True colours

[Perth Levov]

The guards stood at attention as Perth strode down the hall. She did not presume to know why she had been summoned. Assumptions were dangerous, an acolyte’s inclination that she had long outgrown.

The door opened with a hiss. The Master sat alone, still as the statues of dead Sith carved into Korriban’s bedrock. Upon reaching the middle of the room, Perth kneeled. Sweat ran down her back despite the cool air inside the chamber.

“Master,” she whispered, red sand falling from her black robes as she knelt before him. It was not a natural act for her. Supplication was for the weak in her eyes, but this Master required – no demanded – her acquiescence if she was to be taught. And knowledge outweighed the loss of dignity she endured. But the Sith was skating on thin ice. Once she had what she needed, he would no longer be of use to her and she would end the Sith’s life. She was an aspiring Knight of Ren. He was foolish enough to think she’d forsake them for his tutelage. He was so very wrong.

The spikes of the armour encasing the Sith’s body gleamed in the chamber’s red glow. He remained seated and silent, but she knew he was aware of her presence. He possessed the shape of a man, yet his voice was devoid of emotion, a human shell hollowed out to be filled by the dark side. For that, at least, she admired his single-mindedness.

When he finally deigned to speak to her, the marrow within her bones tingled. “Tell me what you know of my former apprentice?”

Well, this was a surprise. “Only what you’ve told me, Master – that he was a fool.”

“A fool, yes, but one who served his purpose.” He motioned her to rise. “As you will serve yours.”

 

[Perth Levov]

He stood, his shadow falling across her. “Power must be earned. My former apprentice failed to understand that and paid the price.”

“And just how do his mistakes involve me?” She kept her voice steady. A single moment of weakness and he would seize upon it.

He approached her with slow, deliberate steps, hands resting on the small of his back. Her master never rushed, always maintained an appearance of control. “I sense a similar hunger for power in you. Do not bother denying it.”

“I see no reason to.”

In an instant, he was gone. Her nostrils flared slightly as she tried to sense his presence.

“You believe you have earned that power, but you are mistaken,” his voice thundered behind her. “You believe my worth to you is coming to an end.”

She did not flinch. She had been his so-called apprentice long enough to know when he was testing her. He pulled out a holo-projector and punched in a series of numbers. A star system appeared and he and zoomed in to focus on a single planet.

“I require this planet pacified,” he explained. “A rebel cell that started as a simple annoyance has become a thorn in my side I can no longer ignore.”

She was aware of the situation. The planet’s governor offered only excuses for his failures. He was a worm she’d like to watch writhe beneath her boot.

 

[Perth Levov]

“You have shown promise, both in your training and on the battlefield,” the Sith continued. “But I cannot just give you the planet.”

“I must earn it.” She understood. “A trial then?” The words were false. She had no desire to own a planet – her ambition was knowledge. But like many Sith before him, her Master assumed everyone was simply a variation of himself. What he coveted, he presumed all others wished for. Perth, on the other hand, wanted only one thing – a further understanding of dark sided magic.

The flickering image of the planet vanished. “Of sorts. Which brings us back to my former acolyte. Fool though he was, he regularly repeated one valuable lesson.”

Closing her eyes, Perth searched her memories. Sith teachings whispered to her. Sifting through them, an uneasiness spread across her body. Bile stung the back of her throat, the further she delved into herself. Then she found it. “Foresight becomes clearest the closer you are to death.”

“Very good.”

“You intend for me to experience a vision...” She looked at the Sith’s masked face and wondered if he was smiling. Did he even have lips left to smile or was it true that the Dark Side had ruined his features beyond human recognition?

The Sith lowered his hood. His right hand detached the lightsaber from his hip. “I will push you to the brink of death. You will tell me what you see. If you lie, I will know, and I shall no longer need an apprentice.”

“So be it,” she said and unsheathed her own lightsaber. She was no duellist. She was able to hold her own against Padawans, but a Sith Master? The fight, if she avoided using dark-sided magic? It would be woefully short.

 

[Perth Levov]

The rage, always waiting in the pit of her stomach, stirred. Heat washed over her limbs and heart, loosening them for battle. She did not hesitate. Lightning danced through the muscles in her arm to burst from her fingertips. The Sith tilted his head to miss the purple bolts. The sight of him fuelled her hatred.

She charged, lightsaber cutting the air above her. Her roar swallowed all sound in the chamber. The Sith held his ground, stalwart against her attacks. Circling her master, she dashed in and out, slashing, searching for an opening. He gave her none.

She prepared for another assault. Arms outstretched, electricity rained down on the Sith. One bolt struck his leg, causing a momentary twitch. Immeasurable joy drummed within her. The Sith held out his left hand. She heard the sound of her skull crack against the wall before she felt it.

The blow threatened to quell her rage, cut off her power. But she refused to give him the satisfaction. She grimaced and pushed herself to stand. “This isn’t over,” she snarled through clenched teeth.

“No.” The response was cold, hard and calculated.

 

[Perth Levov]

Searing, white pain shot through her and melded with the hatred within, twisting it into something else. The life seeped from Perth’s pores, cracks of lightning loud in her ears. Blood bubbled in scorched veins. Her vision went black.

With the darkness came relief. She filled her lungs with even breaths and willed her eyes to open.

His voice was both distant and close. “What do you see?”

Skulls. Hundreds upon thousands of skulls littered a muddy field. The soil was stained with blood. The air with smoke. A giggle of delight slipped through her lips. “Destruction, Master.”

“Look deeper.”

The smoke covering the field took shape, gathering the skulls to give them false life. The shadows played their parts - fighting, killing, dying - to create a single man. His fears and desires were etched into the dead men who fought for him.

“The rebel leader,” she murmured, “Is a Mandalorian.”

“Will he be a problem?”

The soldier born of smoke and skulls reached towards her. Perth readied herself, but before the darkness could touch her, another shadow charged in, slicing through the soldier. The skulls fell and the smoke dissipated.

She gasped. “There’s someone else here. Someone powerful, but their face... it’s clouded.”

“Will the Mandalorian be a problem?” Her master asked again.

The field returned to ruin. Her shadowy saviour gone. “No.”

Kneeling down, she plunged her fingers into the soil. The core spoke to her through the dry roots. The power within the planet presented endless possibilities. She had never known true happiness, but holding a planet’s beating heart in her fist... she couldn’t help but smile.

“All I seek will be mine.”

 

[Perth Levov]

Lost in her passion, she did not notice the smoke swirl around her. Two shadows towered above her prone form, their features ever changing in the smoke. She tried to pull her hands from the ground, but the roots latched onto her wrists, holding her in place. The end was swift. A slash of pain and then nothingness.

She shivered on the floor of the tomb. How she had travelled here from her Master’s ship she had no idea. Or was she still on the ship and was this an apparition?

“Are you afraid?”

She need not answer. The chamber reeked of her fear, the stench permeated the walls. The Sith raised his right hand, bringing Perth to her feet by her throat. She clawed at the Force tightening around her windpipe.

Did I fail? She retraced her steps through the vision, trying to understand what had happened. The memory was already hazy.

“You cannot escape death. Consider this my final lesson.” The Sith released his grip and she fell, gasping. “Only a coward runs from the inevitable. You are not a coward, my apprentice.” It was the closest thing to a compliment she had ever received from him.

“You have done well. A shuttle awaits you. Find the Mandalorian. Kill him.”

She watched him leave. Heart pounding as she considered her master’s words. The future was ever changing. There was still time to alter her fate.

 

[Perth Levov]

Perth woke with heavy lids, her mind and body brittle against the cold stone of the tomb. How long had she slept? The strain in her limbs told her not long enough, but she feared it had been days. Hunger clawed at the lining of her stomach, but she shook it off. She needed to keep moving. The shuttle awaited but the vision she’d endured had shared a second meaning with her as she slept. Dark red sand embedded itself under her fingernails as she pushed herself to stand. The air was draughty, chapping her already raw lips.

“You’re awake,” a hoarse voice stated. She hadn’t realised she wasn’t alone.

It was one of the two from her vision. Which one she did not know. It did not matter.

“The Mandalorian isn’t your destiny. Another awaits you.”

“Yes.” Perth’s own voice sounded foreign to her ears. “My Master.” She didn’t know how she knew, only that she did. To prove her true allegiance to the First Order, to show no one Force user came ahead of the Supreme Leader, she had to demonstrate where her loyalties lay. She had learned things no Ren could teach her. But that was all the Sith was – a teacher. A means to an end. And now she needed him no more, other than to show she’d progressed and was no longer just another Disciple, but a worthy one.

“No one survives the trials unmarked...” The voice trailed off.

Perth looked around, she was alone. Was the voice that of a spirit, or simply in her head? Or was she still dreaming? Again, did it even matter?

She stared off into the shadows, the Force tugging at her. She needed to go deeper into the tomb, there was something she needed to find. For in her vision, she wielded two sabers – with a sparkling scarlet hue, but here and now she had but one - and it was a yellow hue. Between now and then, she would craft not one but two sabers, and she instinctively knew where to go.

 

[Perth Levov]

If her Master could see her now! Perth gritted her teeth imagined the sarcasm that would be rained upon her. The man was a bully. Perth had put up with it as she saw other acolytes weeded out - the weak being cast aside. For the Sith – at least this Sith – this was just the way of things. She had remained stoic through the insults, the beatings, and the inevitable competition between acolytes.

Painfully she moved to a sitting position. It was a challenge but she had no choice. There was time for rest later - on the shuttle that she hoped still waited outside. Right now she had something to find.

Borrowed saber in hand, the yellow hue of the blade lighting her way, she set off down a dark passage to what she hoped was more than a wild Bantha chase. Once full of mystery, the ancient Sith tomb had been picked bare by robbers a hundred times over. Each year newcomers arrived - hoping to find areas left unexplored. They invariably left empty-handed. But Perth was not exploring, or following an ancient message from an equally ancient tome. She was being guided by the Force - there was a palpable heat drawing her into the tomb.

Even the quietest footsteps disturbed the rocks loosened by the passage of time. She stifled a cough as dust invaded her nose and lungs, eyes narrowing to see a path.

She was making good progress but now she hesitated. As she was, she would not survive an attack - and the tombs were full of creatures drawn to the dark side.

 

[Perth Levov]

But she pressed on and in addition to the light from the saber, she activated a glow rod. The corridor she had been drawn down was covered in rubble from a fallen column, but was otherwise clear. Perth took a deep breath and tried to keep a steady pulse. If she was to succeed, she needed to focus on the task at hand and channel her pain into a more productive energy.

Finally, she reached the end of the hallway and Perth held the crystal high to see as much of the chamber as possible. She sighed. It was a what you would expect of the tombs – a room that could be best described as a ruin. Rubble of all sizes lay scattered on the ground. Statues, damaged and forgotten, looked ready to crumble from the slightest touch. It would take hours to sift through.

Perth sat on the floor, cross-legged. She closed her eyes and used the Force to channel what little energy she possessed into solving the puzzle. Nothing revealed itself.

“Why am I certain it’s here?” She chided herself for her blind loyalty.

“I’m not certain.” She answered herself. “But I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Not for long.” The voice was soft yet slightly manic. And instantly she felt a blade at her throat. It was not the cold and smooth touch of a forged dagger but the jagged feel of an improvised weapon. Crudely made but more than capable of killing her in an instant. How she'd allowed someone to sneak up on her from behind was beyond her. But that's what she had done and what she needed to deal with.

 

[Perth Levov]

“Don’t make me kill you,” Perth said, wondering if this person was part of the plan the Force had in mind. If so, it had a warped sense of humour. Then she felt the makeshift blade press more firmly on her neck, a few droplets of blood forming on her lilywhite skin. But she showed no fear.

“Sneaking, burrowing, searching, hiding. Like little womp rats, you touch and take what doesn’t belong to you. What can never be yours. There’s a price. A price to hold these things. These treasures. One you have not paid...I was like you once.”

“You were an acolyte?” Perth asked, and felt the pressure on her neck falter slightly. And the fact that a second person mentioned a price to pay in the same number of conversations was not lost on her.

She heard nothing but silence for a short while. “Yes, then no.” The blade lowered slightly further.

Perth seized the moment and slammed her elbow into the creature’s nose and she spun around. Dark blood splattered across her face.

Gripping the hilt of her saber, she moved to stand over the crumpled, now writhing figure. The man was emaciated and of undetermined age. He smelt like he’d been here for decades. The silence was as tense and fragile as the decaying walls around them. The man looked into her eyes and she recognised all the signs. He was desperately hoping for pity.

A slight shake of the head was all Perth gave by way of a warning before her blade swung down and decapitated the former Sith. And in that moment she realised why she had been drawn here. She deactivated her saber with a hiss-snap and picked up the glow rod she’d discarded on the floor.

The man wore old robes, threadbare now - but as she sensed his aura - given he was now dead, she sensed the Force. Checking his body, she overrode the gag reflex as she disturbed his garments and therefore his unique odour – before she found them. Two dull-scarlet crystals. As she held them in her hand, they seemed to brighten and sparkle. These, she instinctively knew, would be the crystals to power her own sabers.

 

[Perth Levov]

She didn't know how she travelled from her Master's ship to the tomb or how long it took, but she did know the return journey took longer. She had no energy and her injuries slowed her further. But finally she saw light at the end of a tunnel and realised she'd reached the tomb's opening – not that she was sure which tomb it was.

And a few minutes later, the glare of the sun forced her to shield her eyes from the light as she scanned the valley and saw what she was looking for. A shuttle.

It was empty save for two droids. An astromech and a medic. She tasked the former with getting her underway and gave herself to the latter to patch her up.

 

[Perth Levov]

Once she'd had the major injuries tended to and the minor ones dealt with, Perth grabbed a shower and ate enough food for three main meals. Satisfied, she put on fresh robes and headed to the shuttle's cargo bay with a large bag of materials and her two new crystals.

She knew how to craft a saber, but had not yet done so unsupervised. Now would be her chance. She took up a cross-legged position and as she sat in the bay, she knew she had all of the elements she required to construct two sabers. She listed them in her head as she checked them off from the components she had in the bag – laying them out in front of her.

First she handled the Crimson Prowler crystals she had found. Then the more mundane items - two of each: blade-emitter matrices, various dials, blade length adjusters, lens assemblies, hand grips, activation studs, power conduits, belt rings, safety switches, recharge sockets, casings, sensor arrays, blade locks and beckon calls.

But first she knew she had to imbue the crystals with the Force. She closed her eyes, held both crystals in her open hands and meditated. There was no Jedi crystal code nor any special words, just a deep connection to the dark side.

She sat there for an indefinite period, expecting the Force to inform her when the time was right to start the construction. Finally, she felt at one with the crystals, as if they were an extension of her hands. She took this as a sign they were ready.

Opening her eyes once more she noted the crystals were now a shade of bright crimson and sparkled even in the low light of the cargo bay.

Slowly she began to assemble the sabres. She retained her connection to the Force using her Telekinetic powers to lift all of the components into the air, she connected the items methodically. One half of the hilt to the power conduit. Then the recharge socket to the power conduit. Then she connected the emitter matrix to the power conduit and then an activation stud to the emitter matrix before slotting it under the casing. Next she added a blade length adjuster to the emitter matrix.

Once complete, she placed the lens assembly with both of the crystals in between the emitter matrix and power conduit before adding the safety switch and blade dial. Finally, she added the sensor array and the remaining parts before sealing the lightsaber and attaching the belt ring.

Then she repeated the exercise until she had two sabers in her hands.

With a little trepidation, she activated them simultaneously. The twin snap-hisses were followed by a familiar albeit stereo hum. The two blades felt alive in her hands – in a way the Jedi saber she'd taken never did, and not even the borrowed Sith blade. Now she understood why Force Users crafted their own. As the crimson blades sparkled, she carved patterns in the air before deactivating both and clipping them to the back of her belt.

Turning, she headed to the cockpit to see how close to her destination she was.

 

[Perth Levov]

The town burned.

Not all of it, of course, but enough that the smoke filled the air around her. Perth breathed it in. She knew what she had to do, but she wasn’t sure it would work. Worse still, she wasn’t sure how long it would work, even if it did. But she was out of options, and this was the only chance she had left.

The resistance had been quelled quickly enough. Too few leaders and too many followers. A few key personnel taken out and she’d ended their hope. That dashed, their capitulation soon followed. And so far she’d used the borrowed blade - reserving her new creations to either the Mandalorian or her Master - or both. She was sure the Force would let her know.

But she was growing weary of the chase. The Mandalorian had evaded her at every turn. Yet she had been relentless and had tracked him down to every bolt-hole he retreated to.

She could see him, not far from her now. Smoke wreathed his helmet, though it didn’t seem to bother him. Battle-readiness oozed from his stance. He was in one of the town squares that wasn’t burning yet, pacing while he waited for her. He seemed fresh – which was no doubt part of his strategy. She had exhausted herself chasing him whilst he had remained rested.

She walked toward him, determined. After all, she knew something she was pretty sure he didn’t.

“Where’s your army?” he called as soon as she was within earshot.

“I don’t need one,” she replied, hoping it was true.

“It was so nice of your former Master to send you out alone and spare me the exertion of a proper fight,” he said. “And you’re not even a proper Sith.”

Malice dripped from his every word, each syllable crafted to bait her. His was the kind of anger that Sith fed upon, the sort that ate a person whole and twisted every part of them until they were unrecognisable. Still, she was smart enough to use it to her benefit: she needed him angry enough to think he had the upper hand.

“It’ll be a fair fight then,” she retorted, looking him up and down. “You’re not even a former Sith.”

 

[Perth Levov]

Taunting one's enemy was customary on these occasions, and Perth needed every edge she could find. And he was right, after all: she was no Sith – she never had been and never wanted to be. But his reference to ‘former’ Master bothered her. What did he know? And who had told him?

The Mandalorian was stalking sideways with a blend of grace and power that was oddly hypnotic. Perth tightened her grip on her lightsaber and then forced herself to relax. She needed him to come closer. It was a bit like meditation, this waiting. She reached out to the Force and found it waiting for her. She grabbed it - her source of power. She opened her mind to it and listened with every part of her that could. Then she moved, mirroring the Mandalorian and taking one step back for every step he took toward her.

“You’re no Sith, instead you’re a coward,” he said. “Stand your ground!” She felt his rage swell within him, almost to the breaking point but not quite yet. She was getting under his skin.

He raised a vibrosword – even an average mercenary knew he’d have limited chance with a blaster, even at close quarters. And it was easy for her to pretend he'd caught her off guard, to stumble backwards, away from his charge. His anger blinded him to all else. “One last attempt at glory to impress a Master who has no further use for you.”

He clearly felt he understood her weakness. He was so wrong, but she could not share the fact. She needed him to think he was affecting her with his banter.

“That's not true!” she shouted, which was in fact a fact!

Just a little farther now. He was almost ensnared.

 

[Perth Levov]

He bore down on her, cruel laughter scraping out of his throat, and still she waited. Then, just before she was in his reach, she sprang the trap.

The familiar yellow energy reverberated as she activated her lightsaber and moved to engage – one last feint. The Mandalorian lunged forward and Perth took a quick step back, drawing him past the point of no return. He swung down, directly at her head, and she responded with all her strength. Her weapon locked with his, holding him exactly where she wanted him to be.

Perth threw herself clear just in time as a ray shield came to life, trapping her prey with his vibrosword still raised against her...and her saber trapped inside the makeshift dome and resting at his feet. With a swipe he chopped it in two and stared at her, helpless.

 

[Perth Levov]

She walked down the middle of the street, senses alert and ready for anything. Every part of her was like a coiled spring, wound tight and ready for action. The Mandalorian had not been a particularly difficult challenge. All it had required was patience and a plan.

As she walked through the streets that were once part of a bustling metropolis but were now a deserted wasteland, memories of the vision flooded back to her. The Mandalorian was not her destiny here. There was another, and he would show himself sooner or later.

And she didn't have to wait very long.

 

[Perth Levov]

“Perth” A harsh voice rang out. It seemed to come from every direction at once. Perth cast out with her senses, searching for the source.

“You have something I want,” she said, as matter-of-factly as she could.

“Really?” said the voice, genuine puzzlement in the tone.

She’d surprised him, and that was good. Perth narrowed in on his location. “Of course. Don’t you know what it is?”

The voice chuckled and she found the hairs going up on the back of her neck the way they always did before he taught her a lesson, for that was what invariably followed the sadistic laughter. “I’m not the Mandalorian. You can’t blind me with my emotions. I feed on them.”

“The Mandalorian said I was a failed Sith,” Perth said. “And that you’d abandoned me. He was wrong on both counts. The truth is I was never a Sith and I abandoned you.”

 

[Perth Levov]

There! She had him. Now she just had to wait for the right moment. “I’m surprised you showed. You must know what I saw in my vision. Your death at my hands.” In truth it was the other way around – but the Sith Master had no way of knowing that.

She felt him jump off the roof of the building behind her and turned. He was taller than she was, even with the height she’d added in the past few years, and very broadly built. He was very strong and was a formidable opponent. He was still wearing his helmet, and his face shield was up, as though he needed to see her clearly while they fought. That was a key difference in their training, Perth thought. She could fight completely blind if she had to.

She focused her attention on his chest, where movement began. She felt the Force flowing through her as his lightsaber flared to life. She could hear its hum, a dark counterpoint to the song of her own crystals, now calling out to be unleashed.

“A pity your Mandalorian foe destroyed your saber. It would have made this more of a contest.”

 

[Perth Levov]

The Sith struck, and Perth avoided his blows before they fell. It was part of her Ecahani training. She read his feelings through the Force that connected them, and she tracked the movement of his shoulders, elbows, and wrists, moving so that his blows always missed their targets. Furious, he doubled his efforts, striking for her head and chest.

What the Sith’s saber technique lacked in finesse, he made up for in brute strength. He pushed Perth back and she let him, still taking his measure and avoiding revealing she had two new sabers. When she reached the front step of the house behind her, she jumped off of it, using the Force to propel herself in an elegant flip over his head. She easily avoided the frantic swing of his lightsaber as she flew over him, then landed in a crouch on the other side, ready to continue.

“Impressive,” he said. “I never knew.”

“You’re easily impressed,” she said. “And failed to recognise anything I was capable of that you didn’t train me in. And I’m only just getting started.”

She sensed people around her and realised that the walls were lined with troopers, all of them pointing blasters in her direction. Insurance no doubt. She ducked down a side street, out of their line of fire, and the Sith followed her.

He held his lightsaber aloft, and it began to spin. The effect was interesting - a deadly circle of light instead of a blade - but Perth wasn’t intimidated by it. The Sith’s entire strategy so far relied on overpowering her – to humiliate her.

She naturally had other ideas.

 

[Perth Levov]

“You sought me out. You needed me.”

Was that pleading in his voice?

“No. I sought out the Holocron you have.” Which was true. One of the ancient artefacts on her list was a Holocron containing a great deal of Sith magic. Given his lack of ability to understand it, it was not something he even knew was there. “I learned dark-sided magic from you without you even knowing it.” Her voice was light and taunting, almost melodic in tone.

“Lies,” he snarled. “There was nothing on that Holocron about Sith magic.”

Perth laughed, her voice was almost musical now. “The gatekeeper decided you were not worthy to learn the secrets. I on the other hand...”

She reached out for him again, this time for his hands and fingers, and for the balance of weight borne by his hips and knees. She remembered every combat lesson she’d ever had. She remembered how to stand and how to hold the blades. She pushed her opponent’s fingers too far apart and overturned his balance. She remembered, and she could make him forget. He staggered back, surprised at her power over him even at this distance, but was not yet overcome.

“I have a sense for power,” he said. “And you do not have enough to resist me for much longer, weaponless as you are.”

That was where he was wrong. She wasn’t weaponless. As she said when she first became a Disciple. She was the weapon.