An innocence now lost

[Jantar Keltainen]

“Why did you choose to become my apprentice? Why did you choose the way of the dark side?”
“Power.”
“Power is only a means to an end. It is not an end in itself. What do you need power for?”
“Through power I gain victory. Through victory my chains are broken...Freedom! The dark side sets us free!”
– Darth Bane and his new apprentice, Darth Zannah

Jantar had endured some years of training at the hands of her master. And endured was the correct description. Through challenging and regularly painful development, she had gained skills that she never thought possible when she embarked on her journey.

Yes, she’d learned to use dark-sided magic under her own initiative, but her master had taught her the fundamentals – and not just in using the Force, but in physical abilities too. From martial arts to acrobatics – and extensive knowledge of the galaxy as well as useful skills, like pain management and endurance.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

For almost two weeks, Jantar was put through a series of gruelling physical tests. She defended herself against both blaster and lightsaber-wielding droids in the training room. Blindfolded, she was expected to throw a variety of projectiles at robotic targets, which threw them back at her.

She was blindfolded again before she was expected to negotiate a flight simulator. She wore a sensory-deprivation suit when she had to run through a maze that was lined with razor-edged walls. In locked chambers, she was exposed to extreme temperatures and deprived of food. For each test, she drew strength from the dark side of the Force.

When the fourteen days were over, Jantar was exhausted – physically and mentally. Her entire body ached as she stood before her master. Not only had she passed every test, she had destroyed them. However, her master always expected more from her, so she was not entirely surprised when her master said, “Because you have survived the preliminaries, you may proceed to the actual test to become a Sith Knight.”

Jantar willed her body to remain standing and simultaneously suppressed the grin that she wanted to share right now. Her master would not approve.

“I am sending you to a planet in Wild Space. I will also dispatch a number of assassin droids to attack you. Each is programmed with different strategies. Some will work together. Some will work alone. They are all programmed to kill. Or more specifically, to kill you!”

Jantar turned to face her master. Although the young Sith remained silent, the fire in her eyes betrayed her surprise. And her excitement.

The Sith Lord noticed Jantar’s reaction. “I see you understand fully. I am prepared to lose what I most value. So, you too must be prepared to lose your own life in order to win.”

Jantar nodded. “I understand, my master.”

“You will have to endure for a month. You will have only a survival pack for the duration.”

Despite her exhaustion. Jantar felt exhilarated.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

Jantar travelled alone in the droid-piloted cruiser. While the vessel was traveling through hyperspace, Jantar tapped at a keypad at the navigation console until she accessed and bypassed the coded coordinates that identified her destination. It was a nothing planet – with no specific issues to be aware of. She had expected it to be a place of some sort of extreme – an unbearably hot volcanic world or an ice planet.

The droid pilot emerged from the cockpit and noticed Jantar examining a scope at the navigation console. The droid said. “I suspect you will be punished for accessing restricted data from the navicomputer.”

Without looking away from the scope. Jantar replied. “When my master learns that you used simple encryption codes for the destination coordinates, she’ll melt you for scrap.”

“Oh,” said the droid pilot. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to erase my memory of the past minute.”

Good idea, Jantar thought as the droid returned to the cockpit. But then it occurred to her that the droid pilot might actually be an assassin droid.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

She could only imagine how many assassin droids were already waiting for her, and it was possible that the pilot droid would deliver her straight into a massive ambush.

The cruiser dropped out of hyperspace to arrive within view of the planet. It was a small world, and scattered clouds were visible in the upper atmosphere. Even from space, Jantar could make out some wide areas of desert, small oceans, and shadowy mountain ranges.

The cruiser descended through the planet’s atmosphere and Jantar grabbed the survival pack that had been given to her and strapped it to her back. She leaned into the cockpit, looked through the window, and saw they were angling down over a body of water, heading toward a rocky beach.

The droid swivelled its mechanical eyes to face Jantar and said, “Please don’t ask me where we’re going to land. I’m not authorized to tell you.”

Ignoring the droid, Jantar examined the ship’s readouts for flight speed and altitude, then cast a final glance through the window, noting the distance to the beach, before she left the cockpit. As she mentally calculated the cruiser’s approach to the beach, she dropped to a crouch beside the main hatch, wrapped one arm tightly around her legs so her knees were clasped against her chest, and used her free hand to hit the lever for the emergency exit.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

The hatch exploded open. Jantar kept her head pressed against her knees as she sailed out of the cruiser, fifty metres above sea level. She tumbled through the air, the cruiser’s engines whining away from her as it veered across the sky. Automatically recalculating her descent, she twisted at the waist before she straightened and extended her legs skyward. Her fists braced before her, she knifed into the water.

The water was cold. Holding her breath. Jantar made sure the survival pack was still secure against her back, then began swimming to shore, staying below the water’s surface. Her test required that she survive for a month. It was not a condition to remain on the cruiser until it landed.

When Jantar neared the shore, she broke the surface with her mouth and nose but kept her body underwater. she reached out with her senses. She could not detect any movement on the rocky beach, but she knew it was only a matter of time before the assassin droids found her.

And find her they did…

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

The droids were relentless. Programmed to kill, they had blasters built into their chests and hands. No matter how hard Jantar tried to conceal herself or her desperately improvised camps, the droids found her.

Of course, they never slept, and so never allowed Jantar to sleep for very long. And they never hesitated before they pounced. When Jantar did manage to rest and recover, she fell asleep knowing the next attack was imminent.

The droids drove her into the frozen mountains and across the burning deserts. Jantar’s survival pack was torn from her back and lost in one battle. And after twenty days, Jantar realized she was at risk of losing something else.

Her sanity.

Because the attacks never stopped.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

By now, Jantar was beyond paranoid. She had reason to believe that every sound, every shape, and every shadow was a potential threat.

She grew thin and her strength began to ebb. She foraged for food when she could. Life was scarce, but she found a few small animals, killed them, and ate them raw, because she dared not risk building a fire that would attract more droids.

It was while she was trying to eat a tough-skinned lizard at the base of a cliff that two droids attacked. Jantar defeated both droids but sustained a blaster wound to her thigh. Limping into a ravine, she found a large cave and hauled her body into it. Jantar knew she had to recover before she could fight again. But without her survival pack, she had no healing bacta or bandages.

The wound festered and the pain was blinding. Despite her injury, she listened for approaching droids but heard none. The days blurred, but Jantar was almost certain that a full month had passed since she had arrived. As she fell into and out of restless sleep, the paranoid Jantar began to wonder if her master had forgotten her.

The wound became worse and the pain was beyond excruciating. She suspected that death would come soon. She thought she was hallucinating when she saw a cloaked figure appear at the mouth of the cave.

It was her master.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

The Sith Lord moved into the cave and came to a stop near Jantar. Smiling as she looked down at her apprentice, she said. “Now it is time for your final battle.”

Jantar wondered if she had heard correctly. she knew her master must have been able to see plainly that she was not fit to stand. And yet she also knew her master never tolerated weakness of any kind. Jantar scrabbled at the cave’s walls and pulled herself up. Her balance was off. Searing pain shot through her leg as she lurched forward.

The Sith Lord handed Jantar a lightsaber. Jantar fumbled with the weapon and activated it. The cave’s walls shimmered with the glow of crimson light.

Jantar did not realize how parched her throat was until she rasped, “Where is the assassin droid?”

Stepping back from Jantar, the Sith Lord nodded to the cave’s entrance. “No droid, another of my apprentices is your opponent.”

Jantar stared at her master with disbelief. And then her disbelief changed to anger. She summoned up the dark side of the Force. She felt a burning sensation flicker and grow within her, a trickle of strength. She took a step toward her Master. “Another? Another?” Despite her weak state, there was venom in her voice. “I thought I was your only apprentice.”

“You were wrong.”

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

Jantar hobbled to the entrance to the cave, the bright light an initial challenge after days of darkness.

Ahead of her was a young man, dressed in the trappings of a Sith acolyte. “This is going to be easy,” he said as he raised his lightsaber and attacked.

Jantar parried the blow and reversed, coming at her foe from the opposite side. But her opponent had already vanished, leaving Jantar to lunge at empty air. As Jantar lost her balance, her body fell to the floor.

A voice came from above her. “You are pathetic. You are weak. Not worthy of being a Sith. My master wasted his time with you.”

Jantar’s anger turned to rage as she rose to her feet. She spun fast and swung her lightsaber again, but again she failed to strike her opponent, who moved faster than she could follow. She fell again and gasped for breath.

The acolyte howled with laughter. “No wonder my master secretly trained me.”

Jantar stared hard at the Sith Lord, who stood near them.

“Oh, poor Jantar. All you ever wanted was to be valued. Does it sadden you to know I have another apprentice? Does it make you feel less special? Now tell me, who do you think I believe will die, Jantar?”

Jantar felt robbed of her past and future. And then a rage unlike anything she had ever felt before swelled through her. The rage was so overwhelming that she thought it might consume her.

No. I can direct it. My rage will consume my enemy.

Her master laughed.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

Jantar felt her rage flowing through her veins, pumping energy into every muscle. She felt so powerful that she believed she could accomplish anything. And more than anything else, she wanted the acolyte’s blood.

Jantar sprang at the young man. He only just avoided the first blow from Jantar’s lightsaber, an upward swing that aimed to rip him in half. Jantar swung again but he deflected the blow and retreated. As Jantar moved across the ground, sweat stung her eyes, but she did not stumble. She somersaulted through the air, her lightsaber whirling. The acolyte raised his lightsaber to parry the next blow, which was so powerful it made him stagger backward.

Her opponent parried every blow, but Jantar could tell he was working hard to keep her at bay. As she continued to back him up, she heard her master’s voice.

“You want to kill him?”

Yes,” Jantar grunted.

“You hate him?”

“Yes!” Jantar screamed through clenched teeth.

Jantar lashed out with her lightsaber. The acolyte parried the blow, but his lightsaber flew from his hand.

As Jantar heard the saber deactivate and clatter across the ground, she raised her own lightsaber and advanced. The young man knew he was about to die, but to his credit, he did not cringe.

Jantar brought the lightsaber down and the blade cleaved the acolyte’s arm at the shoulder. A handful more blows and she’d carved his body up.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

Jantar looked at her master. Then she tossed the lightsaber aside.

Next, overcome with exhaustion, Jantar crumpled to the floor. She tried to slow her descent but ended up more falling than anything else. The rock was hard under her face but she concentrated on the pain to keep her sane.

“Do you feel the hate?”

Jantar raised her head slightly and nodded.

A saber tip appeared under Jantar’s chin, and she was helpless to defend herself.

“I have the power of life or death over you, Jantar. Someday you will hold that power over another. It is the honour of the Sith. You will devote yourself to the idea of domination.”

A long pause ensued.

“You have passed the test.”

Jantar’s rage was rapidly ebbing.

“You have chosen a path of darkness, the path of power. You have chosen well, as have I.”

Jantar was then lifted by her master into a kneeling position.

“We are the Sith. The Dark Side speaks through us. Through our actions, it proclaims itself and what is real. Today we are here to acknowledge what it has proclaimed.”

“I now complete your initiation to the power of the dark dide; Henceforth, you shall be known as Darth Ragortos, Dark Lord of the Sith.”

She then placed her palm against Jantar’s forehead. “Lord Ragortos…rise.”

And despite her injuries, Jantar managed to elevate herself to a standing position, one befitting an individual that, from this day forward, she would be known as Darth Ragortos.