Private Moraband

[Kahlil Noble]

Life had changed. Valery Noble and Kahlil were to be married. Vera was growing. The echo of the Force Kahlil felt was stronger now. Not the same, but close. Different in so many ways, but similar enough that he could feel at home in it's embrace again. Everything had changed, seemingly for the better. But the Force still called to him. Whispered in his mind of a path he needed to follow. So he followed. With a bright smile he left the two most important woman in his life, determined to come back stronger. Strong enough to protect them from the inevitable shadow that his father would cast. Not just to be stronger. To be the man he felt they could be proud of.

A Jedi.

It'd been a long, long time since he last set foot on Korriban. Not since he was a young Sith trying to prove to his father that he was more than a vessel. It'd long been abandoned by the now fallen Empire. No Sith stalked it's surface openly. The Temples stood in ruin, waiting for the day their master's would return to build them anew or simply perish, only to be rebuilt in the endless cycle of Sith. But the call he heard hadn't brought him to any temple or tomb. In the distance, hidden among the red barren sands, he saw it.

A building. Something out of place of the usual architect. Long abandoned, long worn to time and barely standing. A lab. Kahlil knew much of the labs of Korriban, but from how old it seemed it was built long before he left the Sith. A place hidden, forgotten. Yet as he stepped closer to it, it felt familiar. Like a locked away memory, only, not of this place. Something similar? Wordlessly he descended deeper into the facility, ducking under the broken door to find the source of why the Force had brought him here.

Green light washed over the unlit interior as he ignited the lightsaber he'd brought with him. Not his own, more borrowed from the Temple. Ever since the corruption of his old saber, he hadn't felt right in making a new one. Everything within was ruined. Not just to time, though. The deeper he went, the clearer the story was. Whoever ran this lab had it scorched. All to erase the history of whatever was worked on. But even scorching couldn't get rid of everything.

Test tubes large enough to house a person, long broken, lined the innermost room. His silver gaze trailed over each. This was the source of the call. But why? He reached out, touching a broken piece of glass. Then a memory. Walking through halls similar to this, seeing the Children within. Darth Carnifex . Another Sith who he didn't recognize. A woman. Bits and pieces of a discussion. Kahlil pulled his hand away, slowly flexing his fingers.

More like him. Marked as vessels. How many had been marked like him? Were there others still alive, still roaming the galaxy unaware or did they know as he did? His lips thinned to a frown. His father was cheating life in so many ways, but this was probably the most perverse. Was this what the Force wanted him to see? To remind him that to stop his father could very well spare so many from this sort of fate? He let out a sigh as he stepped away.

Whatever the purpose, there was more he could learn here.

 

[Kaahlil]

Hate.

Jealousy.

Resentment.

These feelings burned bright, unbearably so. At times they threatened to overwhelm him but through the grace of his Father's training, they have not yet engulfed him. He thought back on his Father's lessons, reciting the various mantras he had been made to memorize to channel his anger and focus his hatred. Jealous and resentment still remained, but they were whispers now as he centered himself on the task at hand.

He crept slowly towards the dilapidated building, his stomach leaving a slight trail on the dunes as he pushed himself up over the crest. He watched the distant figure enter the structure, his yellow eyes narrowing as jealously again crept into his heart.

'It should have been mine, it was destined for me.'

The voice of his Father crept into his mind.

'It still can be yours.'

"Yes, Father." The words came unbidden, an automatic response strengthen by what felt like years of discipline. Girding himself for the confrontation ahead, he slipped down the dune and quickly sprinted with the Force towards the building. Silently he snuck in through the path the other had taken, taking note of his environment in the same manner as he did. It wasn't until he had reached the same chamber as the other that he stopped, reaching for the lightsaber clipped to his belt.

In an instant he activated the weapon, lunging forth with a feral snarl towards the object of his hatred.

Kahlil Noble ​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

An echo. No, not an echo. A chill went down Kahlil's spine as he spun, his already ignited saber barely catching the blade of red that had been swung for him. A hatred, his hatred, echoed throughout the Force. For a moment he'd thought it was another test of the Force, another mirror to face down. Yet as the blades collided and the glow revealed the one before him, Kahlil saw the differences.

The same, but different. Him, but not. His eyes widened for a moment before he twisted his blade, disengaging from the copy. Creating space. Many words came to mind. A jumble that he couldn't sort through, not yet. Instead he lifted his blade, his eyes narrowed in focus. "So." Something to fill the still silence. Perhaps give Kaahlil pause enough for them to speak. To avoid violence.

He held little hope for such things. The figure before him was him. If there was any similarities, peace would never be an option.

 

[Kaahlil]

The same face stared back at him, softer but with a more rugged appearance.

He hated it.

Mouth open in a clenched snarl, he swung vindictively at his other as he disengaged and spun away. His breathing was ragged, heavy gulps as every fiber of his being shook with unabashed hatred. Had he deigned to immediately speak at that time, he didn't know whether or not he could've controlled the pitch of his voice. For the ragged shreds of dignity he clutched onto, he was thankful that he was too angry to speak.

He lunged at his other again, lightsaber lashing out to strike him at over a dozen different angles. His movements were no less feral than any deranged wild beast, the Dark Side running uncontested through his body. It guided him, made him a weapon, enabled him to gather the strength he needed to bury the one who stole everything that was destined to be his.

His life.

His woman.

His child.

He slashed and his other side-stepped, the blade crashing through one of the intact tubes and spilling gallons of artificial amniotic fluid onto the floor. A body collapsed out from the tube, withered and emaciated with tufts of white hair poking out from a scalp that was knobbly and misshapen.

During this, he finally managed to bark out a few words despite the overwhelming anger.

"Took everything from me, I'll kill you!"

Kahlil Noble ​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Hatred seeped through the air to an almost visible degree. Here in the darkness of a forgotten lab only the red and green of the two sabers light up their surroundings, flashing bright as they continued to be battered against one another. There was an odd calmness to Kahlil, one he wasn't sure he should feel when faced with a clone. Was it a clone? Was he? These were the questions he should of been asking himself, yet even as he pondered the answer he felt no stress over it.

Briefly his gaze shifted to the ruined body of a lingering body. Another with the shared white hair between him and Kaahlil ? His lips thinned further. Before he could even think on it though he heard his own voice, if slightly younger, speak.

"Took everything from me, I'll kill you!"

That filled his otherwise calm mind of confusion. Kahlil grimaced, lifting his blade but never once striking out. Passively weathering the anger of his copy. Or what he was a copy of? Another flash as green met red, but this time the Jedi let his blade extinguish as he slipped into the shadows. Retreating for the moment to hover behind some of the broken cylinders.

"Did He send you?"

 

[Kaahlil]

The Dark Mirror slashed angrily at the spot where his other had been a moment before, his blade connecting with nothing but empty air. He snarled in frustration, searching around for where his enemy had disappeared to. The seconds ticked by without retaliation, so the Dark Mirror took the opportunity to center his anger and realign his hate; quelling his erratic breathing and bringing his heart rate down to an acceptable level.

"Did He send you?"

He laughed, harsh and bitter. "What do you think brought you here? Do you believe it a stroke of chance that you came to this place?" He breathed in deeply and breathed out, his anger was coming under his control now. He could see more clearly than he had before. "Nothing He does is without purpose, nothing He does is without design."

Without warning he slashed at a nearby computer bank, bisecting it in two and sending the top half tumbling down to the floor. There was nothing behind the computer, so the Dark Mirror continued to stalk alongside the machinery and incubation pods that lined the walls.

"Come and face me, coward!" His anger was building again, fed by his growing frustration at not being able to find his other. "Everything that was mine you have stolen, my life, my love..." He slashed at several incubation chambers, spilling forth more amniotic fluid and misshapen bodies.

"My child! And by the grace of His training, I will take back what I am owed!"

Kahlil Noble ​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Which was the real one?

That was the only question in Kahlil's mind. With the danger of combat passed for the moment as he watched the Dark Mirror from the shadows, he thought on it. Kaahlil knew Valery. Their child. The life he wanted, he hated Kahlil for, was it all truly his? No. The grimace that had been sowed onto Kahlil's features softened to a smile full of pity. The anger Kaahlil had was a product of their father's manipulations.

Regardless of who was real, this version of them was the exact one they had wanted to protect Valery from.

The Jedi stepped forth from where he was hiding, nearest the exit they had both arrived in. He lifted the borrowed saber, letting the green ignite. "You are owed nothing. They will never accept this version of me, so twisted by my father." He readied his blade, talking a single, calming breath. "I will stop you here, and then my father."

 

[Kaahlil]

He whirled to face his other self, his red blade shining brightly against the cool emerald. Raising his lightsaber over his head in preparation for an opening downswing and shifting his feet apart to be more steadily grounded, the dark mirror glared angrily with the edges of his mouth curling up in a terrible snarl.

"You cannot stop what has been set in motion."

Lunging forth, the fight reignited with a flurry of slashes and blocks. Hacking, stabbing, chopping. The Dark Mirror fought with a ferocity born of deep resentment and jealousy, his movements wild to the point of bordering on feral. He could not maintain his hold on his own anger, the rage quickly spiraling out of control until he could no longer see clearly. The yellow glow in his eyes shone all the brighter as they fought, fully consumed by the intoxication of the Dark Side.

Whereas the Dark Mirror was ruled by hate, the Wayward Son was ruled by serenity. He had been through the crucible of his Father's machinations and emerged a more resolute man, scarred by the Dark Side but not defined by it. The Dark Mirror had succumbed where the Wayward Son had not, sinking deep into the well of darkness and swallowed up by all of his insecurities and fears. It had all been twisted by their Father, manipulated into hatred and anger that seemed to know no bounds.

Despite this, there existed no doubt in the Dark Mirror's mind.

He was the true Kahlil, and this imposter had robbed him of what he was owed.

So he fought, shackled by the chains of his Father's dark ambitions, at the cost of his own freedom. Nothing else mattered more than his hate and his anger, his burning desire to reclaim what was lost regardless of what it meant for himself and those around him. And in the glint of those hateful eyes, as they glared daggers at Kahlil, the cruelty of their father could be seen pulling the strings.

Kahlil Noble ​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Even just as an Echo, the Force was with Kahlil. He stood resolute against his Dark Mirror, acting as the polished stone within the raging river of Kaahlil 's assault. Then it clicked. The hatred from his copy, the pit of despair he must of fallen through. It wasn't just the cruelty of their father that would push him that far. The passive defense weathering the storm, letting Kaahlil break himself upon the shield.

It came to an end.

"You can't feel her."

The proof of who was real, who was fake. The bond between Valery Noble and the real Kahlil could not be imitated or faked. As he spoke, the Jedi took a step forward. He ducked under the Dark Mirror's strike, his green blade extinguished. Only to be reignited as the hilt was pressed to the other's chest. No pity laced his eyes anymore. Only sympathy. To loose Valery and be left only with the cruelty of their father.

This was the result. If Kahlil had lost that connection, this is exactly what he would have become.

"I'm sorry."

 

[Kaahlil]

He stumbled forward, smoke curling from the shallow gash in his midsection. Falling to one knee, he rolled forward before crashing into toppled machinery. He reached out blindly for support, fingers grasping the edge of the machine he was propped against as he shakily clamored to his feet. He reached down to gingerly touch his wound and despite the majority of the gash being cauterized by his other's blade, there was still a wet imprint of blood on his hand when he pulled it back.

His breathing was ragged, shallow, on the verge of hyperventilation. He could only stare dumbly at the other with wide eyes, mouth agape as he desperately sucked air in and almost coughed it back out. Above all, his hatred grew beyond what he believed he was possible of. He didn't understand that such hate could exist in the universe, let alone within himself. Perhaps this was how Father felt, he had only caught glimpses of that unfathomable fury hidden beneath the emotionless exterior during their training.

Before he had only skimmed the dark water's surface, drinking from its icy waters with cupped hands.

Now he had been plunged headfirst into it.

"Then..." He began, coughing as blood welled up from within. "If I cannot have her, no one can." He reached out with his blood-slicked hand, grasping the laboratory's ceiling and twisting it out of place. Support beams swayed and buckled beneath the sudden immense strain, fractures ripping open to let in torrents of sand from the dunes above. Another sharp twist of his hand and the whole ceiling caved in on itself with the other trapped farther from the exit than he.

The Dark Mirror whirled with what strength he could muster, fueled by the rage of the Dark Side, and bolted for the exit. He lashed out angrily, slashing wall panels and ripping apart everything in his wake. He would bury his other here beneath these icy dunes and he would go out and do what he now believed was the only path to achieving his destiny.

Destroying everything that he could not possess.

Kahlil Noble ​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Sympathy quickly turned to regret. Kahlil watched his Dark Mirror stumble, making no move to strike them down. It was not the Jedi way to kill a defenseless opponent, but it was his own sorrow that blocked him from the truth. Kaahlil was not defenseless or beaten. Where Kahlil would have fallen, broken by the reality of being a clone and lost to Valery Noble , the hateful manipulation of their father played out instead.

Hopelessness turned to a rage Kahlil couldn't of imagined.

"Don't-" He reached out, trying to stop his double from what was to come. Only he couldn't. The echo pulled too late as the unstable roof ripped down over them both. Where the mirror ran, the wayward son had no choice but to stay. The falling ceiling was caught, the echo gripping shredded steel and rock to keep from crushing Kahlil. The weight was too much for him to keep afloat, though. Sand seeped through the broken ceiling, and slowly everything collapsed around him. Burying the man beneath the sands.