The Vale On Morellia

[Connor Harrison]

”They say the Dark Side is born out of greed and misery. But what if that misery has grown from the Light? What if one has nothing – are they not naturally going to get greedy for what they can claw back? To use their own ability for themselves rather than lorded over by codes and conventions, to ultimately be forgotten in sands of time and even those who they protect? They won’t remember our names or thank us.”

Connor flicked his eyes over to the Sith, granting him the privacy and room to talk and think aloud.

”Care to tell me about what you have experienced at hands of the Jedi? I have been involved in many conflicts on the other side, but recently it has come to light that where do I stand because of it? I stand with nothing. Nothing to call my own – nobody to call my own. And for what? What?"

He shook his head, frustrated with his own thought. It was a rare moment he was talking with a Sith Lord and talking out loud, free of doubt and worry about what he was saying.

[member="Darth Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

"My problem with the jedi is not a personal as it is for many other of my kind. Some of them, seen as individuals and not as jedi, are not my enemy. But the order as a whole has done many things that enrage me. Stealing our holocorns and artifacts and sealing them away. Invading worlds that simply do not belong to them. Korriban in not simply a desert filled with ruins for me, is is a sanctuary, almost a holy ground. And they have defied it time and time again."

There was a lot of bitterness in his voice as he spoke. He had avoided most contact with the jedi, he simply cared to little for them to take action most of the time. But their try to take over the sith worlds enraged something deep inside of him. He had a pretty special connection to the past, not only for a sith but for someone gifted in the force in general. Where others could only see cold stone and only hear silence, he could see what once was and hear the echoes that told him about the old lords. The thought that the jedi could destroy all this was one of the few things he still feared.

"They call themselves the guardians of this galaxy, yet all they do is enforcing their beliefs. Those following the dark side are deemed evil, only because the jedi see us that way, and not because of our actions. To survive people like me have to hide in the shadows, and avoid many worlds. Coruscant has been my home after I had no other left, and they took it from me."

Oh, Coruscant. Since the former capital of the one sith feel to the alliance, Abyss had been on many worlds in hopes of finding one that suited him as much as the sheer endless cityscapes, where both the highest politicians and lowest criminals could be found. Nar shaddaa was his new home, the dirtier, darker version of coruscant but it never lived up to its bigger brother completely.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

"I've been to Coruscant recently. I can see it's might."

He glanced around, just checking they were alone. They were.

"Since the bombing of Korriban, the attitude towards the Jedi changed, especially the Silvers. And everything I did to preserve their integrity went un-noticed and I was ridiculed by our enemies for it. For trying to do what I thought was right, I ended up a joke. And so you know what I did? I murdered the girl responsible with my bear hands and it felt good. It ended the possibility of more violence. Because I took action the Jedi are too scared to do."

Now Abyss was the third person he'd confided in, and still he walked without anyone questioning him. He had gotten away with murder, quite literally.

"I have always walked a darker path than those around me and I've spent nearly a decade trying to ignore it, but now, I refuse to. I refuse to be treated like a mere Jedi whelp when I am capable of so much more, and so it's time to show them all what I can become, and what they failed to support me in becoming. And why? Because they are afraid of what I can become and what I could do if I was in charge of the Silver Jedi."

[member="Darth Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

"You butchered the butcher of Korriban? You can color me surprised once more Lord Harrison."

A laugh emerged his lungs, not the dark and alien sound produced normally by him, but a lighter one that actually had a glimpse of amusement in it. The woman that bombarded the sith homeworld, killed for bombarding the sith homeworld by what has once been a jedi. The irony of the whole situation was undeniable to him. But there was more to his words than this dark revelation, something that changed the way Abyss saw this fallen jedi. Initially he saw more another pawn than an ally in him, something to use for his own plans, but he had revealed himself to be as powerful as he was ruthless when it came to the enforcement of his will.

"The jedi are lost souls, imprisoned in their own believes. They have grown weaker since Korriban, and the sith are aware of that. There are rumours of an uprise, of a new Dark Lord of the Sith emerging to take over control and bring the sith new glory and a new empire."

The fact that Abyss told him this so freely showed to things at once. First he had build at least a bit of trust for him, and second he wasn't a fan of this plans he hsd heard rumours about.

"Many of the weak will gather around the strongest, as it always had been. But they do not see clearly. The age of empires has ended my friend, and those who are to blind to see that are doomed to find their death. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but time will always stand against them."

Now came the most important part of this conversation, a offer he had to make, if he wished to not simply stand on the side while another empire rose and fell again.

"The strong on the other hand, they can see and they do not wish to serve. Some of our kind have begun something new, something greater. A organization that works from the shadows to enforce our decisions, without making ourselves targets to the rest to the galaxy. And to succeed we need all the allies we have, man like you that hold true power, that are gifted with true vision."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

The Rogue Jedi couldn’t help smirk as he heard the laugh from the Sith. This WAS an absurd situation for them both, more so for Connor in the middle of both sides, not clear in who he was or what he was doing. Uncertainty and doubt circled every action, and while that needed to be extinguished for certain, once he did it there was no going back.

No crawling back to the Light for false salvation and pity from those who didn’t care enough to even see what was happening before their eyes. There would be great loss, but he had little to lose anyway.

”How many Sith have fallen in the quest to find their true Lord. Thousands. It’s a weakness they can’t even see – born from nothing but ego that demands one stand astride others, but in the end paints a target on their head for the next willing ruler to take down. No. I will not kneel or bow before one who calls themselves superior; I serve nobody. I serve the will of the Force and the morals that build it."

He looked to Abyss.

”Tell me more of your ideas in greatest confidence. Building my network of allies is important, and I thank you in advance for your trust. There are Sith who think it part of the game to lie, cheat and betray, and in part that is the nature of survival, but so is respect, honour and trust. Without those, the Sith are nothing but mindless brutes."

[member="Darth Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

"Ah, another true servant of the force. Our kind is rare these days, on both sides of the force and in between. So many are blinded by what their eyes can see."

It was the full truth, many had turned their back on the wisdom the force could offer, even Aria, the jedi they both had a connection to. She once told him that to her the force was merely a tool and only rarely a guide. She couldn't see what Lord Harrison and Abyss could see, the truths that could be found in this never ending, otherworldly field of energy that flowed through all and everything in the galaxy.

"Like any other sith I lie, cheat and betrayal if the situation desires it, but we stand here not as enemies but as future allies. There is nothing to gain for me if I lie to you, but so much to gain if I tell you the truth. Honor on the other hand, is only a path to arrogance. And trust will always end with a blade in your back. But respect, clean and simple, is the one thing I have for the others that stand besides me."

The fact that he didn't felt the needed to pretend that he was an honorable man probably told him that he was really telling the truth. He was a sith, and as one he wouldn't allow himself to fall to weakness for things that only mattered to those that still had morals left, and if this man was to be an ally he had to understand his methods and the extend of how far he was ready to go for his goals.

"Over the time I made many connections. With the galaxy's underworld, with the remnants of the one sith and the sith assassins, and some others. We have both the assets and the skills to create wars in our name without showing our face once. From war, unrest follows, and the people will hunger for someone who can guarantee their safety. And we will give it to them. Puppet governments, people controlled and backed by us to rise to power on their worlds. Other than an empire, we will leave them with the illusion of freedom, we will satisfy them instead of forcing them under our control. We can shape the galaxy without anyone even noticing us. A power that our enemies are not even aware of, control from the shadows, right where the servants of the darkness belong."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

”Aria is right to some extent. I too see the Force as a tool, but like you say, one to be respected above everything else. It serves no Jedi or Sith. It only serves those who understand and give themselves to it. It will be the tool to accomplish anything I wish, and I will use it to craft and cut away anything that prevents me from doing so."

Connor looked away and pushed his lips together in brief thought.

”Your plan sounds good, but do you not wish to reach a point where you are seen, heard and feared? Not as a ruler or some ego-fulled Lord sitting on a throne, but as a warrior or a conqueror who commands the respect you value at just the mention of your name!”

His fist tightened a little, an excited wave in his voice.

”To go anywhere and do anything, all because you can – because you are respected and your power is respected too. Imagine it. Going where you please and having who and what you want to further your desire to learn, to dominate and to survive. That is what I seek in time. True power."

[member="Darth Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

"Names have no meaning to me. Glory has no meaning to me. This physical plane has barley any meaning to me. I seek knowledge and power, but my reasons are of a completely personal nature. One day I will transcend past worlds and governments, beyond humanity, beyond life and death, even beyond the boundaries of the laws of physics. I seek to become a all seeing entetity, a god like spirit of the darkness, a guide to those who see the true path."

The only thing he cared for as more than simple pawns in this eternal game of chess was knowledge, the possibility of knowing all and everything, of seeing past, present and future as one, to be more than just another warlord and conqueror that forced others under his will. That was a position for others, for those who had a vision for the shapd of the galaxy beyond themselves.

"But those who stand with me seek the same you do. They understand that we can never reveal ourselves as ond group, but merely as men and woman working on for their own agenda. Beyond that they all wish to rule and conquer, to have what you consider "true power". Fear is a powerful tool, but to much fear is the seed of rebellion. Only if we as smart as we are strong we can hope to withstand the test of time. To shape the galaxy how ee imagine it, and also guarantee that it stays that way, at least as long we wish so."

Power alone was not enough to keep a group on to forever. Abyss belonged to the group of people who truly believed that the pen was mightier than the sword, and that intelligence would in the end always succeed over raw strength. He had grown out of the glory of war, he hungered for far more, he had goals that most could not even comprehend.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

”Nothing is impossible. Nothing. Nobody is invincible. Buildings and temples can topple with one clear hit, and I intend to topple many to show those who don’t act how weak they are.”

He walked around Abyss to come around to get a look at him more behind the mask.

”Forgive me for assuming, but I can say that I have lived a life in the Light to a point I have become near-blind by it. I know many who walked similar paths until something clicked and they chose a new walk of life. What happened to you. Or is this the only life you have known. For that, I can’t imagine what you have experienced.”

With a little raise of the brow, he shrugged.

”Being late to the party means you over compensate for lost time. Time wasted in shackles and being held back like a pet.”

[member="Darth Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

"The man I was before I became Abyss had been lucky enough to never be found by the jedi. His father was a collector and merchant of artifacts, relics and texts, but barley gifted by the force. With time the texts and artifacts granted him a bit of insight, but he walked the path between light and dark without even being aware of it."

To become sith meant to leave behind your old live, but Abyss had taken it a step further. He was a new entity, the only thing left of the boy trained by his father was the pain, the anger, the hate, but also the passion for knowledge, for books, for the past. It was his former live that made him the scholar he was today, and yet he had banned any memory that reminded him of the person behind it from his mind. Even his name, and the planet he had been born on was faded away far enough that he couldn't tell anyone if he wanted to. He was Abyss, and no one else.

"Then his father was killed. But it was not the anger or the hate that made me Abyss, no. The force, the darkness, it called for me and it gave me the power I seeked when it was my live or that of others. Since then I have devoted my live to darkness. A live was taken from me, I took another, and for that a new one was given to me."

The glow in his eyes had gotten a lot more intense as he told about his past, as he remembered the first time he felt the fire within. The dark side was addictive, and those who followed it often weren't to far away from an addict chasing the ultimate high they felt the first time, but never being able to fully reach it. That day he had been a embodiment of the darkness without anything binding him, and one day he would be again.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

It was a strange life even for Connor to understand. The fact Abyss spoke himself in third person in his past was interesting, and proved that some people had lived two lives before the darkness. His eyes were soft, hearing of the pain.

"You have found your way my friend." He reached out and put a hand on his shoulder with a gentle shake. "You survived, and that speaks volumes."

With a small smile, he stepped back and let his shoulder hang with a big sigh.

"It's a cruel world out there, but I see that those who want to survive will do so by any means. As I will do - as I have done. I wonder will the Connor now be the one who stands here in the future, or will his life have to end before the superior one stands in his place."

There again was the pang of sadness - uncertainty. Abyss would see it. He wanted to ask a question, but wasn't sure how to.

"I need to ask you something if you can be honest with me. Have you ever...betrayed people you once cared for? Or acted in a way that benefits you and you alone, at the sake of others?"

It may be clear Connor was thinking about turning his back on the only family he had ever known. The only security he had ever known. The only home he had ever known.

[member="Darth Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

A laugh emerged from Abyss lungs as the fallen jedi asked him about betrayal, and the sadness and uncertainty inside of him didn't go unnoticed. His laugh wasn't an insult, the question simply took him by surprise. He could feel the power of this man drain out of every pore of his body, and yet he still wore chains, still held back because of something as meaningless as morality.

"You said you want to be free from your chains, yet you still bind you. Morality ... Morality is nothing but a construct created by the weak to chain those with power. Once you truly free yourself from it, the word betrayal will have no meaning left."

He walked out of his hand on his glowing with dedication shimmering in his eyes as his passion burned inside of him, his words a direct conduit of the dark side that filled his mind and soul.

"You might have lived in this galaxy longer than I have, but I have walked upon the path of darkness, I have lived in it, I was reborn by it. You merely touched it yet, but you have to be ready to break apart all that holds you."

A few steps away from him he turned around, his voice growing as the intensity of his stare rose above all seen before in them. He could almost feel the power at the mans fingertips, just waiting to be finally unleashed in their full might. And Abyss would assist him with it.

"If you truly want to reach, unlimited, absolut power, than you can not allow anything or anyone to hold you back. The darkness serves the individual not a group or organisation. There can be no sacrifice to big, to reach the potential given to you. Lord Harrison, stop looking at the darkness, embrace it, fully and truly. Leave behind who you are, and become what you were meant to."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

As Abyss talked, Connor looked down and closed his eyes, his head starting to feel pained and his temperature rising. A slight shake of the head also.

"You make it sound so simple. I've lived and worked with these people for over a decade, longer than anything else I've ever put my mind to. It's my home. Voss is my home. They are my family - " he stopped himself and twisted his face in frustration and clenched his fists. "Damn it all!"

He grit his teeth and lolled his head back, fists shaking, one hand on his temple.

"I...I feel like there's a well inside me. I get so close to breaking it, and then something happens and it resides again, building up - and it repeats over and over and over. I have nowhere else to go. I have no-one. Without them, I have nothing. I'm afraid."

Connor turned to Abyss, the real uncertainty coming out that held him back.

"I'm afraid I can't move forward on my own. I wouldn't know where to go, who to be. If I'm not me, who the hell am I?"

[member="Darth Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

"My father is dead, and now he is forgotten with no one left to even spend a thought on him. He gave his live for mine, because he was a fool. That is what love does to you, it blinds you from the things that really matter."

He walked towards him, his eyes still filled with the same burning gaze as before, a darkness surrounding his whole aura, a tainted field of energy as he felt as the chains began to break and fall. All he needed to to was push further, make him understand the true nature of the path he had chosen now.

"The live on top can be lonely, Master Harrison, but that is the price we all agree to pay for the power we seek. You want to defend them, safe them, but no one can change someones fate. We can not change who they are, and we can not change who we are, we simply have to accept the truth. The galaxy is a cruel place and the weak will always fall, all we could do is prolong the inevitable."

Now it was his turn to put his hand on his shoulder, his yellow eyes starring into his.

"You are someone with the power to be everyone you desire to be, to do everything you wish and more. Leave the shackles of the past behind. I call myself Abyss because my old name lost all meaning to me. Maybe it is time for Connor Harrison, jedi master, to die so another man, a better man can emerge."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Lowering his head, Connor had to remember he was a Jedi Master, but a mere initiate into the real tappings of the Dark Side. He had touched upon the power and understood those who used it, and even understood their motives, but he hadn't opened himself to them or their world.

”I...they don't take me seriously, because I've had these feelings before, but I stayed in the Light. And now I feel I'm drowning.”

It was true; it was like being pulled into the depths where he couldn't see a way out and everything around him piled intense pressure that made him claw at the walls to escape but there was no grip. He looked at the Sith, into the eyes that were corrupt and certain.

”I've existed for years in this shell, so long that it's formed a crust that's stronger than I expected to break from. I just need to do it soon...I know I do, I understand that. Believe me, I have nothing left there, but I have everything.”

Connor laughed a little, forced of course, and held his brow.

”You're the second Sith I've poured my heart out to. I'm damaged goods. Forgive me.”

[member="Darth Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

"Do not fight it. Allow yourself to drown, so a new man can rise from the depths of the sea."

It was a fitting analogy, more than the fallen jedi probably was aware of. The name he gave himself, Abyss, related to exactly that feeling, when the dark side shrouded all and everything, when it revealed the darkest depths of ones heart, when fear, anger and hate were about to devour what was left of a man.

"Never ask for forgiveness, Lord Harrison. No regrets. Ever."

While Abyss wasn't the sentimental type, he had a bit of sympathy for him. Many who followed the darkness, himself included, were crippled and broken souls. Those who could stand pure and whole never would be able to fully understand what the darkness really was, as it was formed by all those emotions that made broken men and woman.

"I have touched the light once. I remember the warmth, the calm, the serenity ... The hope. It was beautiful, but if we want to do what we have to we can not allow hope to blind us."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

So many conflicting words and thoughts. He was lucky this Sith had patience and was actually listening to the Jedi mix his words.

”But don’t we all need hope? Even yourself – don’t you have hope for what you achieve and what your goal will be? Hope is for all sides to find, right? And…you say nothing but nice things about the Light. All true at times I know. So why was it so beautiful you had to turn from it?"

He started to walk along the rocky walkway again at a slow pace as a speeder flew above their heads; a racer out for a good time no doubt.

”I have many regrets," he said watching the speeder fly through, ”and they are always with me. All the time. Faces from the past I’ve lost but don’t want to forget. Actions I should have taken. Words I should have said. It eats me up thinking how it may have been because even now I can’t see a way forward. I can’t…I can’t SEE myself anywhere else.

[member="Darth Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

"Hope is a illusion.A worthless construct that blinds us from reality. The future has to be shaped by us, and not wished for."

Like Harrison, Abyss watched the speeder fly over their head, a surprising sign of live on this empty world. It was fascinating to him how far the jedi master still was away from the true darkness, that despite all his strength the years of indoctrination still lingered in his mind and controlled his actions.

"As I said, Lord Harrison. No regrets. If the pasts haunts you, then you can never begin to shape the future. Mistakes are made to learn, not to regret them."

His hand banged lightly on the cybernetic right leg, before he continued.

"I have made many mistakes, but in the end they forced me to evolve and get stronger than I was. Never once I felt regret, I only see my past as what had to happen to make me who I am. And you should see it that way to, if you wish to really reach your goals."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor glanced down at the cybernetic leg and nodded. In that respect, he was lucky. He had his own limbs still. And it was becoming clear that Abyss could say no more about the choices ahead – and that meant he would soon be alone.

”I’ve a few reminders of the past. Funnily enough, the marks that cover me are those now whom I see a future with. I guess once they took hold and left their claim on my flesh, I was never going to escape them."

He looked at the Sith and exhaled slowly.

”Many Sith let down the Dark Side. As Jedi do the Light. You have ones who are reckless, rash and idiotic. You however are clearly beyond that and one who should stand tall among them. You speak wise words, Lord Abyss."

He stepped forward and extended his hand.

”Thank you my friend. You have spoken more sense and logic than anyone in recent days. I will follow your words and I hope we stand together in future. Let me help with anything I can – do you need anything at all? I wish to repay your for your time that I have wasted."

[member="Darth Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

Abyss extended his own hand, firmly shaking that of the fallen jedi. It had been an encounter that had been equally parts surprisingly and pleasant. He had gained a powerful ally, and learned even a small bit of the knowledge he desired, plus many more things about Aria, the silver jedi order and [member="Connor Harrison"] himself. All in all it was one of the better journey he had been on, especially considering how little had pulled him on this world. The will of the force was a fascinating thing.

"Learning is never a waste of time, Lord Harrison. Even the smallest bits of seemingly useless information have their worth to me, be if just a philosophical one."

He drew his hand back, giving the jedi a last good look.

"The galaxy is about to change, and when the time comes we all will need allies. All I ask from you, Lord Harrison, is to be one when the revolution begins. May the force serve you well my friend."