~| Day 1, 21:54 - 22:04 |~
~| Kaggath prison: Lea and Andri |~
The look of wary confusion on Lea’s face as she stared at Andri made her gut constrict, but it was entirely understandable. Andri hadn’t exactly made sure to become friends with her Master’s newest apprentice, too busy being shipped around the Mid Rim on diplomatic missions for that, and Lea had obviously spent the last two months as a prisoner of the Sith. “It’s me, Andri. Master Shodon was my Master as well. I thought you’d died when I felt Master Shodon die, but you’re alive! This is brilliant news!”
Already the future was brighter. If Lea had survived for so long in captivity alone, then Andri and any other Jedi the Sith captured could hold out until the Order mounted a rescue party.
A small tremor of fear ran through Lea before she pulled herself together when this Andri presented herself and she was able to connect who she was. Lea had met Andri a few times over the years she’d been Shodon’s padawan, but did not know Andri all that well. She was just so much older than her that it was hard to connect. Not to mention, Andri was usually at least as busy as Shodon kept her. She didn’t really know what to say to the woman, so after a bit of thinking, she decided that Andri probably wanted to know about Shodon’s death.
“Master Shodon died quickly. He knelt before Darth Nyiss in surrender when she took his head. He taught me many things, but hiding from and fighting overwhelming odds was not one of them. The Imperial forces that captured us left us no chance of a balanced fight, let alone escape.” Though Lea had been angry at her deceased master for weeks afterwards for his failure and their capture, she now merely viewed it as simple facts. With the overwhelming odds they had faced, she now knew there would have been no escape possible.
Andri closed her eyes in grief at the news of how their proud Master had fallen. She offered consoling words to the younger girl, “At least now he is one with the Force. His spirit will guide us in future endeavours, and his teachings live on through us.”
She let the silence stretch out between the pair for a moment in respect of the dead Master Jedi, before speaking again. “So, Lea, tell me. What have the Sith been doing here? This ship has obviously been purposefully built, if they are storing Jedi in their bowels with no guards watching their every move. Do you have any clue as to what kind of nefarious plans they have been making for the rest of the galaxy?”
Lea did not offer any response to the bit about their former master. He was dead. He could not affect anything anymore. “This part of the ship is as unfamiliar to me as it is to most others here. Before this morning, I did not even know what it looked like. From what I’ve seen, it is fairly well-built, if a bit lax in security. I suppose Darth Nyiss intends to make it a test. Sith vs. Jedi prisoners.” She did not show much emotion, for to her that was simply logical facts.
“As far as the Empire’s goals, I suppose they are the same as they usually are, destroying the Jedi Order who hates them, replacing the crime-riddled and corrupt society that calls itself the Galactic Republic with the order of society and culture that the Empire represents and so forth. I think thats more or less what they intend to do.”
Andri hummed in thought as she considered the younger Jedi’s words. It made sense, as the Sith were known for their cruel tests - for both their own apprentices and comrades and any enemies they captured. Though, she wrinkled her nose at the thought of calling anything the Sith built as ‘order’. “The Sith thrive on chaos and anger, and the Dark Side. No society they try to build will ever last as long as one built by the people. Certainly, there is corruption in the galaxy as it is now, but that is why we are here. It is our duty as Jedi to work with the Republic and make it a better place for everyone, and to root out the corruption that infests the known planets. And as for this test you spoke of - we shall simply have to show this ‘Darth Nyiss’ that though she may capture or kill us, she will never make us fall to their level. The Force stands with us, and though we personally cannot do anything I know that the Jedi Order will mount a rescue party. We simply have to keep our faith up.”
Her voice grew firmer as she spoke, as she was stout in her belief that the Jedi would come and the Sith would fail in their latest ploy for galactic dominion.
She could not deny the bits about Sith thriving on anger or the Dark Side, but the chaos bit was one Lea could not accept. “Chaos? In my time both as a padawan and as a prisoner, the only time I saw true chaos was in my time on Alassa Major. People selling the souls of their people for the sake of their own profit or personal advantage. Thievery, espionage, perfidy - All integral parts of the republic from what I saw with master Shodon. If that is not chaos, then what is? The Empire’s harsh laws punishing crime? Their campaigns against corrupt servants?” Lea was about to go on when the door to the turbolift opened up, reminding her that night was fast approaching.
Out of the turbolift a Sith slithered. In the back of her mind, she could vaguely recall having seen such an individual, solely because of how different she was from all the other Sith and imperials who had been present back when she was captured.
“Night isss coming, Jedi. Who among you sshall have talkss with me in the morning. Disscusss amongssst yoursselvesss. Desside by the time the clock sstrikesss ssseven thirteen [07:13], for then I sshall return…” the creature hissed out, then left but a minute later.
She looked over at Andri. “That was… unexpected.”
Andri blinked in surprise at the interruption, the Sluissi Sith barely staying for a minute before slithering away after giving an ominous warning. “Is that the kind of thing that has been happening around here? I can’t imagine that any ‘talks’ will be pleasant things for us, though she’s sure to enjoy them.”
She shook her head, trying to clear the feeling of darkness that had permeated the air with the arrival of the Sith and redirect her mind back to the conversation the Sluissi had interrupted. “The chaos of the Republic is one born of ignorance and greed, and that is precisely why the Order must work closer with them - the very thing Master Shodon was trying to teach you. It’s true, they are corrupt and shady, and they profit off the works of others, but do you honestly think the Sith are any different? The Sith will happily work together, and then after the job is done they will kill each other to claim the glory. They are selfish, concerned only with their own power, and believe in using any means possible to attain it for themselves. They don’t care about the people - they care about themselves. The only crimes they punish are the ones that they deem as ‘stupidity’. Their mentality is that if you are caught, then you deserve the punishment, and no Sith would ever bother to create things like patrols or anti-smuggling rings beyond the bare basics. Under Sith rule, the galaxy will fall into further chaos as people cease to work together and start to work for themselves!”
It was a subject Andri had firm views on, and she was determined to show Lea the error of thinking that the Sith could ever be an agent of order. “The only beings I have ever seen that are truly orderly are the Jedi - which is why I have been working closely with officials in diplomatic missions for so long. If we can but impart the order of the Jedi way on the governors and the Senate, then they will stop squabbling amongst themselves like children and start to work together to make a better place for everyone. It is a slow process, but one that I know will one day be achieved if we but keep our faith and patience, and follow the Code. The Sith would never promote cooperation; they believe only in themselves, and the Darkness of self-empowerment and satisfaction. A galaxy under Sith rule will not be the orderly thing you seem to think it will. It would be nothing more than a galaxy-wide slum, full of murders and betrayals and crime worse than the darkest parts of Nar Shadaa.”
She softened, realising that her voice had been steadily getting more forceful as she tried to explain to the youngster the truth of the matter. She murmured softly, “If you believe that the Sith will create order, then you have lost your way.”
“Oh, there’s no denying there are many Sith who serve only themselves and kill people for sport. From what others here have spoken of, there’s most likely at least one such Sith on this ship. But saying all sith would kill anyone with as much thought as you would put into killing a Dekk Fly would be as wrong as saying all that Twi’leks have red skin. There are people of all sorts in both the Empire and the republic. As for imperial policy concerning smuggling and patrols… You really have no idea, do you? Do you really believe the Empire would have remained hidden from the eyes of the republic for over a thousand years if they hadn’t known how to patrol? Do you really think they would have been any threat to the republic in the war? If they had not had any knowledge of such, the republic army and navy would not have been pushed back as far as it is now. Without the infighting common to some types of Sith, the empire would be remarkably balanced and fair. Very unusual considering the nature of those Sith who kill at a whim.”
Lea smiled a little. “Not to mention, the punishment a Sith gets for killing another Sith is… Not kind. Not really sure if there’s a clear rule they operate with, but I’ve read that execution is a common punishment for murder. Seeing how those types of wannabe Sith are pretty stupid, they wouldn’t have been likely to reform even if imprisoned.”
“The Empire stayed hidden because they are sneaky. They know how to hide, and they know war, but what would they do with peace? It is true - they have bombarded the Republic and conquered quite a bit of known space, but war is what the Sith thrive in. Without war, they would collapse because there would be no common enemy, and the infighting that you talk about would intensify. If they remove the infighting then they would cease to be Sith, and there would be no conflict to begin with because the Jedi would gladly work alongside them. Sith is an ideology, a faith more than anything else anymore, and sadly infighting is a core part of their beliefs. As for how ‘fair’ their government seems to be when compared to the Republic; they have taken a fair system - one that the Republic strives to attain - and twisted it to suit their own purposes, benefitting themselves but not the people they aim to conquer. You have only seen the ‘clean’ side of the Sith - it is naught but a mask, one that all Sith are taught to wear. Each move is plotted, sometimes very little and sometimes the plots can take decades to come to fruition, but it does not change who they are inside. The few Sith that can be redeemed never survive in the true Sith Empire, because the true Sith Empire has no place for them in the nest of lies and darkness.” Andri stressed.
“Even their ‘laws’ which seem to criticise the wanton murder of their fellow Sith are nothing more than a ploy to make people believe that they work for the good of the many. If the war were to end in favour of the Sith, the galaxy would fall apart simply because the sheer number of Sith who ‘kill at a whim’ far outnumber those who have simply fallen off the course or good but don’t wish the galaxy ill.”
Andri sat on the bunk she had woken on, suddenly tired. It seemed like the Sith grew better with their masks every time she turned around, seducing more impressionable younglings to their ranks.
“Is infighting really part of their core beliefs?” Lea said, then pointed to
the wall behind Andri, where whoever had built this prison had put the Sith code in large, crimson letters. “As you are no doubt surprised about, much of the time since Darth Nyiss captured me, I have been in the care of protocol droids programmed with the history of the Sith Empire. It was at times rather dreary, but other times enlightening. No matter its flaws, one cannot fail to respect the strength of a society that fled from a combined speciocide, only to rebuild far from those who sought to exterminate them all, even after they had been defeated.”
Lea paused for a moment, then read the text on the wall to Jedi Knight Andri. She did not put any emotion into her reading. She had seen it too many times now to have any feelings for or against it.
”Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.”
“You do know that little tale, right Andri? That Supreme chancellor Pultimo ordered a holocaust against the thoroughly defeated Sith, right? Countless millions of innocents, women and children among them, were slaughtered, their homes and cities bombed from orbit. Is it strange the Sith bear a grudge from that?”
Andri glanced behind her at the wall, wrinkling her nose at the bright red lettering. “It’s the same as our belief that the Force is a powerful tool, to be used for the good of many and not just for menial tasks. Certainly, anyone with a bit of training in Telekinesis can use it to bring an extra pillow for their bed, but a Jedi knows that is not the proper way to use the Force, even though it is not actually written in the code. The same applies to the Sith - certain things are not written, but they still believe it anyway. Infighting and the betrayal of each other is one of these things.”
Her brow furrowed in thought at the information Lea had on the holocaust, as she had heard some of the story. Obviously not to the extent Lea had been taught during her time in captivity, however. “It is...understandable. Countless races who have been through similar problems have faced the same issues when forced to interact with the ones doing the slaughtering - take the way people reacted to the Mandalorians after they tried to conquer the Republic. They lost the war, certainly, but there were hard feelings on the behalf of those whose planets had been reduced to nothing. To this day, some still hold a grudge. I suppose in that light the Sith reaction is...perhaps not
as fueled by wanton destruction as I have been taught. But to continue the crusade after thousands of years have passed, when the ones who felt it and the ones who commanded it are long unable to influence the galaxy today - that is too far, and punishes those completely unaffiliated with the deed itself. Are you suggesting we should just forgive them for punishing a child for the sins of its fathers?”
“Forgive blindly? No. That would be just as wrong. But have countless other species truly been through intentional attempts at speciocide by the Republic as a whole? I don’t know the ancient history of the republic all that well, but I can’t say I remember any such events. But then, the Sith Holocaust isn’t exactly common knowledge in the republic either. No matter how much I have dug through the history of the Empire, and I have, I have not found a single time they attempted the same.” Just as Lea finished saying that, the lights in the prison dimmed rapidly, then grew dark. The only visible light was the faint red glow from the arena below them, filtered through the thick transparisteel floor.
“Looks like that night just hit. Thats what happens when you really get engaged in a discussion.”
The light’s dimming suddenly surprised Andri somewhat, as she didn’t particularly feel tired yet. Though that might have been due to the fact that she had been unconscious for Force knows how long. “I suppose it does. I guess we should probably get to sleep, and let the others rest.”
She motioned to the bunks around them, where a few people had been lying throughout their conversation. “But while it is true that the Sith are perhaps the only species the Republic has ever dedicated their efforts to wiping from the galaxy and so their grudges are understandable, it does not excuse their current actions. The Republic is not blameless, and neither are they. Two wrongs do not make a right - and if they truly wanted to be the better government in this scenario, they should first focus on being the better people, and not respond like with like. All that does is dig a deeper hole, until eventually you are drowning in the sins you have committed against the very people you wanted to help. They are the ones who started the war, and they are the ones who called for the peace talks. Yet here we sit, in the bowels of a Sith ship when our Order’s should be talking it out between them. Unless we are to be used as bargaining chips, I somehow doubt the peace talks have gone favourably for either side, and I do not believe the Jedi Order would be the ones to break the trust when our Code advocates so very strongly for peace.”
Andri gazed at the other girl in the dim red light coming from the floor and murmured, “How can the people trust a galaxy ruled by the Sith if they break the very peace they called for? How can the one’s who start the war offer true peace to the people of the galaxy, when they should have been the better people and gone the diplomatic route instead? The way the Senate is now, it wouldn’t be that hard for the Sith to infiltrate the higher offices and bend the people to their will, molding the galaxy over the course of years and resolving this conflict peacefully. Instead, they chose war.”
“What peace?” Lea asked with a certain hint of curiosity. She had heard some hints about a plan to strike at Coruscant while in lone captivity, but never a word of any sort of peace. “If they’re negotiating for peace, I suppose today’s attack might’ve been as a means for gaining a bargaining chip.”
“The Sith called for peace talks three days ago, and early this morning convened on Alderaan with representatives from the Republic. It seems a bit odd to be gathering bargaining chips now.” Andri explained. She frowned at the younger girl. “What attack?”
“You don’t know? Other than myself, who was captured on Alassa Major, all the Jedi here were captured during the Sacking of Coruscant. The Republic’s capital is now under Imperial jurisdiction.”
“I was captured en route to Alaris Prime, in between diplomatic missions.” Andri responded numbly. “Coruscant was sacked? What of the Jedi Temple?”
Lea shrugged “Seeing how I was up here the entire time, I have no idea.”
“But you said the others were captured during the attack - have they not told you?” Andri pursed her lips, troubled by the thought of the Temple falling. She had only been there a few times over the years, but it was the largest Academy in the galaxy and the spiritual center of the Jedi. So much information was contained within, from teachings to planetary codes, and that the Sith may have destroyed it or stolen that information boded ill for the Republic. She prayed to the Force that it wasn’t the case.
“Like you, they were all unconscious when being brought in. I don’t think they know. We really should be getting some sleep though. Its not likely that there will be a day off tomorrow.”
“I suppose you’re right. I can’t help but worry about it though.” Andri sighed. “I suppose we’d better get some sleep then. Good night, Lea. It’s good to see you again, though.”
Lea nodded, a bit tiredly, then wandered over to the other bunk room, where the bed she had picked out lay. There she climbed up and crawled under the duvet, intent on getting some sleep. She really wasn’t used to being that much around other people.
Andri lay back on the bed she was sitting on, not really wanting to try to navigate her way around the dimly lit room to choose another bunk when the one she was sitting on was perfectly serviceable. She was thankful that even if the bed was slim, it was long enough for her to lay on it perfectly fine, and she closed her eyes in an attempt to sleep. She probably wouldn’t get much, but some would be better than none.
