Destiny of the Apprentice (Fiction/RP)

[Zellviren]

[This post is a short story that contains mild and inferred spoilers.]

 

Finishing a holocall with the Hand was always emotionally stimulating one way or the other; and truthfully, it was a toss up as to which it was. It would either finish with my blood pumping an incredible smile to my face, or my feet stealing all my attention thanks to abject disappointment. As the Emperor’s Wrath, it wasn’t at all uncommon to speak to the Hand about opportunities to incite another bloodbath. Unfortunately, it was far too common that such tasks would be allocated to a less-talented Sith who merely happened to be nearer to the site. As I often did after just such a let down, I fell back into one of my seats, closed my eyes, and did my best to block out 2V-R8’s incessant attempts to canvas my opinion on the best shade of black for my new bed sheets.

 

I’m not sure how long I sat there before a very different noise to vacuous droid chatter corrected my slouch. It wasn’t much more than a faint series of taps, but they did appear to be speeding up and becoming more agitated. Having gotten past my erstwhile dozing, it was relatively obvious that it was the never-ending procession of Jaesa pacing up and down the Fury. Gifted, talented and diabolical all in one, she wasn’t quite so good at being conspicuous around the ship. That said, having her around helped to keep my own focus sharp and training her in the Dark Side was almost effortless. Once more, however, it appeared that her emotions had agitated her to the point of distraction and she’d need to vent pretty soon. Given the fact that the other recipient would likely be Quinn, and that 2V-R8 must have had better things to do than clean up, I got to my feet and marched to the infirmary.

 

Jaesa Willsaam was a delight. Formerly a stunted and harnessed Jedi with one great power, she’s now an unleashed Sith of many talents. The pleasure she takes in mayhem radiates with an intensity that practically bowls me over. The problem with removing the plug on long-repressed emotions is that making sense of them all at once isn’t easy for one so young. I never really figured out why she liked the infirmary so much but, according to her, she finds clarity in the vicinity of equipment that mends the wounds she loves to inflict. I suppose knowing the limitations of modern medical supplies is a good combat guide. Before I’d even gotten through the door, that familiar greeting was past her lips.

 

“Master.”

It was as much a question as a greeting, as was usually the case. An acknowledgement of my presence and the pretext for the current contents of her head all rolled into one. Jaesa wasn’t really into wasted motion when people could be dying instead. I smiled.

“Hello, Jaesa – you seem… Agitated.”

“Yes, master. As you know, my commitment to the Empire, and to you, is absolute. My loyalty is beyond question and I appreciate that what I’m about to ask could undermine those two facts. That being said, I feel I have to bring this up.”

Okay, so it was an issue of where her loyalties lay. This could be interesting.

“You are now, as you have always been, free to speak your mind. As your master, it’s my job to assuage your concerns as best I can.”

“Why do we Sith kill each other?!”

She blurted it out so fast I had to rerun it in my head.

“I mean, I understand that the weak must fall to allow the strong to rise. I also understand that ambition is a noble trait and one that should be nurtured. But if the Empire wants to rise and dominate the galaxy, I worry that this type of behaviour is self-defeating. Worse, I cannot resolve my feelings for you with the common… Dissolution of the master-apprentice relationship.”

Jaesa was a smart girl, but often confused by her conflicting emotions thanks to time spent as a Jedi padawan. Sometimes, her problems merely dissolved once she identified them as the result of a skewed moral compass. This was different, though. This was fundamental. She won’t believe what she’s told unless she can resolve it herself. I had to be careful.

 

“Tell me, Jaesa” I began. “Do you want your apprenticeship to end with my death?”

“No, master!” she cried. “Of course not!”

“Do you believe you could defeat me?”

“No, master. Not at all”. There was no shame or resignation in this admission, she understood that her training was still in its infancy; hence her asking this question in the first place.

“That is why you are an apprentice, Jaesa. Without the belief that you can be your own master, accompanied by the strength to make it so, you cannot become a Sith Lord.”

Jaesa, luckily, was a very sharp girl and was onto the implication in a hearbeat.

“But none of that revolves around your death! I can build the belief of self-mastery over time, I can build it through training and through experience. Surely by serving you with power and grace I can ascend to reach my potential?”

“Yes, you can” I mused. “But there comes a time when only absolute proof will suffice. Our minds are not set for concepts such as dominance and cooperation to exist together. In the end, the question of whether or not you can become your own master will start to ask itself more and more forcefully. Either you try to live with the constant companion of self-doubt and weaken yourself doing so, or you choose to end our relationship in a… Disagreement.”

 

Truthfully, I knew this topic was going to come up eventually; it always does. Equally, I was more than aware of the impact it would have on Jaesa. Nevertheless, neither of those two facts made it any easier seeing the light in her eyes dim just a little.

“I don’t want to kill you” she whispered.

One pace forward was all I needed to take in order to put a hand on her shoulder and force her eyes into mine. “Come with me” was the simple order I gave her and, as always, her back straightened with pride as we marched to the front of the Fury and I sat her down looking out into the galaxy.

“Tell me what you see, Jaesa”.

Her eyes went straight out to the stars, got lost for a moment, then refocused on mine.

“Opportunity” she said wilfully. “The vast reaches of the galaxy give us the opportunity to be more than what we are. Each star houses its own system of planets for us to travel to, explore and conquer. Each new system develops my skills and expands the Empire until, finally, we claim ownership of the whole galaxy and relegate the Republic to a historical footnote”.

I could barely have said it better myself. Not only was Jaesa bright, she was insightful.

“Why do you want to help the Empire claim ownership of the galaxy?” I asked.

“Truthfully? Because the Empire encourages me to be myself rather than a reined-in emotionless attack dog. It gives me the opportunity to live my life in a way I could not in the Republic, a way that makes me the strongest I can be by constantly testing my power and developing my experience. I don’t just mean that in a combat sense, master, but also in a living sense. I enjoy the pleasures of the galaxy, and take heart in the fun of vices. The extremes of love and hate give me an internal measure of why life matters to me, as well as an appreciation of just what those extremes are. Without the most intense love for something, even fleeting, I will not comprehend the fiercest hatred; the hatred that drives me to excel beyond what the Jedi shackled me with. Master, what I’m trying to say, is this; I serve the Empire so loyally because the Empire serves me.”

 

Such honesty was rare for a Sith, but it was something I encouraged in Jaesa. The constant lies and deceit of politics led only to a never ending series of looks over ones shoulder to ensure loose ends had been tied up. Of course, even the tightest of knots can untie over time and honesty simply removes the need to hide behind anything. With no hiding place, we are free to be ourselves without restraint. But this moment in time was absolutely vital – Jaesa HAD to understand before the moment passed.

“The Empire can only expand through the power of the Sith” I began. “Nothing else will suffice, as our enemies across the galaxy are powerful. With that in mind, I’m sure you understand the need for strength”.

“Of course, master”.

“It’s important to note that one Sith is worth more than a hundred Imperial troops. In the same sense, one powerful Sith is better than five that are weak. Again, I assume you understand this”.

“Of course, master” she sighed. “What I cannot understand is why strong Sith die by the sound of their apprentice’s lightsaber, when they could well help to win the conflicts we are involved in”.

“Then there is one fact that escapes you, Jaesa”. Her eyes were locked on mine, appreciating that she was about to hear something important. “There is one fact that links the two together, the fact that justifies all that we do and promotes the societal ideals of the Sith”.

Jaesa whispered.

“What, master?”

“Every single being in this galaxy, every Imperial soldier, every beast, every general, every Jedi and every Sith… We all share something in common”.

“Yes, master?”

“We are all going to die, Jaesa.”

 

She looked downcast at first, as if the obviousness of this information had defied my building up. But then, just a little, realisation started to cross her young features.

“Nothing lives forever, my apprentice, absolutely nothing. Time is the greatest leveller across the galaxy and nothing will escape its reaches forever. We try, oh we try. But immortality is a pointless crusade. All of those moments you described earlier, those moments of pleasure and pain that you cherish, they all merge into a miasma of meaninglessness when your opportunity to repeat them is infinite. Moments are special precisely because they may be our last, they may be the only moments of their type we ever experience. The galaxy is beautiful because we may never see it again, and the mystery of it remains enticing because we will never solve it.”

“I love my life because it’s precious” she whispered, the light in her eyes starting to flicker back into life. “It’s the only one I have”.

“Tell me, Jaesa, what is the first line of the Sith Code?”

“Peace is a lie; there is only passion” she answered softly.

“Your life, your single life, would be devoid of passion if it was not destined to end. Your emotions are fuelled by knowing that each act you perform will force an immortality of sorts into the minds of those you encounter. Only passionate and meaningful acts will suffice, individual shows of power and poise that burn your memory across the stars. This is our immortality, apprentice. What we leave behind. But do you know what a Sith Lord leaves behind, Jaesa, the one thing that can impact the galaxy more than a mere memory?”

 

She understood. This moment had come, as it had to, and had been met with success. Jaesa said nothing at first, but stood up straight and slowly put her right palm into the centre of her chest.

“Me.”

“That’s right. A Sith Lord leaves behind their apprentice, as powerful as that Lord can make them. This is why you are subject to the harshest tests, the harshest punishments and why failure will cost you your life. If all I can leave behind is you, you will be as powerful, as meaningful and as passionate as I can make you.”

The Dark Side was starting to pump in her veins again, flowing through her as it had when she first took her place as my apprentice. Now, as then, her purpose had been sharpened to a point where nothing was clearer. I locked her gaze onto mine.

“The Sith is not a mindless order of self-defeating butchers, but a carefully selected and culled fraternity of the most powerful beings in the galaxy. Your innate abilities will be brought on by your training, but you will also partake of everything I have learned so that you can be my better. If I train you to be equal to or weaker than me, then I leave only disservice and shame behind when my light inevitably expires. But if I give you everything I can, all my knowledge and all my passion, then I leave behind something greater than myself, something that can impact the galaxy beyond what I was capable of in my own time. How will I know I have achieved this before I die, Jaesa? What will prove that you are my better and that the legacy I leave is stronger than the one I received?”

 

The fire that had gone from her eyes was back as she answered.

“Just as I will only know the potential of my future by defeating you, you can only know the strength of your past by tasting defeat at my hands”.

“Exactly, Jaesa” I proclaimed with pride. “I don’t wish to die of old age, or in ignominy. When a master dies at the hands of their apprentice, when I die at yours, it will not be a tragedy; it will be my honour”.

As I looked at my young apprentice, all doubt dispersed, I swear I’d never seen those eyes of hers as bright or as fiercely determined as they were right then.

“First things first, though” I quickly chided. “You have a long way to go before you earn the right to succeed me”.

 

A swift nod and a knowing smile was the only response needed.