It’s a wasteland…

[Darth Zilti]

She didn’t know why, but Maja knew she had to return to Ambria. So from Kashyyk she went to collect her ship from Nar Shaddaa before heading out to the small desert planet.

She’d been here before but something was drawing her back. No, something was telling her to go back. Every now and then she sensed the crystal in her pocket before the feeling disappeared. She’d never let it out of her sight and held this and the other crystal in small velvet bags. On Nar Shaddaa she’d picked up the pieces she needed to maker her saber but that wasn’t why she was going to the four mooned planet.

In truth she had no idea why, other than she was compelled to. So she set a course for the Meditative Canyon once she’d exited hyperspace and sat in the cockpit and wondered why.

As the vast cavernous expanse grew ever larger in her viewscreen, she could feel it. It was a powerful nexus of Force energy. As she surveyed the dry and desolate mountain landscape she saw what appeared to be a dust storm, but she avoided it and landed at the base of the canyon, next to a river that flowed through the canyon.

She exited her craft and gazed at the natural rock and crystal formations that protruded upwards and saw several waterfalls that drained into the river, some over a hundred metres high.

Seeing a nearby cave, she walked over and sat cross-legged just inside its entrance and took the Bane’s Heart crystal out of her pocket and in turn out of its draw-string bag. She could feel its presence now and instinctively closed her eyes. She’d never Meditated yet – she’d never been taught – but there was something about this place that made it feel so natural.

She could feel the Force and her emotions and the natural connection between the two. She reflected that every time she’d used the Force she’d joined the two. This was the first time she’d consciously made that association. And as she did, she felt serene and in her mind she saw a man and a young girl walking along the canyon. It was Rain, she was sure of it.

‘Yes, I came here long ago…’

 

[Darth Zilti]

Maja wasn't entirely sure if she was asleep, meditating or a combination of both. It mattered little in truth, she was familiar with the sensation. A combination of her studies of Darth Zannah, her apparent bond with the crystal and the Force-rich environment she found herself in afforded her glimpses of the past and access to advice.

If that advice was truly Zannah's or just Maja's thoughts portrayed as Rain's was another matter. 'My real name..it's Pluvia.'

'Yes, I know. You sought Rain and you found it, in a manner of speaking. The name's origins are no doubt not lost on you.'

'You helped me on Nar Shaddaa.' It was less of a question and more of a statement.

'It appears I can influence the minds of the very weak. Those drunk or infirm. It is limited. I cannot enter your mind unless in this state. I can...plant ideas but there is no guarantee they will take root.'

'So why bring me here?'

'This is where I learned my three greatest abilities. Forget the Force for now. Here I discovered secrecy, cunning and patience. These are the true weapons of the Sith. Forget your sister. You do not need to prove yourself worthy to her. She will always be biased. Prove yourself worthy to the Sith in general. Show them your Vahla heritage. It will take many years but when you reveal yourself, they will welcome you.'

'But-'

'No buts.' The tone was suddenly hostile. 'I chose you, I deem your potential is worthy. One day, you can show yourself to the Sith. To those that mocked you on Khar Delba - who believed your sister to be wrong. Show them your true might and then [member="Silara"] can see you for what you truly are - not a sibling to be proud of, but a Sith to be worth calling a sister.'

Maja thought on this. Was she going mad? She'd thought as much when she'd first connected with Silara. Was connecting to a crystal any more far-fetched? In truth yes, but this ancient Sith artefact was powerful in its own right and regardless of how she learned the Sith ways, she needed to learn them.

'Go with the Sith Lady and find the holocron. When you have, return here and you will be instructed. Give me five years and you will be suitably developed. There are limitations to the process - but with cunning and patience, you will overcome.'

Maja nodded in her mind. 'I shall return...'

 

[Darth Zilti]

Time passes - as it's prone to do. Maja had done a lot of growing up - although as was ever the way with her it was not straightforward. Six years of being spoiled, awkward and obnoxious and then an hour of growing up. Well, let's face it, traditional was for others. She was...well, she was Maja.

But Ambria pulled her back and so she came. Her sister had married and they'd made up their differences but at the last minute Maja had a change of heart. Not the making up part - that was essential and inevitable. No, her decision to ask her elder sibling's permission to become a Sith. It felt simply wrong, so she came here to understand why.

So she sat in the same cave and meditated and before long...

'Wake up....'

'I am awake, I'm just meditating.'

'Not wake up in that sense, wake up and smell the coffee. Anyone who has to ask permission to join the Sith is by definition unworthy.'

'Are you even real?.'

'Perhaps? Maybe I'm just in your mind, a guide your brain tells you that you need. Or maybe I'm a slither of Zannah's spirit, trapped in Bane's Heart like some Holocro gatekeeper. Or maybe you're just mad?.'

'Thanks for clearing that one up.'

'My pleasure - but you're avoiding the inevitable. Tell me what you'll do.'

'[member="Matsu Xiangu"] I must find her. She shall be my Master. And I shall join the One Sith because I want to..'

Maja opened her eyes. 'Why you brought me all the way here to tell me that is beyond me..'

'I just love the dramatic.'

'Fair enough.' Maja opened a candy bar and wandered back to her ship. It was time to be the Sith she deserved to be, wanted to be and for the single reason that she finally understood it was in her own power to do so. "So," she said out loud, "Coruscant here we come."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhzmNRtIp8k

'I am a one way motorway
I'm the road that drives away
Then follows you back home
I am a street light shining
I'm a white light blinding bright
Burning off and on
It's times like these you learn to live again
It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again
It's times like these time and time again

I am a new day rising
I'm a brand new sky
To hang the stars upon tonight
I am a little divided
Do I stay or run away
And leave it all behind?
It's times like these you learn to live again
It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again
It's times like these time and time again'

 

[Darth Zilti]

Time had passed. She was learning at the feet of Matsu and despite her progress, she felt the familiar tug, pulling her back to Ambria. So she'd listened to her heart and returned, finding the familiar cave and settling into a meditative state.

'Your control of the Force is instinctive. This is good. But there is so much more you can learn. Seek out my former Master's Holocron, it will help you.'

Maja was about to complain she'd been brought all the way here just to hear that, when the voice in her head continued.

'You are not the only one that has been learning. Here, in this nexus, I suspect I can help you, guide you...train you.'

Now Maja's attention was rapt. She hung on every word.

'Some I suspect I can share directly, the rest you'll have to work through yourself. I learned from the ancient Sith magician Freedon Nadd. What you're learning is comparable, better because you're being taught by the living. But there are two aspects I can show you that will help your progress.'

Suddenly a range of images flashed through her mind, initially just pictures but as they progressed she realised they were a language and by the end she could not only read them, but she knew how they sounded - how to speak them.

'The Sith language. Scrolls are written in it. Magic invoked by it. It is one thing to learn the words by rote - as you did with Dark Tendrils. But true power comes from full understanding. Knowing each word, each syllable, is what makes it special...perfect.'

Maja was delighted by the knowledge. Even in this Meditative state, she was able to comprehend what it meant.

'But now something of true power. Memory Walk. Also known as Torture by Chagrin. And when I am finished, you too will know how to reach into a victim's mind, to force them to relive the worst memories of their life over and over again - to where it becomes physical pain.'

 

[Darth Zilti]

Maja's eyes snapped open. There was no such thing as luck, but there was the Force. She sensed someone was walking along the valley - heading to her ship.

'I sense him too. Convenient. And do not kill him, we need a test subject after all.'

Maja stepped quietly out of the cave and towards the intruder. She sensed him before she saw him - he was on the far side of her ship and had no Force presence. She unclipped her saber just in case - and walked towards the man - as she presumed it was. Finally she caught sight of him, and he was not expecting to see her. He was dressed in cheap armour and was clearly a second-rate bounty hunter. He made a grab for his blaster and Maja simply threw it across the dry floor with a flick of her wrists.

Now he held up both hands, realising his mistake. "I mean you no harm. I'll walk away and let you do whatever you were doing before I got here and interrupted you, OK?" Even though he wore a helmet, she saw the subtle movements of his head as he was scanning the area behind him.

"I have a better idea," Maja responded. "You will kneel on the floor and put your hands behind your back."

The man knelt as instructed. He was clearly weak-willed but would be a better test subject than none at all. She grabbed some cuffs from the man's belt and tied his hands together. She grabbed him by the elbow and lifted him bodily. He shook his head, clearly stunned.

"Now come with me, if you're very good, I might let you live."

 

[Darth Zilti]

She led him back to the cave and pushed him back into a kneeling position. She didn't even close her eyes when she heard the voice again.

'Good, that was fortuitous. Now...you know how to invade a mind. You'll simply do that now. But this time, search for his worst memories. Not embarrassing ones but the ones that give him mental pain when he recalls them. I'll show you how to share these with him time and time again until that pain becomes real, a physical as well as mental torture.'

Maja nodded and her eyes once more morphed yellow and she entered the man's mind. He was a relatively easy subject - but then she was an Acolyte. And so she searched for painful memories - the first time his heart was broken, the death of his mother and the greatest of all - the death of his partner at the hands of a Sith.

 

[Darth Zilti]

Having teased the memories out, Maja simply accessed them over and over again. For her the experience was uncomfortable - but for the bounty hunter, the pain of the recollections was painful. And repeating them simply magnified the distress. Over and over he relived the very worst moments of his life and before long the mental pain was manifesting itself physically - she could feel it.

The whole process felt natural and she had no idea how much help she was receiving subconsciously - but it mattered not - she was learning how to cycle through the memories to inflict physical agony on the man in front of her.

But after thirty minutes she was exhausted by the effort. Although his screams of agony suggested he'd gotten the worst of the deal. So she sat down, her back against the cave opening and grabbed a candy bar and took a big bite. She needed a rest...and then she would start all over again.