand to shake.

The droid took his hand and stood straight, "I am the representative of the Annihilator Network, a branch of the Shadow Syndicate, Designation: DX-85."

 

[Solus Brack]

Fallenskir snapped out of his reverie when he felt the dark side wash over him in waves. Taking a deep breath as if trying to inhale the Force itself, Fallenskir began to cycle and pulse his own internal Force in sync with the cruel dark waves that were coming in swaths. Fallenskir immediately knew that they were close to Korriban, less than 10 minutes away from landing most likely. As he inched closer to complete synchrony with Korriban's darkness, he felt his own power beginning to deepen and mix with Korriban. The dark side flowed between them, and Fallenskir began to faintly sense what was on Korriban as if he were planetside. Then his Force beat perfectly in sync with Korriban, and he felt the rush of satisfaction from the dark side he always felt when he synchronized with something. Fallenskir felt a portion of the ancient stockpile from Korriban leave and flow into him, augmenting his connection to the dark side and boosting his abilities. One might ask whether the Sith on the planet would notice a part of the dark side disappear from the ever-present aura of Korriban. Fallenskir would answer no, as the sheer amount of Sith, dead or alive, generate more than enough energy for the dark side to immediately replenish what Fallenskir drew.

DX-85 sat in the cockpit watching Korriban expand in his optics, occasionally glancing at the comms channel. The comm began blinking and beeping, notifying DX-85 that there was an incoming transmission. Leaning over, he checked to see the source and if it needed to take action or not. It was a request to communicate from an Overseer. DX-85 opened up the channel to begin the conversation and a hologram of a man appeared.

"Receiving request. Hello Overseer, what might be the purpose of this message?" the droid asked.

"A droid? I was expecting to see Lord Fallenskir," responded the hologram.

"He is simply not in the cockpit righ-"
Fallenskir walked in, cutting him short.

"Ah, Overseer Tremel, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Fallenskir asked.

"I wanted to know why your ship has been refusing communications from anyone up until now," Tremel hissed.

"I did not want anyone to bother me with anything asinine, and I knew that if an Overseer called me then it would be for a good reason," Fallenskir smiled. "I didn't want to have to leave my meditation for no reason after all."

Tremel scoffed, "Your 'meditation' huh? Sure I know that others meditate as well, but the fact that you say we shouldn't revel in our hate is ridiculous, next you'll be saying that we should talk about our feelings like a-"

Fallenskir's cold stare froze him.

"I would suggest against finishing that sentence." Fallenskir said, voice barely audible.

"*ahem* I went too far, my apologies," Tremel said, slightly cowed. "But why are you here without any prior notice.?"

"I am here to find an apprentice, and I didn't say anything in advance because I wouldn't want you or the other Overseers hiding any acolytes you favor from me." Fallenskir said.

Tremel's mind immediately jumped to the acolyte he requested a transfer for to Korriban.
Thank goodness he's scheduled to arrive in a few days, else Fallenskir might notice him and Vemrin would get the chance he does not deserve.

As soon as he finished that thought, he realized what Fallenskir had just said and jumped to defend himself.

"I would never do that, my Lord."

Fallenskir merely rolled his eyes, knowing that he would never be honest regardless.

"Anyways, I am going to be landing soon, so I will have to end our conversation here."

With the commlink shut off, Fallenskir had DX-85 bring the Interceptor down into the atmosphere to land. It took no time at all to find a space, as there was a hangar dedicated specifically to Lords. The ship landed with a hiss as its landing gear settled.

"The Cascade has landed and is ready for departure sir," DX-85 said. "I will stay here if you need me to."

Fallenskir shook his head, "Come with me, no-one will be stupid enough to touch the ship, this isn't like Nal Hutta."

Sith and droid walk out on the gangway to the ground, and Fallenskir takes a deep breath but stops short. He began to sense something… no someone. Someone who he would have rather not sensed if ever given the choice. He could feel the roiling and sickening presence of Baras, who he had not seen since the signing of the Treaty of Coruscant 10 years ago. The fool had gotten the Republic to sign a ceasefire on our terms after they decimated Coruscant with Malgus at the lead. Fallenskir was a mere apprentice then, but was made a Lord soon after killing several Jedi knights during the Sacking of Coruscant. The Treaty named the Empire as the victor and they left Coruscant as part of the terms. Fallenskir thought that the Treaty was moderately useful, but one must not forget the decade-long plan the Dark Council had in the works. But Baras's notoriously massive network just shows the paranoia he has deep inside. Such methods may be Sith like, but not to Fallenskir, he sees only inefficiency and dawdling.

Pushing Baras out of his mind he left the hangar with DX-85, who was carrying what looked to be a backpack. The hangar led directly to the Academy, and all its inhabitants. Sensing the powerful sources within the Academy, Fallenskir's eyes were once more drawn to Baras's location. It seemed that he had claimed an office.

Was he also looking for an apprentice?

Fallenskir turned away and left the Academy, not finding any acolytes of note within the Academy. He hoped to find one outside on the surface because the last thing he wanted was to leave empty handed, or worse, an apprentice he had no confidence in.

Walking across the sandblasted surface of Korriban, he turned around to look at the building he was leaving. The Sith Academy seemed to have been upgraded since his last visit, not since becoming a Darth 5 years ago, having an addition of a new turbolaser battery and a few new rooms. Fallenskir felt a tug in his mind that yanked his view around in the direction of one of the countless tombs that peppered the surface and underground of Korriban. It was… the Tomb of Tulak Hord, the resting place of one of the greatest masters of lightsaber combat to ever grace the galaxy. He felt a powerful tug coming from inside the tomb, but could not sense inside of it, as it was also one of the densest when it came to the dark side. He quickly motioned to DX-85 who handed him the 'pack' from his back. Fallenskir pressed a button on the underside and tossed it onto the ground. The 'pack' then began to expand and form into a speeder bike, which Fallenskir mounted with DX-85 attaching himself to the back. Flooring it, they sped to the entrance of the tomb and hopped off. That was because every discovered tomb had a pulse generator installed at the entrance. If it detected a vehicle passing over it, then it would deactivate it and render it useless until it passed over it again. The last thing any of the archeologists or the Sith wanted was some acolyte flying into a tomb and setting some kind of dark curse free by breaking something.

Fallenskir pressed another button and handed the now refolded speeder back to DX-85, who replaced it on his back. Both walked into the tomb and drew their weapons. Fallenskir unclipped his lightsaber and held it at his side while DX-85 held his blaster and did the same. The surface of Korriban was full of hostile creatures and the tombs were no different, if not more dangerous when the traps and tricks within the tombs are included. Moving forward at a decent pace, the first creature they encountered was no creature at all, it was a pair of acolytes standing in front of a carved monument. The acolytes were completely stiff, as if they were statues themselves, but Fallenskir could sense the dark side coming off the monument and worming through the minds of the acolytes.

"Weak minded fools," Fallenskir said while igniting his lightsaber.

For an acolyte, they have to venture into one of the tombs at least once to test their own mental fortitude against the traps within the tomb. Those who fail become mere thralls for the dark influence of the tombs and attack anyone they see who is not enthralled. It is hypothesized that the thralls can be saved if they receive extensive therapy and treatment, but there is no reason to save an acolyte who was weak enough to fall in a tomb. The only 'treatment' they will receive is a swift freeing from their mortal coil.

Hearing the activation of a lightsaber behind them, the enthralled acolytes turned around and drew their warblades and charged. The acolytes took wild swings, without any form, trying to kill Fallenskir as fast as possible. Fallenskir ducked under a swing and thrusted his hand out, using the Force to send the first acolyte flying into the air. While that acolyte was midair, Fallenskir hurled his lightsaber at them, severing them diagonally from neck to waist. DX-85 quickly opened fire on the other acolyte and peppered them with blaster bolts, as the acolyte was too intent on attacking Fallenskir to even acknowledge DX-85's presence.

Hearing the sounds of a battle, a young male acolyte ran into the room, hoping to find an easy quarry.

"HAH!" He yelled, jumping out from a corner. "I have yoouuuu…."

The acolyte faltered as he realized that this was neither a thrall nor a fellow acolyte to fight. He was staring down a Sith Lord, with a saber drawn. The acolyte quickly sheathed his weapon and bowed.

"My deepest apologies, my Lord, I did not know that it was you in this room," The acolyte said, his gaze passed over to the two thralls and his blood chilled.

He stood back up when Fallenskir said nothing and inched towards an exit to the room. Once he reached one, he suddenly sprinted down the hall out of sight. Fallenskir rolled his eyes.

Leave it to an overzealous acolyte to only focus on the chance that they might get rid of a competitor and completely miss the presence of a Lord.

Fallenskir took another deep breath, trying to recapture the sensation he got at the entrance so he could follow it again. Finally, he began to feel it again, but it seemed to have split into two separate points. Both points were fairly near each other, but the fact remained that there were two of them, two force signatures that Fallenskir resonated with. With his destination now set, he resumed his descent farther into the tomb, passing the occasional acolyte, sent on a mission by their hopeful masters or as punishment. The acolytes who had a potential master shied away from him, hoping Fallenskir was not there for them, while the masterless acolytes put on minor airs in vain attempts to make themselves look good. Fallenskir ignored all of them, focused on maintaining the connection to the two sources.

Finally, he arrived at the closer of the two signatures. Fallenskir stood at the entrance to a dead end room. His gaze fell to the side of the room where a hooded acolyte knelt hunched over some tablet fragments, a scanner in hand. Fallenskir had found it, the signature was coming from this acolyte. He knew that his one was the apprentice he needed, someone who would take to his teachings and soar with them. He leisurely made his way over to the acolyte, as to not give them any undue stress. Fallenskir stopped a few feet away, and cleared his throat. The acolyte's head shot up, throwing their hood back. The acolyte was a male Zabrak, with bright red skin and black tattoos. He stood up, eyes flicking around the room, finally coming to rest on Fallenskir.

"What is it, my Lord?" He asked, eying Fallenskir suspiciously. "Is there something you need?"

"As a matter of fact, there is," Fallenskir replied. "What is your name?"

The acolyte squinted at Fallenskir. "Otrad"

"Well then Otrad, congratulations, because I am claiming you as my hopeful apprentice."

 

[Solus Brack]

"Your hopeful what?" Otrad asked, bewildered.

"I said that I, Darth Fallenskir, am claiming you as my apprentice." Fallenskir repeated, adding in his name for clarification.

The acolyte stood, facing Fallenskir. He stood about an inch shorter than Fallenskir, and was far leaner compared to the wall that was Fallenskir.

"Why would I accept this proposition when I already have a prospective master?" Otrad asked, with an eyebrow raised. "Darth Baras seems to be as invested in my growth as you might be."

"BARAS!?" Fallenskir erupted. "I…."

Fallenskir cut himself off to help calm himself.

You can't convince him by shouting Fallenskir, that is the last thing you do with Sith, you know this!

"What is wrong with Baras?" Otrad asked, genuinely wondering.

"He is a conniving bastard, but to a degree that is almost sickening," Fallenskir spat. "He has no respect for those who follow him, nor those who work for him, all are expendable."

Fallenskir still remembers when he watched Baras fry one of his oldest and most trusted agents for missing a fragment of intel.

"Sure Sith plan and plot, it is one of the things that makes us who we are, but there needs to be a limit," Fallenskir was almost preaching, he had views so different from Baras. "Trust and honor needs to exist for any kind of success, a man who embodies the complete absence of those is a focal point for pain and failure."

Otrad had gone silent, listening closely to Fallenskir's words and considering the implications. A quiet hmm filled the room in Fallenskir's silence.

"What is it that brought this on, My Lord?" He asked, breaking the silence. "Baras simply saw some potential in me, but I have never met you until now. It seems like you have sought me out, why?"

Fallenskir smiled slightly, pleased that Baras had no real stake in this, as it would make this far easier.

"When I landed on Korriban, I sensed something strange coming from this tomb, and once I entered, I could feel your Force signature resonate with my own," Fallenskir began to explain. "And this is monumental to me because I have not felt anyone who has resonated with me in such a way… not for a long time at least."

Otrad remained silent, but carefully hid his interest. Baras had shown no such interest in him, it was mostly a casual investment, and even he could see the lack of care. He had been sent to the Tomb of Tulak Hord to try and assemble pieces of his starmap but it was going nowhere. Unfortunately, Baras had insisted that he not return empty handed, and he was not a person who failed. But now seeing someone who showed genuine interest in him was encouraging, and someone with such martial honor as well. After all, if what Lord Fallenskir said was true, he would have a near constant conflict in values with Baras. But there was one important reason for his hesitation.

"I… I accept your offer, on the condition that I will be permitted to see Baras on occasion." Otrad replied.

Fallenskir was speechless, he could not fathom why Otrad would request such a thing. He was about to ask why when…

"I am infatuated with Baras, I MUST know what he looks like under his mask."

Once again, Fallenskir could do nothing but gape in response. Of all the possible reasons, this is the one he would have never expected.

"In-infatuated," Fallenskir said numbly. "You are infatuated with Baras… honestly, I can't blame you if you swing that way and look at Baras, he has the jawline and smolder to merit it."

Spoiler: What Fallenskir Remembers Baras Looking Like

"You've seen his face?!" Otrad exclaimed.

Fallenskir eyed the acolyte in confusion. "Yes I have. You have met him too, so how could you not know his face as well?"

"I have only seen Baras with a full face mask on, as far as I know though, it is only decoration," Otrad explained. "His voice is so entrancing, I can only guess what his face truly looks like!"

Fallenskir was confused, but he would not let his confusion stand in the way of an apprentice with potential that shone like a sun.

"Alright, I agree to your condition. So you accept my offer of apprenticeship?" Fallenskir prodded.

"Absolutely, Master."

Excellent, is what Fallenskir thought. Now I need to find what the other signature is. If Otrad is a sign of what's to come, then I can look forward to it.

"Come, Otrad. I have one other thing to do in the tomb before we leave to go rub this in his- I mean tell Baras of your decision," Fallenskir stated.

Otrad simply nodded and fell in step behind him. Turning around, Fallenskir left the room and once more resumed his hunt for the second signature he felt. Within a few minutes of wandering and closely searching, Fallenskir's sense caught onto a miniscule imprint on a statue. He saw a statue of Tulak Hord, which Fallenskir could only assume was to scale based on its size. The statue stood in a mostly neutral stance, but it held its hand out almost as if grasping at something. The imprint Fallenskir noticed was coming from the outstretched hand, drawing him to it. Otrad stood on the opposite side of the statue, peering around it in an attempt to find any hidden mechanisms to activate. Fallenskir's gut told him to grab the hand, but his Force-tuned intuition was giving him warning. It was not a blaring warning like when he was attacked by his previous charge. The feeling he got was more of a caution advisory that was warning him to be careful. So, Fallenskir grabbed the hand.

A half second later, he felt something ancient tear at his Force. A small portion of the Force was taken from Fallenskir, and it flowed into the statue. Its eyes lit up and Fallenskir pulled his hand away. Once he did, the statue did the impossible and pulled its hand into a fist, because there were no visible seams to bend. A wall on the other side of the room shook and rose, leading farther into the tomb than anyone had ever gone before. Otrad and DX-85 made their way over to the new entrance but stopped when they noticed that Fallenskir was still standing in front of the statue. Fallenskir stared at his hand, both in surprise and dread. What had just transpired was something startlingly similar to how Fallenskir resonated with the Force and drew in additional strength. The statue had done the same thing in a very different way, which was what worried Fallenskir. Instead of one side agreeing, or at least submitting to the exchange, the statue had ripped it from him. It tore it away from Fallenskir with ease, thanks to the fact that he was unprepared... the statue stole it.

Fallenskir clenched his hand, mirroring the statue. There was no reason to worry about any future occurrences like this however. The statue only took a measured amount, and it was used to power the door, essentially being used as a key. So unless Tulak Hord used more of the same kind of lock, he would be fine. Fallenskir turned to the now opened doorway, a new glint in his eye.

Seeing that both Otrad and DX-85 had stopped to look at him, he spoke to reassure them. "I am fine, there is nothing to worry about. The statue merely had a peculiar way of unlocking this door."

DX-85 responded with a curt nod and turned around, but Otrad hesitated for a moment before turning around to follow DX-85. Fallenskir had no intention of bringing up the rear however, and had DX-85 take up the job of keeping watch near the entrance, both to make sure that no-one came up behind them and to make sure that the door did not close behind them. As the two Sith progressed down the hallway, they saw the walls were decorated with murals and text, depicting Tulak Hord's greatest feats. Otrad eyed one of the biggest murals, it was one of a grand battle. A figure he assumed was Tulak Hord wielded an orange saber, and faced down an army of countless Jedi. Under the mural, he tried to decipher the ancient High Sith writing, and only barely made out what seemed like Yn and Chabosh. Racking his brain, he could vaguely connect the lines and guess that those names were planets. The mural clearly showed a great battle of one against many but to a degree that was impossible, so Otrad assumed that he received outside assistance.

At the same time, Fallenskir was examining his own mural, and was baffled by what he saw.

There is no way that this could be true, and yet... it must be.

The mural was one that depicted Tulak Hord, pulling a massive starship out of the sky with ease.

"Incredible"

"Incredible"

Both Fallenskir and Otrad spoke at the same time, learning of what the murals told. Fallenskir turned to see what mural Otrad was looking at, and saw a mountain of Jedi corpses engraved under a boot.

The slaughter of Yn and Chabosh, where Hord decimated thousands of Jedi single handedly.

Fallenskir's will was strengthened tenfold, he knew that he needed to find whatever he was sensing down here. He motioned with his hand toward his new apprentice, and quickly moved down the hallway with a new purpose. Finally, they reached the end of the hallway, with a large door blocking any further progression. Once again, Fallenskir felt the same sensation he had with the statue, and grinned. He placed both hands on the door, and before the door could claim its toll, he sent a powerful pulse into the door and filled it with Sith Lightning at the same time. While the door tried to feed off of the lightning, Fallenskir began to resonate with the door faster than he had ever done before by using the pulse that was bouncing around inside. With a feeling like a key sliding into a lock, a Force remnant became clear, so Fallenskir grabbed hold of the remnant left inside the door and tore it out in the same way the statue did to him. Feeling the ancient Force assimilate within himself, he watched as the door in front of him crumbled into dust and powder, having lost what was sustaining its form.

Otrad stood watching in awe, he had felt the brief but incredible exchange of power between Fallenskir and the enchantment sealing the door. What awed him however was not the strength of the exchange, but the extremely fine control and speed that Fallenskir used. While Otrad processed this information, Fallenskir passed the threshold of the now nonexistent door and found himself facing a sarcophagus. He expected to find the signature coming from the sarcophagus, but not only was it not the source, it had no Force coming off it at all. The only explanation being that Tulak Hord's corpse was not here, and was never recovered from where he fell. Instead Fallenskir felt the signature coming from a table off to the side. On that table there sat 2 busts, one of them bare. The other bust carried the source of the signature, a black and white helm that looked like a skull. All one would need to do to identify the helm would be to look at any statue of Tulak Hord, every statue wore the same helm. A small inscription beneath the bust confirmed it, "The helm that struck fear into all who faced Tulak Hord in battle".

Fallenskir knew that he could feel a signature from the ancient helm for a reason, but he did not know why yet. But both instinct and reason told him to take it, so he placed his hands on both sides of the helm to carefully lift it off the stone bust. When he touched both sides however, the shikoro *(Plates surrounding the helm)* hissed and retracted with several clicking noises. Fallenskir was able to lift the helm off with ease, but was surprised because it still seemed to function properly, even though it was easily over 2000 years old. He had no intent to wear it yet however, there was no telling what might be on something this old. Otrad walked in, having finished sorting his thoughts. He stopped and looked around the room, taking it all in.

"The true tomb of Tulak Hord I presume?" He asked Fallenskir.

"Yes, and I seem to have found exactly what I was looking for," Fallenskir replied.

Otrad eyed the helm in Fallenskir's hands, then saw the 2nd empty bust.

"What was there? I don't see you carrying something else" He questioned.

Turning back to the other bust, he read the inscription, "The Mask of Tulak Hord, which enabled him easy subterfuge".

"This was already empty, but it seems to have held some kind of accessory for concealment" Fallenskir said, "However, now I am wondering where this 'Mask' has gone to".

Unfortunately, neither Fallenskir nor Otrad found any sort of clue or evidence leading to what happened to the Mask that sat on the empty bust.

"Perhaps it never had anything to begin with?" Suggested Otrad.

"Possibly, or it was taken long enough ago that the clues have long since disappeared" Replied Fallenskir, "Come on, we've searched everywhere for long enough, it's time to go".

Otrad left the room first, and the moment Fallenskir crossed the threshold after him, the room crumbled to pieces. Neither turned around, something like that was in every single tomb on the planet. DX-85 remained standing in the same place as before, but there was someone else. A corpse to be exact, with a blaster mark on the left knee and right between the eyes.

"A crazed acolyte made their way over here, my Lord, brandishing their lightsaber" Explained DX-85, with a short bow.

Fallenskir nodded in response, and motioned for DX-85 to follow. The wall closed behind them, and the statue made the same impossible movements as before, reaching its seamless arm back out in the same position it was in prior. Quickly making their way back out of the tomb, Fallenskir remembered something.

Ah right, I need to go tell Baras his acolyte is now my apprentice. As much as I'd like to just leave him in the dark, there is no telling what kind of fit he might have if I didn't. But the look on his face might be nice when he realizes he's lost an apprentice.

 

[Solus Brack]

With the hopeful thought of pissing off Baras in the back of his head, Fallenskir led Otrad and DX-85 back through the Valley of the Dark Lords, reaching the entrance to the Sith Academy. Perhaps sensing Fallenskir's intentions, some of the more powerful Sith began to whisper amongst themselves. Now on the second floor, Fallenskir ordered DX-85 to secure a training salle for personal use. Once he and Otrad stood outside of Baras's office, Fallenskir let his presence leak out into the Force, and was gratified to feel Baras's anger spike tinged with confusion. Otrad stood ramrod straight as the door opened.

Walking into the room, Fallenskir noticed a corpulent man in robes and a mask. He quickly assumed that this was one of the Lords that Baras worked with.

"Greetings, I am looking for Baras. I had assumed him to be in this office" Fallenskir asked, "Is he in another room?"

He felt a roiling anger coming from the Sith, but Fallenskir did not know why. He had been fairly polite, right? Then, he noticed that the anger he was feeling was the same anger he felt from Baras and froze.

"It seems that you dirty my presence once more Fallenskir, I was hoping to not see you for another ten years" Sneered the man Fallenskir now realized was Baras, "I assume that was a poor attempt at a joke?"

Otrad was looking from Fallenskir to Baras in surprise, astonished that Fallenskir seemed to have gotten Baras's identity wrong. He was about to ask Fallenskir why he said that when he heard a strange noise. It sounded like someone was choking, and it was coming from… Fallenskir? Otrad turned to face him and saw himself struggling with something, then lost the battle.

"GHHK, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Fallenskir suddenly bellowed in laughter, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Otrad took a step back in surprise.

"AHAHAHAH… hahaha… oooh boy" Fallenskir finally finished, "It seems that my birthday present came early! I never thought that I would see the day that I almost felt bad for you."

Baras spluttered in indignation. "What could be so funny as to cause you to laugh like a stupid animal?"

Fallenskir took a moment to catch his breath, "I think I understand why you wear a mask now, I hate to imagine what your face looks like with a ton of fat added to it."

Baras was silent, so Fallenskir continued, "What could have happened in these last ten years for you to let yourself go to this extent."

With that, Baras slowly stood up with a hand twitching over his lightsaber. Neither Fallenskir nor Otrad missed that.

"Now hold on a moment Baras, two Darths shouldn't fight in the Academy, you can't blame me for failing to hold back my comments when I haven't seen you in ten years" Fallenskir said.

"A. Fair. Point." Baras said shortly, "So why are you here then if not to insult me?"

Fallenskir smiled and motioned to Otrad, and Baras noticed him for the first time.

"Acolyte? What are you doing here?" Baras asked

"Unfortunately Baras, he is no longer your acolyte" Fallenskir said, "He is my apprentice."

Fallenskir felt Baras' twinge in annoyance and anger, but not to the degree he was hoping.

"I see… enjoy your apprenticeship to a madman then, I have many other prospective acolytes" Baras muttered.

Ah, he has other acolytes. And here I was hoping that I was stealing his only acolyte, Fallenskir thought.

"Well then I-" He was saying when he was cut off.

"What is that you have under your arm Fallenskir? It looks like…" Baras questioned.

Fallenskir smirked, "The Helm of Tulak Hord, in my possession."

Baras laughed in disbelief, "An awful bluff, it has been missing since his death you fool, how could you have found it?"

Fallenskir simply lifted the concealment he had created around the helm to protect both it and others. Without the filter of the concealment, the helm's ancient Force filled the room in short order. Baras stopped and stared at the helm under Fallenskir's arm.

"How did you-"

"We shall be leaving now" Baras tried to ask before being cut off himself by Fallenskir.

As both turned around to leave, Baras said one final thing in retaliation to Fallenskir's insults.

"I hope that I never have to see you again, you wannabe Jedi" He sneered.

Fallenskir froze, but did not turn around. Otrad had turned around to look at Baras in surprise, silent. But Fallenskir could not turn around, because he knew that if he did, then he would jump at Baras in fury. That would be the worst thing for him to do, especially after being the one to say that Darths should not fight in the Academy. So he swallowed his anger and continued walking out, Otrad following behind. They stopped outside of the room in the hallway between the office and the rest of the Academy.

"Hold on a moment" He asked Otrad.

He placed his hand on the door and sent a wave of lightning through it, shorting it out and melting the tracks. The door was rendered completely useless and would require a large amount of force to move it, but it looked completely fine from the outside. Satisfied that this would give a fair amount of frustration for Baras, he motioned for Otrad to follow him. They walked in silence, heading back to the center of the Academy when Fallenskir received a comm request.

"My Lord, I have acquired a training salle" DX-85 said when the comm activated.

"Excellent, we will meet you outside the salle"

Fallenskir and Otrad made their way through winding halls to the salle and stopped when they saw DX-85. He bowed to Fallenskir and nodded towards Otrad. Fallenskir handed DX-85 the helm.

"Take this back to the Cascade and run it through the equipment 'fresher, but keep an eye on it because the last thing I want to see is this thing damaged."

"Understood my Lord" DX-85 replied, leaving with the helm in hand.

"Now then, we are going to spend the week on Korriban training," Fallenskir said to Otrad, "The point is to make sure that you understand the concepts that I will be teaching you."

Otrad nodded, following Fallenskir into the room. The room itself was mostly unadorned, with a wall lined with various warblades and training sabers on one end and a wall with a console. Otrad couldn't see what the console connected to. Fallenskir waved him over and stood in front of him.

"So then, you know what the Sith Code is right?"

"Yes, it's-" Otrad began but stopped when Fallenskir held up a hand.

"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 free me" Fallenskir said, "Yes we all know the Sith Code, but this is where I branch off, or break off, from the norm. Peace is not perpetual, for I have emotion. Through emotion I gain passion and trust. Through passion I gain strength and Through trust I gain stability. With strength and stability comes unshakable power. I use the Force and the Force uses me."

"Trust? What?"

Otrad was confused, he had never heard this kind of code before, or even of any talk of a different code in general.

"Yes, trust. That is half of the difference of my code" Fallenskir explained, "I think the best way to describe it and emphasize why it's important is to ask you this: Would you rather end up perishing in battle and/or old age, or would you want to die from a blade through your back?"

"Battle, of course." Otrad answered without hesitation.

"Then you must be able to trust those around you, if you fear betrayal constantly, you will never give anyone a reason to trust you in return" Fallenskir continued, "Take Baras as the perfect example, he has an expansive spy network, and yet he is constantly paranoid of being betrayed."

Otrad nodded.

"If he was someone that could trust other people and have people trust him, then he would not have to worry about being betrayed like a pathetic fool" Fallenskir spat, "Sure, many will claim that betrayal and scheming is what makes a Sith a Sith, but where in the code does it say that? Where did the tradition of betrayal begin? Why must I have to plan to betray people I would rather have as comrades?"

Otrad remained silent, needing to digest this influx of knowledge.

"That is why my code states that trust creates stability, because if you can trust those around you, then you can focus on what is important instead of betrayal" Fallenskir finished.

"So I think I understand, and the section regarding passion is mostly the same so I understand that as well." Otrad said. "But what about the 'peace is not perpetual' and the 'unshakeable power'."

Fallenskir nodded, "Ah, I think that anger is important to a Sith, but not only anger. ALL emotions are important for a Sith to wield the full power of the dark side."
Otrad raised an eyebrow.

"Let me explain more, the Jedi code claims that there is no emotion. Thus, shouldn't Sith employ all emotion? When we are feeling an emotion, use the strongest we are experiencing at the moment and use it to fuel our power, instead of just anger."

Understanding began to blossom in Otrad, but Fallenskir was not finished.

"And even then, we should still draw upon every emotion at once, because focusing on one emotion results in that emotion affecting our own personalities. After all, aren't most Sith known for their irrational anger? A Jedi abandons emotion for logic, and claims that they are always at peace. The Sith claims that peace never existed and that they are always angry. But are there not times when you are in a moment where you feel calm or at peace in comfort?" Fallenskir said, "That is why I believe that peace is not a lie, nor is it permanent. All emotion fuels the power of Sith, we have been limiting ourselves since the formation of the Code."

Otrad felt like he had an epiphany, "So then when all of that power from emotion and the stability of trusting in those around you combine, it culminates into unmatched power that cannot be broken, or your 'unshakeable power'."

Fallenskir smiled widely, because he knew that Otrad had understood. Far better than his predecessor.

"Though I think I understand why some of the traditionalist Sith call you a wannabe…" Otrad did not finish, he saw Fallenskir's smile stiffen.

"Now that you have understood the concept of my code, let's move onto combat," Fallenskir said.

Otrad stood back and drew his dual warblades, watching Fallenskir fall into a non-standard stance.

"I think it would be best to start off with Dun Möch, it will be perfect for ascertaining your limits."

Fallenskir ignited his saber, and waited. Otrad did not wait however, making the first move. It did not take long for Otrad to realize why Fallenskir chose this form as baseline training, as he began to feel the fatigue build rapidly as his strikes were deflected in ways that forced him to either twist in a way that strained his limbs to dodge, or be hit. Two more minutes passed and Otrad was left kneeling on the ground with a maroon blade at his neck. Fallenskir never took the initiative, he only counterattacked after deflecting strikes.

"I must say, you are already far better than the apprentice I had before." Fallenskir said with a deep breath.

"Before? I thought that I was the first person you have felt a resonance with." Otrad asked, surprised.

"You are technically my second apprentice, but I consider you my first true apprentice. My 'first' was a fallen Jedi padawan, and I had decent hopes for her ability, but she was a fool through and through. She tried to kill me after all I had done for her, so I was left with no choice but to kill her" Fallenskir began, "But I never felt any kind of connection with her, not like I do now. It was no lie when I said I felt a resonance that I had never felt before, I have high hopes for you."

Otrad stood back up and bowed to Fallenskir, " I thank you for that vote of confidence then, Master."

Fallenskir walked over to the console on the opposite wall and began to enter commands into it. Within a few seconds, sections of the wall opened up and training droids walked out.

"Wait for him to catch his breath, then engage when he gives you a signal" Fallenskir ordered the droids.

The lead droid responded with a nod and a string of binary.

"I want you to make use of what you learned in our battle and extend your stamina as far as you can, they will be coming relentlessly, so do not tire."

The droids walked over to the weapon racks, and selected a wide variety of weaponry, and returned to their original formation. Otrad finished catching his breath and motioned for the droids to begin. Constantly fighting, Otrad felt both an eternity and a moment pass at once, and he finally collapsed. The droids surrounding him shut down soon after.

"I can tell that you lost track of time, so that's good for me, because I wasn't going to tell you your time in the first place. I want you to improve without worrying about what the actual time is, because then you will aim to last specifically that long and limit yourself in the long run." Fallenskir said to the prone Zabrak.

The training droids began to shuffle back into the wall, with maintenance droids dragging the damaged ones to be repaired.

"We will be doing this training, as well as Force training for the next week, so prepare yourself. For your Force training…"

As Fallenskir was finishing his explanation, DX-85 walked in carrying a newly cleaned and repaired helm. After receiving the handoff, Fallenskir began to inspect it for damages or changes. Finding none, he slowly placed it on his head. Once the helm was fully on, the shikoro hissed again and moved down to seal the helm.

Fallenskir's now modulated voice echoed through the room, "Let us continue, my Apprentice"

 

[Solus Brack]

This is something I started writing 4 years ago, after I got fed up with how little fiction I could find set in/around SWTOR. I finally decided to actually make it public, so I could get criticism and ideas. And now that I've posted it here (and soon to be other places) it will help encourage me to actually work on it again.

 

[Arzac]

It's quite good
I like the take of the code

 

[Solus Brack]

Fallenskir:

Spoiler: Without Helm

Spoiler: With Helm

Baras:

Spoiler: Current Baras

Spoiler: Past Baras

DX-85:

Spoiler

Otrad:

Spoiler

 

[Bishop 7053]

Damn, Baras let himself go. I always assume he's been perpetual fat ass lol.