When an existence has no meaning

[Perth Levov]

“You come here, looking to learn our secrets yet you brazenly state you will listen to others. You plan to see how valuable our teaching is? You dare to suggest our learning is not good enough?”

It was funny how a whisper could carry such a threat. Perth sensed it but by the same token refused to be bowed.

“Do you even know what power we possess? By your words. I would have to say not.” The voice was no louder but it seemed to grow in gravitas and foreboding. But Perth allowed it to continue, offering silence instead of an argument at this stage. “Others have come here before you. Do not think you are the first, or will be the last. Why will you suffer a different fate?”

The light in the room shifted wider – still not enough to reach the walls and Perth saw a collection of skeletons litter the floor. Clearly those deemed unworthy.

And suddenly she felt a presence upon her. It wrapped its power around her. She lost access to her senses. She felt intense pain but without true sensation. But she did not even try to call out in pain. Instead she felt the anger in her rising and she encouraged it to surface – counter to her training. She fuelled it by imagining how frustrating it would be to die here now, having come so close.

And the power her emotions fuelled burned inside her with a heat she’d never felt before. And it was as if the force that was gripping her was unable to keep hold – like a brave but foolish child that picks up a stick from a fire. And like that charred branch, she felt she was dropped.

Sight returned to her and in front of her stood – no floated – the image of a man. Dressed in ancient robes, his skin was pallid and emaciated, but he appeared to gain form as he hung there, until he looked like a man as opposed to a spirit.

And still Perth held her tongue.

 

[Perth Levov]

Once the man was corporeal, the light in the room raised and finally she could see the walls. There was a simple altar in one corner of the room and she estimated the floor was some twenty metres square. And lining the walls – on every side – were shelves. And these were full of books.

“These are yours to read for as long as you stay here. Nothing can be removed – but you are permitted to make copies.”

She was surprised that no comment had been made of what was clearly a test – but she cared little for that. She could see the prize she came for – and would use every tome to develop her knowledge. But where to start.

“Tell me,” she said, now with an air of authority and command in her voice. “Where should I begin?” It was an instruction rather than a request.

A noise made her turn her head to the left. Leather on ancient leather created the sound as one ancient tome edged its way out of the neat row. So she walked across and plucked it from the shelf. It was, she quickly realised, a simple book, that contained no spells or knowledge of the dark side. She had instead been directed to a text book on the language of the cult.

She sat cross-legged on the floor and learned, slowly at first but she made progress and read and re-read the book until she felt comfortable she could translate the remainder of the books.

All the while the ‘librarian’ hovered a couple of metres away from her. When she snapped the book shut, she heard a familiar sound and turning to her right, she saw a dark red and very thick hardback partially slide from the shelf it was on. So she stood up and fetched it. And this time, her learning of the dark side started in earnest.

 

[Perth Levov]

If the book was considered basic by the average Force user, for Perth it was an invaluable starting point. Over the next few days she spent almost all of her time in the vault, stopping only for essential food and drink and also sleep when it was absolutely necessary.

She learned to connect with the Force when and if she wanted it, as opposed to only when her emotions ran so strong that access was inevitable. And she discovered how to access her emotions – and even store powerful memories and triggers that allowed her to more deeply connect with the Force. And the manual taught her how to meditate – to connect deeply with the Force. It was sometimes a time for reflection but overall her contact with the Force gave her energy and power. The darkness was both enabling and challenging, the cloying feeling driving her to action. But the more she meditated, the longer she was able to use the Force and the more powerful she felt.

But accessing the Force was not the same as using it, but the ‘librarian’ as she’d come to know him, refused to allow her access to any other books until it deemed she was ready. If anything the frustration helped her control of the Force, as it added to the negative store of emotions she was able to call on.

So she was delighted when one morning, after a fitful sleep, she awoke to find the book gone and – scanning around the room – she noted another tome sticking out from the shelves. She ran to the book and removed it. Flipping through the pages, her understanding of the language now sufficient to skim-read without conscious translation, she was able to see that her practical instruction in the Force was about to begin. She presumed the teaching was basic but it did not matter to her – she would greedily accept all training.

 

[Perth Levov]

Over the next few months, Perth was able to develop her use of the Force significantly. By now she was having to travel to a nearby settlement for supplies – her ship having run out of supplies – and she often practiced outside of the library, although she was unable to take the books past the open doors of the room.

It was fortunate that the site was remote – affording her privacy in her practise. First she learned how to lift items using the Force. Initially she struggled to raise even one but within weeks she could manipulate multiple objects and perform other tasks at the same time.

Then she developed this ability to both push and pull objects to her at great speed, or in any given direction until she was entirely comfortable with controlling even large and heavy objects in this way. The book stated that, with time and practice, she would be able to even lift her own ship – but she was sensible enough to accept that this level of development was some way off.

Once she was comfortable with this facet of using the Force, she developed other abilities – comfortable to work at pace but accepting that she might be at the site for months, or even years if it meant she could learn all the secrets it had to offer.

 

[Perth Levov]

Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. Perth wondered how long it would be before her paymasters would come looking for her. She expected them to be lenient, given she was effectively working under cover – but even they would expect a report back after this length of time.

So far she’d learned some of the key basics – as the librarian only gave her access to one aspect of learning at a time. As well as Telekinesis and Push and Pull, she’d learned Force Speed as well as Force Sense. And she seemed to have picked up some ad hoc uses of the Force too, simply an ability to manipulate the power of the dark side to her own end.

But the next phase was going to be a little more challenging. She had picked up a new book, simply entitled 'Dark Side Magic'. A lot of it was lacking in instruction, as if the learner had to pick up the ability through intuition.

Perhaps, Perth mused, that was because that was precisely how it worked.

 

[Perth Levov]

The new tome she was reading was the first to carry a health warning. Although she was vaguely aware that using the dark side came at an ultimate cost, she understood the negative was slow in coming. But the rituals of dark sided magic appeared to exact a more significant toll.

There was a preamble to the detail of the various sorcery rituals in which, from her background reading, she was sure referred to the Sith. And by Sith, she meant the original Sith species that learned to manipulate the power of the dark side. It seemed they were the first to develop strange rituals and alchemical sciences.

Dark sided magic was, unlike the abilities she’d learned so far, only accessible to those Force-sensitives who possessed an intrinsic relationship with the dark side. She was unsure how true this was, but recollected reading something similar attributed to Darth Bane. So there was a chance that she could spend her life on this aspect of the dark side and achieve little. But then the librarian had chosen the books so far and had offered this one to her as opposed to well-known abilities.

This encouraged her and added to her determined outlook, she was keen to learn the recitation of spells and the execution of hand gestures to channel the raw power of the Force's malignant side to warp minds, alter the environment, and obliterate whatever obstacles stood in her way. She would become a dark-sided sorceress.

 

[Perth Levov]

“Sorcery is an innate gift,” she read for the umpteenth time.

She’d managed to translate most of the book from the original onto flimsies and did most of her work in the open air. The coolness of autumn was giving way to the icy chill of winter and this morning snow had fallen for the first time. Perth did not mind. The inclement weather meant even less likelihood of being discovered.

But she’d made no progress for weeks now. The theory, as far as it went, was elementary. The strength of sorcery was derived from negative emotions and grew stronger but more corrupting with each expression. But to date, she’d not seen it manifest itself through her actions.

Yesterday she’d returned the book to its space on the shelf out of desperation and asked the librarian for the next lesson. Frustratingly it had merely offered the same book again. Resigned to months of failure, she nodded a silent accord and returned to her studies.

A week ago she’d removed her ship’s transponder and managed to place it on another – hoping to lead anyone who came looking for her on a wild-goose chase. Then she’d traded in her ship for a fraction of its value and bought a beaten up old one. It was small and basic – but it did the job she needed it for – it allowed her to travel between planets and it kept her anonymous.

Yet despite her frustration, she refused to give up. The prize was too great to turn away from. The magic offered was a complex power that assaulted an individual's psyche in ways that were both difficult to comprehend and defend against. Only beings with considerable strength of will were able to resist its psychological effects.

To add to her confusion, it seemed that the magic was sometimes seen as musical ripples of energy and was hard for those untrained to decipher. Which was certainly the position she found herself in. A teacher could show her, but she lacked such a resource. And she doubted the motives of anyone that would teach freely anyway. It seemed the Sith were the predominant practitioners of sorcery and as a rule they tended to look out for themselves primarily.

 

[Perth Levov]

Perth had no musical training, so the metaphor was lost on her. At one point she considered learning an instrument – it could be no harder than what she was currently attempting – but decided it was an unwelcome distraction.

By now, snow covered the ground and a white landscape was a permanent feature. She’d lost count of time. She measured it in seasons as opposed to days, weeks or even months. Spring had to be coming soon and she hoped this allegory was more helpful.

And then one morning she saw green shoots poke their way through the snow and was aware of the drip-drip-drip of snow melting from the bare branches of the trees surrounding the clearing she used for training. And the imagery reminded her of something. So she hurriedly read and re-read hr notes, skipping sections in her haste, then cursing herself and forcing her pace to slow.

Finally she found it. Whereas music was the common way to interpret magic, one person referred to sensing it as the ripple effect of disturbed water. So Perth closed her eyes and commanded the Force to come to her – pulling it into her body and sensing the connection between herself and her surroundings. And that was when she saw it. The Force, in this state, was like a flow of water. Still at present, but as she pulled on it or pushed with it, it was like the current on a pond, sending out ripples beyond what she was interacting with.

Buoyed by this discovery, she redoubled her efforts. She knew that reaching her full Force-potential and the pursuit of power were inextricably linked to this aspect of the dark side.

 

[Perth Levov]

Having finally found a way to tap into the dark side in a new way and see the fabric of the Force in a new perspective, Perth began to understand – slowly – how weaving that fabric would allow her to utilise dark-sided magic. But knowledge was one thing and its practical application another. She understood why sorcerers were few and far between – true mages that is. Many dark siders would no doubt be able to perform some of the feats mentioned in the book, but few would devote sufficient time to be competent at most and maybe none could truly accomplish all.

And even then, you had to have an affinity. The Sith that founded the Rule of Two was unable to perform magic. Or at least the majority of it. It was his apprentice that could – although she lacked in many of the basic abilities he could perform. It appeared to be a trade-off. Master of which one was clearly a decision she had to make. Or perhaps the Force had already made it for her?

 

[Perth Levov]

Having overcome the initial barrier to understanding, Perth found an amplified sense of her environment and she was slowly making progress.

She was also acutely aware of the value of her notes. She’d learned that the Jedi had destroyed any Sith artefacts they could find and even Sith guarded their knowledge to the point that learning was not always handed down from generation to generation. What she had in her hands was rare and she was determined to use it to the fullest. She had no idea if she’d ever find more spells, or a teacher that could enhance her knowledge.

Her first success was small but a significant step forwards. And it was no act of random violence but a simple illusion. It was ghostly at first but she was able to replicate the image of almost anything if she studied it – the apparition essentially feeding from her memory. In time she was able to make the illusion solid and finally it could move as naturally as the thing she had copied.

 

[Perth Levov]

Perth reflected that she’d already been able to perform an act of magic – albeit she was unsure as t how she’d manipulated the Force to break the creature’s neck. There was no conscious control of the Force or even a specific desire to kill the Hssiss this way – it just happened.

The next spell she worked on was a way of coalescing dark-sided energy into a ball of physical energy – typically manifesting as a ball of fire. It took many weeks of effort but eventually she was able to conjure a small fireball in her palm and then fire it at an object at will. Initially the action burned her hand but after a month she was able to not only withstand the pain but there no longer appeared to be a physical mark on her skin when she did conjure it.

And she found the ‘flame’ did not require oxygen to burn and consumed its target much quicker than a traditional fire would – although she’d yet to try it on a person, let alone a Jedi to test its effect.

 

[Perth Levov]

The next task was a variation of the last. Once she’d perfected the transformation of the energy – and she found it was linked to simple anger – and how to direct it, the book encouraged her to tap into different emotions.

The next on the list was hatred. Initially she struggled to find someone or something she hated enough. But finally she realised it was the Jedi. Their inability to accept the true nature of the Force initially annoyed her but the feeling had festered over the year to a hatred of their kind. This she was able to use in her next spell.

Unlike the fireballs, it was difficult to see how effective this spell was without a human subject. A month of trial and error had produced a solid blue ball of energy and she could direct it, but she understood that the destruction imparted was to the mind, not the body.

So one day she made her way to a village some distance from the library. She could not risk any actions being traced back to her seat of learning for fear of losing access to the library. Finally, after a day of tracking, she found what she wanted – a shepherd, tending a flock some distance from the rest of the inhabitants. At nightfall she approached him, keeping downwind of the creatures he tended.

Once she had sight of him, she focused her mind and drew on the dark side of the Force. By focussing on her hatred of Jedi, she was able to coalesce that emotion into energy and held a small blue ball in her hands – it actually floated a few centimetres from her palms as she rotated it, ready to throw it.

And then it left her hands and hit the shepherd square in the middle of the back. She heard him scream. An agony not of physical pain, clearly – but mental torture. The spell book suggested he would suffer as her heard the voices of a thousand wretched souls screaming within his mind. She could not vouch for this but she watched him squirm and writhe on the ground, alternately babbling and shouting incoherently before he twitched and remained lifeless. She walked over to him. His face was rigid in the contours of a grimace and his hands were like talons, stiff and gnarled. His eyes were staring, blankly, a look of terror etched into them.

Perth smiled. She was beginning to enjoy this.

 

[Perth Levov]

Perth was finding it harder and harder to progress without human subjects to practice on – and knew that sooner or later she’d have to find Jedi to work on, such was the nature of the spells she could see were available to her.

The next spell she tried had a number of false starts as she felt she had understood the basics, only to find that her approach did not work on a human. And she was having to travel further and further to find her victims, so as to avoid drawing too much attention to any village or town. And she suspected other Force users might frequent the cities and so she deliberately avoided them.

It was the height of summer when she flew to a settlement over a thousand kilometres from her base. She landed and walked to her destination – the light nights made landing too close and not being observed impossible.

Finally, as the darkness fell, she found a small cottage away from the village. Farmers no doubt. She peered in through the window and saw a middle-aged couple chatting around a kitchen table. He was reading by the light of a lamp and she was playing some sort of stringed instrument and singing what sounded like a lullaby, her voice soft and mesmeric.

Two targets? Perth wondered if this was a step too far but shrugged the idea off. She should focus on one and see what happened. So she stood outside of the window – which allowed her a line of sight and set her mind to connect with the woman’s. The domination of another’s mind was not as simple as planting an idea or tricking them into a simple task. Once Perth controlled the woman’s mind, she should be able to control her to do anything – the recipient’s independent though subjugated.

Perth concentrated and after a few seconds, the woman’s voice faltered and she stopped playing the instrument. Then the woman stood, much to her partner’s confusion – as Perth was aware he was asking what was wrong, why she had stopped. The woman turned to face her husband – who was now standing also – and she crashed the instrument into the side of his head. It was bloodied but he remained upright – albeit probably stunned.

And then the woman gouged at his eyes with her fingers. He chose not to retaliate but tried to subdue his wife, who simply continued to scratch at him until he held her tightly in his arms and she was unable to carry out any further attack.

Which was when Perth switched target and focused on the man. His grip on his wife tightened further – and now she struggled to release herself, as Perth had relinquished control over her. And the man’s hands now slipped from embracing his wife to a position around her neck, where he squeezed the very life out of her.

Perth glanced around the room and noted an open fire – currently unlit due to the weather. The man walked across to it and picked up a poker and with a single and swift thrust, he impaled himself on it.

Perth smiled and turned around, heading back to her ship. The power was seductive and addictive in equal measures. And she knew she was only just starting on her journey.

 

[Perth Levov]

The next lesson was impossible to fathom. It seemed that by now, Perth would have a dark-sided aura. How this manifested, Perth was unsure, given she could not view her own and had yet to encounter a Jedi since she’d been aware of her abilities. Apparently, what she’d learned would enable her to create a false light side aura, usually for the purpose of mingling with those who would have normally had a negative predisposition toward dark side adherents.

Perth glanced through the rest of her notes. There were more instructions on deception and illusion – to a degree that even computer systems could be fooled, or a vision could be targeted to a group or just one individual within the group.

There was a spell to call forth a victim’s worst nightmares and even tamper with memories. There was an advanced ability to hide a Force aura altogether, even from Jedi Masters and finally – once truly mastered – spells could be performed mentally, without the need for an incantation or hand gestures. But that was, based upon what she had read, a long way off.

And because of what she would discover the following morning – even further away than she currently imagined.

 

[Perth Levov]

It was a show of force as opposed to stealth. Perth exited the library into the crisp morning air – mist still visible as the cold air of the night before met the warming rays of the sun.

Ahead of her was an officer, flanked by a contingent of Echani warriors whose silver eyes darted vigilantly, and whose metallic bodysuits masked the translucency of their skin. At the leading edge of the wedge stood a woman that Perth instantly recognised.

Raskta Liu.

She had the alabaster skin, pure white hair, and silver eyes common to many Echani. She was as tall as Perth, with the muscles and physique one would expect in a species that valued physical combat as the highest form of art and personal expression. She was named in honour of the legendary Echani warrior Raskta Fenni, acclaimed by many to be the greatest duelist of her time. Perth knew that Liu had spent her life honing her martial skills so that she could one day equal, and even surpass, her namesake.

She wielded two vibroblades whereas the warriors with her held pikes. These metre-long weapons were equipped with stun-module tips capable of delivering a shock that could overwhelm the nervous systems of most sentients, without causing permanent damage.

“Execute one, terrify one thousand,” Liu said.

 

[Perth Levov]

It was a well-known Echani mantra. Senseless battles were to be avoided. They were vulgar and without honour. It was better to quell an inferior force as quickly as possible as opposed to having a drawn out but inevitable fight.

“You presume too much,” Perth said, her eyes flickering yellow as she readied herself to drawn on the Force – but the Echani in her was conflicted. The warriors were no match for her she believed – but to face Liu in battle? What could be a better test of her progress?

“I presume nothing. The outcome is inevitable, you know it and I know it. And these warriors know it – and will bear witness. We cannot have officers going rogue. An example must be made – and swiftly.”

And Perth realised then that the warriors were not here to fight, but to carry the tale of the demise of the deserter. And so Perth smiled. Like she had underestimated the Hssiss, Liu had similarly misjudged her. And that could only be to Perth’s advantage.

 

[Perth Levov]

Perth held her ground and made no move to draw her vibroswords – nor the lightsaber that she had also taken to wearing too.

And then, in the blink of an eye, Liu charged towards Perth. In any other instance the move would have spelled a quick end to the encounter, as her pace was such it would have been likely to have ended in Peth being carved to pieces.

Liu's blades moved too quickly for the eye to see, half a dozen lethal blows to Perth’s chest and abdomen. But instead of toppling, Sorel held her ground, her own two vibroswords now in her hands as she parried each attack. Her eyes were now the colour of sulphur as she pulled the Force to her and used it to aid her speed and her natural ability to predict attacks.

Liu took a few steps back and then flew through the air toward Perth. The Force user dropped one of her blades and threw a wave of invisible dark side power at her adversary. She knew her fellow Echani would not be skilled at defending against Force attacks and wanted to see how her additional abilities would sway the encounter.

The impact of the wave might have winded anyone else or even left them defenceless on the floor with injuries from the fall. But even though Liu’s muscular body was plucked from the air and hurtled backward, she twisted and turned so she landed neatly on her feet.

 

[Perth Levov]

Now Perth wanted to go on the offensive and unleashed a barrage of blue lightning, gathering and releasing her power at the speed of thought. If Liu was surprised, she hid it well as she moved as swiftly as she could to avoid the energy. But the electricity found its mark and there was the sound of pain clearly audible – however much Liu tried to mask it.

Perth’s smile widened and then froze, as she felt a severe pain in her calf. One of the warriors had circled her. It had been her turn once more to underestimate the opposition. The guard had stabbed her with his Force pike. The pain was excruciating and she felt her body grow weak and her anger rise.

“NO!” shouted Liu. She knew that if they had to defeat her as a group, Perth would most likely die a martyr – which was not the intent of the meeting. She had to die at Liu’s hands and Liu’s hands alone.

Grateful for the brief respite. Sorel grabbed at the Force, her heightened anger and pain fuelling her capacity to draw on it. And there was another dimension. A new one – and a surprisingly powerful one. Fear. Perth understood at this point that if carefully managed, it would be a powerful ally. But it needed to be handled with extreme caution, less it became an inhibitor.

Her free hand snaked out and pointed to the guard behind her. This time red lightning issued forth and she felt power and vitality course through her. The pain was now gone and her leg fully functional once more. The same could not be said for the guard, who crumpled to the floor, a husk of his former self.

 

[Perth Levov]

Perth understood vibroblades but her abilities with a saber were rudimentary – she wielded it as if it were a vibroblade – although somehow, using the Force, she was able to compensate for the weightless blade. So rather than scrabble for the dropped swords, she snatched at the saber at her belt and ignited it with a snap-hiss.

This close, she could see the surprise in Liu’s eyes as the Jedi’s weapon came into play. Echani knew of Jedi and Sith, but rarely – if ever – encountered them. Perth knew that Lui would be unsure as to the power and capabilities of the blue blade.

Perth brought her lightsaber down at her fellow Echani, who crossed her blades into an X, attempting to block and trap her opponent's weapon at the point of intersection. But Perth's move was only a feint meant to distract her, and at the last instant she pulled her weapon back and swung an elbow around to catch Liu in the ribs. The contact lifted her off her feet and sent her sprawling.

 

[Perth Levov]

The fight was going even better than Perth expected – but she’d never used this much Force in such a short period of time. It was like the difference between light training and a competitive game. She felt tired – as if using the Force were some sort of muscle and she’d worn it out. She knew she would hit the proverbial wall soon and would have to end the fight quickly – or revert to her usual fighting techniques.

She dropped into an elegant defensive stance to see what Liu would do next.

And now it was Liu’s turn to feint a move. Her twin blades were a blur as she advanced but at the last moment she dropped low and scissor-kicked Perth’s legs out from under her. The Force user toppled over backward, turning her fall into a roll that ended with her back on his feet. However, the distraction allowed Liu to press her advantage.

The Echani warrior relished taking the offensive, sending quick flicks of her blades toward Perth’s arms and legs. Not sure how much she could rely on the Force, Perth was giving ground.

Liu was truly pressing her advantage now. She crouched low, viciously slashing at Perth’s thighs and calves, attempting to leave her opponent crawling legless on the floor. Her blades carved through Perth’s boots and sliced wide gashes in her pants, as with only one blade, Perth was unable to deflect all of the blows.

But as she back-pedalled, she gathered the energies of the dark side to unleash her powers against the Echani if a clear opportunity presented itself.