Power is its own purpose…

[Darth Zilti]

Prakith. A mountainous fortress world – and oddly a place she’d never visited before. She was a space nomad by heritage and by practice. Spending more than two days on a planet made her land-sick.

As she surveyed the strange planet – partly volcanic and partly Arctic - she pondered how, even within an organisation as secretive as the One Sith, some things were only known to a handful of people.

It was no doubt because of her Master, or maybe her sister – or perhaps both – that she was given an introduction to a Voice of the Dark Lord. Her sister was formerly one and she’d been trained by one of the others – Darth Vornskr. She still bore the scars form his teaching. But she wore them with pride. She’d faced what he threw at her and she was found worthy. Or at very least she was still alive.

But her fascination with all things Zannah, the fact that she now carried her saber crystal. The possible fact that she in some way communes with that crystal (given the alternative that she was hallucinating was unpalatable) meant she devoured anything and everything connected with the former Sith Lord.

And if rumour were true, she was now heading to the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge to meet Darth Carach – to see Darth Bane’s holocron. She knew the conjecture. That Bane lived on in Zannah’s body after his death at her hands. It was speculated they both shared her mind after that terminal encounter but that Zannah reigned.

This could be an interesting time to see if that was true. Would the crystal react to the gatekeeper? Or vice versa? And although she had no doubt the Sith had a way of extracting information from the holocron, she was fascinated to see how the gatekeeper would react to her. There was no longer a Rule of Two and no likelihood it would ever return. But would Bane share information with her freely, given her unique circumstances.

Only time would tell, so she set her ship down in the hangar and headed to where she’d been instructed to meet her host. She took a bite of a candy bar as she walked and then put it away. Probably not a great first impression to make.

[member="Darth Carach"]

 

[Darth Zilti]

She had no idea what to expect of the place. I mean, who do you go to to furnish a top secret base? But she couldn’t fault the security as she was led to a place where she instantly sensed the presence of the Holocron.

Was it she that sensed it, or the crystal that informed her? Of late she’d found it harder and harder to differentiate between what were her thoughts and those she attributed to the slither of Zannah’s presence trapped in the crystal. A kind of gatekeeper but without any specific knowledge to share - just annoying advice.

And she had considered the prospect that her prognosis was just wishful thinking - that it was simply her own imagination and profound knowledge of Zannah that was being fed to her consciousness. She thought back to the fist time she connected to [member="Silara Kuhn"] through their Life Bond. Back then she thought she was losing her mind or at least some kind of schizophrenic. And lately she’d begun wondering anew. Her only saving grave was tangible demonstrations that the crystal was more than something that simply powered her saber. She had a definite connection to it.

She was suddenly aware she’d been waiting a very long time for anyone and wondered if she was simply supposed to get on with it herself? Perhaps this was part of a test? So she edged towards the Holocron, not yet extending her consciousness towards the artefact or speak.

Soon she was standing right next to it and looked around the room, listening for any approaching footsteps, wondering what to do next.

 

[Darth Zilti]

She mumbled the words under her breath as she gazed upon it. A four-sided crystal pyramid small enough to be held in the palm, the Holocron contained the sum of all Bane's knowledge and understanding. Everything he had learned about the ways of the Dark-side – all his teachings, all his philosophies – had been transferred into the Holocron, recorded for all eternity. It was his legacy, a way to share an entire lifetime of wisdom with those who would follow him in the line of Sith Masters.

“The Holocron would pass to Zannah on his death, providing she could one day prove herself strong enough to wrest the mantle of Dark Lord away from him…” Her voice trailed off as she recollected the records she’d read so many times.

“And it did of course,” she said out loud, to no-one in particular and her voice echoing around the room almost made her jump. And then it had passed from hand to hand until it reached Darth Krayt – but the gatekeeper had refused to share information because of the abolishment of the Rule of Two.

She was mere centimetres from it now – but still she chose not to interact with it directly.

‘What are you waiting for?’

‘Leave me alone, I’m looking.’

‘It’s not a decoration you know. It’s a tool, a repository of knowledge. Access it!’

“Quit telling me what to do.”

It was a talisman of undeniable power; she could feel the waves of Dark-side energy radiating from it. The Holocron was resting on a table in front of her. Without prompting, a three-dimensional image of Darth Bane appeared, twenty centimeters tall, projected just above the apex of the four-sided pyramid. It was covered in his crustacean armour – apparently to conceal his identity to those not worthy.

Maja understood that the projection speaking to him was not the dead spirit of the ancient Sith Lord; it was only a simulated personality – a gatekeeper. A virtual guide programmed with the personality traits of the original creator, the gatekeeper served as a guardian of the information stored within the artefact. And this one, by all accounts took the role of protector very seriously.

“You are focused on my armour.” It said. “It is not just about being visually impressive and intimidating and it’s not solely about hiding my identity. It also hints at the sacrifices one must make to embrace the true power of the Dark-side – a valuable lesson for any who would follow my teachings.”

Maja simply nodded. Not overawed, but fascinated to the point of speechlessness. She wished her Master [member="Matsu Xiangu"] were here to witness this. Not out of pride – but out of the sense of history. Here was the Sith Lord that had trained Zannah. And perhaps her Master might find the fact that Maja was wordless humorous too!

“You must prove yourself worthy before I reveal anything to you.”

Maja nodded. “I understand.”

“Do you declare your intention to return to the Rule of Two?” the gatekeeper demanded.

Maja did not pause before responding. “No Lord Bane. Once I would have said yes, but not now. That was for another time. It served its purpose and perhaps was ended too early, but to attempt to resurrect it would be futile…and inappropriate.”

The Sith Lord’s image appeared to bristle with indignation. “You dare to lecture me, you-“

Maja held up a hand and cut him off. “This is no longer your time. You are legend but you are equally dead. Except in that facsimile of you that will share information in due course and…” She unclipped her saber and removed one of the crystals. It glowed softly and she could feel its presence, that all-too-familiar awareness it seemed to have. “Here too I suspect.”

If there was recognition or some communication, Maja could not tell. But she sensed a shift in the mood of the gatekeeper.

“You're not afraid of me?”

“No,” Maja countered.

“Do you understand all the ways of the Dark-side?”

“No,” Maja admitted, her eyes shining brightly. “But there is something in particular you can teach me.”

 

[Darth Zilti]

There was silence. If the gatekeeper was deliberating, Maja wasn't prepared to delay. She may have followed Rain's footsteps on Ambria but even with her new-found patience, she was not prepared to wait indefinitely.

Yet her voice was calm and controlled. "I can use Telekinesis but I must learn of Wound, Kill and Choke. To grip an opponent with the Force and simply apply pressure."

The gatekeeper remained silent for a few more seconds, as if weighing up the request. "This, of all I know, is what you ask of me?" There was incredulity in his voice.

Maja shook her head. "It is simply what I require now."

"Then find me a subject and we can begin."

 

[Darth Zilti]

Of course top secret bases tended to employ the best, and she didn’t think her host would take kindly to killing one of them needlessly. So she roamed for a short while before coming across a maintenance technician. Expendable – without a doubt.

She indicated he should follow her under some pretence of a faulty light and once in the room, she turned her attention back to the Holocron.

“Good, good. Now the Ability you seek is simply an extension of Telekinesis. I trust you’ve learned that?”

Maja nodded.

“Right. Well Wound, Kill and Choke are simply variations of that. But rather than manipulate inanimate objects, or throw things, you’ll learn to apply pressure – and specifically to a part of the body. Organs for example, or muscles to cause pain and incapacitate. You can destroy organs and that would of course kill. And choke is specific to the throat and in theory can be performed as long as you can see someone – once practised, even over a comms link.”

Maja nodded intently as the holographic image spoke. The technician on the other hand seemed far less enthusiastic, the colour now completely drained from his face. But to give him credit, he was still standing there.

“I am ready Lord Bane. Instruct me.”

 

[Darth Zilti]

"You can use Telekinesis...this is simply an extension. Instruct the test subject to hold his hand out. Then imagine crushing it with a grip of your own - as if you're shaking his hand but applying significant pressure. If you need to, use your own hand as a visual aide. In time you'll be able to do this by thought alone. Now begin..."

Maja looked at the young man. "You heard the Sith Lord. Hold out your hand."

"W-w-which one?"

Maja glared at him and he duly raised his arm so his hand was extended. She closed her eyes and called the Force to her. Her lids snapped open and her irises were now pale yellow, ringed crimson. She lifted her hand as if going to shake the boys but instead started to squeeze thin air - but in her mind she was gripping his hand.

Initially the boy looked at his hand with incredulity. It was clearly an odd sensation but soon he was on his knees, squealing in pain. If she didn't need him, she would have silenced him then and there.

"Shut up," she hissed and his voice lowered to pitiful sobs and she relinquished the grip.

"I understand the technique, Lord Bane. What is next?"

 

[Darth Zilti]

"Kill is merely an extension of that Ability. Except you focus on a major organ - one you cannot see - and squeeze it until the victim expires."

Maja nodded. "Understood."

"But your control and access to the power of the Force is too weak to even try it now."

The young man seemed to breath a sigh of relief at this news but his delight was short-lived.

"Force Choke however, you can use and as you practice, you're ability to use it will grow. For now it is like Wound but in time, all you need is to be able to see your victim. Even through a com-link. If you can see them, you can kill them. Begin."

Like a schoolchild given extra homework, she lowered her eyebrows but proceeded anyway. This time her hand was outstretched and pointed at the man's throat. Slowly she imagined squeezing his neck and nothing happened. Even the boy seemed surprised and smiled. A foolish decision.

"I shall not be denied," she hissed and she once more attempted the move, this time pulling more of the Force to gain a grip of his throat. His hand flew to his neck as if trying to pull imaginary hands away. His breathing became laboured and at the point his face started to turn blue she released him.

"Understood. Although I accept I need more practice."

The boy whimpered, now on his knees. "Not now you snivelling wretch," she said, tempted to end his life but unsure just how valuable he actually was. "And not you either, begone."