The Depths

 Half of a week passed by and it was beginning to become obvious that this Malcom Raynor was not coming any time soon. Darth Firias often wondered what he was even doing, allowing this Republic traitor to run free and not be brought back to Firias’s Dark Overlords back on Korriban. The answer was obvious, of course, but not one readily admitted by the Sith warrior. He rather enjoyed the haphazard company and enlightening conversations he had with Dargo Karr. Though he’d sooner kill the man than admit that to Karr, he had a suspicion Karr already knew that secret.

So it was with little trepidation that he watched from a dark corner of the cantina whenever Karr decided to toy the rabble out of a bit of their credits, or, a lot of their credits depending on Karr’s mood. He sat and watched… and learned. Firias could already feel his mind beginning to work in ways he had previously believed to be frivolous, but now understood to be cunning. He was beginning to see the bigger picture, right down to the angry Rodian Karr had just beaten, who was about to confront Karr with hateful thoughts on its mind.

What happened next was most surprising. Rather than be taken unawares, as his mellow state would have one assume, Karr saw the attack coming, and had planned a suitable defense. And so it went, with Karr being at least two maybe three moves ahead of his would be attackers. Once the brawl started, it was savage, but quick. It took several minutes for most of the cantina’s patrons to lie unconscious on the floor, and the few who remained standing to assess that the fight was over. Karr had, of course, been almost solely responsible for it’s abrupt conclusion.

Firias sat in the back, observing it all, with an arched eyebrow of surprise and admiration for Karr’s talents. Perhaps he hadn’t been bluffing those days prior in the empty cantina on Nar Shadaa. Intriguing.

Firias quietly slipped out of the cantina as the local authorities arrived to haul Karr away. As he was being forcefully shoved into one of their landspeeders, Karr threw a wink at Firias before disappearing into the speeder’s cabin. Firias allowed himself a chuckle. Perhaps a night or two in jail would calm Dargo Karr, but he had at least given Firias the amusing task of breaking him out of jail. Even if it wasn’t Karr’s intent, Firias would not abide some would be authorities taking this fount of knowledge from him. Firias would not admit the second half to that truth that Karr had become something of a friend. The Sith’s warrior mind did not know how to process that truth’s meaning, so it was pushed aside.

Under the pale moon of Aldaran’s night sky, a lone figure sat before a small glowing crimson pyramidal crystal. To anyone foolish to be an onlooker, it would seem as though the figure were communicating with the glowing crystal. They would be right.

Firias bent his will against the crystal for perhaps the thousandth time. He pressed hght and fury and indignation at being denied its secrets into the structure in an effort to coax a whisper of knowledge. Sweating and frustrated Firias relented. The crystal’s wards would not budge.

A thought came to him then. Something Karr had said days before in the empty cantina. “An over-abundance of power makes you think uni-laterally…” With a grimace, the dark warrior tried a new approach. He split his mind into three pieces, as he had learned to do when playing Karr’s lightboard game. He pushed ever so slightly with his will, split thrice, upon the crystal before him.

The crystal suddenly became intensely bright. As if it were impatient that this tactic had taken far too long to be imagined, it opened up to Firias like it never before had.

“It would seem, my young apprentice, that you have finally given real thought to your mind’s progression, and not just its power. A master of the Force must be a master of his mind. Power is not everything, though it is a tool to wield against the foolish that would stand against you. True power comes from cunning and guile, and being able to outmaneuver your opponents both on the battlefield and off. The same is true with the ways of the Force. Not everything is a matter of will and strength. The Force has subtleties that you could never comprehend in a thousand, thousand years. You must open your mind to it. You were failing.”

Firias recoiled at that last statement. His eyes all but glowed with fury at his own foolishness. The Dark Master of the Force continued on:

“You have seen the truth of things now, however. In doing so, you have passed yet another test I have imbued within this holocron. Prepare your mind and body, young Sith. Your training takes on a new level of difficulty. You will become something more than your brethren. Something more… than Sith!”

Long into the night, the dark figure sat before his crimson crystal, learning again the secrets of the force with renewed devotion. The dawn would bring interesting tidings…